Tag Futebol

The Titans are considering taking action over comments made by their former players Pierre de Bruyn and Alfonso Thomas about the Titans coach Richard Pybus last week. The two players were released from their Titans contracts in January and signed with the Dolphins, and on Friday they came up against their old team in the Pro20 final.Before the decider, which the Titans won, de Bruyn and Thomas slammed their former team and coach in the Afrikaans newspaper . “We owe the Dolphins a win in the final after they gave us a lifeline after being chased away from the Titans like dogs,” de Bruyn said.Their attacks on Pybus included describing him as “one-dimensional” and “a very boring coach”. de Bruyn was critical of what he called “yoga and other nonsense” that Pybus included in the team’s preparations. “The players get so drained from this that on completion one does not know where you are,” de Bruyn said.Pybus had the last laugh when the Titans secured an 18-run win in the final but his employers said in a statement they took extreme exception to the comments of de Bruyn and Thomas and the issue might not be closed. “The franchise will be taking the matter further through the channels available to it,” the statement said.”Pybus’ track record as a coach who has won four trophies in three years as well as the number of national players that he has produced is exceptional. This, together with his grooming of the next crop of Titans stars, must place him as a top contender for the domestic coach of the year award.”

As India embark on another Test tour, fans in India are asking a question they’ve raised often in the past few months: Will they be able to watch the Test matches? The answer this time isn’t much clearer but there is some light at the end of the tunnel.On paper, it’s a no-brainer: The telecast rights to the England tour are owned by ESPN-Star Sports (ESS), a seasoned player in the field and accessible in most TV homes. ESS have, in fact, launched a cricket-only channel, Star Cricket, which will be showing the Tests and the two warm-up matches, beginning tomorrow. However, the twist lies in the fact that the new channel isn’t widely available on cable and is yet to be included in DTH bouquets.So, once again, it could be only a handful of fans that gets to see the Tests, beginning on July 19 at Lord’s.The situation could, however, change for the better. “We are in discussions with DTH operators [to include Star Cricket in their bouquets] and are optimistic of an agreement by July 15,” an ESS spokesperson said. “The channel is priced at Rs 28 per month and the feedback is positive. Obviously it is our prerogative to reach as many viewers across India as possible and we will do our best to ensure that.”ESS officials also say that highlights of the three Tests will be shown on Doordarshan, which, as a policy, has telecast the ODIs live but not the Tests. It is a refreshing change from the recent Test series in Bangladesh, which a large number of viewers in India missed out on because they had no access to either Neo Sports, which owned the rights, or to the regional-language channels they had brought on board.There’s rarely a problem with watching ODIs, and ESS sources said the seven matches that follow the Tests would be simulcast; Star Cricket will have commentary in Hindi, while English commentary will be provided on either ESPN or Star Sports.The ODIs will also be telecast live on Doordarshan, in keeping with the Sports Act passed by the Indian government ordering mandatory sharing of live feed.

Amit Varma and S Rajesh discuss the third day of the Jamaica Test
Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”; 1.6 mb
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA
Audio length: 6.38 minsA series win outside the subcontinent has been India’s Holy Grail for the last few years, and they finally sealed one at Jamaica – their first after the win against England in 1986, if one discounts the win against Zimbabwe last year. Amit Varma and S Rajesh discuss the importance of this win, as well as the gains both sides have taken from this tour. Listen in.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”; 1.6 mb
Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA

The West Indians have arrived and are ready to play Test cricket, but the Wankhede Stadium is not up to it. The pitch has not seen any cricket on it, the outfield is so hard and patchy that parts of it have been painted green to fool the world, and the take-up of tickets has been 40%. It is, perversely, all Sachin Tendulkar’s fault.Mumbai, Tendulkar’s home ground, was meant to have hosted the third Test of this series, not the first. But the Indian and Mumbai cricket boards felt obliged to make Tendulkar the first player to have an itinerary rescheduled on the occasion of his 101st Test.So now, the preparation time for a newly-laid centre has not been enough, the outfield has not been pampered as it should have been, and, because the match now falls just before exam time rather than during the Diwali holidays, students have not flocked in. Without Brian Lara, West Indies are a far less saleable product anyway. And at 38 degrees centigrade, it is five degrees hotter than a typical October in Mumbai – which is none of Tendulkar’s fault.The contest is not expected to go beyond the fourth day – if the players don’t melt before that. The Wankhede pitch was never short of support for the bowlers in the first place. The previous two Tests here both ended in three days – India lost both. There was enough bounce and seam movement for the South Africans and Australians – and turn too, for Shane Warne and Mark Waugh – to exploit, and in both matches, Tendulkar, and he alone among the Indians, stood tall. While the curator expects the new pitch to retain the general properties of the Wankhede surface, there is a fear that it is underdone, and will keep lower.India will field an improved version of the XI that played their last two Tests, in England. The balance will be the same – two spinners, two seamers and the gentle swing of Sanjay Bangar. But Javagal Srinath, who has apparently rethought Test retirement without having said so, will play ahead of Ajit Agarkar, who is no longer even in the squad.West Indies will need to fill Lara’s hole in the middle, and the man most likely to do that is Ryan Hinds, a young attacking left-hander. As if one Hinds, Wavell, who spanked a carefree 147 in the solitary warm-up game at Bangalore, was not enough. The seam bowling will be led by Mervyn Dillon, supported by Cameron Cuffy and Pedro Collins. Mahendra Nagamootoo will bowl his brisk legspin. Carl Hooper, despite a precautionary MRI scan on his knees, remains fit to lead in what will be his 100th Test. (Yes, he will be presented a memento along with Tendulkar.)Whether or not revenge is on the minds of the Indians after losing 1-2 in the Caribbean earlier in the year is hard to tell. These contests do not have the edge, say, of an England-India encounter. But things have changed since May. India are more intense than they were then, after winning two one-day tournaments and drawing the away series in England. West Indies have lost a home series to New Zealand and, despite winning the one-dayers that followed, the most newsworthy features of their trip to Colombo for the Champions Trophy were Mervyn Dillon’s match-losing wide and the lurid (and much-denied) reports of women in their team manager’s room.India have better batting than West Indies, a better spin attack, and equally good seam bowling. They are in possession of a genius, while hepatitis has robbed West Indies of theirs. And they are at home: in the heat, on what may be a crumbling surface. West Indies will need to raise themselves.Probable teams
India 1 Sanjay Bangar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Javagal Srinath.West Indies 1 Wavell Hinds, 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Carl Hooper (capt), 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Ryan Hinds, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Mahendra Nagamootoo, 9 Mervyn Dillon, 10 Cameron Cuffy, 11 Pedro Collins.Rahul Bhattacharya is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

New Zealanders 246 for 5 (Marshall 111) beat Essex (Irani 72*) 243 for 3 by five wickets
ScorecardHamish Marshall got New Zealand back into winning ways with a blistering 111 from 97 balls, to see off a spirited Essex side by five wickets at Chelmsford. After their defeat against Derbyshire earlier this week, it was a timely tonic.After winning the toss, Stephen Fleming opted to bowl first, but his seamers once again lacked penetration as Essex racked up 243 for 3 in their 50 overs. Ronnie Irani was the star of the show, finishing on an unbeaten 72 from 92 balls, with Ravinder Bopara, Paul Grayson and Aftab Habib all chipping in with important innings.In reply, New Zealand made a terrible start as Stephen Fleming fell in Scott Brant’s first over, but Marshall and Nathan Astle picked up the pace in a second-wicket stand of 93. Craig McMillan then broke the back of the run-chase with a 58-ball half-century, before Chris Cairns waded in with a typically destructive 19 from 8 balls, including a four and two sixes, the last of which was smacked over the Tom Pearce Stand to win the match.New Zealand wrapped up the match with more than 11 overs to spare, and can now approach next week’s NatWest Series with a timely injection of confidence.

Steve Rixon, who coached New South Wales to the Pura Cup and domestic one-day Cup double last season, has been re-appointed coach for another year.It will be Rixon’s fourth season in charge of NSW in his second period as coach. He previously coached NSW from 1989-1995, winning three Sheffield Shield and three one-day titles and was at the helm when they won the double in 1992-93 and 1993-94. He is also a former coach of New Zealand.Rixon’s first act following his re-appointment was to quash rumours that Michael Slater was on the verge of retiring to pursue his fledgling career as a television commentator. “I had talks with Michael just prior to him leaving to go overseas and our final words were he’d be back in July ready to fire up for the pre-season,” Rixon said. “As far as I’m concerned, Michael will play.”But Rixon admitted that he was still waiting to hear from Mark Waugh, another possible retiree. “Mark’s another one that we’d obviously like to see around for another year or so,” Rixon said. “I think if you asked Mark, he’d probably say, ‘I wouldn’t mind playing,’ but he’s got other interests that he may have to weigh up and that’s what we’ve got to wait and see. That decision should be made in the next three weeks, I’d like to think.”

Glamorgan`s 51 run defeat of Hampshire last night in their floodlit Norwich Union matchat Cardiff means that the Welsh county are almost certainly guaranteed promotion, and withfurther games to come this weekend, Glamorgan could clinch not only a move up to Division One,but also the Division Two title as well.As the table below shows, the victory over Hampshire gives Glamorgan a four point lead overDurham, in addition to a game in hand over the north-eastern county, and fourth place Hampshire.

P W Pts Net Run Rate1st Glamorgan 13 10 42 +17.662nd Durham 14 8 38 + 2.293rd Worcs 13 8 34 + 8.044th Hampshire 14 8 34 + 3.38

The top three teams will be promoted, and should teams finish on equal points, the positions are decidedby firstly the number of wins, and then run rate. As the table shows, Glamorgan have a far superior runrate and at the moment have a greater number of wins.A win at Worcester would give Glamorgan 46 points and 11 victories, and even if Durham win theirtwo remaining games they would have 46 points but only 10 victories.

Glamorgan v Worcestershire at Worcester on Sept. 2ndv Sussex at Hove on Sept. 4th (floodlit)v Middlesex at Cardiff on Sept. 16thDurham v Essex at Chester-le-Street on Sept. 2ndv Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street on Sept. 9thWorcestershire v Glamorgan at Worcester on Sept. 2ndv Durham at Chester-le-Street on Sept. 9thv Essex at Worcester on Sept. 16thHampshire v Middlesex at Southampton on Sept. 9thv Sussex at Hove on Sept. 16th

Leicestershire 159 and 110 for 9 (Raine 30, Stevens 3-27) lead Kent 210 (Stevens 63) by 59 runs
ScorecardDarren Stevens, seen here against Surrey, ensured Kent took a healthy first-innings lead•PA Photos

Bad light frustrated Kent as they ended the second day of the against Leicestershire closing in on victory. The home side lead by just 59 runs with a single second innings wicket remaining when at 7pm umpires Steve Gale and Neil Mallender decided the light was too poor to continue.As on the first day, the amount of movement obtained by both sides’ seam bowlers on a green pitch, together with increasingly indifferent bounce, made batting something of a lottery. Seventeen wickets fell, but the highlight of the day was a remarkable half-century from Darren Stevens, which together with an eighth wicket partnership of 60 between Adam Ball and Calum Haggett, helped the visitors establish a first innings lead of 51.Stevens was then among the wickets, along with fellow Kent seamers Haggett and Matt Coles, to put the visitors within touching distance of what would only be their second Championship win of the season.When play began the visitors quickly lost overnight batsmen Rob Key and Sam Northeast. Key was the first to be dismissed, lbw to Ben Raine for 8, and in the following over, Northeast also went leg before, to Clint McKay for 17, leaving Kent on 60 for 4. Stevens survived a big shout for a catch behind the wicket on 11 off Raine, and then lost Ben Harmison, a well-pitched up inswinger from Charlie Shreck trapping him in front for 7.But Stevens then took the attack to his former county in spectacular style, hitting ten fours before going to his 50 with a beautifully timed six over midwicket. It came off just 48 balls, but he was dismissed shortly after lunch, throwing his bat at a wide delivery from Ollie Freckingham and edging behind. Ball and Daggett both hit well to extend the lead though, Ball’s 32 coming off 35 balls before he holed out off Freckingham.Coles, who took six wickets in the first innings, struck twice when the Leicestershire second innings began, trapping Matt Boyce on the crease and having Greg Smith caught at second slip attempting to leave the ball – the second duck of the match for Smith after his return from Nottinghamshire on a month’s loan.Haggett picked up the wicket of Robson, and Stevens that of Andrea Agathangelou, in both cases leg before to deliveries that seamed back in to the right-handed batsmen. After tea three wickets fell without addition to the score after Stevens picked up Eckersley leg before with a ball that stayed low, but Raine battled on to ensure the match would go into a third day.

A number of counties are waiting anxiously for the outcome of an ECB meeting on Wednesday that will determine the fate of player registrations which have been affected by the Indian Cricket League (ICL).Five players – Wavell Hinds, Andrew Hall, Johann van der Wath, Hamish Marshall and Justin Kemp – were rejected by the ECB due to their links with the ICL. Northamptonshire have said they won’t appeal against the Hall and van der Wath judgement, having signed Johann Louw as a replacement, and Derbyshire have moved on from Hinds.However, Gloucestershire are still trying to secure the services of Hamish Marshall who they signed on the basis of his Irish passport. He has continued pre-season preparations despite the uncertainty surrounding his future. “We have been given the right to make representation to the ECB on Hamish’s behalf and we’ve done just that,” chief executive Tom Richardson told the . “Of course it’s a difficult situation for him, but he continues to train very hard and I gather he’s batting extremely well in the nets.”Kent are also trying to overturn the decision against Kemp, who is still taking part in the current ICL tournament. Graham Ford, the Kent coach, told BBC Radio Kent: “Looking at Justin’s case I’m reasonably optimistic the decision will go our way – I’m really hopeful.”Meanwhile, Hampshire are hopeful that Shane Bond will be allowed to take up his deal after Mushtaq Ahmed and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were both cleared having received No Obligation Certificates from the PCB. “We have got a form of words now from the New Zealand Cricket Board which we think will fulfil the expectations of the ECB for registration,” Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman, told BBC Radio Solent.Jason Gillespie’s future at Glamorgan is also under the spotlight even though Cricket Australia have said he is now nothing to do with them after retiring from state cricket.Surrey are still waiting to hear whether Saqlain Mushtaq will be cleared after his participation for the Lahore Badshahs. They also don’t know if the deal with Pedro Collins will go through. Although he hasn’t been involved in the ICL, Collins has had to go for an interview with the ECB ahead of his Kolpak registration. Collins turned down a place in the West Indies squad to face Sri Lanka because of his deal at The Oval.

David Moore, the West Indies coach, has asked his players to keep up their hard work for the second Test against England at Headingley after a solid finish to the first Test at Lord’s. Moore wants better consistency from his side but said there were plenty of positives to take into the match starting on Friday.However, he was keen to dispel the theory that the draw at Lord’s could be viewed as a win for West Indies. “It’s not a victory, it is a draw,” Moore said. “We have done some great work which is good for the boys’ confidence but we are aware that every game is a different game and we have to start again.”We have to take the good things out of the first Test and work on the other things. Headingley is a different kettle of fish to Lord’s, we all know that and we’re going to be very focused on our task here.”Moore said it was a credit to his players that in the first innings they took the score from 187 for 5 to 437. “That’s something that we can take heart from,” he said. “All the batters contributed and down below we got 25-run partnerships from number nine and ten. I was very pleased with our batters particularly during that second innings when Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga got through unscathed.”He was also impressed with the bowling in the second innings, when only two England players passed fifty, compared to four making centuries in the first. West Indies had only one three-day warm-up game before the Test series began – and that match was severely rain-affected – and Moore was confident the squad now had more idea of what to expect from English conditions.”We’ve got a little bit [of practice] under the belt but we still need a lot more and the boys are getting used to every ground that we play on,” he said. “Only a few of them have played over here before, particularly the bowlers so every ground that we go to is a new experience for them.”