Sunderland fans are not happy with Chris Coleman’s comments about their home form.
Speaking after yet another home defeat on Tuesday, Coleman seemed optimistic about the game at QPR this weekend solely because it isn’t at home.
“We have another game in 4 days, maybe it is good it is away from home because we do not perform here,” the Welshman said.
Coleman’s side showed all their worst qualities against Villa on Tuesday night, allowing Lewis Grabban to score from a failed clearance before letting James Chester nod home in first half stoppage time to double the lead.
The hosts showed little signs of life before conceding the third goal, prompting shouts of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” from the home fans.
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Three-nil did not flatter Aston Villa, and the home form simply cannot continue if Sunderland are to stay up. The Black Cats have won just twice at home in the league all season.
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The final home game of the season is against promotion favourites Wolves, but Preston, Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich and Burton Albion all make trips to the Stadium of Light before then. While none of these are easy fixtures, they are certainly winnable.
Sunderland fans have been reacting to Coleman’s comments on Twitter, and they are not best pleased…
Garry Monk took over as Swansea City manager last season after the departure of Michael Laudrup.
He was seen as a temporary solution to stabilise the club whilst a more permanent solution was sought. Since then, however, he has gone on to make quite a name for himself in a short space of time and looks like he fits well into life as a Premiership manager, with statistics suggesting he is doing a better job already than his Dane predecessor.
Last Saturday’s gritty draw at Sunderland took Swansea to ten points — a quarter of the way to the initial target of 40 — after only six league games. At the same stage last season, Laudrup’s side had only seven points on the board. And the season before that when Brendan Rodgers was in charge of their first season in the top flight they had five points at the same stage of the season.
Much is made in football about how vital managerial experience is before taking on a Premier League team with favour being shown to those who have been in management for a long period of time than a young, newly retired ex-player taking charge of a former club.
On the whole, this opinion tends to be correct given that in recent seasons, those who have not long hung up their football boots and gone straight into managing a Premiership team do not tend to be very successful.
Alan Shearer had a spell in the Newcastle hot-seat as emergency cover but could not stop them from being relegated. Gianfranco Zola had a very bad spell in charge of Premiership outfit West Ham with a severe lack of managerial experience and was was very soon out of his depth, failing to hold on to his job. Paulo Di Canio was another young manager who came into Premiership football too quickly and was soon out of his depth with Sunderland.
So what sets Garry Monk aside from the rest? Much has to be said of the romance associated with a former player taking charge of his beloved club, with mixed results. Billy Bonds, a much loved legend and hero at West Ham, was turned on by the fans after a poor managerial spell, which shows even the most loved of players might not have the same luck as a manager.
One has to admire Monk for his passion and grit. He displays a determination to succeed that is infectious throughout his whole club and is reflected by his players. Swansea remain aware of their real club status among the bigger boys in the Premiership with no illusions of grandeur, yet they play with a lot of confidence and gusto, often showing a winning mentality and a lack of fear that is rare to see from the so-called “smaller” sides.
Monk has the black and white colours of Swansea running in his veins after a ten year playing career for the Swans. He was established as a long serving player who had seen the club rise like a phoenix from the ashes, on the brink of extension to the giddy heights of the top flight of English football.
He saw it all and was involved heavily in most of the ups and downs at the Welsh side. This is what sets him apart from the rest. This new managerial position is more than just a day job to Monk, it is his passion, his life and his soul. Having seen the struggle to get the Swans up to where they are now, with a solid base of great football, stable finances and a decent squad to build on, he is determined to prove the doubters wrong and take his club up to the next level.
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Some people will always pencil Swansea in to the relegation favourites pigeon hole despite the fact they have steered clear of any type of serious relegation dog-fight since their arrival three seasons ago.
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We can all agree that the job of refereeing a football match is a difficult one; a task that will only get trickier the higher up the football ladder you climb, while coping with all of the external pressures must take a very thick skin. It is not an enviable task in the slightest, yet there have been several big Premier League games this season which have been ruined by poor officiating, with many match officials choosing to rule by the letter of the law rather than taking into account the mitigating factors which had led to the incident.
Having sympathy for the nearly impossible job that referees up and down the country have each and every weekend and slamming them for the poor decisions they make would seem to be a contradictory stance to take, but it’s one that the vast majority of us fall into. Obviously, you get plenty of former players in the studio on TV with an even looser grasp of the laws than most fans, with Jamie Redknapp in particular only believing it counts as a deliberate handball if you happen to be looking at the ball at the exact time of the infringement, which is baffling to say the least.
The benefit of hindsight is often being used as a stick to beat officials with, as if after Graeme Souness has seen a touch and go decision from eight different angles can confidently claim that the referee has ‘had a shocker there’. This retrospective school of thinking has quickly altered and distorted the way we view incidents, but the men in black out on the pitch get just one chance to view an issue and split-seconds to make a judgement call. By its very nature, simply due to the pace of the game, mistakes will be made, and often. Calls of bias or ‘unfair treatment’ are commonplace among the managing fraternity as a tool to distract attention elsewhere rather than focus on their own deficiencies.
Nevertheless, aside from the sort of close calls which it often takes several angles and umpteenth viewings to come to any sort of definitive decision, there are those which are so obvious that even in real time, from a stand a considerable distance away from the pitch, look simple to adjudge, but are given a baffling decision.
For example, Gareth Bale has already been booked three times this season for diving. Of the three incidents, two of them were perhaps fouls on the Tottenham winger, with one just a flat-out poor decision which saw the call go against him simply down to his theatrics. He has a reputation as a diver now, and rightly so after his swan lake impression for a penalty against Arsenal last season, but some officials appear to be letting that influence their judgements.
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There are several grey areas with this, because ‘simulation’ does not just take into account diving. For example, during the dull 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge between Chelsea and Manchester City last month, Mario Balotelli was cautioned for diving by Chris Foy after he grabbed the ball 30 yards from goal and charged towards the edge of the box, before seemingly flinging himself into David Luiz’s elbow to try and earn a free kick in a dangerous position.
What exactly was Luiz supposed to do differently in that situation? Balotelli had already made his mind up to make a deliberate attempt to ‘earn’ the free kick. Nevertheless, the outcry that the Italian was then booked was hysterical to say the last. According to the Laws of the Game: “A player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour if (he) attempts to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to be fouled.” While a booking may have been harsh, the decision was correct. The context was that the situation was pre-judged, therefore can be considered cheating as such and under the bracket of simulation.
However, turn your attentions back to a different encounter at Stamford Bridge just a few weeks previously, the 3-2 game between the hosts and Manchester United, and Mark Clattenburg came to a very different conclusion. There was contact on Torres, and while the Spaniard went down easily under Jonny Evans’ challenge, the decision to similarly award him a second yellow card for simulation, completely ignoring the pace and tempo at which the match was being played, let alone the context of the scoreline, magnitude of the teams involved and what impact it would have on a huge game and he was clearly wrong. Surely it would have been better to award the free kick but not the yellow for the sake of the rest of the match as a spectacle?
Two broadly similar incidents of a player anticipating contact and using it to their advantage, both players were handed a yellow card, yet for some reason it just feels wrong. It’s contradictory to complain about the inconsistency in refereeing when tribalism and partisanship is at the very heart of the game, leading observers such as myself to complain about the very consistency we so crave.
It’s idealistic to think that games of importance will not be marred by poor decision-making in the future, with Liverpool on the receiving end of some truly terrible calls with concerns to penalties awarded for and against them this season. These things do not balance themselves out over the course of a season, that is little more than a well-worn and quite frankly tired cliche.
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The argument often put forward is that ex-professionals need to get more involved with refereeing the game, but for anyone that’s watched Soccer Saturday or Match of the Day will tell you, they rarely ever know the rules themselves (I’m looking at you here, Paul Merson). They confuse experience with knowledge. Plenty of them aren’t fit to be pundits, let alone match officials. The current system has its flaws, and idealists will always crave consistency or cry wolf when it doesn’t benefit them.
Decisions will always go against your side and sometimes the problem is the rule itself rather than the official in question (red card for every last-man offence, yellow card for removing your shirt during a goal celebration, the lack of definition over two-footed challenges). With that in mind, while following the Laws of the Game to the letter is important for the vast majority of incidents, like the two mentioned above, sometimes coming to the same conclusion is not necessarily the right result. It’s a tricky job pleasing us all, eh?
West Indies, Pakistan and Australia players’ availability in doubt
Matt Roller17-May-2021A number of overseas players are expected to withdraw from the inaugural season of the Hundred due to clashes in the international calendar and complications regarding international travel caused by Covid restrictions.West Indies, Pakistan and Australia players with contracts to appear in the men’s competition will have their availability limited if they are involved in the two T20I series due to take place in the Caribbean in July and August, while two Australia players – Rachael Haynes and Jess Jonassen – have already withdrawn from the women’s tournament due to quarantine requirements.Cricket West Indies announced its men’s fixtures for the 2021 home season last week, with the end of the T20I series against Australia overlapping with the start of the Hundred. Seven of the nine Australians contracted to play in the men’s competition were named in an enlarged 23-man squad on Monday – Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile were the exceptions.Those seven include marquee names in Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell and David Warner, and while it is possible that they could still play the majority of the eight-game group stage subject to quarantine periods, Cricket Australia remain in talks with the Bangladesh Cricket Board regarding a possible tour which would present a further clash.Related
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Four West Indians are also under contract: Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard are both key parts of the T20I set-up, while Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are likely to come back into the picture ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup. Their series against Pakistan starts on July 27, three days after the Australia T20Is finish, with the fifth and final match scheduled for August 3 in Guyana – which is on the UK’s travel red list, adding to the complications – though it is understood they remain keen to be a part of the tournament if possible.Pakistan stay in the Caribbean for two Tests on August 12 and August 20, which will effectively rule Shaheen Shah Afridi out of his deal with Birmingham Phoenix. Shadab Khan, the other Pakistan player involved, may be available for the second half of the tournament with Manchester Originals if he is overlooked for the Test squad again.The ECB remain confident that the Hundred will feature some of the best overseas players in the world but are realistic about the fact that some players will withdraw in the coming weeks and months. The new 100-ball tournament’s inaugural season was postponed last year due to operational challenges, and is now due to start on July 21. “The realities of Covid mean there remain practicalities that are difficult for some overseas players to overcome,” a spokesperson said.Jonassen was replaced by compatriot Georgia Wareham in the Welsh Fire squad last month, while Haynes’ withdrawal from her Oval Invincibles contract was revealed by London’s last week. They are the only two confirmed withdrawals as yet, but the fact that salaries are significantly lower in the women’s competition (£3,600-£15,000) than in the men’s (£24,000-£100,000) reduces the incentives for players to travel to the UK specifically for the tournament. As such, it is possible that further Indian players will sign deals and stay on following the conclusion of their tour to England on July 15 – six days before the start of the Hundred.Jess Jonassen and Rachael Haynes have both pulled out of the Hundred•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images
In the men’s competition, there is a broad pool of nearly 250 overseas players registered as replacements. Several of them, including Dan Christian, Glenn Phillips, Lockie Ferguson and Carlos Brathwaite, will already be in the UK to play in the T20 Blast for their respective counties, and as such may be attractive options, either to fill in for a handful of games or to play the full season in the event of withdrawals.Meanwhile, Manchester Originals can begin to negotiate with county cricketers who were not signed in February’s re-draft following Harry Gurney’s retirement. Gurney was an £80,000 signing in the draft and his withdrawal from the competition means that there is a free slot up for grabs at that price bracket for any domestic player without a contract.The ECB are hopeful that England’s centrally contracted red-ball players will be available for up to three group-stage games at the start of the tournament before the start of the men’s Test series against India, and potentially the eliminator and the final. Ashley Giles, the managing director of England men’s cricket, said last week: “We’ve got a lot of cricket coming up so it’s a difficult juggling act but I know the players are also looking forward to that tournament and would love to be involved at some stage if they can.”England men’s players on all-format central contracts will earn £40,000 for their involvement in up to three matches, and those on red-ball deals will earn £28,000. All centrally-contracted players will then earn £4,608 per match for any additional fixtures. Players with white-ball contracts are due to be available throughout the Hundred, and are paid directly through the draft mechanism.
Pollard’s heroics helped Mumbai Indians hammer 89 runs off the last five overs of the chase to tie the game
Saurabh Somani28-Sep-2020Royal Challengers Bangalore 201 for 3 (de Villiers 55*, Padikkal 54, Boult 2-34) tied with Mumbai Indians 201 for 5 (Kishan 99, Pollard 60*, Udana 2-45) Super over A day after IPL 2020 delivered an incredible thriller with the highest ever successful chase, the Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore went one better, with the highest ever tied score in an IPL game. Mumbai were behind all through their chase of 202, needing 90 off the last five overs. They were still behind when Kieron Pollard reiterated his T20 G.O.A.T. status by smacking around Adam Zampa and Yuzvendra Chahal for an imagination-defying 49 runs in two overs during his unbeaten 60 off 24 balls. They were still behind when Ishan Kishan – back in the XI due to a Saurabh Tiwary niggle – was out for 99 to make it five needed off the last ball. Pollard hit a four, of course he did, to bring the match to a Super Over.As comebacks go, there was still one left in the match though, and Navdeep Saini delivered a standout Super Over to keep Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma to just 7 for 1. Jasprit Bumrah, who had gone for 42 runs in four wicketless overs during regular play, then turned up with some excellent Super Over bowling of his own, though his gamble to bounce AB de Villiers with fine leg up went for a top-edged four. With scores level, Virat Kohli used his wrists to put the final ball away and ensure Mumbai’s story of comebacks ended on the last ball of the Super Over.Ten days into the IPL, the Royal Challengers have two wins in three games – a start they haven’t been used to of late.Before Mumbai mounted their incredible fight back, the Royal Challengers seemed to be coasting to victory, powered to 201 for 3 on the back of half-centuries from openers Aaron Finch (52 off 35) and Devdutt Padikkal (54 off 40), both of which were overshadowed by a barnstorming de Villiers 55 not out off 24. For almost three quarters of the chase after that, a revamped bowling attack stuck to its plans as Mumbai struggled.Pollard’s arrival and Kishan’s fine knock unravelled those plans, but not to the finish.Finch starts, Padikkal steers, de Villiers finishesFinch has not been in the best form so far in the IPL, but he didn’t let that change his game-plan, going hard at the top. He survived a couple of chancy hits, but then began connecting well, giving the Royal Challengers the kind of start from which they could launch. Kohli, however, looked off-colour and struggled to even get the singles. Padikkal, the other opener, played second fiddle to Finch in the opening stand, but opened out more once Finch and Kohli fell. What really boosted the Royal Challengers though, was de Villiers’ arrival. Without even looking like he was taking extravagant chances, de Villiers had purred to 20 off 12, when Bumrah came on for his final spell. He was promptly dispatched for 18 runs in one over and 17 in the next, with de Villiers scoring 27 of those. At the other end, Shivam Dube blasted three sixes and a four in his ten-ball stay as the Royal Challengers surged past 200.Washington Sundar stifles MumbaiThe Royal Challengers had brought in Isuru Udana and Adam Zampa for this game to beef up their bowling attack, with Dale Steyn and Umesh Yadav dropped. They then gave Washington Sundar three overs in the powerplay, a move that paid spectacular dividends. Not only did Sundar get Rohit Sharma in the game’s second over, he ended his first spell giving up a mere seven runs in three overs. None of Mumbai’s vaunted top order could attack him, denied room to free their arms or width to play the ball square on either side. Sundar – no stranger to bowling in the powerplay – was not the only one to stick to his plans. The long square boundaries allowed the Royal Challengers to bowl lines that asked the Mumbai batsmen to clear those, with fielders positioned in the deep. Sharma, Quinton de Kock and Hardik Pandya were all caught at deep midwicket off the spinners, as Mumbai sank deeper.Ishan Kishan arrives, Pollard unleashedAll the while,Kishan had been timing the ball well and kept ticking over. While he can hit the ball big, in Mumbai’s line-up it might have been expected of the others to do the big-hitting. But with the rest of the top order falling and the asking rate climbing, Kishan also began to go for the big shots. In Pollard, he had a partner at the other end who could hit them like few can. Pollard faced only 10 balls in the first 4.4 overs that the two were together, but Kishan took the other 18 for 31 runs.When Pollard faced up to Zampa at the start of the 17th over, Mumbai needed an unrealistic 80 runs in 24 balls. But Pollard then ripped apart Zampa and Chahal – both in their final overs – for a 27-run over followed by a 22-run over, and suddenly the impossible seemed merely the improbable. Along the way they were helped by three drops – two off Pollard and one off Kishan – of which one was straightforward.In the circumstances, Saini’s final over – the 19th of the innings – was an excellent effort with just 12 runs conceded, giving Udana 19 to defend. Kishan was on strike for four of the six balls, but sent two of them over the boundary, the first via a tough spilled chance and the second sailing over and taking him to 99. Mumbai could have had victory next ball, but Kishan’s slog-sweep was finally held in the deep, just a yard inside the boundary. The final ball was short and sat up, Pollard connected with a mighty swipe and got the power, but not the elevation as it bounced once before clearing the rope, to signal a tie.The Super OverSaini bowled a terrific over. He was going for the yorkers, and nailed a couple but the ones he didn’t ended up as low full tosses that weren’t easy to hit either. Hardik Pandya couldn’t time it, and even Pollard was beaten once before whipping another low full toss to deep midwicket. Only three balls were scored off from the bat, with one bye on the final ball, and Bumrah faced up to de Villiers once again to defend a low total. He almost did it, and de Villiers was even given out caught behind off a third-ball bouncer that was overturned on review, but with fine leg up, Bumrah’s gamble of bluffing de Villiers with another short one didn’t work. De Villiers wasn’t fully in control of his pull shot but he got enough on it to roll into the boundary. Bumrah went back to fuller lengths – a perfect yorker and a low full toss – for the last two balls, but with just two to get, he couldn’t stop de Villiers and Kohli.ALSO SEE: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore live score, September 28 2020
Ganguly, however, acknowledged that the tour would be tougher than the last time
ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2020BCCI president Sourav Ganguly expects Virat Kohli’s side to register their second successive Test series win in Australia when they tour down under later this year. Ganguly stated the upcoming tour would be tougher than the previous outing of 2018-19 but said India also had the batting and bowling to do well there.”I have said that to Virat also,” Ganguly told India Today in an interview. “I said, ‘because you’re Virat Kohli, your standards are high. When you walk to play, when you walk with your team, I, watching on TV, don’t expect you to just play well against Australia. I expect you to win. So for me, that is what it is. Because you have set the standards. It’s not anybody else. So you have to live up to the standards.'”On their 2018-19 tour, India had recorded their first Test series win in Australia, winning the four-match series 2-1. Australia were then without two of their batting mainstays Steven Smith and David Warner, who were serving a one-year ban each due to their role in the ball-tampering incident in the Cape Town Test against South Africa in 2018. Ganguly acknowledged this “milestone series” would not be as easy this time.”It’s going to be a tough series,” he said. “It’s not going to be what it was in 2018 when they went. It’s going to be a strong Australia but our team is as good. We have the batting, we have the bowling.”Absolutely [hopeful of the team]. We just got to bat better. You know the best teams overseas, they bat well. When we were so successful away from home, in England, in Australia and in Pakistan, we were getting 400, 500 and 600 in Test matches.India’s last international assignment was in March – a three-match ODI series against South Africa, which was called off in the wake of Covid-19 after a washout in the first game. While some of the players, including Cheteshwar Pujara and Mohammed Shami, have resumed training, one of India’s major concerns will be to ensure an injury-free return of their players, especially the fast bowlers.”I have been in touch with him [Kohli], telling him, ‘you have got to stay fit.’ You haven’t played cricket for six months, you don’t want your fast bowlers to come back and get injured. They have been training, [but] training and playing cricket is different. You have got to make sure your best bowlers are ready for the tour and fit. Whether it’s Shami, whether it’s [Jasprit] Bumrah, whether it’s Ishant [Sharma], whether it’s [Hardik] Pandya, they have to be at the top of their match fitness when they land in Australia.”Ganguly further said the BCCI had thought about a roadmap to start training camps in India, but with the rising Covid-19 cases, especially in the big cities, it was “too risky” to do anything soon.”We have thought about the roadmap. We have the SOPs [Standard Operating Procedures] in place. The BCCI and the NCA have worked extensively in getting the proper SOPs. That have been circulated to state associations. At the moment, there is no chance of camp because of what is happening, what the situation is in the country. It’s too risky. In Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, it’s just risky. So we will have to wait.”If at all the IPL happens in October – the Asia Cup has been cancelled – so maybe August-September would be the time where we can pull the players out and get them together for 15 days. We have got things in place but at the same time, the safety of the players is very important because they are long-term assets for India. One series, one IPL is not more important than player safety. But we want it to happen provided everything is in order.”India’s tour to Australia is scheduled to kick-off in October with three T20Is, followed by four Tests and three ODIs.”We just hope the number of quarantine days get reduced a bit because you don’t want the players to go all the way that far and sit in hotel rooms for two weeks,” Ganguly said. “It’s very depressing and disappointing. So we are looking at that and December is still a long way.”
Richard Levi will join Northamptonshire for this summer’s Friends Life t20 competition, in time for their first match against Gloucestershire on June 28
ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jun-2013In what has been a week of rush signings for the Friends Life t20 competition that begins on June 26, Richard Levi, the South African batsman, has been signed by Northamptonshire for this summer’s campaign. Levi will join the squad before their first match against Gloucestershire on June 28. This is the club’s second overseas signing, after Cameron White joined in February.Northamptonshire head coach, David Ripley, was optimistic about Levi’s addition to the squad, “We are delighted to welcome Richard to the County Ground as he will add much needed firepower to the top of our order.”His willingness to jump on a plane and get over here at very short notice is testament to his desire to play not just for us, but to try and force himself back into international contention – something we hope this stint at Northants (Northamptonshire) will help him achieve.”We are looking forward to Richard joining Cameron White here at the County Ground as we go all out for a place in the latter stages of the Friends Life t20.”Levi has featured in 13 T20Is and 78 Twenty20 matches for the likes of Cape Cobras, Mumbai Indians and Somerset. He scored the fastest century in T20 international history off just 45 balls in only his second international appearance. He also hit a record 13 sixes during the unbeaten knock.
A blistering stand of 75 between Moises Henriques and Steve Smith was the difference, as Sydney Sixers’ 185 was enough to keep out Chennai Super Kings
The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran14-Oct-2012 Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShane Watson’s 46 laid the foundation for a strong total•Associated Press
A blistering stand of 75 between Moises Henriques and Steve Smith towards the end of the innings was the difference, as Sydney Sixers’ 185 was enough to keep out Chennai Super Kings in a high-scoring contest at the Wanderers. Henriques made telling blows on the field as well, as his three middle-order wickets derailed Super Kings’ chase just as the asking rate started reducing. Suresh Raina threatened with an attacking half-century, but the lack of support at the other end hurt Super Kings’ chances.Shane Watson gave the Sixers a rousing start after they were put in to bat, and Chennai’s spinners hit back with wickets, but none of the bowlers were spared once the Smith-Henriques pair came together.Watson was harsh on anything short, and he made R Ashwin and Jadeja pay by cracking sixes over the on side. Only a run-out could have ended Watson’s stay and he fell in that manner four short of a fifty. He attempted a risky second run but wasn’t quick enough for Ben Hilfenhaus’ fiery throw from deep cover, which hit the stumps on the half volley.The spinners pulled things back for Chennai after Watson’s departure. R Ashwin struck twice in an over, removing Brad Haddin and Nic Maddinson as they tried to push the scoring. It wasn’t the worst thing to happen to the Sixers, though, as it brought Smith and Henriques together. The pair began by bashing two boundaries down the ground off the part-time leg spin of Faf du Plessis and from that point on, an above-par score looked possible. The bowlers hemorrhaged 61 off the last four overs, which included eight fours and three sixes. Bollinger and Hilfenhaus, who were held back for the final overs, came in for some stick as the pair of Smith and Hilfenhaus muscled boundaries and played some cheeky ramp shots to exploit the infield.Super Kings got off to a circumspect start, limping to 7 for 1 after three overs. Du Plessis gave the chase a push with a flurry of boundaries through the off side, charging the fast bowlers to unsettle their rhythm, in particular Pat Cummins. Cummins had the last laugh, though, when du Plessis advanced down the track to launch a straight six but couldn’t clear long-on.Sixers captain Brad Haddin risked introducing his spinners when Suresh Raina walked in. Raina targeted his favourite cow-corner region against the left-arm spin of Steve O’Keefe and was also alert to put away the length offerings from the seamers. The bowlers didn’t exploit Raina’s weakness against the short ball and with every Raina boundary, the game was Sixers’ to lose.Like they had done with the bat, the Henriques-Smith pairing proved decisive, this time in the field. Raina aimed for the long-on boundary off Henriques’ medium pace, but Smith took a well-judged catch at the edge of the rope. Henriques struck two balls later with MS Dhoni’s wicket and that had all but sealed the game for Sixers, with 44 needed off the last three overs.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul has become the 10th batsman and the second West Indian to pass 10,000 runs in Test matches, reaching the mark on the fourth day of the third Test against Australia at Windsor Park in Dominica
Daniel Brettig at Windsor Park26-Apr-2012Shivnarine Chanderpaul has become the 10th batsman and the second West Indian to pass 10,000 runs in Test matches, reaching the mark on the fourth day of the third Test against Australia at Windsor Park in Dominica.In keeping with much of his career, Chanderpaul passed 10,000 in the midst of a desperate Caribbean fight in the fourth innings to stave off defeat at the hands of the Australians on a deteriorating pitch, moving forward from his inimitable stance to push a delivery from Michael Clarke wide of mid-on and go to 14 for his innings.After the day’s play, Chanderpaul said getting past the milestone was a target he had set himself. “I have been batting well and spending a lot of time at the crease, and to reach 10,000 Test runs is something special for me. It was one of the goals I set myself and I believe I have reaped for reward for the hard work I put in over the years.”When I go to bat, I know I have a job to do for the team and the people of the West Indies. Test cricket is the ultimate form of the game and this is where you want to perform and give your best. I will keep striving for more.”Chanderpaul reached the milestone in his 140th Test, emulating Brian Lara’s feat of also passing 10,000 for the West Indies. He was congratulated warmly by the Roseau crowd and also by Australia’s fielders, who all applauded once the single was taken. The 10,000th run also served to take his Test match batting average back above 50.Earlier in the series Chanderpaul had surpassed Lara as the highest run-scorer of all West Indian batsmen at Kensington Oval in Barbados, and said at the time that he had always taken particular satisfaction from runs made against Australia, as they are always hard-earned.”Always a tough, tough opposition and you always have to fight and it is always well to do good against them,” he said. “There are always things at the back of your mind because you always want to do well.”Against an opposition like Australia if you’re doing well against them you know the world is watching. When you go against them you have to bring your A game. You can’t just walk out and decide that you can play anyhow against them. You have to step up.”At 37, Chanderpaul has witnessed many barren years in West Indies cricket, but has expressed optimism that the team is showing signs of significant improvement under the captaincy of Darren Sammy and the coaching of Ottis Gibson. This has encouraged him to prolong his career, having debuted against England in his home country of Guyana in March 1994.”We all can see it, the guys are getting better, the younger players are coming through,” Chanderpaul had said in Barbados. “That’s what we’ve been aiming for over the years, you want to see the younger players come through. Now we’re seeing it and that’s the future, we have to plan that way.”Chanderpaul is doing his best to support this development with his bat, again leading the averages and aggregates against Australia. Their coach Mickey Arthur offered generous praise to a batsman he had first seen on the 1998-99 West Indies tour of South Africa.”Shiv’s been outstanding all series. He’s been quite brilliant really. He’s certainly thwarted our bowlers. He’s shown why he’s got 10,000 runs in Test cricket,” Arthur said. “Very uncomplicated technique even though it looks very weird on the eye. He’s been outstanding – to get him right at the end of the day has just lifted our dressing room hugely.”I first saw him when he was very young. He toured South Africa and he looked a very, very good player then. In my last series that I had with South Africa as coach against the West Indies I think Shiv got a hundred in every first innings so he was well on track. In this series he got a hundred in Barbados, 94 in Trinidad and runs again here. I’ve just seen so much of him and can’t help but admire the application and the desire to keep scoring runs. You’ve got to marvel at that – a fantastic achievement.”
The BCCI does not wish to use the DRS in its current form, its new president N Srinivasan has said
ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2011The BCCI has reverted to its stance against the use of the Decision Review System, with the new board president N Srinivasan saying the current technology was simply not good enough after Hot Spot, which was made mandatory at the last ICC meeting on the urging of the BCCI, proved inconclusive on a few occasions during India’s tour of England.”We did not believe in the ball-tracking technology at all. But the BCCI is not averse to technology,” Srinivasan said after the annual general meeting in Mumbai. “So therefore, at the last meeting of the ICC in Hong Kong, we agreed to a minimum usage of DRS including Hot Spot.”At the time, we were under the impression that Hot Spot was very good. It is not necessary for me to dwell on the accuracy of Hot Spot, it was there for everybody to see. The BCCI will, at the next ICC meeting, raise the issue. We want to revisit it because we feel that Hot Spot is insufficient. We do not wish to use the DRS in its present form, even in its minimum standard.”During the tour of England, India’s captain MS Dhoni again voiced his displeasure at the handling of the DRS on more than one occasion, with Rahul Dravid in particular falling victim to three controversial dismissals. The last dismissal took place during the first ODI, with Dravid initially being given not out by umpire Billy Doctrove.Stuart Broad was so sure of the edge he immediately signalled for a review before consulting his captain, Alastair Cook. However, the evidence reviewed by Marais Erasmus, the third umpire, appeared inconclusive. Neither of the two Hot Spot cameras picked up any edge, and there was no clear deviation on the slow-motion replay. Yet the decision was overturned and Dravid was given out apparently because there was a sound as ball passed bat.During the ICC annual conference in Hong Kong in July, the BCCI, along with other member boards, had agreed to a compromise wherein Hot Spot was made mandatory for DRS while the use of ball-tracking technology was made optional.