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ScorecardFile photo: Jiwanjot Singh scored an important 91, was run out towards the end of the day•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

All the facets of an intense day of first-class cricket were on display on the penultimate day of Mumbai’s Ranji encounter against Punjab.The quality of the game may not have been the best, but the manner in which both sides applied themselves, that too in scorching heat, deserved to be complimented.It was such an intense day that after Punjab made 244 for 4 in their second innings, still 171 runs behind to avoid an innings defeat, neither side was completely satisfied. While Mumbai captain Aditya Tare felt “one more wicket” would have made it a perfect day for them, Punjab coach Arun Sharma thought the visitors lost “two wickets too many” in the last session.Once Tare, after helping his team’s lead cross the 400-run mark, declared the innings, Punjab knew they had to bat out almost for two days to avoid the ignominy of an innings defeat.As an element of surprise, and taking a cue from Ankeet Chavan’s second innings nine-wicket haul against the same opponents at the same venue three years ago, Mumbai started the innings with Harmeet Singh’s left-arm spin along with Shardul Thakur’s raw pace. While Harmeet could not provide the breakthrough, a wicket did eventually come from the other end.Manan Vohra was adjudged caught behind down the leg side while attempting a flick off Thakur in the fifth over of the innings. While the bowler along with Mumbai’s slip cordon went up immediately after the ball had rested in Tare’s gloves, the batsman was taken aback with the decision of umpire K Srinivasan and made his displeasure known.Vohra’s wicket brought together Jiwanjot Singh and Uday Kaul. With the wicket hardly asking any questions of them, the duo – considered to be Punjab’s stayers – did not really appear to be in trouble. While they kept the scoreboard moving before the break, Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Harmeet pulled things back after the break.The first six overs of the second session saw just two runs being added. The tightness of the bowlers eventually forced a mistake from Kaul in the next over. Kaul’s defensive prod off Harmeet resulted in an inside edge to Shrideep Mangela at forward short leg.The rest of the session then belonged to Jiwanjot and Mandeep Singh, both of whom batted with discipline. Thakur, who had headed to the dressing room after feeling discomfort in his right leg in his fifth over, returned to bowl another spell, but none of the batsmen played a false stroke. Mandeep was fortunate for having seen two false strokes in a Harmeet over – a heave against the spin and an extravagant drive – dropping in no man’s land. Barring that rush of blood, the duo saw out the session with little discomfort.After doing the hard work in the first two sessions, it was up to both the batsmen to capitalise in the last session and reduce the deficit going into the last day. Instead, Jiwanjot threw his wicket away just after entering the 90s in the manner of a run out. After flicking Thakur through midwicket, Jiwanjot called Mandeep for a second run. Jiwanjot was a tad slow to turn back and Harmeet got such a perfect throw in from the deep that Tare only had to whip the bails in time. Even a desperate dive from the batsman was not enough to save his wicket.Half an hour later, Mumbai got the bonus wicket of Yuvraj Singh. The Punjab captain got off the blocks quickly with a flick off Dhawal Kulkarni but he tried a paddled sweep off part-time offie Akhil Herwadkar, only to bottom-edge the ball on to the stumps.Mandeep and Himanshu Chawla then looked in no trouble with the old ball as Mumbai hurried the over rate to use the new ball as early as possible on the last morning.

Aston Villa have seen numerous players leave the Midlands club over the past few years such as Jack Grealish, Ally Samatta and Bjorn Engels among many others.

With the upcoming summer transfer window on the horizon, it seems as though the Villans could be set to wave goodbye to another one of their players.

According to a recent report from Italy (via Sport Witness) Serie A club are still interested in signing Douglas Luiz in the summer after previously being linked with the Brazilian.

Should the former Manchester City midfielder call an end to his time with the Villans in the summer, this may not be a big disaster for Steven Gerrard as he already has a potential replacement for Luiz.

Signed during the previous summer transfer window from fellow Midlands club West Bromwich Albion, 18-year-old midfielder Tim Iroegbunam has made 19 appearances for Villa’s U23 side.

In those appearances, the Englishman has scored one goal and provided one assist in the process.

Since December, the teenager has been involved in Villa’s senior matchday squads, making his Premier League debut during their 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion back in February.

This shows that he is on the fringes of becoming a fairly regular first-team player for the Villans and is trusted by Gerrard to be in and amongst the senior squad.

Labelled as a “super impressive” person by Michael Beale as well as a “top young footballer” who has a “very bright future ahead” of him, the 18-year-old could find his pathway to regular senior minutes at Villa Park made clearer should Luiz find himself on the move in the summer.

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Even though the Midlands club have not been shy when it comes to spending money on bringing new players to the club over the past few years, giving Iroegbunam the chance to show what he’s capable of in Luiz’s potential absence could be the way forward and save them millions.

Having done this with Jacob Ramsey, who has now scored six goals in 28 league appearances this season after working his way through the youth ranks, the club know what benefits can arise from giving young players the chance to shine on the main stage.

In other news: £8.1m down the drain: Sherwood’s “menacing” £28k-p/w flop rinsed AVFC dry for 523 days

Dav Whatmore knows a thing or two about coaching struggling sides, and coaxing success out of whatever resources are at hand. He masterminded Sri Lanka’s World Cup win in 1996, and sparked a change in Bangladesh’s trajectory when he took over the coaching role there in 2003.He moved into his current position with Zimbabwe less than six weeks before the World Cup earlier this year, and was able to bring enjoyment and cohesion back into the team environment in remarkably quick time. Yet positive results haven’t been forthcoming, and on Tuesday Zimbabwe slipped to a 3-0 series defeat to India despite putting themselves into positions of dominance in all three matches.”That was a hugely disappointing effort in that first game. We honestly thought we should have won that. When you get so close, and you don’t, I think psychologically it becomes a little bit greater when you play the next one. We’ve got the potential, as you can see, we just need to transform our ability into performance, and that comes from here,” Whatmore said, pointing at his head.Though Whatmore prompted “a total 180 in the players’ mindsets” very quickly, according to former captain Brendan Taylor, he insists there is no quick fix for Zimbabwe’s issues.”It doesn’t happen like that,” Whatmore says, clicking his fingers to emphasise the point. “It never does. It takes a bit of time. If you look at the history of Zimbabwe cricket over the last four years, if you’ve done your research you’ll know that we’ve only played a handful of games. And to improve you need to go through certain situations more often. So hopefully boys will learn as quickly as possible, because we are now playing competition which we haven’t had in the past.”It’s okay to say ‘be patient with us’, it’s a cliche but I’m very pleased to have played these three games and we look forward very much to the future matches coming in this calendar year. And we look to improve. So please bear with us, we are trying really hard to get it right and we will need a bit more time. As other sides do.”Zimbabwe have been slightly surprised by the way these pitches have played, as ordinarily Harare Sports Club tracks ease out during the course of the day, particularly in winter. In this series, there has always been something on offer for the bowlers. They “briefly” considered batting first after Elton Chigumbura won his third toss in a row, Whatmore explained, “but this wicket generally gets a lot better than this. It’s sort of misbehaving a little more than what most of us thought. Generally speaking this wicket flattens out a little bit more, but it’s had some life in it right throughout.”India haven’t had it all their way in this series, slipping to 87 for 5 in the first match, losing 6 for 77 in the last 10 overs on Sunday, and wobbling at 82 for 4 today, but Zimbabwe were never able to land the killer blow and, as Whatmore admitted, “we’ve let them off the hook a couple of times”.The problem, for Chigumbura, is a lack of ruthlessness.”It’s just about being ruthless,” he said. “You tend to relax when you are on top, or sometimes some guys realise we’re on top. And also because of not playing many games regularly. I think the more we play the more we could quickly learn from these mistakes.”We need to dig deep when we get into these situations. I think that’s where we’re lacking. We always get into a good position, in almost every series that we play we’ll get one or two chances that we can take with both hands and win the game, but we don’t.”Zimbabwe have a quick turnaround in which to try to set things right before the Twenty20 series starts on Friday, but they can also look forward to an unusually full schedule in the months to come. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, particularly on the psychological aspect of their game, Zimbabwe could yet be another of Whatmore’s success stories.

A delighted Daren Powell dismisses Chris Adams on his Hampshire debut © Getty Images

Division One

Only 24 overs were possible at The Rose Bowl, but it proved sufficient for Hampshire’s bowlers who reduced Sussex to 64 for 6. James Bruce was the catalyst with 4 for 33, removing Chris Nash for a duck and trapping Murray Goodwin in front for 19. Sussex captain Chris Adams was unimpressed that his side had to bat under floodlights. “Although the light does improve once the floodlights are turned on, it is artificial light. I don’t think floodlights have a place in four-day cricket,” he said.Surrey moved to 164 for 2 against Worcestershire on a reduced first day at Guildford. Jon Batty and Scott Newman got Surrey off to a brisk start with an opening stand of 81 before another Batty, Worcestershire’s Gareth, bowled Newman for 32. Shortly afterwards, Batty dismissed his namesake Jon for 45 leaving Surrey on 104 for 2. But Mark Ramprakash and Mark Butcher steadied Surrey’s innings with an unbeaten third-wicket stand of 60, before rain curtailed the day’s play.A steadying stand of 69 between Joe Denly and James Tredwell rescued Kent on their first day against leaders Yorkshire at Scarborough. Click here for John Ward’s bulletin.

Division Two

Somerset slipped to 180 for 5 on the opening drizzly day against Derbyshire at Derby, as their powerful top-order struggled against Ant Botha’s slow left-arm. That they reached such lofty heights owed much to Neil Edwards’ fighting 94 which contained 16 fours and came from 121 balls. However, the next highest scorer was Justin Langer with 22, closely followed by 20 extras, as Somerset failed to put any length partnerships together. But shortly before the rain fell, and six short of a hundred, Edwards edged Botha behind to leave Derbyshire in command after the first, shortened day.There was no play at Abergavenny between Glamorgan and Leicestershire due to rain.Bristol also succumbed to the drizzle, preventing Gloucestershire’s match against Leicestershire from starting.

Jagmohan Dalmiya questions the legality of the summons © AFP

The Indian board (BCCI) has postponed the disciplinary committee’s proceedings against Jagmohan Dalmiya, the former BCCI chief, who filed a suit in a Kolkata court challenging the legality of the summons.Dalmiya was summoned to appear before the three-member committee this afternoon for his alleged failure to reply to show-cause notices pertaining to accounts of the 1996 World Cup.”The communication sent by your [Dalmiya’s] lawyer Mr Soumendra Nath Banerjee by fax was forwarded to the members of disciplinary committee. They have considered your request for adjourning the proceedings,” Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said in a letter addressed to Dalmiya, a copy of which was made available to the media today. The letter said that the next date of hearing will be announced later.”The Committee felt that only filing of a suit in the absence of any interim order is no ground to adjourn the matter,” the letter said. “However to give you a fair opportunity in the matter in the interest of justice, the proceedings are adjourned. The next date of hearing will be communicated to you in due course.”Dalmiya had filed a suit yesterday before a Kolkata court challenging the legality of the BCCI’s summons asking him to appear before the committee, headed by Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, alongwith Shashank Manohar and Chirayu Amin. In the suit, Dalmiya asked the court to issue an order to the board not to honour his suspension from attending board meetings as the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

Simon Jones takes care of Ricky Ponting in the first innings at Old Trafford © Getty Images

Australia plans to spend the lead-up to Trent Bridge in reverse-swing protection mode as the batsmen try to find ways of countering England’s stunning use of the tactic. Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones have combined for 29 wickets in the first three Tests and have regularly confused the opposition order with their wild movement.Simon Katich, who has 143 runs in six bats, and Adam Gilchrist, who collected 120 with a top score of 49 not out, have struggled to absorb the method and Ricky Ponting said after his 156 at Old Trafford that he would prefer going in early than dealing with the middle-order danger. “There is no doubt it is the most difficult time in the game to bat,” he said in the Sydney Morning Herald. “I would take facing a brand new ball that’s swinging than facing a 10-over-old ball that’s reversing the way it has in this game.”Ponting said Flintoff had used the tactic well and made it tougher by going over and around the wicket. “He swings it both ways as much as anyone in the game,” he said. “And he does it at 90 miles an hour. `Gilly’ is in the same boat. Any of the left-handers that he has had a chance to bowl to in the last couple of Tests he’s really troubled.”Mark Taylor said in the batsmen should try not to strike so firmly when the ball was swinging. “They’re so used to hitting the ball hard and hitting boundaries,” he said. “When you’ve got a couple of quality bowlers and they’re swinging the ball late it’s not always possible to bat that way.”Taylor said Allan Border tried a short back-lift to Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis to counter the movement. “The best way he found was almost to play French cricket at times,” he said. “A really short back-lift and just hit the ball in the gaps and pick up ones and twos and deflect the ball more so than try and hit it.”As well as looking at it from a batting perspective, Australia’s bowlers will also try to find a way of copying it. “We’ve got to work out how we can do it better,” Ponting said. “There is no doubt in the last couple of games it’s played a key role.”Michael Vaughan said Jones had always been able to move the old ball and he was teaching his team-mates. “Some of our bowlers are new to reverse-swing and controlling it,” he said. “Simon is helping all the bowlers. In both games we have used it very well.”Australia have arrived in Scotland and will train today before a one-day match at The Grange tomorrow. Ponting told the batsmen had to start turning starts into big scores.”There haven’t been any real extravagant shots that have cost us our downfall, we’ve just made little mental errors more than anything,” Ponting said. “Matty Hayden probably has got 30 every time he’s batted in the series, Justin Langer has been a bit the same, Damien Martyn has made 20 every time, so guys are getting in and getting starts – we’re just getting out from there.” The fourth Test begins at Trent Bridge on August 25.

Stan Nell, an Australian coach, has been recruited as the coach of the Sri Lanka A team for their forthcoming tour of England, according to The Island, a Sri Lankan daily. Nell, who coaches Monash University in Victoria but also has previous experience of coaching in Sri Lanka, is set to join the A squad in June.Nell’s appointment swells the Australian contingent looking after various Sri Lankan squads: the national team is coached by John Dyson, while Shane Duff is their fitness trainer, and CJ Clarke, the physiotherapist.Hemantha Devapriya, the A-team coach over the past four years, will now join the Sri Lankan Academy which is about to commence its second programme after being opened in 2003.Nell has worked in Sri Lanka previously with the Indoor Cricket Foundation and John Keells in the Mercantile competition.

Alec Stewart, the veteran of 170 one-day internationals, has informed the chairman of selectors, David Graveney, that he thinks the time is right for England to look for a new wicket-keeper in the build-up to the 2007 World Cup. He believes that the search for his replacement should begin now to give England the best chance of doing well in the Caribbean. Having said that, he is not actually retiring and would answer any call that came, just as he is adamant that he wants to extend his Test career by making this move.Speaking at The Oval, Stewart, who has just turned 40, made his motives clear and stressed that he had not used the term retirement at any stage. "It’s my belief that England should now look forward to the next World Cup," he said. "Being honest, 2007 is beyond the goal I’ve set myself."It’s my opinion and if the selectors don’t agree with it and want me to carry on then I will. But I think we should now give ourselves the best possible chance of winning the 2007 World Cup."Stewart admitted that he began thinking about such a move the day after England had lost their World Cup match to Australia in Port Elizabeth. " I was very down and very disappointed then because I realised that it would be my last World Cup. I didn’t want to dive in and make a rash decision but during the last couple of weeks I’ve come to this decision and I telephoned David Graveney to inform him of my thoughts.I said that if, as a group of selectors, they decide that Alec Stewart is still the best keeper for the one-day team and you want him to bat, then I’ll be there for you and will always give one hundred per cent, but I think now is the perfect time to plan for the future."What he also made plain to Graveney is that this decision only applies to one-day internationals and he is still as keen as ever to continue his Test career. "I still believe that I’m the best person to keep wicket and bat at number six in the Test side, and I hope the selectors will agree with that too."I’m looking forward to this summer when, hopefully, I’ll put in some very good performances for England. I’m not walking away from cricket because I’m still fit enough and I believe I’m good enough to play in both forms of the game. But ideally they’ll look at the younger element to give England the best chance of victory in 2007."If the one-day career is over, then it’s over and I can look back and feel very happy with what I achieved."During his 170 one-day internationals, Stewart scored 4,677 runs at an average of 31.60 and claimed 159 catches and 15 stumpings. He captained England during the 1999 World Cup campaign and it makes sense for him to make the decision he has now.The main candidate to replace him would appear to be Chris Read of Nottinghamshire. He played nine one-day internationals in 1999/2000, but his batting was not of the same calibre as Stewart’s. However, he impressed National Academy coach Rod Marsh during the recent winter and has made rapid advances as a batsman and wicket-keeper to command unstinting praise from Marsh. Such accolades are not given out either easily or often.

Champion off-spinner, Muttiah Muralitharan, has now finished his secondsuccessful stint with Lancashire, but there are concerns that his long-termfitness may have been jeopardised by non-stop cricket.Murali signed off in style by claiming nine wickets in his last appearancefor Lancashire against Kent. He ended the season claiming 45 wickets in justsix games at an average of 18.48 per wicket. Only former English testbowler, Devon Malcolm, has more wickets so far in the CricInfo Championship,and he has taken his 46 in nine matches.Murali’s figures for the Lancashire make impressive reading: he has bowled446 overs, 158 of which were maidens and the English batsmen have only beenable to score an average of 1.88 runs per over. He’s also grabbed fourfive-wicket hauls in an innings and one 10-wicket match bag.He reaped greater rewards two years ago, taking 66 wickets from just sixgames, including an amazing eight five-wicket hauls and 10 wickets on fiveout of the seven occasions he played.This time playing in soggy April and May possibly handicapped him. In 1999he played in dryer conditions towards the end of the season. His noveltyvalue has also worn off and batsmen have developed strategies for keepinghim at bay, most famously Nasser Hussain’s successful policy of ‘kicking himor hitting him.’In 1999 Murali may also have benefited from the comforting presence of DavWhatmore. This time he played under Bob Simpson, the former Australiancaptain, who was the Australian coach during the controversial 1995-96 Testseries when Murali was first called for throwing.Muralitharan certainly worked hard for his wickets, bowling 50 over marathonspells on more than one occasion, and they are fears that he could sufferfrom fatigue, as Sri Lanka embarks on a busy international schedule.He broke down last year in South Africa with a groin injury before the finalTest, ending a 25 run of consecutive Test Matches. Another groin injurysustained in New Zealand left him ‘undercooked’ for the First Test Matchagainst England in Galle.His sudden injury problems led to the Sri Lankan physiotherapist AlexKontouri calling for his workload to be reduced to protect his long termfuture. He has now been playing for five months on the trot and will not beable to put his feet up until October.

Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero has admitted that the rift between the club and Carlos Tevez is not ideal, and that he hopes his countryman can yet be included in Roberto Mancini’s plans.

The controversial South American striker refused to warm up against Bayern Munich in a 2-0 Champions League defeat on September 27th, and has since been suspended for two weeks and fined four-weeks wages.

With no end to Tevez’s exile in sight, Aguero has stated that the situation is saddening and that he hopes a solution can be found in the near future.

“Unfortunately, the club and Carlitos haven’t reached an agreement and it pains me, as an Argentine and a team-mate, it makes me sad,” Aguero told ESPNDeportes.com.

“I can’t get involved in defending Carlitos or the club because I don’t know what happened. Only they know. It’s a shame for everyone.

“Hopefully, in these days or the next month it can be solved and he will be with us,” he concluded.

A January transfer away from the Etihad Stadium looks likely for Tevez, whilst Aguero has had an excellent start to his time in England and harbours much of the responsibility for filling his countryman’s boots.

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By Gareth McKnight

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