Kevin Pietersen was only convinced of a move to No. 4 when he realised England’s brittle tail was limiting his batting opportunities. Shortly before John Buchanan questioned Pietersen’s commitment to the touring team, Duncan Fletcher revealed the England management had been trying to get its most gifted player to leave his favoured place at five since before the Ashes series.After being stuck with the struggling lower order for three consecutive innings in Perth and Melbourne, Pietersen finally decided to shift mid-match at the MCG and arrived ahead of Paul Collingwood. Pietersen made only 1 before being bowled aiming a drive off Stuart Clark as England fell to their fourth defeat of the contest.”We’ve been trying to get him to four but he just feels very, very comfortable at five,” Fletcher said. “Then Kevin discussed with us that he was batting with the tail a lot and he wanted to bat four. We said ‘Are you sure you want to? He said he’d rather do that than be caught with the tail that we’ve got at the moment.”England’s original top four batsmen were used to blunt Australia’s attack in the hope Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff could provide a surge in the middle, but Flintoff has been shut down and Australia have rushed through the tail. Despite the imbalance and the direction of the series, Pietersen was unable to shelve his personal feelings until after his seventh innings.Pietersen, who has scored 420 runs at 60 in the series, will be used at second drop in Sydney from Tuesday and be followed by Collingwood. Fletcher said Collingwood was ready to “do what’s best for the team” and knew Pietersen was the better player. “Colly realised we were not using Kevin’s full potential,” Fletcher said.The difficulty in getting Pietersen to fit in with the side’s plan was highlighted by Buchanan when he said Pietersen seemed to be distanced from the group. “He talks about how much of a team man he is, but I can’t see that,” Buchanan said. Pietersen was one of four England players who did not attend the team’s large Christmas lunch the day before the Test.Buchanan has also noticed Pietersen spending a lot of time fielding on the boundary when his skills could be used better inside the ring. “I wonder whether the criticism of him is because he’s different from the group,” Buchanan said. “Difference is important in a team dynamic, we have some different players in our team, but it’s how the difference is managed.”Concerns over the size of England’s tour group, which has expanded to almost 100 and includes the players’ families, have been raised as possible distractions to the side, which heads to Sydney trying to avoid a cleansweep. However, Fletcher said the arrangements were similar to previous trips and would be reviewed when they returned home.”We have it in England when they are on the tour there,” he said. “We see it as no different. When we go back there we play seven Tests and the wives will be there for all of them. We just believe that with the amount of cricket that’s played that people are as comfortable off the field as they are on the field.”
England’s cricketers had their first glimpse of the blanket security arrangements for their 48-hour stop-over in Karachi, as they practised at the National Stadium ahead of Thursday’s day-night match against Pakistan. With up to 3000 policemen drafted in to exercise crowd control, and the elite paramilitary Rangers on hand to protect the players as well, authorities on both sides are optimistic that the match will pass without a glitch.In the midst of it all, there is an intriguing tussle developing on the pitch. With three matches to come, the sides are locked at 1-1 after the Lahore leg of the series, although it is Pakistan who have the momentum, having seen off a sluggish opposition by seven wickets in the most recent fixture on Monday. On that occasion, England could justifiably claim to have been hampered by a late night of BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, but since then they’ve had two days to recover, and prepare for a final surge of effort before the Christmas break.England, however, will have to bounce back without the services of their most destructive one-day batsman. Kevin Pietersen has flown home early, after aggravating a rib injury while batting in the second match, and his absence will be sorely felt by an England batting line-up that gelled impressively in the opening fixture, where Pietersen himself slammed a 35-ball half-century.”Pietersen is a big blow to England because he is a very dangerous player,” said Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, as he spoke to the press at the National Stadium. “But we can’t underestimate England at all and we’ve still got to beat them to win the series.”Pietersen’s absence will be compounded by the presence in Pakistan’s starting line-up of Shahid Afridi, who missed the Lahore Test plus the first two one-day internationals while serving a ban for tampering with the state of the pitch at Faisalabad. “He will certainly play,” confirmed Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, “because he gives strength to our batting and bowling.”Woolmer added that Pakistan had a full squad to choose from, and though he refused to speculate who would make way for Afridi’s return, the likely fall guy is his fellow legspinner, Danish Kaneria, who suffered a nasty-looking shoulder injury while fielding during the second match. Shoaib Akhtar, who bowled with heavy strapping on his leg during his five-wicket blitz on Monday, is geared up for a further onslaught on England’s batting.England, meanwhile, are in a state of mild disarray. They are already lacking the services of Michael Vaughan in the middle-order, but Pietersen’s absence is a huge blow to the balance of the side. It is expected that the Supersub, Vikram Solanki, who came to the rescue with a finely crafted 39 not out, will step into the breach, with Ian Bell or Kabir Ali likely to fill the final space on the 12-man teamsheet.After a week in which the nebulous issue of Supersubs has come under increasing scrutiny, even the softly-spoken Inzamam decided enough was enough. “The rule should be scrapped from limited-overs cricket,” he said, before conceding that it could still be workable if the substitute is named after the toss.Talking of the toss, it is likely to be the least critical of the five in this series, given that Karachi has fewer issues of dew in the evening, and longer daylight hours as well. It has plenty other issues to compensate, mind you, although Inzamam was confident that the game would pass peacefully.”There are no security fears for sportsmen in this city,” he said. “I think more and more international matches should be organised here.” If everything goes to plan tomorrow, Inzamam should have his wish.Pakistan (probable) 1 Salman Butt, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Younis Khan, 4 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Mohammad Yousuf, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Shoaib Malik, 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Rana Naved, 10 Shoaib Akhtar, 11 Mohammad Sami, 12 Arshad Khan.England (probable) 1 Marcus Trescothick (capt), 2 Matt Prior, 3 Andrew Strauss, 4 Vikram Solanki, 5 Andrew Flintoff, 6 Paul Collingwood, 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ian Blackwell, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steve Harmison, 12 Ian Bell.
Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain, termed Pakistan’s latest defeat “deplorable”, and said that the entire system was in need of an urgent shake-up. Imran’s comments came in the wake of Pakistan’s humiliating 491-run defeat in the first Test at Perth.”We will continue to blame coaches and captains for each defeat and sack them,” Imran told AAP, “but the real remedy is to develop batsmen technically by overhauling our faulty system. Until and unless we correct our faulty system, and that I have been saying for the last 25 years, our batsmen will not be technically and temperamentally equipped to face a quality bowling side like Australia.”Imran said that there were only two ways approach the problem. “Either correct it by improving the system or send the batsmen to play in county cricket,” he said. “Batting has always been Pakistan’s bane on tours of Australia – our batsmen thrive against lack-of-quality bowling, but when they come up against the world-class bowling of Australia they are exposed.”He added that the captain was solely responsible for the team’s fortunes, but sympathised with Inzamam-ul-Haq’s predicament. “I think the coach can make a marginal difference and it’s the captain who makes the team fight, but how can he make a team fight whose base is weak?”Imran said that Australia did brilliantly to fight back from a perilous position on the first day. “The hallmark of a champion team is that they hung in during bad times and when they got an opportunity showed the killer instinct,” he said. “Pakistan should have been a pack of wolves once they caught Australia, but they weren’t.”
Alton will clinch the Southern Electric Premier League, Division 3 championship tomorrow – provided they avoid their 13th match of the season proving unlucky on Southsea seafront.Leaders all season, Alton have swept to 12 successive wins, but are unlikely to find Portsmouth II much of a threat.The city club has lost its last six matches and are probably favourites to go down, alongside Flamingo, who host Hungerford at The Holt.If Australian Chris Baumann shines, fellow strugglers Waterlooville could end their relegation worries with a win over Hook & Newnham Basics.Also in the mire, but ten points clear of Waterlooville, are South Wilts II, who visit Southsea.Ventnor will all but clinch the runners-up spot behind Alton if they win at Leckford, but Trojans plan to battle it out until the end and need to beat Havant II at Stoneham Lane in order to stay up.Nigel le Bas returns to the Stoneham side.Paultons, aiming for a top five finish, visit Bashley (Rydal) II, with all-rounder Tony Richman in peak form.
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming’s choice to bowl first in the second Test at Hobart yesterday was the talk of newspapers covering the match today.New Zealand Herald: “It was hard to decide last night which blunder was going to cost New Zealand more – the non-selection of Chris Martin or the decision to ask Australia to bat first in the second test at Bellerive.”Despite a Daniel Vettori-inspired fightback it was still a calamitous day for New Zealand, as the bowling attack was demolished for the second consecutive occasion by Australian opening batsmen Justin Langer (123) and Matthew Hayden (91).”The last time New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming inserted this pair they piled on 224 so it may have been considered something of a victory yesterday when they were restricted to a mere 223, as Australia marched through to a commanding 411 for six at stumps.”It could have been worse but for a touch of Vettori magic through the second and third sessions.”The left-armer indicated a return to his best form with four precious wickets.”The Sydney Morning Herald: “Driving is Langer’s hallmark and was again to the fore, but both left-handers were given no shortage of fodder to pull as the Kiwis were again left to question the wisdom of sending an opponent in.”Old slow-coach Hayden got a wriggle on after Langer’s departure, leaving his crease to lift Daniel Vettori to the cover and straight boundaries. Nine runs short of a fourth century of the calendar year, he lifted the spinner straight to long-on.”Vettori was doing all that a spinner has to do, holding his nerve and getting just enough turn. He soon had Mark Waugh in two minds, playing inside a drive after skipping forward and losing his off stump.”First-gamer Shane Bond hit Adam Parore’s gloves harder than anyone, particularly in a pre-tea spell in which he hit Steve Waugh’s as well. The captain, again confronted with a leg gully, a short leg and short bowling, watched the ball bob just out of reach.”Bond, a trainee policeman with a good name for hunting down his man, kept at him and made Waugh his first Test victim with a leg before verdict that bemused the batsman. It might have passed over, but a similar appeal minutes earlier might not.”The Daily Telegraph: “For the first time in 1570 matches through 124 years of international cricket, two left-handers have made three century opening stands in as many Tests. Langer and Hayden have two of the five century partnerships scored at the top of the order in Australia’s 40 Tests against New Zealand, they are the only pair to do it twice and the only ones with a double century to start the innings.”Moreover, Langer is the first Australian to score a century in three successive matches since David Boon on the 1993 Ashes tour.”In Brisbane, Langer should have been leg before wicket to the fifth ball of the match but survived.”Yesterday he was dropped by Matthew Bell from the seventh ball of the game while on one, after cutting Daryl Tuffey’s first delivery hard and high to gully.”Langer then put the New Zealand bowlers to the sword. His 50 came in just 48 balls with 10 fours – mostly blazing drives and pulls. Hayden was only one at the time.”Once Langer went, Hayden holed out to long-on on the verge of another century, mis-hitting a flighted delivery from Vettori.”New Zealand Press Association: “Some commentators suggested New Zealand were foolish not to select accurate fast-medium bowler Chris Martin who has taken 28 wickets in seven tests and could move the ball away from the left-handed opening batsmen.”Fleming acknowledged he had made a mistake by asking Australia to bat first after winning the toss.”‘The moisture was in there but it just didn’t do as much as we had hoped,'” Fleming said.”‘I’m probably feeling the most disappointed out of anybody.'”‘Once we realised there wasn’t much (movement) there, we had to settle in and do some work. We obviously didn’t do that well enough until halfway through the second session.'””That was the Black Caps’ best period when both openers were dismissed and memories of the first test in Brisbane were revived as Australia lost five wickets for 44.”
Leeds United will be hoping to gain some momentum in the Premier League tonight as they take on Wolves at Molineux.
Jesse Marsch’s side finally got their late-season rescue act underway with a much-needed last-gasp victory over Norwich last time out, but tonight they face a Wolves team who are battling for European qualification next season.
The Whites boss will have some tough calls to make, but one ruthless decision he must surely consider is finally dropping Pascal Struijk from his starting line-up.
The Dutchman has been part of a leaky Leeds back-line which has conceded a league-high 65 goals this season, and while he looked a touch more assured against the Canaries, he should be given a rest here.
His performances in 2022 have very much left a lot to be desired, and his first couple of games under Marsch saw him look really troubled.
In his post-match player ratings following the match against Aston Villa, Leeds Live’s Beren Cross gave the 22-year-old a five, saying: “Unlucky to see his attempted block go beyond Meslier for the opener, but looked like he had an error in him all evening. Ball trickled away from him at one stage in the second half too without punishment.”
That followed on from his role in Leicester’s 1-0 victory in Marsch’s first game in charge of the club, with Rio Ferdinand slamming: “As a defender, if you’re on the halfway line with Jamie Vardy, you know what you’re playing against.
“I don’t know why he’s playing in the same line as him when he’s not even quick. You’ve got to give yourself a yard or two to see ball and man. The moment you get into a foot race with this guy, it’s curtains, it’s over for you.”
Indeed, as per WhoScored, the Dutchman hasn’t averaged a single game over a 6.8 in Leeds’ past nine fixtures in all competitions, including a shocking 4.9 and 5.3 in back-to-back encounters against Manchester United and Liverpool last month.
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While match ratings certainly aren’t the be-all and end-all, there’s no questioning that Struijk has found Leeds’ slump more of a struggle than most, especially when you consider that he’s still a very young defender having to cope with a very attacking tactic which demands a lot out of him both in terms of concentration and reading of the game.
The £17m-rated youngsyer must surely be taken out of the firing line, allowing him a mental breather.
AND in other news, Beren Cross reveals huge behind the scenes Leeds decision, Jesse Marsch will be fuming
Chennai Superstars became the champions of the inaugural ICL tournament, with all-round team work helping them beat the Chandigarh Lions by 12 runs. After being put into bat, the Superstars made 155 for 8 which seemed to be short of their expectations, but Shabbir Ahmed tamed the Lions with his 4 for 23, which included the first hat-trick of the tournament.The grand finale lived up to its reputation with a Super Bowl-like atmosphere: a fashion show, Bollywood stars, a full house, fireworks, and big hits. Panchkula, on the outskirts of Chandigarh, was alive and reverberating. Sadly, only part of the cricket matched the entertainment off the field.Shabbir packed off the Lions’ openers quickly. Imran Farhat’s slash ended in the hands of wicketkeeper Chris Read and Hamish Marshall’s waft at a beautiful outswinger gave Read his second catch. 19 for 2 quickly became 30 for 3 when Manish Sharma’s lofted on-drive was snapped by S Saravanan just a yard from the boundary.TP Singh along with Dinesh Mongia then did the repair work with Singh adapting well to the frequent changes in the bowling made by the Superstars’ captain, Stuart Law. But just when the Lions seemed to have turned a corner, Singh’s paddle sweep landed in the hands of Thiru Kumaran at short leg.Mongia, who had played a crucial knock in the semi-final, seemed to be doing an encore but Law once again played his card smartly bringing back his match-winner Shabbir. The Pakistani struck twice getting Mongia and Chetan Sharma off consecutive balls. Mongia tried to defend an offcutter which took his off stump while Sharma was out lbw, rapped in line with the leg stump. It completed a hat-trick for Shabbir who had got Marshall off the last ball of his second over.Cairns, the danger man, was done in by a beauty from Harvey; bowling wide of the crease, Harvey sneaked one past the strong defence of Cairns. Andrew Hall and Sarabjit Singh tried their best to fight back but they could not match the mounting asking-rate or Law’s shrewd thinking. In the process, the Superstars lived up to the billing of being the form team, with five victories in the seven games they played.Batting first, the Superstars failed to capitalise on an enterprising start given by Ian Harvey, who finished as the tournament’s leading run-getter, and G Vignesh. After Vignesh holed out to cover, Read walked in and sent a fuller one from Hall to the cover boundary. Harvey punched one in the gap between cover and mid-off against Amit Uniyal, the left-arm seamer, who tried to angle one away but pitched it short. A slow ball which came out as a full toss was pushed past Cairns to mid-off for another boundary.Mongia, who was brought on in the seventh over, soon had a smile on his face as on his second ball, Read was run out while attempting a cheeky single. Russel Arnold fell soon after, but,Harvey remained unruffled at the other end.His immaculately-timed punch off Cairns forced mid-off to be pushed back. Cairns then had to swallow the pain first of a no-ball and then bowling Harvey on the resulting free-hit. But Harvey’s cup of luck had run dry; he pushed an innocuous Mongia delivery to the unguarded leg side, but wicketkeeper Sarabjit Singh rushed to short leg and picked and threw in one motion to run Harvey out.Harvey’s departure slowed the scoring, as the Superstars could manage only 30 runs between overs 10 and 15. Hall lived to his death-bowler reputation giving away only four runs in the final over which saw two run-outs, including that of a desperate Law trying to finish a tight double. Even if the Superstars might have thought they fell short by at least 20 runs, in the end Shabbir’s bowling clinched the title and the US$1 million prize money.
The first of five one-day internationals between Pakistan and West Indies at Rawalpindi has been abandoned due to heavy rain.Umpires Daryl Harper and Aleem Dar called off the match after three days of torrential downpours left the ground waterlogged. “The umpires asked the curator if he could hand them over the ground in three hours time but he said this would not be possible despite the rains having stopped,” Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Naushad Ali said. “They have called off the match due to wet conditions of the ground and square.”Brian Lara said his team would now focus on Thursday’s second match. “The weather wasn’t great but we have to move on,” he said. “The focus is now on the second match as the series moves on.”Pakistan will be boosted by the return of Inzamam-ul-Haq. Despite the fact that the first ODI was abandoned, the match will still count as part of the four-match ban he received in the wake of the Oval affair. Having missed Pakistan’s three games in the Champions Trophy and now this one, for which he wasn’t selected, Inzamam will be allowed to return for the second ODI in Faisalabad on December 7.
The board of Zimbabwe Cricket should finally meet on Saturday in Harare to discuss a number of issues which might culminate in the appointment of a new captain and new selection panel.The board, headed by beleaguered chairman Peter Chingoka, has not met since September 12 when it briefly convened in Bulawayo following the annual general meeting held earlier in the day. That meeting has since been declared null and void as only seven out of the 12 members attended and therefore did not constitute a quorum in terms of the organisation’s constitution.It is not yet clear whether all the members will turn up this time as a number of them have refused to attend meetings called by Chingoka as part of the ongoing row blighting the game.A new captain is expected to be announced following the retirement of Tatenda Taibu last week. Allrounder Andy Blignaut, currently playing franchise cricket for Highveld Lions in South Africa, is favourite, although he blotted his copybook somewhat when he joined the strike in 2004, and top-order batsman Hamilton Masakadza is also in the frame.A fresh selection panel should also be unveiled. A new panel was named at the illegal September 12 meeting, comprising Bruce Makovah (convener), Ethan Dube, Macsood Ebrahim and Robin Brown, but they never assumed their duties and the old panel, led by Ebrahim with Dube and Richard Kaschula, selected the squads for the two Tests against India. As things stand, the selectors won’t have too much to do as almost all the country’s players have said they will refuse to play while Chingoka remains.The board is also expected to clarify the status of former national coach Phil Simmons who was sacked in August following Zimbabwe’s dismal showing in the two Tests against New Zealand. It subsequently emerged that Simmons’s dismissal was probably unconstitutional as it was made by senior board officials rather than the board as a whole. That led to Simmons taking ZC to court for unfair dismissal.Whatever happens, the meeting will be overshadowed by the escalating crisis engulfing the game, and the ongoing investigations by the Sports and Recreation Commission and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
The ICC and the Irish Cricket Union have named 25 venues for matches in the 2005 ICC Trophy scheduled in Ireland for July next summer. Five of the twelve sides participating will qualify for the World Cup in 2007.The tournament will be the eighth of its kind, and the 25 venues are spread around Ireland. The final will take place at Castle Avenue, Clontarf, where Ireland defeated Surrey by five wickets in the 2004 C&G Trophy. Forty-two matches are scheduled overall: the ones in the group phase are scheduled to take place in the north, the ones in the knockout stages in the south. No side will be eliminated from the competition at the group stage, but the rest of the matches will help decide an overall ranking of the teams participating.Group A is made up of Bermuda, Denmark, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States and the host nation, Ireland. In group B, five of the six places have been decided: Canada, Holland, Namibia, Scotland and Oman. The last spot will go to the winner of the ICC World Cup Qualifying Series (WCQS) that will take place in Malaysia next February. Oman, an affiliate member of ICC, had some strong performances in the Asia Cricket Council Cup and have qualifed for the ICC Trophy for the first time. They did so ahead of Hong Kong and Fiji, both Associate Members which will now hope to be progress from the WCQS.Ehsan Mani, the president of ICC, was pleased at the announcement: “The ICC is delighted that the games will be played at such a variety of venues as it means that no ground will be played on too frequently and that will augur well for the state of the pitches.”It is obviously a hugely important aspect of the tournament,” he added, “not least because five of the 12 countries will qualify for the ICC World Cup in the West Indies in 2007.”However, John Wright, the secretary of the Irish Cricket Union and the tournament director, sounded a warning: “We received more acceptances [for acceptable-standard grounds] than were required so, inevitably, some clubs will be disappointed. However, such is the enthusiasm for the tournament that some of these clubs have offered their facilities for ‘warm-up’ games.”Three previous winners of the ICC Trophy have gone on to win Test status. Sri Lanka, who won in 1979, became a Test country in 1981-82. Zimbabwe played their first Test against India in 1992-93 after triumphing in 1982, 1986 and 1990, while Bangladesh, who won in 1997 after a last-ball victory against Kenya in the final, became a Test nation in 2000-01.The 25 venues are: Armagh, Bangor, Carrick, Civil Service (Stormont, Belfast), Cliftonville, Clontarf, Cooke Collegians (Belfast), Downpatrick, Drummond, Eglinton, Instonians, Leinster, Limavady, Lisburn, Lurgan, Malahide, Merrion, Muckamore, Newforge, North County, North Down, RBAI (Osborne Park, Belfast), The Hills (Dublin), Waringstown, and Woodvale.