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Reigning champions Hampshire enjoyed the best of a five-overs-per-side slog in rain-soaked Tunbridge Wells

05-Jun-2011
ScorecardReigning champions Hampshire enjoyed the best of a five-overs-per-side slog in rain-soaked Tunbridge Wells as Kent slid to their second Friends Life t20 defeat inside three days.Having posted a total of 78 for 1, Hampshire restricted the hosts to 58 for 2 to secure a comfortable 20-run win in a game that finally got under way at 6pm after a three-hour delay.Match umpires Steve O’Shaughnessy and David Millns had inspected conditions at The Nevill at 4.30pm and again at 5.30pm before finally, at 5.45pm, deciding to play the reduced game. The vast majority of a 4,000 crowd had already left.Having lost the toss and taken only 11 runs from their two powerplay overs, bowled by Azhar Mahmood and Charl Langeveldt, Hampshire quickly made up for lost time.Their left-handed opening pair of Jimmy Adams and Michael Lumb bludgeoned 28 from Simon Cook’s only over. The over included three consecutive sixes from Adams, one of which flew into the Kent committee marquee while the next sailed over it.Not to be outdone, Lumb then clipped four successive sixes in Adam Ball’s sole over of the evening, which also cost 28. Rookie left-armer Ball hit back by bowling Lumb for 35 from 11 balls with his final delivery to take the score to 67 for 1 after four overs.Matt Coles sent down a tidier final over to concede 11 and leave Adams unbeaten with 33 from 15 balls faced, while Spitfires faced a daunting asking rate of 15.8 runs an over for victory.Rather than opening up their reply with their big-hitters, Kent surprisingly stuck to their tried and tested batting order, only to lose openers Rob Key and Joe Denly inside two overs and with only 11 on the board.Darren Stevens temporarily improved their chances by taking 20 off Imran Tahir’s over, including a six onto the pavilion roof, but Chris Wood bowled a tidy fourth over, leaving Kent to hit 34 off the final over from visiting captain Dominic Cork. Cork, however, conceded just 13.Stevens had done his utmost for the Kent cause, to finish unbeaten with 45 from 16 balls, but Hampshire travelled home with the points.

New Zealand’s triumph over Pakistan might have come at considerable cost as they sweat on the fitness of their captain Daniel Vettori, who hurt his right knee during the victory

Brydon Coverdale in Pallekele08-Mar-2011New Zealand’s triumph over Pakistan might have come at considerable cost as they sweat on the fitness of their captain Daniel Vettori, who hurt his right knee during the victory. Vettori appeared seriously restricted in his movement after diving for an attempted catch at mid-on in the sixth over of Pakistan’s innings, and two balls later he limped slowly from the field.He struggled to walk around the boundary with the help of the support staff and had ice treatment in the rooms while the vice-captain Ross Taylor oversaw the 110-run win. A New Zealand spokesman said the extent of Vettori’s injury would not be known until the team arrives in Mumbai ahead of their fifth group match, Sunday’s clash with Canada.”We’ll just have to wait and see,” Taylor said. “Obviously he’s a key part of our team and we need him to go further in this competition. But he didn’t bowl a ball today and we won, so we just have to give it a couple of days and see where he’s at. Hopefully he’s all right come two or three days’ time.”Vettori is not only a key player due to his bowling on the spin-friendly surfaces of the subcontinent, but he is also a canny leader whose on-field nous would be missed if he is sidelined. If that is the case, New Zealand would look to Taylor, 27, to captain the side, as he has done in nine one-day internationals for three victories.”I’ve captained the team in quite a few matches now,” Taylor said. “We’ve got a lot of senior players in the team for me to look to, to get help and to bounce ideas off. We’ll have to wait and see, but if it did come about it would be something that would be an honour to do. There’s still a long way to go in this competition, but if that comes about then I’d grab it with both hands.”

Brendan Nash, the West Indies vice-captain, is hoping that a return to St Kitts will bring him another big score as his side aims to wrap up the series against Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff19-May-2011Brendan Nash, the West Indies vice-captain, is hoping that a return to St Kitts will bring him another big score as his side aims to wrap up the series against Pakistan. The second Test begins on Friday at Warner Park, where Nash last year made his highest Test score, 114 against South Africa.West Indies are coming off a morale-boosting victory in the first Test in Guyana, their first Test win in more than two years. However, Nash didn’t have much impact in the match, scoring 5 in the first innings and 3 in the second, and he wants to play his part in St Kitts.”Last year when we played here we got a really good batting surface and I managed to get a good century, which was my second century for the West Indies,” Nash said. “We were outplayed by the South Africans in the first match in Trinidad, but we rebounded to get what you could say was a fighting draw here in St Kitts.”I felt I batted really well, adding some valuable runs with Shiv [Chanderpaul], who also got a good century. Shiv and I put on a very good partnership. There were quite a few runs scored in that match and it was good the way we responded. Coming back here again this year I will be looking for another big score for the team. I didn’t get many in Guyana so I know I will be looking to make a greater contribution in this match.”We did some really good things in Guyana and we will be looking to do well again here. The bowlers were exceptional. [Darren] Sammy led from the front and the others followed. Ravi [Rampaul] got some great wickets for us and [Devendra] Bishoo was also very good in his first match. I rate the performance of the team very high.”Fourteen players have travelled to St Kitts to prepare for the second Test; the XI from the Guyana victory plus Fidel Edwards, Marlon Samuels and Kraigg Brathwaite. The squad will be trimmed to 13 on Thursday.

Australian cricket’s future could be transformed at a board meeting in Melbourne tomorrow, where Cricket Australia’s directors are expected to launch a review of the failed Ashes campaign while also making radical changes to the domestic scene

Brydon Coverdale07-Feb-2011Australian cricket’s future could be transformed at a board meeting in Melbourne tomorrow, where Cricket Australia’s directors are expected to launch a review of the failed Ashes campaign while also making radical changes to the domestic scene. The board is set to decide on the eight new teams that will take part in next summer’s expanded Big Bash League, a tournament that won’t include the traditional state sides.But the more weighty issue is the review, which will look at the wider picture of Australian cricket in the wake of the Ashes disaster, which included three innings losses to England. The review is likely to be headed by someone independent from Cricket Australia, with all aspects of the organisation and the Australian cricket scene set to be examined.”The view is that it shouldn’t just be looking at the players that played the Test series, it should be looking at everything that contributes to the performance,” Cricket Australia’s spokesman Peter Young told ESPNcricinfo. “So, that’s right across Australian cricket, right across all the states, from the point where emerging talent is identified through the nurturing of that talent, the eventual selection of that talent and the management of that talent while it is part of the elite process.”The feeling is that’s not something you can do in 24 hours or two weeks, it’s going to take time. The objective is to understand what we need to understand to ensure we’re in a winning position when we next play the Ashes and when we host the 2015 World Cup.”But while Australia’s long-term future in the traditional format is up for discussion, the more immediate decisions will surround the shortest version of the game. The so-called Big Bash League will kick off next season, with city-based teams in all the state capitals, while two new expansion sides will also be included in New South Wales and Victoria.Three Victorian venues have put up bids to host the two Victorian teams – Geelong’s Skilled Stadium, Etihad Stadium (Docklands) and the MCG – and there are four bids from New South Wales, at the SCG, ANZ Stadium, Kogarah Oval and the Sydney Showgrounds. It’s less than a year until the competition will begin, and the board is set to decide on which teams will contest the inaugural tournament.”The concept is that as this league grows it will be more like an AFL or NRL competition and less like a competition representing states,” Young said. “The recommendation tomorrow will be on the initial eight teams. There is a possibility that we will move to a greater number than eight in the near future, but the launching pad for the Big Bash League will be eight teams.”However, what won’t be decided this week is how the players will be allocated to the new sides. Cricket Australia is keen to see all the teams begin on an even footing, which means that players’ existing state affiliations will have to be ignored, and the merits of a national draft will be weighed up against the possibility of free agency, which is favoured by the Australian Cricketers’ Association.”There have been some observations about, say, a Perth player doesn’t want to end up playing for Brisbane because it’s a long way from home,” Young said. “There’s also been an observation that all the players will be travelling for that short period of the competition, and it doesn’t matter where they live. We don’t yet have a recommendation on that and the board won’t be making that decision tomorrow.”

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir will on Tuesday receive full written judgments on the verdicts and sanctions they were handed on Saturday but whether the judgment becomes public is not yet clear

Osman Samiuddin 07-Feb-2011Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir will on Tuesday receive full written judgments on the verdicts and sanctions they were handed by a three-man tribunal on Saturday. Whether the judgment becomes public is, however, still not clear; the ICC is keen to publish it the same day, but complications have arisen in the wake of the decision of the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to press charges against the three.Butt was banned for ten years, Asif for seven and Amir for five after they were found guilty by a tribunal headed by Michael Beloff QC, on charges the ICC had brought against them for being involved in the bowling of deliberate no-balls during the fourth Test against England last year. Amir plans to appeal against the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, while Butt has also said he disagrees with the verdict.On Saturday, a short statement was read out by Beloff, flanked by the other two tribunal members Justice Albie Sachs and Sharad Rao, in which they also urged the ICC to publish the report as soon as possible. The report has become a keenly-awaited document, because it is expected to expand on the reasons given for the verdicts – and, equally importantly, the evidence, put together by the ICC’s legal team, that it was based on.The length of the sanctions has attracted support and criticism alike. But the most intriguing development was the tribunal’s recommendation to the ICC to make “certain changes to the code with a view to providing flexibility in relation to minimum sentences in exceptional circumstances.” On this point, Amir and Butt have suggested – the former more directly than the latter – that it indicates that the tribunal was willing to give lower sanctions but was bound by the ICC code. The nature of any potential appeals, as well as the feasibility, will become clearer once the report has been seen.There remains uncertainty over whether the wider public will be able to see how such a landmark case in the game’s history unfolded. One day before the tribunal gave its verdict, the CPS announced that the three players, as well as player agent Mazhar Majeed, will face criminal charges in a British court of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, and also conspiracy to cheat. All four have been summoned to appear for a first hearing at the City of Westminster Magistrate’s court on March 17.The ICC wants to publish on Tuesday but has been seeking legal advice from Jonathon Caplin QC, a media law specialist, because, as ESPNcricinfo understands, the CPS has “strongly advised” the ICC not to publish the full judgment. The CPS noted in its statement that “particular care needs to be taken to not publish material” which may prejudice a criminal trial.

Cricket Ireland (CI) has confirmed the appointment of Stephen Moreton as coach of the national Women’s squad

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Nov-2010Cricket Ireland (CI) has confirmed the appointment of Stephen Moreton as coach of the national Women’s squad. Moreton, who had first-class experience as a cricketer with Oxford UCCE, had been in the role on a temporary basis following the resignation of Paul Delany earlier in the season.”I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to coach the Irish side,” said Moreton. “I feel very lucky to have inherited such a talented group who are all extremely proud to be able to represent their country. We have a World-Cup qualification tournament in November in Bangladesh, and it is within our own hands whether or not we do well enough in this tournament to qualify for the World Twenty20 in 2012, and the one-day World Cup in 2013.”The recent tournament [ICC Women’s Challenge] gave us an indication about are position in relation to the other countries vying for qualification, and it will be a long, tough road – but one that I am excited to be involved in.””I feel the appointment of Stephen as coach to the Irish Women’s national squad, ahead of the start of 2011 season is a positive move by Cricket Ireland,” enthused Ireland captain Ciara Metcalfe. “Stephen was introduced to the team back in August as interim coach and during his short time has made a big impact.”2011 is a massive year for Irish Women’s Cricket and all our attention must be centered around the World Cup Qualification tournament in November. I have no doubt with Stephen’s cricket knowledge, some team commitment and hard work we can have a successful year.”

Everton are in a vulnerable position in the Premier League finding themselves in the relegation zone following a defeat in the Merseyside derby last weekend.

Frank Lampard has six games left to make the great escape to avoid the club’s first-ever Premier League relegation to the Championship, and should he keep his job at the club this summer there will be big changes needed to be made, no matter the outcome.

There are numerous problems in the performances and the quality throughout the squad this season, but one particular area of focus that has let the side down time and time again is the defence.

Jamie Carragher blasted the Everton defenders recently following a humiliating 5-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur calling the defence set-up “Championship level” in a scathing assessment on Sky Sports Monday Night Football show;

“That back four is miles away, it’s Championship level.

“They’re weak physically and it’s a massive problem for them going forward.”

The back four he was referring to included both Mason Holgate and Michael Keane who have been constantly costing Everton this season with their numerous errors and lack of basic judgement whilst defending the back-line, and Lampard should do everything he can to get rid of the pair.

According to SofaScore ratings, Holgate is one of the worst-rated players in the entire squad ranking 23rd out of 30 and for good reason when you consider his performances and statistics this season.

The centre-back has lost the majority of his ground duels (56%), is unsuccessful in the majority of his dribbles (67%), commits 1.2 fouls on average per game and has not only scored an own goal but has also served a three-match ban following a reckless challenge on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg just 10 minutes after coming on against Spurs at Goodison Park.

However, Keane completely outshines Holgate for poor performances this season, with the 29-year-old making a huge amount of mistakes this season on top of extremely average to poor performances every single week.

The Toffees defender has made several game-changing mistakes including two own goals in the space of two months that have led to defeats, with both of his own goals opening up the scoring for Norwich City and Spurs in the aforementioned embarrassing defeat.

On top of his two own goals, Keane has had two errors leading to a goal, hasn’t won possession in a single Premier League performance for the entire season and like his team-mate has also served a suspension when he was recently sent off against West Ham United for a reckless challenge following a yellow card.

With all of that in mind, there is no doubt that the Everton manager must find a way to either sell these two players or convince Farhad Moshiri to provide the funds to replace and upgrade the disaster duo ahead of next season if they have any hope of improving their position in the Premier League should they stay up.

AND in other news: Sources: Huge exit claim emerges out of Everton that will leave supporters fuming

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Kalidou Koulibaly to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian publication Il Mattino (via Sport Witness), who claim that Fabio Paratici has already made contact with Aurelio De Laurentiis concerning a deal for the Napoli centre-back ahead of the opening of the summer market.

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However, the report goes on to state that, at present, the Serie A side are not considering any offers due to still being in with an outside chance of winning the Scudetto – with the southern Italian side believed to be waiting to make a decision on the future of the 30-year-old until they know what lies ahead of them in 2022/23.

Better than Bremer

Considering just how impressive Koulibaly has been for Napoli ever since his £6.98m move to the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium back in 2014, it is easy to see why Conte would be keen on a deal for the Senegal international this summer.

Indeed, while Koulibaly has averaged seasonal SofaScore match ratings of 7.00 or above in each of the six complete seasons the website has been recording data for the Italian leagues, the current campaign has arguably been the centre-back’s most impressive for Gli Azzurri.

Over his 23 Serie A appearances this term, the £40.5m-rated defender has been imperious in the heart of Luciano Spalletti’s backline, helping his side keep eight clean sheets, as well as making an average of 1.1 interceptions, 1.5 tackles, three clearances and winning 4.3 duels – at a success rate of 58% – per game.

The £177k-per-week player who Conor Clancy dubbed a “phenomenal” talent also impressed going forwards, scoring two goals, registering two assists and creating two big chances for his teammates, in addition to making an average of 53.3 passes, 3.3 long balls, 0.4 key passes and completing 0.7 dribbles per fixture.

These returns have seen the 30-year-old average a quite remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.19, not only ranking him as Napoli’s third-best player in the Italian top flight but also as the third-best defender in the division as a whole – as well as bettering the average rating of another of Spurs’ reported summer transfer targets, Gleison Bremer, by a score of 0.01.

And, with it being reported that Napoli would demand a figure in the region of €40m (£33m) in order to part with Koulibaly this summer – around €10m (£8.5m) less than Bremer’s asking price – these are two strong arguments that could be made for the Senegal sensation being the better signing for Spurs.

AND in other news: “100%” – Fabrizio Romano drops Spurs transfer claim that will leave supporters buzzing

Michael Hussey will walk on to the MCG on Wednesday under immense pressure ahead of the Ashes, but his captain Ricky Ponting believes Hussey will come good before the first Test

Brydon Coverdale02-Nov-2010Michael Hussey will walk on to the MCG on Wednesday under immense pressure ahead of the Ashes, but his captain Ricky Ponting believes Hussey will come good before the first Test. Hussey has joined the ODI squad fresh from a disappointing Sheffield Shield match for Western Australia in Adelaide, where he followed a first-innings golden duck with 3 in the second innings.One domestic outing would not usually have any bearing on an established player’s place in the side, but Hussey’s Test form has been scratchy for some time. His career average hovers around 50 but in the past two years he has averaged only 34.18, and at 35 years of age the time to justify his position is rapidly running out.Adding to the selectors’ dilemma in the lead-up to the Gabba Test is the strong form of Usman Khawaja, who toured England with the Test squad this year and started the Sheffield Shield season with a double-century. While Hussey was struggling in Adelaide, his South Australian opponent Callum Ferguson posted 129, and the form of the much younger batsmen won’t make life any easier for Hussey.”He’s a bit disappointed with it,” Ponting said of Hussey’s Sheffield Shield performance. “I’ve had a good chat with him today. He’s very clear in his own mind about what he needs to do and he feels he’s on the right track and his preparation has been good for every game that he’s played. Class players like him generally find a way to get it done, and I’m sure that over the next few one-day games against Sri Lanka you’ll see him score some runs.”But the selectors must decide whether the ODI arena is the best place for Hussey in the build-up to the Ashes. Western Australia play a first-class game against the touring England side in Perth starting on Friday and it could be the perfect opportunity for Hussey to find some touch against the red ball and his Ashes opponents.Australia’s full-time selector, Greg Chappell, said there had been discussions about releasing Hussey to take part in that game, but the batsman wanted to stay with the one-day side. On Tuesday, Ponting had not looked closely at the state schedule but conceded the idea of getting more first-class cricket in to Hussey would have been spoken about.”There’s probably a debate around that,” Ponting said. “At the end of the day, all the players want to be playing as many games for Australia as they possibly can. It’s important then that you maximise your training time and the time you get in the middle to make sure your game is where it needs to be. I’m sure that’s what Mike’s thinking is this week.”All the Australian players will have at least one more opportunity to play Sheffield Shield cricket before the battle for the urn begins in Brisbane on November 25, but England will have three first-class warm-up games during the same period. The majority of Australia’s Test players are preparing to face Sri Lanka in a one-day series, but Ponting was not concerned about his men having a lack of first-class action ahead of the first Test.”The fact that Johnson and Hussey came home early from India to play that Shield game last week, we’re doing what we can to get as much first-class cricket in to our players before the first Test match come around,” he said. “The international programme is what we’ve got – there’s not much we can do about it. We’ve just got to make sure we’ve got all our guys in the best physical and technical shape that we can have them in come the start of the Ashes series.”

Ian Bell has been added to England’s squad for the remaining two one-day internationals in the NatWest Series against Pakistan

Cricinfo staff19-Sep-2010Batsman Ian Bell, who scored a century in Saturday’s CB40 final, has been added to England’s squad for the remaining two one-day internationals in the NatWest Series against Pakistan.Bell has not been part of the England set-up since breaking a bone in his foot while fielding during the second one-day international against Bangladesh at Bristol earlier this summer. He has since recovered from the metatarsal injury, scoring 107 off 95 balls in Warwickshire’s victory over Somerset at Lord’s.”It’s fantastic to have him back in the squad,” Andrew Strauss, the England captain, said. “He wasn’t in originally because we weren’t sure about where he was in his recovery and he needed some cricket for Warwickshire. He’s played very well and strengthens are squad to give us more options batting wise.”Bell made a successful return to the one-day squad in the first match against Bangladesh, where he struck an unbeaten 84 to seal victory at Trent Bridge but was soon back on the sidelines after his injury at Bristol. With England’s impressive one-day form it’s a battle to find a place in the line-up, especially with Kevin Pietersen to return, but Bell feels he is now coming into his prime.”I’ll just keep working as hard as I can to get in the side in one-day cricket as well as Test cricket,” he said. “I feel I’m improving all the time. I’m desperate to keep improving because at 28 the best years are still to come.”It’s been great to be back on field. When I did the injury the England guys and the specialists erred on the side of safety,” Bell added. “The surgeon suggested eight weeks off, I probably could have played after seven but was it worth risking it ahead of aus? Probably not.”So hats off to the ECB – Kirk Russell [the physio] and Nick Pierce the doctor got it right in terms of giving myself enough time but also getting some cricket under my belt.”Paul Collingwood, who missed the third one-dayer at The Oval with a virus, trained with the squad on Sunday at Lord’s and is likely to be available. Strauss confirmed that Bell wasn’t in as cover and will stand an equal chance of being selected.