Live – Bushfire Cricket Bash
We’ll bring you the best of the action and the colour from the Bushfire Bash in this live blog
ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2020
We’ll bring you the best of the action and the colour from the Bushfire Bash in this live blog
ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2020
Kevin Pietersen is targeting an “amazing” one-day series comeback over the next ten days to give the tour of Australia a perfect finish
Andrew McGlashan in Brisbane29-Jan-2011Kevin Pietersen is targeting an “amazing” one-day series comeback over the next ten days to give the tour of Australia a perfect finish. England handed themselves a lifeline with a 21-run victory at Adelaide, but still need to win the three remain matches, starting with the game in Brisbane on Sunday, to steal the trophy.If they can pull it off, it would be a fightback similar to the one England achieved four years ago after appearing down and out during the CB Series before winning two matches to reach the final ahead of New Zealand, and then beating the hosts 2-0. Pietersen missed most of that tournament, having broken a rib in an early match, but has set his sights on a deciding encounter at Perth on February 6.”It’ll be amazing. We were 3-0 down and to be able to fight to the end and turn out in Perth on what could be a final would be incredible. It was nice to win in Adelaide, you always look for momentum but momentum hasn’t meant a lot on this trip so far. It’s a different ground with different conditions and whoever adjusts best will win tomorrow. We can’t afford to lose.”Pietersen has had a mixed series with the bat, beginning with a dominant 78 at the MCG before falling first ball at Hobart. He then missed the Sydney match with a groin strain but returned for Adelaide, where he was caught at long-on for 12.This series has been Pietersen’s comeback into the one-day set-up after he was dropped against Pakistan in September, so he needed a productive series to reaffirm his credentials. England played seven batsmen in the previous match but that’s unlikely to be a long-term solution heading into the World Cup, so no one can afford to lose their form at this juncture.”You are going to get frustrated. I’ve been playing really nicely and have been on this whole trip so far,” Pietersen said. “I was frustrated in Hobart then I’m not sure it was the wrong option the other night but it looked like the wrong option the way I going out, just trying to hit a boundary. But these things happen.”England have a quick turnaround between the end of this tour and the World Cup. The players will have three days at home before departing for the subcontinent to begin preparations, although Paul Collingwood and Graeme Swann have been given extra time off for paternity leave.There are injury concerns over Swann and Tim Bresnan, who flew home from Australia with back and calf injuries respectively, although both remain confident of making the start of the tournament. Pietersen thinks that the enforced breaks can actually benefit England.”The boys will be fresh, the boys will be firing,” he said. “In a weird sort of way it’s quite nice that a few guys have had a few games off and been rested and some guys are back in England because they’ll come back fresh and rearing to go as soon as we jump on that plane.”Although Pietersen remains desperate to finish this tour on a successful he doesn’t think these one-dayers will have a huge bearing on what happens when the World Cup starts. “I’m not sure how vital it will be because conditions will be totally different. I think the first week in the subcontinent when we start getting used to conditions and the make-up of our side, having a full strength team out, that will be really crucial.”
The tour will also include three ODIs and two T20Is
ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2020Bangladesh will host Zimbabwe for a one-off Test as well as three ODIs and two T20Is starting February 22. This will be the first time the two sides play a Test series that doesn’t have at least two Tests.The Test will be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, less than two weeks after Bangladesh play the first Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi from February 7.The ODI series against Zimbabwe will run from March 1 to 6 in Chattogram, while the two T20Is – on March 9 and 11 – will be held in Mirpur. A week later, the same venue will host the World XI v Asia XI matches as part of the 100th birth anniversary celebrations of ‘Bangabandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation.Zimbabwe will also play a two-day practice match ahead of the Test, but the venue for that hasn’t been announced.The two sides last played a Test series in 2018, also in Bangladesh, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
New Zealand’s top 20 cricketers have been asked for their views on the leadership capabilities of Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor
ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-2011New Zealand’s top 20 cricketers have been asked for their views on the leadership capabilities of Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor, as well as the culture within the national side, as part of their end-of-season reviews. The interviews are taking place at the same time as New Zealand Cricket considers whether to appoint Taylor or McCullum as the team’s next captain.John Buchanan, New Zealand’s director of cricket, confirmed on Saturday that the subject of captaincy had been broached with the players, but said there was no question of the players picking the man for the job. Buchanan, national selection manager Mark Greatbatch and coach John Wright are all currently interviewing players.”One of the areas they needed to comment on was leadership,” Buchanan told the , “the culture of leadership and what their views and thoughts are of it within and around the Black Caps. We asked their views and thoughts on the captains they have played under – either Ross and/or Brendon. We wanted them to express their views on that.”We listened to what they had to say and that’s really the process of the reviews at the moment.”Buchanan said it was not the intention of the reviews to find out if the players preferred a particular captain. “I’m sure it’s probably been interpreted that way but I don’t think that’s specifically been asked. It’s a broad topic of leadership and, when it comes to captaincy, they are the frontrunners and the players have been asked to provide a view on them as individuals and what they bring to the captaincy role.”We are not necessarily canvassing them on a voting process… we really just want a viewpoint.”
South Africa’s fast bowlers blew India away for 154 after AB de Villiers and JP Duminy had set up a 290-run chase
The Bulletin by Sriram Veera12-Jan-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
AB de Villiers’ 76 off 69 balls set up what turned out to be a winning total of 289 for South Africa•Getty Images
India had to survive the new ball if they were going to make a fist of chasing 290 but they were gasping for breath within 11 overs, after slipping to 43 for 4, and never quite recovered. South Africa had threatened twice to run away to a mammoth total in their innings. India pulled them back on both occasions to keep the target below 300, but the chase went nowhere. South Africa were 82 for 2 in the 14th over before Munaf Patel removed Hashim Amla to slow the innings down, but the hosts bounced back to reach 213 for 3 in the 36th over, when AB de Villiers fell and India clawed their way back once again.The ball was expected to do a bit under lights and the top order, barring Virat Kohli, collapsed without much fight. The dismissal of Yuvraj Singh perfectly captured South Africa’s dominance on a bouncy track. Morne Morkel got one to kick up and jag away from Yuvraj, who got his feet into an awful tangle, and ended up stabbing the ball to first slip.It was that kind of a night: the India batsmen struggled to adapt to the conditions and they went down in a heap. M Vijay was trapped in front in the first over of the innings by a full delivery from Dale Steyn and Sachin Tendulkar perished to a pre-determined move to shuffle across his stumps. There was a short fine-leg in place for Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Tendulkar moved across to drag a short-of-length delivery past that fielder but only succeeded in top-edging a dolly to Steyn.India recovered from 13 for 2 to reach 41 without further damage but a double strike by Morne Morkel pushed them further back. Morne had hustled and hurried Rohit Sharma into having a few injudicious wafts outside off but Rohit was eventually unlucky to be given out, caught behind by AB de Villiers. It was a gem of a delivery that kicked up and straightened just outside off and Rohit hit his pad with the bat as he pushed inside the line but the umpire mistook the sound for an edge.Yuvraj proved a walking wicket in these seaming conditions and India were left staring down the barrel after MS Dhoni’s run out just before the half-way mark. Kohli hit a straight drive but the bowler Wayne Parnell got a hand on it to accidentally run out Dhoni and leave India with a mountain to climb. Kohli hung around for a while but once he fell to Steyn, the lower order just crumbled.South Africa’s bowlers blew away India but it was their batsmen who set up the win. It was a fascinating late afternoon at Durban after Amla’s exit. There was an imminent threat of a collapse in the air: South Africa had a long tail, JP Duminy can be an iffy starter against spin and the ball was starting to stop on the batsman a touch. de Villiers and Duminy initially batted like men who were aware of these threats. They added 47 runs in a little over 12 overs and the hosts had reached 132 for 3 in 25.4 overs when a single shot turned things around for them. de Villiers charged down the track to Harbhajan Singh and didn’t quite seem to connect well, but his sliced golf shot sent the ball into the screaming fans beyond long-off. When Duminy slog swept Yuvraj Singh for a six in the next over, it was official: they had broken free of the shackles.They followed it up with a smart move: they took the Batting Powerplay in the 28th over and looted 45 runs off the five overs. de Villiers made 28 of them, with a hat-trick of fours – a pull, a skillful inside-out hit over cover, and a slice over point – against Ashish Nehra in the final Powerplay over to leave South Africa sitting pretty at 192 for 3.Things were looking dire for India and Dhoni decided to bring in part-time spinners Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. de Villiers pulled Rohit straight to deep midwicket in the 36th over, David Miller played inside the line to lose his off stump against Raina in the 39th, and then in the 42nd Duminy missed a reverse sweep and was trapped in front by Rohit. The tail didn’t have the skill to add too many and South Africa meandered along to their final score.It was quite a contrast to the frenetic start to the innings, with Amla going after Nehra in some style. The bat-speed was rapid, and time and again he played on the up and through the line. There were some trademark cover drives on a stretched front foot and the highlight was the hat-trick of fours he unleashed against Nehra in the seventh over. Amla whacked a short ball to the midwicket boundary, then walked down the pitch to lace a length delivery to the left of mid-off before he pinged that region with an off drive. There was a caressed straight drive for three runs in the same over and he put away a couple of slower ones from Munaf for boundaries. His dismissal put pressure on the middle order but de Villiers and Duminy ensured that their bowlers had a score to defend.
Batsman to remain with the squad, with the Test series starting on November 21
ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2019England batsman Joe Denly has been sidelined after damaging a ligament in his ankle during practice. The 33-year-old picked up the injury on Thursday, prior to the first of the five T20Is against New Zealand, and will play no part in the series. The England management has not named a replacement for Denly, who is also in the squad for two Test matches, starting November 21.Denly arrived in New Zealand after helping England to a share of the Ashes series earlier this year, scoring 94 as a makeshift opening batsman at The Oval. It has been speculated that he would be moved down to No. 3 to enable Test captain Joe Root to bat at his preferred No. 4 spot, but that plan now depends on how he pulls up after treatment and rehabilitation.England do have other options at the top of the order. Dominic Sibley is uncapped, but also a specialist who was the only one to score more than 1000 runs in Division One of the 2019 Championship. The 24-year old has been compared to Alastair Cook for the manner in which he grinds out his runs.Outside of keeping his Test place, Denly might have also been hoping to break into England’s first XI in T20I cricket. With a view to building for the T20 World Cup next October, they saw the five-match series against New Zealand as a testing ground for new talent, coming to the country having rested “seven players”, according to captain Eoin Morgan. With the likes of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Jason Roy given time off, Denly had the chance to impress the team management but will now have to wait his turn.England won the first match of the series on Friday with another fringe batsman, James Vince, scoring a stroke-filled half-century. Denly’s injury made way for the hard-hitting Lewis Gregory to make his T20I debut, although he wasn’t required to bat or bowl. Tom Banton, whose strokeplay is reminiscent of Kevin Pietersen’s, is also available as reserve batsman with the T20I squad.
Writing on Twitter, Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol has dropped a major behind-the-scenes claim on the European Super League aftermath involving Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy.
Spurs were one of the big six Premier League clubs who signed up to be part of a closed breakaway division alongside Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool.
The plans attracted plenty of backlash and criticism from numerous supporters, as well as popular members of the media, and the protests eventually resulted in all English clubs backing out of the controversial plans.
Solhekol has been covering the aftermath extensively, and he has now dropped a major behind-the-scenes claim involving Levy.
The journalist said that there is a ‘growing feeling’ among the other 14 Premier League clubs that ‘heads must roll’, and they are ‘particularly unhappy’ with the behaviour of Levy as well as Bruce Buck, Ferran Soriano and Ed Woodward.
“Growing feeling among 14 clubs that heads must roll at 6 breakaway clubs,” explained Solhekol on social media.
“14 are particularly unhappy with behaviour of Buck, Soriano, Levy & Woodward. One exec says: ‘Stories saying Ed Woodward resigned because he was against the ESL are laughable. He was involved from day one’.”
Levy is already under mounting pressure from many Lilywhites fans, with the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust recently calling for him and the board to resign.
Facing a fight on two fronts, another worry for the chairman in the aftermath of Spurs’ involvement in the ESL could be the pressure of disgruntled executives from the other 14 Premier League clubs.
Indeed, this claim that they are ‘particularly unhappy’ with the Spurs chief among others potentially indicates an even more worrying backlash for Levy. Amid the fan protests as well, you could argue his future as Tottenham chief looks more shaky than ever.
In other news: Tottenham manager target would bring superstar to Spurs, find out more here.
In an exclusive interview with The Transfer Tavern, Steve Howey, who made 157 appearances for Newcastle United, has urged backup keeper Karl Darlow to leave this summer after being dropped for Martin Dubravka earlier this season.
Darlow has been linked with a move away to Watford who will be a Premier League club once again next season following their promotion last weekend, and they could reportedly land Darlow for as little as £6m.
The £25,000 per week shot-stopper was Steve Bruce’s number one for the first half of this season while Dubravka recovered from a foot injury which he sustained at the back end of last season, but within weeks of being back fit the Slovakian was back in the starting lineup despite Darlow being on the cusp of an England call-up.
Speaking on what he would do if he was in Darlow’s situation and why it still doesn’t sit right with him how the 30-year old was dropped, Howey told The Transfer Tavern:
“I was disappointed with how things were handled with him when Dubravka came back into the team because I think if you stopped the season then there would have only been one winner for player of the season, and it would’ve been Darlow.
“I think he will be better off going somewhere else because if Dubravka is fit then he will be starting. I’ve got nothing against Dubravka because he’s a top keeper, but I just feel what happened to Karl this season wasn’t fair.”
Darlow has had to bide his time at Newcastle with first-team opportunities in the Premier League being limited since Dubravka was signed in January 2018 and the Slovakian has been the number one ever since his debut against Manchester United.
Newcastle will be welcoming 24-year old Freddie Woodman back this summer when his loan deal with Swansea City expires and after impressing in the Championship he will be wanting first-team minutes to continue his development.
Celtic are reportedly keen on the idea of signing up to a British Super League, according to The Sun.
They suggest that the Hoops and rivals Rangers are wanted as part of a British revamp, with plans set to be backed by FIFA, UEFA and the UK Government, a far cry from the backlash the European Super League proposal received from such bodies.
The report claims that Celtic ‘would jump at the chance’ to be involved, with a possible inclusion potentially leading to an increase in interest regarding the Hoops from fans, sponsors and broadcasters.
This comes days after the collapse of the proposed European Super League, which saw six English sides sign up to and then withdraw from the new competition in a matter of days.
Celtic owner Dermot Desmond hinted over the last 12 months that he’d be open to the idea of a British Premier League, citing Cardiff City and Swansea City’s current inclusion in the English pyramid – the main advantage for the Hoops potentially joining a British Super League would of course be financial.
Celtic picked up £3.35m when they won the Scottish Premiership in the 2019/20 season, whereas Norwich City took a total of £96.5m for finishing bottom in the Premier League the same year.
However, on the pitch, Celtic’s chances of regularly winning trophies and qualifying for Europe, as they do now in Scotland, could be affected.
It’s an interesting proposition, but like with the ESL, we can’t see anything materialising in the near future.
In other news: Fresh Celtic director of football candidate emerges, find out who it is here.
Writing on Twitter, the Sun journalist Charlie Wyett has dropped an enticing transfer claim and has backed reports of West Ham United eyeing Brentford sensation Ivan Toney – going on to say that the 25-year-old would be a ‘perfect signing’ for David Moyes.
Links with the red hot striker are nothing new, with reliable sources like ExWHUemployee recently claiming that Toney has been on the West Ham agenda alongside other candidates like Adam Armstrong, Youssef En-Nesyri and Tammy Abraham.
Moyes has been on the hunt for a new forward since the beginning of January and even admitted himself that bids had been submitted (Claret & Hugh).
This is largely due to their over-reliance on mainstay Michail Antonio (The Athletic), who doesn’t exactly have the most clean injury record, with GSB and co looking at alternative options to bolster West Ham’s attacking line.
Now, the Sun reporter Wyett has dropped an enticing transfer claim involving Toney and has backed reports of West Ham’s previous interest.
It is said that the Irons have joined Chelsea in a transfer race for the Championship hot shot and are ‘desperate’ to beef up their striking options for the 2021/2022 campaign – one which could see them playing in Europe.
Wyett has also lifted the lid on Toney’s price tag, and it’s safe to say GSB will have to invest considerably in an attempt to sign him this summer.
He believes that Brentford’s asking price will be at around £35 million, but even for that demand, he could arguably be worth it.
“West Ham are looking at Brentford’s Ivan Toney,” he explained on Twitter.
“Even at £35m, I think he would be a perfect signing for them.”
Scoring a phenomenal 30 goals in 43 second tier starts for the Bees this season, assisting his teammates 10 times on top of that (WhoScored), it’s safe to say Toney could be worth the investment.
He has been dubbed by members of the media as ‘unplayable’ and ‘can’t be stopped’ for his stellar form over 2020/2021 (David Cartlidge, ESPN), and the fact he is still young and homegrown comes as another incentive to make a move.
Indeed, he could be a brilliant alternative to fellow linked strikers like Abraham and exactly what West Ham need – so we agree with Wyett that Toney could indeed be the ‘perfect signing’ for Moyes.
In other news: ExWHUemployee sheds light on another West Ham injury blow, find out more here.