Category Uncategorized

New Zealand fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan has suffered a hairline fracture just above his left eye, during the first ODI against Pakistan in Wellington. He picked up the injury when a bouncer burst through the gap in his helmet in the final over of New Zealand’s innings on Monday. It rules him out of the second ODI in Napier, and puts him in doubt for the final match on Sunday, as he is scheduled to undergo minor cosmetic surgery on Friday in Auckland.McClenaghan was batting on 31 from 17 deliveries when the penultimate ball of the innings – from Anwar Ali – squeezed between the peak of his helmet, and its grille to strike him flush on the left eye. Slow-motion replays showed the ball had hit him with considerable force. McClenaghan immediately fell to the ground as the umpires, the Pakistan players and non-striker Matt Henry moved towards him. He eventually rose to his feet to cheers from the crowd, after attention from the team physio. The area around his eye was swollen as he walked off the field.He did not bowl in Pakistan’s innings, spending most of it in hospital instead. He received stitches on his left eyebrow, but was well enough to tweet an update on his condition and congratulations to his team-mates after the victory. “Thanks for all the concerns. Everything is as good as it can be just a few broken bones. Great win for the boys!” he tweeted.McClenaghan is the fourth New Zealand player to be unavailable for Thursday’s game, with Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum and Tim Southee also out through injury.

It is said that legspinners enjoy longevity in cricket, often playing far longer than other bowling practitioners, and for Australian Ted Martin that has been borne out this week.While there is conjecture over exactly what his date of birth was, Martin achieved centenarian status during the past week. Several authoritative sources claim that he was born today in 1902 but there are other claims that his birth date was September 26. Whatever it was, it is now official.Martin played only two first-class matches, one for Western Australia and one for an Australian XI.Playing against Douglas Jardine’s 1932-33 team at the outset of what became known as the “Bodyline tour”, he took six wickets in the opening match of the tour and on the basis of that performance was named in the Australian XI which also played in Perth and which included Don Bradman and Vic Richardson. He didn’t take any wickets in that match.Martin had been born in Bendigo but was moved west when his father followed the gold rush. Martin did not continue his cricket career beyond these matches and instead spent a professional career in accountancy.He does join a select group of players who have achieved 100 years. He’s not the first Australian to achieve the feat, although he is the only Australian first-class player. John Wheatley, who was born in Singleton, New South Wales, played his first-class cricket, 12 matches, for Canterbury in New Zealand. He died in Waimate, South Canterbury in 1962.The closest Australian previously had been New South Welshman Ray Bardsley who died in 1983 aged 99 years, five monthsThe known full list of players before Martin were:

103y 344d   JM Hutchinson    29 Nov 1896 –  7 Nov 2000   Eng102y 253d   R De Smidt       23 Nov 1883 –  3 Aug 1986   RSA102y 247d   EA English        1 Jan 1864 –  5 Sep 1966   Eng102y 101d   J Wheatley        8 Jan 1860 – 19 Apr 1962   Aus101y 222d   DB Deodhar       14 Jan 1892 – 24 Aug 1993   India101y 191d   GRU Harman        6 Jun 1874 – 14 Dec 1975   Ire100y 217d   CH Braithwaite   10 Sep 1845 – 15 Apr 1946   USA100y  77d   GO Deane         11 Dec 1828 – 26 Feb 1929   Eng

Pakistan Customs were headed towards a big defeat as they finished the third day of their Patrons Trophy match against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at Karachi on Sunday, still needing 298 runs to win with only five wickets remaining.After having dismissed them for a poor 97 in the first innings, ZTBL left Customs a whopping target of 395 to achieve an improbable win. By stumps yesterday, Customs were tottering at 97 for 5 in their second innings. Mohammad Khalil, the left-arm seamer, who was at the centre of the ball-tampering controversy on Saturday, followed his figures of 4 for 38 with 3 for 14 in eight overs on Sunday. All his three victims failed to open their account.In their second innings, ZTBL raised a total of 238, thanks to a 103-run stand for the sixth wicket between Inam-ul-Haq (52) and Adnan Raza (55). The Customs bowlers acquited themselves well, with paceman Rizwan Akbar taking 4 for 62 and Junaid Zia polishing off the tail, ending up with figures of 3 for 50. Kashif Siddiq was the lone fighter in Customs’ second innings, batting on 59 as his side ended the day at 97 for 5.National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) required another 113 runs to beat Habib Bank with five wickets in hand, as they ended the third day of their Patrons Trophy match at Karachi on Sunday.Mohammad Sami gave the national selectors another reminder as his 4 for 79 restricted Habib Bank to a second-innings total of 217. He finished with a match-haul of nine wickets for 167 runs. Habib Bank had earlier gained a 41-run first innings lead over NBP, who were then left with 259 to register an outright victory. At stumps yesterday, they reached 146 but lost five wickets on the way.A quickfire stand of 53 for the eighth wicket took Habib Bank past the 200 mark. Captain Shahid Afridi hammered 35 off 41 balls with six fours while wicketkeeper Humayun Farhat, in his characteristic aggressive style, needed only 36 balls to make 38, with seven boundaries.NBP were rattled by former Pakistan seamer Irfan Fazil, who ended the day with 3 for 34, as four wickets were gone with only 32 runs on the board. Naumanullah, the captain, then lifted the team’s morale with an unbeaten 69, off 145 balls with 10 boundaries. He was involved in a 47-run stand with Naved Latif and with Qaiser Abbas, he added an unbeaten 67 for the sixth wicket.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) restricted Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to a first innings score of 253 and, then, finished the third day of their Patrons Trophy match at 17 for 1, at Sheikhupura on Sunday.After having been put in, SNGPL reached 154 for 5 in 44 overs in the opening day, hit by poor weather. The second day was then completely washed out. Yesterday, SNGPL added another 99.Azhar Shafiq missed a well-deserved hundred by just eight runs, after having staged a tough battle against the PIA bowlers. His 92 came off 183 deliveries with 11 fours and a six. For PIA, left-arm fast-medium bowler Najaf Shah chipped in with four wickets. Legspinner Imran Tahir dismissed the lower order, with figures of 4 for 58.With both Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) having already qualified for the quadrangular stage of the Patrons Trophy, WAPDA utilised the entire third day for batting practice, at Rawalpindi on Sunday. WAPDA resumed at their overnight score of 108 for 1 and finished at 355 yesterday with one wicket remaining.After the first day on Friday was completely washed out and only 53 overs was possible the following day. Sialkot’s Masood Asim top-scored for WAPDA with 83 off 294 balls with ten fours. His second-wicket stand with Aamer Sajjad (45) produced 73 runs and the third-wicket partnership with Jahangir Mirza (46) fetched another 82.Aamer’s 45 took only 88 balls with four fours and a six while Jahangir made his 46 off 102 balls with five fours and a six. Later, the in-form Bilal Khilji chipped in with 49 off 85 deliveries with eight boundaries. For KRL, seamer Abdur Rauf and offspinner Saeed Ajmal captured four wickets each for 59 and 114 runs, respectively.Although points are of no consequence in this match, the two teams might try to infuse some interest on the final day today trying at least to gain a first innings lead.

Pain, pain go away: Much of it seems to be of Shoaib’s own making © Getty Images

Pakistan’s obsession with Shoaib Akhtar’s fitness and commitment, increasingly a pre-series ritual, has once again got underway. Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach told Cricinfo in an exclusive interview that he still has concerns over the fast bowler’s fitness.”I understand that Shoaib Akhtar runs thirty metres to bowl and he puts a lot of effort into it. He bowls very quickly and is a massive asset to any team. But in order to do that you have to be a lot fitter than he is at the moment.”Shoaib has not played for Pakistan since January this year; he missed the tour to India with a strained hamstring and was overlooked for the subsequent Caribbean tour on the grounds that he wasn’t fit enough. Since then, he has played a handful of games at county level, the Afro-Asia series where he looked impressive and two ODIs in the recently concluded Super Series against Australia. He wasn’t included in the World XI Test squad for the one-off Test at Sydney, although Graeme Smith, the captain, was at pains to point out it wasn’t due to lack of fitness.Woolmer and the Pakistan board are keen that Shoaib proves his fitness before the England series. His largely unimpressive performance in the Super Series ODIs have not been reassuring on this count.Shaharyar Khan, the Pakistan board chairman, too has sought assurances from Shoaib about his commitment to the team and fitness, and set both down as a condition for a comeback.Shaharyar told the Karachi-based daily, , that he had spoken long and hard to Shoaib during the Super Series and explained to him exactly what he needed to do to get back into the team. Shoaib, according to Shaharyar, guaranteed him his full commitment.Woolmer expects Shoaib to play in two games before the England series, including the four-day practice game between a Pakistan XI and Lahore, in Lahore from October 26. A source close to the Pakistan team told Cricinfo that nothing short of sustained spells of fast bowling, in these conditions, over a few days, will convince the management of Shoaib’s fitness levels.Woolmer said, “He’s coming to the training camp on the 21st and he’s playing on the 26th in the practice game in Lahore so I want to see him get stuck in. We have a very important series coming up against England and it’s not about Shoaib Akhtar or Bob Woolmer.”Given that, for the first time in over a year, Pakistan have considerable depth in the fast bowling department – Mohammad Sami and Umar Gul are fit again, Shabbir Ahmed has been allowed to resume bowling and the likes of Mohammad Asif, Najaf Shah and Mohammad Khalil have also impressed recently – there will be added pressure on Shoaib to prove his fitness.Woolmer added, “The only thing I believe Shoaib has to consider is that he must get himself fit if he is to bowl consistently fast for the rest of his career. He’s 30 now so his fast bowling career has probably four years left. It doesn’t take two years to get fit, it takes two months; he has an opportunity to do that.”Woolmer also touched on problems relating to getting the message across to Shoaib, saying that he might be receiving advice from people outside the game of cricket. “It’s a major problem if you have contrary advice; either you listen to the cricket coach or you listen to people who don’t know anything about cricket. If Shoaib wants to do it his way and if he doesn’t fit the bill, he has to understand he might not get selected.”

Australia 235 and 150 for 4 (Gilchrist 49) lead India 376 (Kaif 64, Patel 54, Warne 6-125) by 9 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Mohammad Kaif: a gutsy innings in the heat of Chennai© AFP

An intriguing day’s play where punch was met by counter-punch and strategy was defied by grit set the second Test up perfectly going into the fourth day. Parthiv Patel and Mohammad Kaif stretched India’s lead on to a healthy 141 and then Australia, with Adam Gilchrist showing the way at No. 3, scrambled to 150 for 4, with a slender lead of 9.The Indian lead of 141 does not sound like an awful lot, but it was enough to put pressure on Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer. The two began shakily, but managed to get the ball away often enough to bring up the 50-run partnership before Langer’s flash outside off fell in Rahul Dravid’s lap at first slip. Langer had made 19, but it was ironic that he was the first to be dismissed, for Hayden had been the one flirting with danger. He was dropped twice by Patel behind the stumps, first when he hadn’t yet opened his account, off Zaheer Khan, and later on 21, off Anil Kumble.Eventually, though, Hayden fell on 39, but not before he had reverted to the tactic that brought him 549 runs at an uber-Bradman average of 109 on Australia’s last tour here. Hayden’s lusty sweeps were effective, but eventually caused his downfall on 39, when one ball climbed, took the edge and ballooned up for VVS Laxman to latch onto gingerly at mid-on (76 for 2).Gilchrist then showed why he was in at No. 3, sweeping Kumble, Harbhajan and Virender Sehwag for powerful boundaries in quick succession. Simon Katich, looking to be more aggressive in this innings than he had earlier in the series, reached 9 before being trapped in front of the stumps by a sharp reverse-swinging delivery from Zaheer Khan (121 for 3). Gilchrist galloped along, reaching 49 swiftly, but after a sluggish phase in sight of the half-century, was bowled around the legs by a Kumble googly (145 for 4). Only two balls before that, Patel had chalked up his third dropped catch in under 47 overs, when Gilchrist gloved Kumble down the leg side.But Patel’s day was not all about misses. Earlier, with Kaif, he proved that it was possible to bat long on this Chennai pitch. Kaif, curious stance on display – feet close together, buttocks stuck out, hands spread on the bat handle – took his guard outside the crease, and used a straight bat to great effect against the medium-pacers. Patel, waiting and watching the ball till the last possible moment before choosing his stroke, ensured that he was able to take toll when the opportunity arose.Both batsmen had just about blunted the seamers when Gilchrist turned to spin, and Patel cashed in with two quick boundaries – a pull off Katich and a heave to midwicket off Shane Warne. The partnership reached three figures and Patel had brought up his half-century.

Shane Warne: mopped up the tail and finished with his first five-wicket haul against India© Getty Images

Kaif’s selection for this Test, his first in three years, proved to be an inspired decision. His 64, coming when it did, pulled India away from Australia after Virender Sehwag had laid the foundation. Kaif’s half-century, his first in Test cricket, meant that the score had moved from 233 for 6 to 335 for 7. The partnership was broken when a delivery from Warne bounced a bit more than Patel expected, and he gloved it to the Gilchrist behind the stumps. In keeping with the spirit of this game Patel walked before David Shepherd could make up his mind.Then there was a moment of confusion as Kaif dehydrated and cramped up badly. Having dashed off the field in urgent need of relief at the stroke of lunch, Kaif remained in the dressing-room, temporarily retiring hurt. Anil Kumble (20), who had batted well in the reassuring presence of Kaif, was bowled by one that drifted and turned and Harbhajan Singh popped a return catch to Warne, as he finished with 6 for 125.Kaif (64) returned to the crease with Yuvraj Singh as a runner, but did not last too long. He came down the wicket and lifted Warne over mid-on for one glorious boundary, and ran himself out shortly after in dramatic fashion. Having reverse-swept one to the short third man region, Kaif forgot about his runner and instinctively set off down the pitch. Then he slipped and fell on the pitch clutching his leg and couldn’t make it back before the bails were whipped off. By then, though, he had done his bit.

Robin Smith has announced he will retire from first-class cricket at the end of the season. Smith cited injury problems for his decision to leave Hampshire after 22 years.

Robin Smith pulls against South Africa at The Wanderers in 1995-96

He said today: “I feel now is the right time to go although I know I shall miss cricket badly. I find it difficult to get over injuries as quickly as I did and at my age I am not going to get any better.” In his benefit year at Hampshire, Smith has played 10 Championship games this season, scoring 522 runs at an average of 37.28. He added: “I’ve enjoyed every minute of the last 23 years and I thank Hampshire for the support that has enabled me to achieve my ambition to playing till the age of 40.”Rod Bransgrove, Hampshire’s chairman, said: “In my opinion, Robin Smith has been the most influential player in the history of Hampshire cricket. Besides winning many, many matches, he has also won the hearts and minds of Hampshire supporters everywhere. I fully understand and respect Robin’s decision to retire from playing and I look forward to working with him in the second phase of his career with Hampshire Cricket.”Speculation was rife that Smith was going to call it a day after he tore his hamstring two weeks ago. He said: “There is some talking to be done about my future. If one is realistic about me having played my last game then you could think along those lines.” He added that he still hoped to play in Hampshire’s final National League match, against Derbyshire on September 21.Smith, who is 40 on September 13, has scored 18,984 runs for Hampshire and scored 49 first-class hundreds in 307 matches. He played in 62 Tests for England between 1988 and 1996, scoring 4236 runs at 43.67, and 71 ODIs.

Canterbury captain Gary Stead (35 not out) today led his team to a maiden win at the Village Green at the eighth attempt, and more importantly broke Canterbury’s 17-game streak without winning a first-class match that dates back to February 1999.Canterbury’s players knew they never had a better chance giving Stead a second victory in his 26th game in charge. In the end he hit the winning runs himself as Canterbury triumphed at 6.23pm by four wickets.Although Canterbury have just one new player in the team this season he is proving to be a key man, with a match-winning performance here today.Paul Wiseman, in his second game for his new team, took five for 99 off 30 overs and five balls to give Canterbury a total of 131 to chase for victory.In the State Championship match with Otago, Canterbury had been on top since the outset, but closing the deal on a win was unknown territory for several of their young players.Wiseman almost forced a win at Rangiora against champions Wellington last week, but, as the off spinner told CricInfo, “Unfortunately we missed out by a couple of millimetres in the end.”Today nothing could stop the rejuvenated Cantabrians from grabbing the six points.Canterbury’s new slow bowler was referring to a ball he bowled to Wellington’s Andrew Penn that clipped the off bail and then sat back down again.”That would have left us about 20 overs at number 10 and 11 which would have made the difference,” Wiseman said.It was different today, as the upbeat Canterbury team took regular wickets and Otago batted recklessly at times.Otago, beginning the day at 30 without loss, lost wickets regularly, with no batsman passing 23 other than Village Green specialist Andrew Hore, who block-bashed his way to 70 with four sixes, all hit off Wiseman. All but one of Hore’s four fifties and two centuries have come on the true Queen Elizabeth II Stadium pitch.Wiseman, who took his 13th first-class five-wicket bag today said: “The wicket at Rangiora was pretty flat and didn’t turn a lot. This had a little bit more in it and the batsmen were a little bit more attacking, which gave us chances as well. That’s probably the difference. It was turning a little bit and bouncing a little bit. That makes a lot of difference to me than one that doesn’t.”The former Otago man said, “I’m enjoying the change of scene. It’s a good bunch of guys and some good players are coming through. There’s some really good enthusiasm and some really good team spirit here.””It’s been tough not playing for Otago because they’re great friends of mine so it’s been a mixed bag. It’s been great playing for a new team and being in good positions,” the 31-year-old 14-Test veteran continued.Getting one over on his former team mates was no problem for Wiseman. “It’s always good taking wickets no matter who it’s against,” he said.As for the international team, for whom Wiseman had “a little jaunt” last month, when Daniel Vettori was injured, “I don’t even think about it,” he said. “Thank God Dan has got fit for New Zealand because he has put us in a great position of winning a Test series over there,” he concluded.Canterbury’s selectors will be hoping Vettori stays that way and keeps Wiseman, who was at the wicket when the winning runs were hit, out of the Black Caps to make sure their new prized asset is available to keep win more games for them like he did today.

Michael Strong Photo © Allsport UK

Debutant Michael Strong broke the back of Yorkshire’s innings with threewickets in twenty deliveries as Northamptonshire, who have never lost to the Tykes in this competition, beat their visitors by 69 runs in their NatWest Trophy fourth-round match at Wantage Road. The 26 year-old quick bowler sent back Gary Fellows, Richard Blakey and Darren Lehmann as Yorkshire slumped to 183 all out.Northamptonshire’s own 252 runs total had been built around a 118 runsthird-wicket partnership between Matthew Hayden (63) and David Sales (65) which had retrieved the ground lost by the early dismissal of Adrian Rollins and Mal Loye to Gavin Hamilton. The Australian hit a six and seven fours in his stay of 69 deliveries, and Sales’ more circumspect approach – taking 94 balls – showed why he had been made Northamptonshire’s player-of-the-month for a sequence of impressive limited-overs performances.Lehmann’s slow left-arm spin dismissed Sales and Graeme Swann in the courseof four balls when Northamptonshire at 207-3 seemed to be set for a huge score.That was but a prelude to Darren Gough (4-36) finishing off the lower-order but the 252 runs total offered Yorkshire a stiff target.It looked even more formidable when they sagged to 28-3 against Strong’sinitial assault in his first match in the competition. Shortly afterwards Devon Malcolm took the prized wicket of Michael Vaughan to a catch in the covers. At 36-4 Anthony McGrath (64) and David Byas (33) showed some resilience in taking the score to 73 when Tony Penberthy effectively settled the matter by dismissing Byas. McGrath’s departure after 69 deliveries merely underlined the inevitable. Last man Gough was run out with Yorkshire still out of sight of their target.

[ad_pod ]

The archetypal modern footballer, Jesse Lingard’s off-pitch activities probably get him as much reaction as what he does on the pitch.

The Manchester United star has come under fire by some for his apparent lack of focus on football itself, but has generally been one of the Red Devils’ more consistent performers.

With England’s Nations League campaign coming to an end, Lingard is off on his holidays and took to

/Byp2CKTpEI-/” data-lasso->Instagram to share the news.

The snap led to Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson to respond with a short message, with the duo seemingly striking up a friendship whilst on international duty together with the Three Lions.

After struggling in the early parts of the season under Jose Mourinho, Lingard seemed to come to the fore under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and ended the campaign with five goals and four assists across all competitions.

The midfielder however was unable to inspire the side to a Champions League finish, with United finishing in sixth and facing Europa League football next season.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Having impressed Solskjaer enough this season, reports in recent weeks have suggested Lingard will be offered a new and improved contract that will see him earn around £130k-a-week, with his existing deal currently only lasting until 2021.

A 33-ball partnership of 64 runs for the eighth wicket between Josh Clarkson and Seth Rance led Central Districts to a two-wicket win over Northern Districts after five rain interruptions at Hamilton’s Seddon Park. Central Districts faced a revised target of 200 runs in 33 overs after Daryl Mitchell’s unbeaten knock of 93 took Northern Districts to 266 for 6 in their 50 overs.Clarkson struck three fours and three sixes in his 24-ball 48 and was ably supported by Rance, who hit a 19-ball stay of 32. This after some tight bowling from Ish Sodhi and Scott Kuggeleijn – both of whom picked up two wickets each – had Central Districts struggling at 123 for 7. Once Rance fell with Central Districts needing another 13 runs to win, Clarkson took over and finished the match with five balls to spare.Earlier in the day, Mitchell struck seven fours and four sixes in his 93. Dean Brownlie struck 47 and Nick Kelly hit 57 runs, but that proved to be not enough for Northern Districts. The win was Central Districts’ first of the season in three games.Inclement weather in Dunedin and Wellington meant the fixtures between Otago and Canterbury, and Wellington and Auckland respectively were washed out without a ball being bowled.