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Andy Flower, the England team director, has said England will have to go “back to the drawing board” to figure out how to play one-day cricket in the subcontinent after they slumped to a 0-5 series defeat in India

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2011Andy Flower, the England team director, has said England will have to go “back to the drawing board” to figure out how to play one-day cricket in the subcontinent after they slumped to a 0-5 series defeat in India. Flower said he thought England were better prepared for this series than they were when they were beaten by the same scoreline in 2008 but had been proved wrong by the results.”This is a bad setback for us and we have to go back to the drawing board in terms of playing one-day international cricket in the sub-continent,” he said. “We need time to reflect. I thought we’d learnt lessons from three years ago and put in place training drills which would equip our batsmen to deal better with the conditions out here, but I’m obviously wrong in that regard.”England ended the series in dismal fashion, losing their whole side for 47 in a dramatic collapse, after they were 129 for 0 chasing 272 at Eden Gardens. Alastair Cook, the England captain, said good starts and poor finishes had been a common theme of England’s performances through the series.”We set up the game beautifully to go on and win, but they bowled well and we played a couple of poor shots. It was a bit of a disappointing end and a bit of a common theme,” Cook said after the match in Kolkata. “We were in with a shout at 120-odd for nought and just got blown away at the end. It was very disappointing. We know you can lose wickets in clusters and we seem to have lost 10 there in a cluster.”While India’s spinners sparked England’s collapse, the victory had been set up by a fierce late onslaught from India’s captain MS Dhoni, who finished on 75 not out off 69 balls. Dhoni scored 212 runs in the series without being dismissed. He said he always focused on staying unbeaten till the end of an innings because then you could sum up which bowlers to go after.”I always want to stay to the end and whatever is in my area I look to hit it over the boundary,” he said. “It’s important to see which bowlers are left and who you can target. After that it’s about who can bear the pressure well.””It was an ugly looking wicket and any ball could swing or keep low,” Dhoni said of the Eden Gardens pitch. “It was very difficult to score on so we were fortunate to score 270 when 240 or 245 was in our minds. Then we just had to wait for the wicket to spin.”Cook praised Dhoni’s innings but said he thought India’s total was gettable. “Credit to MS; at the end he hits it very well, he’s a very hard person to bowl at and he single-handedly got them up to 270, which was probably gettable the way we started. But when you lose 10 for 50 you’re not going to win anything,” he said.Both Cook and Flower, though, insisted there were positives to take out of the series despite the emphatic scoreline. “Only four of us have played one-day series out here and it’s great for the youngsters to get the experience,” Cook said. “It will show where they need to improve and we all need to improve as a side. We got thoroughly beaten out here but there are quite a few positives; I thought Steven Finn [who took eight wickets over the five games] throughout the series has been excellent.”Flower said the bowling department had shown promise but unfortunately the batsmen had not been able to handle playing spin and had left the bowlers with too much to do. “Our skills weren’t good enough and our handling of the pressure wasn’t good enough,” he said. “We obviously haven’t got the players into a good enough state to deal with the challenges of playing spin, judging length and moving feet.”I think our bowling side has shown glimpses of skill and if there’d been reasonable totals on the board they would have been better at defending them. But unfortunately the bowlers have had to bowl to very attacking fields all the time because that was the only way to win because of our under-par totals.”

Raghuram Bhat, the former India and Karnataka left-arm spinner, has been appointed coach of Goa for two years

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2011Raghuram Bhat, the former India and Karnataka left-arm spinner, has been appointed coach of Goa for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season. Bhat replaces Rajesh Kamath and will coach Goa for two years.Bhat was Karnataka’s bowling mainstay for a decade and finished with 374 first-class wickets. He was called up to the national team in 1983 but played only two Tests before being dropped.The Goa Cricket Association (GCA) president Dayanand Narvekar said Bhat would be the last coach from a different state to be hired by Goa. After his tenure is over, the onus will be on Goan coaches. Narvekar also said they have decided to cut down the number of outstation players from three to one for the 2011-12 Ranji season. Last season, Goa had former Haryana wicketkeeper-batsman Ajay Ratra and former Tamil Nadu batsman S Vidyut in their squad.Goa finished third in their group in the Ranji Trophy Plate League last season, missing out on a semi-final berth by five points. With teams like Maharashtra in their group this year, Goa will start preparations early with a camp from July 15.

However diligent their preparation and practice, Somerset cannot exert any control over rainfall that they feel afflicts the west country more than anywhere other than Old Trafford. A third severely interrupted day ensured that there was no time for their

Jeremy James at Taunton20-Aug-2011
Scorecard
However diligent their preparation and practice, Somerset cannot exert any control over rainfall that they feel afflicts the west country more than anywhere other than Old Trafford. A third severely interrupted day ensured that there was no time for their second innings at Taunton. A draw, the probable outcome on the third evening, became an inevitability once no play was possible before lunch. It was a question thereafter of how many points could be gathered in.For Somerset, that amounted to a mere six, for Samit Patel, called up by England for the one day international in Ireland next week, collected the 30 runs he needed to reach his century and finished with 128 in all off 163 balls with 20 fours and a six. Long before then, there was fulmination over the weather from Brian Rose, the director of cricket. It is undoubtedly true that Taunton suffers more rainfall than most other grounds in the country – but best not to tell him that this is a part of the charm of cricket.It remains to be seen whether poor weather will prevent Somerset becoming county champions for the first time, a repeat, in their opinion, of what happened last year. Yet they neither batted well nor bowled accurately in this match. Whereas Andre Adams had maintained a disciplined off stump line in bowling them out for 177, their own quicker bowlers were more profligate when bowling at Patel and Riki Wessels, who struck 82 from 79 balls with ten fours and two sixes, entertainment indeed.Still, there were two wickets in successive balls for George Dockrell, the slow left arm bowler who should play against England for his native Ireland. He dismissed Patel and had Steven Mullaney taken at the wicket, but was unable to take a hat-trick not least because Chris Read, the Nottinghamshire captain, has become accustomed to coming to the crease in such circumstances. Dockrell was a little expensive, but will have an opportunity for so long as Murali Kartik is injured and there is indecision over his future with Somerset.Nottinghamshire, unable to make runs sufficiently quickly to enable them to attempt to bowl out Somerset a second time, as was the intention of Mick Newell, their coach, batted out the day. For all Somerset’s concerns over their antiquated drainage system, which according to Rose is 120 years old, there is nothing that can be done about rain weekly, monthly and perennially sweeping across their county from Cornwall.”This was a pretty average day for us,” admitted Marcus Trescothick, the Somerset captain. “We did what we could to salvage something from losing 225 overs in the match and were pleased to pick up three bowling points. We now have two massive matches to come – against Hampshire here, Yorkshire at Leeds – followed by playing the leaders, Lancashire in our final fixture. Realistically, we need to have two victories by the time we face them.”

James Anderson’s scheduled fitness test became a victim of the weather when Lancashire’s Friends Life t20 fixture against Worcestershire at New Road was abandoned without a ball being bowled

12-Jun-2011
James Anderson’s scheduled fitness test became a victim of the weather when Lancashire’s Friends Life t20 fixture against Worcestershire at New Road was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Recalled to the England squad earlier in the day, the 28-year-old seam bowler was hoping to confirm his recovery from a side strain by bowling four overs for his county.But a steady downpour set in at dawn and with up to an inch of rain forecast for the Worcester area, it was no surprise when umpires Jeff Evans and David Millns called the game off at 2.30pm. Having missed the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka because of his injury, Anderson will now be without competitive match practice before the selectors have to decide on the final XI for the third and final match in the series at the Rose Bowl on Thursday.For Worcestershire the loss of a crowd-pulling fixture was another setback, coming on top of the complete washout a week earlier in the their opening Twenty20 home game against Durham.The only other year in which they lost two home matches in the competition was 2007, when they had to leave New Road in the second half of the summer because of flooding at their headquarters.

Kumar Sangakkara will deliver the eleventh MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s on July 4 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff17-May-2011Kumar Sangakkara will deliver the eleventh MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s on July 4 2011.He will become the first Sri Lankan and the first current international cricketer to be invited to speak at the annual event which comes a day after Sri Lanka meet England at Lord’s for the third ODI of the series.Sangakkara will also take over from 2009 speaker, Adam Gilchrist, as the youngest man to deliver the lecture, which has been given by people such as Geoffrey Boycott, Desmond Tutu and, most recently, Imran Khan.The lecture was inaugurated in 2001 in memory of the late Colin Cowdrey, a past president of MCC, who – together with another former club president, Ted Dexter – was instrumental in the Spirit of Cricket being included as the Preamble to the 2000 Code of the Laws of Cricket.Christopher Martin-Jenkins, the commentator and current MCC President, said: “Sri Lanka have been so consistently successful in world cricket that it is very appropriate that a distinguished cricketer from this beautiful country should be giving the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture.”Kumar Sangakkara is widely respected in cricket not only as a brilliant player but as a highly intelligent one. His views on topical matters will be truly illuminating and many people will be looking forward to hearing what he has to say.”

Reliable journalist Dominic King has provided a fresh update regarding a Liverpool move to sign AS Monaco midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, confirming Reds chiefs are eyeing the player. 

The lowdown: Frenzy of speculation

This all comes following a report from Santi Aouna of reputable French otulet Foot Mercato, claiming that the Reds have initiated contact over a possible move for the 22-year-old.

Whilst the Anfield club have been tentatively linked previously, this was the first suggestion of a tangible pursuit as Liverpool seemingly moved into the front of the queue to sign Tchouameni.

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However, things may not be that straightforward just yet, with King sharing who the favourites to lock up a deal actually are…

The latest: King delivers reality check

Taking to Twitter, King, the Northern Football Correspondent for the Daily Mail, had this to say when confirming the Reds’ interest in the formidable Ligue 1 talent.

“Lots of stuff around about Liverpool and Aurelien Tchouameni. No question he is a player they are looking at but other clubs in frame, too, most notably Real Madrid, who are favourites. Liverpool, however, most definitely looking for a midfielder with his qualities.”

Elsewhere, Manchester United have also been extensively indexed with a move for the eight-cap France star who has been dubbed as an ‘octopus’ for his unwavering ability to control the game from midfield.

The verdict: Make it happen

As King rightly alludes to, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and new transfer chief Julian Ward should be in the market for an addition to the engine room during the summer transfer window.

Whilst current frontline incumbents Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago and Naby Keita continue to more than hold their own, all four have faced their battles with fitness in the past and with James Milner out of contract at the end of the season, a fresh face is required.

So far this season the £36million-rated (Transfermarkt) ace has earned an outstanding 7.27 rating from 32 Ligue 1 outings, completing 2.5 tackles, 2.8 interceptions and 51.5 passes on average per game (Sofascore).

In fact, he leads the French top flight in winning possession back, puts up great pressing numbers and even wins over 70 per cent of his aerial duels (MaaxiAngelo). Perhaps, then, it is no surprise to see Paul Pogba label his young compatriot as ‘extraordinary’.

Tchouameni’s ability to operate at the base of the midfield as well as in a box-to-box role would make the French youngster an invaluable addition to the Anfield squad and one the board should be pulling out all the stops to get over the line.

In other news, David Ornstein has confirmed some key Liverpool news. Read more here.

Just when it looked like Imran Farhat’s century was going to take the game away from them, PIA’s Aizaz Cheema and Kamran Sajid sparked an HBL middle-order collapse that left the game finely poised at the end of the second day

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2011ScorecardImran Farhat laid a solid foundation for HBL with his 109•Getty ImagesThe tea break came to Pakistan International Airlines’ rescue on the second day at the National Stadium in Karachi. Just when it looked like Imran Farhat’s century was going to take the game away from them, left-arm seamer Aizaz Cheema and their captain Kamran Sajid sparked a middle-order collapse that saw Habib Bank Limited lose six wickets for 28 runs in the last session and left the game finely poised at the end of the day.HBL still managed build a lead of 52 thanks to a rearguard action by fast bowler Fahad Masood, but PIA will hope they can knock off the two remaining wickets tomorrow and then improve on their first-innings batting performance to set HBL a decent total.At the tea break, HBL were cruising. Farhat and his captain Hasan Raza had put together 104 for the third wicket and they were already within 14 runs of PIA’s total with eight wickets still remaining. It came down to Cheema, who has led PIA’s bowling attack almost single-handedly at times this season, having taken more than twice the number of wickets any of the other bowlers have, to make the breakthroughHe got one to nip back in sharply from outside off to Raza, in the first over after tea, and had him out lbw for 38. That suddenly opened the floodgates for HBL. Sajid, who had only bowled one three-over spell in each of the first two sessions, brought himself back in the attack and struck in his third over, bowling Aftab Alam for a duck with an inswinger. In his next over, he got the big one: Imran Farhat was struck in front of middle stump, swinging across the line, but he was unlucky as the ball had pitched well outside leg stump.PIA built on their luck, though. Cheema went on the rampage, bowling wicketkeeper Humayun Farhat with another late inswinger and then startling Danish Kaneria with a short ball that he could only fend to short leg. By the time Kaneria went, HBL were suddenly 242 for 8, only 14 ahead of PIA, when at tea they would have been dreaming of a lead of well over 100. PIA would be slightly disappointed they didn’t finish the job as tail-enders Masood and Mohammad Aslam saw off nine overs with the new ball at the end of the day.Before the dramatic collapse, Farhat had played a well-paced innings. Having come to the wicket in the fourth over after Kamran Hussain fell early, he started off slightly scratchily – three of his first four boundaries were thick edges to the third-man boundary – but settled in once the spinner Shoaib Malik came on to bowl, picking him for boundaries on either side of the wicket. He favoured the off side against the quicks, driving and cutting as HBL built a solid foundation for a big score.Unfortunately for Farhat, HBL’s scorecard looked very similar to PIA’s first-innings one: one batsman scoring big while the others struggled. For PIA it had been Sajid, and for HBL none of the middle-order players could build on Farhat’s start.

Divock Origi’s move from Liverpool to AC Milan is ‘getting closer’ according to a new report, as the popular Belgian heads towards the Anfield exit door.

The Lowdown: Origi’s final act?

The 27-year-old further etched his name into Reds folklore on Sunday afternoon, as he scored against Everton yet again, helping his side win 2-0 at Anfield.

It could be Origi’s final key contribution for Liverpool, with endless recent links tipping him for a summer move to Serie A giants Milan, with some reports even claiming the deal is as good as done.

The forward’s current Reds deal runs out at the end of the season and Jurgen Klopp has made it clear that he can move on to pastures new.

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The Latest: Agreement within the week

According to Calciomercato [via Sport Witness], Origi’s transfer to Milan is ‘getting closer’ all the time, as he moves on to the next phase of his career.

The report also states that ‘this week will most likely be the right one to find the definitive agreement’, with the Rossoneri now ‘waiting to settle the final details of the agreement’ within the next 72 hours.

The Verdict: Anfield hero

This feels like a perfect move for everyone concerned, allowing Origi the regular football that his talent deserves, having only played 102 minutes of Premier League action this season.

He is too good to be sitting on the substitutes’ bench every week, and at 27, Milan could get him just as he comes into the peak years of his career.

Origi will forever be adored by Liverpool supporters, given the impact he has made – Klopp called him ‘world-class’ just last weekend – and it would be just like him to produce one more huge moment before his time is up.

In other news, David Ornstein has confirmed a key Liverpool update. Read more here.

The PCB has sent a legal notice to Mickey Arthur, who suggested that an ODI between Pakistan and South Africa in 2007 had “a strong suspicion of match-fixing” around it

Osman Samiuddin08-Nov-2010The Pakistan Cricket Board has sent a legal notice to former South Africa coach Mickey Arthur, asking him to respond within seven days about comments he made recently, suggesting that an ODI between Pakistan and South Africa in 2007 had “a strong suspicion of match-fixing” around it.The PCB had issued a statement last Friday expressing concern over Arthur’s comments and indicated that legal action would be taken. Arthur has since said his words were taken out of context, but the same claims are set to be made in his soon-to-be published autobiography. That might now cause further problems.In the legal notice, a copy of which is with ESPNcricinfo, the PCB finds it “extremely startling” that Arthur has said this more than three years after the ODI. “They [the PCB] have reason to believe that such scandalizing statements have been made by you inter alia to “sell” your biography.” The notice concludes that without any proof, the claims and allegations are “whimsical, frivolous, defamatory, disparaging, denigrating, libelous, slanderous and derogatory.”Arthur has been directed to “unconditionally and publicly retract” the statement and offer an “unqualified and unconditional apology” for the allegations. Pertinently, as far as the publication of the book is concerned, the board has asked for a written undertaking that no such statements will be made publicly again and “that your biography will not contain such or similar libels and disparaging statements against the Pakistan team or any of its members.”The PCB has also directed Arthur to put forward a proposal for paying them a “substantial sum” in damages. Arthur now has seven days from the receipt of this legal notice – a copy of which has also been sent to Cricket South Africa and the ICC – to respond.

Despite having been heavily linked with a move to Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side in the January transfer window, Hannes Wolf’s potential switch to Parkhead ultimately did not come to fruition, with the Borussia Monchengladbach winger eventually going on to secure a temporary switch to Swansea City.

However, while missing out on a deal for the 22-year-old who Christoph Freund dubbed “perfect” initially appeared to be something of a blow for Bhoys, considering the Austria U21 international’s form so far during his spell in Wales, it is beginning to look as if Postecoglou dodged something of a bullet in failing to land the forward last month.

Indeed, over his seven Championship outings in the current campaign, the £4.5m-rated attacker has so far failed to hit the back of the net, is yet to provide his teammates with a single assist and has created just one big chance, as well as completing an average of a mere 0.3 crosses and losing possession of the ball 11.4 times per game.

These returns have seen the £27k-per-week winger average a rather disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.76, ranking him as Russell Martin’s 11th-best performer in the second tier of English football.

As such, while hindsight is a wonderful thing, when taking into account the fact that Wolf would have cost Celtic around £621k in wages – plus whatever loan fee Swansea are playing the Bundesliga side – during his proposed spell in Glasgow, Postecoglou looks as if he has saved the club a considerable amount of money by missing out on the forward.

Not only that, but considering the 22-year-old’s poor returns in front of goal so far for the Swans, it very much looks as if the Austrian may not be cut out for the demands of British football – something that all involved with Celtic will be delighted was not discovered after the attacker moved to Parkhead.

In other news: Forget Scales: “Really Poor” Celtic dud with 30 touches made Ange look foolish vs Bodo