Rahul Dravid has been appointed captain of the Indian team for the forthcoming three-match Test series against Sri Lanka. The five-man selection panel met in Chennai on Tuesday ahead of India’s third ODI against South Africa and made the decision.”It’s time for us to look ahead,” Kiran More, chairman of the selection panel, told reporters after the meeting. “Rahul [Dravid] has done wonderfully well for us whenever given the opportunity including in Pakistan last year. Given how well he has done recently [as captain in the ODIs] it is important that he be given the opportunity [in Tests].”This announcement follows widespread speculation on whether Sourav Ganguly, who has been missing from the Indian ODI team, would retain his position as Test captain. In the last Test series India played, against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe, Ganguly was captain and led the team to a 2-0 win over a depleted opposition. Dravid, a long-time deputy to Ganguly, has led India in five Tests in the captain’s absence, with mixed results. Under Dravid, India won and lost a Test each against Australia and Pakistan last season, while the fifth against New Zealand was drawn.The selectors would have given Dravid a longer term but left the decision to the new committee that will be in place after the Indian cricket board’s elections on November 29. The gruelling season till July includes home Tests against Sri Lanka and England and tours of Pakistan and the West Indies.The selectors will now meet on Wednesday, in consultation with the newly-appointed Test captain, and coach, and pick the team for the Test series which begins on December 2. They also picked the Board President’s XI team that will play a warm-up match against the Sri Lankans. Y Venugopal Rao was named captain of that team. Parthiv Patel was included in the squad as wicketkeeper and vice-captain. There were also opportunities for the likes of Dheeraj Jadhav, Robin Uthappa and Gagandeep Singh to push hard for a place in the Indian team.Board President’s XI squad Y Venugopal Rao (capt), Dheeraj Jadhav, Shikhar Dhawan,Robin Uthappa, Munaf Patel, Niraj Patel, Sreedharan Sriram, Parthiv Patel (vice-capt, wk), Kulamani Parida, Amit Mishra, Ranadeb Bose, Gagandeep Singh.
Australian cricket can celebrate a couple of Aus$2 million men according to Business Review Weekly’s annual sporting rich-list. The captain Ricky Ponting may have missed matches because of injury and family illness in 2004, but it didn’t limit his earning as he pulled in an estimated $2.24m (US$1.69m) in contracts, match payments and sponsorship.Adam Gilchrist, the vice-captain, was second with Aus$2m (US$1.51m) while Shane Warne ($1.45m, US$1.09m), Matthew Hayden ($1.11m, US$840,000) and Glenn McGrath ($1.11m) also reached seven figures. Brett Lee has played only five days of Test cricket this year, but his marketing power pushed him to a reported $1.3m (US$1m), making him the game’s highest paid 12th man.The release of the list is poorly timed for the players as they begin a pay battle with Cricket Australia over the distribution of the board’s income. CA, who has paid them 25% of revenue since the first memorandum of understanding in 1997, want to reduce national contracts from 25 to 20 and convince the players to accept a standard annual fee so more money can be spent on the grassroots.Tim May, the Australian Cricketers Association chief executive, has presented the players’ view to CA and the issue needs to be settled by June. Current national contracts range from $140,000 to $500,000 and do not include match payments. Cricketers are well down the pay-list of Australian sports stars with Greg Norman (Aus$18m), Harry Kewell (Aus$15m) and Lleyton Hewitt (Aus$13.7m) filling the top three places.
16 wickets fell in a frenetic first day at the Rose Bowl, where the two bottom clubs Hampshire and Derbyshire met in the Division Two clash of the Frizzell County Championship.The warm weather spell continued as John Crawley chose to bat first, it was a decision he had to rue later as he saw his side capitulate to the bowling of Dominic Cork. The cloud cover and humidity helped him and the other Derbyshire seamers to make the ball swing, and it was Crawley himself who held up the progress with a spirited 49.Troubled with a back injury after completing a third run, he had to have treatment on the field, then latterly used a runner (James Adams).Iain Brunnschweiler and Chris Tremlett hit 39 late runs but the total of 143 was woefully short.Chaminda Vaas playing his first Championship match for Hampshire took the first three wickets to fall. Batting was not easy and slow progress was made by the visitors in building a short lead. Dimitri Mascarenhas bowled 9 overs after tea conceding just two runs for one wicket.Shaun Udal making the odd ball turn then finished the day with 2 wickets including in the last over the vital wicket of the Derbyshire skipper Dominic Cork.
In the Trinidad and Tobago squad list for the Red Stripe Bowl,innocuously slotted between D Ramnarine and LA Roberts, is acombination of six letters that, oddly enough, spells a five-letterword.The six letters are BC Lara, and the five-letter word is “magic.”Lara’s return from a prolonged hamstring injury, coupled with thereturn of cricket in the West Indies after a four-month hiatus, bodeswell for the 2001 edition of the Red Stripe Bowl. The absence of ahectic international schedule, moreover, ensures that a number ofinternational players will turn out for their respective sides in whatis definitely the Caribbean’s singularly important domestictournament.Apart from Lara, speedster Mervyn Dillon and Daren Ganga figure in theTrinidad and Tobago squad. While Ganga tries to get selectors to lookpast what has been a tepid international career, Dillon will be hopingto project himself as a bowler capable of becoming the spearhead ofthe West Indian pace battery.Jamaica’s squad list reads, for the initial part at least, virtuallylike the squad list of the international team. Robert Samuels, WavellHinds, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels and Leon Garrick make up the firstfive names, while a stick of dynamite in the form of Ricardo Powell istucked away further down the list. If top-class exposure were the onlycriterion to go on, Jamaica would samba away with the cup unopposed.There is, however, that strange animal termed talent, and this iswhere Guyana gets a look in. Led by a rejuvenated Carl Hooper andincluding Shivnarine Chanderpaul in its ranks, Guyana also boastsRamnaresh Sarwan, he of the unending press coverage during the WestIndies’ tour to England. In the bowling department is Reon King, afast bowler who Colin Croft considers the “best of the young group.”The fourth team to be unusually well endowed with internationalplayers is Barbados, captained by West Indian opener Sherwin Campbell.Pace bowler Corey Collymore, wicket keeper Courtney Browne and batsmanPhilo Wallace find spots in the squad.History shows, however, that the presence of West Indian stars is noguarantee of victory. Last year’s champions, Windward Islands,included only players that were no longer being considered forselection to the international team. Precisely these players, such asJunior Murray, Cameron Cuffy, and Rawl Lewis, piloted the side toshock wins over heavyweights Jamaica and Guyana.The West Indies Cricket Board’s efforts to expand the base of regionalcompetition, however, see a division of the current champions intoNorthern and Southern Windward Islands sides. Northern Windwards willbe drawn from Dominica and St. Lucia while Southern Windwards teamwill come from St. Vincent and Grenada.Northern Windwards, in fact, kicks off the tournament on October 2with a Zone A Match against Jamaica. Zone B commences in Guyana with amatch between Barbados and Antigua. The final of the tournament isscheduled for October 14 at Kaiser, Jamaica.
After securing their place in the Europa League round of 16 stage after their midweek clash against German giants Borussia Dortmund, Rangers are back in SPFL action this weekend with a match against Motherwell at Ibrox.
As the reigning league champions look to secure another domestic win, it seems as though they could have one player involved that would surely delight a lot of fans.
What’s the news?
Speaking in his recent pre-match press conference, Gers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst revealed that January arrival Aaron Ramsey was involved on the training pitch yesterday after missing their previous league game against Dundee United with a minor knock which ended up being serious enough to keep him out of their midweek match.
The Dutchman said: “Ramsey was on the pitch today and we will see his progress.”
Since arriving at Ibrox during the recent winter transfer window from Italian club Juventus on loan until the end of the season, the Welshman has played just 29 minutes of SPFL action from two substitute appearances against Hearts and Hibernian.
Whether the midfielder will be fit enough to start his first league game for the club or just make another appearance from the bench, the fans at Ibrox would surely be ecstatic to see him out on the pitch and hopefully, keep his fitness up for the remainder of the season so he can help the club secure the title once again.
In 469 combined senior appearances for Arsenal, Juventus and Cardiff City, the midfield maestro has managed to rack up a total of 74 goals and 74 assists in the process as well as picking up numerous trophies, highlighting the attacking capabilities and top-level winning experience he can offer Rangers.
With four appearances in a Rangers shirt under his belt, the 31-year-old has already managed to pick up his first assist for the club which came during their 3-0 win over Annan Athletic in the Scottish Cup.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Moving forward, unless the midfielder is 100% fit enough to start, it could be worth Van Bronckhorst keeping him on the bench from the start but bringing him on at some point to get some more minutes under his belt.
In other news: Forget Tavernier: £6.4k-p/w Rangers tank with 75% duels won was real star of the show…
Zimbabwe have recruited Makhaya Ntini and Marvan Atapattu to be assistant coach and batting consultant respectively, according to a report published today on the Zimbabwe Cricket website. The report says Ntini has been given a two-year contract, while Atapattu has been roped in for the duration of Zimbabwe’s tour to Bangladesh starting from January 15.Ntini, 38, has played 101 Tests, 173 ODIs and 10 T20Is for South Africa over a period of 13 years. ZC says he will begin work from February 16, while former bowling coach Douglas Hondo has been reassigned to the Zimbabwe A team.Atapattu, a former Sri Lanka captain and coach, may succeed Andy Waller as Zimbabwe’s batting coach. Currently, he is only a consultant but his “contract will be reviewed after the Zimbabwe tour of Bangladesh, with a view to entering into a longer relationship,” the Zimbabwe Cricket report said.
Mark Chilton has stepped down as Lancashire’s captain after three years in the role.”I have thoroughly enjoyed the past three seasons and it has been an honour to have captained my home county,” Chilton said. “This has been a very difficult decision for me, but I realise my form hasn’t been what it should, and feel that in the best interests of the club and myself, I should step down.”Chilton scored 616 Championship runs at 28.00 in 2007 as Lancashire came within 24 runs of securing their first title since 1934. But in the Friends Provident Trophy and Twenty20 Cup his form was poor, totalling 92 runs in nine completed innings.”I’ve enjoyed working closely with Chilly over the past three years” Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s manager, said. “He’s been a dedicated and passionate captain and I fully respect his decision to stand down to devote more time to his own cricket.””I don’t think many people realise just how much work is involved off the field being a club captain, and Mark Chilton has done a fantastic job for Lancashire,” added Jack Simmons, Lancashire’s chairman. ” I would like to thank Mark for everything he has done as captain and we look forward to seeing him back to his best on the field for many years to come.”No replacement has been named but the issue is sure to be at the top of the agenda when the county’s cricket committee meets at the end of the month. However, there is no clear favourite to take over. Stuart Law will be in the running but his body is unlikely to allow him to play a whole season while wicketkeeper Luke Sutton is also a possibility, although last season he didn’t take part in Twenty20.
Twenty20 cricket continues in its groundbreaking way – and the latest development could be good news for the women’s game.In January, two of the Australian state sides will face each other, in both men’s and women’s matches. And the games will be held back-to-back, which will help in the promotion of the women’s game.It’s an idea that’s been in circulation in England for several years, but Australia are paving the way with the matches between South Australia and Queensland which will be played at the Adelaide Oval on January 10.Australia’s captain Karen Rolton hopes that if the experiment is successful it may be replicated on the women’s stage. Rolton, the ICC’s women’s player of the year, will play for South Australia and she says: “All the men’s Twenty20s are sell-outs at the moment and the crowds have to arrive early I think it’s a great way to promote women’s cricket.”
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has formed a three-member committee to review the effectiveness of last season’s players’ contract, and submit a report to the board for the 2005-06 season. The previous season’s contract has expired and the new international season kicks off with the home series against Sri Lanka on October 25.The committee comprising of Jyoti Bajpai, the board’s treasurer, Gautam Dasgupta, the joint secretary and Ratnakar Shetty, executive secretary-in-charge, would submit a report to SK Nair, the board secretary. The Kolkata-based daily quoted BCCI sources as saying, “No time frame has been fixed for the matter. The committee has to compile a report on how the contracts have worked and whether there was any need to change any existing clauses and send it to the board secretary. If there’s a camp before the Sri Lanka series it would help the committee members to have a discussion with the senior players before preparing the report”.The paper reported that the committee’s findings would be discussed by another committee convened by SK Nair that would comprise Ranbir Singh Mahendra, BCCI president, Greg Chappell, the Indian coach and Kiran More, chairman of the selection committee. Last season, 17 players were given contracts by the BCCI after dividing the players into three groups, with the annual retainership per player pegged at Rs 50 lakh, Rs 35 lakh and Rs 20 lakh respectively.
Graeme Smith, the South African captain, will be given until the last possible moment to prove his fitness after suffering an injury scare on the eve of the second Test at Kolkata when a car ran over his left foot outside the team hotel in Kolkata.Smith, 24, had just got down from his car and was still standing close to the vehicle when the driver took off, running over Smith’s foot in the process. The South African team revealed that scans showed only soft tissue damage and no breaks, and they have refused to rule out Smith for the Test starting tomorrow. A decision will be made just before the toss.However, sources indicated that Smith was unlikely to take the field on the first day, and if South Africa bat, he would come in lower down the order.Smith’s absence through injury would weaken the South African batting line-up and balance considerably, although it would open a window of opportunity to Hashim Amla or Justin Ontong, who are on the fringes of selection. And, should Smith be ruled out of action, the vice-captain Boeta Dippenaar would take over the reins as captain.