The Ranji Trophy league match between Mumbai and Saurashtra fizzled out into a dull draw on the fourth day of the game at Mumbai on Tuesday.Mumbai, overnight on 384/6, were bowled out finally for 410, with Amol Muzumdar missing out on his century by seven runs. He was the seventh wicket to fall, with the score on 392. Thereafter, none of the tailenders could contribute significantly, and the innings folded within nine overs of the start of play on the fourth day.Saurashtra’s second-innings batting effort was nowhere near as impressive as its first-innings one. Only Sitanshu Kotak chipped in with yet another dreary, slow knock, making an unbeaten 42 off a mammoth 257 balls. The rest of the batting subsided meekly, and the visitors were reeling at 152/9 at the close of play.
Glamorgan have started well in their quest to score 309 to defeatNorthamptonshire at Cardiff and attain their fourth consecutive championshipvictory.The task had not appeared to be so easy when the visitors stood at 277-6 halfway through the afternoon, but Northamptonshire’s last four wickets fell in 27 deliveries without addition to the score. When the home county set out to score the highest total of the match to win Matthew Elliott and Steve James gave them a flying start by hitting 36 runs from the first six overs. Darren Cousins then had Elliott lbw causing Elliott and Mike Powell to be more cautious for a time (while still punishing the badball).The Australian reached his second fifty of the match from 86 deliveries and included seven fours. He was given fine support by Powell with whom he took the total to 125-1 at the close. The Welshmen still needed 184 runs to win but Elliott (66 n.o.) and Powell (37 n.o.) were in good form. When Northamptonshire resumed in the morning on 110-2 Robert Croft took the first three wickets to go down and finished with 5-108 from 46 overs: it was his second five-wicket return of the summer but the first in the championship.Mal Loye had not increased his overnight 42 when he snicked a ball from Croft in the day’s first over and Elliott held the catch. After Jeff Cook was l.b.w David Sales batted responsibly towards his fifty but when he tried to drive Croft he skied the ball to be caught by Darren Thomas over his head.With Graeme Swann’s departure l.b.w the hosts seemed to have the upper hand only for TonyPenberthy and David Ripley to halt their progress. The latter, who was batting with a runner because of an ankle injury (leading to David Sales having to keep wicket for the first 13 overs of the Glamorgan innings), hit 33 of the 64 runs they put on in 28 overs. Ripley swept at Thomas and was caught by Adrian Dale coming in from the boundary, after which Northamptonshire collapsed dramatically.
Reports suggested that the Hoops would be willing to create a coaching pathway for their former captain, possibly in the senior academy and B-team or coaching Celtic’s Under-18 side.
Ange Postecoglou appeared to be open to the former captain returning to Glasgow, however, ex-Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers has already made the first move.
The Latest: Leicester contact
As reported by Burns on Wednesday afternoon, Leicester have made contact with Brown.
Rodgers has reportedly offered the Scot the chance to head down to the Midlands to spend time with him and his coaching staff ahead of a possible move.
The Verdict: A blow?
It seems as if the Foxes are one step ahead of the Hoops when it comes to offering Brown a new home, which could be a blow for Celtic chiefs.
Postecoglou spoke highly of Brown on Thursday, and a return to Lennoxtown could be a shrewd move as he looks to continue his coaching development.
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However, it seems as if he may well be heading down south with Rodgers over the coming weeks, so Celtic may have to play the waiting game when it comes to their club legend’s next move.
In other news: ‘Seems that’ – Journo now drops more Parkhead exit news on ‘horrendous’ Celtic ‘waste of money’.
Nick Jewell ground out a match-winning 91, batting for nearly six hours as Victoria jumped to the top of the Pura Cup table with victory over South Australia. Chasing 264 on the final day, the Bushrangers reached their target with four wickets in hand and fittingly Jewell was there at the finish.David Hussey made an important contribution, adding 53 from 45 balls after two quick wickets had breathed life back into South Australia. Again the Redbacks had a sniff when Hussey and Cameron White (0) were bowled by consecutive Mark Cleary deliveries and the home side was 5 for 168.But Jewell, batting on his home club ground at St Kilda’s Junction Oval, held the innings together with assistance from Andrew McDonald, the first-innings century-maker, who added 36. Matthew Wade was with Jewell at the finish and struck the winning runs, reaching 13 not out.Victoria began the day still needing 220 with nine wickets in hand, and a very useful partnership between Jewell and the night-watchman Peter Siddle put them on track. Siddle, who on the third day had taken a career-best six wickets, threw in a career-best score of 28 for good measure.He was eventually out lbw to Ryan Harris, who soon trapped Brad Hodge (2) in front as well. Harris and Cleary each finished with three wickets but the Redbacks’ undoing was their inability to remove Jewell, who sits behind Hussey as Victoria’s second leading run scorer this summer.
Ricky Ponting insists Australia will treat their opening warm-up match against Zimbabwe tonight (AEDT) as a “full-blown” game. Some sides are fielding 13 players in the practice fixtures, but that is not currently an option for Australia with injuries to Matthew Hayden (toe) and Andrew Symonds (biceps) while Adam Gilchrist is a late arrival after the birth of his third child.Ponting, who missed the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy defeat with a back problem, said there would be no let-up as his side looked to recover from a five-match losing streak. “It’s a game,” he said. “We’re not going to treat it as practice. It’s a full-blown game. The guys won’t be out there having a net.”With Gilchrist and Hayden missing, Australia are expected to choose Shane Watson and Brad Haddin, the reserve wicketkeeper, to open against Zimbabwe. Gilchrist is set to make his comeback in Friday’s warm-up against England at St Vincent’s Arnos Vale ground.Gilchrist, the vice-captain, missed the series in New Zealand to spend time with his wife and expanding family, but Ponting had no doubt he would make a fine return. “Generally, he does [come back well],” Ponting said. “In the last couple of games when he has had a break, he has come back with a bit of a bang.” Hayden is expected to play in Australia’s first group game against Scotland on March 14 while Symonds wants to appear against South Africa on March 24.
Kyle Mills has been named as cover for Michael Mason in the New Zealand squad for the third ODI against West Indies at Christchurch on Saturday.Mills’s selection is for only for the third ODI because Michael Mason was suffering from a mild lower back strain after the second ODI at Queenstown. Mills was sidelined with a groin strain at the start of the West Indies series and was not considered for selection.A new squad will be selected after the third ODI.TeamLou Vincent, Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Peter Fulton, Jamie How, Scott Styris, Brendon McCullum (wk), Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Shane Bond, Kyle Mills, Jeetan Patel, Michael Mason.
Ajit Agarkar has been called in to the side for the third one-day international against Pakistan as a replacement for the injured Laxmipathy Balaji. The selectors inducted Agarkar in the squad after Balaji suffered a rib injury during the second ODI at Visakhapatnam.”Ajit Agarkar could come to the side. We will decide about it,” Wright was quoted as saying to The Press Trust of India. This would be a comeback match for Agarkar, who last played against Bangladesh in December 2004. He has participated in 134 matches and taken 203 wickets at 27.84.India leads the one-day series 2-0 with the third one-dayer tomorrow at Jamshedpur.
The Western Australian Cricket Association today announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Kath White, will retire from her position following the conclusion of the 2003/04 cricket season.Mrs White will leave the WACA to travel overseas with her husband, whose work commitments require him to spend extended periods overseas.The Chairman of the WACA Executive Committee, Mr Charles Fear, said that Mrs White had made an outstanding contribution to the development of a revitalised WACA during her two-and-a-half years as Chief Executive."The Executive Committee is very disappointed that Kath will be leaving the WACA," he said."She has performed exceptionally in all facets of the job at a time of significant change for the WACA despite inheriting a number of difficult issues."She has developed an outstanding management team around her which will be to the long term benefit of the Association."Kath and her team were a driving force behind the refurbishment and redevelopment of the WACA Ground into the world-class cricket and multipurpose facility that it is today. She has also been heavily involved in the ongoing constitutional review process."The WACA wishes Kath and her husband all the best for their overseas travels," said Mr Fear.Mrs White’s retirement will take effect before June 2004 following the appointment of her replacement. Mr Fear added that the WACA would commence the search process to identify and recruit Mrs White’s replacement early in 2004.
Glenn McGrath 12th man?It hasn’t happened in quite some time but it’s one of the possible scenarios if the Adelaide Oval pitch lives up to its reputation when the first Test between Australia and South Africa starts on Friday.With Stuart MacGill recalled to the Australian team for the Test match, there’s every indication Australia will pick two spinners – MacGill and Shane Warne.Australia wouldn’t countenance a five-man bowling attack – especially with Mark Waugh’s part-time spin to call on – which means one of the three fast bowlerslooks like missing out.It would be hard on any one of McGrath, Brett Lee or Jason Gillespie to sit on the sidelines but national selection chairman Trevor Hohns said the best team for the conditions would be picked.”There’s no doubt it will harsh on whoever misses out but that’s always the case,” Hohns said.”We are committed to picking the team to suit the conditions.”He said the final decision on the team make-up wouldn’t be made until the match selection committee had taken a good look at the Adelaide Oval pitch.Early indications were it would be a spinner’s paradise.Given that Adelaide is Gillespie’s home town, there would be a near riot at the Victor Richardson gates if he was omitted.Despite his fine for churlish on-field behaviour in Perth, it would be equally hard to leave out Lee, who was the leading wicket-taker in the series against New Zealand.While McGrath maintains he is good form, he looked down on motivation in the final Test against New Zealand and also suffered from back spasms which kept himout of the action for most of day one in Perth.He is such a proven performer for Australia it would also be a tough decision to end his sequence of 41 consecutive Tests.The other option would be to go in with a five-man bowling attack, especially as Australia struggled to bowl out New Zealand in their rain-affected series.That would mean dropping a specialist batsman, like Damien Martyn, and using Adam Gilchrist at No.6. With Lee broaching genuine all-rounder class, the batting would still have some depth to it.However, Australian captain Steve Waugh is not a big fan of five-man bowling attacks and it seems the least likely outcome.Of course, MacGill could yet end up being 12th man if the pitch looks livelier than predicted.
South Africa’s final group game was abandoned at 1.30pm in extraordinarycircumstances. Heavy rains meant that the outfield was unfit for play.This leaves South Africa on three points. However in an interview withCRICINFO the South African manager revealed that they are not resigned toa place in the Plate League. They have contacted the ICC and BCCSL toclarify whether they have a zero run rate.It had been previously believed that South Africans could not have a net runrate at all due to the use of Duckworth Lewis method in their match againstNepal. If you don’t have a net run rate then you can surely not have a zeronet run rate.It appears that this new interpretation of the rule, has been accepted bysomeone in authority. The Kenyan cricket team has been informed that theyhave to score the 107 in a stipulated number of overs to have a positive NetRun Rate.The situation is bound to lead to controversy. If the Kenyans lose theirmatch against Nepal the sudden change in the tournament rules will haveplayed a part. The Kenyans have lost quick wickets by trying t score the runsin the stipulated time period and are presently 60-5 off 11 overs.Whatever the outcome the situation the confusion is unacceptable in aninternational tournament.Latest: Nepal beat Kenya by 14 runs, thus relegating both SouthAfrica and Kenya to the Plate competition, and qualifyingthemselves. Given the circumstances of the win, with Kenyachasing what appears to be a net run rate target set underdubious circumstances, both African countries will be extremelyunhappy at the turn of events.