Australia’s cricket authorities face a stern test of their new hardline anti-racism laws, after it was reported that Monty Panesar had been taunted as “a stupid Indian who can’t speak English”, during England’s three-day warm-up match against New South Wales at Sydney.Panesar, who underwent counselling from the team psychologist, Steve Bull, ahead of England’s trip Down Under, was fielding on the boundary fence under the Clive Churchill Stand, when he was abused by a group of fans on the opening day of the match.Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported that a spectator had shouted: “Give us a wave Monty. You can’t speak English you stupid Indian, I’ll have to say it in Indian. What are you doing playing in the English side, you’re not English.”No official complaint has been made, although the paper added that both Panesar and the South African-born Kevin Pietersen were subjected to similar abuse during England’s opening fixture of the tour in Canberra on Friday, where eight people were ejected from the ground for unruly behaviour.Under the new regulations, fans may face lifetime bans if they are found guilty of racial abuse during a match, while the venues themselves could be stripped of international status if they fail to act on any transgressions. The SCG Trust, who are responsible for the upkeep of the ground, admitted that three people had been ejected for excessive drunkenness.Australia’s racism problem came to light during South Africa’s tour of the country last year, when Graeme Smith’s men complained of the use of the derogatory term “kaffir”. This week, Smith himself warned Panesar of the reception he was likely to get, adding: “We all shivered at the prospect of what he could be in for.”A spokesman for the England team said: “We have come out here to play the game with dignity, and we expect the Australian fans will show the sportsmanship they are renowned for and hope they will respect the players both on and off the field.”
Mickey Arthur, the South African coach, is confident that Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs, both of whom are struggling for form, will come through during the current one-day series with New Zealand.Kallis, recently voted ICC Player of the Year, has found runs hard to come by in recent matches. In his last 10 one-day matches, he has scored 158 runs at 15.80 with more than half coming in a single innings of 87 against the West Indies earlier in the year. In the opening ODI against New Zealand at Bloemfontein, he was dismissed without scoring.Gibbs, meanwhile, has been plagued by a combination of injury and poor form. In the first match against New Zealand, on a sluggish pitch, Gibbs crawled to 25 off 69 balls – a far cry from an ODI career strike-rate of over 80.But Arthur insisted to that both players would turn the corner sooner rather than later. “I thought Herschelle was coming right towards the end of his innings. All he really needs is time in the middle.”As for Jacques, I feel he is just one innings away from a big score. I have noticed that he is a bit slow at the moment in getting into his trigger position. This is something we will sort out in the next couple of days.”The frustrating thing is that Jacques looked as though he was just starting to get his form back on the final day of the Super Series Test in Sydney. He was, of course, not helped by the rushed nature of his trip back to South Africa from Australia. He hardly got his feet on the ground before the New Zealand series started. Generally, a team needs a little bit of fine tuning in a lot of areas.”As a result, Arthur has called for two practice sessions on Tuesday, when none were scheduled, and the second is due to take place under floodlights to get attuned to the conditions for the second match on Friday.”We haven’t played a one-day match under floodlights for some time, so it is something we need to get used to again.”
Western Province 276 for 7 dec beat North West 98 (Coetsee 50, de Stadler 5-18, Friend 3-37) and 98 (de Stadler 3-18, Magiet 3-0) by an innings and 80 runs ScorecardWestern Province needed just 5.3 overs on the third morning at Cape Town to send North West tumbling to an abject innings-and-80-run defeat. Quinton Friend was the man who inserted the final stitches, grabbing both remaining wickets as North West were dismissed for 98 – a replica of their first-innings total.Gauteng 228 and 266 for 6 dec (Otto 91) drew with KwaZulu-Natal 274 for 5 dec and 214 for 7 (Gobind 87, de Bruin 5-48) by 44 runs ScorecardKwaZulu-Natal came within a whisker of a thrilling victory over Gauteng at Durban, but in the end they were forced to settle for a draw, as time ran out with them seven runs from victory, with three wickets standing.The tight finish had been made possible by a bold declaration from Gauteng, who left Natal needing 221 runs in 43 overs. They were given the best possible start by their captain, Rivash Gobind, who followed up his first-innings 77 with another good innings of 87, and while he and Wayne Madsen were adding 139 for the second wicket, victory was on the cards.But when Gobind was run out, the innings stuttered and Gerhard de Bruin took full advantage, ripping through the middle-order for figures of 5 for 48, as six wickets tumbled in nine overs. The effort had come too late for Gauteng, however, as time ran out for both sides.
All Today’s Yesterdays -June 6 down the years 1994 The day Brian Lara achieved immortality by spanking the highest score in first-class cricket history: 501 not out. As if his Test-record 375 wasn’t enough, Lara took the first-class record within two months when he surpassed Hanif Mohammad’s 499 for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston. He had a few near-misses – Lara was bowled off a no-ball on 12 and then was dropped by wicketkeeper Chris Scott on 18 (Scott apparently said: “Oh dear, he’ll probably go on and get a hundred”). Technically, there was only one ball left when he creamed John Morris through the covers for four to bring up the magic 500. In all Lara faced only 427 balls, and hammered 62 fours and ten sixes. On the final day he whacked 174 runs before lunch. For good measure, he also became the first man to make seven hundreds in eight first-class innings, the first of which was the 375.1957 The career of Mike Gatting, who was born today, split into three distinct segments. He struggled at first, taking seven years and 54 innings to make his first Test century. But after breaking that duck with 136 at Mumbai in 1984-85, Gatting went on a storming two-year run in which he made nine centuries in 28 Tests and averaged 63. Then came Shakoor Rana, and an alleged liaison with a barmaid that cost him the England captaincy in 1988. Gatting was never the same – he captained the rebel tour to South Africa in 1989, and in 51 Tests either side of that outstanding run of form he only made one century, a tortuous 117 at Adelaide in 1994-95 as the curtain came gently down on his career.1943 One of Pakistan’s finest batsmen is born … in Hyderabad, India. Asif Iqbal came a long way from the 21-year-old who opened the bowling – with his fellow debutant and future batting star Majid Khan – and batted No. 10, against Australia at Karachi in 1964-65. In full flow Asif was a sumptuous sight. He made his first Test century from No. 9, 146 against England at The Oval in 1967, but he eventually graduated into the middle order, where his dashing, fleet-footed strokeplay charmed allcomers, not least during a successful stint in county cricket with Kent. Less affecting was his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal. For many years, Asif was director of cricket at Sharjah, a haven for bookmakers.1991 After all the fuss, 25-year-old Graeme Hick finally made his England Test debut against West Indies at Headingley. Most pundits had already booked him in for 100 Tests, 8000 runs and an average of 50, but it didn’t quite work out like that. In fairness, it was an unforgiving baptism – Curtly Ambrose tortured him all summer, dismissing him six times in a row, but it was Courtney Walsh who ended his first innings when Hick fenced to Jeffrey Dujon having made just 6.1930 A typhoon is born. In terms of raw, unbridled pace, few bowlers in history can match England’s Frank Tyson. Richie Benaud rates him the quickest he’s ever seen. In 17 Tests, Tyson took 76 wickets at an average of 18. This was no brainless quickie, however – Tyson was a Durham University graduate, and had a penchant for quoting Shakespeare or Wordsworth to batsmen, something you can’t quite imagine Glenn McGrath ever doing. Most famously, Tyson blew away Australia as England retained the Ashes in 1954-55. After starting off with 1 for 160 in defeat at Brisbane, he shortened his run and took 10 wickets at Sydney and nine more at Melbourne, when he took 7 for 27 in the second innings and frightened the life out of the Aussies. Injury plagued his career, though, and he emigrated to Australia, where he became a headmaster for a time, before coaching Victoria.1994 Brian Lara’s famous 501 overshadowed a routine England victory over New Zealand at Trent Bridge, in a match that ended on the same day. England won by an innings for the first time at home in nine years, thanks mainly to Graham Gooch (210, his last Test hundred) and Phil DeFreitas (9 for 165 in the match), who as well as firing a quickfire 51, became the 100th person to take 100 Test wickets.1940 Birth of the South African allrounder Herbert “Tiger” Lance, who played 13 Tests. He was a handy strokeplayer in the lower-middle order, and a useful thirdor fourth-change seamer. He took 3 for 30 in his first Test innings, against New Zealand at Johannesburg in 1961-62. His finest hour with the bat also came at Johannesburg, when he made 44 and 70 against Australia in 1966-67, a match that South Africa won at a canter despite trailing on first innings.1969 Birth of the Indian left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi, whose 15-Test career has one distinct highlight. In Bangladesh’s inaugural Test, at Dhaka, Joshi pooped the party with 92, his only Test fifty, and eight wickets, including his only five-for. It set up only India’s second overseas victory in 14 years. Joshi also produced the seventh-best bowling performance in one-day international history, according to the Wisden 100, 5 for 6 against South Africa at Nairobi in 1999-2000.Other birthdays 1909 Morappakam Gopalan (India) 1917 Prior Jones (West Indies) 1956 Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe) 1959 Tahir Naqqash (Pakistan) 1967 Wasim Haider (Pakistan) 1972 Dulip Liyanage (Sri Lanka)
With Boeta Dippenaar at last running into form, South Africa sauntered to a seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe ‘A’ in a one-day warmup match in Bulawayo on Friday.Dippenaar took just 55 balls to make his 60, helping himself to eight fours and towo sixes along the way as the tourists took just a ball more than 20 overs to pass the modest 128 made by the home team earlier in the day.There were contributions of 28 from Herschelle Gibbs and 24 from Mark Boucher before Jonty Rhodes, who flew up to Zimbabwe this week for the one-day series which starts in Bulawayo on Sunday, hit the winning runs.The South African victory had been set up by fast bowler Andre Nel who claimed five for 11 in the morning as the Zimbabwe ‘A’ top order melted away.At one point the Zimbabweans had crumbled to 26 for five before young Tatenda Taibu offered some resistance with a dogged 21 and Paul Strang (45 not out) helped the tail take the score into three figures to give Zimbabwe ‘A’ a semblance of respectability.
Everton have lost their fourth game in a row after conceding a 1-0 defeat to Wolves this afternoon.
Now, Frank Lampard and his side are in an extremely vulnerable position joint on 22 points with 18th place Watford, adding pressure to their Premier League campaign in the final months of the season.
Yet again, the Toffees failed to make an impact in their pursuit to pick up points with the team running out of chances to keep their necks above water from falling into the drop zone, and they’re currently on the path to falling from the top flight for the first time in 51 years.
The story of Everton’s season has been the nightmarish defensive performances that have been put on display on several occasions so far, and it is clear Lampard is struggling to find the formula needed to inspire his defenders to see out games.
One player who has let the defensive line down time and time again this season is the captain, Seamus Coleman.
He has completely failed to lead his line and inspire his team to be more successful, something of which he is also unable to do for himself with repeated poor performances, and the Wolves clash at Goodison Park continued to prove that.
According to SofaScore, Coleman had the joint lowest rating in the team (6.6) and for good reason. The right-back lost possession of the ball every three touches against Bruno Lage’s side, made only 18 passes, while making no interceptions and no clearances during his 90-minute performance.
The £68k-per-week dud is clearly on his way out in terms of being able to provide Everton with not only the defensive impact they need, but the ability to lead his side to better prospects. When you consider that he could captain the side to their first ever Premier League relegation, it puts a huge question mark as to whether he is the man to continue to lead the team in the future, no matter the outcome of the season.
Lampard must move forward and find a way to motivate his team to continue to take on the challenge with commitment, as the side will face Newcastle United in another home game at Goodison Park on Thursday evening.
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This could be their last chance to put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone, performing in one out of their three games in hand is the lifeline Everton can’t afford to neglect.
In other news: Lampard must do everything to keep Richarlison
ScorecardCaptain Nic Maddinson top scored for New South Wales with 80 (file photo)•Getty Images
Nic Maddinson led New South Wales to a tense victory in his first match captaining the state as the Blues chased down 214 in the dying overs of the fourth day against Queensland in Mackay. In what had been a slow-scoring match that had seen run-rates hovering around 2.5 an over for the first three innings, New South Wales lifted their tempo to reach their target in 58.4 overs.Maddinson’s 80 off 72 balls was the key – he struck seven fours and four sixes having come to the crease with New South Wales wobbling against Queensland’s spinners at 2 for 59. The Blues had been 2 for 66 at tea, still requiring another 148 runs in the final session and Maddinson made it possible, despite the best efforts of Jason Floros (4 for 71) and Mitch Swepson (3 for 69).Maddinson fell with 23 runs still required and the loss of his partner Ben Rohrer for 31 in the next over gave Queensland a sniff once again, needing five wickets. Sean Abbott and Ryan Carters both departed cheaply, which left the Bulls in need of three more breakthroughs and New South Wales needing 12 more runs as the light closed in.But Steve O’Keefe and Gurinder Sandhu were able to get New South Wales over the line, Sandhu striking two consecutive fours off Swepson to seal the result.
Ricky Ponting is worried by the “danger” of private Twenty20 tournaments taking away players from international cricket. The Indian Cricket League’s (ICL) deals with four Pakistanis changed Ponting’s attitude towards the lucrative series and he has called for cricket boards to develop official competitions.”I am a bit more concerned this week with the new signings,” he said in the Australian. “It looks as though the Pakistanis and a few of the New Zealanders have signed as well. The danger is that it attracts the guys who are playing international cricket at the moment. If it is only attracting guys who are retired then it won’t affect us whatsoever.”The ICL is due to start next month and Ponting fears events in the future could run in competition to the World Cup. “We have seen that there is more money in these Twenty20 comps than there is in the whole World Cup,” Ponting said. “What will the players do: play in the World Cup or in the Twenty20 tournaments? They are going to have to make a decision and pretty quickly.” However, Adam Gilchrist believes the competition is healthy.There are rumours a group of New Zealanders may sign up to the ICL with permission from New Zealand Cricket, which is due to make a decision next week. Reports suggest the players’ earnings could be double what they are paid on their national contracts.”The concern I have is how lenient the boards are with the players,” Ponting said. “I heard a whisper the other day that the New Zealanders might be going with the board’s blessing because they have no cricket at that time of the year.”Ponting said the boards needed to be proactive and look at an official Twenty20 competition. “If they don’t they run the risk of not having any players,” Ponting said. “The amount of money I heard being thrown around for the ICL is big money for a month’s cricket.”The boards have to get very proactive and make sure they are getting something in place, otherwise they will run the risk of losing a lot of international players, particularly those who are coming towards the end of their careers and maybe some of the ones on the fringe.”
Marcus Trescothick is “fit and raring to go” for England’s Ashes campaign after missing the Champions Trophy to recover from a “stress-related illness.At the end of a disappointing 2006 season, which began with a tearful departure from England’s tour of India in March and concluded with a first-ball duck against Pakistan at the Rose Bowl in September, Trescothick admitted the pressures of touring life had worn him down.”The constant treadmill of playing, training and being away from home non-stop took its toll,” Trescothick told The Mirror, “but now the buzz is back, the energy is back, I’m fit and raring to go. I want to get on the plane now, I want to get going and feel the bat in my hands again.”Trescothick was an integral member of England’s Ashes-winning team, scoring 431 runs in the five Tests, including a tempo-seizing 90 at Edgbaston. His absence from this winter’s contest, not to mention the forthcoming World Cup, would have left a huge void for the team management to fill, although he insisted that the prospect of six months on the road was not a worry. Doing well in the Ashes and World Cup, he said, “would be perfect therapy”.”There are lots of people who have experienced the things I’ve been experiencing – but not all of them open the batting for England and have to try and put on a brave face in public. But the England management have been very supportive, the Professional Cricketers Association have helped me no end, and an extended break has given me both the chance to take stock and the boost I needed to kick on again.”
Luke Ronchi, a wicketkeeper-batsman, has replaced Brett Dorey, the fast bowler, in the Western Australian squad for their ING Cup match against Victoria in Melbourne on Saturday.Dorey hasn’t recovered completely from a quadricep injury he sustained last Sunday during an ING Cup match against the same team. While his recovery has been encouraging, a scan still revealed a slight tear, and considering that the season is only a week old, the team management decided to rest him.Western Australia play ING Cup and Pura Cup matches against New South Wales next week, and Dorey is expected to recover in time for those games.