Graham Gooch has pulled out of contention for the role as England’s new national selector, saying the commitment wouldn’t allow him to maintain his other interests and also raising concerns over where the final selection decisions would lie.Gooch had been the biggest name linked to the position, but said after weighing up all his options he decided it isn’t a job for him.”The job is very appealing for someone like me who has a big interest in English cricket and a strong desire to see us succeed at international level,” he told the . “Initially I was interested but, after weighing up all the options, I do feel that whoever does the job will have to devote themselves fully to it, to the exclusion of other interests. Mainly on that basis I’m ruling myself out.”If I were to be appointed there is no way I could continue with the coaching work I do at Essex,” he added. “I feel I’ve been able to help in the development of Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara on their road to the England team and that has given me great satisfaction. The other issue is that it seemed unclear to me who would actually have the final say over selection.”David Graveney, the current chairman of selectors, is having to reapply for the role, but the ECB job description says that international playing experience is “desirable although not essential.”Chris Adams, the Sussex captain and former England batsman, is reportedly interested in the role. The closing date for applications is December 17, with interviews taking place early next year. The new selection panel, which will also include two part-time members, will take up position at the start of the 2008 English season.
Despite another delay, the PCB reiterated its aim to implement the new constitution by the end of this month.Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the board, told reporters after an ad-hoc committee meeting in Islamabad that the board is yet to receive the draft constitution back from the President’s house, as it has yet to be approved by President Pervez Musharraf, who is also patron of the board.The PCB was expected to receive an approved draft copy ahead of its ad-hoc meeting but will not get it until next week now because the attorney general was away performing last month.The PCB has been run on an ad-hoc basis for over seven years now, since July 1999. Each chairman since has promised a speedy implementation of the constitution but has failed to do so.The committee did, however, approve a scheme for a monthly retirement-pension fund for players who represented the country before 1978. Pre-1978 Test and international cricketers will now be entitled to monthly income of Rs15,000, Rs20,000 or Rs25,000, depending upon the number of matches they played.It was also announced that the board will soon be hiring a candidate for the chief operating officer position, after holding a number of interviews with potential candidates.
Former West Indies coach Roger Harper has been appointed as Kenya’s new coach, replacing Andy Moles who quit almost a year ago.Harper, who will spearhead Kenya’s preparations for the 2007 World Cup, quit as manager of the West Indies Under-19 side last week. He was recently shortlisted for the Kenya post after a number of candidates, including a former coach of a Test-playing side, were interviewed by the Kenyan Cricket Association (KCA) and the ICC.”It was a tough decision, but I am looking forward to the challenge, looking forward to getting back on the coaching circuit with Kenya,” Harper said. “I’m delighted and very excited at the opportunity to work with a Kenya side that has a fair amount of talent. My objectives now are to get the best out of individual players and the team as a whole and to move Kenyan cricket forward.” He is expected to leave the Caribbean for Nairobi later this month.Kenya have been without a full-time coach since Moles walked out, but former Pakistan allrounder Mudassar Nazar has been filling the void. He was understood to have also been shortlisted for the post.Samir Inamdar, the KCA chairman, said Harper will bring many qualities to the role: “Roger’s coaching credentials are extremely impressive, not just in terms of working with players but also on the technology side of the game. Also, his attributes as a splendid player in all disciplines – batting, bowling and fielding – mean he has hands-on experience to help coach those aspects of the game.”One of the main problems facing Harper is that Kenya are finding it almost impossible to arrange fixtures against other leading countries. Even though the ICC is known to have contacted a number of major boards asking them to see if they can fit in games against the Kenyans, the response has been poor. It was hoped that three one-dayers against Bangladesh could be played in early February, but a senior Kenyan official admitted that the chances of that now happening were rapidly diminishing as there had been no contact from the Bangladesh board.Harper coached West Indies from 2000 through to the end of the 2003 World Cup, but it was a difficult period as the side adjusted to their diminishing status. Under his tenure they won nine and lost 19 of the 39 Tests they played.As an offspinner, he played 25 Tests and 105 ODIs for West Indies between 1983 and 1996 and was regarded as one of the greatest fielders of his generation.
Brett Lee’s intimidating one-day form is leading Australia to another seriously difficult decision when the Test series against New Zealand begins next week. Ricky Ponting said it would be “almost impossible” to leave any of the four fast bowlers out, but with Shane Warne returning the third spot shapes as a contest between Lee and Michael Kasprowicz.Lee’s speed in the five-match one-day series, which Australia sealed 3-0 at Auckland on Saturday, has been frightening, and the New Zealand batsmen have found no way to cope as he’s picked up seven wickets. Michael Papps was the latest to be upset when he was hit on the helmet by two bouncers at Eden Park and taken to hospital with concussion.Stephen Fleming has been unable to reach double figures against Lee, who has dismissed him each time in the series. Fleming said Lee’s speed had unsettled his batsmen and they weren’t used to the jump in pace. “In our competition we don’t have a lot of bowlers operating in the 140s, let alone the 150 area,” he said. “There’s only really two in the world doing it so it’s not something that comes along every series. He is bowling pretty quick and doing what any good fast bowler should do – he’s unsettling and bowling with intensity.”Ponting said Australia had four bowlers in the world’s top 12 and it would be difficult to separate them for the first Test at Christchurch from March 6. “It’s going to be almost impossible to leave one of the four out,” he said. “Lee’s doing everything in his power to give himself the best chance, but so are the other guys. All of those four bowlers are stats-wise in the best 10 or 12 bowlers in the world.”Lee, who hasn’t played a Test in 14 months, told AAP he could bowl even faster now he was fully recovered from ankle surgery last March. “I’m not going flat out,” he said. “I know I’ve got a bit more in the tank, which is a good thing too, and I sort of feel comfortable bowling within myself.” His only problem has been with the occasional waist-high full-toss, and he delivered another one on Saturday that angered Brendon McCullum.Australia are expected to name their Test squad on Wednesday, but Kasprowicz is again looking vulnerable for the final XI despite a spectacular 2004 that reaped 47 wickets in 13 Tests.
All Today’s Yesterdays – July 20 down the yearsJuly 19| July 211981 The most amazing day of a famously amazing Headingley Test. Ian Botham scored 145 of his 149 not out to give England an outside chance of beating Australia after following on, a chance Bob Willis took with his 8 for 43 the following day. This was also the day when England’s odds slipped out to 500-1, an offer that Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh couldn’t refuse. Then Botham and Graham Dilley gave it some humpty, and the rest is history.2000 On the first day of the match at Galle, an opening partnership of 193 between Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya set Sri Lanka on the way to their first Test win over South Africa. That only tells half the story, though. Jayasuriya bashed 148 off only 156 balls – imagine an Englishman doing that on the first day of a Test series – 96 of them in a scintillating morning session. Sri Lankan reached 522 – and then came Murali, who brushed South Africa to an innings defeat with 13 for 171.1990 In a one-day international at Trent Bridge, Robin Smith scored a hundred in 101 balls, but India won to take the Texaco Trophy for the first time. It was the story of the Judge’s life: all of his one-day hundreds came in England defeats. And only two of his nine Test hundreds came in English victories.1971 Controversial seam bowler Ed Giddins was born. He received an extensive ban for drug use, but took one five-wicket haul in Test cricket, against Zimbabwe at Lord’s in 2000. Two Tests and one wicket later, Giddins was dropped.1900 Birth of that famously combative Yorkshireman Maurice Leyland, who saved the best till last. His final Test innings of 187 was played during a partnership of 382 with Len Hutton at The Oval in 1938, still England’s highest stand for any wicket against Australia.1909 Birth of the confident and supremely patient Eric Rowan, who was often the mainstay of South Africa’s batting. Against England at Johannesburg in 1948-49, he batted for six hours on the last day to make an unbeaten 156 that saved the match. At Headingley in 1951 he followed his Test best 236 in the first innings with 60 not out in the second. His brother Athol also played for South Africa.Other birthdays 1911 Baqa Jilani (India) 1934 Doug Padgett (England) 1975 Atiq-uz-Zaman (Pakistan) 1976 Debasis Mohanty (India)
The Lancashire all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is to fly out to India to join England’s tour party.Flintoff, who is currently in Australia with the England Academy side, is expected to arrive in Hyderabad by the weekend.Following England’s two-day warm-up game in Mumbai earlier this week, Coach Duncan Fletcher has decided his side may need to go into the first Test at Mohali on December 3rd with five bowlers.There is also concern about the Yorkshire all-rounder Craig White, who is still progressing towards full fitness after a knee injury.”The process is now in motion to bring Andrew Flintoff over here,” Fletcher said.”We want to cover all bases and we feel we need five bowlers. With the inexperienced attack we have here it would be high risk to go into a Test match with just four bowlers – that could be high risk in England.”Craig didn’t want to let us down and we had intended for him to be either our second or third seamer. Flintoff was with us in Zimbabwe and he made a big impression on us, bowling very fast.”
The new points system proposed for the Ranji Trophy by the Anil Kumble-led technical committee in May will not be implemented for the 2015-16 season, as the BCCI’s working committee is yet to discuss the system. The working committee was due to look into the proposal on August 28, but then that meeting was adjourned within minutes due to N Srinivasan’s presence.The technical committee had proposed major changes to the points system, the most prominent amendment being to do away with points for the first-innings lead. That decision had raised a few eyebrows, with some of the BCCI member units expressing apprehension over the possibility of both teams earning no points after a four-day game. As a result, the proposal was to be looked into by the working committee.But the working committee meeting on August 28 was adjourned due to confusion surrounding Srinivasan’s attendance – despite being requested to stay away from the meeting due to his complicated legal status, he attended in his capacity as Tamil Nadu Cricket Association head.As a result, the BCCI now has no option but to stick to last season’s points system.Quick comment – BCCI makes its priorities clearCricketers make a proposal. Four months and ten days later, just two days before the start of a new season, it emerges nobody has even debated that proposal.At times of crisis, when you can’t possibly look after everything, your priorities become clear. The BCCI administrators, who spare no money or effort in calling “emergent” meetings and hiring high-profile lawyers to stay in power to “safeguard the interests of the game,” have made their priorities clear.In the interest of the game a technical committee, comprising men of integrity and cricketing acumen and led by Anil Kumble, suggested this change to the points system to reward positive cricket in India’s premier domestic tournament. The BCCI power struggle, though, has successfully managed to push this into the background. A meeting where the ratification of the new system would have been debated was adjourned because N Srinivasan decided to land up, but no one found it fitting to find a way to discuss the new points system before the start of the Ranji season.You won’t find such a lackadaisical approach towards finding Jagmohan Dalmiya’s successor as BCCI president. A special general meeting has already been called within the deadline. Sticklers to the BCCI constitution will point to the clause that deals with deadlines for calling such meetings, but isn’t the start of a new season a deadline for a matter as crucial as a points system? By Sidharth Monga
Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has dropped a teasing injury update concerning the return of midfielder David Turnbull.
What’s the latest?
In recent comments cited by the Daily Record, the 56-year-old Bhoys manager revealed that the 22-year-old, who has not featured for the Hoops since the 3-1 Scottish League Cup final victory over Hibernian back in December, is finally close to recovering from his hamstring injury – with the Scotland international expected to rejoin first-team training in the not too distant future.
Speaking about the current condition of Turnbull, Postecoglou said: “Turnbull is almost back training.”
Fans will be buzzing
Considering just how important a part of Postecoglou’s side Turnbull had proven to be earlier this season, the news that the 22-year-old is finally close to making a return to first-team action is sure to have left the Parkhead faithful buzzing.
Indeed, over his 18 Premiership appearances in the current campaign, the £5.85m-rated attacking midfielder has been in breathtaking form for the Bhoys, scoring five goals, registering four assists and creating seven big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 4.1 key passes – the most of any player in the league – and taking 3.7 shots – the second-most in the division – per game.
These returns have seen the £14k-per-week Scotsman average an almost unbelievable SofaScore match rating of 7.87, ranking him as the best player in the top flight of Scottish football.
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As such, while Celtic have been on an incredibly impressive run of form without the former Motherwell midfield maestro – remaining undefeated in their last 21 league fixtures, only three of which have been draws – it is clear for all to see that the return of Turnbull will undoubtedly provide the Hoops’ hopes of going on to reclaim their Premiership crown with a major boost.
In other news: Forget Scales: “Really Poor” Celtic dud with 30 touches made Ange look foolish vs Bodo
Justin Langer has revealed watching Phil Jaques head out to bat against Sri Lanka with his former Test opening partner Matthew Hayden was painful. Langer quit in January after the Ashes and he revealed that seeing Jaques take his place was “quite emotional”.”It was the first time since I’d announced my retirement that I realised that that was it, particularly the moment I saw Haydos and Phil Jaques walk across the white line,” Langer said during Western Australia’s Pura Cup match against South Australia in Adelaide. “That was quite an emotional time for me, but life goes on and I’m sure the decision I made was the right one. But having done it for so long – people know how passionate I was about playing for Australia – that was an emotional first morning.”However, he took pleasure in seeing the heat on Jaques and Chris Rogers, who were vying for the opener’s spot, and it was a relief for Langer not to be in the media spotlight for the first time in 10 years. “That was quite nice for me,” he said. “It was interesting to see both of them struggling [in domestic cricket] and I’m sure it was because they were putting so much pressure on themselves. Having lived through that, I was watching with a smile rather than having to worry too much about it.”Jaques has reserved his place for now, with two centuries and a fifty in his three innings against Sri Lanka. He has impressed his predecessor, too. “His insatiable hunger for runs – that’s the thing that strikes me most about him,” he said. “He’s shown it in Test cricket, but whether he plays club cricket or state cricket or county cricket, he makes so many runs. You see the great sportsmen – [Roger] Federer playing tennis – and Phil Jaques watches the ball so closely, and that’s the sign of a very good player.”Langer, meanwhile, is happy to be enjoying domestic cricket away from the Test arena. He captained Somerset to promotion in the County Championship over the winter, and is happy in the Warriors’ set-up. Tom Moody, Langer’s new coach and old friend, who is godfather to his third daughter, has helped change the mood of the squad.”We’ve been mates a long time and we’ve played together, so it’s nice to be playing in this very professional environment again,” he said. “It’s been something Western Australian cricket has probably lacked for a long time, and it’s just brilliant to be playing in this environment again.”
A new year will not neccessarily bring a new dawn for England, but it does mean that five lucky readers are filling their boots with our fantastic competiton prizes. There’s something for everyone, with DVD highlights (or lowlights depending where you’re from) of the Adelaide Test, EA’s Cricket 07, and, of course, those stalwarts of the Ashes competiton world Beefy and Boony.To win these two jokers, the DVD and the game all you had to do was answer correctly our exceedingly simple question:As at January 2, when was the last time hundreds were made by both openers in an Ashes Test – and which pair struck them? The answer of course was Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden at The Oval in 2005.Here are the lucky five.Greg Chaff, Charlestown, Queensland, Australia Melanie Beer, Deniliquin, NSW, Australia Chandru Boopalam, Michigan, USA Darren Thompson, Adelaide, South Australia David Nethery, Sydney, NSW, Australia Well done to those five – prizes are on their way quicker than you can say ‘Skippy the bush kangaroo’ . Thankyou all for playing, good night and good luck.But don’t worry if you didn’t win this time … there’ll be more competitions coming up during the one-day series which also includes New Zealand. Well done everyone.