Arsenal are keen to ruin Emma Hayes’ Chelsea swan song as Gunners midfielder Lia Walti has had some fighting talk before the London derby.
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James Anderson became just the third fast bowler and sixth overall to reach the landmark when he removed Kraigg Brathwaite in the sunshine at Lord’s
Alan Gardner08-Sep-2017James Anderson has become the third fast bowler, and sixth overall, to reach 500 Test wickets. He reached the landmark on the second day against West Indies at Lord’s, when he bowled Kraigg Brathwaite.Anderson, who was the first English bowler to pass 400 in Tests, came into the third Investec Test needing three wickets to join an even more exclusive club. Among quicks, only Glenn McGrath and Courtney Walsh have previously managed to combine threat and longevity to the same level; out ahead, beyond the 600 mark, are the spin trio of Anil Kumble, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.After striking twice on the first morning of the match to move to 499, Anderson was made to wait for the landmark as Ben Stokes ripped through West Indies’ first innings with figures of 6 for 22. But second time around he didn’t have to wait long, spearing a full delivery through Brathwaite with his 12th delivery.After taking a five-for on debut at Lord’s against Zimbabwe in 2003, Anderson’s early years with England were characterised by struggles with injury and changes to his action. His return to the team on the 2008 tour of New Zealand – having reverted to the distinctive delivery style that sees his head facing the ground – marked the start of his ascent to becoming England’s most prolific international wicket-taker.In Antigua in 2015, he passed Ian Botham’s mark of 383, which had stood since 1992, and he then raised 400 against New Zealand, at Headingley, a few weeks later. Anderson is also England’s most successful bowler in ODIs, with 269 wickets, to go alongside a further 18 in T20 internationals. Last month, he was honoured by Lancashire with the naming of the James Anderson End at Old Trafford.Although he has been reluctant to set targets, Anderson has often spoken of wanting to play for England for as long as possible. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo last week, he said: “There’s no reason I can’t play until I’m 40. I am now as skilful a bowler as I have ever been and consistent as well. I don’t know whether I’ve peaked but I think I’m bowling as well as I have.”I wouldn’t rule out playing in the Ashes of 2020-21, either. I’m very fortunate to have the body I have. For a fast bowler, not much stress goes through my body. A lot less than a lot of other fast bowlers. It’s just a case of looking after myself. If I can keep fit, keep my speeds up there’s no reason why not.”While Anderson’s injury record in 2015 and 2016 was cause for concern, as he missed Tests against Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and India, he has maintained his fitness this year and been as potent as ever in English conditions.”His record speaks for itself,” Chris Woakes said during the second Test, at Headingley. “If you think of the greats that have gone on to get that sort of landmark it’s pretty amazing. He’s a great guy to have in the dressing room. The thing we take from his as bowlers is he’s still motivated to improve and get more.”Anderson is set to go on his fourth Ashes tour of Australia this winter, where he may be able to contemplate surpassing Walsh, the next man ahead of him, on 519. A little further along, on 563, is McGrath, who said last year that Anderson could “easily” break his record for a fast bowler, if he stayed fit.
Former India batsman Mohinder Amarnath has quit the steering committee tasked with the responsibility of forming the players’ association
ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jun-2017Former India batsman Mohinder Amarnath has quit the steering committee tasked with the responsibility of forming the players’ association.Amarnath is understood to have left because of his commentary assignments. “He wants to do [those assignments]. He can’t do both,” a member of the Committee of Administrators told ESPNcricinfo.With two other members of the steering committee – Diana Edulji and Anil Kumble – already having recused themselves, the committee is now down to one; only its chairman, former union home secretary GK Pillai, remains. While Edulji opted out because of her role as a member of the CoA, Kumble withdrew after he had taken over as India coach.The CoA will now approach the Supreme Court for direction. “There is no steering committee as such as of today. We will be approaching the court to see what needs to be done,” the official said. “We will mention this in our status report that will be submitted to the court. Whether another sub-committee is created or the CoA is entrusted with the task, it is up to the Supreme Court to decide”.The steering committee was established in early 2016 to oversee the formation of the players’ association in accordance with the recommendations of the Lodha Committee. It was asked to “identify and invite all eligible ex-cricketers to be members, to open bank accounts, receive funds from the BCCI, conduct the first elections for office bearers, communicate the names of BCCI-player nominees to the board”.The Lodha Committee felt it was important to give the players “a voice” to express their concerns but barred them from forming a “trade union of any sort”. The committee also recommended the need to advance the welfare of players, including insurance, medical and other commercial benefits. While there was strident opposition to the recommendation initially from the BCCI, the board later “unanimously” accepted it at its special general meeting on October 1.The official said the CoA had also established a sub-committee to look into the registration and regulation of player agents. The Maharashtra Cricket Association’s Abhay Apte and BCCI CEO Rahul Johri are understood to be in the sub-committee, which has three members at the moment. Two more members will be added on later, comprising representatives of the players’ association. “The sub-committee of three members will carry out the duties till the players’ association is formed,” the official said. “Once the players’ association is formed two of its members will be drafted into this panel”.
Jurgen Klopp joked Liverpool were "lucky" with their summer transfer dealings after failed moves to sign Chelsea duo Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
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We’ve observed him from afar, sat through cliché-riddled press conferences and become infuriated at his brooding demeanour. Will the real Duncan Fletcher please stand up?
Will Luke18-Nov-2007
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We’ve observed him from afar, sat through cliché-riddled press conferences and become infuriated at his brooding demeanour. Would the real Duncan Fletcher please stand up?At last, in his autobiography, , he has – and how. The week preceding the book’s publication caused an understandable media furore, with revelations of Andrew Flintoff’s drinking and of the back-room decisions Fletcher was forced to make. Equally predictably, though less understandably, Fletcher was made a scapegoat for revealing these brilliantly juicy insights.Anyone who has read the anodyne (and often premature) autobiographies of sporting figures which litter the shelves won’t mind one little bit. may be slightly ill timed – no cautious forward press, here – but dull it is not.Fletcher is a man who places great emphasis on trust and loyalty, and it comes as no surprise that Steve James, his former comrade at Glamorgan and friend of many years, helped write it. Broken up into 13 chapters, the book spans his life from childhood right up to the World Cup, when he resigned.He begins with a fascinating background to his happy childhood in Zimbabwe, growing up on a farm with a protective (and revealingly, loyal) family. His five siblings – four boys and Ann – were, we are told, far more talented at sport than the young Duncan. This rivalry instilled his determination and sharpened his mental focus on his one sport, cricket.It’s the later chapters, involving his time with Glamorgan, and then as England coach, that contain the most salacious insights. His difficulties with David Graveney; his surprise when offered the England coaching job; his spat with Henry Blofeld (surprising), and the “mutual dislike” of Geoffrey Boycott (less surprising). And, of course, the Flintoff saga in Chapter 13 which is rather dramatically entitled “The Winter from Hell”.But something jars. The book lives up to its title – we are certainly given an insight into a previously mysterious man – but it has an underlying seam of bitterness and resentment which, for someone who has achieved so much, is a disappointment and a little sad. Chapters are sprinkled with insistences that the reader “must understand”; that the media twisted his words and cheated the truth; that he is right and everyone else is wrong. If he never cared about the media during his tenure, why bother now?But this is Fletcher, after all. Dogged, determined and stubborn as a mule. Forthright views are no less than we expect. He and James should be lauded for producing a book that remains interesting from cover to cover while never dodging sensitive issues from the past.
Arjuna Ranatunga, recently appointed the chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, talks about his plans – both for the long run and short – and the changes Sri Lankan cricket needs
Interview by Charlie Austin18-Jan-2008
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If you were to prioritise one aspect of Sri Lanka’s cricket that needs urgent attention and needs to be a key focus of your tenure in charge of Sri Lanka Cricket, what would that be?
Junior cricket. Our school cricket has been neglected for too long. I am not pointing fingers, I just think that that has been too much focus on the top, the national team, which has had a detrimental impact on junior cricket. There was a time, in the 1980s and even early 1990s, when a handful of cricketers, perhaps five or six, could be accommodated into the national squad straight from the school system – a school system that was the envy of the world. Sadly, this is no longer the case.What has gone wrong with school’s cricket?
I think the change to limited-overs cricket at the younger age groups – Under-13 and Under-15 – was a mistake. Even when we were 12, 13 and 14 we used to play full-day matches from 9.30am to 6pm. We’d play aggressive and positive cricket. But these days the kids play just overs cricket and learn less. In addition, coaching has become a business and winning has become too important. When I was growing up Sri Lanka had some fantastic coaches – the likes of Lionel Mendis, Bertie Wijesinghe and Nelson Mendis to name just a few – who were committed to cricket and had a huge passion. Nowadays, with a combination of pressure from school principals, Old Boy Associations and parents, all that matters is winning. Spinners are finding it tougher and players are not learning how to be creative and think on their feet. Go to a school match these days and the coach will probably be standing on the boundary edge setting the field. That approach is not conducive to developing quality cricketers.So what are you going to do about this?
Well, DS de Silva has been appointed by president Mahinda Rajapakse as a cricket advisor and we have asked him to spend four to six weeks researching the current situation. We hope he’ll be able to come up with a good solid proposal that will be discussed with a strong Cricket Committee, which is to be headed by Aravinda de Silva. We hope to have a plan for the future very soon.You have just completed the inaugural one-day Provincial Tournament, soon to be followed by the Provincial T20 and later this year a four-day competition – is this now going to become the bedrock of the domestic professional game?
Yes. We have to raise the standard of first-class cricket to bridge a growing divide between our first-class cricket and the international arena. We have the talent, no doubt about that, but our players are not developing as fast as they should be. For example, under the club system, a top batsman may be exposed to one high-class bowler in each game, but at the other end he’ll be able to pick off runs more easily. The obvious and only solution is concentrating the talent so the best players play against each other. The provincial system will achieve this. We’ve already seen this in the one-day series that finished recently. Batsmen were made to work really hard. The matches were competitive and the cricket of a much higher standard than normal club cricket. So we are looking at provincial cricket being the main competition, and the main arena for national selection. Below that we are considering the option of a district-level tier that feeds into the provinces – there are about 22 districts which could be feeding into their respective provinces. And then below this will sit the club system which will also remain a very important component of the national system.How do you anticipate the clubs taking this? It will be a radical departure from the current system and could be unpopular.
I am here to go the right job. When the president asked me to be chairman he gave me one instruction: “Get cricket right.” That is what I have to do. I will have to make tough decisions and I am ready to do that. That might make me unpopular in some quarters. But being popular is not as important as giving our cricket the right structure so that we can be a consistent global force. We need to be challenging Australia for the No. 1 position in the world.Interim and Executive Committees come and go promising to change the system and make Sri Lanka the best team in the world. Invariably, though, the status quo remains. How can you force through proper change and also safeguard those developments under future administrations?
It is too early to go into specifics, but the plan is for us to spend the next few weeks reviewing the current system. There will be lots of consultation and discussion. Crucially, our leading cricketers, from the past and present, will be at the forefront of this. Our job will be to come up with a proper plan which we will take to the sports minister. This can then become the basis of a national policy of cricket and a new constitution for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that will protect us from the problems that have plagued us in the past. Now is the time to get things right.
| It is the cricketers that have generated the television and sponsorship revenues that are now financing SLC and it is the duty of the administration to make sure this money is spent responsibly. Cricketers need to be in charge of the cricket board with support from high caliber administrators, including financial and marketing expertise | |||
So a feature of your administration is going to be the greater participation of the cricketers?
Absolutely. This is the key. It is the cricketers that have generated the television and sponsorship revenues that are now financing SLC and it is the duty of the administration to make sure this money is spent responsibly. Cricketers need to be in charge of the cricket board with support from high caliber administrators, including financial and marketing expertise. The cricketers are in the best position to get our cricket structures right. They have been through the system and they understand the needs of professional sportsmen. The Cricket Committee, headed by Aravinda, will have increased power to implement their policies and plans. I have ideas of my own, but it is this Cricket Committee that will shape the future of our game.Does this also mean a closer relationship being forged between the cricket board and the SL Players’ Association?
Yes, absolutely, we want the input of cricketers and we want to have a closer relationship with the SLCA. We are even looking at the possibility of them having an office within the board.Just prior to your appointment it was alleged in the media that the previous administration, headed by Jayantha Dharmadasa, extended the Ten Sports television agreement from the end of the current contract, due to expire at the end of 2008, to 2012 without a proper bidding process. What is the status of this?
The sports minister has put a stop to the deal for the time being. We now need to sit and discuss with the lawyers to find out what has happened and whether everything has been handled in a legal manner. All the documents are with the lawyers and we are awaiting their advice. It is too early to make any further comment, but it is an issue that we are addressing as a matter of importance.There was also talk of a corruption probe – is that taking place?
We want to do an independent financial and management audit and we are already speaking to leading audit firms about this. There has been 10 years of financial wastage in this cricket board and this needs to stop. We don’t have the money to waste – we have to spend our cash wisely. Thus, we feel professional expertise is required to get our financial and administration procedures right. We hope the audit can take place within a time frame of four to six weeks and that the recommendations will form part of the report or plan we forward to the sports minister.There have been several selection problems and controversies in recent times. How are you going to address this?
We do need to sort out the unpleasantness that has happened over the past year or so regarding selection. But to be honest I think a lot of this has resulted from miscommunication. With better communication we can have a much better system. We’ve already had a really constructive dialogue with the selectors. We don’t want to get directly involved in selecting teams. That is the job of the selection panel and not the cricket board, but I do feel that we need to better define their role within a national cricket policy. They need directives so we are all pushing in the same direction. For example, we need to be clear as to criteria for selection – should this be provincial or club cricket? We need to discuss and come up with a clear and open plan understood by everyone.
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What are your initial thoughts on long-term development projects – is Pallakelle Stadium in Kandy going ahead and are any more big projects in the pipeline?
Yes, Pallakelle is going ahead although we have to raise the funds first. However, I also think we have enough international stadiums now. We also don’t have the money to keep spending millions on big projects. If outside investors come in, that’s fine. We can look at that, but we have to be sensible with our finances. Instead, my opinion is that our development focus should be on developing high-performance centres in each province and also a good ground and training facility in each district. These projects will be less costly and will ensure a greater number of cricketers island-wide will have access to quality facilities. It will spread opportunity and help us tap the huge talent in our outstations.In the past you have been quite outspoken about foreign coaches and critical of Sri Lanka’s failure to develop homegrown coaches. Will you be looking to develop more local coaches, physiotherapists and physical trainers?
We have top coaches and most of these are employed overseas. So this shows we have talented coaches in Sri Lanka. What I’d like to see is this talent being developed. And, in addition, we have to encourage more first-class cricketers into coaching and umpiring positions especially. We need to be able to fast-track them to make it an attractive career opportunity.In general, what are your ambitions in terms of the national team?
I want us to raise our standards to be able to compete with Australia. This is a very achievable objective if we can close the gap between domestic and international cricket. As I have said before, we have the talent here in Sri Lanka. We should be looking at the 2011 World Cup as a major priority. We have a great chance of winning that if we get things right now. That will also entail protecting some of our older players, like Murali, who I think should be playing in only major ODI tournaments in future. He is a huge asset for Sri Lanka and needs to be protected very carefully.How will your appointment change Sri Lanka’s position in terms of other nations? Will you, for example, aim to develop a close relationship with India?
We have to have a strong and close relationship with India, but we also have to have healthy relationships with the other Test nations. I think we have done pretty well in recent years in terms of attracting top teams to Sri Lanka, but I would like to see more proper tours. Two Test matches in a series is too little and we should aim for a minimum of three per series. In addition, we need to look at the A team and make sure they are playing at least one series outside Asia, one in Asia and one in Sri Lanka each year. We need them to be feeding players into the national team and that means they have to be playing more series in the likes of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to gather more experience of different conditions.
Eldine Baptiste and West Indies U-19 coach Graeme West are set to join Mike Young as the lead talent evaluators at US scouting combines, which are scheduled to begin this weekend in Los Angeles
Peter Della Penna07-Apr-2016West Indies national selector Eldine Baptiste and West Indies U-19 coach Graeme West are set to join Mike Young as the lead talent evaluators at US scouting combines, which is being held in eight cities around the USA over the next two months, beginning this weekend in Los Angeles. Baptiste and West’s appointment was announced on Wednesday by the ICC Americas office, which is coordinating each scouting combine.”I am thoroughly looking forward to working with Mike Young as well as the ICC Americas and local cricket community on this project” Baptiste said. “It is a great opportunity for the players across the USA and extremely exciting for the development of the game.”Baptiste has prior experience working in an Associate cricket setup. Baptiste coached Kenya from September 2009 to April 2011, but stepped down shortly after Kenya’s win-less performance at the 2011 World Cup in India.The candidates at each city-based combine will also be put through a series of skills, fitness and agility tests conducted by BAM (Basic Athletic Measurement) Testing. BAM conducts skills and agility tests at the annual NBA Draft Rookie Combine. Headquartered in Seattle, BAM was founded in 2008 by former Dallas Mavericks head strength and conditioning coach Brett Brungardt.”I’m intrigued to see how these cricketers stack up against some of the best athletes I’ve seen in basketball and other major US sports,” Brungardt said ahead of the first regional combine in Los Angeles.Young and ICC Americas high performance consultant Tom Evans are the two main holdovers from the trial held last September in Indianapolis, which also featured players from Argentina, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Canada and Suriname. Venkatapathy Raju and Courtney Walsh were utilized as the lead talent evaluators at that combine along with Young.This weekend’s trial in Los Angeles is the first of eight city-based trials conducted by the ICC to establish a national-team talent pool at men’s, women’s and U-17 levels. At the end of the eight trials, concluding in New York, the ICC is expected to name a group of 20-30 players in each category for a second round of auditions to be held later in the summer.More than 100 applications were received for the men’s trial in Los Angeles, with 55 players making the final list of invitees. They include eight current or former USA senior team players and six former USA U-19 players. The first trial for women’s and U-17 players will take place in San Francisco from April 14.
Mitchell Marsh scored his maiden Test hundred and Steven Smith batted through the day for a double as England were ground into the dirt at the WACA
The Report by Brydon Coverdale16-Dec-20172:23
Vaughan: Smith has the special skill and hunger of greatness
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt would be hard to imagine a day of greater Australian dominance than this one. It was a day on which Steven Smith made his second Test double-century, Mitchell Marsh scored his maiden Test hundred, England claimed just a single wicket and Australia piled on 346 runs. A day that began with Australia trailing by 200 finished with them 146 runs in front, and with a realistic chance of pushing for victory – and the urn – over the next two days. Remind us why Australia would want to move Ashes Tests away from the WACA?But a caveat is necessary, for it was not a day that necessarily ended England’s campaign. The pitch remains good for batting – that is stating the obvious – and there is rain forecast over the next two days in Perth. It remains very possible that England will escape from this match with a draw, and as the holders of the Ashes, that would keep them alive in the series. Alive, but demoralised. They might have known that Smith could score a mountain of runs, but Mitchell Marsh eyeing off a Test double-century by stumps? They’d have been more likely to expect the Spanish Inquisition.This was a day that can best be illustrated by the numbers, and at the close of play, the numbers were these: Smith was on 229, Marsh was on 181, and Australia had 4 for 549. Hundreds were also piling up in England’s bowling analysis: Craig Overton, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali had all conceded centuries by the close of play, and if James Anderson – currently at 0 for 85 – joins them on the fourth day, it will be just the eighth time in Test history that a team has had five or more bowlers concede 100 in the same innings.Some more numbers: by stumps, the Smith-Marsh partnership was worth 301 runs, the most prolific partnership Smith has ever been involved in at Test level. And Marsh’s score was already the sixth-highest of all time by an Australian No.6. Along the way, Smith passed 1000 runs in a calendar year for the fourth consecutive year, joining Matthew Hayden as the only men to achieve this feat, and Smith has done so averaging 60-plus in every year.The day had started in vaguely reasonable style for England, when they claimed the wicket of Shaun Marsh, who edged Moeen to slip for 28. It was the only reason England had to celebrate all day. Reasons for optimism were rare: occasionally Smith edged, but his soft hands always ensured the ball dropped short of the slips, and an lbw review from England against Smith found that Anderson had over-stepped, although in any case the umpire’s on-field call of not-out would have been upheld by the ball tracking.Mitchell Marsh roars after hitting his maiden Test hundred•Getty Images
No matter what Joe Root tried, it failed. In the morning, Smith brought up the fastest century of his Test career, a 138-ball effort that showed just as much ability to read the circumstances as had his slowest Test hundred, scored at the Gabba earlier in this series. He continued to be strong when cover-driving, when walking across the stumps and whipping to leg, and frankly playing wherever he wanted to.Marsh was especially powerful driving straight down the ground and through the off side, and also found the gaps when cutting. He let out a roar after bringing up his home-town hundred in the final over before tea, with a pair of boundaries through point off Broad, the milestone coming from his 130th delivery. His efforts had continued a fine summer of selections from the Australian panel, who have found excellent contributions from Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine and now Mitchell Marsh, three selections that sparked much debate.And still the runs kept piling up. Late in the day, Smith moved past his previous highest Test score of 215, and had been at the crease for nearly 10 hours. He was just the fifth Australia captain to score an Ashes double-century, after Billy Murdoch, Don Bradman, Bob Simpson and Allan Border.Marsh by the close was eyeing off a double-century, a sentence which on its own tells all that need be told about this day. The result was that England were sunk, if not in the series, then at least in their hopes of winning this Test.
Andre Onana is reportedly set to start for Cameroon against Senegal following his 5,000-mile AFCON dash to the Ivory Coast from Manchester United.
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Man United and Liverpool will not compete at the revamped Club World Cup in 2025 after the FIFA Council made a huge decision on Sunday.
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