The Zimbabwe Under-16 team to tour South Africa in December was selected over the weekend of Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 October. The side is made up of 13 players, namely: Duncan Bradshaw, James Cameron, Graham Cremer, Colin de Grandhomme, David Irvine, Tinotenda Mawoyo, Tafadzwa Mufambisi, Ross Nel, Brighton Ngarava, Steven Nyakunhuwa, Kumbirai Nzenza, Brendon Taylor and Sean Williams.Keith Saich and Square Square will travel with the side to South Africa as manager and coach respectively. The team will play in the PG Bison Week in East London, which will take place between 11 and 15 December.A good indication of the talent the side possesses is given by the fact that the side’s wicket-keeper, Brendon Taylor, is a high-order batsman for Harare Sports Club First XI, and both James Cameron and Colin de Grandhomme play for Alexandra First XI, for whom they often play a major role. Also encouraging is the number of players of colour who have been selected for the under 16 side, and indeed all of the Zimbabwe schools sides. One just hopes for the sake of Zimbabwe cricket, that the potential possessed by the players now is one day converted into real international class at Test level.
Match abandoned ScorecardThe state of the outfield was the source of much discussion on day three at the SCG•Getty Images
Match officials have been criticised by the SCG Trust for their decision to abandon the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Victoria on day three due to an unsafe outfield.Several Victorian players had slipped over on the second day of the rain-affected match as the Blues reached 1 for 88 after choosing to bat first, and the match referee Steve Bernard said that after making an inspection on the third afternoon the umpires decided that conditions had not improved.”Umpires Simon Fry and Mike Graham-Smith inspected the ground at 12pm on day three,” Bernard said, “and judged that a number of areas of the ground were unsafe and had not improved since the players were taken from the field on day two.”The umpires concluded that these areas would not improve significantly over the remainder of the match and would continue to pose a risk to the fielding team. Player safety is paramount and it is with this in mind that they have made the difficult decision to abandon the remainder of this match.”On the second evening, the Victoria coach David Saker had described conditions as dangerous. “In first-class cricket you expect conditions to be suitable for cricket,” he said. “The wicket’s fantastic but the outfield and surrounds are quite poor and dangerous.”However the SCG Trust attacked the decision to call off the fixture, with the head curator Tom Parker declaring the outfield on day three was “in the best condition that it had been all match”. “Given that there was no rain overnight,” Parker said, “it was absolutely ready to host a match today.””The Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust is disappointed that match officials chose to abandon the Sheffield Shield fixture between NSW and Victoria today,” a Trust spokesman said. “Players and officials from both sides had described the pitch condition as fantastic.”The infield and outfield condition was heavy after the ground received a month’s rain in the past week. There was no rain recorded overnight on Saturday. The surface had been deemed fit for play on Friday and Saturday by match officials. The Trust supported the NSW Blues’ decision to conduct a centre-wicket practice session after the abandonment of the match.”The Trust had also brought in another observer to judge the surface, past president of the International Turf Society Peter McMaugh. “There is no reason in my professional opinion why they shouldn’t have been playing today,” he said.The match is the second first-class fixture in Sydney to be abandoned in as many weeks. New Zealand’s final warm-up match ahead of the Gabba Test was abandoned after the tourists complained about the safety of a rapidly deteriorating pitch at Blacktown Sports Park, where the ground staff had been unable to grow grass on the wicket.
Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford’s imminent return from a long-term injury is ‘huge’ news, says injury expert Ben Dinnery.
The Lowdown: Bamford closing in on return
The 28-year-old was superb for Leeds last season, scoring 17 times in the Premier League and proving to be an attacking talisman for his side.
Unfortunately, Bamford’s 2021/22 campaign has been a hugely frustrating one, with injuries limiting him to just five starts in the league overall.
Leeds have been boosted by the news that the striker is now back in training, however, suggesting his return to the fold is not too far away.
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The Latest: Dinnery reacts
Speaking to Football Insider, Dinnery, a contributor for Sky Sports, was excited after hearing of the striker’s imminent return:
“The hope is he’ll play some part in the run-in. There’s no getting away from the fact they have missed a central striker, someone to put the ball in the back of the net.
“His absence has been felt keenly. Even in that brief cameo against Brentford a while ago, he managed to get on the scoresheet. That just shows that strikers know how to be in the right place at the right time. Getting that back, this will be huge for Leeds.
“Is he going to be fully fit and firing on all cylinders for the run-in? Absolutely not, given the fact that he has missed most of the season through injury.
“But will he be able to contribute and score goals? Yes, absolutely.”
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The Verdict: Relegation-deciding moment?
Bamford’s importance to this side is arguably up there with Kalvin Phillips – Jurgen Klopp has hailed him as ‘exceptional’ – considering the manner in which he led the line before his injury setbacks.
Not only is the Englishman a regular source of end product, but he also links up with teammates superbly, bringing them into the game and creating space for others.
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New Leeds boss Jesse Marsch will no doubt be desperate to get Bamford back into his team as soon as possible, as his side face a huge relegation battle in the next few months. He could be the difference between them staying up or returning to the Championship, such is his importance.
In other news, Phil Hay has dropped a key double Leeds injury update. Read more here.
Bhajji’s bunny Harbhajan Singh’s trance over Ricky Ponting gains in strength with each innings. Having dismissed Ponting on day one, Harbhajan collected Ponting with his first ball at the batsman and his record is now as stunning as the celebration. He sprinted towards the boundary before rolling twice to mark the achievement. “It’s a good thing he stayed on the ground,” Sourav Ganguly said, “I thought he was going to the dressing room.” It was the eighth time Ponting, whose leading edge went to VVS Laxman at silly point, had fallen to Harbhajan in eight Tests. It was not the last Ponting saw of the Indians as he had to run for Matthew Hayden, who had a sore right thigh.Standing firm Michael Clarke had seen Andrew Symonds and Ponting survive caught-behind decisions in the first innings so he thought he would try it when he edged Anil Kumble to … first slip. The deviation to Rahul Dravid was marked but Clarke waited for Steve Bucknor to give him out and collected his first zero in Tests. “Why did he wait?” Hayden said. “Just to see the umpire’s finger go up.” The dismissal followed Hayden’s exit and Kumble’s hat-trick delivery, a wrong’un to Andrew Symonds, almost secured an lbw, although there was doubt over the height.In reverse Hayden had a bit of trouble connecting with some of his sweeps, but there was no problem when he moved to fifty. With a vacant region behind point, he turned himself around and reverse-swept Harbhajan from outside leg stump. It was a brave, unconventional but effective stroke, which he tried for the first time in Tests. He hasn’t perfected it yet as he was dismissed playing the shot.Momentum shift Australia were meandering in the morning as they worked on reducing the deficit, but Hayden changed the tempo with 14 runs off an Ishant Sharma over. Hayden powered three boundaries and a two to signal the lift in pace and shortly after Australia moved into the lead. They finished with an advantage of 213.Rain and coffee breaks The numerous weather interruptions were annoying for the spectators and the players and Hayden revealed what he did to keep busy. “I had a lot of flat white coffees just to try and relax,” he said. “The breaks in play leant a bit to me because I was very sore with my leg.”A different set of spikes India began the day with a game of volleyball, with the batsmen taking on the bowlers. It was played out in a relaxed air with some tapping instead of spiking. The game was one of the features of their tour last time around and John Wright remembered how India suddenly stopped doing well when the side didn’t have the contests. Going by their batting performance in this match, the volleyball luck appears to have resurfaced.
Pakistan will fly out to the West Indies for the World Cup on Thursday without Shoaib Akhtar or Mohammad Asif, the two fast bowlers currently under a cloud of fitness and doping-related issues.”Both fast bowlers are in England for medical check-ups and they won’t be going with the team to the West Indies,” team spokesman PJ Mir told Cricinfo.Asif is suffering from an elbow injury while Shoaib has a problematic knee. But both have also yet to be dope-tested by the PCB, a test the board says they have to clear before they can join the squad in the Caribbean. Speculation has been rampant over the nature of their trips to the UK, the increasing belief among many now that they are there to try and resolve issues stemming from their positive dope tests last October. The PCB has denied this.”Asif is expected to return home Thursday and Akhtar will be back in Pakistan on Friday,” Mir added. Once they have returned, an assessment will be made of their medical reports and a decision finally made as to whether or not they are fit enough to go. Only then will they undergo the dope tests the remaining 18 players (including five reserves) underwent and cleared last week.”If Akhtar and Asif are declared medically fit then they have to go through PCB’s process of dope testing,” Mir said.All of which means that Pakistan, unbelievably, are still not sure of the final make-up of their squad and playing XI for the opening game of the tournament, against West Indies in Jamaica on March 13. If neither do go they will join Abdul Razzaq, ruled out of the World Cup due to a knee injury only yesterday, as high-profile absentees from the tournament for Pakistan.
Gauteng made a stiff chase appear easy as they powered to a five-wicket success against North West on a featherbed at Potchefstroom. Driaan Steyn made 137 off 145 balls for North West, as they amassed 268 for 3, but he was overshadowed by a fine team effort from Gauteng. Enoch Nkwe smashed 87 off 76 balls, adding 106 with Blake Sinjman and 78 with Dumisa Makalima. However, when he fell to leave the score 203 for 5 there was still work to do. Marthinus Otto (32 not out) and Diaan van Wyk (33 not out) completed the job with ease, hitting the winning runs with 6.2 overs to spare.Eastern Province came up against very little resistance as they cruised to a seven-wicket win against Boland at Port Elizabeth. Boland had reached 95 for 1 in the 18th over, but then collapsed in dramatic style as they crumbled to 148 all out – without using 11 of their overs. Grant Howell produced the brilliant figures of 4 for 13 with his legspin. The chase proved a formality for Eastern Province, with Colin Ingram and Chad Baxter added 112 for the first wicket.
If evidence were needed that Bennett King’s all-too-brief honeymoon period as West Indies coach is over, it came courtesy of a stinging editorial on caribbeancricket.com which lambasted King for not returning to the Caribbean after West Indies exit from the VB Series.King remained in Australia while the rest of the squad returned home last week, and although a spokesman for the West Indies Cricket Board said that his return was “imminent”, that cut no ice.”It is equally offensive to have the cricket czar taking time off in the midst of a first-class season , especially considering his lack of familiarity with the region’s players,” fumed Ryan Patrick. “What better opportunity could there be to establish working relationships with the individual team coaches and managers, and get their insight on their players?”King’s carefully crafted image as a hard taskmaster has been rammed down our throats. If the team’s on-field performance doesn’t improve soon, the long hot-sun practices will mean nothing.”Patrick’s comments are not echoed elsewhere, where the consensus seems to be that King has not had nearly enough time to make any real impact. Although West Indies were successful in September’s ICC Champions Trophy, that cannot disguise the reality that he took over a side in virtual freefall and one where real class was in short supply.Although King will not be given an easy time if the forthcoming home series against South Africa and Pakistan go badly, the one-dayers in Australia were his first chance to see his new charges in action and probably left him painfully aware of just how big a challenge he has on his hands.There is, however, a sizeable minority in the Caribbean that believe appointing a foreign coach was wrong, and in their eyes King can do no right.
Pakistan 257 (Youhana 65, Inzamam 64*) beat Bangladesh 201 for 9 (Sarkar 61, Kapali 61, Gul 5-17) by 42 runs (D/L method) Scorecard
Umar Gul: took 5 for 17 in Pakistan’s comfortable win
Bangladesh never quite got themselves in a position to mount a serious attack on a target of 258, let alone the revised 244 from 44 overs. They lost wickets regularly, and the only contribution of note came from Hannan Sarkar, but even he batted too slowly to cause the Pakistanis any worry. Umar Gul, improving with every game, picked up a five-wicket haul, scalping 5 for 17 and sent Bangladesh spiraling to a 42-run loss. Pakistan’s total of 257, achieved on the back of half-centuries from Yousuf Youhana and Inzamam-ul-Haq proved more than sufficient. With this win, their 300th in one-day internationals, Pakistan took an unassailable 3-0 lead in this five-match series.Bangladesh got off to the worst possible start in pursuit of 258. The lights failed twice at Lahore, but no overs were lost on the first occasion. Bangladesh were rocked by strikes either side of the first stoppage. Mohammad Ashraful (1) edged the fourth ball of the innings, from Gul, straight to Inzamam at first slip (1 for 1). Soon there was another stoppage, when one light tower failed completely and six overs were lost. Bangladesh were then set a revised target of 244 from 44 overs.Gul then struck again in the fifth over before Bangladesh could settle down, removing Rajin Saleh. A full delivery induced the drive and the resultant nick was easily pouched by Kamran Akmal. Saleh (4) had batted well in the Test series, but Bangladesh were in disarray at the fall of his wicket (9 for 2).When play resumed after the second stoppage Habibul Bashar (14) compounded Bangladesh’s problems, top-edging a pull to third man (42 for 3), and Gul had his third wicket.The required run-rate climbed steadily. Sarkar, who scored a patient 61, was keen to play out the overs rather than go for the target. When Sarkar attempted a late surge after reaching his half-century, he was undone, playing down the wrong line to Shoaib Malik. His off stump was pegged back and Bangladesh were in trouble at 137 for 4.Mushfiqur Rahman was run out by a good bit of outfielding from Gul and Alok Kapali’s valiant 61 from 70 balls came to an end when he clipped Gul to Younis Khan at midwicket (175 for 6). Khaled Mahmud (16) struck two boundaries before skying the ball high in the air, attempting an ambitious heave off Shabbir Ahmed (183 for 7).Gul (5 for 17) then completed a hugely profitable outing when he shattered Mashrafe Mortaza’s stumps to pick up his fifth wicket (186 for 8). From here on, the game held interest merely for the scorers, who in the end noted that Pakistan had won by 42 runs by the Duckworth/Lewis method.As at Multan and Faisalabad, Pakistan’s innings, earlier in the day, revolved largely around the two men in form – Youhana and Inzamam. Youhana in particular was overtly aggressive. After Mohammad Hafeez edged Tapash Baisya to Khaled Mashud (13 for 1), Youhana came out seemingly intent on tearing the cover off the ball. He thick-edged the ball to third man more than once and narrowly escaped two chances. After Mohammad Rafique was introduced into the attack, Youhana predictably danced down the track and attempted a heave over long-on. He missed, and so did Mashud, who fumbled the stumping chance.Youhana’s second reprieve came when Yasir Hameed tapped a ball around the corner to short fine leg and then refused to run even as Youhana came tearing down the length of the pitch. The throw, though, was wild, and that gave Yasir the time to come out of his reverie and make his ground at the non-striker’s end in time.Both Youhana and Yasir struck some glorious fours, driving elegantly through the off side. When Yasir fell (90 for 2) – skying a catch to Baisya at long-on – Pakistan slowed down, and Bangladesh’s spinners, and Rafique in particular, pinned the batsmen to the crease. Runs dried up, but to their credit, Youhana and Younis Khan played intelligently, refusing to lose their head out of impatience.Youhana, in fact, fell to laziness rather than anything else. Rahman’s gentle delivery outside the off stump was nothing special, but Youhana prodded at it and inside-edged the ball onto his stumps (127 for 3).As the final overs approached, batsmen fell rapidly in the pursuit of quick runs, and only Inzamam, swatting full-tosses over square-leg for six, lasted the course of the final 10 overs, steering Pakistan to a total only 13 short of what he said he was aiming for when he won the toss in the afternoon.
A century from Kiran Powar brightened up the first day of play inTamil Nadu and Goa’s Ranji Trophy tie at Chennai.Winning the toss, Goa’s openers were separated early. One-down batsmanPowar, however, batted resolutely, shrugging off the regular loss ofpartners at the other end.Making 111 off 282 balls, with five fours and three sixes, Powar wasfinally out with the score on 206, being the fifth wicket to fall. Noother batsman really contributed to Goa’s total.At stumps, Goa were 217 for six, with Rajesh Naik (12*) and HAS Khalid(2*) at the crease.
Australia coach Darren Lehmann has delivered David Saker a blunt lesson in states’ rights, rebuking the new Victoria coach for his suggestion that the Australian selectors would be “mad” to choose James Pattinson for the Test team before Christmas.
‘You’ve still got to get results’
A young Australia will not have any excuses for failure at home this summer, nor does the coach, Darren Lehmann, want them to. Asked whether expectations for the team needed to be dialled down after a raft of retirements following this year’s Ashes defeat, Lehmann stated his men were still very much in the results business, even as they rebuilt. “I think our expectations are always high,” he said. “So whoever comes in we expect them to play well for Australia and perform when they need to and succeed. There’s a transition with the retirements obviously, but for us it’s more a case of playing the way we need to play and a couple of senior guys now like [David] Warner and [Steven] Smith will need to stand up and do the extras. Make more runs but help the young guys to develop their games. “It is exciting times for Australian cricket, and the big thing for us is you’ve still got to get results. We’ve got to get a side that’s going to be good enough to compete around the world for five or six years and beyond.” Lehmann said the postponement of the Bangladesh tour had disappointed him in delaying sight of a group of youngsters, but at the same time meant a smoother preparation to face New Zealand. “A setback because we didn’t get to see the young blokes play, but in terms of prep for New Zealand it’s probably better to be at home so you don’t have to go from subcontinent wickets to Australian wickets,” he said. “In terms of prep it’s probably better, but still a shame we didn’t get the chance to play there.”
Formerly the England bowling coach, Saker replaced the long-time Bushrangers mentor Greg Shipperd earlier this year, and the state’s decision not to play Peter Siddle in the Matador Cup has disappointed Lehmann and other members of the team hierarchy. Saker’s subsequent directives about Pattinson were not taken to kindly, either, even if state and national set-ups have similar views about the need for him to groove his new bowling action before returning.”I think David Saker should concentrate on coaching Victoria, and leave us to pick the side for Australia,” Lehmann said pointedly. “And if James Pattinson is in and ready to go we think highly of him. We won’t rush him back if he’s not right, he’s got to be ready to play.”Haven’t seen him [Siddle] bowl. It would be good for him to be playing but we can’t control what Victoria do, it would be nice to see him play because we’ve got a Test match coming up, so we’ll just have to wait and see. That [one Sheffield Shield game] is probably all he’s going to get, isn’t it?”The debate with Saker is of the sort once commonplace in Australian cricket, when the states habitually bickered with Cricket Australia over the handling of their players. However it has grown increasingly rare as the national governing body pursues a policy of unification and ‘One Team’ working together for the betterment of the national game.All states save for South Australia were represented at Hurstville Oval on Tuesday as the team began a two-day training camp to keep one eye on the looming Test series against New Zealand in the midst of the domestic limited overs competition. Lehmann spoke frankly about two lessons to be learned from the winter’s Ashes defeat – there will be no repeat of the four bowlers, six batsmen experiment at Trent Bridge, while the bowling attack will be better balanced to ensure the scoreboard is not allowed to leak damaging runs.”No, we’ll play with five bowlers. We made that mistake in England and we won’t do that again,” Lehmann said when asked about choosing six batsmen. “The biggest learning curve for us was the type of pitches they chopped and changed so you might have to chop and change your attack depending on the conditions. Ryan Harris [retirement] certainly hurt, no doubt about that, and we’d certainly like control.”England was the first time our bowlers have leaked a lot of runs or gone at four an over. We certainly had the control at Lord’s and the Oval, but the other three we went around the park and that’s not been what we’ve been about over the last 18 months, we’ve kept it under three an over and in control of the game.”That’s been the interesting change for us with the group to make sure those blokes that are playing if they are attacking bowlers they’ve still got to be able to defend as well. At the end of the day we’ve got to pick the side to take 20 wickets. One thing about Australian cricket the last couple of years we’ve been able to take 20 wickets, but we need to get control back and go for less runs.”To that end, Lehmann and his fellow selectors Rod Marsh, Trevor Hohns and Mark Waugh will be monitoring the progress of Mitchell Johnson, who is set to resume bowling in the latter stages of the Matador Cup. Johnson and Josh Hazlewood were both kept out of the theoretical tour squad for Bangladesh in order to let them refresh and regain strength, and Lehmann said he wanted to see Johnson bowling fast.”He looks fit and strong, that’s what we did it for, and he’s got all his niggles out of the way,” Lehmann said. “I was looking forward to seeing him bowl right now, but he looks like he’s fresh and ready to go. I think that’s when he bowls his best – he’s running in, he’s strong, he’s fit.”Towards the back end [of the Ashes] he got a bit tired, he played a lot of cricket, the same with Josh and Mitchell Starc, they got tired. This break’s been good for them, some one day cricket’s not bad because it’s 10 overs and you can have a look at how they’re going. Mitchell Johnson will play this week for WA I would think. He’s getting back to where we need him to be, and we should have a fully fit squad to pick from.”