Jacob Oram’s chances of making New Zealand’s one-day squad for the forthcoming series against West Indies are getting slimmer.Oram, 27, has been forced to pull out of the final stage of New Zealand’s State Shield owing to a heel injury, a sign that does not bode well for the allrounder. “The selectors meet Wednesday and they’ll decide then what part, if any, he’s likely to have in the one-day series against the Windies,” Lindsay Crocker, the New Zealand general manager, told stuff.co.nz. “It’s now become a point of concern, given it has taken a little longer than we would’ve hoped. The question is whether we try to accelerate his recovery to play a part in the one-day series or let him continue his rehab to play a full part in the Test series.”Oram, the Central Districts captain, suffered a stone bruise injury that has already seen him spend 25 days on the sidelines. He returned to the Central side purely as a batsman, but felt pain in his heel while batting against Otago recently. “It’s taken a lot longer than we all thought and then he’s had the setback,” Crocker said. “It was hurting after the Otago game so we are trying no cricket activity to see if it will settle.”With Oram fighting to gain a spot for the one-day series against West Indies, and Chris Cairns having announced his retirement, New Zealand have problems on their hands. The first one-day match against the West Indies is at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington on February 18.Meanwhile, New Zealand Cricket is considering adding a three-day match to the start of the West Indies tour, probably against a New Zealand XI in Hamilton starting on Saturday. “The Windies are a long time on the ground before the first game (Twenty20 in Auckland on February 15) so I suspect they will want something other than practice,” Crocker said. A squad of 14 players – including players from Auckland, Wellington and Northern Districts – has been announced to begin training at a camp in Hamilton today.
Mobile phones have been put to full use in this year’s domestic competitions around the country. The last two rounds of the league phase of the Ranji Trophy turned out to be climactic and several teams were left depending on other results to qualify for the knock-out stage. The most dramatic scenes took place in Bangalore and Vishakapatnam on the last day of the matches when the Railways players huddled around a mobile phone for nearly three hours and received ball-by-ball updates from the Gujarat v Andhra game at Vishakapatnam. Gujarat couldn’t force a win and Railways sneaked through to the last-four stage.The venues and teams may be different tomorrow, but the final day of the Deodhar Trophy one-day tournament promises to be as riveting. North Zone take on South at Valsad while West clash with Central at Rajkot. A victory for North would seal the issue and give them their 10th Deodhar Trophy title, the most by any team since its inception in 1973. With the high-voltage line-up – in their previous game they fielded nine players with international experience – including Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, North would be favourites to upstage an inconsistent South Zone team that has blown hot and cold in their last three games.South managed to pull off two narrow triumphs in the first and third games but plummeted to a crushing loss against West Zone at Mumbai in between. VVS Laxman, their captain, hasn’t produced a matchwinning knock yet and unlike North Zone, their bowling has lacked the firepower to blast sides out. After capsizing in the second game for just 107, South found the right balance in the third, when they overcame East, and gave themselves a chance of claiming the title. For that, though, they would need West Zone to slip up at Rajkot.After bulldozing their way to emphatic victories in the first two games, both at Mumbai, West Zone botched a great chance to seal the title in the last game against North. Chasing 289, they were on track with 101 for 1 before a middle-order collapse hurtled them to a big defeat, which included conceding a bonus point. Their opponents, Central Zone, may not be in the best of spirits, after being knocked out of the tournament in the last game despite posting 348, but their batting brigade, including Mohammad Kaif and the talented 18-year-old Suresh Raina, might just opt for a blazing exit.North start favourites, West will look to pounce at the slightest opportunity while South will attempt to sneak in through the back door. It set up an intriguing final day.
India Women 216 for 6 (Chopra 59, Sharma 51, Raj 46) beat New Zealand Women 213 (Fahey 91, Kanojia 3-48) by four wickets ScorecardIndia Women beat New Zealand Women by four wickets in the fourth one-day international at Hyderabad, taking a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.New Zealand Women batted first and made 213, with Maria Fahey’s 91 being the highlight of the innings. The Indians won with four balls to spare, as Mitali Raj smashed 46 off 39 balls to give the momentum they needed to seal the issue.Fahey was the only New Zealander to capitalize on her start, as Kate Pulford and Haidee Tiffen both succumbed in the 30s. Mamta Kanojia took 3 for 48, but it was Deepa Kulkarni, with an outstanding 1 for 25 in 10 overs, who ensured that the platform Fahey built was wasted. A target of 214 was not likely to test the Indians.A solid partnership of 73 for the second wicket between Jaya Sharma and Anjum Chopra was the bulwark around which the Indian reply was constructed. Sharma’s dismissal for 51 in the 31st over, with the score on 110, gave some hope to the bowlers. But Chopra held one end up as Raj blasted six boundaries, making the result an academic affair. Choprs finished on 59, off 100 balls, but it was Raj, who snatched the impetus India’s way so firmly, who was named Player of the Match.
Bashley regained top spot in the New Forest Indoor Cricket League thanks to a 78 run victory over Swan Green. All rounder Neil Taylor, who had earlier made the dash from the St Mary’s Stadium where he watched the current Premiership champions Manchester United also regain their pole position, enhanced his own team’s championship hopes with 39 runs and two wickets.Ross Grierson (31) also figured for Bashley who were dismissed for 131. Poor Swan Green, without a win all season, slumped to 53 all out with Taylor grabbing his brace of wickets at a cost of just 5 runs.Burley’s failure to raise a side meant the postponement of their match with North Baddesley.Match of the day came in Division Two where Brockenhurst pipped Pylewell Park in a dramatic finish. Simon Naylor’s superb unbeaten 61 led Brock to 133 for 4 (Dick Wickison 31). Matt Doe hit 20 in reply, but it was Trevor Mapes who almost won the game single-handedly for Pylewell who fell agonisingly just 2 runs short of victory.Milford-on-Sea’s poor season continued with a 4 wicket defeat by Godshill. The seasiders had scored 113 for 4 (Steve Thomas 30no), but this was not enough as John Harrison (20) and Alan Pollard (26no) saw Godshill home with 5 balls to spare.The other Division Two match saw Cadnam Seconds comfortably beat Ringwood. Paul Jewar (65no) and Neil Garvey (35no) scored the majority of the runs as Cadnam reached 134 for 4. Only Graham Bowater (37) put up any resistance for Ringwood who were bowled out for 76 with Neil Dunning, Alan Dunning and Paul Jewar each taking 2 wickets.Pylewell Seconds underlined their promotion credentials with the six wicket hammering of Burley Seconds. Les Browning (26no) was given little support by his Burley teammates as his side were restricted to 77 for 3. Pylewell cantered to victory in just 9 overs with Wayne Royan and his uncle John both scoring 25 not out.
The second day of the CricInfo Tourney 2000 in New Delhi was interrupted more than once by short, sharp showers. However, the series of stoppages did nothing to disturb the concentration of Anju Jain who made an unbeaten 53 at the top of the innings and saw India C to victory. India B’s second successive loss makes it impossible for them to qualify for the final. The match between India A and India C, to be played tomorrow will not be more than a rehearsal of the final.Batting first, the India B team stung by their loss to India A yesterday made a few changes in their batting order. Star bat Anjum Chopra who batted in the middle order promoted herself and opened alongside Mithali Raj. The pair added 91 runs between them yesterday but were nowhere near as successful today. After getting quite well on to 55 without losing a wicket, Mithali Raj (27) was caught by the fielder in the circle attempting a short arm jab.The usually steady Kalyani Umbrani followed and did not add too many runs to the total. After making just three, she flashed at a ball from mediumpacer Jhulan Goswami and the catch was easily pouched by wicketkeeper captain Anju Jain. Kavita Roy entered the fray and in the company of the well set Anjum Chopra attempted to put together a partnership. While wickets fell at one end, Anjum Chopra played an uncharacteristically slow innings, using up all of 48 balls before she was dismissed for 12. Playing slightly away from her body, Anjum Chopra gave Jhulan her third scalp as the ball flew off the edge to gully where Hemlatha Kala took a good catch.Kavita Roy then managed to steady the innings a bit, but it was largely a lone effort on her part. Rumeli Dhar became left arm spinner Neetu David’s first victim after hitting one ball to the fence. Rakhee Mehra, in the side in place of Vanitha Viola departed without scoring and India B were looking down the barrel at 86 for 5.All rounder Sangeetha Kamat then brought new vigour to the innings, dispatching the bowling to the onside fence with some crisp sweeping. She ran her runs hard and was unbeaten on 31 when time ran out and India A had 140/8 on the board. By the rules followed in this tournament, teams are required to finish bowling 50 overs in 180 minutes. In the event that they do not complete the full complement of overs, which is more often than not the case, then they come off the field at the designated time. The team batting second then has to chase the target in the number of overs that has been completed in the stipulated time. Today, India C were looking at a target of 141 in 46 overs. But that was before the rains came down…After just eight overs of India C’s stint at the crease were completed, the skies opened and rain pelted down. Although the rain was nothing near the heavy showers that Delhi is capable of, it was forceful enough to keep the players off the field. Watching the drizzle fall on an uncovered pitch, the players enjoyed a hot cup of tea and had to wait over an hour before they could take the field once more. When play resumed, India A’s target was revised to 122 off 40 overs.Anju Jain opened the batting with the helmet clad Gulshan but the beginning was less than perfect. Seamers Kalyani Umbrani and GS Lakshmi must have been flattered that Gulshan chose to stride out wearing a helmet. On this pitch, which has been played on continuously for the last four days, very few balls got past knee height. Anju Jain capitalised on this. Stroking the ball firmly through the gaps, the India C skipper held one end up in fine fashion. Being fit, Anju Jain made her partners run hard and this paid rich dividends. The India B side tried many bowlers, being unable to settle into any sort of rhythm.Gulshan fended at a ball well outside off stump from GS Lakshmi and Anjum Chopra at slip dived low and scooped the ball just inches from the ground. Gulshan was replaced by Amrita Shinde who partnered Anju Jain ably. The two were going along efficiently knocking off the runs when a mix up resulted in Amrita Shinde being run out.Hard hitting Railways batswoman Hemlatha Kala got to the crease and showed immediately that she meant business. Clubbing the ball harder than anyone else she struck the ball crisply in front of the wicket and dabbed the ball deftly behind the wicket. After doing most of the hard work in compiling a compact 24, Hemlata fell chasing a wide delivery from Kalyani.Arundhati Kirkire joined Anju Jain and the two completed the formalities in good time. Unbeaten on 53, Anju Jain had provided India C with the impetus that it so badly needed. Her innings was the backbone of the India C victory.
Newcastle United are on course to avoid relegation from the Premier League after heavily investing in their squad in January.
PIF sanctioned a number of impressive winter deals as Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier, Matt Targett, Dan Burn and Chris Wood all came through the door, leading to the Magpies going on a nine-game unbeaten run to take them nine points clear of the bottom three.
Whilst they will be attempting to improve the first-team squad by bringing in established players to bolster Eddie Howe’s squad in the immediate future over the summer, they should also be looking at financing the academy to create a conveyor belt of prospects to develop over the next few years.
Light up
PIF must look to light up Darsley Park this summer with an influx of young talent to enhance the core of homegrown talent that they already have coming up through the ranks.
It was reported last month that the Magpies are among the clubs keeping tabs on talented teenager Josh Stones, and Football Insider recently claimed that Rangers have now joined the race for his services.
The Guiseley centre-forward can be Newcastle’s first foray into the youth market to develop their academy side with new additions. His form for the National League North outfit has been impressive and he would be an exciting player to add to the Tyneside club.
Stones has found the back of the net 21 times in 13 games for their youth team throughout the 2021/22 campaign and been rewarded with senior appearances in National League North. This suggests that the goalscoring menace has shown enough behind the scenes to warrant playing in the first-team at such a young age.
Therefore, he has the potential to push on further and play at a higher level, as his record at youth level is outstanding and proves that he is a natural goalscorer, marking him out an exciting potential signing. This is why Newcastle must snap him up to come and light up Darsley Park in their academy matches at the training ground, with the view to him making the step-up to Howe’s squad in the future.
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They could either seek to develop him in youth matches for the Magpies or loan him out to a Football League club in order to accelerate his progress.
This way of going about signing players could also save PIF millions down the line, as any academy player who makes the step up could claim a first-team place which may have otherwise been filled by a big-money acquisition.
AND in other news, Howe’s first mistake: NUFC dud who lost possession every 3.1 touches flopped big time…
Brett Dorey bowled Western Australia to their third win of the season with a five-wicket haul that brought them victory within three days against South Australia. Dorey collected 5 for 82 as the Redbacks struggled to 208 in their second innings, setting the Warriors a simple target of 61.The home side reached their goal comfortably, finishing on 3 for 61 with their pair of formerly suspended batsmen at the crease – Luke Pomersbach was on 18 and Shaun Marsh had 23. Rain interrupted play at the WACA but there was not enough to force the match into its final day as South Australia’s batting woes returned following two consecutive wins.Only Mark Cosgrove and Callum Ferguson held Western Australia’s three fast bowlers at bay for any length of time – the pair added 82 for the third wicket. Cosgrove became the first of Dorey’s victims when he was caught by Pomersbach for 55 and Ferguson followed for 56.The rest of the line-up offered little resistance, with Nathan Adcock (21) and Ryan Harris (15) the only men after that to reach double figures. Dorey bowled Adcock off his pads and had Andy Delmont caught at third slip for 7 as the Redbacks tried to eke out a respectable lead.But Graham Manou’s poor shot choice – he pulled Steve Magoffin to mid on for 5 – and Dorey’s ability to wrap up the tail made Western Australia a sure thing for victory. The result did not affect the order of the Pura Cup table, with the Warriors remaining in third place and the Redbacks in fourth.
If Australia’s coach, John Buchanan, is to be believed, it’s not just England’s World Cup preparations that are suffering at the moment. Such is the dominance of the Australians in the current CB Series, Buchanan has claimed he fears for his side when the World Cup gets underway in two months’ time … because England and New Zealand are simply not good enough.”I do not believe that there has been too much quality batting displayed at present,” said Buchanan, although he did single out four performers – Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Ross Taylor and Craig McMillan for their one-off efforts. But, he added: “All our bowlers have been able to control each game for most of the matches.”Victory may beget victory, but Buchanan, who always likes to push the boundaries of his talented squad of players, would prefer it wasn’t so simple. “Our ability to deliver yorkers, length balls, bouncers, variety balls, such as slower balls and cutters, has not been placed under constant scrutiny by an opposition batting line-up.””This testing of our bowlers’ response to situations when we have lost control (temporarily hopefully) is not happening. In essence, the batting efforts of our opposition are not assisting the development of our bowlers’ one-day skills and the decision-making that accompanies being placed under the microscope of competition.Buchanan will never call a spade a spade when he can call it a portable digging device, but in summary, it was a pretty damning appraisal of his underperforming opponents. Australia have four dead-rubber matches to negotiate before the best-of-three finals next month, but Buchanan insisted he would be upping the workload as the World Cup approaches.”It is with these thoughts in mind that we will approach our training over the next few weeks,” Buchanan added. “Like the swimming analogy, we are not looking to taper until the finals begin. After the Commonwealth Bank Series finals, we will be looking to increase the workload again through the Chappell-Hadlee series in New Zealand and the early weeks and rounds of the World Cup.”
Inzamam-ul-Haq scotched speculation that he is a doubtful starter for the first Test against India at Lahore on Friday due to a high fever.”Not me but the entire country is in cricket fever. The Indian cricket team is in Pakistan and with them here, my fever has no value,” Inzamam said in a lighter vein when asked. “I have a little cough but it is certainly not an illness that would keep me away from the Test. The weather here is chilly and you catch a cough if you do not protect yourself properly. But I don’t think any cricketer would miss any Test because of a cough.”Inzamam said that Pakistan’s training camp would break for Eid-ul-Azha tonight but the players would reassemble on Thursday morning. “My concern is that with this two-day break, the boys might lose focus. We have concentrated and stayed focused during the training camp and this break can easily distract you because of the nature of the occasion,” he said. “I thought to cancel the holidays but then allowed them to proceed for a couple of days because this occasion comes only once in a year and although the players would hardly get a chance to celebrate it, they would still have the satisfaction of being with their families.”Asked to answer candidly what he would have done had the first Test been at Karachi and a training camp was in progress in Lahore, he said: “I would not have terminated the camp and stayed back in Karachi. As a captain, you need to lead by example.”
Cricket Australia is facing up to a projected loss of more than $14m in the current financial year, with contests against New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies expected to be damp squibs. Australia’s newspaper, which had access to CA’s report for 2003-04, has said that the organisation expects to post a loss of $14.2m, as compared to a healthy surplus of $4.5m last year when India were the visitors.The takings from the gate for the Tests against New Zealand and Pakistan are also expected to be more than $1m down, with the aggregate crowd expected to be the lowest in a decade.According to Peter Young, spokesperson for Cricket Australia, the developments were not unexpected. “We always knew this coming year would be a deficit year, as will the next year [against West Indies],” he said. “It’s not a concern, it’s part of the cycle in this business.”It would be nice not to have trough years, it would be fabulous to have a surplus every year. And that’s one of cricket’s critical long-term concerns – to be profitable year in, year out. Australian cricket revenue is very cyclical. We have always had years where we make a surplus and years where we make a deficit and the key driver is which countries tour for that summer.”Cricket Australia made a killing over the past two summers, with England and India visiting. The Ashes contests have always drawn crowds, and the TV rights also sell for top dollar, as they did when India – the game’s financial powerhouse – came over for Steve Waugh’s farewell series last summer.According to the paper’s projections, CA will have reserve funds of around $18.2m after this financial year, well down on the $32.4m that were in the coffers at the completion of the last season.In 2001-02, CA had reserve funds of $15.9m. If this year’s projections are accurate, that figure will rise to $18.2m – but it’s a huge drop on the $32.4m CA had in its coffers at the completion of the 2003-04 financial year.After 568,774 watched a largely one-sided Ashes series, and 512,692 trooped through the turnstiles for a thrilling drawn series against India (four Tests), only 154,964 have bothered to make the trek to the grounds for the first three Tests of the summer.