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The Dominica pitch aided the spinners, and Shane Shillingford made the most of it, adding another five-for to the one he took in the first innings to finish with a match haul of 10 for 93

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Mar-2013

As West Indies completed an innings and 65-run victory over Zimbabwe in Dominica to wrap up the series 2-0, there were a number of milestones achieved: wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin claimed his 150th Test dismissal, West Indies won six consecutive Tests for the first time in over two decades, and offspinner Shane Shillingford snatched the team record for the highest wicket tally in a two-match series from Courtney Walsh.The pitch aided the spinners, and Shillingford made the most of it, adding another five-for to the one he took in the first innings to finish with a match haul of 10 for 93. His 19 wickets in the series – three more than Walsh against New Zealand in 1994-95 – came at 10.52 apiece.Shillingford put his success down to perseverance: “Today, I concentrated and was willing to be patient to get my wickets. It was a matter of not being complacent and applying ourselves. One of our goals was not to be complacent. We knew once we had them down we had to keep them down and that is what we did.”In the home series against Australia in April 2012 too Shillingford had good returns, taking 14 wickets in two Tests at 26.14 – second only to Kemar Roach on West Indies’ wickets chart. However, in the past year, he did not feature in the squad that played New Zealand at home and Bangladesh away.Shillingford recalled the disappointment of being overlooked: “When I was dropped I felt a certain way, but I never let it get to me too deep. I kept looking forward to the first-class season, to go there and take some wickets and work my way back into the Test team. It was hard work to get back, but now I’m back I plan to stay here.”On the third morning in Roseau, West Indies captain Darren Sammy declared as rain delayed the start of play, leaving his bowlers with a lead of 206. And they delivered, bowling Zimbabwe out in 42.2 overs to seal victory in less than three days. While Sammy and Tino Best struck once each, it was fellow offspinner Marlon Samuels who provided Shillingford with the most effective support once again, taking 3 for 35, including two wickets in two balls to finish off the tail.Shillingford said he knew the pitch would assist him, and he was happy to have the support of his team-mates as well. “Here is one of the places where the wicket is spin-friendly, I knew I had to get the balls in the right areas and build the pressure, and that is what I tried to do out there,” he said. “It was a really great team performance and we are all very proud of what we achieved. The spirit was really good.”

Essex have revealed plans for an £80 million upgrade of their Chelmsford home

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2013

Essex have revealed plans for an £80 million upgrade of their Chelmsford home. The development will turn the County Ground “from a stadium into a destination” according to club treasurer Keith Brown.The plans include a new pavilion and banqueting suite for 500 people, a new indoor school, car park, public square and a bridge over the river Chelmer, which runs behind one end of the ground.The development will be funded by 320 apartments built on land owned by the club adjacent to the ground.The project has been delayed by the economic downturn with plans initially drawn up in 2004 and planning permission granted in 2010.The first phase will see 62 apartments built on the current car park. 90% of those apartments have already been sold. Work on the pavilion is not expected to begin until 2014 with the whole project completed by 2017.”Chelmsford is becoming very attractive,” Brown said. “The current stadium is very old and quite simply, needed replacing, and the only way was to have an enabling development. The whole site will link up to the city much more and offer much more for people to visit to the club ground.”The model of development reflects Gloucestershire’s plans to fund their own £10 million ground revamp with a block of apartments at Bristol.

طالب مارتن كاسيدي، الرئيس التنفيذي لرابطة دعم التحكيم في المملكة المتحدة، بخصم نقاط من ليفربول بسبب تصرف المدرب يورجن كلوب تجاه الحكم بول تيرني أمس خلال مواجهة توتنهام.

وفاز ليفربول على توتنهام بأربعة أهداف مقابل ثلاثة، في إطار منافسات الجولة الرابعة والثلاثين من الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وحصل كلوب على بطاقة صفراء بعدما احتفل بطريقة عنيفة وقوية تجاه الحكم الرابع، عقب تسجيل ديوجو جوتا الهدف القاتل في الدقيقة 94.

وشن كلوب هجومًا ضد الحكم بول تيرني، خلال تصريحاته بعد مباراة الأمس، وهو ما استدعى رد لجنة التحكيم.

من جانبه، قال مارتن كاسيدي في تصريحات لصحيفة “ديلي إكسبريس” الإنجليزية: “ما لم يبدأ اتحاد الكرة في معالجة هذا السلوك بخصم النقاط، فلن يتغير أبدًا”.

وأضاف: “توقيع غرامة مالية على ليفربول قدرها 30 ألف جنيه إسترليني ليس شيئًا، ابدأ في منحهم عقوبة خصم النقاط، وشاهدهم يصمتون”.

وواصل: “أعتقد أن ذلك سيكون أحد الحلول البسيطة المضمونة لتلك المشكلة الصعيف، كان هناك عقوبة الحظر على خط التماس لعقود من الزمن، لكن الأمر لم يتحسن، بل إنه يزداد سوءًا”.

 ويعتقد كاسيدي أن إحباط ريان ماسون، المدير الفني المؤقت لفريق توتنهام، من عدم طرد جوتا بسبب تدخله القوي أوليفر سكيب أظهر “نفاق كرة القدم”.

واستمر: “لذلك فإن هذين الشخصين لديهما حجج متناقضة تمامًا حول هذا الموضوع، لذا فإن كلا المدربين يريان الحكم إما متحيز أو غير كفء وهذا بالضبط ما يحدث في المباراة الآن، إنها نظرة داخلية من المدربين والناس بحاجة إلى إدراك نفاق كرة القدم.

وأكد: “هم دائمًا يقولون الحكام ليسوا مسؤولين، ولكن إذا أضاع محمد صلاح ركلة جزاء، فإنه سيلعب بشكل عادي في الأسبوع التالي، ولكن إذا لم يعط الحكم ركلة جزاء يُنظر إليها على أنها خطأ، فإنه يريدون معاقبة الحكم بهبوطه إلى المستويات الأدنى، هناك خلل في المساءلة هناك”.

واستطرد: “لا أعرف كيف يمكن لـ كلوب تبرير الأفعال التي يقوم بها منذ أيامه في دورتموند، أنا لا أقبل حجته عن العاطفة، كمشجع لليفربول هل كان بوب بيزلي أو كيني دالجليش أو بيل شانكلي غير متحمسين مثل يورجن كلوب؟ بالطبع كانوا كذلك لكنهم لم يظهروا نفس السلوك مثله”.

ScorecardLiam Norwell claimed five wickets as Gloucestershire moved off the bottom of the County Championship table with a 207-run victory inside three days against Northamptonshire at Bristol.Norwell followed up his 3 for 23 in the first innings with 5for 51 in a Northamptonshire second-innings total of 224 that featured half-centuries from David Sales and Andrew Hall. The visitors were set an unlikely target of 432 after bowling Gloucestershire out for 311 in the morning session from an overnight 286 for 6. Will Gidman failed to add to his 52 as Hall finished with 5 for 50.Gloucestershire took 20 points from their third Championship win of the season and have one game left to further improve their position, while Northamptonshire had to settle for three in their final fixture.The pitch had aided the seamers all through the game and that continued to be the case as Gloucestershire added only 25 to their score for the loss of their last four wickets. Hall claimed the last three after David Willey had removed Will Gidman, but it was too late to prevent Northamptonshire facing a near impossible task.Opener Stephen Peters fell lbw to the fourth ball of his side’s second innings, leg before to Will Gidman without a run on the board, and it was 51 for 2 when Niall O’Brien edged Norwell to wicketkeeper Jon Batty. Just before lunch Kyle Coetzer was bowled by Norwell and, although Sales batted effortlessly for his 55, he too had his stumps disturbed by the same bowler to make it 80 for 4.A stubborn partnership of 78 between Hall and Rob Newton, who made 44, ended when the latter pulled a short ball from Norwell straight to Ian Cockbain at midwicket. James Middlebrook and David Murphy went cheaply to Benny Howell and Norwell respectively and by tea the result was all but decided with the visitors on 184 for 7.Hall fell for 56 straight after the break without a run added, bowled by Howell, who finished with 2 for 37 having made a handy contribution with his medium pace to a Gloucestershire side lacking a specialist spinner.Jack Brooks was taken in the slips off James Fuller for 22 after a defiant stand of 39 with Wiley and the game ended when Luke Evans was out for a duck, caught by Cockbain off Anthony Ireland.Norwell took six wickets in an innings on debut against Derbyshire at the start of last season, but was then plagued by back trouble. He recently claimed 6 for 52 in a Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Leicestershire at Grace Road and Gloucestershire will hope for more of the same next summer.

ScorecardAshwell Prince spent almost five hours at the crease for his century•Getty Images

It may not have been regarded as the most significant result of thesummer but Lancashire have gained important momentum from last week’sbattling draw at Edgbaston to deliver their best batting performanceat Aigburth this season.Seven matches into their title defence and still without a victory isnot the start Lancashire had anticipated, particularly afterstrengthening their mis-firing batting line-up by re-signing SouthAfrican batsman Ashwell Prince. But they showed character in abundanceto turn around their fortunes from another shaky start.Deciding to bat first after winning the toss, they slipped to 55 for3 and were facing yet another failure to record a competitivetotal in a season where they have passed 300 only twice in the last 10innings. Building on the spirit developed against Warwickshire lastweek, when the saved the game after following on 360 runs behind,Prince’s first century in county cricket since 2009 ensured theyfinished on top at the end of an absorbing first day’s play.”We needed this,” admitted Prince, who finished unbeaten on 121 aftera disciplined innings spanning nearly five hours at the crease. “Wehad to dig deep at Warwickshire, we didn’t want to roll over.”If we are honest we put in a way below par performance in the firstinnings there on a good pitch. This is what we needed to do tokick-start our season.”Having battled through the first hour’s play, Lancashire providedMiddlesex with encouragement when Stephen Moore pushed to cover andset off on a quick single only for Joe Denly’s brilliant throw to runout Paul Horton. Karl Brown lasted only two balls before falling inthe next over, rewarding Tim Murtagh’s excellent new ball spell byedging behind.To compound Lancashire’s disappointment at having their solid startundermined, Moore was all too eager to make up for a run of 15 firstclass innings without a half century by mis-timing an attempted hookoff Gareth Berg to long leg.Having been dismissed for 250 and 124 in the first innings of theirprevious two matches at Aigburth this season, Lancashire knew theyneeded a partnership if they had any hopes of posting a competitivescore against a Middlesex line-up including Eoin Morgan, who wasplaying his first championship match since July, 2010.They were provided with a 176-run stand between Prince and StevenCroft, who were both forced to play within themselves for longperiods. They compensated for a 23-over spell without a boundary byscampering between the wickets and both used their feet to combatOllie Rayner’s off-spin intelligently.”Steven has played very well this season and he always seems to cometo the party when the team needs him and he did it again,” enthusedPrince. “It was a nice partnership and I enjoy batting with him.”He’s really maturing as a batsman. We really had to knuckle down andget a partnership together to get ourselves out of a bit of trouble. He played the situation perfectly.”Croft, a naturally aggressive batsman, hit only one four and a slogsweep for six off Rayner in his half-century, but fell for 78 to thefirst delivery with the new ball when he edged Murtagh behind.Prince remained defiantly, however, and progressed to his firstcentury in county cricket since scoring an unbeaten 135 againstNottinghamshire at Old Trafford three years ago, reaching the landmarkwith a push for three through mid-wicket off Corey Collymore.”I have been close a few times this season so it is nice to get overthe milestone of getting a hundred,” he conceded. “People won’trealise that the last 10 times I have been passed 50 I haven’t beenable to convert and that has been on my mind. It has been afrustrating season for me back home, so it is a bit of a relief.”

If the first step to recovery is the acceptance of a problem, then England might just have embarked on the road to rehabilitation.England arrived in the UAE as the No.1 ranked Test side and with a glowing reputation. Two Test defeats later, however, and England’s flaws have been revealed. England may remain, officially, the best ranked Test side, but the title has a hollow ring at present.It leaves England at a crossroads. Overcome their issues with Asian conditions and, in particular, high-quality spin bowling, and this period may yet come to be remembered as little more than a blip. Fail to overcome the spin threat and they will slide down the rankings. How they respond to that challenge may well define the legacy of this side.The impressive thing, from an England perspective, is the lack of denial. The team held a meeting before training on Tuesday – an echo of events of early 2009 when they were humbled in Jamaica – where they accepted that it was time to face facts: they have a significant challenge and their currents methods are not working.It was a point made eloquently by Ian Bell. In many ways, Bell’s problems in this series are a microcosm of the side’s issues. He arrived in the UAE with an excellent reputation, on the back of a wonderful year but has, to date, looked all at sea against Saeed Ajmal, in particular. Bell is averaging just nine and has been dismissed by Ajmal’s doosra three times in four innings.”There is no point saying we were great the last two years and nothing is wrong,” Bell said. “We all know we haven’t played good enough cricket here and we would be stupid just to carry on what we’re doing.”There’s no point in looking back and saying how great we were against Australia or how great we were against India. It is about now and the next challenges. We have a lot of cricket in the subcontinent and we have to get better; individually and as a unit. We can’t keep looking back and patting ourselves on the back – that’s all gone.”Bell was the man dropped after that humiliating reverse in Jamaica, but feels there are few parallels between that situation and England’s current problems. Instead he hopes that England’s success over the last couple of years should give them the confidence to face this new obstacle and insists that the side are relishing the challenge.”It was the right decision to drop me,” Bell said. “I hadn’t scored runs for a while. It’s a different scenario now. I’ve played consistently well now for two years and we’ve had two bad Test matches. So, I’m looking to put in a good performance in this next Test. I don’t think I’ve lost my confidence that’s for sure. I can look back on some good things over the last two years.”The final piece of this England team is to win in the subcontinent. There’s no doubt we’re not doing things quite right and that we’re going to have to get better. It’s exciting, as well. We’ve been given a real whack here and it’s nice to know in Test cricket that there are still challenges for us.”My preparation has been good. We knew what we were going to come up against. I knew I would be starting, in most innings, against spin,” he added. “I still feel I’m hitting the ball nicely. I just haven’t been able to get past that initial hard stage of batting – that first 20-ball period. That’s the danger time, you need to work hard to get to the period where it becomes a bit easier and you can begin to pick the different deliveries. In three of my innings, I’ve been knocked over quite early.”All credit to Pakistan. They have played very well. They have bowled particularly well at new batsmen. They’ve bowled at a good pace; it’s really quick spin. You have to work hard. Batting in the subcontinent you have to get through those first 20-25 deliveries, then things seem to come that little bit easier. So far I haven’t really got through that so I’ll be desperate to work hard to stay in there and survive, then go on to get some runs. I’d love to use my feet to the spinners, but I’ve not been in there long enough to do that.”Bell is realistic enough to know that there is little time for England’s batsmen to learn. The third Test begins on Friday and, barely a week after the conclusion of this tour, England will face similar challenges in Sri Lanka. He makes no promises of success, only assurances of hard work and good intent.”We all sat down and spoke about what we have done and the mistakes we’ve made,” Bell said. “And about how we want to get better. We are all desperate – as a group – in wanting to win Tests in the subcontinent. We can achieve that. It is the last thing that we need to do – we need to start scoring runs in the subcontinent. If we can do that we can start moving forward again.”We need to improve. That might not happen by the next Test but we have Sri Lanka coming up and India, so we have to talk about it now. We have to be honest. There is no point putting it off until Sri Lanka or India because we might make the same mistakes again.”

Scorecard
Greg Smith and Ned Eckersley both hit centuries as Leicestershire recovered from a nightmare start to put the brake on Middlesex’s promotion charge in their County Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road.Leicestershire lost three wickets in the first two overs of the game but Smith (108) and Eckersley (106) helped the home side recover to 319 all out by the close of the first day. Top-of-the-table Middlesex needed 12 points to clinch promotion when play began and they pocketed three of them with seamers Tim Murtagh, Corey Collymore and Gareth Berg claiming three wickets apiece.Wicketkeeper Eckersley, looking to earn himself a contract with Leicestershire, recorded his maiden first-class century while Smith posted the third championship ton of his career. The two of them shared a fifth-wicket partnership of 131 to keep the Middlesex attack at bay for 42 overs.All this came after Middlesex made a flying start after winning the toss and putting the home side in to bat in windy conditions on a pitch with tinges of green in it. It took the visitors just two overs to pick up their first bowling point as Leicestershire lost three wickets without adding to the four runs scored by Matt Boyce off the third ball of the morning from Murtagh.Boyce then edged Murtagh’s final delivery to second slip where Ollie Rayner took the catch. Will Jones, on his Championship debut, was trapped lbw by Collymore who followed that up by bowling James Taylor with the last ball of his over.It left Leicestershire staring at another batting debacle having been bowled out for 34 by Essex and 48 by Northants earlier in the season. But between them Smith, Eckersley and Jacques Du Toit showed real grit and determination to haul their side back from the brink.Smith and Du Toit, who have both been struggling for runs this summer, began the fightback with a fourth-wicket stand of 84 in 22 overs. They rode their luck at times but punished anything loose to the extent that 52 out of 75 runs came in boundaries.Du Toit’s brisk knock of 42 was ended when he chased a wide delivery from Berg and was caught by Andrew Strauss at slip. That brought in 22-year-old Eckersley to join Smith in the middle and the two of them showed great resolve and concentration to steer the home side towards respectability.Smith reached his 50 – only his second of the summer – off 96 balls with seven fours and the century stand came up in 34 overs. Eckersley’s 50, which included four boundaries, came from 118 deliveries and the next landmark was Smith’s 100 arriving off 186 balls with a glorious cover drive that brought him his 12th boundary.The two of them batted throughout the afternoon but in the second over after tea Smith flicked at a ball down leg side from Collymore and was caught behind.Eckersley continued to battle on even though wickets fell at the other end and he reached an excellent 100 that included 12 boundaries. He was finally ninth out at 308 bowled by Berg, who then had Nathan Buck caught behind off the final ball of the day leaving both sides with three bonus points.

The ICC’s chief executives’ committee has unanimously agreed to make a modified version of the Decision Review System (DRS) mandatory in all international matches

Sharda Ugra in Hong Kong27-Jun-2011The ICC chief executives’ committee (CEC) has unanimously agreed to make a modified version of the Decision Review System (DRS) mandatory in all Tests and one-day internationals. The mandatory terms and conditions for the DRS that have been recommended to the executive board for approval consist of infra-red cameras and audio-tracking devices. The ball-tracking technology has been removed from the ICC’s original compulsory list of DRS technologies.This means India will, for the first time since 2008, be agreeable to using the DRS in a bilateral series when it tours England in July.However, the DRS used in the England-India series will be without ball-tracking technology. For example, if the ball pitches outside leg stump and the batsman is given lbw, he can appeal against the verdict but the third umpire will not have the benefit of ball-tracking technology to ascertain where the ball pitched. On the other hand, if a batsman is given lbw and he thinks he hit the ball, the Hot Spot will resolve whether there was an edge or not.The pitch mat was brought up during the discussion as the one element of the ball-tracking technology that could be used in the DRS so that the lbw could be covered using two technologies. It was, however, rejected by the BCCI, which did not want any element of the ball-tracking technology to be part of the modified mandatory requirements for the DRS.While Hot Spot is the only infrared, thermal-imaging camera available in cricket, audio tracking referred to the high quality “clean and real time” replays from the stump microphones, and not the Snicko, an ICC official confirmed.The CEC, which also approved the cricket committee’s recommendation to reduce the number of unsuccessful reviews in ODIs from two to one, decided that the continued use of the ball-tracking technology as a decision-making aid will depend on the bilateral arrangement between the participating teams. Further independent and expert research will be carried out into the accuracy and reliability of ball-tracking technology.A decision on how the cost of the DRS would be divided will be taken later. Last week, BCCI vice-president Niranjan Shah had said that the cost of using the DRS was as high as $60,000 per match. According to the ICC, however, that figure is closer to $5000 per day, with a maximum of $25,000 being spent on DRS per Test.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy has said that his side’s inability to capitalise on the “key moments” led to their seven-wicket loss to Pakistan in the second ODI in St Lucia

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Apr-2011West Indies captain Darren Sammy has said that his side’s inability to capitalise on the key moments led to their seven-wicket loss against Pakistan in the second ODI in St Lucia.”We could have tried to squeeze their batsmen more and when we batted we got a good start, but did not capitalise on it,” Sammy said. “We weren’t rolled over today. We kept ourselves in the match right to the finish. There were moments when things could have gone either way, but we didn’t make it happen.”We have to find a way to win those tight situations. We have to win in Barbados to stay alive in the series, so we have to grab our chances.”Lendl Simmons was the only West Indies batsmen to score over 30, or manage a strike-rate in excess of 80. As a result, West Indies finished with a below-par score of 220 that was easily chased down. Even in the first ODI, West Indies’ made just 221, where only Darren Bravo who got past 30.Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi praised the “discipline” shown by his side and said Pakistan were reaping the benefits of sticking to the gameplan. “We made a plan at our team meeting and our guys stuck to it and that was good,” Afridi said.”I think our bowlers are doing a great job, and the fielding has improved because it is a very important area for us. Our batting has shown responsibility and we hope to maintain this discipline right throughout the series.”Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad, who was named the Man of the Match, anchored Pakistan’s chase with his second ODI century. “Shehzad is a very talented guy,” Afridi said, “and he showed that he is capable of performing. He took his time, but chasing a small total, he could afford to do that and we won the game.””We tried to keep wickets in hand,” Shehzad said, of the way he paced his innings. “It was not a huge total so I knew that I had to control my strokeplay and not get carried away.”The third ODI will be played on Thursday in Barbados. Pakistan lead the five-match series 2-0.

MatériaMais Notícias

A espera pelo anúncio de Everton como reforço do São Paulo está perto de acabar. O Tricolor já depositou os cerca de R$ 15 milhões necessários para liberar o atacante e aguarda apenas questões burocráticas para o Flamengo protocolar a transferência. O jogador é esperado na capital paulista até esta quarta-feira.

Por enquanto, Everton segue no Rio de Janeiro para resolver questões pessoais. O anúncio depende somente da protocolação da sua rescisão com o Flamengo, que ainda não confirma o depósito da multa que libera o atleta. Como já foi aprovado em exames recentemente no clube carioca, o Tricolor pode anunciar o jogador antes mesmo de fazer análise clínica no jogador.

O São Paulo desembolsa aproximadamente R$ 15 milhões para ter 100% dos direitos econômicos de Everton. O atacante assinará contrato válido por três temporadas e deve ficar à disposição em breve. Existe a possibilidade de ser apresentado à imprensa na sexta-feira.

Everton se tornou assunto entre os diretores do São Paulo há sete dias, e as conversas se aceleraram graças a Carlos Leite, empresário do jogador e com boas relações dentro do Morumbi. O agente foi um ponto fundamental, inclusive, para baratear a transferência. Papéis que fazem parte da conclusão da negociação já foram trocados enquanto a delegação do Tricolor estava na Argentina, na semana passada.

O técnico Diego Aguirre já classificou Everton como “acima da média” e “espetacular”. Ele deseja um atacante com as suas características e não esconde sua lamentação por ver que Eduardo Sasha, que chegou a estar nos planos do São Paulo no ano passado, já não pode mais ser contratado e se destaca no Santos. Everton, contudo, é uma opção muito aprovada pelo treinador.

Aos 29 anos, Everton já atuou em 245 partidas pelo Flamengo, em duas passagens (2009 e de 2014 até os dias atuais). Marcou 37 gols, sendo três neste ano. Tem sido titular absoluto do clube, pelo qual foi campeão do Campeonato Brasileiro de 2009 e dos Campeonatos Cariocas de 2014 e 2017.

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