Russel Arnold and Upul Chandana have both been included in the 15-man squad for Sri Lanka’s one-day tour of India next month, increasing their chances of participating in the World Cup.Arnold and Chandana, who both starred in NCC’s six-wicket win in the Premier limited overs final two weeks ago, make their comebacks along with Nuwan Zoysa and Nuwan Kulasekera. These four replace the experienced pair of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, both of whom are carrying niggling injuries, together with Ruchira Perera and Chamara Kapugedera.Following his excellent form in the past few months – domestically and for Sri Lanka A – Arnold’s call-up is well deserved, and puts in doubt Kapugedera’s inclusion for the World Cup. A good performance from Arnold in India will be enough to convince the selectors that he is in good shape for the World Cup.The same can be said of Chandana who bowled exceptionally well for Sri Lanka A on their recent tour to India for the Duleep trophy tournament and then led NCC to victory against Moors SC by capturing five wickets.Chandana gets his break because Muralitharan is not available. In the past Chandana has more or less filled Muralitharan’s shoes when the great spinner was sidelined by injury.The lack of quality off spinners in the country is exposed by the fact that Chandana joins another leg-spinner. Malinga Bandara. in the squad. Like Kapugedera, Bandara will also feel threatened by Chandana’s presence as the World Cup selection nears.The need for a left-arm fast bowler in the absence of Vaas and Perera has forced the selectors’ hand in going for Zoysa, who last appeared in a one-dayer against India in Vadodara in November 2005.Sri Lanka play India in four matches starting from February 8 at Poona and then at Rajkot (Feb 11), Margoa (Feb 14) and Visakhapatnam (Feb 17). This will be Sri Lanka’s final engagement before the World Cup in the Caribbean.Squad Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (vice-capt & wk), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Marvan Atappattu, Russel Arnold, Chamara Silva, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof, Upul Chandana, Malinga Bandara, Dilhara Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Zoysa, Nuwan Kulasekera
Australia will proceed with a bid to stage the 2011 World Cup, a Cricket Australia offical said on Tuesday, despite reports that a joint Asian bid is being lined up. At the weekend it emerged that Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were uniting to bid for the tournament, and Shaharyar Khan, the Pakistan board chairman, indicated that Australia would not challenge them.But Peter Young, Cricket Australia’s general manager of public affairs, said that was not the case. “At this stage the ICC is just asking for expressions of interest and we are interested,” he told Reuters. “The deadline is February and we will be going ahead with that.”The Australian bid could be in association with New Zealand, and Young said that they were confident they would be a strong candidate. “We haven’t hosted the World Cup since 1992 and we have all the facilities and personnel to stage an event of this size again,” he said. “We’re exploring the option of a joint bid with New Zealand but if necessary we could go alone.”For the first time since the first World Cup in 1975, member nations are being asked to bid for hosting rights. The 2007 tournament in the Caribbean will be the last to be staged under a gentleman’s agreement struck by the ICC which meant the event staging was rotated.
In a State Shield game of stunning drama which had constant stoppages due to rain, Northern Districts pulled off an incredible win against Wellington with a last-ball six.Put in to bat at Taupo, Wellington scored an amazing 267 for 8 from 38 overs, which was largely due to an opening partnership of 117 off only 12 overs by Stephen Fleming and Chris Nevin. Fleming’s 70 came from just 44 balls. In the midst of their partnership they inflicted a 30-run over on Graeme Aldridge, who has been the best bowler in the competition so far. That was a New Zealand record for most number of runs in an over in a one-day match, surpassing the 26 scored on two occasions – by Lance Cairns off Sri Lanka’s Vinodhan John in 1983 in Colombo, and by Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe against Graham Gooch at Manchester in 1986.Nevin also scored 70, but at a more leisurely rate, getting his runs off 74 balls. However, any respite ND might have felt was coming their way when both were dismissed was denied by Michael Parlane, who hit 50 off 49 balls.Wellington had gone into the match knowing that they needed to win with a bonus point to keep their hopes of a semi-final berth alive. At 267 for 8 at the end of their 38 overs, they must have fancied their chances. They would have been even more confident of victory when ND were 4 for 2. But that merely set the stage for Scott Styris to do what he has been threatening to all summer. His lack of runs earlier had been a concern but his form has been returning recently, and he demonstrated here that anything his international captain could do, he could do better.Styris scored his half-century off only 28 balls, and then went on to make 96 off 57. He was on course for the fastest hundred in New Zealand – the record is currently held by Aravinda de Silva, who hit one off 65 balls – but James Franklin had him caught by Nevin. ND finally needed seven from the last two balls to get to the revised target of 163 from 20 overs. Matt Hart hit a single off the penultimate delivery, before Peter McGlashan struck a meaty blow over square leg to seal a magnificent victory.
After being thwarted in their attempts to stage Twenty20 matches at Lord’s last summer, the MCC has launched another bid to convince the local council that music and early-evening games in north-west London wouldn’t be the end of civilisation as we know it.Last summer Westminster City Council turned down permission for an entertainment licence following complaints from local residents that three evening matches, floodlights, and, heaven forbid, a concert by Atomic Kitten, would be too much to cope with.In recent months representatives of the MCC have met with local residents to try and allay their fears, and now a scaled-down proposal has been submitted. The aim is for one match – the London derby between Middlesex and Surrey – to be staged on June 15.”We are very keen to play Twenty20 cricket at Lord’s,” said Iain Wilton, the MCC’s head of communications. “This year’s proposal has the support of the Local to Lord’s group and is different from last year. It’s one match, no floodlights or pop concert, and the event will be over by 8.15pm.” But Wilton added that "amplified musical jingles at key moments of play" are still planned.Whether such a threat to the calm of St John’s Wood should be allowed is in the hands of the council.
Hampshire CCC plan to break with tradition once again – by wearing football-style shirts in the County Championship this summer.Chairman Rod Bransgrove unveiled the plans at yesterday’s historic Annual General Meeting – the first AGM since the club was transformed from a members’ club into a limited company.Then he told the 300-strong attendance of plans to ensure that Robin Smith’s men wear names and numbers on their backs in Hampshire’s first season back in Division One of the CricInfo County Championship.Last summer, Lancashire CCC took the unprecedented step of sticking names and squad numbers on their championship shirts as well as their one day tops.And Bransgrove believes that that is the way forward as Hampshire prepare for their second season at the Rose Bowl, which will have a capacity of 10,000 as well as a new pavilion this summer.He said: “The feedback suggests it’s difficult to see who’s fielding the ball or who’s taking catches without the aid of names or numbers, so I think it will be to the benefit of the game as a whole and certainly to the benefit of the spectators.”It will be our intention to have names and numbers on the shirts as long as we can do it in a costeffective manner.”The ECB are more than happy for other first class counties to adopt the shirts in the four day game.And Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes has confirmed that the venture was a success at Old Trafford last year.”We received a very positive reaction when we pioneered the idea with fleece style shirts,” he said. “Apparently we had numbers pinned to players’ shirts for one season in the 1950s which was very popular with fans. It’s strange that it’s taken more than 40 years to come back.”Vic Isaacs, Hampshire’s scorer for 28 years, added: “It would certainly make my job easier.”Recognising players has always been a problem since helmets came in and numbered shirts improved the game from the spectators’ point of view in the Sunday League.”
Matthew Elliott (127) brought Glamorgan to the brink of victory after thevisitors had been asked to score 307 runs to beat Middlesex in theirchampionship match at Southgate and the Welsh county achieved the goal withtwo wickets in hand.The Australian started the day on 38 n.o. and hit three sixes in a century which it seemed that he might get the runs single-handed. That was just as well for his partners were far from comfortable and when Elliott was out it seemed that the balance would tilt back in favour of the Londoners.Indeed from the start the fall of wickets was steady. Elliott’s partnership with Adrian Dale reached 231 when the former was stumped by David Nash off Paul Weekes. Dale was dismissed some twenty runs later and then Angus Fraser dismissed Keith Newell and Alex Wharf with Glamorgan still 21 runs short of victory.Adrian Shaw and Darren Thomas pottered around to bring the scores even when Shaw was caught spectacularly by Mark Ramprakash but Dean Cosker saw out the over. Thomas pushed a ball from Weekes for the single to bring victory in a match which for much of its course could have gone either way.
Celtic have made contact with Antoine Semenyo’s agent regarding a potential move to Parkhead in the summer transfer window.
What’s the talk?
In recent comments made to Football Scotland, the Bristol City centre-forward’s agent, Tony Finnigan, revealed that the Celtic scout, Craig Strachan, called him to find out more information about the 22-year-old, before Strachan visited Ashton Gate to watch the striker in action.
Speaking about Celtic’s interest in his client, Finnigan said: “I had a conversation with Strachan who rang up to ask little bits of info on the player and a bit about how I found him and what he’s like as a lad.
“That was it. If it’s something they’re going to do in the summer window I’m not sure but it’s nice to know that his talents are going as far as Scotland to one of the great institutions in world football. There’s not really much more to say than that.”
Ange can axe Ajeti with Semenyo
Considering just how impressive Semenyo has been for Bristol City this season, it is not difficult to understand why Celtic appear to be taking an interest in the centre-forward.
Indeed, over his 21 Championship appearances in the current campaign, the £1.08m-rated forward has been in devastating form for the Robins, scoring six goals, providing eight assists and creating five big chances for his teammates.
These returns have seen the £3.5k-per-week hitman – who is also capable of operating from the wings as well as through the middle – average a quite remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.01, ranking him as his club’s third-best performer in the English second tier.
As such, it is clear for all to see that the player who Nigel Pearson claimed has both “pace & power” would make an excellent addition to the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Daizen Maeda, Liel Abada and Jota in Ange Postecoglou’s attacking arsenal, while he would also appear to be a massive upgrade on Albian Ajeti.
Indeed, the £18k-per-week striker was heavily linked with a move away from Parkhead in the January transfer window, something that is not surprising considering the fact he has cost the club roughly £6.5m in transfer fees and wages since his arrival back in the summer of 2020, as well as finding the back of the net just nine times over his 48 appearances for the Hoops.
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So, it would indeed appear an extremely wise move for Postecoglou to finally cut his losses on the Switzerland international this summer, before reinvesting the money received from his sale, as well as his hefty weekly wage, into a move for the much more impressive Semenyo.
In other news: “I believe…”: Kieran Devlin drops worrying Celtic update, Ange will be sweating
The England batsman, Kevin Pietersen, has revealed he turned down the lucrative opportunity to participate in the Indian Cricket League (ICL).The tournament has yet to be sanctioned by any of the world’s cricket boards, prompting India to form another tournament: the Indian Premier League which features the best domestic Twenty20 sides from around the world. Pietersen, though, has rejected them both for the time being.”I was approached with an offer to play in India and it was a very lucrative one – but I kicked it straight into touch,” Pietersen told the . “It would be ridiculous for me to put my England career in jeopardy after all the work I have put in.”There may come a time when tournaments like this sit in with our schedule and if the authorities were happy for us to play we would have another look at it. But at the moment it’s a no-go area.”Pietersen revealed that he has been keeping a close eye on events in Australia, and has even “turned into an Australian fan”.”The Aussies are playing Sri Lanka in a Test series at present and could do us a real favour by knocking the Sri Lankans’ confidence before we play them,” he said. “It would be great if their batsmen came into our three-Test series struggling for form.”After Australia, Sri Lanka is the hardest place in the world to win a Test series and anything Ricky Ponting and co could do to help us out will be appreciated – until we play them again!”
It was hardly a whodunit of Murder On The Orient Express proportions, but Cricket Australia think that it has discovered the secret of how England’s bowling plans came to be leaked to the media.It was initially thought that the plans had been stolen from England’s dressing-room, but security staff at the MCG have said that they have spoken to the individual who sent the sheet of paper to ABC radio and they are convinced he did not steal them.”I found it on the ground in the members’ area,” Nick Ruthry, the person who sent the plans, told The Age. “I’d heard the ABC commentators saying they were wondering what the England plans were, so I thought I’d help them out – I only wanted to make sure Warney didn’t cop one in the throat.”It is not clear how the paper came to be on the floor, but one theory is that the sheet was dropped after being photocopied. “The Melbourne Cricket Club believe that there was no breach of security involved in the printing of these documents,” said a spokesman. “As far as the MCC is concerned, the matter is closed and there will be no further comment.”
Imran Khan, the legendary allrounder, has termed Pakistan as favourites to win the upcoming three-Test series against arch-rivals India.Hailing Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shoaib Akhtar as a “matchwinning pair,” Imran said the timing and weather would also help the Pakistani fast bowlers. “The last time when India visited it was summer [April] and now it is winter [January], which will benefit our bowlers,” Imran was quoted as saying by the Pakistani daily .On the issue of Karachi hosting a Test between the arch-rivals, he said India must play in the port city since the successful conduct of a one-dayer against England recently had proved that conditions there were “quite satisfactory”. Imran, however, lashed out at the functioning of the Pakistan Cricket Board, saying it was time to put in place a democratically-elected board as in Australia and India.”There is one-man show in PCB. One man is taking all the decisions. By the way, what are the qualifications of present board officials who are working on ad hoc basis.” He said since the PCB did not have a constitution, it made it easier to avoid accountability. “The constitution ensures accountability for irregularities and transparency in affairs.”