Stephen Fleming believes New Zealand have the players and the form to reach the World Cup final for the first time. Encouraged by a string of 300-plus scores and the improving form of his bowlers, Fleming said New Zealand had a good chance of reaching the semi-finals and were desperate to make it to the decider.With four points in the bank and another four likely after their next two matches – unless they are upset by either Bangladesh or Ireland – it seems only a dramatic form slump could deny New Zealand a semi-final berth. Fleming’s team ranks alongside Australia as the only undefeated countries at the tournament but he is not counting his chickens yet.”Eight [points] might be enough, but ideally we’d like at least ten,” Fleming told the . “It could be a bit of a logjam. Part of the reason we put the foot down against the West Indies was the issue of run-rates, and how much they’ll play in the eventual standings. Eight points with a good run-rate might be enough but there’s still a lot to pan out yet.”Fleming said Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka were the biggest threats but New Zealand had the potential to outplay all of them on their day. He was confident his side’s preparation for the World Cup had left them in good stead, despite their injury concerns.”Australia’s still the team to beat, certainly,” he said. “They’re playing some good cricket but so are other teams. It’s hard to know how it’s going to pan out – it’s going to be tight. We’ve never been as well prepared as this. We’ve looked at pretty much every scenario and some of them twice. We’ve paid attention to succession-planning and have copped a bit of stick for it – but it was with a view to being as prepared as possible.”We’ve had a tough week losing Lou Vincent and Ross Taylor, but we’re able to fall back on experienced players and that’s had a settling effect on the team. We still got through the week okay whereas in the past it might have impacted negatively on the side.”Fleming said it was important to take nothing for granted, however, and New Zealand’s clashes with Bangladesh on Monday and Ireland a week later were potential stumbling-blocks if the players did not focus. “We’ve got a couple of tricky encounters coming up,” he said.”Bangladesh tripped us up in the warm-up match and Ireland have tested Pakistan. But if we continue the way we’re playing, we’ll not be far away. That’s exciting. Each game we tick off brings us one closer to the semis – but the final is really what we’re after.”
ScorecardVikram Solanki spanked 92 as England A cruised to a series-levelling 90-run triumph over West Indies A in their fourth one-day cricket international at Windward Cricket Club. The five-match rubber stands at 2-2 with the decider at the same venue on March 18.Solanki, the Worcestershire right-hander, cracked nine fours off 121 balls to lead England A to a formidable 269 for 9 off 50 overs. West Indies A limped to 179 for 9 in pursuit. Sajid Mahmood, the fast bowler, engineered a top-order slide, claiming 3 for 33, while Gareth Batty, the offspinner, finished with 3 for 26. Ryan Hinds top-scored for West Indies with a laboured 32 off 70 balls.England A, batting first after winning the toss, stumbled early on as West Indies’ new ball pair of Andrew Richardson and Tino Best reduced them to 15 for 2 in the fifth over. But Solanki and Jamie Dalrymple added 132 for the third wicket to tilt the balance back to their side. Dalrymple cracked four fours and three sixes in 62 off 75 balls before he was stumped trying to hit out at Omari Banks, the offspinner.Ravi Bopara fell cheaply but Rikki Clarke provided Solanki with level-headed support in a stand of 50 for the fifth wicket. Clarke notched 47 off 61 balls while Kabir Ali propped up the lower order with a run-a-ball 32 not out.Mahmood dented the home team’s run chase by removing Dale Richards, Lendl Simmons and Sylvester Joseph in his first spell. Richards edged a drive, Simmons lofted to mid-on, and Joseph swatted to cover. In between, Luke Wright claimed Marlon Samuels for a duck. Samuels, a century-maker in the last match, nicked a flat-footed drive to wicketkeeper Steven Davies. At 35 for 4, the innings was in need of repair.Hinds and fellow left-hander Narsingh Deonarine added 33 for the fifth wicket but Batty soon sliced through the middle order to seal the deal. Deonarine was bowled off the edge, Hinds sliced a big swing to short third man, and Carlton Baugh was caught deep on the leg side. Last pair Best (14 not out) and Richardson (23 not out) reduced the margin of defeat in an unbroken stand of 44, the highest of the innings.
Victoria’s close-season problems grew with a report in the Melbourne Age that out-of-contract fast bowler Mathew Inness was considering a move to either Western Australia or Queensland.The news comes in the aftermath of rumours that a number of players are looking to move on. Matthew Elliott, the former national opening batsman, is expected to switch to South Australia; allrounder Jon Moss has asked to be released from his contract so he can head back to NSW; and Ian Harvey is thought to be ready to leave if his contract demands are not met.Inness struggled for a first-team place last season, playing six Pura Cup matches and no one-day games. Less than two years ago he was being talked of as a potential national player. The newspaper said that Cricket Victoria were not optimistic about retaining him.”There’s been nothing serious, no talk of contracts or anything like that,” Inness said. “WA or Queensland would probably be two that suit my style of bowling. But I’ll suppose I’ll have to wait and see if there’s an opportunity at one of those two states because if there was a good opportunity, I’d have to seriously consider it.”
The passport fraud case involving Thilanga Sumathipala, the president of Sri Lanka Cricket, was further delayed today after Sumathipala’s lawyers claimed their client was about to undergo kidney surgery. Sumathipala, first summoned to appear before a Colombo magistrate’s court on January 8, will now be examined again by a judicial medical officer (JMO) and top urologist to determine whether he is fit enough to attend court. They will report back to the court on January 19.Meanwhile, T.B. Boyagoda, Colombo’s Chief Magistrate, surprised the court with the announcement that he would be pulling out of the complex and high-profile case. The magistrate cited personal reasons and announced that additional magistrate Namal Balalle would take up the case on Monday (January 19).Last Monday, the JMO had handed over a three-page report which had claimed Sumathipala was sufficiently fit enough to attend court. “The pain Mr. Sumathipala had mentioned was not typical of stones in the kidney and it was too small, not needing urgent surgery,” the report said. Boyagoda had said that he would decide whether to issue a warrant for Sumathipala’s arrest on Tuesday.But Sumathipala’s legal team furiously disputed the diagnosis. They claimed that a leading specialist, called Rizvi Sherif, had recommended immediate surgery. Sumathipala was allegedly moved to an operating theatre. The prosecution accused the defence of misleading court, but the magistrate ruled that further analysis was necessary.Sumathipala is accused of an involvement with an underworld character called Dammika Amarasinghe, who allegedly travelled to the 1999 World Cup on a forged passport as a guest of the cricket board, which at the time was headed by Sumathipala.Amarasinghe, held in custody and facing prosecution for a string of contract killings, was killed by an assassin in a Colombo courthouse on Friday morning. The gunman, a former army deserter who was dressed in lawyer’s robes, claimed that it was personal attack of revenge, but police have hinted that it was a contract killing, possibly by a mafia gang based in the south.
Bing Crosby might have been dreaming of a white Christmas, but Steve Waugh was still dreaming of a whitewash after the first day’s play in the fourth Ashes Test at the MCG. Waugh won the toss and then sat back as Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer each compiled hundreds and, in the process, broke a 95 year-old record. By the close, Australia had reached 356 for three with Langer unbeaten on 146 and Waugh relieving pressure on his own place in the side with an innings of 62 not out.Australia, already three-nil up in the series, made two changes from the last Test in Perth. Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill replaced the injured Shane Warne, while Martin Love made his Test debut at the expense of Darren Lehmann who was unable to shake off his leg infection. With Alec Stewart failing to recover from his bruised hand, James Foster was included to keep wicket for England with resulting changes to the composition of the rest of the side. They opted to play an extra batsman with John Crawley returning in place of Alex Tudor while Andrew Caddick was recalled for Chris Silverwood.This left England’s attack looking thin, with only four recognised bowlers in Caddick Steve Harmison, Craig White and off-spinner Richard Dawson. The same paucity could not be detected in the Australian batting line-up as Hayden and Langer made full use of a pitch promising plenty of runs when Waugh won the toss.Hayden has been in unstoppable form during the series, but he did offer the odd moment of hope to England’s bowlers who far from disgraced themselves during the morning session. In the first over he hooked Caddick just over Harmison’s head at long leg for a boundary and another opportunity went begging when Crawley failed to sight the ball at deep backward square leg and it bounced in just front of him before going over the rope.The Queenslander, averaging 94 in the first three Tests, was also inconvenienced in the ninth over of the morning when struck a blow on the knee by Caddick. However, he took only a short time to recover before going on to pass the milestone of 3,000 Test runs including 400 in the current series. He also survived a convincing shout for lbw when Dawson was introduced into the attack for a single over just before lunch.The score had reached 88 without loss at the interval before the Australian batsmen cut loose in the afternoon session, adding a further 147 runs. Hayden and Langer, drawing inspiration from one another, broke the ground record of 126 for an opening partnership in Australia-England Tests established in 1907/08 by Monty Noble and Victor Trumper.When Hayden went to his hundred off 138 balls with a somewhat fortunate shot to the fine leg boundary, it was his third in the series and twelfth in Tests. He acknowledged the applause of a crowd in excess of 64,000 but perished 11 balls later when he was caught at mid-ff by Crawley off the bowling of Caddick.Langer’s hundred came up in three balls less than Hayden’s as he took a six and a four off consecutive balls from Dawson. Not for him the nervous nineties as the man who has been forced to play second fiddle to his opening partner emerged in his own right. He displayed his composure when three wickets fell in relatively quick succession at the other end.After he had lost his opening partner, Langer watched as Ricky Ponting chopped a ball from White onto his stumps and then, ten overs later, saw Damien Martyn edge a ball from the same bowler low to first slip where Marcus Trescothick held on to a good catch. That reduced Australia to 265 for three and there was a glimmer of hope for England.That was extinguished by Langer and a defiant innings from Waugh. There has been much speculation that the Australian captain’s international career is drawing to a close, but he obviously has other ideas. He did survive an awkward moment when it seemed that he had edged the sixth delivery with the new ball from Caddick low to Butcher at slip, but the third umpire ended lengthy deliberation in Waugh’s favour.His fifty came from only 49 balls and now he will want to at least double that personal tally before leading Australia to an unassailable first innings total. He and they are well on the way and England’s depleted attack will not be looking forward to trying to stop them with any confidence.
Alec Stewart has been interviewed by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) investigator Sir Paul Condon in connection with allegations that he took money for information on matches.An ICC Media Release announced:”On Tuesday 26 June 2001 Alec Stewart was interviewed in the presence of his legal advisor by investigators of the ICC Anti Corruption Unit.A report in relation to the allegation against Alec Stewart will be submitted to the England and Wales Cricket Board.”It is the second time that Stewart has met with Condon.The notorious bookmaker MK Gupta has declared that he will not substantiate his claims that Stewart took money from him (but refused to fix matches). Stewart’s name also appears in the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation report.
The Athletic’s Phil Hay has delivered an update on where things currently stand with Leeds United’s ongoing case involving former striker Jean-Kevin Augustin.
What’s the story?
During a Q&A for The Athletic, Hay revealed: “The Court of Arbitration for Sport has heard the case (on March 15). Now we wait for a verdict, and the timing of that is solely in the hands of CAS. Leeds can only hope that CAS takes a different view to FIFA, because FIFA pulled no punches in saying they should cough up.”
A big financial hit for Leeds
The Whites stand the prospect of having to shell out the £18m that was allegedly agreed between them and Leipzig over Augustin’s permanent transfer, and that would blow a major hole in their finances, just when they’re looking ahead to the summer transfer window.
At £18m, that kind of fee would actually represent the joint-third highest sum Leeds would pay out for a player, with only the deals for Rio Ferdinand and last summer’s signing Rodrigo costing more – a real indication of just how desperate Radrizzani and the Whites will be not to pay it.
Augustin ended up playing just three times in the Championship, totaling a measly 48 minutes of football for Leeds, scoring no goals and providing no assists – his only outings for the club all came in the month of February, when he featured against Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Bristol City.
Given the kind of troubles Jesse Marsch’s side have faced in the Premier League this season, having this dark cloud hang over them is unwelcome to say the least, and certainly would throw a major spanner in the works heading into the summer.
FIFA ruling in favour of Leipzig last year back in June has certainly ramped up the tensions behind-the-scenes at Elland Road, and there will be a worry among the club’s supporters too on the impact of what CAS’ verdict could have.
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.
Should the court dismiss Leeds’ case, and insist on the Whites paying the fee discussed, then it would be a massive financial hit for the club to take.
AND in other news – Forget Joffy: Marsch can get Leeds rocking by finally unleashing “phenomenal” 20 y/o
South Africa have named an unchanged 15-member squad for the fourth and fifth one-dayers against West Indies. South Africa have taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series after their seven-wicket win in the third ODI in Port Elizabeth.Joubert Strydom, South Africa’s chairman of selectors, said it was time to give opportunities for players on the bench. Allrounder Justin Ontong remains in the squad despite a troublesome knee.”We are obviously very happy with the way the team has played so far, but we also want to give opportunities to those players who have been sitting on the sidelines,” Strydom said. “We will also have to wait to see how Justin Ontong’s knee is responding to treatment when the squad reassembles on Thursday.”The last two games are scheduled for Durban and Johannesburg on February 1 and February 3 respectively.Squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Justin Ontong, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Albie Morkel, Johan Botha, Morne Morkel, Andre Nel, Dale Steyn, Charl Langeveldt, Makhaya Ntini
Inzamam-ul-Haq mulled over a state of affairs turbulent enough to rattle even the most implacable souls, and admitted that Pakistan are in considerable bother just days before the side departs for the Caribbean.At a press briefing at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore during Pakistan’s training camp, Inzamam told reporters of his worries over the make-up of the final 15-man squad. “We are yet to give a final shape to our squad for the World Cup and that makes it evident that we are facing a very difficult situation.”At the root of the strife lie Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar, who are both in the squad but still uncertain of participating due to concerns over their injuries and a dope test they have yet to undergo.”It is very important for us that Shoaib and Asif play for us in the World Cup because they are our main wicket-taking bowlers. They add balance to our line-up,” Inzamam recognised. “We will be in the race for the title if all our players are fit and available for the World Cup,” he added.Inzamam added that Pakistan’s fielding would also have to tighten up were they to be considered as one of the favourites in what he says is the most open World Cup. “With better fielding, a team can save 30 to 40 runs and that makes a big difference in most matches.”If we are to have any real chance of doing well in the tournament, we have to show tremendous improvement in both our fitness and fielding.”
Errol Alcott, the Australia physiotherapist, is worried Ricky Ponting will almost certainly miss the second and third matches against South Africa and there are fears he will not take any part in the one-day campaign. Ponting, who pulled out of the opening game with a stomach problem, could not train on Tuesday and while he remained optimistic of leading the team at Cape Town on Friday, Alcott doubted he would make it.”I think he’s struggling for this weekend, that’s for sure,” Alcott told . The third match is on Sunday at Port Elizabeth before a five-day break and games in Durban and Johannesburg. “The trouble is we play Fridays and Sundays, so if you miss one week he might miss three games straight away,” Alcott said. “We’ve just got to keep assessing him.”Ponting suffered the injury batting in the nets and Alcott said he was still feeling tender. “He’s very optimistic each day, and then I have a session with him and it brings him back to reality again,” Alcott said. “He’s very powerful, he’s got short levers and he’s like a little pocket dynamo. Everything he does he’s 100%, even his position and also his batting. [The stomach] is the centre of movement for all of us, so it’s got to be in good order.”Andrew Symonds and Stuart Clark are also on the injury list, but Clark is hopeful of returning on Friday. Symonds is improving from a hip injury that he first felt a week ago, although Alcott also rated him “doubtful”. “We put him in the nets today to do some straight-line hitting, but he was aware of some discomfort, so I’ll get him back in the workshop and keep working on him,” he said. “You’ve got to be careful because if you let them out there and they re-injure it then you are looking at two or three weeks longer, and I don’t want to do that with a Test series [coming up].”The first Test is at Cape Town on March 16 and the squad will be named next week. Phil Jaques is expected to arrive in South Africa today as cover for both Ponting and Symonds.