Shoaib Akhtar is once again in trouble after he failed to appear in court in Lahore to answer a petition demanding an apology for criticisms he had levelled at Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram.”Akhtar or his lawyer must appear in the court on September 1 and respond to a petition against his newspaper interview,” Judge Mudassar Umer Bodla said. “A new summons will be issued against him.”The petition was filed by a local who was angered by comments allegedly made by Shoaib in an interview with the London-based Guardian newspaper. Shoaib was quoted as saying that if he played for Australia then he would have been far more successful. “Imagine if I was playing with Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie softening them up, then I come on, I’d have got more wickets than anyone ever. Because when I play for Pakistan, with Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis they are in decline. They were great but they’re not match-winning bowlers any more. So I have to make it all happen on my own.”Akhtar, who has dismissed the petition as a “publicity stunt”, is unlikely to attend the revised date as he will still be playing for Durham.
It’s finally time for the best venue in India to host internationalTest cricket. The rotation policy adopted by the Indian Board bringsthe touring England team to the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium atMohali for the first Test match. With temperatures dipping to thelowest the England team have experienced on this tour, they should beextremely happy on the eve of the Test. Nasser Hussain has enjoyed allthe attention his team has received so far but acknowledges that theaction will not be easy out in the middle.For his part, the Indian skipper too looks fairly relaxed. The factthat the team has been on the road in South Africa and returns after abit of a thrashing does not weigh too heavily on the Bengal lefthander. Everyone is resigned to the fact that India are two sides -one that take things quite lightly and yet comes out right on top athome, and yet another that can’t seem to put a foot right abroad.That, perhaps, has more to do with the conditions than anything else.And in that regard, England certainly get their Test series off to acomfortable start. The wicket at Mohali was once easily the quickestin the country, before curator Daljit Singh re-laid the topsoil in1996. The hard clay however still retains much of the pace and bounceof old. Overcast conditions will assure that the ball moves around abit early on. However, the lack of much live grass on the wicketsuggests that it will ease up into a good batting strip on the secondand third days, before taking a bit of spin.The pitch in turn dictates the kind of teams that will be chosen. Inkeeping with recent times, there is a big question mark at the top ofthe Indian batting order. While Shiv Sunder Das has cemented oneopening slot, the other remains wide open. The Indian team could stickwith regular opener Connor Williams, who impressed in his last essayin South Africa. There is word however that in the interest ofaccommodating another bowler Sanjay Bangar might open. Bangar opensfor Railways and averages more than 35 with the bat, having scoredfive hundreds and fifteen half-centuries at the first-class level.The Indian middle-order of course is packed with Rahul Dravid, SachinTendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly all queuing up to have a batin familiar home conditions. Deep Dasgupta dons the gloves and there’sa bit of a toss up in the bowling department. Harbhajan Singh and AnilKumble are sure to play. Depending on composition, the Indians couldgo in with either two or all three medium-pacers from Sanjay Bangar,Tinu Yohannan and Iqbal Siddiqui.The English have their team almost lined up, although the captainHussain did not say so in as many words. Mark Butcher and MarcusTrescothick will open the innings, with Michael Vaughan being out ofform. Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe and Mark Ramprakash form thenucleus of the batting with all-rounders, Craig White and AndrewFlintoff, to follow. James Foster looks likely to make his Test debutbehind the stumps. The bowling department has Matthew Hoggardpencilled in, with James Ormond likely to share the new ball honourswith him. Richard Dawson looks set to roll his arm over bowling offspin. Martyn Ball has an outside chance of making the eleven but thatseems unlikely at best.Hussain, speaking to scribes, described India as the “best sideplaying at home” and reminded colleagues of the treatment Australiareceived earlier this year. While one rated Australia’s chanceshighly, it would be unfair to afford this England side the samerespect. Predicting a whitewash at the beginning of the series isnever too clever, but it has to be said that England’s best chance ofavoiding the same begins and ends at Mohali.
Despite an entertaining 90 by Mohammad Kaif, the India Seniors teamedged past India B by six wickets with eleven deliveries to spare inthe Challenger Trophy at Ahmedabad on Friday night.Batting first, the India B team put up a much better show than theIndia A team had the previous day. Kaif enjoyed a good run of formthroughout the recently concluded Under-19 World Cup, but could notmake a big score there. On Friday however, there was no stopping himas he shared a 115-run partnership with captain Ajay Jadeja and sawIndia B through to a score of 274 off their allotted 50 overs. Jadejawas his innovative self and made a half century in quick time.When Kaif tried to push the scoring rate towards the end of theinnings, he fell just 10 runs short of the century mark. Robin Singhgot a ball to stop on Kaif and the youngster went through with hisshot. The ball skied up in the air and Nikhil Chopra pouched thecatch.Nikhil Haldipur made a useful fifty at the top of the innings butprobably did not do enough to stake a claim for selection.Although India B lost quick wickets towards the end, it was of noconsequence as they still managed a challenging total.The India seniors bowlers took some stick from Kaif. The spearhead ofthe Indian bowling attack Anil Kumble went for 57 runs off his 10overs.In response, the Indian senior team went about the job with a rarelydisplayed air of professionalism. Shiv Sunder Das coming off a goodknock in the previous match fell quickly. After he was dismissed, VVSLaxman and pinch hitter Sunil Joshi took the attack to thebowlers. Joshi’s quickfire 16 included a four and a six. ReetinderSingh Sodhi pulled off yet another bit of good fielding as he lungedlow and took a sharp return catch to dismiss Joshi.Rahul Dravid then got into a good rhythm and kept the scoringgoing. He was joined by Vinod Kambli at the fall of Laxman’swicket. The resurgence of Kambli’s career took yet another positiveturn as the Mumbai southpaw made a solid unbeaten 78. When Dravid toowas dismissed, the required rate was mounting and Robin Singh used thelong handle to good effect. Some surprising bowling changes by AjayJadeja proved costly. Jadeja brought Dodda Ganesh and himself on atthe death and they conceded 12 and 17 runs off their oversrespectively.The experience of Singh and Kambli saw the seniors through to victorywith not much to spare. This victory means that the seniors havequalified for the final. On Saturday, the lesser teams of thetournament will clash and that will decide who takes on the seniors inthe title clash.
Alan Hutton has now dropped a big Glasgow Rangers transfer claim on Cedric Itten.
The Lowdown: Exit on the cards?
As per Football Insider, a source from the Ibrox faithful has revealed that the club are now ‘open’ to letting Itten go out on loan again in the summer, or even letting him go completely.
The Switzerland international spent the first half of the season on loan at German side Greuther Furth, where he scored two goals, but has since been recalled back by Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Transfermarkt).
However, he has not been picked for a matchday squad since the 3-0 loss away at Celtic in the Scottish Premiership back in early February.
The Latest: Hutton reacts
Speaking to Football Insider, former Teddy Bears right-back Hutton has claimed that Itten will now be ‘moving on’ this summer:
“It’s more what we haven’t seen from him.
“He came back into the fold but hasn’t been involved a lot under the new manager. You just think that maybe he’s had a look at him and thought that the options ahead of him are good enough.
“There’s no space for him in the matchday squads – which can be difficult when you have to leave players out.
“I do feel for him that way.
“But the bigger picture is that it hasn’t worked out for him, and that can be how it works out – sometimes it doesn’t run smoothly.
“In the summer he needs to be thinking about his future and playing football. You’d think that he’ll be moving on to pastures new.”
The Verdict: Sell
The Light Blues should not waste their time with any more loans for Itten, and instead should be looking to sell the striker on permanently.
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He is simply £14,000-per-week to stay, and when he has played, he has not exactly lit the world alight, with just seven goals in two seasons in a Gers shirt.
Nonetheless, RFC already have plenty of forward options, and so Itten would not be missed.
In other news, find out which ‘excellent’ attacker Rangers are now eyeing here!
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt was a good day for batting so Hashim Amla did just that. He was in situ all day, an elegant figure bringing repose to South African cricket. Everything will be fine, he soothed as he repelled England’s attempts to force victory in the second Test.England were persistent, but the pitch was placid, and Amla entirely self-possessed. By the close of the third day, he was unbeaten on 157, a poor 2015 put behind him not by stirring deeds but with a sheen and grace that reasserted his quality. A deficit of 276 insists that much work remains to be done, but there are seven wickets intact to do it.South Africa made 212 on an attritional day. They made it very quietly. It was all a striking contrast to the fun of the fair on the previous day when Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow rattled up 196 in the morning session alone. Test cricket’s appeal lies in the fact that it is a game of many moods – and this was quite a jolt. No matter: South Africa’s captain had served his side admirably in times of need.England will recall Amla’s triple-century at The Oval in 2012 and fear what may still lies ahead. But the artist is painting slowly. He made 93 in the day, only 25 in a final session where England became footsore and interest waned. You will find some of the travelling supporters traipsing around Table Mountain on Tuesday.At least England were spared a wicketless day, their optimism stirred just once when AB de Villiers fell 20 minutes before tea. De Villiers departed on 88, pulling a short ball to midwicket where James Anderson held a head-high catch at the second attempt. England, who dropped three and reacted slowly to another, had finally clung on.That breakthrough fell to Steven Finn, whose bounce and hostility in unfavourable conditions made him comfortably the most dangerous component in an attack which held South Africa in check, but struggled to find solace.Hashim Amla recorded his 24th Test hundred•AFP
There was no turn for Moeen Ali – 37C is forecast for Tuesday and it remains to be seen if the bowlers will crack up before the pitch does – and the ball failed to swing or reverse, perhaps too blustery for the latter. South Africa were conscientious in defence and, when the batsmen did err, England’s fielding was found wanting.Amla and de Villiers dutifully set their sights on a long haul to safety, poring like senior librarians over a stand of 183 in 69 overs. South Africa failed to file away a single century stand in 2015 as they rarely justified their No. 1 Test ranking. In the first innings of the New Year, they addressed that shortcoming.England will rue those three dropped chances, evenly spread like fumbled water bottles on a marathon. De Villiers was spared on the second evening on 5 when Joe Root spilled an opportunity engineered by Anderson; Amla allowed a let-off on 76 half an hour before lunch when this time Anderson flapped down a quick edge off Root.That left them evens, although a bit more sulking had been evident when Root dropped the edge from Anderson. Part-time bowlers are not allowed such liberties: for them, every wicket is a bonus.Amla also escaped on 120, Nick Compton failing to hold an acceptable chance to his left at backward point as Finn’s insistence forced another opportunity.De Villiers passed 8000 Test runs in the morning, becoming the third South African alongside Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith to achieve the feat when he struck Moeen down the ground, one of the most adventurous moments in a session characterised by sober defence. There were only 20 runs by drinks, and only 58 in the session at two runs per over, as South Africa’s third-wicket pair concentrated on watchful defence.Anderson’s morning salvo was a stalemate, largely delivered outside off stump to packed off-side fields. Moeen gazed forlornly at cracks that failed to widen. Broad’s hot spurt was nowhere to be seen. But Finn caused discomfort from the start, his extra bounce unsettling de Villiers who produced an uneasy edge, cut and pull in quick succession, all of which fell short of expectant fielders.In England’s innings, the second new ball had been the catalyst for Stokes and Bairstow’s assault. Nobody expected such tomfoolery this time: there was work to be done. It came at 230 for 2. A daring captain might have gambled and thrown the ball at Finn, but Cook preferred the tried and trusted, Anderson and Broad. It was only when Finn appeared that things began to happen.It would have been tough on Amla if he had been run out on 119 when Finn got a finger on a return drive from de Villiers, but Amla regained his ground in time. Stokes then won an lbw appeal from Aleem Dar when de Villiers was 85, but even as de Villiers signalled for a review, Stokes knew that the batsman had got an inside edge.Late in the day, as Faf du Plessis also made his first Test fifty since the start of 2015, Finn responded sluggishly at mid-off to a leading edge off Anderson. Even Alex Hales had a trundle: trendy sunnies, sleeves down, collar up – shades off a more famous Nottinghamshire offspinner, sadly retired in his prime. Then Hales released something as fluffy and innocuous as a kitten. Du Plessis smiled wanly, as if he would rather have been met by a rabid hyena, but survived.The final hour was a stalemate, with approaching clouds encouraging both sides to wonder if they could get off the field. Amla’s solid defence, smooth drives and wristy manoeuvres were now typed repetitiously on English minds. South Africa, on a ground where they have been so successful, had rediscovered their spine.
Dream start, nightmare finish Coming back into international cricket after a while, Virender Sehwag had a dream start: the first ball he faced was a trifle short, and Sehwag played a short-arm flick so effortlessly that it was easy to wonder why he had been kept out of the side for so long. The answer wasn’t long in coming: the third ball he faced, his first from Mohammad Asif, did all the things that bother Sehwag – it pitched on a good length, came at a lively pace, and nipped back enough to beat the middle of the bat and take the inside edge. At least Sehwag can’t complain about encountering unfamiliar situations on his return.Uthappa hits back For nine overs, India danced to the tune of Pakistan’s fast bowlers, especially Mohammad Asif. Then, in the tenth, the batsmen called the shots, albeit briefly. Robin Uthappa first walked down the wicket and creamed Yasir Arafat over long-off for an exquisite six, and then pulled him off the front foot for another. The Indian flags, which easily outnumbered the Pakistani ones today, finally got an opportunity to make their presence felt.The rain dance To drizzle or not to drizzle? That seemed the perennial question through the first couple of hours of the game. Play started on time, but soon the weather gods decided to intervene, but in such a manner that everyone was kept on tenterhooks, with the covers coming on, going off, coming on,going off, and then again. Once the covers had only managed to travel halfway up to the stumps when the drizzle stopped, and it was time for play again. It served the Pakistan cause nicely, though – twice a wicket fell off the first ball after resumption.b>The last ball Mahendra Singh Dhoni consulted with almost half the team and then decidedthat the entire team would be in the inner ring, then had a change ofheart and off went Gautam Gambhir to the cover boundary, then finallyraced around to backward point. The entire exercise took at least a coupleof minutes, before Sreeanth charged in and pitched it short. Misbah’s weakstroke couldn’t pierce the infield, and we had the second tie in Twenty20internationals.The Misbah factorWith Pakistan seemingly out of the contest, Misbah-ul-Haq produced thekind of blitz which silenced all the questions which had been raised overhis selection. There were two powerful blows off Harbhajan, but the shotthat showed he had a cool head came off Ajit Agarkar, when, with 18 neededoff eight balls, he coolly moved across his stumps and scooped one overfine leg for four. No fuss, little effort, maximum reward.The comeback kid Irfan Pathan hasn’t had a whole lot to celebrate over the last year, buthe had a veritable blast here. His first ball produced a wicket – even ifit was a run-out – and after three dot balls it got even better, as YounisKhan chopped one onto his stumps. Pathan leapt up in delight, and the hugesmile that flashed across his face showed just how much he was enjoyinghis comeback.
Ian Bell has called on the England team to support Andrew Flintoff during the Ashes series so that his workload doesn’t become too much. Flintoff was handed the captaincy for the tour of Australia after being narrowly favoured ahead of Andrew Strauss, but concerns linger that he has a lot on his plate as England aim to defend the Ashes.But Bell believes that Flintoff will lead from the front and take the challenges in his stride, although does concede that he can’t do it all on his own.”Even without his captaincy, Freddie is a leader in whatever he does, whether it be batting, bowling or fielding,” he told the Press Association. “It will be great to have him back on the park and great to have him lead us out there [in Australia].”But we are going to have to support him because it is a hell of a long winter for all of us especially with Freddie batting, bowling, fielding and captaining the side against the number one team in the world in Australia.”It is going to be a long winter for him so we all need to be with him and making sure he is not doing too much. That is probably a danger. The last thing you want is for Freddie to be burnt out. It’s a good thing in a way we’ve still got people there like Straussy [Andrew Strauss] and Tresco [Marcus Trescothick] around. These guys can talk to him and make sure he doesn’t do too much.When Flintoff led England in the Test series against Sri Lanka he bowled 51 overs in the second innings of the Lord’s Test. Those in favour of having Strauss as captain said he would have been able to manage Flintoff’s workload better than the man himself.”With Freddie being captain, he’ll want to do things from the front and makes sure everything is done properly and sometimes he does too much himself,” Bell said. “He needs to have that support from everyone in the team to say: ‘Freddie, you just look after yourself a bit more rather than doing too much’.”It’s great for us to have Freddie but we need to be aware he is a key player for us for the whole winter and we need him all the way through.”
On June 20, 1996, Rahul Dravid was handed a Test cap at Lord’s, in the second Test against England, after Sanjay Manjrekar twisted his ankle in the first. Since then he has not looked back, and has played a record 91 straight Tests. Manjrekar played just two more Tests in his life. On Thursday, an injury to Sourav Ganguly precipitated Dravid’s appointment as captain of the Indian team for two back-to-back series – his longest stint to date – and signals that the end of the road is near for Ganguly, almost certainly as captain, and most likely as player too.That the selectors chose to give Dravid two tours at the helm, instead of the customary one, is the strongest sign yet that the tide has turned against Ganguly. When the current season began, and India were headed to Sri Lanka with Ganguly’s participation in doubt thanks to an ICC ban for slow over rates, Dravid was made captain on a stop-gap basis. He did a decent job, both with the bat and as leader, even as the team slumped to defeat. When the team came back from Sri Lanka, Ganguly was reinstated captain for the tour of Zimbabwe, and Dravid relegated to behind-the-scenes with a quiet, “Thank you for your services”.Dravid won’t let on, but he was furious at the decision of the board. It became increasingly clear that he was not interested in the captaincy on an ad hoc basis. He had no time to implement his ideas, and more often than not was left carrying the can when it came to answering tough questions about things going wrong. Dravid has not granted a single interview since that period, but seasoned followers of his line of thinking would tell you that two things changed irrevocably after India’s return from Sri Lanka. Firstly, Dravid would not accept the captaincy as a stand-in, merely keeping the seat warm for Ganguly. Second, if Ganguly were named captain for a long duration – till the 2007 World Cup as some sections demanded – Dravid would step down from the vice-captaincy and give up all ambitions of leading India.Not long ago, in an interview to , Dravid said, “I have been vice-captain for a few years, and that means you are, in some sense, prepared to be captain. But to be honest, captaincy is not the be all and end all of things. If at some stage the captaincy came along, well and good. I won’t lose a night’s sleep over it. I haven’t so far.” He meant that in a different context; now, taking over the reins with the team struggling and close to the bottom of the ladder, he may well lose some sleep. For it would be a mistake to view this appointment as a victory for Dravid over Ganguly, or Chappell over Ganguly. It was simply the only way forward. It’s not merely important to do the right thing, but to do it at the right time.Greg Chappell has been entrusted with rebuilding a team that has been on a downward spiral for more than a year. He was appointed with the responsibility of bringing a long-term vision and faithfully implementing it. And for a variety of reasons this has not been possible in the short time he has been coach. Chappell has not got the players he wanted, he has not had a free enough hand to reward certain attitudes or punish others, and his captain had not bought into the vision enough to give it a solid chance of working.And make no mistake, while the Ganguly-Chappell relationship has been downright confrontational, the Ganguly-John Wright one was far from rosy. The two barely sang from the same hymn sheet, but Wright accepted what he had to work with and got on with the job. With the appointment of Dravid India now have a chance for coach, captain and team to work together, getting to the root of the problems afflicting the team and sorting them out in time for the 2007 World Cup.The mantra all season has been “take India to the next level”. With young talent busting at the gut for a place in the side – the Challenger Series threw up more than one cricketer with definite promise and reinforced the stature of others on the fringes – there’s no reason why India cannot make it to the next level.But to believe that Dravid’s appointment, as Chappell’s earlier, will cause the team to transform itself overnight into the New Australia, is silly. Dravid is patient, hard-working, dedicated and committed to excellence. But he is also someone who won’t find it as easy to handle the problem characters in the team as Ganguly. He won’t bring the same in-your-face aggro to the field. He certainly won’t come to the job with the unequivocal support of the powers-that-are in the BCCI that Ganguly did. What Ganguly did for this team – not just 76 ODI and 21 Test wins – is something perhaps Dravid could not have, had he been appointed captain five years ago. Today, Ganguly cannot do what Dravid can. The wheel has turned, and Ganguly’s time is over.For all he has contributed to this team, Ganguly deserved a better farewell – if indeed that’s what this is – than being abruptly dropped. He deserved to walk away into the sunset, head held high, not be nudged out, first by coach, then the media, the public, and finally the selectors. But then again, with his batting, his behaviour and his almost stubborn refusal to let go, he barely gave anyone a chance to do any better by him.
India A 135 for 0 (Jadhav 60*, Gambhir 59*) beat Kenya 133 (Odumbe 40, Bhandari 3-20, Bahutule 3-26) by 10 wickets ScorecardIndia A registered their second victory in successive days in the tri-nation one-day tournament in Nairobi, thrashing Kenya by ten wickets in a hopelessly one-sided contest.Kenya had beaten India A by 22 runs in the first round of the group matches, but this time they stood no chance after Amit Bhandari wrecked their top order with an incisive new-ball spell. He took three early wickets as Kenya slumped to 18 for 3. Maurice Odumbe led a mini-revival with 40, but Kenya managed only a paltry 133, which the Indian openers knocked off in just 25 overs.Bhandari started the Kenyan slide early on, trapping Kennedy Obuya in front for 5 (8 for 1). Then, with the score on 18, Bhandari struck twice, having Hitesh Modi caught behind for 3, before nailing Steve Tikolo, Kenya’s captain, in similar fashion for a duck.Odumbe and Ravindu Shah got the innings back on track, putting on 62 for the fourth wicket, but all their good work was undone when four wickets went down for the addition of just one run, with Sairaj Bahutule and Aavishkar Salvi doing the damage. Odumbe was finally stumped by Mahendra Dhoni – who had five victims in the match – off Bahutule, and though the tail resisted briefly, 133 was all that Kenya could manage.It was a target which was never likely to test the Indians, and Gautam Gambhir and Dheeraj Jadhav ensured an early finish. Both scored half-centuries – Jadhav was unbeaten on 60 while Gambhir made 59 not out – as India romped home with half their total overs unused. India A and Kenya now have two wins from three games, while Pakistan A have lost both their matches so far.
The wicket at New Road continued to favour the bowlers as a further twelve wickets fellon the second day of the Championship match between Glamorgan and Worcestershire.Worcestershire gained a first innings lead of 81 runs as they dismissedGlamorgan for 156 with Matt Mason taking 3/22 and David Leatherdale 2/18. Then in thefinal session, the home team extended their lead to 201, but lost four wicketsin the process, finishing the day on 120/4.Morning rain once again prevented any play until 12.10pm, with Glamorgan resumingon 0/2 after their dramatic start last night when they lost Jimmy Maher andnight-watchman David Harrison in Nantie Hayward`s opening over. Nevertheless,Ian Thomas and Jonathan Hughes adopted a positive approach, with bothof the young batsmen driving powerfully in an arc between cover andmid-on. The pair had added 56 in 15 overs, before Hughes was bowled by Mason with thefinal delivery of the morning session.Seven wickets then fell between lunch and tea, as Glamorgan added a further 100runs. Mason made the early inroads, striking twice during his accurate spell fromthe New Road End, bowling Michael Powell for a duck, and having Matthew Maynardcaught in the slips by Stephen Peters. Thomas continued to pierce the field withsome firm strokes, and reached his first Championship half century of the summer,lofting Hayward back over his head, having faced 94 balls and hitting 9 boundaries.However, the introduction of Leatherdale halted Glamorgan`s progress as theWorcestershire beneficiary had Thomas caught at slip, before trapping Robert Croftleg before on the back foot. Leatherdale might have taken a third wicket hadAnurag Singh held onto a top edge from Mark Wallace. But Kabir Ali returned from theDiglis End to dismiss Darren Thomas and Michael Kasprowicz, whilst Gareth Batty hadWallace caught at cover, as Glamorgan`s innings ended with their score on 156.When Worcestershire batted again, Glamorgan`s seam bowlers also found early assistanceas Alex Wharf had Anurag Singh caught at second slip by Jimmy Maher and then two overslater Wharf yorked Graeme Hick. But Peters showed that run scoring was not impossible,and the opener played some well timed cover drives in reaching 50 from 74 balls. Togetherwith his captain Ben Smith, they added 66 for the third wicket, before Peters dragged the ball onto his stumps trying to sweep Croft.Then in the final over the day, Croft had Vikram Solanki caught at short-legby Ian Thomas, with Worcestershire 201 runs ahead with 6 wickets in hand.