All posts by h716a5.icu

BRISBANE, Nov 15 AAP – Test paceman Andy Bichel pulled off the catch of the season at the Gabba and ripped the heart out of Tasmania’s top order today to put Queensland in sight of its first Pura Cup outright win of the summer.

Wayne Heming15-Nov-2002BRISBANE, Nov 15 AAP – Test paceman Andy Bichel pulled off the catch of the season at the Gabba and ripped the heart out of Tasmania’s top order today to put Queensland in sight of its first Pura Cup outright win of the summer.Bichel and stand-in captain Michael Kasprowicz, who featured in a vital 50-run eighth-wicket partnership after the Tigers roared briefly late in the first innings, had the visitors reeling at 4-9 in early in their second innings before rained stopped play with Tasmania in deep trouble at 4-42.Queensland made 229 to take first innings points and Tasmania returned to the field 42 runs behind and with showers threatening.It wasn’t the lightning or the approaching storm which had the Tasmanians ducking for cover – Bichel’s thunderbolts zapped the top order claiming opener Michael DiVenuto (0), Ricky Ponting (0) and Daniel Marsh (1) to a woeful shot.Bichel stunned all with his caught-and-bowled to dismiss Ponting three balls after removing DiVenuto.Ponting, who fell cheaply for seven in the first innings, attempted a half-hearted pull shot to a short delivery and skied the ball on the seemingly deserted leg side.Bichel took off like Carl Lewis, sprinting 30 metres and diving full stretch to take a spectacular catch before being almost buried by excited teammates.”They appreciate it, I haven’t run that far to take a catch off my on bowling before,” said Bichel, whose Test rival Brett Lee had taken seven wickets so far for NSW in the match in Sydney.”I hope it’s typical Queensland weather and it’s hot and steamy and the balls swings around and makes it difficult as possible for the batsmen tomorrow.”At one stage Tasmania’s second innings scorecard of 2-0-0-1-1-0 looked more like a telephone number to order a pizza.How the Tigers would have loved the rain to have hit earlier to save them from cyclone Bichel.Kasprowicz’s dismissal of opener Jamie Cox (2) moved him to within one wicket of joining fast bowling great Jeff Thomson (327 wickets) as Queensland’s second most successful four-day domestic bowler.Earlier, Tasmania hauled back in the game when Ponting introduced Scott Kremerskothen into the attack and he claimed the wickets of Stuart Law (18) and Andrew Symonds (0) to have 2-0.At that stage the Bulls slipped to to 4-122 and, when wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe (4) was the victim off a lucky run out as the ball deflected onto the stumps off bowler Shane Jurgensen’s fingers and Bichel went for a duck, they were 7-173 and fighting for first innings points.That’s when Kasprowicz led like a captain, teaming with Perren (41) to steer the Bulls to the two points.Kasprowicz’s 26 — after being twice put on his backside by bouncers from Shane Watson and also struck on the body — equalled the number of runs he had scored for the Bulls last summer.The rain arrived at 4.09pm (local time) with Tasmania at 4-42, but it was too late to put out Queensland’s fire.

The National Cricket selectors have chosen the following team to representSouth Africa “A” in a four-day-match against the touring Sri Lankan team inKimberley from the 25th to the 28th of October

UCBSA Media Release15-Oct-2002The National Cricket selectors have chosen the following team to representSouth Africa “A” in a four-day-match against the touring Sri Lankan team inKimberley from the 25th to the 28th of October.Dale Benkenstein – Captain (Kwazulu Natal),
Neil McKenzie – Vice-captain (Northerns),
Jacques Rudolph (Northerns),
Alviro Petersen (Northerns),
Boeta Dippenaar (Free State),
Justin Ontong (Boland),
Robin Peterson (Eastern Province),
Andrew Hall (Easterns),
Steve Elworthy (Northerns),
Thami Tsolekile (Western Province),
Monde Zondeki (Border),
12th man: Loots Bosman (Griqualand West).
Northern Titans opener Alviro Petersen and Border fast bowler Monde Zondekiare the two new caps in the team. Twenty-one-year-old Petersen has been inprolific form this season, having scored two centuries in the SupersportSeries. Twenty-year-old Zondeki, who toured New Zealand with the SA Under 19squad in 2000/01 has taken 16 wickets in four Supersport Series matchesthis season.The captaincy reverts to Dale Benkenstein after Neil McKenzie led the teamin the recent series against Australia whilst Benkenstein was in the seniorside playing in the ICC Champions Trophy in Colombo

Rawalpindi had to pay dearly for the absence of paceman Najaf Shah, called up for Pakistan A duty to Multan, as Lahore Blues cashed in to take a 10-run first innings lead in their National Junior (Under-19) Championship semifinal at the Rawalpindi

28-Sep-2002Rawalpindi had to pay dearly for the absence of paceman Najaf Shah, called up for Pakistan A duty to Multan, as Lahore Blues cashed in to take a 10-run first innings lead in their National Junior (Under-19) Championship semifinal at the Rawalpindi Stadium Friday.Najaf, Rawalpindi’s strike bowler had to leave midway on the second day with Lahore struggling at 76 for five after resuming their first innings at the overnight score of 40 for three. As Najaf left after picking up a wicket, Lahore made most of his absence to reach 220 for nine off 80 overs gaining a vital lead.Rawalpindi had lost further ground by the close and were three down for 70 in their second innings off 23.4 overs. Shoaib Nasir, on 21 and Mazhar Malik, who had yet to score, were at the crease.Earlier, Atif Ejaz stood out scoring a patient unbeaten half century, his 148-ball knock swinging the pendulum Lahore’s way. He stayed at the crease for a good 208 minutes and frustrated the home bowlers.Pacer Saad Altaf, who had three overnight wickets to his credit, snapped up another two to finish with five for 75 while Shahid Mahmood picked up two for 37.Saturday is the final day of the match.

The fixtures haven’t even been released, but Dean Windass has already ruled his former side Sheffield United out of getting promoted straight back to the Premier League next year.

Having failed to build off their outstanding first campaign back in the top-flight in 2019-2020, the Blades were relegated last term having sat at the foot of the table from November onwards.

Sheffield United will no doubt be amongst the favourites to make an instant return to the top division next time, helped by the appointment of Slavisa Jokanovic.

The Serbian, who recently left his position as manager of Qatari outfit Al-Gharafa, has twice been promoted to the Premier League – in 2014 with Watford, and most recently, 2018 with Fulham.

However, after a wretched start to the following season with Fulham, Jokanovic was sacked before Christmas and hasn’t managed in England since.

Despite having two promotions on his CV, Windass’ early prediction is that the Bramall Lane outfit won’t be returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

He told Football FanCast:

“It pains me to say it, but I can’t see them going back up next year, depending how many players you do lose.

“He did fantastically well at Fulham and were probably the best team in the Championship, but I can’t see Sheffield United bouncing back straight away.”

The last day’s play for the Indians before the Lord’s Test that starts on Thursday ended as expected, in less than spectacular fashion

Anand Vasu22-Jul-2002The last day’s play for the Indians before the Lord’s Test that starts on Thursday ended as expected, in less than spectacular fashion. Chasing 253 for victory on a wicket that was increasingly difficult to bat on, Hampshire were bowled out for 186 in 46.2 overs, giving India victory by 66 runs.The day’s play was of purely academic interest, with the result almost a foregone conclusion. It began with Hampshire’s Robin Smith and John Francis attempting to keep the Indian bowlers at bay. With deliveries continuing to surprise batsmen by bounce or the lack of the same, there was little the bowlers needed to do besides putting the ball in the right place.Sanjay Bangar got one right on target to trap Smith (19) in front of the stumps. Lawrence Prittipaul, a cousin of the popular West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul, entered to encouraging cheers. The middle-order batsman gave those gathered at the Rose Bowl reason to smile, as he played a few fierce cuts that raced to the fence. On a day where batting was a bit of a lottery, Prittipaul livened things up with an innings of 32 in just 40 balls. By the time he had begun to look good, however, wickets were falling at the other end. John Francis (19) gave Tinu Yohannan his only wicket of the innings.From then on to 129/8 there was little batting of note, and it appeared that the game would be over well before the scheduled luncheon interval at 1 o’clock. But Hampshire’s batting can hardly be expected to fold up to suit those looking out for a good lunch. Shaun Udal batted imaginatively to reach an unbeaten 36, putting on 57 for the ninth, and effectively last wicket.James Tomlinson (23) supported Udal as best as he could, but could not get the bat down in time to keep out a Kumble skidder. When the appeal for lbw was upheld, it was all over for the hosts. John Crawley, due to do duty for England in the forthcoming Test series, did not bat. The middle-order batsman, laid low by a virus, could have just as easily been kept back to avoid the risk of injury on this Rose Bowl wicket.While sections of the media have been quick to decry the Hampshire authorities for the wicket, Indian coach John Wright was his calm, collected self. “Obviously we would have liked a better surface,” he told reporters soon after the match. “But we don’t like to moan and groan about it. This is a new surface and it will take a bit of time to settle down,” he added.The decision to rest both left arm seamers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan raised a few eyebrows, but once again Wright had his answers close at hand. “They’ve all done a lot of bowling in the recent past and it was a conscious decision on our part to give them a rest. We’ve simulated match conditions in practice sessions and preparations are fine.”In contrast to India, England have had their share of injury worries. With Darren Gough, Alex Tudor, Marcus Trescothick and Andy Caddick all on the injured list, Nasser Hussain and Duncan Fletcher have a bit to worry about.Wright, though, was happy to leave the worrying to the opposite camp. “We don’t really want to think too much about the injuries in the England team. It’s not the way we think. They’re a highly competitive side and we know that from their recent tour to India. What we need to do is concentrate on playing well, as close to our potential as possible. We nearly did that in the one-dayers, and that’s what we need to take forward to the Tests as well,” said Wright.It is true that India’s preparations for the Test series have been hampered by the two-paced nature of this wicket. But Wright was quick to reassure journalists that the Indian team was well prepared. When pressed to make further comment on the wicket, Wright sprang a surprise. Departing from his usually guarded and careful style of answering, he said: “I’m told wickets are a bit like red wine. They need a bit of time to settle down.” There was a twinkle in is eye as he ended the press conference and moved over to the nets where the Indians were having a session. Wine apart, the Indian team certainly appear in high spirits going in to the Test series.

Sachin Tendulkar hit a pedigree, unbeaten 75 to steer India to a three-wicket win over Sussex with seven balls to spare in their 50 overs a side day-night tour opener at Hove

Stephen Lamb22-Jun-2002Sachin Tendulkar hit a pedigree, unbeaten 75 to steer India to a three-wicket win over Sussex with seven balls to spare in their 50 overs a side day-night tour opener at Hove. His innings included two sixes, one off Will House over the mid-wicket boundary, and the other a straight drive off Mark Davis which just cleared the leaping Michael Yardy.Tendulkar played himself in carefully after India lost two quick wickets in the aftermath of a brisk opening stand of 60 between Dinesh Mongia and Virender Sehwag. Sehwag had skied a return catch to Kevin Innes for 30, and nine runs later Mohammad Kaif, who had made just two, was bowled by Yardy.Mongia then completed a half-century, sharing in a third-wicket stand of 57 with Tendulkar before falling to a one-handed catch by James Carpenter at short extra cover off House. Acting captain Rahul Dravid was then bowled by the same bowler for six to reduce the Indians to 144 for four.Tendulkar completed an unflurried half-century off 54 balls. He lost Yuvraj Singh, caught and bowled by Davis for six at 155-5 with 11 overs remaining, and VVS Laxman, bowled by Innes six overs later at 185-6, and Ajit Agarkar for five, lbw to Innes at 193-7. But Zaheer Khan then helped Tendulkar take India to the 200 mark and ultimate victory.Earlier Ashish Nehra made an impressive start to his first tour of England, with four for 27 from his 10 overs as Sussex made 203 for eight from their 50 overs.Nehra removed Michael Yardy for just five, played on with only 24 on the board, but Sussex recovered to reach 141 for three before Nehra took three wickets in three successive overs to reduce them to 155 for six. He bowled Bas Zuiderent for 13, had Bill House caught by VVS Laxman for five and then bowled Tim Ambrose for three.Opener Richard Montgomerie, who made 44 before being caught in the slips offZaheer Khan, and Murray Goodwin, who shared a second-wicket stand of 51 with Montgomerie, were the main batting performers for Sussex. Goodwin made 49 before he was bowled charging down the wicket at Virender Sehwag, who bowled eight tidy overs for 32 runs.Sussex lost their seventh wicket at 174 when Kevin Innes was run out for 10and then had Mark Davis bowled for 12 by Ajit Agarkar, the only Indian paceman to have toured England before, for the 1999 World Cup. James Carpenter finished unbeaten on 43 to take Sussex through to 203 for eight from their allotted 50 overs.

Mark Warburton has hinted that he will not be making a move to bring Alex Pritchard to Queen Park Rangers this summer.

What’s been said?

In an interview with The Mirror, the QPR boss opened up on a number of the transfer rumours that are currently surrounding the club, including The Rs’ reported interest in the recently released Huddersfield Town midfielder Alex Pritchard.

However, despite heaping a considerable amount of praise on the 28-year-old, Warburton went on to suggest that his side would not be making move for the £2.52m-rated man this summer.

He said: “As for Alex Pritchard, I know him really well. He’s a very talented player. I see us getting linked with him all the time. But don’t forget we’ve got the likes of Ilias Chair, Chris Willock and George Thomas – so we’ve got that type of player in the building already.

“I’ve got enormous respect for Alex. He’s a top lad and a top player but as I say we’ve got players in that position already.”

Fans will be buzzing

Despite showing a significant amount of promise as a youngster, being dubbed a “talented” player by his former Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Christian Eriksen, since making an £11.12m move to Huddersfield back in January of 2018, it would be a fair claim to make that Pritchard has not quite lived up to his price tag.

Over his 83 appearances in all competitions for the Terriers, the former Tottenham man scored just three goals and registered three assists for the club – having last found the back of the net when Huddersfield were still in the top flight.

The 28-year-old was once again in extremely disappointing form over his 18 Championship appearances last term, scoring no goals and providing no assists, as well as creating just one big chance and averaging a mere 0.1 shots on target per game.

These metrics saw the midfielder earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.60, ranking him as the club’s joint 11th-worst performer in the second tier.

As such, considering these lacklustre displays, in addition to the fact that, as Warburton suggests, QPR already own the likes of Chair, Willock and Thomas who can operate in attacking midfield, as well as the potential issue of the former England U21 international’s wage demands – having been on £30k-per-week at Huddersfield –  the fact the 58-year-old does not seem to fancy a move for Pritchard is likely to have fans of the club buzzing.

In other news: QPR handed huge transfer boost over “top drawer” target that’ll have Warburton buzzing

Auckland became odds on favourites to win the first State Championship competition after completing a thrilling 35-run triumph over Canterbury at the Village Green in Christchurch today

Matthew Appleby21-Mar-2002Auckland became odds on favourites to win the first State Championship competition after completing a thrilling 35-run triumph over Canterbury at the Village Green in Christchurch today.Six points clear at the top of the table, Auckland meet Wellington, the only team that can beat them to the title, at Colin Maiden Park in Auckland in the last round starting on Sunday.Auckland captain Brooke Walker was the hero, but the leg-spinner, who is 25 on Monday, revealed to CricInfo how he only came to bowl the over that won the match by accident.Set 254 to win in at least 71 overs after Walker declared at 285/9, Canterbury had a chance until Walker took the brave decision to bring himself back on for the first over of the 15 to be bowled in the last hour.Walker revealed, “I was actually going to bowl Bradley Nielsen but he split the webbing on his hand the over before and I didn’t really have much choice to be honest.”Peter Fulton, aged 22 and in just his fifth first-class game, not only took four wickets this morning to help give Canterbury a target of the lowest score of the match, but then blocked, swung and drove his way to a career-best 82, leaving just 36 runs needed from the last 15 overs.The 190cm tall nephew of former New Zealand administrator and Canterbury batsman Rod Fulton had been particularly severe on Walker’s leg spin, hitting him for two fours and two on side sixes in one over.However, Fulton’s favoured smash over mid-wicket became his undoing.Walker said, “I put another man out at cow corner and when he saw him he might have had a couple of thoughts in his mind whether to try and hit it over the ropes.”Fulton was caught by Llorne Howell at mid-wicket and Wade Cornelius was last out, caught and bowled by Walker four deliveries later.Walker added, “I think they were disadvantaged with Wade being injured and we gained Andre Adams in the second innings after a day and a half off with his thumb injury. Andre was the key today.”Two wickets in successive deliveries from Adams in the 55th over, when 56 runs were still needed by Canterbury swung the match back towards Auckland. The second man out was Cleighten Cornelius, brother of Wade, who became the second batsman in the match, after Walker, to make a king pair.Ryan Burson, Nielsen and Fulton had all taken wickets in successive deliveries before Adams became the fourth man in the game to be on a hat-trick.Auckland’s target looked like it was going to be over 300 when Tim McIntosh (123) rushed to his third century in four appearances against Canterbury early this morning.But having lost five wickets for 39 runs, three to medium pacer Fulton in seven balls, Walker called his side in.Canterbury lost regular wickets as the ball kept low at times as four lbws in the first four dismissals shows.Then Gareth Hopkins and Fulton added 45 in nine overs, but when Paul Wiseman came man in with 136 required in 35 overs and three wickets to fall Auckland crowded the bat sensing an early victory.Yet Wiseman played attractively to add 80 in 19 overs with Fulton before Adams (four for 55) and ultimately Walker (three for 40) saw Auckland home.Looking ahead to the Championship decider Walker said, “if we can win on first innings in the first couple of days of the match we can relax and enjoy the rest of the game.”

KARACHI, April 21: Shoaib Akhtar inflicted a further psychological blow to injury-stricken New Zealand with a career-best performance that guided Pakistan to a crushing 153-run victory in the first One-day International at National Stadium Sunday

Samiul Hasan22-Apr-2002KARACHI, April 21: Shoaib Akhtar inflicted a further psychological blow to injury-stricken New Zealand with a career-best performance that guided Pakistan to a crushing 153-run victory in the first One-day International at National Stadium Sunday.Shoaib’s magnificent performance, that saw him finish with six for 16, virtually overshadowed a marvellous century by Yousuf Youhana who struck 125 – his sixth century in 101 matches – to lift Pakistan from 49 for three to an imposing 275 for six.New Zealand, who were without skipper Stephen Fleming. Arriving in the country without four frontline players, the Kiwis were blown away for 122 in 30 overs.Shoaib was simply unplayable on a good batting track and in front of a full house. He regularly bowled at a blistering pace which the New Zealand batsmen failed to cope with. Such was the fear of Shoaib, that the lower middle-order batsmen virtually stepped down the track in an effort to save themselves from being hit.They managed to protect their well guarded bodies, but failed to save the furniture behind them as the stumps were sent cartwheeling at regular intervals.Shoaib looked focussed and immediately stamped his authority on the hapless New Zealanders by claiming the prized scalp of stand-in captain Craig McMillan who holed out to Saqlain Mushtaq at mid-on while trying an attempted hook shot. It was Shoaib’s 100th wicket in 60th match.From then on, there was no stopping Shoaib and with the crowd cheering him on, it looked he would pick a wicket off every delivery.It was pleasing to see Shoaib bowl at such a frightening pace, particularly after what he had gone through in recent times.New Zealand, chasing a decent score, were off to a flying start when Nathan Astle and Matthew Horne put on 53 inside the first 10 overs. Astle looked like regaining his form, which served him so well against England recently, with some exquisite strokes. But as it looked that the Karachi crowd will be entertained by his free stroking ability, Waqar Younis outfoxed him with a change of pace to bowl him. In the following over, Wasim Akram restricted Lou Vincent’s outing to just five balls by pinning him in front of the stumps.Horne’s brief innings ended on a tragic note when McMillan failed to respond to his call. It was then when Shoaib got his act together and virtually toyed with the inexperienced New Zealand batting.Earlier in the day, Youhana stroked a typically gutsy century to pull Pakistan out of trouble. Youhana and Younis Khan put on 161 off 192 balls for the fourth wicket that allowed Abdul Razzaq to play a little cameo knock later. Razzaq clobbered a boundary and two sixes in his 18-ball 30 as Pakistan collected 92 off the last 10 overs.Youhana, fresh from his match-winning century in the Sharjah Cup final last week, continued with his excellent form with another superb innings after Pakistan had lost three for 49.Youhana, who needed Imran Nazir as runner to complete his century, scored his runs off 155 balls with the aid of 14 boundaries and a six.Younis Khan concentrated on nudges and pushes but punished anything loose to the boundary. His 81-ball 69 included three boundaries and a six, carved over point just before he was out.Younis and Youhana had pulled Pakistan out of deep waters after Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir and Inzamam-ul-Haq had returned to the dressing room, falling to poor shots. Afridi holed out to McMillan at mid-off while Imran and Inzamam were caught at deep square-leg while hooking.Pakistan’s innings was halted for 19 minutes when a missile thrown from the Intikhab Alam enclosure hit Andre Adams. McMillan brought the team back but led his men into the field after local hero Rashid Latif pleaded with the spectators to calm down. Rashid’s words turned out to be magic as there was no further trouble.But the stupidity of one man certainly left a bad taste in the mouth, particularly after New Zealand is the first international team to visit Pakistan for a full tour following Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.The crowd needs to show a lot of discipline and character in the forthcoming matches as their one act of madness can force Australia to cancel their tour in October.

Former Indian all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar on Monday denied that he wasin any way involved with the Uttar Pradesh based non-banking financecompany which is accused of duping investors to the tunes of crores ofrupees

19-Jun-2001Former Indian all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar on Monday denied that he wasin any way involved with the Uttar Pradesh based non-banking financecompany which is accused of duping investors to the tunes of crores ofrupees.The beleagured cricketer, who had been untraceable ever since the UPpolice issued arrest warrant against him late last month, toldreporters that the NBFC Apace India had procured the marketing rightsof the products of his cosmetics company which he had establishedabout five years ago.”My relationship with Apace was on company to company basis. Myassociation with Apace has been misunderstood,” he said, adding he wasnot involved with the company in any other way.The cricketer, already smarting under a five-year ban from playinginternational cricket for allegedly hob-nobbing with bookmakers, saidhe had cancelled the marketing rights given to Apace in April 1999.Prabhakar, flanked by his counsel Vinod Shahi and Anil Pratap Singh,however, admitted that he had accompanied Apace officials to severalplaces in Uttaranchal during the launch of his company’s herbalproducts and had even played for the Apace cricket team.On being asked about his signatures on the receipts issued by Apace,he claimed he had signed those against purchase of his own company’sproducts at some places. In fact, he said, he had invested about Rs 25lakh in Apace and was now trying to recover his money.A district court in Haldwani (Uttaranchal) had issued non-bailablewarrants against Prabhakar who later obtained stay against the lowercourt order from the Uttaranchal High Court.