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The MCG pitch for the Boxing Day Ashes Test between Australia and England, which ended inside two days, has earned itself an “unsatisfactory” rating from the ICC match referee for the game, Jeff Crowe. As a result, the MCG will get one demerit point.Under the ICC’s four-tier pitch-rating system, ”unsatisfactory” is the third ranking and characterises a pitch that “does not allow an even contest between bat and ball… by favouring the bowlers too much, with too many wicket-taking opportunities for either seam or spin”. The MCG pitch had received the highest “very good” rating for the past three Boxing Day Tests.”The MCG pitch was too much in favour of the bowlers,” Crowe said. “With 20 wickets falling on the first day, 16 on the second day and no batter even reaching a half-century, the pitch was ‘unsatisfactory’ as per the guidelines and the venue gets one demerit point.”Related

• SCG curator 'really happy' with pitch for final Ashes Test

• MCG curator in 'state of shock' after costly two-day finish

• The three millimetres which created a firestorm

It was the second two-day Test at the ongoing Ashes, following the opening match in Perth where the surface was rated “very good”. Australia won that and the next two Test matches before losing at MCG.”We were disappointed for the fans holding tickets for days three and four, and also the millions of fans excited to watch the action in Australia and around the world, that the pitch did not provide the MCG’s customary balance between bat and ball,” James Allsopp, Cricket Australia (CA) chief of cricket, said in a statement.”We appreciate the outstanding work the MCC staff have done over recent years producing excellent Test match pitches. We’re confident they will deliver first-rate surfaces for next year’s Boxing Day Test against New Zealand and the hugely anticipated 150th Anniversary Test against England in March 2027.”A day after the Test ended, MCG curator Matt Page said he was in “a state of shock”, having watched 20 wickets fall on the opening day and 16 more the next in a total of 142 overs.Page’s decision to leave 10mm of grass on the surface – informed by a hot forecast for the final three days of the match – had come under significant scrutiny after 7mm was left on against India last season which produced a Test that ended late on the fifth day.The two-day finish is expected to cost CA up to AUD10 million on top of the significant loss from the opening Test.0:52

Finch: To happen twice in four Tests is very disappointing

Having two such finishes in a series – the first time it has happened in 129 years – prompted CA chief executive Todd Greenberg to float the possibility of the governing body having more of a say to curators who, traditionally in Australia, have been able to work independently.Australia coach Andrew McDonald hoped that would remain the way and offered his support to Page, who started in Melbourne when McDonald was still Victoria coach, having been brought in from the WACA after the MCG received a “poor” rating (under a previous ICC system) for the 2017-18 Ashes Test.”I don’t want to get to a situation … where we are asking for specific surfaces and tailor-made,” McDonald said on Monday. “I don’t think Australia will ever go there, and I don’t think they’ve ever been there, to my knowledge.”Sometimes these things can happen, but we support him in what he’s done and really proud of the evolution of the MCG. We don’t want to scare him off and get back to where we were. He’s found a nice balance for a long period of time. We believe we’re a better batting group than that, but what we did there says otherwise.”

	A left heel injury has ruled out Zaheer Khan from the rest of India’s series in Australia © Getty Images

India’s chances of fighting back from the 1-0 deficit against Australia have been dealt a huge blow with the news that Zaheer Khan, who missed the second Test in Sydney with a left heel injury, has been ruled out of the entire series. He has been ruled out for four to six weeks and will leave for India tomorrow while his replacement VRV Singh, the right-arm medium fast bowler, will fly to Australia on Friday.Zaheer has been India’s leading bowler over the last year – in nine Tests in 2007, he took 41 wickets at 25.73, including a nine-wicket haul in India’s win in Nottingham. However, he has also been plagued by fitness concerns. His current injury, which cropped up during practice a day before the second Test, was the same one that kept him out of the third Test against Pakistan in Bangalore last month.Zaheer first picked up the injury during the one-dayers in England in August. He had a similar fitness problem on India’s last tour to Australia in 2003-04, pulling out of the second Test in Adelaide with hamstring trouble, playing the third match and then missing the fourth. He also pulled a muscle in his right leg during India’s next tour, to Pakistan, and was forced to fly home after the first Test in Multan.Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said Sreesanth and Munaf Patel were not considered as neither had proved his match fitness. Munaf is recovering from back spasms that had ruled him out of the third Test against Pakistan.A shoulder injury has kept Sreesanth out of international cricket since the ODI series against Pakistan in November. He has ignored doctors’ advice to undergo surgery and has instead opted for ayurvedic treatment. The two have been asked to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on Friday, where they will work with Dav Whatmore. Sreesanth said he has been bowling at the nets and feels good about his recovery. “Even today I bowled at the NCA indoor nets,” Sreesanth said.These injuries are the latest in a series of fitness concerns for India’s fast bowlers. John Gloster, the team’s physiotherapist, had sent a 14-page report to the Indian board regarding the injuries suffered by the players. He said most players were forced to go through games carrying niggles because there was simply no time for them to either recover from injuries or do the rehabilitation work needed.VRV last played for India in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong in May last year. He has taken 15 wickets at 33.26 in four Ranji matches for Punjab this season. He said the call-up was a godsend and that his experience of Australian conditions – he was one of three to receive the annual Border-Gavaskar scholarship in 2005 – would be valuable.”I was in Australia two years back and have some knowledge about the nature of pitches there,” he told . “I will play according to my strength and bowl according to the nature of the wicket. I hope to perform and do well.”

‘We are entertainers and we hope the pitches in the Caribbean are like this in the World Cup’ – Lara © Getty Images

Once the trumpeting and jubilation of India’s triumph dies down one can actually sit down to ask what does this victory mean? Several answers may emerge but one among them may be a succinct “not much”. Of course it’s good to get back into the habit of winning and it’s great for the batsmen to find their touch but winning on such a pitch, tailor-made for a batting party, can’t eliminate cracks that have appeared recently.India have yet to find the fifth-bowler solution – Sachin Tendulkar did a fair job today by conceding just, yes in the context of the game, just 5.4 per over. “He did a good job for us,” said Rahul Dravid, “but we’re always looking at options. Ganguly couldn’t bowl today because of suffering a slight cramp but he’s been bowling well at the nets and can be a handy operator on these pitches. It was always going to be difficult on this pitch but considering the conditions, I thought we did OK.”One can’t blame the players too much; they can only play on the surfaces that are offered. Brian Lara looked at the upside, talking about how such pitches provide for such great entertainment. “The 50-over game is about batsmen since the time it was invented,” he responded. “There was nothing wrong with the pitch. The curator said there would be more than 300 and that was how it turned out. At the end of the day, we are entertainers and we hope the pitches in the Caribbean are like this in the World Cup so that everyone will be able to enjoy the games.”Dravid didn’t think that such a high-scoring clashes would be the order of the series. “The pitches won’t be playing like this throughout the series,” felt Dravid. “Nagpur has always been a very good pitch for batting. The last time we played at Cuttack, the pitch was slow and tricky. Chennai being a day-night game, we’ll have to take the dew factor into account. And Baroda usually helps the bowlers early on. So we’re playing in different zones and things maybe different.”What India must be credited with, though, is to cash in on such a good pitch, none more so that Ganguly, who made a splendid return. “When people score runs, it solves a lot of problems for us,” said Dravid about the importance of Ganguly’s knock. “It’s important for our key players to score runs. It was a very good innings, especially because he was coming back after a long time. It’s a great sign and he stayed at the wicket and set up the game for us.”Lara seconded the judgement. “Unfortunately Ganguly didn’t get a hundred,” he said. “He’s a player of high class and you expect performances like that. We know he’s eager to get back and you got to give him credit. He’s mentally strong and to come back and do well shows he’s very capable. Batting out there he showed how eager he was.”It’s tough to overshadow the sort of innings that Ganguly played but Shivnarine Chanderpaul did just that. Dravid admitted to be nervous towards the latter stages, adding that Chanderpaul’s presence was always going to be crucial. “We knew we had the game in control but when you have a batsman who plays as well as he was, you never know. It was one of the better innings I have seen while chasing, especially in India.”

Zimbabwe’s players have described as “shocking” the decision by the government-appointed Zimbabwe Cricket interim board to suspend itself from Test cricket. The players said they were not informed about the decision prior to being announced.Blessing Mahwire, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Professional Cricketers Association, said the pull-out was a major setback. “It’s a huge disappointment,” he said. “I know that we don’t have the numbers to play Test cricket at the moment, but I don’t think we are better off not playing Tests.”Douglas Hondo, one of the older players in a relatively young team, said he felt sad, but added that he had made up his mind about his future in Zimbabwe cricket. “I was shocked. I only head about it on the internet. Test cricket is the highest level we can play, and right now guys are really don’t know what to do.”Meanwhile, the players were not in mood to talk about anything but their money when they had a short meeting with their representative Clive Field today. “Nothing else was discussed,” Field said. “The position was that we have to resolve the money issue first. The guys didn’t was to talk about anything else. The feeling is that nothing can proceed unless things are resolved. That’s what is critical at the moment.”

Leipus will hand over his responsibilities as physiotherapist within the next week© Cricinfo

Andrew Leipus has announced that he will be replaced by John Gloster as physiotherapist for the Indian team within a week’s time, but the BCCI denied this, saying that a couple of names were up for discussion, reported.”Yes,” said Leipus, “my replacement is ready. I will be handing over the charge to John within the next week and then go back to Australia to start my post-graduation studies.” Gloster was formerly the Bangladesh physiotherapist. He was one of two choices for the board, Leipus said. “Alex Kontouri and John were the people in mind. But since Alex was unavailable, John was the logical choice.”But SK Nair, the BCCI’s secretary, said he didn’t know why Leipus took names. “He is going and must have said something on the basis of the discussion we had with him.”The office-bearers will be meeting in Kolkata over the next couple of days. We have a couple of names in mind, but we will make a decision only after discussions.”

Deep Dasgupta and Sadagopan Ramesh will get another opportunity to stake their claims for berths in the national squad, as both were named in the 14-man India A line-up which will play against New Zealand in a tour game from October 2-4. The selectors also announced the Board President’s squad, which will take on New Zealand from September 26-28. Akash Chopra, who performed creditably on the A tour to the West Indies before being forced out with a knee injury, was the only player to figure in both squads.The selectors also plumped for Munaf Patel, the fast bowler from Gujarat who is yet to play a first-class match. Patel came into prominence this season after drawing high praise from Dennis Lillee and other experts at the MRF Pace Academy. Munaf was included in the India A squad, while Tinu Yohannan, who promised plenty on his Test debut before falling away, was included in the Board President’s line-up.The search for openers continues, with five specialist ones in the two squads, apart from Virender Sehwag, who has evinced an interest to bat in the middle order in Tests. Sanjay Bangar does not feature in either squad, suggesting that he is a certainty for the Test series against New Zealand.Board President’s squad
Akash Chopra, SS Das, Wasim Jaffer, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag (capt), S Sriram, Ajay Ratra (wk), Ramesh Powar, Amit Mishra, Amit Bhandari, Trivedi, Tinu Yohannan, Amit Uniyal.India A squad
S Ramesh, Akash Chopra, Connor Williams, Mohammad Kaif (capt), Hemang Badani, Mithun Manhas, Rohan Gavaskar, Abhijit Kale, Deep Dasgupta (wk), Murali Kartik, Sarandeep Singh, Sri Shanth, Munaf Patel, RP Singh.

Opener Salman Butt was retained Pakistan captain for nextyear’s Youth World Cup to be played in New Zealand from Jan15.Paceman Junaid Zia, son of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, was retained vice-captain.Chairman of junior selection committee Zaheer Abbas alsoannounced the squad and unnecessarily made comments on theability of the team which landed him in an embarrassingposition.As Zaheer said the team had good bowlers and fielder but notquality batsmen, he was left dumb-founded when he was askedwasn’t it strange that Haroon Rasheed (team coach) hadfailed to improve the technique of the stroke-makers despitebeing a batsman of repute.Zaheer said more emphasis would be laid to improve thebatting department in the training camp which would be heldat Rawalpindi, the dates of which would be announced later.He said Rawalpindi was selected for the camp as it hadsimilar grassy pitches as in New Zealand.Five reserves players were also announced.Squad: Salman Butt (captain), Atiq-ur-Rehman, KhaqanArsal, Asim Munir Butt, Mohammad Fayyaz, Irfanuddin, AzharAli, Amin-ur-Rehman, Arslan Mir, Kamran Sajid, KamranYounis, Najaf Shah, Umer Gull and Junaid Zia (vice-captain).Reserves: Mohammad Khalil, Zulqarnain, Saqib Zia,Azam Husain, Yasir Shah.

Tamil Nadu were one wicket away from closing out their Group C SuperLeague tie against Haryana at Gurgaon. At stumps on the third daytoday Haryana were 237-9 in their second innings with 41 still neededto avert an innings defeat.Resuming at 371-5, Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 486 an hour into theday after their tail had been allowed to wag generously. Robin Singh,Sharath and Reuben Paul fell in the first six overs but Mahesh,Gokulakrishna and Vidyuth entertained the spectators with some lustyhitting. Pradeep Jain finished with 5-143.A fighting century by Haryana opener Jitender Singh helped to delaythe inevitable after the home team commenced their second knock 286behind. Jitender and captain Parinder Sharma put on 63 for the firstwicket in 26 overs but Tamil Nadu struck at regular intervals with sixbowlers sharing the spoils. Jitender scored exactly 100 ( 179 balls,13 fours) before he was seventh out.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEvin Lewis smashed six fours and six sixes in his 82•Caribbean Premier League

Evin Lewis’ boundary-laden 82 led St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots to the second-largest win in a T20 competition in the West Indies and the largest in CPL history, as Patriots thrashed Jamaica Tallawahs by 119 runs in Basseterre.Lewis and Martin Guptill got stuck in right from the beginning, clobbering three fours and four sixes in the first six overs. Rusty Theron ended Guptill’s 25-ball 35 in the eighth over, but Lewis showed no signs of letting up. He smashed Nikita Miller for two fours in the next over and Andre Russell for two sixes in the following over. The second-wicket stand of 72 in 42 balls between Marlon Samuels and Lewis – in which Samuels contributed 19 – gave the Patriots the ideal platform to reach 200, a feat that had been achieved just twice since the CPL’s inception in 2013. Though Lewis and Samuels were dismissed in consecutive overs, Carlos Brathwaite ensured there wouldn’t be a shift in momentum with an 18-ball 36, which ensured the Patriots got to 199 for 5.In reply Tallawahs lost Chris Gayle, who had scored half-centuries in his last two games, in the second over for 8 and were never in the game after that. A brief 25-run third-wicket stand between Chris Lynn and Mahela Jayawardene was the best partnership of the innings. They lost wickets in clumps and were eventually bowled out for 80 in 16 overs. South African chinaman bowler Tabraiz Shamsi picked up 4 for 23 – his career-best figures – and Sheldon Cottrell took three wickets, those of the top-three batsmen.

Leeds United have been dealt a huge blow in their bid to bring Sergio Gomez to Elland Road in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian publication Gazetta dello Sport (via MOT Leeds News), who claimed that the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Inter Milan have all joined the race for the Anderlecht left-back.

This report comes shortly after an earlier story by TEAMtalk which claimed that Victor Orta had identified the 21-year-old as a target for Leeds this summer, with the sporting director believed to be looking at bringing competition in for Junior Firpo on the left-hand side of Jesse Marsch’s backline.

Orta will be fuming

Considering just how much potential Gomez seems to possess, the news that three massive clubs in Manchester United, Chelsea and Inter have also taken an interest in the defender is sure to have left Orta fuming.

Indeed, over his 32 Jupiler Pro League appearances this season, the £8.1m-rated full-back has been in electric form, scoring five goals, registering 10 assists and creating 13 big chances for his team-mates, also making 1.8 key passes and taking 1.3 shots per game.

The £9k-per-week Spain under-21 international has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, helping Anderlecht to keep six clean sheets, also making 1.4 interceptions, 1.5 tackles and one clearance and winning 3.3 duels (at a success rate of 54%) per match.

These returns have seen the player who was once regarded as a potential successor to Andres Iniesta at Barcelona average an astonishing SofaScore match rating of 7.42, ranking him as the fifth-best player in the Belgian top flight.

As such, it is clear for all to see that Gomez – who football talent scout Jacek Kulig dubbed both a “superb” talent and a “Guardiola-esque kind of full-back” – would make an exceptional addition to Leeds’ current defensive options.

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However, with a number of Europe’s elite clubs now reported to also be tracking the 21-year-old, a deal for Gomez looks as if it will be incredibly difficult for Orta to pull off this summer.

AND in other news: Orta can seal Marsch’s dream signing as Leeds plot bid for £25m-rated “unexpected hero”