Clive Lloyd, the former West Indian captain, has said that the domestic structure in the Caribbean needs drastic improvement if the team has to come out of its prolonged slump. West Indies extended their run of consecutive losses in one-dayers to nine after losing 3-0 to Pakistan.”We need to be working towards some more A-team cricket and we have to strengthen our domestic cricket,” Lloyd told the BBC World Service. “We need to get coaches who have a good track record into our game and [who will be] singing from the same hymn sheet.”Lloyd also pointed to the absence of West Indies players in county cricket as one of the problems that has led to the current state. “Maybe [the counties] don’t think their [West Indies’] cricket is good enough,” he said. “Something our players should think about is being a winner – then you win all round. When we were winning everyone wanted our players, now we are not winning anything, nobody wants our players.”Winning, like losing, is contagious and nobody wants to be involved in West Indies’ cricket if we’re not winning,” he continued. “When playing in different conditions against different types of bowlers, you learn to be more professional and have more discipline – that’s what county cricket is all about.”West Indies were also subjected to their first whitewash in a one-day series at home when they lost 5-0 to South Africa, who also won the Tests 2-0. West Indies’ next assignment is a two-Test series against Pakistan, the first of which will start in Barbados on May 26.
Worcestershire have signed Nadeem Malik, the former England Under-19 bowler. He has signed a two-year deal after requesting to leave Nottinghamshire due to a lack of opportunity.Malik nearly moved to Worcestershire last season, but chose to stay on at Notts in the hope of playing in the first team. However, after making just two appearances last year, he decided to make the switch second time around.”The signing of Nadeem is a real coup for Worcestershire,” Tom Moody, Worcestershire’s coach, said. “There were a number of counties after him and we are delighted he is joining us at New Road. He has already demonstrated his enormous potential in first-class cricket and I am confident we can help him build on that and become a top-class performer.”Malik was equally as pleased himself. He said: “My opportunities were limited at Notts and this move gives me a chance to break into the Worcestershire team and, if all goes well, stay there. I want to go all the way to the top and play for England. There’s a lot of work to do before I get there, but I think this move will give me a chance to do that.He continued: “Something’s working right here at New Road. You only have to look the transformation off Gareth Batty — he’s out in Sri Lanka with England. You look at the progress Kabir Ali and Vikram Solanki have made and you know that Tom Moody is making a massive difference. He’s a big reason why I came here and hopefully I can go along the same lines as those players.”Malik, 21, has toured India and New Zealand with the England Under 19s, and has played 14 first-class matches for Notts, taking 35 wickets.
Off-spinner Irfanuddin excelled in Pakistan’s 29-run defeat againstNew Zealand in a Under-19 World Cup warm-up match at Lincoln Friday.Irfanuddin captured four wickets for 43 to restrict tournament hoststo 233 for eight in 50 overs. However Pakistan’s young guns, probablyunused to conditions, were dismissed for 204 in a match in which eachteam was allowed 13 players but only 11 could bat and field.Skipper Salman Butt was Pakistan’s top scorer with 56 off 83 ballswith seven boundaries. Arslan Mir, batting at No 9, chipped in with a34-ball 38 that included four boundaries.New Zealand’s innings revolved around Jesse Ryder who scored a 67-ball74 with eight boundaries. He was instrumental in helping his teamcollect 81 runs off the first 15 overs. However, the runs dried downwhen Irfanuddin, Azhar Ali and Arslan Mir bowled in got into actionand allowed New Zealand to score only 84 in the next 24 overs.Nevertheless, the Black Caps picked up 70 valuable runs in the deathovers to post a decent score.
Muthumudalige Pushpakumara’s timely century helped the Sri Lankanunder-19 team to recover and post a fighting second innings total. SriLanka ended the third day at 268 for eight in the second `Test’against the England under-19s at Northampton.Pushpakumara’s unbeaten 125, which included 13 boundaries, came at atime when the visitors were in dire straits as the Englishmen reducedthem to 74 for six. With Kausbal Lokuarachchi (63), Pushpakumara added129 for the seventh wicket and helped the tourists recover and put SriLanka in command.Sri Lanka made a disastrous start in their second innings losingDaniels for 0, Gajanayake for 4, Kandamby for 1, Mubarak for 0, Pererafor 33 and Weeraratne for 10. For England Murtagh was the successfulbowler taking 3 for 36. The Sri Lankan team now leads by 291 runs, atotal which looks challenging for the England side. The pitch alsoseems to be offering some assistance to the spinners.Earlier, England resuming at their overnight score of 222 for sixadded further 4 runs before being all out for 263. For the Sri Lankanteam, Dhammika ended with figures of 5 for 59. He was ably supportedby Pushpakumara (2 for 36) and Kandamby (2 for 40).
Newcastle United are set to head into their first summer transfer window with PIF in charge at the end of the current season.
The Saudi Arabian consortium completed their takeover after the start of the campaign and had no say on the business done in pre-season, as Joe Willock was the sole summer 2021 signing under Mike Ashley.
PIF flexed their muscles in January as they brought in Bruno Guimaraes, Matt Targett, Dan Burn, Chris Wood and Kieran Trippier, and it will be intriguing to see what they do in July and August this year.
Brutally axe Clark
Along with incomings, Newcastle will also need to let players go, and one who must be brutally axed is defender Ciaran Clark. The Irishman already has one foot out the door after he was omitted from the club’s Premier League squad for the second half of the season.
Leaving him off the list is the first step but they must now take the next, and final, one by selling him permanently ahead of the 2022/23 campaign. His current contract expires in 2023, so the Magpies would need to put up with his wages for another season if they are unable (or refuse) to cash in on him before then.
Clark has become a liability for Newcastle on the pitch in recent years as he has allowed his performance levels to plummet.
In the 2018/19 and 2019/20 Premier League campaigns, he averaged WhoScored ratings of 7.06 and 6.89 respectively. This shows that he was putting in solid displays on a consistent basis and Transfermarkt valued him at £5.4m – the highest point of his career – in December 2019.
Since then, it has been all downhill for the centre-back. He averaged an underwhelming WhoScored rating of 6.64 in the 2020/21 campaign and then endured a disastrous first half of this season before being left out of Howe’s squad, averaging a dreadful rating of 6.24.
Along with this, journalist Josh Bunting claimed that Clark “embarrassed himself” after he was sent off in a friendly match in Saudi Arabia at the end of January.
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This shows that his performance levels have been plummeting and that is reflected in his market value. He is currently valued at £2.25m by Transfermarkt – set in December 2021 – which means that his stock has dropped 58.3% in just two years.
Newcastle must now cut their ties with Clark and sell him in the summer whilst they still can. His statistics do not suggest that he is set for a revival and Howe’s decision to leave him out of his squad indicates that the manager has no plans to reintegrate him into the first-team, which is why PIF must sell him as quickly as possible.
AND in other news, Forget Burn: Newcastle now plotting bid to sign “unbelievable” £30m tank, he’d be “sensational”…
The dates of two of the matches for Sri Lanka’s trip to the West Indies have changed.The West Indies Cricket Board announced on Thursday that the 3rd one-dayer at the Beausejour Stadium in St. Lucia, has been moved one day earlier to April 15 at the request of Sri Lanka Cricket.The Twenty20 day/night match scheduled for Kensington Oval, Barbados on June 21 will now be played in afternoon on June 20 at the same venue.There’s also a change to a one-day warm-up match. The Vice Chancellor’s Game scheduled for June 20, will now take place on June 21 (day/night) at the Three W’s Oval, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados.This change has occurred because the lights proposed for Kensington Oval will not be ready in time to stage night matches at that venue. Before then, Sri Lanka will be in the Caribbean for two Tests – in Guyana and Trinidad.
Greg Chappell brought the curtain down on a controversial tenure as India’s coach by announcing today that he would not be seeking an extension of his contract, which had ended along with India’s participation in the World Cup. Chappell informed the board president of his decision on Wednesday, citing “family and personal reasons.”Chappell, 58, had served as coach since June 2005.Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, said that Chappell had informed him about his decision in the afternoon. “Chappell’s contract is over. It was up to the World Cup”, Pawar told reporters. “I got a telephone call from him in the afternoon. Due to his family and personal reasons he was not interested in continuing the contract. He thanked BCCI for the opportunity.”Chappell’s decision follows India’s early exit from the World Cup, and the resulting war of words in the media between Chappell and senior players. The BCCI had convened a meeting in Mumbai on Friday and Saturday to review the team’s performance in the Caribbean, and was expected to take several hard decisions.Chappell had been asked to attend the meeting – he is in Mumbai and is likely to keep that appointment – and present a detailed report on his tenure. The past few days have seen the Indian media carry what it claimed to be extracts from Chappell’s report that were scathing of the performance of senior players. That led to reactions, again in the media, by unnamed senior players.What resulted was a clear divide, as reported by Cricinfo, between Chappell and the team management, including captain Rahul Dravid, and the senior players.The simmering controversy seemed to boil over on Wednesday morning when published an interview with Sachin Tendulkar – known for avoiding comment on controversial topics – in which he made several pointed remarks about Chappell.”We do realise that we played badly and, as a team, we take full responsibility for that”, Tendulkar said. “But what hurt us most is if the coach has questioned our attitude.”Within hours of that interview being published, Chappell announced his decision to not seek an extension of his contract.There is no word from the BCCI on a possible successor. India’s next assignment is a Test and one-day series in Bangladesh next month and the Board may appoint an interim coach while scouting for a long-term prospect.Chappell’s tenure included a record-breaking run of India winning 17 ODIs while chasing, and a Test series win in the West Indies. It saw several young players, including S Sreesanth and Dinesh Karthik, breaking through into the national side to some acclaim. But it also had its share of controversy, which appeared to stem from a hardline, no-nonsense attitude.His tenure began with a bitter and public feud with Sourav Ganguly, who was team captain when Chappell took charge but was sacked, after Chappell suggested he sit out a match on a tour of Zimbabwe, within four months.Ganguly returned to the national team during last year’s tour of South Africa. He was among the runs then, and ensured his selection to the World Cup side; he continued scoring in the Caribbean but the team management was apparently unhappy with his slow scoring rate.In his letter, released to the media, Chappell, said, “I am grateful to the players with whom I have worked in this time for the challenges that they presented me with and which I tried to meet in a professional, methodical and interesting way in the interests of the team and the individual.”He went on to thank the support staff who worked with him for their efforts. “I would like to make special mention of my support staff without whom I would not have survived the rigours of the past 22 months,” he said. “Ian Frazer and Greg King deserve special mention for their efforts as do John Gloster, S Ramakrishnan and Ramesh Mane. I am particularly grateful for the wonderful support of my family, especially my wife Judy, who has enjoyed the experience as much as I.”Chappell also had a word for the people of India who followed cricket so passionately. “The people of India deserve a special mention as they are the ones whose attention, enthusiasm and love and support drive the great game, and business, of cricket in this country, and around the world,” he said. “I thank them all, especially those who have written to me and the thousands who have gone out of their way to come up to me with well wishes.”
The Faisalabad Wolves, defending champions and favourite to retain the domestic one-day title, will clash with Lahore Eagles in the ABN-AMRO Cup final at the National Stadium in Karachi today.Faisalabad, who also clinched the Quaid-e-Azam Cup last season, have remained unbeaten leading into the final and topped the points table with 24. Lahore won four of their six matches and remained in second place comfortably. Faisalabad lost hold of their Twenty20 Cup title to Sialkot Lions earlier this month, but their captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, and Mohammad Hafeez, a former Pakistan opener, have been in good form and have plenty of experience.Lahore were one of the losing semi-finalists last season. They can, however, take inspiration from the success of their Lions team in the second-tier Silver League. After a promising performance, the Lions reached the final which was shared with Islamabad Leopards due to a wash-out. Among the ranks are only two players from last year’s final – Arsalan Mir and Jahangir Mirza – but Lahore’s strength lies in their young players.The winners of the final will pick up US$4,150 plus the trophy, while the runners-up will collect approximately US$2,000. In addition, individual awards of US$415 will be given to the Man of the Match and the tournament’s Best Batsman, Bowler, Fielder and Wicketkeeper.Faisalabad Wolves (from:) Misbahul Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Ali, Asif Hussain, Naved Latif, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Salman (wk), Tauqir Hussain, Imran Khalid, Samiullah Niazi, Saeed Ajmal, Asad Ali, Mohammad Zahid, Abdul Mannan, Sabir Hussain.Lahore Eagles (from): Aamir Sajjad (capt), Mohammad Ashfaq, Abid Ali, Muntazar Mehdi, Arsalan Mir, Kamran Sajid, Jahangir Mirza, Sohail Ahmed, Shahbaz Butt (wk), Waqas Ahmed, Junaid Zia, Usman Malik, Mohammad Khalil, Jamshed Ahmed, Sajid Ali.
Inzamam-ul-Haq played his first Test innings as a 22-year-old, in England in 1992. Though he’d made his mark in the World Cup earlier that year, in his first Test series, he did little to suggest that 13 years later, he’d be recognised as one of the finest batsmen ever to play for Pakistan – the scores in his first series were 8*, 0, 8, 26, 5, 19. Inzamam, however, had Imran Khan’s backing, and that faith was soon justified – his first half-century came in his next series, in New Zealand, and four innings after that, in the West Indies, Inzamam made 123, the first of his 20 centuries. The Bangalore Test will be Inzamam’s 100th, a feat achieved by 30 others, but only by three other Pakistanis – Javed Miandad, (124), Wasim Akram (104) and Saleem Malik (103). (Click here for Inzamam’s career summary.)
Inzamam is easily among the most successful batsmen for Pakistan. Only Javed Miandad has scored more runs and has a better average. (Click here for Pakistan’s leading Test batsmen in terms of average.)
Of the 20 hundreds he’s scored, 15 of them have led to Pakistani victories. It’s an unusually high percentage, and among batsmen with at least 15 centuries, it’s been bettered only by Don Bradman and Steve Waugh, while Matthew Hayden and Mark Waugh share the same percentage. In fact, in the top ten, Inzamam and Gordon Greenidge are the only non-Australians.
100s in wins
Total 100s
Percentage
Bradman
23
29
79.31
Steve Waugh
25
32
78.13
Inzamam
15
20
75.00
Hayden
15
20
75.00
Mark Waugh
15
20
75.00
Not surprisingly, Inzamam averages 76.51 in victories, which is fourth-highest among batsmen who have been part of at least 20 wins. And when Pakistan win by an innings, Inzamam’s average of 202 is on top of the heap (min. qual: five such wins).
In victories
Tests won
Runs
Average
Bradman
30
4813
130.08
Dravid
28
2926
79.08
Sobers
31
3097
77.42
Inzamam
41
3902
76.51
Greg Chappell
38
3595
70.49
In innings wins
Tests won
Runs
Average
Inzamam
12
1419
202.71
Sobers
11
1345
168.12
Bradman
14
2003
166.92
Samaraweera
7
423
141.00
Gower
7
739
123.17
As the table below shows, Inzamam has also been almost constantly improving his stats. After ten Tests, his numbers were rather modest, but gradually he has pushed up those numbers now to rather imposing levels.
Runs
Average
100s
After 10 Tests
466
31.06
1
After 20 Tests
1174
43.48
3
After 30 Tests
2047
45.48
4
After 40 Tests
2656
45.01
5
After 50 Tests
3139
43.59
6
After 60 Tests
3848
43.23
8
After 70 Tests
4807
46.22
12
After 80 Tests
5600
47.05
15
After 90 Tests
6574
49.42
18
After 99 Tests
7238
48.90
20
As a captain, Inzamam averages 41, which is a fair average, but is almost nine runs less than the corresponding number when he isn’t leading the side. The difference is the highest among all captains for Pakistan. These are early days on the job for him, though – he has only done it 12 times – and it’s quite likely that the average will climb up by the time he is done.
The old adage claims that all publicity is good publicity. But that might not be the case as far as the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is concerned. As the furore over ticket prices for next spring’s series between West Indies and England rumbles on, some tour operators are claiming that sales have slowed markedly since the Draconian levy on ticket prices was announced.What has angered tour operators was that the WICB only told them of the levy in October, long after they had begun advertising and selling holiday packages. The companies were further incensed when they were told that only one company – London-based New Century Marketing – would be handling tickets sales."The minute the levy was announced, sales dried up and we are now getting cancellations," Don Gooding, a senior consultant at London’s Barbados Journeys, told The Nation newspaper. "We are taking cancellations higher than I would have expected."New Century Marketing have repeatedly claimed that the levy has had no effect on sales, but another agency, the high-profile Kuoni Travel/Sports Abroad, disputed that."Our sales have dropped considerably since," Nick Abbott-Charles told The Nation. "Within the last month, we’ve taken about ten per cent of the bookings we felt we would have got. Things have slowed down. The phones are not ringing and it’s worrying." Kuoni was intending to send 700 people to the Caribbean, but so far has sold only 300 packages.A number of individuals have said that they have decided to eschew the official tour groups following the announcement of the levy and would travel in the hope of picking up tickets from locals – the levy is only being applied to ticket sales abroad. "I’ll offer two or three times the face value – which will still be far less than the rip-off prices demanded by the board – and I’ll get a ticket, no worries," said one would-be spectator. "The locals touts will make a killing."The WICB might have stumbled on the price-hike as a good way of bringing in vital cash to help prepare for the 2007 World Cup, but it could be at the cost of damaging the region as a holiday destination. "At the end of the day, tourism is going to suffer," Abbott-Charles said. "This is big business … [the authorities] are making up in one area but losing out considerably in another."But not everyone is so downbeat. Mack Campbell of Carib World told The Nation newspaper: "We’ve had some cancellations, but to be honest, we’ve had more bookings coming in since the prices were announced.Carib World, who are based in Hertfordshire, will send around 500 spectators from England to the Barbados and Antigua Tests, but Campbell admitted that he was not going to be asking for more tickets. "We’re happy with the number of people we’re going to be bringing out … we’ll draw the line there and take no further risk on it."