Category Uncategorized

ScorecardAditya Sarwate picked up 6 for 64 on first-class debut•PTI

Vidarbha, currently scraping the bottom of the group, were in line to register their first outright win this season after debutant left-arm spinner Aditya Sarvate (6 for 64) and offspinner Akshay Wakhare (4 for 37) bundled Assam out for 160 in the second innings in Nagpur to set up a chase of 213. As many as five Assam batsmen got into double figures, but Swarupam Purkayastha’s 35 ended up the highest score to round off a disappointing performance.Wasim Jaffer, who has just one fifty from six innings this season, was unbeaten on 43, while Faiz Fazal made 38 to take Vidarbha to stumps on 88 without loss. Given they still have the experience of Ganesh Satish and S Badrinath, the captain, Vidarbha will fancy their chances of polishing off the 125 runs they need to move into the top half of the group standings.
ScorecardVital contributions from Haryana’s top seven in the second innings ensured they were in with a chance to break Karnataka’s 33-match unbeaten streak in Mysore. Robin Uthappa and KL Rahul saw off six tense overs to take the hosts to 9 for 0 at stumps, but are still well adrift of their target of 373 going into the final day.After pocketing a 110-run lead, Haryana declared their second innings on 262 for 9, with Nitin Saini top-scoring with 52. Virender Sehwag, who walked in to bat at No. 7, set pulses racing with a 36-ball 40 to follow his swashbuckling 136 in the first innings to add some lower order impetus. After going wicketless in 16 overs in the first innings, legspinner Shreyas Gopal was rewarded for his persistence as he finished with figures of 4 for 53, while Vinay Kumar, the captain, and David Mathias had two scalps apiece.
ScorecardBengal took the first-innings lead over Delhi at Feroz Shah Kotla, but a lot of attention was deflected towards a reported on-field altercation between Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary, the two captains.Delhi, who resumed on 100 for 3, were bowled out for 249, with Milind Kumar top-scoring with 77. Delhi’s only semblance of resistance came when Milind and Nitish Rana, who made 43, shared a 67-run fourth-wicket stand.Pragyan Ojha, who moved to Bengal in order to play in the top drawer of the Ranji Trophy, enhanced his credentials. He finished with figures of 4 for 77 off 27 overs. Ashok Dinda, the pace spearhead, had three scalps. Bengal, who would have hoped to drive the game forward in their second dig, lost their top three with just 29 on the board. Manoj Tiwary was unbeaten on 21, with their lead standing at 155 with one day to play.Rajasthan v Maharashtra – Maharashtra take lead with Tripathi ton

So in the end it will be Thursday night football for Tottenham next season. The Blues Champions League triumph in Munich last week guaranteed them a seat at Europe’s top table pushing Spurs into the Europa League despite their fourth placed finish. It’s another smack in the face for Harry Redknapp after missing out on the England job despite the media hyperbole that ultimately saw him to lose focus and allow their North London rivals to nip and steal third spot from under their noses. For Spurs missing out on the continents elite competition could hold grave consequences. Key players Luka Modric and Gareth Bale have talked openly admitted that they could leave White Hart Lane in the summer should the North London club fail to qualify for Champions League. Losing the duo would be a monumental blow whilst attracting top class replacements will also prove a formidable task for Redknapp. As massive summer awaits the 65-year-old who needs to be at his silver-tongued best to keep his squad together in the hope of mounting another challenge for the top-four next season.

This week on FFC do Tottenham need a some subtle assistance in the transfer market and could they be about to pip their old enemy to Jan Vertonghen?

[divider]

Best of FFC

Do Tottenham need an extra pair of hands in the Transfer Market?

Tottenham’s Early transfer Moves could prove significant

A possible reality at Tottenham?

Brazilian Could fire Tottenham To The Next Level

Webb’s words must be heeded for the sake of a footballer’s safety

Who cares about whether the players get along

The TEN ‘conclusions and lessons’ we have learnt From Tottenham’s season

Tottenham lining up £3m Swede

Tottenham weighing up move for Brazilian

[divider]

Best of WEB

Not enough support for Harry – Spurs musings from Jimmy G2

The Best ITK This Window So Far …By A Country Mile? – Harry Hotspur

How to destroy Tottenham Hotspur – Dear Mr Levy

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

The End of The World But Nothing’s Changed – Tottenham on my Mind

Berbatov – Dear Mr Levy

Adam Johnson – Harry Hotspur

[divider]

Quote of the Week

[divider]

“It’s a difficult one. I’ve never said I want to leave the club, I’ve just said I want to play. As a forward you just want to get some sort of rhythm and a run in the team. That wasn’t the case towards the end of the season.“I’m just going to see what happens. I’m going to concentrate on England and Euro 2012. The most important thing for me is scoring goals and that’s when I’m at my happiest.” Jermain Defoe hints that he could leave Tottenham in the summer after playing a bit part role at White Hart Lane this season 

[divider]

Emmanuel Adebayor wants to stay at Spurs

Having joined Aston Villa from Ligue 1 outfit Marseille in January 2021, midfielder Morgan Sanson has endured a tricky first year at Villa Park to say the least.

The Frenchman joined the West Midlands club for a fee reported to be around £16m with Dean Smith the manager and the Villans hoping to secure a top-half finish after a strong first half of the Premier League campaign.

Fast forward to now and Dean Smith is no longer manager, with Steven Gerrard taking the reigns in November, and Villa just missed out on the top half, finishing 11th.

Furthermore, since signing Sanson has managed to make just 16 appearances for the Villans in all competitions, seven of which have come this season, with his first year in England proving tough.

More recently, Sanson was publicised not for an impressive performance but for an outburst caught by the Sky Sports cameras after the Frenchman was substituted in Villa’s 2-2 draw against Manchester United last month.

The 27-year-old gave possession away to the Red Devils who subsequently scored through Bruno Fernandes to give themselves a 2-0 lead before Gerrard opted to replace Sanson with Philippe Coutinho, who went on to score the decisive equaliser.

The midfielder reacted to his withdrawal by kicking a water bottle into the stands out of frustration and hasn’t played a single minute for the Villans since.

There have been numerous occasions when the £47k per-week Frenchman has failed to make the squad let alone the bench in the Premier League for Villa this campaign, with the draw against United just Sanson’s second start of the season.

Having lost 1-0 to strugglers Watford on Saturday afternoon, the West Midlands side have now won just two of their last ten matches, with Sanson failing to come off of the bench in the four games since the Manchester United game.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Moreover, despite Gerrard’s side needing a change in fortune and potentially personnel, it has to be argued that it seems unlikely that the midfielder will see much game time before the end of the season with Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey and Carney Chukwuemeka ahead in the pecking order as well as Marvelous Nakamba set to return from injury in April.

Having blown his chance to impress against Manchester United, you wonder how many more opportunities Sanson will get. What is for sure though, is that if another is to come the Frenchman’s way, it has to be taken with both hands, otherwise, it should be au revoir in the summer.

In other news: 90% duels lost: Villa flop who made just 17 passes let Gerrard down massively vs Watford

	Andrew Caddick has been forced to sit out Somerset’s first Championship match © Getty Images

Somerset are confident that Andrew Caddick’s back injury, which has kept him out of the Championship match against Lancashire, is not linked to the surgery he had last Christmas. He has been diagnosed with a muscle tear and is aiming to return for Somerset’s match against Hampshire on May 7.Caddick limped off midway through his fifth over in the second innings against Cambridge University last week and the initial fears were that it could be another serious problem. He had an operation on Christmas Eve to correct a disc problem, but Caddick is hopeful of a swift return this time.”I had a cortisone injection in my back under sedation in Musgrove on Saturday and things seem to have settled down,” Caddick told the Somerset website. “I am now having a lot of physiotherapy and hoping to start bowling again next week. Obviously we are being cautious but I am hoping to be fit to play against Hampshire the week after next.”Brian Rose, the club’s director of cricket said: “Caddy has got a slight muscle tear in his upper back which is not as serious as we thought at first. We don’t think it is linked to the operation and believe it is a separate issue.”Caddick took 70 Championship wickets in 2007 to spearhead Somerset’s promotion push and his new-ball partnership with Charl Willoughby was set to be one of the team’s key weapons this season.

Two days after stating that a packed schedule would hinder plans to participate in a fund-raiser for Bob Woolmer’s proposed cricket academy, the Pakistan Cricket Board committed itself to the match. However, a senior official of the Board for Control of Cricket in India expressed doubts over the possibility of a bilateral tie later this year.Woolmer’s widow Gill had written to the PCB and BCCI asking them to compete in a benefit Twenty20 match as a tribute to the former Pakistan coach.”We fully support the idea of Gill Woolmer to raise funds for the academy. We have confirmed the same to her,” said Ehsan Malik, PCB spokesman. He said the PCB was trying to schedule it during Pakistan’s tour to India later this year.Reacting to Malik’s statement, Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said, “Where’s the time. We have such a tight schedule and I don’t think it’s possible.”Shah also said the PCB had not yet approached the BCCI over the scheduling of the proposed fundraiser, though it had received Gill Woolmer’s letter.Gill Woolmer had earlier proposed a Twenty20 match between Pakistan and England in August but the plan fell through as the England team had prior engagements. The PCB said it was ready to play at any venue suggested by the home board, irrespective of whether it was the BCCI or the ECB.Bob Woolmer died of natural causes in Jamaica on March 18, a day after Pakistan suffered a shock defeat against Ireland and were knocked out in the first round of the World Cup.

ScorecardWarwickshire wrapped up the match on the third and final day at Edgbaston, beating West Indies A by an innings and six runs. The visitors may have been celebrating when they removed the obdurate Ian Westwood early – he added just one run to his overnight score of a career-best 177 – but that was about all the celebrating they were to do as Warwickshire continued in commanding vein.The home side rattled up 414 for 9 before declaring 179 ahead and then skittling out West Indies without needing to bat again. Darren Sammy took five wickets for West Indies and then Sewnarine Chattergoon and Lendl Simmons did their level best to fight for the draw, with an opening stand of 56, but they fell in pretty quick succession and wickets tumbled regularly from thereon in.Alex Loudon was the pick of the attack, he claimed 4 for 16 from ten overs. Adam Shantry was also taken for 16 from ten overs himself, and claimed two wickets in a polished display. His opening partner, Naqqash Tahir, took one wicket, but was comparatively expensive; his 15 overs cost 62.All of the six bowlers used by the captain Loudon struck, in fact, and it took Moeen Ali just five balls to finish the innings and prevent his side from needing a second innings to close out the game.West Indies now have just one day to lick their wounds before they face Derbyshire in a one-dayer on Sunday.

Clive Lloyd: favourite for the vice-president’s post © Getty Images

Clive Lloyd, the former West Indies captain, has received full support from the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) for the post of vice-president of the West Indies Cricket Board. Lloyd, who was originally contesting for the president’s post, lost the race to Ken Gordon, the former media manager from Trinidad. The annual general meeting of the WICB is scheduled to take place on August 6 and 7 in St Maarten.”Lloyd is highly respected and we decided to throw our support behind him,” Stephen Alleyne, the president of the BCA was quoted as saying in . “The general view is that with Gordon being the sole candidate for president, it was felt that the vice-president should be one with a strong cricketing background and experience, and would bring a cricketing outlook.”Alleyne also said that Barbados was the second country to support Lloyd, who was first nominated by his native Guyana. The other candidate for the vice-president’s post is Val Banks. “Lloyd has again shown his commitment to West Indies cricket by making himself available,” said Alleyne. “We believe strongly he would bring balance and coverage of all the issues of the game. His position as one of the finest West Indies skippers speaks for itself and his further involvement in other cricket development programmes and also as West Indies manager and ICC match referee demonstrated his appeal on the international stage.”

Bangladesh A 287 for 7 (Al Sahariar 62, Faisal 61*) beat Zimbabwe A 227 (Rinke 49, Gripper 49, Razzaq 7-17) by 60 runs
ScorecardA devastating spell of bowling from Abdur Razzaq, a left-arm spinner from Khulna, took Bangladesh A to a comprehensive victory in their third one-dayer against Zimbabwe A at Dhaka. Razzaq took 7 for 17 in eight overs as Zimbabwe A collapsed, after an opening stand of 99, to 227. They fell short of Bangladesh A’s 287 by 60 runs.The run-chase had begun superbly, with Piet Rinke and Trevor Gripper hitting a flurry of boundaries off Tareq Aziz and Alamgir Kabir, as the score progressed to 99 in just 14.4 overs. But Razzaq’s introduction into the attack changed everything, as he got both Rinke and Gripper out for 49 – both batsmen were decieved into giving return catches.The Zimbabweans went steadily downhill from there, as Razzaq, mixing loopy flighted deliveries with quicker flat ones, tied the batsmen up in knots. Stuart Matsikenyeri smashed 48 off 50 balls in a rear-guard action, but he found no support from his fellow batsmen. Razzaq, who had taken 3 for 14 in the six overs of his first spell, returned to the attack to pick up four more wickets for just three runs. Matsikenyeri was one of his victims, brilliantly caught at gully by Jamaluddin Babu. That wicket, the sixth to fall, in the 44th over, with the score on 216, sealed the issue.Earlier, Mohammad Al Sahariar had anchored the Bangladesh innings with a sedate 92-ball innings of 62, to set Bangladesh A on their way towards a big score. Faisal Hossain, one of the rising stars of Bangladesh cricket, hit a sparkling 61 not out, off 67 balls, to ensure that their early momentum was not lost. The Bangladeshis finished on 287 for 7, and although the target seemed eminently gettable when Rinke and Gripper were flaying the bowling, Razzaq bowled to a script all his own.Bangladesh went up 2-1 in the five match series with this win. The last two games are due to be played at Khulna in April 5 and 6.

With the start of the new cricket season less than a month away, all members of Somerset County Cricket Club will be receiving their spring newsletter in the near future to whet their appetites for what lies ahead.In his opening article new chairman Giles Clarke pays tribute to his predecessor Richard Parsons, and acknowledges the `tremendous service that he gave to the Club’.Mr Clarke tells members: "Clearly the priority is the team on the field. It will be my job, aided by my deputy Andy Nash to try and bring in more revenue for the club."He continues: "You, the members are very important to us and we need more of you. Raising money by subscriptions is just as important as sponsorship income…So more members, more sponsors and more non-match day activity, means a modernised ground is required."Regarding this the chairman goes on: "A small team has been formed to examine ways in which capacity and facilities can be improved. Somerset has to have the ability to pitch for the right to stage the regional allocation of One Day International."Mr Clarke concludes by telling members that he is determined to progress the ground situation and that in the near future he will be meeting with the ECB Management Board to discuss Somerset’s aspirations to stage International cricket.Also in the newsletter new skipper Mike Burns tells members `It’s a privilege to play for Somerset… and it’s an honour to lead the Club.’ The former Warwickshire man goes onto talk of his total commitment to the county where he has made his home and tell them that he has been `converted to the passion which pervades everyone who supports the club.’Looking forward to the season he says: "We are eager to return to the top flight at the first time of asking," and goes on to say, " Second Division cricket could prove much more exciting than First Division cricket as more emphasis is put on winning."The new captain feels that the three new signings of Nixon McLean, James Bryant and Aaron Laraman will `significantly improve the team’ whilst for himself he feels that he needs to score more runs and lead the team from the front by his own performances.Elsewhere James Bryant says that he aims to repay Somerset for signing him by performing well on the field, Aaron Laraman talks about the `Cricket Bug ` and assistant coach Mark Garaway profiles his former Hampshire colleague Nixon McLean.The newsletter is full of new views and information that will be of interest to Cidermen followers, including practical advice on how the new swipe card system will work, competition changes for 2003 and the hours of play.

The ECB have refuted the idea that England “have been hanging on to excuses” as suggested in Australian coach John Buchanan’s leaked memo.In an attempt to counter the accusation that England were hiding behind “injuries, toss, bad luck, dropped catches” as outlined in the memo, ECB spokesman Andrew Walpole insisted: “The players have been very open and frank about their performances in the last two Test matches, I don’t believe players have sought to make excuses talking to the media.”During the Lord’s Test a number of players spoke to the press and were very honest that the catching, for example, wasn’t as good as it had been in the winter, when we were a very sharp fielding side.”When we’ve been asked questions about issues such as the toss – clearly it’s a factor when we’ve lost nine tosses in a row – it’s going to get mentioned. There’s no concerted attempt on behalf of the players to make excuses,” he continued.”If you go back through the press conferences Duncan Fletcher, David Graveney, Mike Atherton when he’s been captain, they have all said we are not going to use injuries as an excuse.”Far from being embarrassed by the contents of the memo, Buchanan freely admitted the whole incident. Indeed it is possible the episode was premeditated.”I put material under the door of the players and it seems I put material under the door of the media at the same stage,” he conceded. “I don’t see that it’s a mistake, it’s just unfortunate that somehow it escaped our normal channels.”Buchanan accepted that his memos had gone astray before, but defended his comments.”In the end I guess that sort of thing has happened to me to before, so I’m quite aware of the possibility. In this case some information has found its way elsewhere. That’s really up to the England camp to work out what it means, if it means anything.”Most of the time I deliver them myself, in some cases I don’t. On tour we’ve got to rely on people photocopying information for us and circulating it. It’s always in the back of my mind that it might sneak out, not as though I want it to happen.”All it’s intended to do is focus our attention not only on this game but the end of the series, and beyond this series,” he explained.”If you read the passage, it does refer to the comment that England players and the management have made about injuries and toss, and back luck and so on.”In the end we are in a better position, or a more comfortable position and therefore it is difficult when you are not winning games and you are trying to assess why that’s not the case. It really depends on what credence that a team wants to place on the information they have in front of them.”