Graeme Hick scored the seven runs he needed to complete his 130th first-class hundred on the second day of Worcestershire’s Championship game against Northamptonshire at New Road. He now sits in eighth place in the list of all-time century makers, moving ahead of Sir Len Hutton. It was also his 100th hundred for his county.It didn’t take long for Hick, who finished on 93 not out last night, to add the seven required runs to his overnight total. As he flicked the ball off his legs to take a single from Nicholson, he lifted his bat to the players’ balcony and was greeted by rapturous applause and a standing ovation. He went on to make 139.Less than a month ago Hick, who turned 40 in April, was being all-but written off after a poor start to the season. On June 4, Steve James in The Sunday Telegraph wrote: “I am worried about Graeme Hick. Worried that a glorious career might be heading for a less-than-glorious ending.” That same week Hick bounced back with 182 against Somerset at Taunton.”It was a special day for me,” Hick admitted. “There’s quite a lot of people who have sat here for many years and hopefully enjoyed my batting and it’s been a good day for them as well. “To get the hundredth hundred for Worcestershire here at New Road adds a bit to it.””I’m enjoying my cricket at the moment,” he replied when asked the inevitable question about how long he plans to go on. “I’ve always said I’ll make a decision about my future at the end of the season. At the same time, the club have got to do the same thing. The club is obviously bigger than the player.””Graeme has achieved something that not many people can dream of doing,” said Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket. “His 100th hundred is a true reflection of what he has done for Worcestershire over the course of his career. I consider myself extremely fortunate to be amongst those who have watched Graeme’s successes unfold and it has been fantastic to watch him score many of his hundreds over the years.”We all have great memories. Perhaps the thing I most remember from his heyday was his strength. We would watch from the balcony as, time after time, he would hit a yorker straight back past the bowler for four: something incredibly difficult to do and which gave rise to the dressing room saying “You can’t bowl there to Hicky!”
Northerns started day three at SuperSport Park at 179 for 2. Ten overs later they had raced to 290 for 2. Justin Kemp pulverised Easterns with a century off 55 balls. Of those runs, 76 came in boundaries. The brutal knock allowed Northerns to declare, leaving Easterns an almost unreachable target of 461 in 94 overs. Wesley Barresi then scored 57 on debut, and Jacques du Toit (64) gave the innings the impetus it needed. A career-best 127 not out from Goolam Bodi gave Easterns slight hope but time was running out. At the close of play they were 131 runs short with three wickets to spare. It was a gallant but vain chase.The match in Bloemfontein between Free State and KwaZulu-Natal ended in a stale-mate after the Natal openers put on an undefeated 159, chasing 337. James Henderson (57) and Corne Linde, scoring 51 on debut, had made an attempt to get Free State into a position to set a target but the declaration came far too late. With Natal not taking the bait and Free State unable to take any wickets, the game petered out into a dull draw with both captains agreeing to an early finish.
Old Trafford, Lancashire’s home for 146 years, may have earned a stay of execution, after it was revealed by the Manchester Evening News that a major redevelopment of the ground is in the pipeline.Back in November, the club admitted that it had been in secret talks with Manchester city council about moving to a new ground at Eastlands. It was an announcement that angered Trafford council, but on the whole, the proposal was met with unexpectedly muted opposition, given the falling attendances at Test matches and the ever-expanding status of Old Trafford football stadium, just down the road.Lancashire’s chief executive, Jim Cumbes, denied that the plans for a move had been shelved, and termed the new architect’s drawings as a vision rather than a detailed proposal. “We gave a vision to Trafford of how we would like to see the ground develop if we were to stay,” said Cumbes. “It’s basically a bit of licence, an artist’s impression.”It’s not a development plan. We haven’t even costed it. We presented it to Trafford just to show them the sorts of funds that would be needed to assist us in the development of the ground. We had to give Trafford a fair chance to see what they could do for us.”David Acton of Trafford council was pleased that Lancashire had considered the possibility of staying put. ” Old Trafford has as much deprivation as east Manchester,” he said. “It would be crazy to put public money into relocating them when that money, if there is any, should be utilised to regenerate the Old Trafford area. I think it’s important that the ground can develop to meet all the international standards.”Nevertheless, added Cumbes, the chances of county cricket remaining at Old Trafford are no better than 50-50.
Lessons from the National Bank Series between New Zealand and India don’t really concern the quality of cricket, but the attitude of cricket followers in this country.New Zealand Cricket had cause to wonder when India performed so poorly in the Test series and then succumbed to a 4-0 margin to lose the one-day series with three games still to play whether they were on the verge of a disaster in terms of crowd appeal.But in a way that has not been seen in recent times, the paying public kept turning out. There were 20,000 at the dead match in Auckland, and a full-house crowd of more than 6000 in Hamilton today.New Zealanders do enjoy winners after all.And even the fact that seven One-Day Internationals have been played doesn’t seem to have dulled the appetite for cricket.It does show how far this New Zealand team has come when it can play well below its potential yet still quell one of the more impressive batting armouries in the world game and win the support of the home public.Much has been made of the problems the Indians have had in dealing with the excessive sideways movement of New Zealand’s pitches. But the New Zealanders also struggled.To bat as poorly as New Zealand has and still come out with such a commanding degree of authority in the two series, says something for the growth of confidence in the home side.They have learned how to win and are repeating the home series dominance the great side of the 1980s managed.Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has been quite right to say that there was little between the sides in terms of the results, but the difference has been that New Zealand have been able to rely on the notion of team, a principle that applies to most New Zealand sports teams far more than for any of its opponents.The notion of grafting for success is not lost on Kiwis who, more than most, have to get the best out of inadequate resources of manpower and talent.In having bowlers like Daryl Tuffey and Jacob Oram in the Test matches, and Kyle Mills in the ODIs, who are able to provide outstanding support for speed merchant Shane Bond, skipper Stephen Fleming has been able to dominate in a way that must have surprised the Indians.Their own attack in the Tests lacked the sustained accuracy and guile that Javagal Srinath brought to the one-day series. Given India’s inability to bat in such conditions, it should be no surprise that they also struggled to bowl purposefully in them.There did seem to be a notion grow that New Zealand were better used to the conditions. This was an erroneous view, as the conditions, in their extremes, were also foreign to the home side. New Zealand batsmen are only getting used to the greater bounce in pitches after a season or two of development in this area. Having to deal with sideways movement is an extra encumbrance.The most classic example of how to cope under the circumstances belonged to Mark Richardson in the first Test at the Basin Reserve. His application and sheer doggedness, driven by the lack of international opportunity he was to have this summer, was perhaps the best demonstration of the season.Aspects of development were obvious: the advance of Oram as a genuine Test player, the growth in Tuffey’s confidence, the solidity offered by the developing Scott Styris in the middle-order, the sight of Lou Vincent using his speed between the wickets as an attacking weapon with his demonstration in Napier, and his partnership with Styris in the second Auckland ODI as the most classic examples, and the advance of wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum.When their qualities are added to a return to peak form of Fleming, Craig McMillan, Nathan Astle and Chris Cairns, allied to greater employment of spinner Daniel Vettori, it offers genuine hope of even greater achievements by the New Zealanders.Fleming was the highest scoring of the New Zealand batsmen with 157 runs at 26.16. Others over 100 runs for the series were: Mathew Sinclair 146 at 24.33, Astle 123 at 24.60 and Vincent 120 at 40.00.India have different problems, although they have said all along that on the pitches in South Africa, they will quickly regain their best touches.Admittedly, that has to be a real prospect, although it will take some time to get over the mental looseness that saw them so often succumb to the moving ball. The last time they were here it was the swinging ball at the Basin Reserve that did them, but this time it was the cut of the ball off the pitch. Either vulnerability has to be a concern.Rahul Dravid offered glimpses of the class that made him such an exciting figure on the last tour of this country, but Sachin Tendulkar was a disappointment.Virender Sehwag did get to demonstrate his talent with two marvellous centuries in the one-day series. He was easily the most prolific of the batsmen. He scored 299 runs while the next highest Indian was Yuvraj Singh with 134, but at an average of only 19.14. Rahul Dravid was the only other Indian to pass three figures with 116 at 16.57.But generally, India’s lack of application was both a revelation and a disappointment. If their techniques were as good as their records say then more of them should have been capable of adaptation.Srinath was the best bowler on display in both sides. He used his experience brilliantly and finished with most wickets 18 at 11.16. Andre Adams was the best of the New Zealanders with 14 at 9.35. He might wait a long time to do better in a series.Tuffey was right behind him with 12 at 18.08.Fleming was quite right to claim satisfaction from having won a war of attrition.Turf managers can expect to come under greater scrutiny in the aftermath of this summer. Next season, New Zealand are to host Pakistan and South Africa, two huge opponents, and pitch quality will need to be significantly better.New Zealand will have had a tour to India in the early season, so they should be much better prepared for the summer than was the case this year. They deserve to have those pitches with pace and bounce that Fleming has been advocating, but less of the sideways movement.And does it really matter if the outfields of grounds are not pristine green in order to present the picture perfect view on television. No batsman is going to complain if a drier outfield gives him better value for his strokeplay.The groundsmen have talked a good game this year but they haven’t delivered.New Zealand did win everything but two one-dayers in the summer and that is significant. The side showed resolve and penetration.It has set the scene for a prolific World Cup, the hope has to be that those good conditions they are wanting in South Africa will do the business and light the spark that is ready to fire up in the side.
A tremendous fightback by Essex after they were forced to follow-on, 177 runs behind, has set up the prospect of an absorbing final day with the home side leading by 321 runs with four second innings wickets still intact at the close of play.A magnificent career-best innings of 189 by Paul Grayson acted as the catalyst for his side’s mammoth total of 498-6 with the opening bat featuring in two century partnerships. He resumed with Darren Robinson in the morning session and the latter had reached 80 when he was caught behind to end a stand worth 158 for the second wicket that ensured that the visitors would be forced to bat again.Stuart Law joined Grayson and the pair added 147 runs with Law striking a nonchalant 67 that included nine boundaries and the sixth occasion that he has reached fifty in the competition this season. His innings featured some impressive driving on either side of the wicket before the formidable Australian clipped Owen Parkin to mid-wicket to end another imperious performance.Grayson continued his defiant, chanceless crusade, easing past his previous highest score of 159 but after batting for almost six hours and displaying superb timing, he was caught at point having struck 34 boundaries and seen his side to a position that offered some hope of providing an interesting finale.Ronnie Irani and Stephen Peters then combined to record the third century stand of the day against the tiring Welsh attack with Irani reaching his half-century but both lost their wickets in successive overs late in the day to give their opponents some small consolation for their long hours of unrewarded toil.
According to journalist and ‘transfer insider’ Graeme Bailey, writing in his Anfield Watch column, there has been an update on Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of Liverpool defender Joe Gomez.
The Lowdown: Conte chases centre-back…
The Telegraph, sharing news right after the January transfer window over a month ago, claim that the signing of a new centre-back is a top transfer priority for manager Antonio Conte and managing director Fabio Paratici.
Sven Botman, Alessandro Bastoni and Josko Gvardiol are allegedly on the agenda with a Spurs official also sent to run the rule over Torino’s Gleison Bremer just last weekend.
Anfield centre-half Gomez is another name attracting interest from Spurs as Bailey shares the latest and what he’s heard on Tottenham’s pursuit.
The Latest: Bailey shares update…
According to the insider, Spurs, and by extension Conte, have the 24-year-old well and truly on their agenda and are one of the clubs ‘looking to land’ Gomez this summer.
Alongside the Lilywhites, there is Newcastle, West Ham, Fulham and even Liverpool’s cross-town rivals Everton eyeing a move.
The Verdict: Good candidate?
Given he could leave for around £30 million according to reports, Gomez actually comes as a solid option for Conte’s back three.
Homegrown and able to help fill Tottenham’s quota in that regard, the defender still has many years left at the top level going by his age.
He’s also been revered by manager Jurgen Klopp despite his lack of game time this season with the German calling Gomez a ‘world class’ player alongside Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip (via Anfield Watch).
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Big name presenter and former Tottenham striker Gary Lineker also called him a ‘helluva player’ back in 2018 (via Liverpool Echo).
Indeed, the player could genuinely be a brilliant target for Spurs this summer.
In other news: £50 million release clause: Spurs make contact to sign ‘one of the best players in the world’, find out more here.
Scotland pulled off a sensational two-run win over Lancashire at Old Trafford despite only scoring 155 for 9. The shock came a week after they had been skittled for 74 in the reverse fixture. Steven Croft took 4 for 24 as Scotland struggled for runs, and Andrew Flintoff chipped in with 2 for 13. Lancashire’s innings fell apart as they crumpled to 44 for 7 before Luke Sutton and Kyle Hogg put on 71 for the eighth wicket. Eight were needed from the last over, and James Anderson needed to hit a boundary off the last ball but Gordon Drummond restricted him to a single.Click here for John Ward’s report of Yorkshire’s match against Durham at Headingley.
South/West Division
In a rain-affected match at New Road, Vikram Solanki powered Worcestershire to a seven-wicket win over Glamorgan with a slick 88 from 84 balls which included five sixes. He and Stephen Moore put on an unbeaten 58 for the fourth wicket to guide Worcestershire to their target of 186, with nine balls to spare, and Ben Smith chipped in with a valuable 34-ball 41. In a match reduced to 28 overs, Glamorgan’s Tom Maynard – son of Matthew – top-scored with 48 from just 29 balls, while Jamie Dalrymple cracked 44 from 31, but they hadn’t counted on Solanki’s explosive hitting.
Midlands Division
A superb 102 from Stephen Peters helped Northamptonshire ease past Ireland by eight wickets at Northampton. Ireland could only muster 203 for 9 in their fifty overs, though Paul Stirling – the very highly regarded 17-year-old – top-scored with 70 from 95 balls, including four fours and four sixes. It was never a total to trouble Northamptonshire, however, and Peters found excellent support in Niall O’Brien, their pugnacious Irish batsman, who made 75. Northamptonshire lost two wickets but Peters saw them home in the 43rd over.Ryan Cummins took 3 for 21 in a disciplined bowling performance for Leicestershire who beat Warwickshire by 45 runs at Edgbaston. In a match reduced to 23 overs, Leicestershire compiled 148 for 6 thanks to thirties from Jacques Du Toit, Jim Allenby and Boeta Dippenaar, but it was their bowlers who swung the match. Cummins removed Neil Carter for 3 while Garnett Kruger picked up the key wickets of Ian Westwood and Jonathan Trott. Tim Ambrose gave the hosts hope with 28 from 31, but there was little else from the lower-order and Warwickshire were dismissed for just 103.
South East Division
Chris Adams led from the front with a perfectly timed 109 from 103 balls to guide Sussex to a comfortable win over Middlesex at Hove, chasing down a sizeable 274 with 12 balls to spare. Middlesex’s 273 was set-up by a slick 80 from Ed Joyce, which contained 12 fours, and a typically industrious 68 from Owais Shah. Middlesex’s bowling is their weakest suit, however, and none of their pace attack settled into any kind of rhythm. Matt Prior crashed 79 from 92 balls, sharing in a second-wicket stand of 81 with Adams. But it was Adams’ partnership of 115 with Murray Goodwin which really put the match out of Middlesex’s reach, as Adams took them home with 12 balls in hand.Click here for Brydon Coverdale’s report of Kent’s 90-run win over Surrey at The Oval.
Scorecard and ball-by-balldetailsDefending just 105, Asia stamped their authority on the Twenty20 match against Africa by dismissing the opposition for a paltry 45. Smarting from a top-order collapse inflicted by Ashlyn Kilowan, as well as from some inopportune run-outs, the Asian side stormed back to ruthlessly shred the African batting order.Though the game finished with five overs still remaining, the action in the preceding 35 gave no one a chance to complain that they were short-changed. While good fielding dominated in the first half, impressive bowling dominated the second. Rumeli Dhar had impressive figures of 4 for 8, while her opening partner, Jhulan Goswami, was not required to bowl her last over.Goswami had, however, struck the first blows when she dismissed Margaret Banja and Julie Chibhabha for ducks in the first over. In her next one, she dismissed Trisha Chetty for one – all her dismissals were lbw. Dhar, meanwhile, trapped one in front of the stumps, and bowled the rest.Eight ducks in the match indicate that the women reversed the trend of Twenty20 cricket – usually associated with fours and sixes – yet they managed to keep the buzz in the game. A spunky partnership between Urooj Mumtaz and Chamari Polgampola for the ninth wicket ensured that Asia got to a competitive total after being 47 for 6 at the half-way mark.Bad calling by Sulakshana Naik had Jaya Sharma run out at the non-striker’s end without facing a ball and Kilowan then struck twice in consecutive balls, trapping Mithali Raj leg before with her first ball and bowling Dedunu Silva off the next.Cri-Zelda Brits, the Africa captain, would be disappointed that her side allowed Asia to set them a target of 106. It has to be said here that there are only four players from among ICC’s top-ten-ranked countries in the Africa side. Asia were always to be favoured – with six players from India, who are ranked No. 2 – but the manner in which they wrapped up the match was still impressive. Alicia Smith top-scored for Africa with 23, their only double-digit score.Spectators trickled into the ground as the hour drew closer to the men’s game and were not disappointed by what they got to see while they waited. Music accompanied every bit of action on the field and it looked like Indian crowds were getting attuned to Twenty20 cricket. The curtain-raiser was meant to whet the crowd’s appetite – excite them without stealing the show. But if the women ended up stealing the show, it would only reflect poorly on the men.
Andy Roberts, the former West Indies fast bowler, has expressed concern over the criteria for selecting teams as well the power entrusted to Bennett King, the West Indies coach. Wary not only of West Indies confusing themselves with the roles of chairman and convenor of selectors, Roberts felt that the system was shifting to unfamiliar terrain.”I do not know how we choose teams. I don’t know what criteria we use,” Roberts told the . “I don’t know whether we just look for players who are currently playing or players who have played a couple months ago but for one reason or another, they are not actually involved in one form of cricket or another.”Roberts, who has also served as a regional team selector, coach and manager, felt that King, who has served as coach for 19 months, had too much say on selection matters. “Being a former coach we never had a quarter or one tenth of the amount of power Bennett has,” he said. “He negotiated that, so be it. But if he wants that and I know what I want for my cricketers, I am not going to go along with that. I think that the coach needs to have the power to drop a player but he mustn’t have absolute power over the chairman of selectors.”Critical of West Indies heading towards an Australian method of handling selection – Joey Carew has been referred to as convenor of selectors instead of chairman, which has been handed over to King – Roberts felt that the method would prove counterproductive.”I don’t know who arrived at that [the system]. To be honest I don’t. A system may work well in Australia but not necessarily work in the West Indies,” he said. “We have our own culture. We did not get to the top of world cricket by not knowing what we were doing. But it seems to me that our administrators believe that we do not know what we are doing.”If I have a chairman [now convenor] of selectors, the chairman of selectors must be involved in picking one to 11, not 14, and he must be chairman. Otherwise why do we have him? What is he there for – just to convene meetings?”
An accomplished allround performance by Shoaib Malik, and a century of faultless grace and measured intent by Yousuf Youhana, brought Pakistan their third straight victory in the Paktel Cup, against a Sri Lankan team that has had the edge over them in recent times.Sri Lanka made a good start after winning the toss and choosing to bat, but some less-than-committed batting, and a probing and skilful spell of offspin bowling by Malik in the middle overs, led them to founder, and eventually they managed only 232. Given a slow outfield and enervating conditions – most of the game was played in 40-degree heat – Sri Lanka might have stretched Pakistan even with this total, but after they had made two early breakthroughs Malik and Youhana came together, and took the game away with a partnership of 200, the highest stand for any wicket in a one-day international at the National Stadium in Karachi.Sri Lanka were playing their first game since their loss to England at the Champions Trophy, and Marvan Atapattu caused some surprise with his decision to bat first. The ground had absorbed plenty of rain in the days leading up to the game, and what with a 9.30am start, it was almost certain that conditions would help the bowlers in the first hour. Atapattu’s counterpart Inzamam-ul-Haq, returning to the team after missing a match with a groin strain, was somewhat surprised at this decision, and had to confirm it a second time from Atapattu.But after the early loss of Avishka Gunawardene, always in trouble against the moving ball, Sri Lanka actually prospered in the first hour of play. Although both Naved-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Sami kept the ball up to the batsmen, and runscoring was not easy, some characteristically enterprising batting by Sanath Jayasuriya kept the run rate ticking along at just over four an over. Jayasuriya employed his favourite drive through extra cover and pick-up stroke over square leg whenever he saw the opportunity, and Atapattu also looked in gorgeous touch – he seemed to check one square-drive off Naved, but it beat point and raced away for four – and worked the ball around adeptly for singles. When Shoaib Akhtar came on at first change, Jayasuriya greeted him with a six and a four, and after 15 overs Sri Lanka had reached 71.But as the morning progressed the heat grew stronger and ever more enervating, and seemed to take a toll on Jayasuriya. Shortly after he brought up his fifty, off 78 balls, he gave up his wicket in one of the most disappointing ways possible. Standing at the non-striker’s end, he backed up a couple of yards as Atapattu came down the pitch to drive Malik, and made no attempt to return to his crease as the ball was hit straight back to the bowler. He almost seemed to want an end to his innings, and Malik happily obliged (113 for 2).With Jayasuriya gone, the Sri Lankan innings floundered, and lost its way against Malik’s offspin. Atapattu advanced down the wicket to him again but found himself short of the pitch of the ball and chipped a catch to midwicket (129 for 3); Mahela Jayawardene feinted a forward movement and laid back to cut, only to be beaten by the sharp spin and find his off bail disturbed (165 for 4); and Tillakaratne Dilshan scratched around for a while before edging a cut (177 for 5). With the outfield slower than normal, boundaries were hard to come by, and the batsmen could not work enough singles to keep up an acceptable run rate. When Kumar Sangakkara was bowled for 38 attempting a wild slog, Pakistan knew they were in control of the game, and they bowled out the last ten overs competently without conceding too many.
Malik finished with 3 for 32, but there was more to come from him. Since Bob Woolmer’s appointment as coach of the Pakistan team four months ago, Malik has been not only the first-choice spinner but also the regular No. 3 batsman – in effect he is now the player on whom the greatest responsibility has been thrust. After being on the field for 50 overs, he was out on the ground again in the 11th over of Pakistan’s innings after Chaminda Vaas had trapped Yasir Hameed in front (33 for 1).Sri Lanka soon had another success to celebrate, when Nuwan Zoysa nailed Salman Butt in the next over. Pakistan only managed 49 in the first 15 overs as Malik and Youhana settled in, but thereafter the two batsmen upped the tempo and paced the run-chase to a nicety. With the target not an especially demanding one, it was more important that Pakistan kept their wickets intact, and there was hardly a risky stroke as Youhana and Malik proceeded neck-and-neck to their half-centuries. Atapattu shuffled his bowlers around without reward, and none of his spinners, including the usually reliable Jayasuriya, could get him a breakthrough. But Atapattu was also guilty of not putting enough pressure on the batsmen with fielders in the 30-yard circle. With only four men saving the single for most part, Malik and Youhana were able to rotate the strike more easily than they should have.Youhana hit only two fours on the way to a measured fifty off 70 balls, but then proceeded to attack the bowling with relish and assurance, deliberately lofting drives over the infield, and launching Upul Chandana for six over wide long-on. When he reached 66 he became the second-fastest Pakistan player to reach 6000 runs in one-day internationals, after Saeed Anwar, and quicker than all-time greats like Javed Miandad and Inzamam. He duly completed a superbly-paced hundred off 112 balls, and as Pakistan reached the final stretch Malik joined the fun, hitting powerfully down the ground and walking around his crease to manufacture shots around the wicket. The last scoring shot of the game brought up the 200 partnership. After a point, Sri Lanka were never in the game.Pakistan are now through to the finals, and can enjoy a well-deserved rest while Sri Lanka occupy themselves with the not-so-daunting task of beating Zimbabwe in the next two games to be sure of joining them there.