All posts by h716a5.icu

Hot Spot will not be part of the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) that will be used during the 2011 ICC World Cup

Sharda Ugra05-Feb-2011Hot Spot will not be part of the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) that will be used during the 2011 ICC World Cup, reducing the system to its basic requirements: a ball-tracker (in this case Hawk-Eye), a super slow-mo camera and a ‘clear’ stump microphone.In October 2010, the ICC had announced that the Hot Spot cameras would be used in the semi-finals and final of the World Cup, to be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from Feb 19 to April 2. An ICC spokesman, however, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo on Saturday that, “the supplier of the Hot Spot technology advised that it was not willing to supply its cameras for the tournament so, accordingly, they will not be used at any stage in the tournament. The use of these cameras is not a minimum requirement for the DRS.”While the Hot Spot cameras are not a minimum requirement of the UDRS, they are thought to provide among the most accurate images of the contact between ball and bat, or pad, using infrared thermal imaging. The owners of the Hot Spot technology, Melbourne based BBG Sport, were unwilling to comment on their decision.The Hot Spot infrared cameras form part of military hardware used in jetfighters, tanks and warships, and they fall under the category of restricted equipment which, it is believed, needs a temporary export licence from the Australian Defence Department whenever they are taken out of the country. Part of that licence includes the return of the cameras to Australia within a seven-day period after the end of the event in which they are being used. An ICC spokesperson however said that the ICC was “unaware of the Australian government regulations to this effect.”The cameras were first brought into India during the 2009 Champions League Twenty20 event. It is possible that the logistical hurdle of moving the cameras, which are both expensive and sensitive security equipment, in and out of Sri Lanka and India could have led to the decision. India remains the only country in cricket that has not accepted the UDRS. Ironically, the only part of UDRS technology basket that is considered by the Indians to be the most trustworthy is the Hot Spot camera.

Sussex’s bid for a third successive 40-over league title gained momentum asthey eased to a six-wicket win over Surrey Lions at Guildford

08-Aug-2010
ScorecardStewart Walters top scored for Surrey with 88 but it was not enough•PA PhotosSussex’s bid for a third successive 40-over league title gained momentum asthey eased to a six-wicket win over Surrey Lions at Guildford.An unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 113 in 14.5 overs between skipper Mike Yardyand Andrew Hodd saw Sussex home with 10 balls to spare and took them a pointabove their rivals and into second place in Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A, althoughSurrey do have a game in hand.Surrey looked favourites when Gareth Batty had opener Chris Nash (62) caughtoff a top-edged sweep and bowled Murray Goodwin with the next ball of the 24thover to leave Sussex 143 for 4. The asking rate then climbed beyond nine an over but the chase was transformed when Sussex plundered 47 runs in their four-over batting powerplay which theydelayed until the 35th over.Chris Tremlett was hit for 15 and Jade Dernbach for 16 and Yardy won the gamewith successive boundaries off Tremlett. Yardy finished with 66 off 46 balls and Hodd, with 46 off 43 deliveries, gave him excellent support.Nash had given Sussex a decent platform by sharing half-century stands with EdJoyce and Joe Gatting and although Surrey’s spinners kept things tight in themiddle of the innings, their total of 252 looked 30 runs short on a smallground.Surrey had been indebted to Stewart Walters, whose 88 gave them a competitivetotal, although it was not as big as looked likely after the start given tothem by openers Rory Hamilton-Brown and Steve Davies. The pair had put on 190 as Surrey piled up a record score of 386 against Glamorgan last Wednesday and looked in the mood for a repeat as Hamilton-Brown hit James Kirtley out of the attack by taking 18 off his second over.Sussex brought Chris Liddle into the attack and the left-armer struck with hisfourth ball when Hamilton-Brown skied a drive to mid-on, before he had Daviestaken at mid-off in his next over.Walters consolidated with Mark Ramprakash in a stand of 84 in 17 overs but wasdropped off his own bowling by Yardy the ball before reaching his fifty with theonly boundary the Sussex captain conceded in eight tight overs of left-armspin.A strangely subdued Ramprakash hit a six off Liddle out of the ground but itwas a rare moment of aggression in his 33 off 51 deliveries and Kirtley returnedto bowl him as he played across the line. Wickets fell regularly after that with Liddle completing four for 39 as he ended a stand of 51 in eight overs for the fifth wicket when he had MatthewSpriegel caught behind and Walters taken at deep mid-wicket.Surrey’s last five wickets fell for 30 runs in four overs with Kirtley pickingup two in the last over to finish with four for 60, a decent comebackconsidering his first two overs had disappeared for 30 runs.

Shaun Tait has left the door open for a return to Test cricket after producing one of the fastest spells ever seen at Lord’s as he was clocked at 100mph

Andrew McGlashan at Lord's03-Jul-2010Shaun Tait has left the door open for a return to Test cricket after producing one of the fastest spells ever seen at Lord’s as he was clocked at 100mph. His 4 for 48 helped Australia to a 42-run victory as they reduced the series margin to 3-2, but it was the first three overs of his stint that really set pulses racing as he terrorised England’s toporder with a succession of hostile deliveries.His opening over averaged 96mph and the fifth ball, to Craig Kieswetter, hit the three-figure mark . However, it was his third over that really damaged England as a searing delivery swung back to uproot Andrew Strauss’s off stump before, two balls later, Michael Yardyshouldered arms at another lethal offering. In a sign that Tait’s injury-prone body was being pushed to see how much it could handle, he sent down four overs before his first rest and while it is highly unlikely he can withstand the five-day game, it provides a tantalising prospect.”I’ve never come out and said I’ve retired from the longer form,” Tait said. “I haven’t thought about it. I was pretty excited to be called up to the one-day side as I haven’t been in it for over 12 months. I haven’t played a four-day game for a long time now. I’m in a prettygood place right now. It’s the first time for a long time I’ve stayed on the park as well. In the last eight or nine years I’ve been injured in each one, apart from this season.”After the fourth match of the series Ricky Ponting had been asked about persuading Tait back to Test cricket. Although the Australia captain has yet to speak to Tait about such a prospect, the idea of being able to unleash that raw pace in the five-day arena was clearly exciting even though the paceman hasn’t played a first-class game since late 2008.”I was asked the other day if I’d consider it and I certainly would,” Ponting said, “but I was waiting to see how he came through these games. There are very few blokes in the world who can do what Shaun can and I think he showed today, even at very good top-order batsmen like Strauss, that he can bowl a ball that can get anyone out. And hehas the ability to do that with the red ball as well.”Ultimately it’s up to him, but I know he wants to play a lot more cricket for Australia and if he has that desire and bowls like he has done here he’ll be difficult to leave out. If it’s another one or two-Test series I’ll take any game he can play for us.”A more realistic prospect is that Tait can reprise the strike-bowler role he performed with great success at the 2007 World Cup in next year’s tournament, as Australia aim for four titles in a row. Tait’s performances in this series, where he finished with eight wickets at 12.37 from the three matches, enabled Australia to make up some lost ground on England after they had launched the series with two poor displays marked by a distinct lack of firepower at the Rose Bowl and Cardiff.”I think he’s made an impression on all their batters he’s bowled at in this series,” Ponting said. “I think Straussy will be pretty happy he’s not playing in the next couple of games after that ball today.””He was pretty quick today and he got the ball swinging a bit as well, which makes it harder,” Strauss admitted. “It would certainly be up there with spells I’ve faced from Shoaib Akhtar and [Brett] Lee. He had a big impact on the result of the game, taking early wickets and putting us on the back foot early on.”Tait had woken in the morning feeling “stiff and sore” and was unaware he’d broken the hundred barrier until team-mates mentioned it but he knew he was in good rhythm from the Pavilion End. “That’s the quickest I’ve bowled, recorded at least,” he said.”I’ve bowled 160 three times in my career so it’s not the easiestthing to do. There are those days you come out and are at the top ofyour mark that you know your body is in decent shape. I was actuallystiff and sore this morning but once I’d done the warm-ups I was fineand that first over I knew it was around that mark.”

Former Zimbabwe coach Walter Chawaguta will begin his duties as coach of the national Under-17 side as they prepare for a tournament in Benoni, South Africa, from August 6 to 10

Cricinfo staff26-Jun-2010Former Zimbabwe coach Walter Chawaguta will begin his duties as coach of the national Under-17 side as they prepare for a tournament in Benoni, South Africa, from August 6 to 10. The 15-member squad named for the trip is yet to work together as a group, but Chawaguta is not overly concerned.”We have picked a squad to work with specifically for this assignment,” Chawaguta said. “We haven’t met as a team as yet but I am hoping to work with the players on an individual basis because they are not available at the moment. The cricket season is taking a break at the moment and some of the players are engaged in other sports at their schools and this makes it difficult to assemble. So we hope to work with them on individual basis.”After competing well in the late nineties and early 2000s, Zimbabwe cricket slumped in the aftermath of political turmoil in the country and they lost their Test status. Things have started looking up in recent times, with the national side doing well in the recent tri-series against Sri Lanka and India. Chawaguta was aware of the importance of age-group cricket in ensuring a robust cricketing structure in the country.”We will have more trials for the side because we have to come up with the real Zimbabwe Under-17 team by the end of the year. This is a very important age-group because most of the players in this team are the ones who are going to play at the 2012 Under-19 World Cup. So we need to be thorough in our activities,” he said.Squad: Alistair MacLeod, Salman Khan, Malcolm Lake, Michael Torr, Deven Bell, Rhett Wallbridge, Ryan Burl, Andre Odendaal, Charles Kunje, Odicious Mhanje, Luke Jongwe, Joylord Gumbie.Reserves: Matthew Wicks, Bryan Majoka, Shane Musekwa.

Wolves could be set to say goodbye to one of their key players before the end of the January transfer window after a late twist has recently emerged.

What’s the latest?

According to a recent Twitter post from journalist David Ornstein, Barcelona are now working on a deal and in talks with Wolves to bring Adama Traore back to his former club on loan with an option to buy the winger in the summer for a fee of €35m (£29.1m).

Ornstein also revealed that a potential deal with Tottenham Hotspur, who Traore has been heavily linked with over the past few days and weeks is “all-but over” despite talks between the two clubs going positively but with Traore not too keen on playing as a right wing-back.

Traore joined Wolves from Championship club Middlesbrough back in the 2018 summer transfer window in a deal worth a reported fee of £18m.

Since then, the Spaniard has gone on to make 154 appearances for the Midlands club across all competitions, racking up 11 goals and 18 assists in the process.

Fans will be buzzing

Given how the 26-year-old has only managed to score one goal in 23 appearances for Wolves so far this season across all competitions, it’s safe to say that some Old Gold supporters may not see Traore’s potential exit as a big miss for the team and might be rather pleased to see him leave.

However, there is a key point to be made, something that will ultimately leave supporters rather pleased. It would be better for the club to keep him away from a Premier League team such as Tottenham given how close the two sides are in the league table, even despite his lack of goal contributions this term.

With Wolves apparently rejecting a £15m bid for Traore from Spurs earlier in the month, this apparent deal to see the winger go back to Barcelona, where he worked his way through the youth ranks before moving to Aston Villa in 2015, would also be a considerably better deal for Wolves in a financial regard as well.

Moving forward, allowing Traore to leave on loan this month and then pick up a hefty transfer fee for him in the summer which they can then use on strengthening their squad, would be a good piece of business for Wolves, putting to bed any further speculation about his future at Molineux.

In other news: Wolves now eyeing late swoop for “special” £23.4m-rated beast, Lage would love him – opinion

Sachin Tendulkar has surged to the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen, for the first time since 2002, following a prolific run of form, culminating in his performance in the Bangalore Test

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2010Sachin Tendulkar has surged to the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen, for the first time since 2002. Tendulkar’s heroics in the Test series against Australia earned him 82 rating points, taking him to 891, 17 clear of Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara in the second spot. Virender Sehwag, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Mahela Jayawardene completed the top five.List of dates when Sachin Tendulkar claimed top spot

November 18, 1994 (34 and 85 v West Indies in Mumbai)

March 6, 1998 (4 and 155 v Australia in Chennai)

October 15, 1998 (By default, above Steve Waugh)

December 26, 1998 (47 and 113 v New Zealand in Wellington)

January 28, 1998 (0 and 136 v Pakistan in Chennai)

May 18, 2000 (By default, above Brian Lara)

February 21, 2002 (176 v Zimbabwe in Nagpur)

August 22, 2002 (193 v England in Leeds)

October 13, 2010 (212 and 53* v Australia in Bangalore)

This is the ninth time Tendulkar has become the top-ranked Test batsman in the world, and the first since the new ratings system came into place. He held the position for the first time in 1994, ahead of consistent runs at the top in the late 90s and early 2000s. His ascension comes close on the heels of his winning the ICC Cricketer of the Year award.Tendulkar has enjoyed a watershed 2010, topping the run charts with 1270 runs, inclusive of four centuries and two double-hundreds. With India set to play three Tests against New Zealand at home and three Tests in South Africa in the immediate future, Tendulkar has the opportunity to better his career-best rating of 898 and become the 26th batsman to cross the 900-point mark.Rahul Dravid held on to the 22nd position after a patchy series where he managed only one half-century in four innings. VVS Laxman retained the eighth spot despite missing the Bangalore Test, while M Vijay’s maiden century helped him jump 29 places to 57th.Ricky Ponting’s inability to convert starts into centuries may have hampered his side, but his three 70s in four innings helped him climb three spots to the 16th position. Michael Clarke struggled for runs through the series, resulting in him dropping out of the top ten, while Simon Katich also slipped two spots to 14th. Shane Watson, who scored 271 runs in the two Tests, moved up to 24th, while Marcus North’s fifth Test hundred lifted him to 46th.In the bowler ratings, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Ben Hilfenhaus have all gained one place each. Zaheer, who picked 12 wickets in the series and impressed with his reverse swing, surged to 744 rating points, tied fourth with England’s James Anderson. Johnson moved up to the seventh spot, one clear of Harbhajan who in turn pushed Doug Bollinger to ninth. Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann and Mohammad Asif continue to hold the top three spots in the bowling table.

Bruno Lage has made no secret of his intentions to have a successful transfer window in January, and has furthered his intentions by naming several positions in the team he would be interested in filling over the next few weeks.

What’s the word?

Lage took to his pre-match press conference to give Wolves fans an insight to the positions he is looking at adding depth to in the January transfer window;

“We need one, we need one centre-back.”

“I think also we can find one more winger, a different striker, so we have two or three situations we can improve to manage better our squad.”

Lage did also praise his current centre backs for their performances so far this season;

“I’m very happy with Conor, Saiss and Max, because they are doing very well,”

“I pray every training and every game that the guys don’t have any injury because we play with three centre-backs and I just have those three.”

Romain Saiss will be joining Morocco for African Cup of Nations in a few days, so it is understandable why Lage feels that a centre back would be a priority area to fill over the next few weeks, as well as risking the back line without reliable back up if there was an injury.

The other attacking positions that Lage is looking to cover can be justified by an injury to goal-scoring winger, Hwang Hee-Chan who has now been confirmed to be out until February, and could also be linked to replacing Adama Traore, who has been rumoured with moves away from the club since the beginning of the season.

Fans will be buzzing

These comments from the Portuguese manager will be welcomed by the Wolves fans, who will have high expectations for the second half of the season to echo the consistency and success of the first half, with new signings giving the side the opportunity to strengthen and improve their form further over the coming months.

Wolves fans have been taking to Twitter to share their excitement on the potential of business for the club this month;

“Notifications turned on for @FabrizioRomano and @Wolves transfer window is open and confirmed. Here we go”

Lage will be taking his side to Old Trafford tomorrow in the hope that they can steal a result from Ralf Rangnick’s Manchester United side, who are currently unbeaten in their last five games in the Premier League.

A win could be a great opportunity for Wolves to gain some more cushion in their pursuit for a finish in a European spot this season, as three points could pull them away from Leicester City who are on the same points in 9th, and push them closer to closing the gap with Tottenham in 7th.

In other news: Bruno Lage drops injury update on two players

Australia’s captain Alex Blackwell said she never doubted her team could take home the World Twenty20 title despite their low score in the final

Cricinfo staff17-May-2010Australia’s captain Alex Blackwell insists she never doubted her team could take home the World Twenty20 title despite their low score in the final. Australia battled to 106 for 8 from their 20 overs and it looked as though New Zealand should have little trouble with the chase, but they batted out their overs and could only manage 103 for 6.”We believed our total was going to be enough,” Blackwell said. “I know our bowling attack has the level-mindedness to get through whatever challenge was in front of them.”The New Zealanders needed 14 off the final over and Blackwell entrusted the bowling to the 19-year-old Ellyse Perry. She kept her cool and when a boundary from the final delivery would have tied the game, Perry stuck out her foot to stop a cleanly-hit straight drive from Sophie Devine that might have decided the outcome.”It’s a fantastic opportunity to win a World Cup for your country rather than lose it,” Perry said. “That’s how you have to approach things like that. I feel very grateful to Alex for believing I could do it and I felt I had the support of my team which was really obvious in the fielding of Rene [Farrell] and Shelley [Nitschke] down on the boundary.”There were two sliding saves that saved final-over boundaries and New Zealand soon discovered they had left too much to be achieved at the death. Wickets halted their momentum and they were disappointed to find themselves in trouble at 36 for 5 after 11 overs, following their strong effort with the ball.”I was very pleased with how we bowled but obviously Australia bowled slightly better,” the New Zealand captain Aimee Watkins said. “They bowled hard into the wicket and we saw a few variations in bounce.”They used that well to their advantage. But the loss of early wickets put us in a hole although the way Sophie Devine batted at the end was outstanding and it gave us a chance.”

Many Arsenal fans have been left slamming the display of Takehiro Tomiyasu in their 2-0 loss at home to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Thursday night.

The Japan international was run ragged by Diogo Jota at times, as the former Wolves winger left him in the dust to slot in the away side’s first goal of the night.

Jota then made a clever outside to inside run off the back of Tomiyasu before chipping the ball over Aaron Ramsdale for his second.

The right-back had a poor game in general by his standards, losing out on eight of his duels in total, while he also failed to block any shots or make any tackles or crosses.

He gave possession away 18 times, the joint-second most out of any player on the pitch (SofaScore).

Arsenal fans slam Tomiyasu

These members of the Emirates Stadium faithful slammed his performance on Twitter, with one Gunners supporter even going as far as to claim that he was ‘horrible’:

“Smith-Rowe was HORRIBLE, Tomiyasu too”

Credit: @_HenryHP

“How bad were we defensively today though? Tomiyasu was poor from the get go”

Credit: @Levanja

“Tomiyasu looked like he was pulling a caravan tonight”

Credit: @jakefox_90

“Smith Rowe and Tomiyasu dropped a disasterclass”

Credit: @jormzyy

“Tomiyasu looked scared of the ball.”

Credit: @collindbaxter

“Tomiyasu so poor today, looked almost amateur at times.”

Credit: @11Kanna

In other news, find out whose display in the first leg was slammed here!

Steven Gerrard ‘will be asking’ Aston Villa to sign ‘at least one of’ Noni Madueke and Allan Saint-Maximin, sports journalist Pete O’Rourke says.

The lowdown

talkSPORT recently claimed that Gerrard had personally scouted Madueke during PSV Eindhoven’s goalless draw with Leicester City at The King Power Stadium in the Europa Conference League.

The 20-year-old Englishman, a product of the Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur youth systems, is valued at £16.2million by Transfermarkt.

Meanwhile, The Daily Mail reported earlier this month that Villa were keeping tabs on Saint-Maximin ahead of the summer transfer window, with Newcastle apparently ready to listen to offers in the £50 million range.

Both players are left wingers, meaning they could be considered potential replacements for Leon Bailey.

Indeed, transfer insider Dean Jones has predicted that the Jamaican will move on in the summer, just a year after arriving at the club.

The latest

O’Rourke says that Steven Gerrard will urge the club to bankroll the prospective moves if the players are part of his vision.

The 41-year-old will expect backing as he looks to fulfil his lofty goals at Aston Villa, he told GiveMeSport.

“They have got big ambitions at Villa Park, spending on the likes of Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho,” he said.

“So, if Steven Gerrard sees either of those players in his plans, he will be asking the club to maybe push forward and try and bring at least one of those players to Villa Park.”

The verdict

Villa furnished Gerrard with three new outfield players in January – £27 million Digne, Coutinho (on loan) and Calum Chambers (free transfer).

But they still find themselves down in 15th in the Premier League, and so if they’re to achieve the manager’s stated goal of competing for Europe, considerable investment looks to be a necessity.

Madueke and Saint-Maximin look like exciting targets.

Between them, they’ve scored 14 goals and provided 12 assists in all competitions this season, and they both love to run with the ball and take on defenders. Saint-Maximin leads the Premier League for successful dribbles per 90 minutes (4.3), while Madueke (2.3) features in the Eredivisie’s top five.

In other news, Villa could revisit a former target scouted by Dean Smith.