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If Auckland cricket faces were blushing when they lost their ShellTrophycricket match against Otago in three days on Friday, they were scarletwithembarrassment — tinged with anger — when Otago thrashed them in alow-scoringShell Cup one-dayer at Eden Park No 2 today.At one stage of the cup game Otago were 129 for nine wickets with 72ballsleft in their innings. A dogged tenth-wicket stand of 50 by Martyn Croy(63 not out)and Warren McSkimming (19) gave the Otago score a touch ofrespectability.McSkimming started the Otago bowling well with the first three wicketsatmodest cost, and then from 50 for three at drinks, the Auckland battingevaporated– out for 101, Otago easy winners with 75 runs and 67 balls to spare.So in the space of three days Auckland continued their pointless stayat thebottom of the trophy competition, and lost their place at the top of theShell ladder.While the pitch helped the seamers and the occasional odd bounce madeitbowler-friendly, Auckland could not blame the conditions — or anotherthree lbwdismissals — for their limp result today.Auckland dominated the first two thirds of the Otago innings, thebowlers ona keen and mean attacking line, the catching good. Apart from CraigCumming (31)the early Otago batting was erratic and even when Croy took root itseemed only amatter of time for Auckland to finish Otago about 130, and then have acomfortablestroll to victory against dispirited opponents.But as Croy and McSkimming dug in Auckland rather lost the plot. Ratherthan put the batsmen under pressure they set the field back, contentthat soonerrather than later there would be the mistake which finished off theOtago innings.The Aucklanders misjudged the determination and skill of Croyespecially,and McSkimming. Croy went at snail’s pace — 26 singles in successionfrom 27 oversat one stage — but was not bothered by his slowness or the tepidAuckland attack.Only over the last four or five overs did Croy go for his shots,McSkimmingcracked the ball hard, too, and they picked up 30 runs in four overs,when 20 hadcome in the previous seven-and-a-half.Still 176 was not close to the 200 -run target which Lee Germon, theOtagocaptain, reckoned was a bargaining point.McSkimming made it looked better when he dismissed Aaron Barnes andLou Vincent with successive balls, and then Blair Pocock at 33.After 17 overs Auckland were approaching cruise mode at 51 for three.Anhour later they were in ruins.Nathan McCullum, the 20-year-old cup newcomer, took a brilliant returncatch to dismiss Tim McIntosh, Dion Nash another dangerman went at 55andMcCullum shot out Tama Canning at 62.McCullum, bowling off-spin at about the pace that old people rememberfrom Vic Pollard, finished with the sensational figures of 10-6-9-2, andgave a verypassable imitation of Jonty Rhodes on speed with his zip and dash in thefield.As the ultimate embarrassment, Germon called on Matt Horne to deliverthethree-victim coupe de grace, leaving the small crowd and the clutch ofAucklandofficials speaking about re-arranging their Christmas wish-list toinclude a cricketvictory somewhere against someone, and the sooner the better.Denis Aberhart, the Canterbury-based Otago coach did his best todisguisehis delight at taking two wins at Eden Park.It was, he said, again a matter of the Otago players sticking to theirtask,even when things looked grim — and being able to grab their chanceswhen offered.

Jason Holder has replaced Denesh Ramdin as captain of West Indies for the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which starts on October 14. A WICB media release stated that Holder’s appointment “was recommended by the selection panel and endorsed unanimously by the directors during a teleconference meeting on Wednesday.”

West Indies squad

IN
Jomel Warrican, Carlos Brathwaite
OUT
Veerasamy Permaul

Clive Lloyd, the head of the the selection committee, believed it was “the right time for a change”, and backed the 23-year-old Holder to guide a young West Indies team forward. Holder had also been appointed ODI captain last December, but Lloyd said the selectors didn’t want to burden Holder further by giving him the reins even in T20s.”We expect to get new thinking and new dynamism from him,” Lloyd said. “Jason commands respect. He is a fine young man, very intelligent and he seems to get the best from the players because he is a straightforward guy. I think the players will warm to him. He has a young bunch of players and we feel he can guide them in the manner that is required for internationals.”We do not want to any captain to lead in all three formats just now. It would be quite burdensome on anyone. We think we can have a separate Twenty20 captain.”Opening batsman Kraigg Brathwaite will be Holder’s deputy in Sri Lanka. The squad contains two uncapped players in fast bowler Carlos Brathwaite and left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, both of whom play for Barbados. In a like-for-like selection, Warrican replaces Veerasammy Permaul, who was part of West Indies’ squad during their home series against Australia. Ramdin retains his place as wicketkeeper.Lloyd thanked Ramdin for his contributions as Test captain. Ramdin led West Indies in 13 Tests, of which they won four, drew two and lost seven.”I have spoken to Denesh and he understood the situation and there was no animosity,” Lloyd said. “We just want him to perform a little bit better right now, particularly with the bat, and give of his best and support the new captain.”Holder has only played eight Tests so far. He has made 380 runs, with a century and two fifties, at 34.54, and taken 16 wickets at 35.37 with his medium-pace. He took over the ODI captaincy at a similarly inexperienced stage in his 50-over career, with only 21 matches behind him.West Indies endured a difficult World Cup, which they exited at the quarter-final stage, but Holder showed evidence of his leadership skills during the tournament, shouldering the responsibility of bowling in difficult situations – such as the final over against a rampaging AB de Villiers – and batting with maturity.In the home Tests that followed, the same qualities came to the fore, particularly with the bat, as shown by a match-saving century against England in Antigua, and an unbeaten 82 against Australia in Jamaica.West Indies will undergo an eight-day preparatory camp in Barbados from September 20. They are scheduled to land in Sri Lanka on October 1.West Indies squad: Jason Holder(captain), Kraigg Brathwaite (vice-captain), Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Rajindra Chandrika, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shai Hope, Denesh Ramdin , Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warrican

	Latest updates from the Indian Premier League … not showing on news channels near you? © AFP

The Indian media’s rocky relations with the Indian Premier League have taken a downward turn with the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), whose members control the major national news channels, deciding to put its coverage of the IPL on hold from Tuesday midnight until there is a resolution to problems related to coverage it had raised with league officials.”As far as we are concerned, two issues need to be sorted out before we can go ahead with IPL coverage,” Annie Joseph, the Association’s secretary general, told Cricinfo. “One relates to access to footage and the other to accreditation guidelines.”It’s understood that the channels are unhappy about the exhorbitant rates that are being charged for news clips and also the stipulation that footage can’t be used in archival form.A statement released by the NBA on Tuesday night said it sought clarifications from the IPL but, instead of receiving a response from either Lalit Modi, the IPL’s chairman and commissioner, or any of the other members of the IPL’s governing council, it instead received a reply from an official of the Sony Network, which along with World Sports Group had bought the TV rights for the IPL.The statement said the NBA’s questions didn’t fetch a satisfactory response as Sony was “not in a position to discuss matters other than access to footage, and that any offer Sony could make in that regard was limited within the framework of its contract with IPL.””As Sony was by its own admission neither authorized nor competent to deal with the subject comprehensively, and moreover may reasonably be assumed to have a direct conflict of interest in extending use rights to television news channels, it is unacceptable to us to deal with them in this matter,” the NBA said.The NBA, based in New Delhi, includes leading the news broadcasters such as TV Today, NDTV, Times Global Broadcasting Company, TV18, Global Broadcast News Limited and Zee News.

The MCG will be used to open the four-match series against India © Getty Images

Cricket Australia has been forced to change the recent tradition of staging the concluding Tests of its major series in Melbourne and Sydney following negotiations with the India board. The 2007-08 season will take on a different feel after India, who are due to play Pakistan in November, insisted the first match of the four-Test contest would take place in Melbourne on Boxing Day. It will be followed by the New Year fixture in Sydney and games in Adelaide and Perth to decide the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.The large-scale reordering means the annual one-day tri-series, which usually starts in January, will begin in February and finish in March. Sri Lanka will open the Australian summer with two Tests in Brisbane and Hobart in November and return for the one-day tournament with the hosts and India. New Zealand will visit for three Chappell-Hadlee Series fixtures and a Twenty20 in December.”Our competitors’ global commitments create challenges for scheduling,” Michael Brown, Cricket Australia’s operations manager, said. Australia face a hectic program over the next 18 months, starting with the Twenty20 world championship in South Africa in September, a possible one-day tour of Zimbabwe and a limited-overs series in India. They are also expected to play 20 Tests in 2008.Australia will stage two Twenty20 matches next season, with games against New Zealand in Perth and India at the MCG. Canberra will host its first ODI since 1992 when India and Sri Lanka play there during the CB Series as part of Cricket Australia’s expansion program.Hobart will get two international games – a Test and an ODI – while the Northern Territory is covered by the five Australia-New Zealand women’s matches for the Rose Bowl in July. Tickets for all of Australia’s international matches are expected to go on sale in July.2007-08 Australian itinerary
Australia v Sri Lanka
1st Test, Brisbane, November 8-12
2nd Test, Hobart, November 16-20
Chappell-Hadlee Series
1st ODI, Adelaide, December 14
2nd ODI, Sydney, December 16
3rd ODI, Hobart, December 20
Australia v India
1st Test, Melbourne, December 26-30
2nd Test, Sydney, January 2-6
3rd Test, Perth, January 16-20
4th Test, Adelaide, January 24-28
Twenty20
Australia v New Zealand, Perth, December 11
Australia v India, Melbourne, February 1
CB Series
Australia, Sri Lanka, India
February 3-March 7

Virender Sehwag feels the strain © Getty Images

India’s cricketers have joined the debate over player burnout, with Virender Sehwag, the vice-captain, telling reporters than the board (BCCI) had been asked to reduce the number of matches played by the team.”There is too much cricket,” Sehwag said. “Players need a break because they may burn out. They need time for fitness also, time to think about their game and to recharge their batteries. If we want to win the World Cup, we need every player to be fit.”Sehwag added that several players, including Rahul Dravid, the captain, had taken the matter up with the BCCI but had been told that there was nothing the board can do because the cricket calendar had already been fixed. But he said that the board had promised to give the players adequate breaks after the commitments fixed were fulfilled.He also explained that players needed three or four weeks rest to recover between series. “If a player gets a three to four-month break in a year, it is good for players and good for the BCCI also.”

Jimmy Allan, one of the best allrounders Scotland has ever produced, has died at the age of 73.A left-arm spinner and right-hand batsman, Allan made 60 appearances for his country between 1954 and 1972, taking 171 wickets. He made his first-class debut for Oxford University in 1953, batting at No. 11, but by the following summer he was opening for them. He won a Blue every year from 1953 to 1956 without ever finishing on the winning side. While at university he also played for Kent, and in 1954 and 1955 he passed 1000 runs, and in 1955 he came with five wickets of recording the double. He played a few more games for Kent in 1957, and in 1966 made a surprise return with Warwickshire, where he enjoyed two seasons.”He was one of the shrewdest left-arm bowlers I have ever seen, with a superb command of flight and length,” Keith Graham, a former team-mate of Allan’s with Ayr, told The Scotsman. “Jimmy was a fantastic cricketer and a super guy. Off the field he was an inspiration to a generation of young cricketers at Ayr.”

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Mahela Jayawardene: back to form with a gutsy 86 not out © Getty Images 2003

Mahela Jayawardene guided Sri Lanka into a dominant position on the rain-affected fourth day at Galle with a patient 86 not out, including a last-wicket stand of 46 with Muttiah Muralitharan. England were set 323 to win, and with Murali all ready to flex his rubbery wrist on a wearing pitch, the rain which brought an early finish was a welcome sight for England – but a frustrating one for Sri Lanka.After a heartening final session last night, the onus was on England to take quick wickets in the morning and limit the lead to manageable proportions. But that didn’t happen. Their first breakthrough eventually came after the morning drinks break, and even that was in controversial circumstances.Chaminda Vaas, who had batted with typical resolve for his 19, was caught at short-leg by Paul Collingwood to give Ashley Giles his seventh wicket of the match. There was some doubt, however, as to whether Vaas had actually touched the ball, as it ballooned off his pads into Collingwood’s hands. And though umpire Venkat had no hesitation, Vaas’s reaction spoke volumes as he stalked off the pitch. He flung his gloves and helmet to one side as he reached the boundary rope, much as Sanath Jayasuriya had done in similar circumstances at Kandy in 2000-01.For most of the morning, England laboured for little reward, as Vaas and Jayawardene fended off the best efforts of Andrew Flintoff and the spinners, Giles and Gareth Batty. With a lead of 195 in the bag already, there was no need for risks, and the batsmen limited themselves to singles and the odd extravagance, such as the lofted four that Vaas smacked back over Batty’s head.It was slow going, and even after a two-hour rain break, Sri Lanka continued to show little urgency and crawled along at two runs-an-over. Chandana soon paid the price for his negativity when he padded up to a straight one from Giles, and was given lbw by Venkat (163 for 7). Jayawardene then eventually reached his half-century off 192 balls – and just under four hours – but still they were in no hurry to extend the lead, which was trickling towards 300.Matthew Hoggard took the new ball and immediately grabbed his first wicket of the match – and the tour – when he trapped Kumar Dharmasena lbw stone dead in front of middle (179 for 8). Flintoff was then rewarded for his tireless efforts when Dinusha Fernando edged him to Marcus Trescothick, who again showed off his party trick of juggling the ball a few times before clasping it (180 for 9).

Lucky break: Ashley Giles celebrates the wicket of Chaminda Vaas © Getty Images 2003

But whether it be with bat or ball, Murali always livens things up, and today was no exception. He strode out with his ever-present grin, and then smeared Flintoff over cover and slashed Hoggard past point, both for four. Jayawardene suddenly came to life as well. He thumped Johnson for two successive boundaries over midwicket to take the lead past 300, and smacked Giles back over his head for another four.Again the bowlers could not finish off the job quickly. For a No. 11, Murali was surprisingly comfortable, and his partnership with Jayawardene sapped England’s morale even further. After Murali eventually edged Batty to Collingwood at short leg for a handy 13, England were left pondering their almost impossible bid to save this game.If only rain can rescue England now, then it came to their aid after just one over in to their second innings. Trescothick and Michael Vaughan walked out in spitting rain, and then hurried off five minutes later as the downpour started. Play was inevitably called off at 5.30pm local time, and England will need more bad weather tomorrow if they are going to escape with a draw.

The Mashonaland team to play Matabeleland at Bulawayo Athletic Club this weekend is as follows:Ryan Butterworth, Lance Malloch-Brown, Kudzai Taibu, Barney Rogers, Craig Evans, Blessing Mahwire, Darlington Matambanadzo, +Donald Campbell, Patrick Gada, *Gus Mackay, Simon Seager. 12th man: Andre Neethling.The match between Midlands and Mashonaland A, at Kwekwe Sports Club, has been postponed until next weekend. The squad for the season is as follows (the international players being unavailable For the Midlands match as they will be touring India):Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Stuart Carlisle, Dion Ebrahim, Gavin Rennie, Paul Strang, Brighton Watambwa, Mark Vermeulen, Trevor Gripper, David Mutendera, Henry Olonga, Alester Maregwede, Andy Blignaut, Norbert Manyande.In addition Blignaut will be unavailable for the Midlands match; he has offered no reason for his absence.

The Bihar-Orissa under 14 match played at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpursaw Bihar win the toss and lose first day honours. After electing to batfirst, Bihar skipper Rajdeep Roy saw things go badly wrong for his side asthey were skittled out for a mere 145.After starting poorly, when Bihar lost their first three wickets with justnineteen runs on the board, they were furthered hampered by the loss ofwickets at regular intervals. Th wickets were shared all around with SumitSagar Hembram, Amitav Naik, Tukuna Sahu and Dhiraj Singh scalping twowickets apiece. At the end of 35 overs Bihar were staring down the barrelat 69/7. However, a gritty innings of 38 from number eight batsman S Nadeemsaved Bihar the blushes. Santosh Kumar and Madan Kumar, who followed Nadeemmade 18 each and Bihar managed to scrape through to 145 all out.In response, the Orissa side fared much better than its counterparts.Despite losing a couple of wickets, Orissa put 55 runs on the board whenstumps was called. With eight wickets in hand, Orissa have a good chance ofoverhauling Bihar’s first innings total.

Heading into Tottenham Hotspur’s clash with Liverpool in the Premier League, Thomas Frank would have been hoping for a response from his hot-and-cold troops.

Indeed, off the back of a demoralising 3-0 loss away at Nottingham Forest, the Dane remained under intense pressure to succeed in North London, and he hasn’t helped his precarious job position by following up that humiliation at the hands of the Tricky Trees with a disappointing 2-1 defeat against Liverpool.

Spurs’ mission to pick up a much-needed three points was not boosted by Xavi Simons’ reckless dismissal in the first half, as the number seven’s bumpy start to life in England continued against the resurgent Reds.

How Xavi Simons let Spurs down

Simons’ arrival in North London for £52m attracted a lot of fanfare in the summer, with the expectation that the former RB Leipzig man would instantly settle into life swimmingly in his new surroundings.

Having scored two goals against Brentford and Slavia Prague earlier in the month, the hope would have been that Simons could now kick on, having found the initial transition hard.

Unfortunately, though, he would only last 33 minutes against the Merseyside giants, with zero efforts attempted on Alisson’s goal, before being given his marching orders for this mistimed challenge on Virgil Van Dijk.

Coming out after the 2-1 defeat with a public apology, Simons will pray, when he does return, that he can finally find some consistent red-hot form for Spurs, or he will surely fear that he’s already been dismissed as an expensive flop.

He isn’t the only flop in the attacking areas that will be frustrating the Spurs masses at the moment, though, as this other high-profile summer acquisition constantly spurned chances up against the reigning Premier League champions.

Frank must drop this other Spurs flop

Frank will know if he doesn’t steer the sinking Spurs ship back on course soon that he could face the sack already, as the board will not want consistently poor results.

He does have plenty of time now on the training pitch, as his side’s next Premier League test isn’t until the 28th, but he will be hesitant to start Randal Kolo Muani up front against Crystal Palace in the immediate aftermath of the 2-1 defeat, after his wasteful showing against Liverpool.

Muani’s performance in numbers

Stat

Muani

Minutes played

80

Goals scored

0

Assists

0

Shots

4

Big chances missed

1

Touches

17

Accurate passes

6/7 (86%)

Stats by Sofascore

In total, the France international would see four shots pass him by, with one header very close to beating Alisson, before Simons’ red card dominated the narrative.

Away from looking lively in spurts when through on goal, Muani would – unfortunately – become isolated during large spells of the game, with only six accurate passes tallied up by the 27-year-old in total.

Moreover, come the end of his 80 minutes on the pitch, the hot-and-cold number 39 would amass fewer touches of the ball than Guglielmo Vicario in between the sticks, with the Italian’s tally standing at 38 touches, next to Kolo Muani’s paltry 17.

To make matters even worse for the Spurs loanee, who is breaking the bank with his £150k-per-week salary, Richarlison would only be on the pitch for a matter of moments as his replacement when he buried home this opportunity, leading to Spurs content creator Jonny Blain hailing his cameo as “superb”.

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Could Frank now be tempted to start the ex-Everton attacker over the 27-year-old for the short trip over to Selhurst Park?

With Richarlison boasting another six Premier League goals for the season, it does feel like an easy swap to make, with Muani still yet to break his league duck for Frank’s men, ten games into his journey in the English top-flight.

His inaccurate display in front of goal against the Reds does make for a convincing argument to suggest he was as bad as Simons was, even with the Dutchman barely lasting only half an hour on the pitch, as Muani had far more time to leave his mark on the game, and he didn’t.

Frank will just hope, whatever lineup he decides to field against the Eagles, that another Premier League win comes his team’s way soon, with Muani likely to be cast aside from his starting XI plans if he continues to fire blanks.

Related A better signing than Simons: Spurs hold talks to sign big-money PL star

Tottenham’s attacking additions from the summer have left something to be desired.

Posts ByAngus Sinclair