The Pakistan cricket team has finally arrived in India, ahead of their first Test and one-day series in the country for six years. The players touched down in New Delhi at 1430 hours on a PIA flight amid tight security arrangements. Pakistan are due to play three Tests and six one-day internationals with the first Test at Mohali on March 8.The tour had been delayed by a week because of a disagreement over TV rights, but there was no bad blood in evidence at Indira Gandhi airport, where the players, dressed in green blazers and most of them sporting sunglasses, were given a warm welcome from airport staff and wellwishers.The players were greeted by senior officials from the BCCI, including the vice-president Rajiv Shukla, and were adorned with traditional garlands. Then it was into a coach and off to a five-star hotel on the southern outskirts of Delhi.Pakistan’s last visit to India was in 1998-99, when they tied the two-Test series at 1-1, before going on to win the opening fixture of the Asian Test Championship at Kolkata. It is their seventh tour of India since 1952-53.
Capitulation under pressure: it was a familiar old story for Zimbabwe, whohave done much to regain international respect during this series, except in this one area. First the West Indian spinners cut through the middleorder like a knife through butter, and then their batsmen hammered their way to victory with almost half their overs to spare. The dominant figure for West Indies was once again Chris Gayle, the Man of the Series, who took 4 for 24 and then blasted yet another century off his favourite opponents. West Indies thus took the series by three victories to two.After Zimbabwe were shot out for an under-par 196, West Indies’ policy was to reach their target by dominating rather than accumulating. Gayle and Wavell Hinds survived a couple of good overs from Heath Streak and Andy Blignaut before going into overdrive. Lady Luck was with them, presumably having turned her back on Zimbabwe in disgust: Hinds, when 11, survived a high catch that Tatenda Taibu was too short to pull in, and several other lofted shots just evaded the fielders. Hinds’s luck eventually ran out as a shorter, faster ball from Blignaut took him by surprise and he skyed a catch to mid-on for 13 (43 for 1).But by now Zimbabwe’s bowlers had lost their control, and Gayle raced to another fifty in just 39 balls. He then speeded up, and reached his second century of this series off just 69 deliveries. Meanwhile Brian Lara targeted Ray Price again, driving his second and third balls for six. It became a massacre, in which even Lara was overshadowed by the rampant Gayle.Zimbabwe’s fielders were mere bystanders against such brilliance, and itcame as a shock when Sean Ervine surprised Lara with a yorker and extracted his leg stump for 41 (180 for 2). If Lara has a weakness, this is it – but he does score a few runs in between. It took Gayle and Ricardo Powell only two more overs to finish the match, and the series, in a flurry of boundaries.It had been an overcast morning in Harare and much rain was predicted for later in the day – but in the event it held off until the match was over. Streak won the toss again and decided to bat, no doubt wary of fielding again after the events of the previous day. West Indies fielded an unchanged team, but Zimbabwe gave a debut to Alester Maregwede, a batsman, in place of Stuart Matsikenyeri.The left-handed Barney Rogers, tall with bushy fair hair, played a handsome innings, standing tall and driving with authority, while Edwards was scarcely recognisable as the same bowler who had caused such havoc the day before, and bowled five early overs for 37. The openers put on 39, and enjoyed some of the luck that had helped West Indies 24 hours earlier, with Vusi Sibanda dropped off a straightforward chance to second slip when 5. But Sibanda ran himself out for 8, calling for a riskyleg-bye.Rogers made 34 before Mervyn Dillon returned for a second spell and had him caught at the wicket off a ball moving away off the pitch (57 for 2). But generally the bowlers found little swing or seam, and the inexperienced Ravi Rampaul, apart from the occasional wide, was the most consistent of the seamers.It was when the spinners came on that Zimbabwe fell over themselves to give it away. Craig Wishart played what many might term a typical innings,playing some class strokes, including a six off Rampaul into the westernstand, but he had made only 16 when he cut Gayle and was caught off a thick edge by Ridley Jacobs (107 for 3). Gayle struck twice more in the next two overs, removing the debutant Maregwede without scoring and Vermeulen for 36, both caught at midwicket, and both soft dismissals (111 for 5).Yet again Zimbabwe were proving that they cannot handle pressure, especially when batting. Streak never looked in touch during his laborious 30, but Taibu and Blignaut both looked briefly capable of sharing a rescuing partnership, only to surrender their wickets weakly after doing the hard work. Powell took two wickets and three catches, including a brilliant one to remove Ervine. Zimbabwe’s 196 was never likely to be enough in good batting conditions, and so it proved.West Indies thus move on to South Africa with their tails up after narrow victories in both the Test (1-0) and one-day (3-2) series. There have been many encouraging signs for Zimbabwe, too – but their batsmen have to learn how to handle the pressure-cooker of international cricket better.
On January 29, 2002 Australia defeated New Zealand by two wickets in the 10th match of the VB series at Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Aussies had lost their 6th wicket at the score of 82, leaving Bevan and the tail-enders to get another 164 runs. The majestic left-hander saw his team to victory from the jaws of defeat by smashing an unconquered 102.Australia’s victory was thus only the 25th by any side after having lost their 4th wicket with still 150 or more runs required to win. It was also the fourth best performance in all-time list. The best still remains Zimbabwe’s when they won the match after being 224 runs in deficit, at the fall of their 4th wicket with the score just 50.For the record, Australia’s victory was also the very first instance when a team won after losing their 6th wicket with 150 runs still required.For the interest of the readers here under are the details.Sides winning after losing 4th wicket with 150 or more runs still required (25)
England are optimistic that Michael Vaughan’s innings against Pakistan has finally ended their search for a No 3 batsman.His Test-best 84 not out saw him put on an unbroken stand of 189 with Graham Thorpe and rescue England from a perilous 15-2. His was an innings of character and of confidence.And if it means that he has made the No 3 spot his own, it will ease the burden on skipper Nasser Hussain who can drop down the order.Coach Duncan Fletcher said: “Michael has shown us the talent for some time now and we’ve been waiting to give him an opportunity there. We didn’t want to rush him; we wanted to start him at No six and when an opportunity has arisen injuries have stopped him.”He has waited, we’ve been patient with him and he’s shown us that he’s got alot of class.”Your technique has got to be good to play there; you’ve got to go in whenthe ball’s moving around which is like an opening batsman, but you’ve also gotto have some sort of mental strength."Now both Fletcher and Vaughan are hoping the Yorkshireman can go on to get his first Test century.Fletcher said: “Once you have got a century you know you can make it inTest cricket. It is every batsman’s dream – it’s what you first set out to doand once you’ve done that you then move on from there and hope to score a lotmore.”There is no doubt that Vaughan benefited from batting with Thorpe who, in his current form, must rank among the best batsmen in the world.”He seems to have taken a liking to quite a lot of bowling,” said Fletcher.”He’s very consistent, he’s batted well for us under different circumstances,he’s shown he’s got a lot of character and fight and it’s nice to see him batwith the youngsters like Michael Vaughan.”Graham’s a really good role model. He runs between the wickets well, he’salert and he shows a lot of cricket awareness – he’s a world-class cricketer.”
Influential West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek won’t discuss a new deal at the London Stadium until the summer, according to a fresh update.
The Lowdown: Soucek a key figure
The Czech Republic international has been a superb signing for Hammers since arriving from Slavia Prague in 2020, proving to be one of David Moyes’ most important players.
Soucek has continued to be a prominent figure for West Ham this year, scoring four goals in 28 Premier League starts and shining alongside Declan Rice in the middle of the park, even if not finding the back of the net as much as last season.
The 27-year-old is out of contract in the summer of 2024 though, so the club are surely desperate to nail down his future in the coming months.
The Latest: No deal until the summer
According to 90min, contract talks have now been put on hold until the end of the season, having reportedly got underway in January initially.
There is no indication that Soucek’s West Ham future is in doubt, although drifting into the final two years of his current deal does feel a little more precarious.
The Verdict: No-brainer for Hammers
Soucek arguably hasn’t been quite as formidable in 2021/22 as he was last season, in terms of his overall impact – he has averaged fractionally fewer tackles per game – but there is still no denying that is a key part of Moyes’ setup.
At 27, the Czech Republic international is in and around the peak of his powers and should remain that way for the next four or five years, having been hailed as ‘unbelievable’ by friend and colleague Vladimir Coufal.
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With Rice’s future up in the air, the idea of losing both him and Soucek in the same transfer window doesn’t bear thinking about and it would be a huge shock if that happened.
In other news, one player has been linked with a return to West Ham this summer. Find out who it is here.
Just months after quitting international cricket, former West Indies captain Brian Lara is set to return to the domestic game and represent Trinidad and Tobago for the 2008 Carib Beer Series.Deryck Murray, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) president, confirmed the news at a press conference at the Queens Park Oval, saying his earlier conversation with Lara culminated in his decision to come back and play regional first-class cricket. Lara had earlier participated in the recently-concluded Indian Cricket League (ICL), captaining Mumbai Champs.”Brian can make a great contribution to Trinidad and Tobago cricket in the future, in terms of the development of the game and in administration,” Murray said at the tea interval during the Pizza Hut Gerry Gomez North/South Classic in Port-of-Spain.Murray noted further that Lara’s contribution to the national team is more of a motivating factor for the rest of the team as they begin their defense of the Carib Beer Challenge trophy on January 4 against Guyana at the Queens Park Oval.”Lara’s experience and knowledge will be a great asset to the team,” Murray said. “We are the champions of the Caribbean, the team to beat and every game will be a final.”However, Murray was careful to say that the inclusion of Lara, who last played for the national team in the double-winning 2006 Carib Beer Series, would not affect the future of the youngsters in the team. Lara is set to return over the weekend and will only be available for the four-day games. It was also made clear that he will not assume the role of the captain as Rayad Emrit was already selected in that capacity.Being the highest run-scorer in Test cricket with 11,953 runs and the holder of the world records for the highest individual Test and first-class scores, Murray said the board would use the opportunity to give Lara a proper farewell.”Everyone was taken by surprise when he announced his retirement and I think this is the perfect opportunity for T&T to say thank you for what he has done for local cricket.”
Mumbai probably knew, at some point in their amazing recovery, that they’d have to face Bengal again this season. This time, they’d have their most lethal weapon in the side: Zaheer Khan, who joined Mumbai before the season began but hadn’t had a game because of his own personal journey back to the high life.Zaheer has posed a threat to several batsmen this season but Mumbai knew that he had the number of the most dangerous batsman in the Bengal line-up. Sourav Ganguly doesn’t like facing him – or probably has not faced him long enough to make up his mind on that. Seventh ball in the Duleep Trophy final in November 2005, and Zaheer bowled an inswinging yorker; Ganguly played all over it and was bowled. In the second innings of the same match, a similar delivery found Ganguly’s pad on the way. After that final and before this, Ganguly, playing for Northamptonshire, had faced up against Zaheer, playing for Worcestershire in a second division County match in June 2006. Ganguly b Zaheer 2, read the scorecard.Ganguly certainly had the opportunity to make amends today, walking out at the Wankhede with Bengal reeling at 28 for 2. Zaheer, as expected, was charged up and he greeted Ganguly with a ball that pitched outside off in the corridor, moved in, took the inside edge, and hit the stumps. Simple as that, 4-0 Zaheer.He has obviously worked out that Ganguly is not comfortable with the one coming in from a length and has exposed it quite appreciably. And Graeme Smith will testify to the fact that Zaheer is not the man you expose your weakness to.What has been remarkable in Zaheer’s case – both with Smith and Ganguly – is the way he has capitalised on technical weaknesses to convert them into psychological ones. “It (knowing the batsman’s weakness) does help. There’s definitely a psychological advantage in that,” Zaheer said after the day’s play today. “But it’s also about the rhythm. Rhythm is all about being able to bowl where you want to bowl. That’s what is happening with me now.”Bowlers over the world know Smith looks to play on the on side early on, but no one beat him there as accurately and consistently as Zaheer did. After a while that entered Smith’s head, to the extent that he refused to take strike to Zaheer in the second innings of the Wanderers Test. Ganguly has been in good form of late and one would have expected him to be sure of his foot movement, of what he was going to do to the first ball he faced. Instead, the feet didn’t move and the bat came down without any intent – neither straight in defence nor forceful in attack.Earlier, Zaheer – making his debut for Mumbai – had made an immediate impact with only his fourth delivery. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala was drawn into edging one that had pitched on leg and had slanted away. Then in his fifth over, just one ball before getting Ganguly, Zaheer left Arindam Das no option but to play at a fast one that pitched short of length and always looked at his body.Zaheer bowled unchanged for 11 overs and, by the time he was done, Bengal were a shattered side. The Bengal batsmen, not having faced pace bowling of such ferocious quality through the season, were lambs to the slaughter; Zaheer was clearly too good for them. Rohan Gavaskar tried to fight the onslaught with one of his own, scoring 16 off 11 Zaheer deliveries, but he was drawn into a wide over-pitched delivery that swung away late. Before the end of that over, Laxmi Ratan Shukla had chased another sucker ball to complete Zaheer’s five-for on debut.The debut had been a long time coming, and obviously worth the wait. “When I came to Mumbai in 1996, I started playing all the club matches. My immediate goal was to play in the Ranji team and see how I’d find a place in the Indian team,” Zaheer said, “Obviously it didn’t work out that way.” He was in the squad for the semi-final against Madhya Pradesh in 1996-97, but did not get to play the match. He had moved to Baroda later and made his comeback this year only. “When I started playing cricket, playing for Mumbai was on my mind, and it’s a special feeling now.”With Zaheer taking Mumbai a huge step closer to reclaiming the grand old trophy, that feeling is probably mutual.***************************************************************************************Boyc bats for the PrinceIf Sourav Ganguly is expected to bat and Geoffrey Boycott is in town, it is hard to keep him from showing up. While making his way to the stand next to the press box at the Wankhede, Boycott asked the first soul that looked capable of speaking, “Has the Prince started batting?”Boycott was heard telling the members at the stand, “I am very happy. My prince is playing for India, and my princess is winning in England.” The princess, of course, is Shilpa Shetty, the Bollywood star, who has recently won the Big Brother, the reality television show. Boycott had earlier, during commentary stints in India, made public in no unclear terms his fondness for Shetty.The considerate ‘prince’ did not give Boycott too much happiness at this old age and lasted only one delivery. Any chances of seeing him bat again today were erased when the last-wicket pair for Bengal saw them across the follow-on target.
Matthew Hayden believes Australia’s Ashes series loss in September could well have been a blessing in disguise. Hayden said the South African captain Graeme Smith had been right to point out Australia were not the same force they had been.Smith’s comments were one of the first salvos in a so-called war of words leading up to the first Test between the two countries starting in Perth on Friday. “He’s [Smith] right in a lot of ways. The loss of the Ashes gave us incentive straight away because straight away we had to look within ourselves and look within our games and come up with answers to turn around individual form and team form as well.”We have been affected by that because we have had changes in our personnel which has given other people opportunity and those [people] have been successful to this stage as well. It’s been good for our game but it wasn’t an easy stage for us and I think, pretty much as always though, out of adversity comes opportunity and we’ve looked forward to that.”Hayden said Australia had no option but to see the 2-1 series defeat by England as a long-term benefit for the team. “I think you’ve got to look at it like that otherwise you lay down and die. We’ve had to move on. It does affect the group when certain members of the side leave – that’s just the way it is. We are a very close team. We spend 11 months a year together so at the end of the day it does hurt if someone gets the nod to leave.”In the wake of the defeat the Australians dropped middle order batsmen Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich from the Test team. Hayden himself has been left out of the one-day team. Seasoned domestic players Michael Hussey and Brad Hodge have stepped into the side with remarkable early success.”It’s got a very hardened look about the middle order now because of that experience,” Hayden said. “You just can’t buy experience. Every venue you play at you have to have had several innings there and it does make a difference.”It’s the home advantage which sides look forward to. In Michael’s case and Brad’s case they are just terrific cricketers that have played for a long period of time and been successful in a really-wonderful first-class competition.”As for the “war of words” in the lead-up to the first Test at the WACA, Hayden said it was nothing more than a bit of fun for both teams and certainly didn’t help to motivate the Australians. “Not really. It’s great for you guys [the media],” he said. “It’s fun for us as well so that’s pretty much how we take it.”
Stuart Clark took a five-wicket haul to help New South Wales to a 200-run Pura Cup victory against South Australia, who required 495 to win. They were eventually bundled out for 295, with fighting half-centuries from Callum Ferguson and Nathan Adcock.Ferguson (81) and Adcock (67) put on 107 runs to show resistance, but Ferguson fell before lunch, opening the door slightly for NSW. He was caught behind off Nathan Bracken. Adcock then added 66 with Graham Manou, who scored 33. But right after lunch both fell in quick succession, with Clark and Bracken taking a wicket each (244 for 7).Clark then removed Daniel Cullen and Paul Rofe, ending with 5 for 91. This was NSW’s fourth outright win in six games.
Stephen Harmison will be fit to rejoin the England squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka, it was confirmed today by the ECB.Harmison underwent a series of scans which later revealed no major damage in his back, a problem which forced him to fly home early from Bangladesh. After taking a Test-best 9 for 79 in the first Test at Dhaka, he missed the second match at Chittagong because of his dodgy back, but he should now be raring to go at Galle next month and further impress the selectors, and maybe even win a central contract.Dr Peter Gregory, England’s chief medical officer, confirmed the good news for Harmison and England. “Scans suggest there is no serious cause for the painStephen felt in his lower back during the first Test match againstBangladesh," Gregory said. "Stephen will continue to undergo treatment and strengthening work for his back at the ECB National Academy and I am very optimistic that he will rejoin the England Test squad in Sri Lanka."The first Test against Sri Lanka starts on December 2, after a three one-day international series in November.