Shane Bond has ruled himself out of New Zealand’s series against Australia and feels that his back needs more time to recover completely. Bond, who is currently playing club cricket in Christchurch, was sidelined in May 2003 and a series of stress fractures to his feet and back forced the extended layoff.”Australia’s very unlikely,” Bond told . “I’d never expect to go from club cricket to playing Australia, so I think the chances of me playing them are 0%.” Bond had earlier entertained thoughts of returning to the Canterbury one-day side but he said, “The body is as good as gold but I don’t think I’m quite ready for Canterbury. I’m having some good days with the ball, but overall I’m still a little bit inconsistent.”Bond wasn’t ready to predict when he would return and added: “It is just week by week at the moment and we’ll see how things pan out. I’m playing both days this weekend so we’ll see how that goes. I didn’t think I did anything overly special last weekend, but the important thing is the back feels fine.”New Zealand are scheduled to play a five-match series against Australia, starting in Wellington on February 19.
Statement by Victorian Bushrangers stand in coach Greg Shipperd."David Hookes had a dream for his playing group to bring back to Victorians an increased interest in the cricketing exploits of the Bushrangers."He wanted them to play in a way that reflected the "Aussie way" and, if I might say, "his way" – positive, aggressive, attacking, combative, fun cricket."He set about creating an environment that would allow his players to shine – to challenge for Australian selection, to win titles and very importantly for him, help grow young men as people."He was well on his way to realising that vision."Our task now is amongst the incredibly sad recognition of his loss, to continue the job of walking the path he had so cleverly constructed."The Board of Cricket Victoria has confirmed that Greg Shipperd will act as Victorian Bushrangers senior coach for the remainder of season 2003/2004.
The Tasmanian Selectors have today announced the Cascade Tasmanian Tigers team to play the Western Warriors in the Pura Cup at Bellerive Oval commencing Friday, 25th January 2002.
Jamie COX (Captain)
Sean CLINGELEFFER
Michael DIGHTON
Michael DIVENUTO
Shane JURGENSEN
Scott KREMERSKOTHEN
Daniel MARSH
Scott MASON
David SAKER
Shannon TUBB
Shane WATSON
Damien WRIGHT
The side is unchanged from the side that defeated the Queensland Bulls in the Pura Cup last week.We would also like to advise that Sunday, 27th January 2002, will be Family Day at Bellerive Oval.
A seven wicket haul by Jitendra Likhar saw Rajasthan concede a narrownine run lead to Madhya Pradesh on the second day of their CentralZone Cooch Behar (Under-19) Trophy match at the KL Saini Stadium inJaipur on Monday.Having bowled out Madhya Pradesh overnight for 215, Rajasthan made aquiet start with openers Arvind Mann (33) and Vivek Sharma (30) adding64 runs in 31.3 overs. Then both Mann and Sharma were dismissed bysuccessive deliveries bowled by Jitendra Likhar. Likhar in the nextover had Dalpat (0) caught by Jatin Saxena. Then Ankur Singh (20) andTahir Khan (7) took the score to 98 when Ankur fell for a catch by JSaxena off Mohanish Mishra.Likhar who was proving to be unplayable ran through the lower orderand finished with seven for 69 off 31.1 overs. Though D Yagnik (32)tried to revive the Rajasthan innings he ran out of partners as hisside were all out for 206. MP in their second innings were threewithout loss in four overs by stumps.
After highly impressing in the various age groups of the Tottenham Hotspur academy, hopes for the future of Troy Parrott amongst those in the know in north London were extremely high.
It is not difficult to understand why this was the case. Over his 15 appearances for Spurs’ under-18s, the centre-forward bagged an incredibly impressive 17 goals, also hitting nine in nine for Tottenham’s under-19 side in European action and five in 14 for the under-23s.
This form led to comparisons with current Spurs striker Harry Kane, with it being reported last year that Tottenham’s backroom staff were trying to convince Daniely Levy not to block the Irishman’s pathway to first-team football due to their faith in his ability.
However, whether or not the £3.24m-rated youngster does indeed have the same level of potential as the England captain is very much up for debate. Over two loan spells at Milwall and Ipswich Town respectively, the 20-year-old hardly took either club by storm, failing to score in 14 outings for the Lions and bagging just twice in 18 fixtures with the Tractor Boys.
Things have improved for the forward somewhat this season, with the £7k-per-week hitman beginning to find his feet over 34 League One appearances at MK Dons. He has scored five goals, registered five assists and created four big chances for his team-mates, along with taking 2.2 shots and making 1.1 key passes per game.
On Tuesday night, he also had the pleasure of scoring a dramatic late goal in the Republic of Ireland’s 1-0 friendly win over Lithuania, with the youngster’s 97th-minute rocket giving his team victory.
The Spurs academy graduate has not only improved his reputation on the pitch at Stadium MK, but also off it, with Republic of Ireland assistant manager Keith Andrews stating of Parrott’s work ethic: “Troy has been flying in training. There has been a real noticeable difference, I would say, in Troy between this and the last camp. You sometimes forget how young Troy is.
“I have a really good relationship with him. Up until a certain point in Troy’s career, he was just on that upward trajectory. And then there were a couple of loan moves but they are invaluable experiences.
“Even at MK Dons during that spell when he was a little bit out of the team he pressed the reset button and just started to work hard. He has got his reward for that from his club manager and what we have seen this week. He has been really, really sharp. We have a lot of belief in him.”
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
As such, while the 20-year-old – who MK Dons midfielder Scott Twine claimed “runs over every blade on the pitch” and dubbed a “class” talent – undoubtedly has a long way to go if he is to emulate Tottenham’s £90m-rated Kane at some point in the future, there would appear to be similarities between the duo’s progression in north London.
Indeed, with the 28-year-old having similarly struggled on a number of lower-league loan spells in his youth, before exploding into the 243-goal Spurs sensation that he is today, there is still hope for Parrott at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It could just be a matter of Antonio Conte giving him a chance in the team.
AND in other news: Daniel Levy had a Spurs nightmare on £204.2m “alien” who has “magic in his boots”
England’s coach, Peter Moores, was left with plenty to ponder at the end of a troubling first day at the University Oval in Dunedin. After watching his probable Test batting line-up crumble for 131 in a mere 40.1 overs, there was little solace to be found in the efforts of his bowlers, who struggled for rhythm against a strong opposition, and conceded a lead of 46 with six wickets still standing at the close.”In general we played a bit loose and we paid the penalty for it,” said Moores at the close of play. “There is not much time now, they have got one more innings and they have got to make the most of any time they get out there. It’s all about getting into that Test-match tempo and getting into that way of playing.”Of particular concern is the form of Andrew Strauss, who was dropped from the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka before Christmas. He has since been earmarked for the pivotal No. 3 position when the first Test gets underway at Hamilton next week, but with nine runs in two innings on the tour so far, there can be no guarantees that he will hold off the challenge of Owais Shah, who top scored with 96 in the two-day practice match earlier in the week.”We’re still trying to finalise our team,” said Moores. “We’ve had Owais with us for quite a long time, but we’ve not seen much of Andrew. Fortunately he got a hundred in his last game for Northerns last week, but he’s got to do the work to put his name in the hat. We’ve got an idea of our team, but this was a chance to look at our options, and we put a side out that gives us an opportunity to look at players.”One unexpected selection was Chris Tremlett. He had not been included in the original Test squad, but was kept on as cover after the one-dayers when Steve Harmison’s arrival had to be delayed to allow for the birth of his new child. He was given his chance in the starting line-up when Ryan Sidebottom sustained a grade one tear to his left hamstring. “While we’ve still got niggles we want to keep Tremlett on, because it’s obviously a long way to ship someone in,” said Moores. “He has a chance [for the first Test], and he wouldn’t have played in this match if he wasn’t in the frame. Places are still up for grabs in the bowling department, and we’ll take as long as we need to take to identify what our best team is.”That best team need not necessarily include Harmison. Not for the first time, and presumably not for the last, he produced an enigmatic day’s work, returning the unremarkable figures of 1 for 59 from 12 overs. “Steve’s had a challenging 12 months,” said Moores. “Today he bowled better, but he’s still not where he wants to be. He needs to find rhythm and consistency, which he was starting to find at the end of the West Indies series [in June]. But then he got himself injured through no fault of his own and that put him back.”At the moment, we are very conscious he needs to get outside and bowl because he’s not hitting his straps,” said Moores. “Physically he’s fit, but Steve will admit he needs to bowl to get into rhythm, at the moment he’s not had much bowling.” With Stuart Broad and James Anderson both waiting in the wings for their opportunities, Harmison will need to find his form soon. “We have other bowlers who are exciting cricketers,” said Moores, “and it’s a fair scrap to see who gets the Test spot.”
Pakistan and South African players have been evacuated from their hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad, following what is believed to be a gas leak. Mohammad Sami, the Pakistan fast bowler, told how he ran down a corridor to escape from the building after saying he saw smoke in the hallway. At first it was thought there was a fire scare, but later reports suggested the problem was gas.Four fire engines were at the scene but the hotel management later released a statement denying it had been a fire: “It wasn’t a fire. Government agencies are investigating the incident and they will make an official announcement. The hotel is fully operational. Three staff members were taken to the hospital due to a burning sensation and they are back now.”Sami recalled: “I was on the sixth floor when a security man came to my room and asked me to vacate the hotel. I saw a lot of smoke coming out from the corridor so I ran down.”The two teams were among 150 people who had to file out of their Hilton hotel as they were having breakfast. Two more of the World Cup teams are staying at the hotel, Ireland and Canada, but the squads had left earlier for practice.Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq was unfazed by the evacuation, saying he had been told that the team had had to leave the hotel “as a precautionary measure”.The evacuees were all moved away to a safer location, but their plans to head to the beach were disrupted, as Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan allrounder revealed: “We were planning to go to the beach but we left our shorts in the room.” Pakistan’s media manager Pervez Mir confirmed: “The boys had a day off so they wanted to go to the beach, but this incident has altered their program.” They were unable to make it in the end.Afridi added: “I have no idea what happened. I had just woken up when the security man knocked on the door and said ‘get out of the room’. But I went back to sleep. Then he knocked again, and said ‘get out of the room’. Then I did and went downstairs.”
Marcus Trescothick, the England opener, believes England can take lessons from their 2-0 loss to Pakistan at the end of last year and use them for a Test series win against India.Speaking to BBC Sport, Trescothick said England have the potential to beat India when their tour comprising three Tests and seven one-day internationals kicks off later this month. “It will be a hard tour but if we learn from what happened in Pakistan it will be a good tour,” he said. “We have to learn to be prepared to change our game a little bit. The way most guys play is quite aggressive and I don’t want to curb that but we need to be able to read the situation and adapt to it.”England leave for India on Saturday, and Trescothick remains confident of a reversal of fortunes.”It is going to be a tough tour – India is a great but hard place to play,” he said. “I think there will be more attacking cricket (than in the series against Pakistan) and we might be able to dominate a little bit more.”With doubts lingering over the fitness of Ashley Giles, England’s first-choice spinner, Trescothick added that his absence may prove critical on the subcontinental pitches. “It is a difficult one because he is an important member of the team and we need him to get back fit,” he said. “Experience will be crucial so to lose the most dominant spinner in England would create a bit of a gap. But it would give an opportunity for Monty Panesar or Shaun Udal to come through and take charge of what is going to happen.” Giles has not bowled since undergoing hip surgery in December.England begin with two three-day warm-up matches, the first at Mumbai from February 18 and the second against a President’s XI at Baroda from February 23.
Billy Bowden has dismissed Bob Woolmer’s suggestions that the umpires were “subconsciously” pressured by Australia’s appealing and crowds, while John Buchanan believes that the comments are offensive. But Waqar Younis and Mark Richardson supported the theory of Woolmer, whose reasearch showed close calls went 29-6 against Pakistan during their recent tour.Bowden, who stood in two of the Tests and four VB Series matches, said that he didn’t care if one or eleven players appealed. “It doesn’t worry me, and neither does the crowd because I’ve made my decision before they get excited,” Bowden told Wellington’s Dominion Post. “I haven’t got a problem with any team and every team has a right to appeal. Australia don’t really appeal, they expect it, it comes with confidence, but it doesn’t change the way I rule on things.” Bowden said he had a great series and received good feedback about his performances.Waqar, a Channel Nine commentator, told the Brisbane Courier-Mail that there were some really poor decisions in the one-day matches, and most of them went against Pakistan. Woolmer said that his side was denied five times in the first final, and a sixth in the first over of the second when Adam Gilchrist was hit in front.”I don’t think [Woolmer] is wrong, though I am not sure about his counting,” Waqar said. “These decisions that went against Pakistan should be checked properly. The ICC should look at why they have been done. One or two are part of the game, but to get the amount that went against Pakistan …”The Pakistan Cricket Board has asked the ICC for two neutral umpires in one-day matches, which would bring limited-overs games into line with Tests. Woolmer also said that he would consider training his players to appeal after watching Australia convince the umpires with theirs.Buchanan, the Australian coach, told AAP that the umpires had the right to be offended by Woolmer’s verdict. “He needs to be careful in what he says,” Buchanan said. “At the end of any game the focus always tends to be on the one or two decisions that may have gone against a side, but we need to accept that umpires are having to make a huge number of decisions every game and we can’t expect them all to be right.”Buchanan said that there were procedures to deal with problems such as excessive and intimidating appealing. “The referee and umpires would have stepped in immediately if that was the case,” he said. “They would be in their rights to have an objection to the suggestions being made. For someone who has been in such a senior position [at the ICC], I would think certain individuals would take a very dim view of some of these comments.”Richardson, who retired after the two-Test series against Australia in November, said that the Kiwis were upset by close decisions favouring the home side during the tour. “We felt things went against us when we were over there, and I think the same will occur here,” Richardson told the Dominion Post. “The Aussies are very good at putting pressure on the umps. Shane Warne’s the best, he will talk and talk.”Richardson said that the standing of the player also counted in the umpire’s mind. “They are revered over there, and it’s hard for the umpires not to get carried away by the environment they are in,” he said. “They love their cricket, that is why they are umpiring, but they too can become in awe of the team.”He also said Adam Gilchrist tried to "burgle" batsmen and raised the statistic that he had never been dismissed lbw in a home Test. “You see the way Gilly throws the ball in the air," he said. "He tends to play on his walking, his honesty, but he still tries to burgle anyone and everyone. We couldn’t get Gilly and it gets to you. You hit him in front, you don’t get it and it does your head in.” Gilchrist did not respond to Richardson’s comments.
Shaharyar Khan, the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has admitted that one of his key aims is to clean up the image of Pakistan cricket. The final months of the reign of his predecessor, Lt-Gen. Tauqir Zia, were marred by accusations of nepotism, selection irregularities and financial mismanagement.”Cricket nowadays has loads of money and it is essential that the affairs of the administration are transparent and clean,” Shaharyar told the BBC in an exclusive interview. “Officials have been under pressure for selecting favourite players. People have been trying to influence their decisions and the cricket administration has also been suffering from grouping.”This is not acceptable. We need a clean administration to make it efficient as well. I won’t allow anyone to pressurise me or other cricket officials. If I won’t take any pressure, the same thing will go down to the bottom.”An immediate problem facing Shaharyar is to intervene in the increasingly hostile clash between Aamer Sohail, the chief selector, and Javed Miandad, Pakistan’s coach. The pair have been at loggerheads, with Miandad claiming that decisions regarding teams have not been run past him or Inzamam-ul-Haq, the captain. “This is not the biggest or the only issue,” Shaharyar explained. “There are a lot of other issues which need attention. I won’t be bringing in wholesale changes at once. I will talk to former administrators, cricketers and former players before introducing reforms.”He is also keen to ensure that funds find their way down to the grass roots. “The game needs investment on the lowest level as people don’t have grounds or playing facilities. This is essential to maintain the influx of good cricketers.”Shaharyar later expanded on his comments in an official press release. “I have been overwhelmed by the welcome that I have received on my appointment as chairman of the PCB,” he said. “I feel deeply privileged and humbled at this honour bestowed on me by the President, and I am grateful for all the messages of goodwill.”While I shall make a full statement to the media after formally taking over the post, I would like to respond briefly to the numerous questions that have been posed to me, as follows.”I shall carry out a round of consultations with leading cricketers, administrators and commentators after taking over. I hope in this way to learn from their experience before outlining the board’s policies.”I shall insist on transparency, financial probity and public accountability of the board’s action and finance.”Merit alone will be the criterion of the board’s policies relating to selection, appointments and other related matters. Justice will not only be done but will be see to be done.”I shall insist on upholding the noble and sporting traditions of cricket and will expect the highest standards of behaviour and sportsmanship, especially from players who are given the honour of wearing the national colours.”My special focus will be to tap the vast enthusiasm for the game with the underprivileged by providing them with grounds, equipment, coaching facilities etc that are not currently available to them. A strong base of the pyramid will ensure sustained cricketing excellence at the top.”I shall also focus on reviving our internal first-class programme so that public support for our local teams strengthens the competitive fabric of our players.”