Zimbabwe’s drawn-out 2004-2005 domestic season has come to an end with Mashonaland, as expected, winning the Logan Cup for the sixth time in a row. We take a look at how the four provinces performed
Mashonaland The captain Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor, Barney Rogers and Stuart Carlisle were outstanding with the bat, while Waddington Mwayenga and the legspinner Graeme Cremer bowled really well in the last stages of the competition; Cremer seems to have learned a lot form the South African tour. Star man Taibu. He was outstanding with the bat, with two well-made centuries and a top score of 151 against Manicaland – and he missed on a third when he was out for 91 against Matabeleland in the first match. His ability to bat for a long period shows he has really matured. Young player to watch A complete allrounder, Chamunorwa Chibhabha is a composed player, a brilliant stroke player in the top order and an accurate medium-pace bowler with a bright future in the game.Manicaland Back-to-back victories against Midlands and a surprise win against Mashonaland in the last round ensured that they finished second, a huge improvement from last season when they were bottom. Their captain Dion Ebrahim, Neil Ferreira and Hamilton Masakadza were in top form with the bat, but the bowling was a problem – although left-arm seamer Allan Mwayenga did well in the last stages. Star man Ebrahim, two centuries and a brace of half-centuries made the difference for Manicaland. Young player to watch Tino Mawoyo – the Zimbabwe Under-19 captain did not play much due to educational commitments, but the few times he did turn out, he showed that he is a good batsman. Mawoyo is also capable behind the stumps and he will be able to put his talent on display when he completes his studies this year.
Matabeleland They started off their campaign with a 258-run defeat at home to Mashonaland but recovered to beat Manicaland by nine wickets. They were really affected by the departure of coach Pommie Mbangwa who took up a job as a commentator in South Africa. Captain Mluleki Nkala also missed out on the last four matches due to a nagging ankle injury, and Heath Streak was also not available due to county commitments. This left a lot of pressure on Tawanda Mupariwa and Christopher Mpofu to lead the bowling attack and they rose up to the occasion. Terrence Duffin was consistent with the bat at No. 1 and Keith Dabengwa and Sean Williams also impressed. Star man Keith Dabengwa – a best of 161 against Midlands and three more half centuries was impressive, although he still struggled for wickets. Young player to watch Sean Williams. Another of a crop of composed young players, the left-handed Williams has a good technique up the order. He is also a left-arm spinner and, should he learn to turn the ball more, he will become a complete allrounder.Midlands A very disappointing season for a side that has spent the last few years challenging for honours. Midlands finished this year’s competition with six defeats in six. They were not consistent and relied on individual performances to bail them out: but these were never enough. For example Douglas Marillier’s 202 in the second innings against Manicaland could not save them from a ten-wicket drubbing. Friday Kasteni scored a hundred on debut against Matabeleland but he failed to find such brilliant form again. Star man Prosper Utseya. He struck three half-centuries with a top score of 89, Utseya also did well with the ball with best figures of 5 for 32. Young player to watch Anthony Ireland. He has the raw pace but ultimately he lacks control. If he learns how to maintain a good line and length, he could go far.
Shane Warne has made his first appearance on a cricket pitch for 12 months, after hiring the Junction Oval at St Kilda – the venue of his 2nd XI comeback match next week – for a secret training session.Warne was accompanied by friends and several members of St Kilda Cricket Club as he bowled for 45 minutes against a variety of leftand right-handed batsmen. According to those who witnessed the session, Warne had few problems finding his range, despite his lengthy lay-off. The session did not contravene the terms of his suspension because it was not classified as official team training for the St Kilda squad.”The track was turning quite a bit, he was getting quite a bit of bounce and loop,” said David Johnstone, St Kilda’s chairman of selectors, who looked on in an unofficial capacity. “He seemed really happy with what was going on, and tried some normal [leg breaks], some slower and faster ones, some flippers and wrong’uns and stuff out of the front of the hand. I was standing right out there with him and he looked in good form.””He doesn’t look like he’s been out for long,” said one of the batsmen who faced him, the young left-hander Justin Gale. “He looks pretty fit. There’s not many spinners of his class going about in Melbourne grade cricket … and he bowled a different [type of] delivery just about every ball. Everything seemed to be coming out all right to me.”The session is unlikely to attract the controversy that surrounded Warne’s last public attempt to train, when he was invited to join the Victorian squad soon after his ban was announced. On that occasion, Cricket Australia stepped in and banned Warne from participating in all forms of cricket, apart from charity and testimonial matches.Cricket Australia have since praised the way Warne has stuck to the terms of his ban. “Shane and his manager have been meticulous in ensuring they comply,” said their spokesman, Peter Young, who explained why they had stepped in over his appearance with the Victoria squad. “A player suspended under the Cricket Australia anti-doping policy can’t receive any support from official cricket. Shane [couldn’t] train at the MCG because members of the public can’t.”
Sri Lanka A captain Upul Chandana dominated the second day of the unofficialTest at Matara on Friday when he launched a blistering assault on Kenya’shapless bowlers.Chandana, a leg-spinning all-rounder who has played six Tests and 81 ODIs,ran amok, smashing his highest first-class score, 194 off 193 balls, hitting23 fours and five straight sixes.It was a timely show of class by the Southern Province leggie, watched as hewas by national selector Mahesh Goonatillake, who will have been ponderingthe ideal make-up for the Sharjah tri-series in April.For Kenya it was a humiliating reminder that their bowling attack is stillwoefully short of an acceptable standard in Test match cricket.Leg-spinner Collins Obuya ended up with the best figures, three for 123 from34.4 overs, but even he was treated severely on the second day.Sri Lanka, starting the day on 298 for five, added a further 276 runs in42.4 overs for the loss of a solitary wicket, eventually declaring on 574for six midway through the afternoon session.At least, Kenya’s batsmen, needing 424 to save the follow on, rallied in theevening, finishing the day on 124 for two.But the loss of Steve Tikolo – their master batsman – shortly before theclose, as he mistimed a cut and was caught at point, was a serious blow.They will now be hoping that opener Ravindu Shah continues his steadfastresistance. The right-hander was 59 not out at the close with Hitesh Modi onnine.Chandana’s impressive knock was well supported by Tillakaratne Dilshan, whoscored a chanceless ton, eventually finishing unbeaten on 165 off 266 balls.The stylish Dilshan, scorer of 82 in Colombo and another pushing hard for aplace in the national squad, played second fiddle to Chandana, who scoredmost of his runs with booming off-drives and well executed cuts.The pair added a massive 302 for the sixth wicket before Chandana clipped acatch to mid-wicket. Sri Lanka immediately declared.Kenya started well enough, surviving new ball bursts from left-arm RuchiraPerera and Prabath Nissanka.However, the introduction of spin proved their undoing. In Rangana Herath’ssecond over Kennedy Otienio attempted a drive, edged and was safely pouchedat slip by Chandana.
It might only have been the first day of a new Test series between Australia and West Indies but it nevertheless illuminated several fundamental realities. Of these, the most transparent is that it will require a massive turnaround from the West Indians to make this series genuinely competitive. And then some.While there was much to celebrate for a very healthy Thursday crowd of 19878 here at the ‘Gabba ground in Brisbane, there was as much to mourn. For this was an occasion which highlighted the growing chasm that is beginning to emerge between some of the best and some of the worst teams in the contemporary Test arena.An overstatement of the position? An over-reaction to the events of a mere six hours? Well, maybe. But the portents of doom in the West Indians’ slide to a paltry first innings total of 82 – not to mention the concession, already, of a deficit to the Australians, who have reached 1/107 by stumps – were unmistakable.The West Indians had carried dismal batting form into this match after hidings at the hands of Western Australia and Victoria. Today, matters descended to truly disastrous proportions.On a pitch that seemed to offer far less in terms of pace and bounce than might have been anticipated by the Australians upon winning the toss, it was Glenn McGrath who was at the core of the tourists’ problems. Conceiving fast bowling that was high on quality and high on intelligence, he returned the extraordinary figures of 6/17 from twenty tight and disciplined overs. In the face of his onslaught, there was little that any of the West Indians – Brian Lara (0) included – seemed to be able to produce in the way of resistance.Depending on one’s perspective about the quality of Test cricket at present, the chain of events to which McGrath gave expression in the post-lunch session served as the cause of either incredulity or depression. Or maybe both. Whatever their exact nature, the basic facts were these. After reaching the mark of 2/53 fifteen minutes beyond the break, the West Indians surrendered their next seven wickets for fourteen runs. Another fifteen runs were somehow accrued from a contextually magnificent last wicket partnership between Jimmy Adams (16*) and Courtney Walsh (9). But by then, the damage in a phase that brought the overall clatter of eight wickets for a total of only thirty-seven runs had well and truly been inflicted.During a display through which the West Indians seemingly found the exercise of middling the ball a near-impossible assignment, the paceman claimed 4/0 in the space of ten deliveries at one stage as carnage reigned around him. He beat the bat relentlessly and, even when some form of willow was applied to ball, it seemed inevitably to come in the form of an edge into an increasingly heavily-packed slip cordon. Twice, he found himself on the verge of hat-tricks; twice, they were only narrowly averted.”I couldn’t have asked for a better day,” he enthused.”The West Indies haven’t really had a great start to their tour here, and we thought we could put the pressure straight on them. That was our game plan and it worked out pretty well.””My game plan whenever we’ve played against the West Indies has just been to remain patient, build the pressure up. It’s worked in the past so I thought why not stay on that track,” he said of his unerring line and length.That the tourists wedged the run out of Ramnaresh Sarwan (0) – as he ridiculously attempted a second run with Ricky Ponting in rapid pursuit of a ball to short fine leg – into the mess as well only underlined the parlous extent of the capitulation. With the exception of Shivnarine Chanderpaul (20), Daren Ganga (18) and Adams, the entire line-up was swept away in a fashion that defied belief.Vice-captain Sherwin Campbell (10) had been the first to depart, after a forty-five minute stay that, in hindsight, made his effort one of the more stoic performances of the innings. Along with Ganga, he weathered the opening spell of McGrath and Brett Lee (1/24) relatively painlessly, in fact. But, once he departed after edging a Stuart MacGill (1/10) leg break to slip, the foundation for the ensuing rot was in place. Australian captain Steve Waugh rapidly swung McGrath back into the attack and, with the very first ball of a new spell, he teased old sparring partner Lara (0) into issuing a loose, outside edged defensive shot at a ball that cut marginally away. The symbolism in the star’s brisk departure from the crease was unarguable.After the brief respite that came in the form of the luncheon interval, Ganga edged Andy Bichel (1/25) to slip and Chanderpaul fell to a lazy drive at McGrath. Sarwan departed next and then Ridley Jacobs (2), Nixon McLean (0), Mervyn Dillon (0) and Marlon Black (0) all joined the queue of McGrath victims shambling hastily back in the direction of the pavilion. Walsh showed that the job of defying the New South Welshman was not as impossible as it might have looked but could not hold out for long against the speed of Lee, fending a lifting delivery to short leg.It all left the visitors crashing to their third lowest score in history against Australia and a sub-one hundred total in a Test innings for the fourth time in less than two years. Compounded as it was by the sight of the Australians registering a century stand before Matthew Hayden (44) was run out, it also left the fate of this particular Test match seemingly already heading toward only one possible result.So grave had the state of affairs become that not even the fact that Australian openers Michael Slater (54*) and Hayden both narrowly escaped a series of close appeals early in their respective innings seemed worthy of comment by the end. Nor did the sight of Dillon sustaining a leg injury while slipping on a plastic bottle as he pursued a ball toward the square leg boundary. More than enough, in fact, had been said by then.
There were two centurions from India A, and only one from South Africa A. Simple math won in the end, and the visitors were knocked out of the A-team tri-series in Chennai. Mayank Agarwal hammered 176 off just 133 balls, Manish Pandey galloped to 108 off 85, and India A batted the opposition out of the game. South Africa A were set a target of 372, and they had to get it in 29 overs to qualify for the final. Quinton de Kock did his best with 113 off 86 balls, but it was too tall a task.Seeking a better chance to get that bonus point, Dane Vilas, the stand-in South Africa A captain, chose to bowl. As iffy as their history is with chasing, the team’s best chance remained with the batsmen making the play. Among the four left-arm seamers, only Lonwabo Tsotsobe has been decent. Their spin reserves have not impressed either. Trusting the bowlers to get them through seemed too big a gamble. On the other hand, they had a sturdier batting order with the return of de Kock, who now has five centuries from six one-day matches against an Indian team.The problem, of course, was South Africa gave away too many runs. The problem was Agarwal, a player known for short and punchy cameos, managing to play a long innings. He helped lay the foundation with a 106-run opening partnership with Unmukt Chand, and then took control of the middle overs with Pandey in a 203-run stand, the scoring rate during which was 8.45 per over.As mammoth as India A’s total was, it did not come helter skelter early on. India A had been 37 for 0 in 10 overs, but with the pitch offering very little challenge, and the opposition bowlers unable to lift themselves, steady acceleration became all out carnage – 195 runs came off the last 20 overs.Mayank Agarwal hit 110 runs in fours and sixes•K Sivaraman
India A’s innings, in fact, mirrored Agarwal’s. The batsman was slow early on – 30 off his first 49 balls – but he could afford to be because Chand was making sure South Africa A were under the pump with 64 off 77 balls. But once Agarwal got himself set, his usual manic tempo resurfaced. He secured his second hundred of the series off 96 balls, and the 150 came a mere 21 balls later. His lack of consistency has been a long-standing complaint, but Agarwal has five fifty-plus scores in seven one-day innings and his current average of 55.1 is the best for an Indian with at least 1000 List A runs.Almost unnoticed at the other end, Pandey was working himself to hitting rhythm. He was 51 off 52 balls when the final 10 overs began but completed a century in the final over of the innings. It was a partnership well-suited to exploit a benign pitch and listless bowling. Agarwal and Pandey have techniques dictated by strong bottom hands, a preference for the front foot and unorthodox shot selection.So when South Africa A bowled back of a length, the batsmen still waded forward and flat-batted them into a wide arc from midwicket to extra cover. The visitors did not help themselves by dropping Agarwal on 29. He ended up making 110 runs in boundaries alone. The other reprieve came from a mistake by umpire Virender Sharma, who failed to spot an outside edge as Pandey nicked off to the wicketkeeper in the 40th over.With chances of progress distant, de Kock indulged in reclaiming his lost form. He had little trouble assessing the pace of the pitch, and nearly every time he planted his front foot down for an almighty swing to the leg side, he succeeded. He got to 50 off 29 balls, produced a hat-trick of boundaries in the 18th over from legspinner Karn Sharma, and cruised to his hundred off 76 balls. He gathered 76 runs from 60 balls of spin, which should help his confidence ahead of an important tour of India in October.Another hopeful to make the South African Test side, Reeza Hendricks, got some batting time with 76 off 109 balls. He looks like an accumulator and does present a good option for the senior team if they are still looking at a Test opener. Khaya Zondo offset that slow pace with 86 off 60 balls, but South Africa A were never in with a chance today.
West Ham United returned to winning ways on Sunday afternoon as the Hammers beat relegation-threatened Everton 2-1 at the London Stadium thanks to goals from Aaron Cresswell and Jarrod Bowen.
The former opened the scoring with an excellent free-kick before half-time but saw his side lose their lead when Toffees defender Mason Holgate saw a volley deflect into the back of the net early in the second half.
However, the Irons soon regained their lead as Bowen, back from injury after a month out, tapped the ball into an empty net after Michail Antonio saw a shot parried by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Despite the victory for his side, it was another tricky afternoon for Antonio, who now hasn’t scored a Premier League goal since New Year’s Day.
According to SofaScore, the Jamaica international missed two big chances whilst also having just 43 touches all game. Furthermore, the 32-year-old lost the ball on 13 occasions, an average of every 3.3 touches.
The striker was able to get shots away against a leaky Everton defence that had to deal with being down to ten men in the second half when Michael Keane was shown a second yellow card.
However, none of them were too troublesome with one hitting the target, one going off target and the other blocked.
In fairness to Antonio, the striker did work hard, winning 11 ground duels out of an attempted 17 at a 64.7% success rate whilst also winning half of his aerial duels (two out of four).
Moreover, the 32-year-old provided three key passes, although he failed to complete more than three-quarters of his passes with a passing accuracy of 74%.
There was little defensive contribution either with zero tackles, interceptions, blocks and clearances as well as committing two fouls.
Being David Moyes’ side’s only senior striker certainly comes with baggage and the 32-year-old is carrying high expectations upon his shoulders, with the East London side competing for both European qualification and the Europa League title.
The Jamaica international had started the season in stellar fashion, scoring four goals in his opening three Premier League outings. However, those four goals currently make up half of his league goal tally for the season in April.
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There’s no doubt that Moyes will be looking to add at least one striker to his squad in the summer, regardless of how his side finish the campaign.
Whether or not Antonio is going to be in the Scotsman’s plans is still yet to be revealed after another afternoon where the striker let his manager down.
AND in other news: Forget Bowen: West Ham “explosion” with 95 touches showed he’s a “revelation” today
Steven Smith has been ruled out of the third Ashes Test on the morning of the match in extraordinary circumstances with Usman Khawaja earning a recall just a day after it seemed unlikely that he would play another Test for Australia.Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed just before the start of play that Smith was suffering vertigo type symptoms, something he has battled with in the past. He left the ground during the warm-up after he had batted in the nets and had a conversation with coach and selector Andrew McDonald.Related
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Smith missed training on Monday due to illness but had trained on Sunday at Adelaide and then played golf with his team-mates at Kooyonga on Sunday afternoon.He returned to training on Tuesday and was first in the nets. But he did not look in full health during the net session and was also hit in the groin at one point which felled him and caused him to take a lengthy break.”Over the past few days he has been feeling unwell, with symptoms including nausea and dizziness,” a CA spokesperson said.”He was assessed and monitored closely and was close to being available to play. However, given the persistence of symptoms, a decision was made not to proceed.Steven Smith came down will illness ahead of the Test•Getty Images
“He is being treated for a potential vestibular issue. This is something Steve has experienced intermittently in the past and is being managed accordingly. He is expected to be available for the Boxing Day test in Melbourne.”Pat Cummins, who returned as captain after Smith had led the first two Tests, confirmed after winning the toss that Khawaja would replace him.”Steve’s been feeling a bit unwell the last couple of days,” Cummins said. “He came and gave it a crack this morning but didn’t think he was going to get up for this one. So he’s headed off home. But pretty lucky we’ve got someone like Usman who can step right in. Usman will bat No. 4″Khawaja has been recalled after Australia had elected to leave him out despite returning to full fitness from a back injury, with the success of the Travis Head-Jake Weatherald opening partnership in the first two Tests forcing the selectors’ hand. Even with Khawaja’s last-minute return, the selectors have decided to keep Head and Weatherald at the top. Khawaja will slot in at No. 4 with the rest of the order remaining the same.Khawaja has only twice batted at No. 4 in Test cricket, including in the first innings of the first Test in Perth when he was unable to open due to back spasms. It has been his preferred spot to bat in first-class cricket, averaging 53.15 with 10 centuries. He batted at No .4 in Sheffield Shield cricket for Queensland for several years while he was Australia’s Test opener.Khawaja will turn 39 on Thursday, and become the first 39-year-old to play for Australia in 40 years.Smith has missed two of Australia’s last six Tests through injury or illness. He missed Australia’s first Test of the West Indies tour in June due to a finger injury he suffered in the WTC final. Josh Inglis batted at No. 4 on that occasion.Prior to that he had not missed a Test since the third Test of the 2019 Ashes series when he was ruled out with concussion. He has suffered several bouts of vertigo in the intervening years but none that have kept him out of a Test match.
Worcestershire have revealed that last summer’s devastating floods cost the club in excess of £1million in lost revenue, clear-up costs and replacement of damaged assets.New Road, the county’s home ground, wasn’t fit to host any Twenty20 Cup matches in what is a highly lucrative tournament, and no cricket was played at the ground after June 21. Consequently, and in spite of an insurance pay-out of £300,000 and an ECB grant of £75,000, the club made a pre-tax loss of £693,211.”The impact of the floods last summer is well documented and these figures show how big an impact they have had on the finances of the club,” Mark Newton, Worcestershire’s chief executive, said. “For the previous four years we posted a surplus and we have a strong balance sheet. This, together with help from many sources including our bankers at Clydesdale Bank and the Inland Revenue, ensured the club survived such a devastating year.”I would go so far as to say it was probably the worst disaster to ever hit a county cricket club as a result of an act of God, and our players deserve full credit for achieving what they did.”Our recovery plan is well advanced and we have received significant help from many individuals and a number of organisations since September which will be reflected in next year’s accounts,” Newton said. “We expect it will take two years for us to fully recover financially but we are sending out the positive message our cricket budget will remain ring-fenced and we intend to raise considerable funds ourselves during 2008 and 2009.”The club’s AGM takes place on Monday February 18 and, worryingly for the members, New Road was again under water as recently as last week, swamping the newly-laid outfield.
After almost two days of travel Australia have landed in St Vincent to begin their final preparations for the World Cup defence. The squad, which is missing Adam Gilchrist, left Sydney on Wednesday and stopped off in Los Angeles, Miami and Barbados before reaching its destination.Australia, who will have their first practice on Saturday, will play a warm-up match against Zimbabwe on Tuesday and a friendly against England next Friday before heading to Jamaica for the opening ceremony on March 11. Scotland will be Australia’s first opponent in St Kitts on March 14 before matches against The Netherlands and South Africa complete the group stage.Michael Clarke, who missed the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy last month with a hip injury, said he was desperate for some game time. “I’m looking forward to getting there, getting into some training,” Clarke told at Barbados. “I feel like I’ve done nothing for six months after having missed New Zealand, so I’m looking forward to getting back into it.”Gilchrist is expected to arrive in St Vincent early next week after staying in Perth following the birth of his third child. Andrew Symonds is also due to test out his injured arm for the first time while batting over the weekend.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul has resigned as captain of West Indies with immediate effect. He has been in the post since the series against South Africa in May 2005.Chanderpaul, 31, was given the captaincy during the contracts row between leading players and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) before the start of the South African series.He informed the WICB of his decision on Tuesday and said: “I would like to take this opportunity to tender my resignation as captain with immediate effect.”This would give me an opportunity to focus on my batting and otherareas of my cricket where I would be able to make a more significant contribution to the team, by being more focused on my batting.” Chanderpaul averaged 47 as captain, but struggled in the last eight months, scoring just 198 from 13 innings.”I have served my time as the captain and would like to pass the mantle on to another person. I would fully support my replacement, and work towards the good of the team,” he said. “I would like to thank all who worked with me during my tenure as captain, and I am looking forward to continuing my hard work for West Indies cricket.”Ken Gordon, the WICB president, emphasised Chanderpaul’s importance to the team and denied that he was forced to resign. “No, I received Mr Chanderpaul’s letter today,” Gordon told CCN TV6. “In it he expressed his desire to focus more heavily on his batting…so I think it was a reasonable approach by him and I called him to thank him for it [his contribution] and to indicate to him that we are all very supportive of him.”Chanderpaul’s last series as captain resulted in a 2-0 defeat to New Zealand. He leaves just a couple of weeks before the home international season begins with a one-day series against Zimbabwe, before the visit of India. The WICB have said a new captain will be named in the shortly.