A responsible hundred from Baroda skipper Connor Williams brought Ranji champions Baroda within shouting distance of Maharashtra’s first innings score of 321 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy tie between the two sides at the Nehru Stadium, Pune on Sunday.Baroda, who finished the day on 294 for five, were given a strong foundation by Williams and his opening partner Satyajit Parab (74). The two put on 184 runs for the first wicket before Parab departed after having faced 142 balls and hit nine fours.Former India `keeper Nayan Mongia, who followed, kept his skipper company for a good while as the two put on 51 runs for the second wicket. But Mongia’s departure for a patient 22 saw Maharashtra stage a minor fightback; the visitors lost three more top-order wickets, including that of Williams for 137 off 199 balls with 21 fours, for the addition of just 30 runs. But veteran middle-order bat Tushar Arothe and Himanshu Jadhav ensured that Baroda ended the day without any further mishaps by putting on 28 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket.
At the scheduled start time of this match – 10.45 BST – there appeared little chance of any cricket taking place in Sophia Gardens after heavy overnight rain and further showers had left the outfield sodden and a vast acreage of covering over the square. However, the weather cleared and a 42 over-a-side match was possible starting at 1.15.England won the toss and got off to a good start. After John Sadler had fallen with 58 on the board, Nicky Peng and acting captain Ian Bell put on 108 for the second wicket from 20 overs. Peng’s fine innings came to an end when he played on to Akalanka Ganegama and Bell went on to reach 62 before he became the first of 5 run out victims in the match in the 35th over.Useful runs were garnered by the lower order in reaching 238 for 6 from the allocation of 42 overs, with Ranil Dhammika the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, his 9 overs producing 1 for 28.The Sri Lankans got off to a good start themselves, putting 51 on the board before the fall of the first wicket in 9 overs. Ian Daniels had been particularly effective off his legs and driving straight before he was out for 43 from 33 balls including 7 fours, and although Thilina Kandambi reached a fluent 50, Sri Lanka began to lose their way.As the required rate rose to difficult proportions and wickets fell at regular intervals, England began to assert themselves. Despite some occasionally wayward bowling and indifferent fielding, England kept their nerve and finished winning a splendidly fought contest by 15 runs.The second match in the NatWest Series of Under 19 internationals takes place at Cardiff again on Saturday, with the third match at Hove –a day/nighter – on Monday.
With Karamoko Dembele’s Celtic contract set to expire at the end of the season – and, as yet, the winger being yet to sign a new deal with the Bhoys – there is a growing level of uncertainty surrounding the 19-year-old’s immediate future at Parkhead.
Indeed, the England U18 international is yet to play a competitive fixture under the management of Ange Postecoglou – something that has largely been down to the forward fracturing his ankle in pre-season – and questions are starting to be asked as to whether the teenager is a part of the 56-year-old’s long-term plans at Celtic Park.
This exact question was put to the Greek-Australian coach prior to Wednesday’s Premiership clash against St. Mirren, to which Postecoglou replied: “I hope so. With Karamoko, he’s just been really unlucky with injuries.
“In pre-season, I really was looking forward to working with him. People will remember he was on the end of a pretty unordinary tackle which really set him back. But he’s worked really hard to get his fitness back. He’s now available, we just haven’t found the right game to give him an opportunity, but he will get an opportunity between now and the end of the year – absolutely.
“It’s also about futures and where they see their futures. I’ve said all along, for me, this football club is everything that a young player should want. Particularly at the moment – I really want to bring young players into the first team and give them an opportunity. But they’ve got to be invested in our football club. I’m going to invest time in and give opportunities to people who want to stay at our football club.
“With Karamoko, he’s been in the squad the last couple of games. He’ll be in the squad tomorrow night. He’s obviously missed a lot of football as well so I’m really careful about when I want to put him in. But he’ll get an opportunity. He’s an exciting young player and the way we play should suit him, so, hopefully, he has an impact and helps us.”
As such, with Postecoglou himself suggesting he is waiting for the perfect opportunity to let Dembele loose in the first team, it would very much appear as if tonight’s home fixture against eighth-place St. Mirren could well be the ideal game to do so.
Indeed, with James Forrest having failed to find any real level of form so far this season, in addition to Liel Abada having had a game to forget against Hibernian last time out, now would seem to be the ideal time to unleash a fresh pair of legs on the right-wing.
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And, should the £2k-per-week forward who Ruud Gullit claimed is an “exceptionally good” talent who “looks pretty special” impress against the Saints, he could well go on to stake a claim as being a starter for Postecoglou over the remainder of the season – an outcome that would undoubtedly delight everyone involved with the club.
In other news: Ange can unearth Celtic’s new Rogic in “talented” 17 y/o who “knows where the goal is”
Bangladesh’s players’ association, the Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB), has been given full membership of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association ( FICA).The CWAB was established in 2004 with a primary objective of promoting and protecting the general welfare of cricketers within the country, and it also engages in numerous projects for the benefit of the wider community.All first-class cricketers registered with the Bangladesh board are entitled to be members of CWAB. It currently has around 170 players on its books.”I am delighted to welcome CWAB as a member of FICA,” Tim May, FICA’s chief executive, said. “Bangladesh are young in International cricketing experience and have much to offer the world of cricket. FICA believe it is imperative that the players’ positions and concerns of all countries are represented with equal vigor to the ICC and the addition of CWAB to our membership obviously is a significant step to achieving this objective.”
Chris Rogers continued his remarkable season with 152 to give Western Australia a lead of 298 after Tasmania’s disastrous first innings. A six-wicket haul from Brendan Drew – his best first-class bowling performance – gave the Tigers a sliver of hope before Michael Di Venuto (69 not out) reduced the deficit to 191 at stumps.Rogers resumed on 93 and took only five overs to raise his second century in 2006-07. The majority of his score came in boundaries – he hit 26 fours – as he pushed himself close to 800 runs in five matches this season and gave himself a buffer of nearly 250 from the second-highest run-scorer in the competiton, Brad Hodge.Rogers and the debutant Luke Pomersbach, who impressed ten days ago by scoring a century in the tour match against the England XI, proved Tasmania’s first-innings 94 was well below par. Pomersbach made 74 before giving Tim Paine his only catch in his first match as wicketkeeper for the home side.Drew, whose bowling action bears an uncanny resemblance to Glenn McGrath, produced a quality spell towards the end of the innings. He put a stop to Rogers’ fine effort and then picked up four late wickets to minimise the damage from the Western Australia lower order and finished with 6 for 94.
Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, and Bob Woolmer, Pakistan’s coach, have urged the ICC to amend the Supersub rule presently used in one-day cricket.Under the Supersub rule, teams are allowed to use a substitute player – named before the toss – in place of another during the 50 overs of play. “A bit of fine-tuning could be made to make the game even better,” Ponting told Reuters.”To be able to name your sub after the toss would work better for everybody. In its present form I’d probably say scrap it because the team that loses the toss can quite often be stuck without having that other option, so it’s almost 12 against 11.”Woolmer echoed Ponting’s thoughts on the Supersub being named after the toss, adding: “I am actually not a great fan of it. I think it is loaded in favour of one side because you have to name your Supersub before the toss.” Pakistan are due to play their first one-day match under the new rulings in the first of five matches against England, beginning Saturday.Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand spinner, said the Powerplay ruling – five-over blocks with fielding restrictions – could be `spiced up’ if the batting team was given the chance to decide when to apply them. “It’d be interesting. The 40th to 50th overs could be a bit of fun if the opposing captain had a say in those,” he said. “I think captains are just trying to get through them as quickly as possible as opposed to using them in any advantageous way. That’s probably not what they were designed to do but that’s basically what they’ve become.” Vettori is New Zealand’s captain for the ongoing Chappell-Hadlee Trophy against Australia, standing-in for Stephen Fleming who is recovering from surgery.The Supersub and Powerplay rulings have been implemented on a trial basis and are due for review in April of next year.
The pitch at Westpac Park in Hamilton has come under a cloud and there are doubts over whether it will be ready for the Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The first Test is less than a month away and the weather conditions have made it extremely tough for the pitch to be prepared.Heath Mills, the Players’ Association executive manager, told the that there were several concerns with regard to the pitch. “The feedback I’ve had from players is that they would be very surprised if Westpac Park was ready to host a Test in four weeks time.”However, John Reid, the New Zealand Cricket operations manager, told a spokesman of the board: “The pitch has been checked and cleared in Hamilton and no replacement will be needed.”The man in charge of the surface – Karl Johnson, the groundsman – wasn’t too optimistic about getting the pitch in top shape before the game. He said that the weather in Hamilton this summer has made preparation “extremely difficult”. Johnson had shipped up Waikari clay from Canterbury at the end of last season to replace the inconsistent Naike soil. He said that he had selected a strip for the Test and would begin rolling it once the warm-up game between Northern Districts and Sri Lanka was over.”But it has been bloody difficult,” Johnson said. “We’ve had to prove that the block has come through the winter and have had a warrant of fitness passed on it. Waikari always takes a couple of years to settle. It will get better with age and for this Test match we’re just looking to get a consistent quality to it. It’s not going to be startling and up around the nostrils, but it should be consistent.”The condition of the pitch was a talking point in the recent State Championship match between Northern Districts and Auckland. Mark O’Donnell, the Auckland coach, said, “By day three, there was enough variable bounce to cause problems. Those problems will be magnified in international cricket. Day three is too early for the sort of stuff we saw.”The pitch had also come under scrutiny during last season’s Test match between New Zealand and South Africa when a “crater” appeared on the wicket, and nearly forced Clive Lloyd, the match referee, to call off the match.
The status of South Africa’s tour to Pakistan was thrown into doubt with the news that the South African foreign ministry has advised the side against going to Karachi, Peshawar, and any areas near the Afghanistan border.”We will not be sending a team anywhere where there is a threat to security,” Bronwyn Wilkinson, the communications director for the South African board (UCB), told the BBC. “We have been told there is a minimal risk of a premeditated attack and because of this we need to ensure no stone is left unturned.”We will still need advice from foreign affairs on whether they want us to go at all or to avoid Karachi and Peshawar, or to go under special conditions,” Wilkinson explained. “We asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to alter the itinerary, but they were reluctant to do that because of the planning that had gone into the tour.”Last week the UCB formally asked the PCB to move the matches at Karachi, which is due to host the tour-opener, a Test, and an ODI, and Peshawar, which will stage the third Test. The PCB expressed reluctance because of the planning that had already gone into the matches, and it added that it believed its security measures – which are those normally reserved for state visits – were more than adequate.Security experts appointed by the UCB will leave for Pakistan on Sunday, and they will meet with the PCB and local police before returning to South Africa on Thursday (September 18) to deliver their report. The squad is scheduled to leave for Pakistan on the following Sunday.Rashid Latif, Pakistan’s captain who is currently sitting out a five-match suspension, urged the South Africans not to cancel any part of the trip. “There is absolutely nothing wrong in these two cities,” he said. “We have just played Bangladesh in Tests in Karachi and Peshawar and everything was fine. I don’t think the South Africans should expect any problems.”
Peter John Parnell Burge was born 17th May 1932 in Queensland Australia and died at the age of 69 in Brisbane. His cricketing career spanned 11 years and included 42 test matches. The highlight of his successful career was scoring of four centuries against England in successive Test series: 181 at the Oval in 1961, 103 at Sydney in 1962-63, 160 at Headingley in 1964 and 120 in his last series at Melbourne in 1965-66.A class attacking batsman Burge was an attacking batsman of the highest calibre and displayed a tremendous ability for nonchalant ease in cutting and hooking, a rarity against such top-class fast bowlers like Statham and Trueman in those days. He had earlier started his career for Queensland in 1952-53 and had captained the state side until he retired in 1968. In fact he was a strong candidate for Australian captaincy, when Bobby Simpson was absent for two tests against England in 1965-66 series, which was ultimately awarded to Brian Booth. His highest score of 283 versus New South Wales at Brisbane in 1963-64 is still the highest individual score for Queensland.Centuries in four successive series helped Australia retain Ashes in the 1960’s: Peter Burge scored a masterly 181 in the fifth and final test at the Oval in 1961 series to ensure Australia retained the Ashes. In the next series against England in Australia 1962-63, once again he contributed with significant scores of 103 & 52 not out in the fifth and final drawn test at Sydney to again deny England snatching the Ashes. Still more memorable was his knock of 160 at Headingley, Leeds in 1964 that earned Australia victory in the only decisive test of this hard fought series. This performance earned him inclusion in Wisden’s five cricketers of the year in 1965.Visits to India and Pakistan: Burge had visited Pakistan and India thrice (1956-57, 1959-60, and 1964). His notable scores during these visits were 83 at Bombay and 58 at Calcutta in 1956-57, 60 at Calcutta in 1959-60, and again 60 at Madras and 54 at Karachi in 1964.Contribution in the final Test against West Indies, 1960-61: He was also instrumental in bringing victory to Australia over the West Indies in the fifth and final test at Melbourne in the famous 1960-61 series by scoring 68 and 53 in the two innings. Two seasons later, he scored 91 at Adelaide and 56 at Sydney in one of the most competitive test series of that era between Australia and South Africa in 1963-64.Victim of unusual dismissal: Peter Burge was the third casualty in Australian First Class cricket history of being out handling the ball while playing in a match for Queensland versus New South Wales at Sydney in 1958-59. It was the first such event since the last in 1894-95.There is no doubt amongst cricket lovers he was a tremendous player and a respected match referee, the world of cricket will certainly miss him.Career Record: 1954 – 1966
The four-team Asia Cup T20 Qualifier will be held in Bangladesh from February 19 to 22. Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Oman and UAE will play each other to decide the one Associate who will advance to the main draw involving the region’s four Full Member teams.ESPNcricinfo understands the format for the qualifier will feature a single round-robin stage with each team playing three matches and the team that finishes on top will advance to the main event. In case two teams finish with the same points, their net run rates will be used as tiebreaker.Sources had earlier indicated that the qualifier might be played in November in the UAE due to the fact that Hong Kong are touring to play UAE for a four-day Intercontinental Cup match and two WCL Championship ODIs while Afghanistan are hosting Papua New Guinea at Sharjah in the I-Cup a few days later.Oman’s geographical proximity to the UAE was also a factor, but the four Asian teams will be playing a series of bilateral T20Is against each other from November 25 to 30. They will be the first T20Is for each country since the World T20 Qualifier in June. Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Oman have all qualified for the World T20 next March in India.