After England’s ungainly exit from the NatWest Series, Thursday’s game between West Indies and New Zealand at the Rose Bowl has turned into a mini-final, and a chance for both teams to win an important psychological victory before the Lord’s final on Saturday. Both teams are faced with the option of giving their leading players a rest before the final, or keeping their sides the same to keep their momentum going.New Zealand are unbeaten in the series so far, and their well-planned, calm approach has had the better of both England and West Indies, but their batting has rested on good performances from a few players, with the likes of Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan remaining unusually anonymous. They have also been helped by the toss, winning it every time, and this has no doubt proved vital to their campaign as the side batting first has not won a single match in this one-day series.They rested Chris Cairns in their last match against England at Bristol, as he had picked up a few minor injuries. Provided he is fit, this game will give him some valuable match practice, but if he has not fully recovered, New Zealand are unlikely to risk playing him.Daniel Vettori, after coming back from a hamstring injury, has looked flat in New Zealand’s three games so far. He has taken only one wicket – that of James Anderson, England’s No. 11, and has often gone for runs. This game will be his last chance before the final to prove he is still a force to be reckoned with, though with his previous record he will probably make the final XI on Saturday whether or not he makes an impact in this match.After a characteristically inconsistent series, West Indies are starting to come into their own. Chris Gayle in particular has looked better and better with every outing, and he will be a key player both on Thursday and at the final. Apart from the mauling by Andrew Flintoff and Andrew Strauss at Lord’s on Tuesday, the bowlers have performed well, and Dwayne Bravo is the tournament’s leading wicket-taker. Tino Best, though he gives his all every time he plays, is a little prone to injury and may well be rested for this match. He will be a vital player in the final, and West Indies will be unlikely to risk playing him in this dead rubber.Dwayne Smith’s time at the top of the order has so far proved to be a mistake, but with the pressure off in this match he may finally show what he is capable of. West Indies have no real problems with their batting, except in deciding who will bat where. Gayle has had three different opening partners in four matches, and though Brian Lara has been the only one who has had success, he seems unwilling to stay in the position.New Zealand will start as favourites in this match, but with West Indies in unpredictable form and riding high from their victory over England, it is sure to be an interesting encounter.New Zealand (probable) 1 Stephen Fleming (capt), 2 Nathan Astle, 3 Hamish Marshall, 4 Scott Styris, 5 Craig McMillan, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Chris Harris, 8 Gareth Hopkins (wk), 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 James Franklin, 11 Ian Butler.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Ricardo Powell, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 10 Ian Bradshaw, 11 Jermaine Lawson.
Marvan Atapattu has been retained as Sri Lanka’s captain for thethree-match one-day international series in the West Indies, despite failing to take Sri Lanka to the final of the recent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series.Sri Lanka’s early knockout ended a five-year run in which they won every one-day series and tournament at home, but the four-man selection panel refused to hold Atapattu accountable, blaming the top-order batting instead. “You can’t judge a man on one series alone,” said Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors. “It was the batting that lost us the trophy. The top order just needs to regain its form.”The selectors, though, have lost their patience with Russel Arnold, whoscored 13 in Sri Lanka’s opening match before ferrying the drinks for the remainder of the tournament. “Russel [Arnold] has been struggling for his form and we decided that it is best for him to regain it before returning to the national side,” said Kaluperuma. “He will play in a three-day practice game next week and if he scores he will be considered for the Test team.”Naveed Nawaz, a 29-year-old left-hander who played the last of his three one-day internationals against India at The Oval in 2002, replaces Arnold. Dinusha Fernando, a 23-year-old uncapped swing bowler, replaces Kaushalya Weeraratne, who played just one game in the recent tri-series.Dilhara Fernando was not considered for selection after failing to recover from a lower-back injury, although the selectors hope that he will have regained his fitness in time for the Test series.Sri Lanka are due to play three one-day internationals, starting on June 7 in Barbados, followed by two Test matches. The squad for the Test series will be announced late next week.Squad Marvan Atapattu (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, MahelaJayawardene, Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan,Naveed Nawaz, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Dharshana Gamage, PrabathNissanka, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Kumar Dharmasena, Muttiah Muralitharan,Dinusha Fernando.
Steve Watkin has announced his retirement from first-class cricket in order to take up the role of Academy Director for the new Welsh Cricket Academy.The Glamorgan and England seamer will play his final first-class game against Surrey this week.Watkin recently joined a distinguished group of Glamorgan cricketers to have taken 900 first-class wickets. He made his debut in 1986 (capturing Graeme Hick as his maiden wicket) and has been one of the most reliable and consistent bowlers in domestic cricket ever since.Tall, thin and with a high action, Watkin soon became a favourite at Glamorgan where his willingness to bowl and dedication to the team cause has been much admired. His best year came in 1989 when he captured 94 first-class wickets, and won his county cap.He was a vital component in Glamorgan’s Championship winning team of 1997 and was rewarded with a successful benefit season the following year.His international career has been disappointingly brief, however. He won a place on the A tours of Kenya and Zimbabwe in 1989-90 and Pakistan and Sri Lanka the following year.Watkin’s Test debut came against West Indies at Leeds in 1991. He performed well, taking five wickets in the game (including Richards, Haynes and Hooper), but after a disappointing performance at Lord’s was dropped.He won a Test recall on the strength of 92 first-class wickets (and a prominent role in Glamorgan’s Sunday League winning side) for the final Ashes Test of 1993, taking six wickets (4-65 in the second innings – including the top three in the order) as England pulled-off a rare victory.It was enough to win his a place in the England squad to the West Indies, and although he never played another Test, he played four One-Day Internationals on the tip, with a best of 4-47 at Sabina Park.”It will be a huge wrench to give up playing professional cricket as I have been involved with Glamorgan – not to mention England and England A – for 16 seasons but this was too good an opportunity to miss,” Watkin admitted.”I have thought about it long and hard and accept that this is an important job, with substantial cash being invested in the scheme by the Sports Council for Wales. I am looking forward to the challenge of helping to develop the next generation of Glamorgan cricketers.”There is a lot of talent at junior level in Wales and I’m sure the new Academy will only add to the development of the best young players.”I feel very lucky to have enjoyed considerable success as a cricketer and I am now looking forward to giving something back to the game that has been nothing but good for me.”Hopefully, I can bow out with a few wickets against Surrey in our last match this week.”But Watkin did suggest that Glamorgan followers may not have sent he last of him.”Glamorgan have said they intend to keep my registration as a player just in case I am required to play,” he added.
Celtic headed into last weekend’s clash with the confidence of a 2-0 victory in midweek but the Hoops’ confidence could quite easily have been sapped away from them when Callum McGregor struck his penalty against the post.
It was an awful start for Ange Postecoglou’s Bhoys and at a stadium in the Tony Macaroni arena where their recent record is rather dismal, it didn’t bode well.
Yet, if there is one quality that the Australian has instilled in his players since taking the reins at Parkhead, it’s that the players should always press and never stop running.
He’s now found a tune out of James Forrest at long last too who bagged a rare goal this term to seal a 3-1 victory at Livi.
It’s safe to say that not everyone has found their feet under Postecoglou and one man who certainly hasn’t had his fair share of chances is Mikey Johnston.
In fact, you can argue that ever since Brendan Rodgers left for England, the Scot has struggled to ever make an impression.
Now at the age of 22, he is still a very young footballer but there is a growing sense that time is running out for somebody who is now behind Forrest, Jota, Liel Abada, Kyogo and Daizen Maeda for a place on the flanks.
Yet, with a contract until 2025, there is no easy way out, that’s unless Celtic sanction his departure in the summer.
It would be a surprise if the £10k-per-week earner ever found regular minutes in Glasgow and as a result, he must be axed from the side.
Once dubbed the “new Ryan Christie” all the way back in 2019 by Chris Sutton, his career has never taken off, largely due to injury.
He has missed over 600 days of action including this term due to injuries and fitness in the last few years, meaning he’s been absent for a hugely concerning 74 fixtures as a result.
Now, axing him on that evidence would be rather harsh but the fact of the matter is that when he has played, the returns have been poor.
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Last season, Johnston failed to find the net and indeed throughout 2021/22, he has not managed to beat the goalkeeper again.
A useful depth option but nothing more, he is far down on Postecoglou’s list of options and with impressive young players like Karamoko Dembele, Rocco Vata and Owen Moffat coming through, his future at Celtic looks bleak.
AND in other news, Sold for £990k, now worth 500% more: Lawwell call on 6ft4 “weapon” will haunt Celtic…
New Zealand A continued their excellent form at the Emerging Players Tournament in Brisbane, finishing on top of the table after their 32-run victory over Karnataka State Cricket Association XI. Neil Broom again starred for New Zealand with 62 and he had good support from his captain James Marshall, who scored a brisk 51 from 47 deliveries.Grant Elliott chipped in with a 38-ball 40 as New Zealand made the most of Marshall’s decision to bat first at Sandgate Redcliffe. S Dhananjaya tried to keep Karnataka in the game with 4 for 44 but when New Zealand were dismissed for 278 in the 50th over, the chase was always going to be difficult.Bharat Chipli was promising with 76 from 68 balls and there were contributions from Raju Bhatkal (46) and KB Pawan (44) but Karnataka fell for 245. New Zealand will play South Africa Emerging Players in Saturday’s final. South Africa Emerging Players cruised past the Australian Academy and into the final, finishing the preliminary games with a convincing seven-wicket win over the hosts at Redlands. The series ended on a low for Australia, who suspended three players on Thursday for poor behaviour at their Brisbane accommodation, as South Africa overhauled the target with nine overs to spare.Johan Botha’s decision to field first paid off when Australia wobbled to 9 for 189. Luke Ronchi made 65 and Phillip Hughes scored 58 but they had little help trying to get on top of Botha (3 for 27) and Yusuf Abdullah, who collected 3 for 43.Gulam Bodi made batting look easy and compiled 86, while Francois du Plessis was also in control with 62. South Africa reached 3 for 190 in the 41st over and settled in second spot on the tournament table, ahead of Australia in third and the last-placed Karnataka.
The success of Twenty20 in England continues with three of the four quarter-finals due to be played on Monday night already sold out, and the fourth – at Nottinghamshire – likely to produce another bumper crowd.All 6500 tickets for Essex v Yorkshire at Chelmsford were snapped up within four hours of going on sale, with the home allocations being bought within 41 minutes. David East, the county’s chief executive, has had to promise to assess the way tickets are sold in the future. Gloucestershire v Surrey at Bristol and Leicestershire v Kent at Grace Road sold their last tickets at the weekend.Trent Bridge – the biggest of the four grounds hosting the matches – still has tickets available for the tie with Northamptonshire, but Paul Maylard-Mason, the county’s chief executive, told the BBC that this would be the biggest gate since around 10,000 attended a Gillette Cup quarter-final tie in 1975. “It’s fantastic news that we will shut the gates on a full house for the first time since the introduction of Twenty20 cricket,” he beamed.
The Indian captain for the month-long tour of Zimbabwe, which will comprise two Tests and a one-day triangular tournament, is expected to be chosen on August 12, a day before the selection ofthe team for the tour.With Sourav Ganguly back in the fray, after serving out his four-match ban, the selectors will need to take a call on Rahul Dravid’s immediate future as the captain of the Indian side. Dravid’s attacking captaincy in the ongoing Indian Oil Cup has come in for praise but it remains to be seen if he is persisted with as a long-term option. Ganguly showed signs of returning to form in India’s second game against Sri Lanka at Dambulla, where he made a steady half-century, and that could have a bearing on the selectors’ decision as well.The team will be announced in Mumbai after a meeting of the selection committee and the newly-selected captain, SK Nair, the secretary of the Indian board told PTI. Greg Chappell, the coach, will also attend the meeting on August 13.The triangular series involving Zimbabwe and New Zealand is scheduled to begin on August 24. India will kick off their campaign with a game against New Zealand on August 26.
Rahul Dravid has responded to criticism questioning the inclusion of cricketers in the Olympic torch relay, saying that cricket should not be blamed for its popularity. The Olympic torch is currently in India, and Dravid, Anil Kumble and Irfan Pathan are due to carry it on Wednesday, June 10.Outlook reported that Dravid said the Olympics were about more than just sports, and that a lot of hard work was involved in all sports.”The Olympic movement is not just about sports. Its goals are broader and involve people from various walks of life,” Dravid said. “If cricket is the number one game in India, it is not the fault of cricket or the cricketers. It is for other sports to ensure that they are similarly popular, TV-friendly and able to catch the imagination of the kids.”I have a lot of respect for other sports, have friends in other sports. So I know how much hard work goes into their achievement and excellence. But I don’t think anybody should blame cricket for its popularity.”Dravid was chuffed with the idea of holding the torch and said that though he would have liked to take part in the Olympics, reality – that cricket would not be an Olympic sport – didn’t disappoint him.”It is a great feeling. We all have watched the torch relays right from the time when we were kids. We all know about the history behind it. It is going to be a phenomenal experience to take part in the relay,” Dravid said. “Cricket has never been part of the Olympics. So when we started playing, we knew that we are never going to take part in Olympics.”So there is no question of any disappointment for us cricketers. I would feel extremely happy if I could take part in the Games but I want to be realistic.”
Australian all rounder, Greg Blewett, is set to join Kent as stand-in for Andrew Symonds for the first six weeks of the season.Symonds, Kent’s overseas player for the last two years, is currently playing a series of matches for Australia "A" against South Africa "A" and is expected to be selected shortly as a member of Australia’s One Day Squad to play against the West Indies in May.Ian Brayshaw, Kent’s Director of Cricket, explained the situation:
Blewett, who is currently in St Lucia representing Australia in an international double-wicket tournament, will arrive in England next week in time for the Club’s opening match against Cambridge University on 18 April.Blewett said:
Blewett is 31. He made his Test debut for Australia in 1994, has played 46 Tests and 32 One Day Internationals for his country. He played for Yorkshire in 1999 and experienced an outstanding season with Nottinghamshire in 2001.
During the last 12 months we have started to see a very encouraging trend:Sri Lanka are playing their best one-day cricket in the biggest games. Thispattern was once again evident in the Coca-Cola Cup where Sri Lanka reservedtheir finest performance for the final.In fact, it is no coincidence that we are winning crucial one-dayencounters. Sri Lanka won the final because our players were able to copewith the extra pressure of the occasion. Amidst all the hype and in front ofa sell-out crowd we remained focused on the cricket.When you play finals its important to remember that essentially it’s still agame of cricket. You have to continue to do the things that got you to thefinal. Instead on focusing on the result or the occasion you have to get togrips with the basic processes that create success.Thus, we have a saying that “you cannot cope with pressure by focusing onpressure.” We focus instead on the basics. In this case, on the need toavoid run outs and reduce extras.Sounds simple, but its not. The ability to absorb pressure and channel onesenergies on the cricket is a skill that cannot be picked up overnight. That’s why I’m so pleased that this side appears to be getting to grips with it.India, on the other hand, are the opposite. Their recent record in finalshas been poor – this was the eighth final that they have lost in succession.We were well aware of this track record and realised that they couldstruggle if we grabbed the initiative right from the beginning.Even so, we were well aware that they were coming into the final after threewins in a row. The magnificent innings of Virender Shewag against NewZealand showed just how dangerous they could be.In the field they looked edgy after the fine start made by Sanath Jayasuriyaand Avishka Gunawardene and we controlled the game thereafter.Chasing 295 was never going to be easy – the highest score ever chasedsuccessfully at Premadasa was 243. Nevertheless, we all saw Shewag’s 69-ballhundred and have the utmost respect for the other Indian batsmen.It’s very difficult though chasing a large score. Sometimes the pressure onyou to score quickly creates dangerous expectations. You feel thatboundaries are necessary and forget the basics. In essence, you startrunning before you can walk.We made a dream start with Russel Arnold running out Shewag in the secondover and Sourav Ganguly cutting straight to backward point next ball. Afterthat we put the ball in the right places and caught our catches.Our first goal in the tournament had been to reach the final and we had theadvantage of securing a place early on. Although you obviously want to winall the games there is no doubt that the players can relax a little when youqualify early. You are also protected against a dip in form or provided withan opportunity to try different players.India, however, had their backs to the wall after three successive defeats.They had three difficult games, with the last one being a very toughsemi-final that must have been mentally exhausting. With just two days leftto recover for the final they may not have had enough petrol in the tank.Looking back over the entire tournament the highlight for me, apart fromsome outstanding individual performances, was the success of the three fastbowler-six batsmen policy, which we used throughout. The new formation,however, still needs fine tuning, as we need to work out how to use it theextra seamer most effectively.Finally, the performance of New Zealand deserves a special mention. I thoughthey were very unlucky, as they acclimatised to the tropical conditionsquickly and played some very good one-day cricket. With Chris Cairns waitingin the wings they have the makings of a very impressive side.Time now to turn our minds to the forthcoming Test series against India. It’s going to be tough with three games in just 20 days, but lets hope we canreplicate our Coca-Cola Cup success.