ScorecardMashonaland, shocked by their position at the bottom of the heap after three successive defeats, invited rebel players Trevor Gripper and Neil Ferreira, both of whom have been doing well playing club cricket, to strengthen their battered team; it is not yet known whether Zimbabwe Cricket approved their selection.In the event, the pair almost certainly made the different between victory and defeat for Mashonaland, who beat Manicaland by 14 runs with just four balls to spare at Mutare Sports Club. Ferreira, opening the innings, made a solid 45, while Gripper made a sound 71 batting at four. With Barney Rogers, who was captain in the absence of Tatenda Taibu who was preparing England’s visit with national squad, scoring a brisk 35 and Chamu Chibhabha making an undefeated half-century from 41 balls, Mashonaland reached a daunting total of 280 for five wickets. Blessing Mahwire had bowled very well but took none for 41; in contrast, Waddington Mwayenga was erratic but took three wickets at a cost of 86 runs in 10 overs.In reply, Manicaland fought hard being three wickets down for 46 and then six for 140. Only Piet Rinke of the top order flourished, with 61, before Mahwire hitting a belligerent 37 from number six. But the most surprising innings came from Patrick Gada, who nearly turned the match. Gada, normally cautious, hit 62 off just 49 balls. He received good support from the rest of the lower order, but in the final over Manicaland fell just short. ScorecardA good team performance from Matabeleland ensured that they maintained momentum in the 2004-05 Faithwear Series, as they completed their fourth successive victory, a 58-run win over Midlands at Kwekwe Sports Club.Matabeleland began badly after deciding to bat, losing their first four wickets for 43 runs before Charles Coventry batted with for 44 to steadied the ship with determined 44. Sean Williams provided the finishing touches, hitting 61 from 63 balls to boost the total to 222. Ian Nicolson, bowling with more discipline than usual, and Innocent Chinyoka took three wickets each.Midlands’s chase began well, as Alester Maregwede, made 37 off 37 in an quick opening stand of 58. Midlands then reached 132 with only three wickets down, but they proceeded to lose their last seven wickets falling for only 32 runs, a disastrous collapse. Left-arm spinner Keith Dabengwa was its architect-in-chief with four for 20, and ensured that after a brief scare, Matabeleland triumphed again.
Paul Collingwood should be back in action in four weeks time. He has missed the whole of the season so far after dislocating his shoulder in a pre-season friendly match for Durham.However, the good news for Durham and England is that he is on his way back: “I’m ahead of schedule," he said. "I haven’t put a final date on when I want to be coming back but I’d say it will be three or four weeks’ time."And Collingwood has got his sights on an international comeback too. “I think we’ve got three four-day games in September and I hope I can get in there and stake a claim for the Bangladesh tour.”I need to be 100% fit to go to Bangladesh. I need to train on the bike, on the training ground – and in the nets on my technique.”Then I need to get out in the centre and get some overs under my belt. I’m nearly there now – I can see light at the end of the tunnel.”
Another abject surrender by India saw them slump to their ninthconsecutive one-day final loss at Kingsmead, Durban, on Friday. ShaunPollock’s men, in sharp contrast, were magnificent in carrying outtheir game plan on the field and they rightfully walked away withevery award on offer.
I would lay the blame for this defeat squarely on the shoulders of theIndian batsmen. The overnight rain in Durban had meant that there wasdampness in the pitch and the ball was stopping with disconcertingregularity on its way to the batsmen. I felt then that a score of 230to 240 would have proved a challenging target for the South Africans,who had decided to chase. The Indian middle-order, however, for theumpteenth time failed to rise to the occasion following the earlydismissals of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, and our final scoreof 183 was always going to be inadequate.The defeat has proved yet again our almost absolute reliance on Sachinand Sourav. Let me place a few facts to drive home the obvious. It wasSachin’s unbeaten 124 and Sourav’s unbeaten 63 that sealed India’slast win in a one-day final on 13 November 1998 against Zimbabwe inSharjah. India’s failure to win a one-day trophy since then has a lotto do with the fact that the two premier batsmen have managed to scoreonly a little over 350 runs among them in the last nine finals. This,incidentally, includes the ICC KnockOut final at Nairobi in October2000 when Ganguly made a brilliant hundred only to see Chris Cairnscome up with an equally superlative effort to guide New Zealand to afamous win.In all fairness to Sachin and Sourav though we cannot expect them todeliver on every occasion. The rest of the batting too has to pulltheir collective weight whenever the magnificent duo fails. The highsuccess percentage of top teams like South Africa and Australia has alot to do with the fact that their middleand late-order deliver evenwhen their openers fail. But sadly this has never been the case withIndia.
On Friday, all we needed was for someone to give Rahul Dravid company.Virender Sehwag looked good while making 34 but he perished when Indiawere expecting a long innings from him. Reetinder Sodhi also showedattitude while making a gutsy 22 but the others seemed to have thrownin the towel even before they made their way out to the middle. Theirbody language showed that they had no stomach for a fight and thismeant India couldn’t even play out the allotted 50 overs.What the performance proves is that we have not yet learnt to play asa team. If you ask me, unless that happens, we cannot seize the bigmoment and make it our own. Our batsmen will also have to learn toplay international-level fast bowling. As of now, with the honourableexception of Sachin, Rahul and VVS Laxman, I don’t see any of thecurrent lot succeeding against the South African quicks in the Tests.Our willow-wielders must also master the art of running between thewickets. On Friday, almost all of our batsmen ran at a pace that wouldhave been more in keeping with an early morning jog by the beach. Theymust also learn when to run and when not to, ensuring that they avoidthe kind of dismissal that befell Javagal Srinath. Every wicket andevery run counts in the international arena and this sort of laxrunning is truly unpardonable.I have held for long that the lack of a quality all-rounder has beenanother major reason for India’s poor performance in recent times. Ifyou look back, a lot of our success in our golden era in one-daycricket, the early 1980s, was due to the fact that we had quite a fewquality all-rounders. Reetinder Singh Sodhi, who currently fills theslot, has loads of attitude but he has to improve his batting andbowling in a big way if he is to be classed in the same bracket asthose fine cricketers with whom I had the honour of playing.It might be stating the obvious again but the fielding too has toimprove by leaps and bounds (tongue-firmly-in-cheek). At Durban, wesaw Laxman dropping Kirsten when the latter was on 23 and later Kumbledropping Kallis at third man. No team can afford such mistakes even inthe normal run of play leave alone when they are defending what was atbest a modest target.The Indian skipper has said in the post-match press conference that heis still looking for solutions that would end the almost three-yearlong one-day title drought. I can only empathise with Sourav. WhatDurban has shown is that even the darkest of clouds might suddenlydisappear; Indian cricket’s worries though will not.
Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh’s Test captain, has said that the upcoming two-Test series will be his side’s best chance to beat Australia. Mushfiqur drew comparisons between the current team and the one that pushed Australia more than nine years ago in Fatullah.”This is the biggest chance to beat Australia,” Mushfiqur said. “We will definitely try to give more than our 100% in both Tests.”Bangladesh have been excellent in one-day cricket since late 2014, winning four bilateral ODI series in a row against Zimbabwe, Pakistan, India and South Africa. In Tests, they won 3-0 against Zimbabwe and lost one Test to Pakistan in May this year; the others were all rain-affected drawn games.The Australia series is Bangladesh’s last international assignment in 2015, and Mushfiqur wants to cap the year with another high.”It would be a great way to end the year [with a win]. In 2006 they had the greatest team of all time. At that time we were long way from even thinking about beating them, and some even questioned whether we can play for four days,” he said.”If that team can go close to beating them [in the first Test in Fatullah], why can’t this team beat them? A win won’t be impossible if we can play five days. I hope we become like our ODI side. Our cricket has come to such a stage that expectations are a bit more these days.”Part of the reason for the rising expectations has been Mashrafe Mortaza’s captaincy, and in particular his backing of the pace attack. Since taking over as limited-overs captain last year, Mashrafe has regularly employed Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hossain in a three-man pace attack. Mustafizur Rahman’s unprecedented early success has forced the team management to pick four pace bowlers at times, but the same can’t be said about the languishing Test pacers.Mushfiqur is hoping that the added choices in the ODI bowling attack can adapt well to Tests . Taskin and Rubel are part of the Bangladesh A team that will play three one-dayers and two three-day games in India from this week. Shafiul Islam and Al-Amin Hossain are also in the Bangladesh A squad.”We have choices in pace bowling, which is great news for Bangladesh cricket. A lot of matches this year were won by pace bowlers. If we can combine pace and spin and our batsmen do well, the series against Australia will be a good one.”We hope that the Bangladesh A team does well. Those of us who are playing in the NCL, will also try to give good performances although we are playing just one game. I hope everyone makes the best use of it. We are mentally focused from now.”Mushfiqur was also wary of the threat of Australia, who find themselves shorn of experience following the retirements of Ryan Harris, Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, Brad Haddin, and Shane Watson.Mushfiqur, however, said that his side would focus on their strengths and consistency: “They are suddenly not going to lose because they are a young side. The top-class players from India and South Africa came here but lost. We played good cricket and were consistent, enabling us to win. We have to do well the things in which we are good at.Mushfiqur also identified his opposite number – Steven Smith – as Australia’s ‘main’ man”It was expected that they would rest Johnson and Hazlewood. They have two new cricketers but we will know about them soon enough,” he said. “They may be a young team, we can’t forget this is Australia. In these conditions, Smith is their main cricketer. And Maxwell is making a comeback after playing in the UAE. We will try to keep these two under pressure and get them out quickly.”Mushfiqur said that the threat posed by Nathan Lyon would be tackled the same way Bangladesh nullified South Africa legspinner Imran Tahir, who took just two wickets in the ODI series in July.”They are not weak in playing spin. Look at Nathan Lyon’s record,” Mushfiqur said. “He is among the top-three spinners in the world. He is effective against left-handers and we have a few of them. We have made some plans for him, something similar to what we did against Imran Tahir.”Australia are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on September 28. The first Test, in Chittagong, will begin on October 9.
Most fans, during the course of their lifetime, have had cause for complaint when it comes to feeling victimised by the powers that be. Whether it is the media, the FA, referees, or some other authoritative body: most fans, teams and managers have tried to argue that they’re getting the short end of the deal.
So as we reflect on Wayne Rooney’s undoubtedly rash actions against Montenegro, is there any evidence to suggest that his subsequent three-match ban is in any way an example of how UEFA are uniquely punitive when it comes to England?
Platini
Whilst Michel Platini may not have been part of the committee that decided Rooney’s fate last week his influence within UEFA is significant enough for some to believe that he could have played a role in any decision made. If we couple this with his comments from 2008 about English teams financially cheating in European football then we can already hear the conspirators among us accusing UEFA and its president of Anglophobia.
And it is true to an extent that Platini is not English football’s biggest fan. His comments about our clubs in the past have been abrasive at best and I’m sure many will remember the enormous smile on his face as Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona in 2009.
However, can we really suggest that these are English specific qualities that Platini resents? Are they not merely universal problems that exist within football and most of us complain about anyway? Who, apart from Manchester City fans, is pleased to have a club who can outbid every other on the planet? Not me.
And so whilst Platini’s attacks on English clubs have been hard to take would we react as unsympathetically towards them if an English head of UEFA touted them? Or are we simply unhappy that someone has dared to criticise ‘the best league in the world’?
I am afraid this is rather the point too. Nobody likes criticism, least of all people who already feel as though their neighbours dislike them (as we do in the football). And, whilst Platini definitely has his moments as an insufferably arrogant man he does make a fair point. Financial domination is cheating. Many will disagree with Platini, insisting that he appears too eager to put England down, but as the man himself says says: ‘he’s just doing his job’.
FIFA
The vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups also left a bitter taste in the mouth of English football fans. The suspected corruption within FIFA has grown in to a worldwide mistrust of the organisation and several nations, including England, feel as though they have been let down. England had arguably the best bid; the infrastructure and stadiums on offer were second to none and the World Cup would have been the most profitable were it to be held in the UK. This too has fuelled the suspicions of many that England is often held at a disadvantage.
Rooney
Ultimately there is no real proof of any anti-English agenda and we must face up to the fact the Wayne Rooney was punished for his actions within the means of the law. There may be a debate as to whether the ban would have occurred for a striker from another country but it has happened before to other players such as Arshavin in 2008 and Vidic in 2006. At the end of the day Rooney knew the potential outcome and he has been dealt with accordingly.
The truth
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Yes, it may seem unfair, but we must accept it with grace. If we don’t then we run the risk of sounding like a plethora of bitter robots. Unable to accept accountability for our actions, constantly complaining and making ourselves even fewer friends in the process.
England’s faults and failures are a result of nobody’s doing but our own. The suspect behaviour of UEFA and FIFA may or may not be a figment of our imagination. But, in the end, even though Rooney’s suspension will continue to consume England fans’ predictions for our performance this summer we must remain aware that when the Euros arrive England’s attitude and inherent sense of entitlement to success (perpetrated by media and fans alike) will be the real enemy, not UEFA.
Inter Milan manager Leonardo has reacted with disbelief at criticism directed at striker Samuel Eto’o.
Inter lost 1-0 at Juventus on Sunday, widening the gap between them and Serie A-leading city rivals AC Milan to eight points as a result.
Eto’o was the chief target of blame for the loss, but he was defended by his manager on Tuesday.
“I don’t know how someone can criticise Eto’o,” he said.
“It really takes some cheek. Eto’o has scored (24) goals this season. He sometimes might not time things right or have the space because he’s strictly marked, but it does not make sense to say that there is a problem with Eto’o.”
Leonardo and Inter are readying themselves for Wednesday’s trip to Fiorentina, who are undefeated in three games in February.
The Brazilian is under no illusions as to the task at hand.
“Well, we have played against many teams when they were in their best form: Napoli, Palermo and now we’ll be playing against Fiorentina,” Leonardo said.
“Maybe this is the destiny of a big team: to face teams in good form. I think that Fiorentina have started very well this year and have achieved a great win in the last match.”
“I think that our team has alternatives, but we’re a very compact side that has the ability to perform in the big matches.”
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Leonardo also touched on the retirement of former national teammate Ronaldo, and was liberal with his praise of the ex-Inter striker.
“I think that Messi is playing so well, but as far as I’m concerned – after Maradona and Pele, who are two untouchable myths in the football world – comes Ronaldo,” he said.
“It’s like losing a fortune, I don’t know how to say it. I think he will be among the best players: after Maradona and Pele, there will be Ronaldo.”
Birmingham City forward James McFadden has played down rumours suggesting that he is pushing for a new contract at St Andrew's.
The 27-year-old Scotland international's current deal runs until the end of next season and McFadden is calm about the prospects of a future agreement.
He told the Birmingham Mail:"I was asked the question and, yes, I would like to get it sorted, but I am in no rush.
"My contract runs out at the end of next season and the club have got a two-year option.
"But if I play a certain amount of games I get one for myself, so it is not a big drama.
"There are other players speaking at the moment about contracts. There is not a lot of progress, but I am not worried.
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"I would like to get it sorted but I'm not going to complain. I'll wait and see what happens."
McFadden joined City in January 2008 from Everton and has since scored 13 goals in 83 appearances in all competitions.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
When this new Premier League season begun back in August many would have expected few teams to still remain unbeaten going into October’s fixtures. Champions Manchester United? Probably. Massive spending Manchester City? Almost certainly. Aston Villa and Newcastle United after losing various key players? Ye…..hang on a minute! Don’t you mean now perennial title challengers Chelsea? Nope. Or how about big spending and revitalised Liverpool? Certainly not. Finely balanced and attacking Spurs? No no no! Strange as it may seem, as the first league fixtures of October ended, there are four Premier League teams who are still yet to taste defeat this season in the league; first placed Manchester United, second placed Manchester City, fourth placed Newcastle United and seventh placed Aston Villa.
Undefeated and flying under the radar of some of the supposed ‘bigger’ clubs in the Premier League Newcastle United and Aston Villa are enjoying a fine start to this season. Even the most ardent supporters of these two clubs would have struggled to believe they would be unbeaten after 7-league games, after the extremely turbulent summer they witnessed. To be honest, many must have feared the worst. Let’s start in the north-east on Tyneside.
Newcastle were still reeling from the loss of local lad Andy Carroll as the summer began, but with the transfer window now open again, here was a proper chance to use the huge sum of money they received for their former striker and replace him. Instead, talk was of an exodus of more key players, due to broken promises and contract issues. Captain Kevin Nolan was first high profile name to leave. What must have confused (and maybe embarrassed) fans of the Toon Army was the fact that he left to join a side in the Championship! Next to leave and following in Carroll’s footsteps was the much vaunted Spaniard Jose Enrique, amidst a flurry of unhappy Twitter messages. Finally, never to be outdone in the controversy stakes (and certainly not on Twitter) was a certain Joey Barton, who appeared to spend most of his time fighting with the board but staying on the right-side of the fans, before making-up with the management team, then leaving for newly promoted QPR on transfer deadline day.
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Three more key players had departed, and their replacements seemed a little underwhelming. In came midfielders Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux and Mehdi Abeid from France, followed by another Frenchman, albeit from Manchester United, Gabriel Obertan who had endured a nightmare career thus far with the Champions in England. The striking role was filled by yet another Frenchman with experience of the English league with West Ham in Demba Ba. Enrique’s replacement was found in one time promising Italian left-back Davide Santon. Those six players were hardly household names to the average supporter, but somehow manager Alan Pardew has moulded an impressive unit with Cabaye in particular standing out from the bunch. The retuning Ben Arfa from long-term injury also seems like a new signing. Other than an Arsenal in turmoil, Newcastle are yet to face any side fighting for a top-four finish and beyond so sterner tests are to come, although they have beaten their derby rivals and a tough Wolves side away from home, whilst drawing with fellow surprise packages Aston Villa.
Villa also had their fair share of traumatic events during the summer and many feared they too, would be left worse off. Against the backlash of appointing Alex McLeish, former manager of their most hated rivals Birmingham City, Villa fans with disgruntled from the off, to say the least. Making things seem worse, something Villa fans have had to become accustomed to during the summer transfer window also occurred; they lost their best players. Off went Ashley Young and fans player of the year Stewart Downing to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively, whilst also losing ever-green keeper Brad Friedel. In fairness, a great replacement in Shay Given was signed to take his place in goal, and Spurs duo Alan Hutton and Jermaine Jenas also came in, adding Premier League experience. The long pursuit of Charles N’Zogbia also ended and came in as a perfect wing replacement for Young/Downing.
However it is the return to form of Gabriel Agbonlahor that has helped Villa remain unbeaten in the league this season, firing in 4-goals in 7-games. Perhaps even more influential in keeping their unbeaten status is new keeper Shay Given who seems to perform highlight saves every fixture. Similar to Newcastle however, tougher tests are yet to come for Villa as they too are yet to face any of the clubs who are challenging for honours this season.
Are both clubs getting the credit they deserve thus far? Probably not. Will they remain unbeaten all season? Again, probably not….but who knows? It’s a funny old game!
If you want to read more from myself including news, thoughts and views you can follow me on Twitter @fantasista1077 thanks!
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Newcastle manager Alan Pardew bemoaned the injury to striker Shola Ameobi after his side lost 1-0 at Fulham on Wednesday.
After a busy transfer deadline day that saw key striker Andy Carroll sold to Liverpool for 35 million pounds and fellow forward Xisco depart on loan to Deportivo La Coruna, Pardew is now facing a striker shortage that threatens to derail his side’s Premier League campaign.
And the manager’s disappointment at losing Carroll was compounded when Ameobi left the Craven Cottage pitch after just 10 minutes with a suspected fractured cheekbone.
It left Pardew with the untried pairing of Leon Best and substitute Nile Ranger up front, with both failing to make an impact.
“Shola’s injury has not helped our cause, it’s another blow following the one on Monday,” Pardew said.
“We need to rally together and I thank them (the club’s fans) for their support at Fulham.”
Pardew admitted his side were second best at Fulham, who won thanks to a second-half strike from Damien Duff.
“We did not play well enough tonight. The pitch was not the best and didn’t help either team, but we did not threaten enough and we could have been a lot better,” he said.
“They didn’t let us play much, it was a tight, tense affair. But we have Arsenal on Saturday and hopefully we will come away with better points.”
Fulham boss Mark Hughes was happy with his side’s improving form, with Wednesday’s result coming just days after their 4-0 trouncing of Tottenham in the FA Cup over the weekend.
“We scored one, could’ve had a number of others, had good clear chances and could’ve won more comprehensively,” Hughes said.
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“Probably as pleased with the performance and result tonight as I was at the weekend.”
“It was difficult for us in the first half. Newcastle came to stop us playing our normal game. They penned us in and, really, that wasn’t the game that we wanted to play,” he said.
“Second half, we had to address that and make sure we imposed ourselves.”
Everton are remaining optimistic of their chances of keeping hold of John Heitinga despite continual interest from Fenerbahce, according to the Liverpool Echo.
The Istanbul club are currently in talks with the Toffees over a potential move for Nigerian centre-back Joseph Yobo and it is believed they want the Netherlands international to follow his team-mate to Turkey.
Yobo has spent the last two years on loan at Fenerbahce who hope that the lure of Champions League football will be enough to tempt Heitinga away from his position at Goodison Park.
The Super Lig runners-up are believed to have made a bid of £5.5m and are willing to off the Dutchman higher wages, but David Moyes does not want to sell the defender.
The Scot is intent on solely improving his squad and is hopeful of re-signing Steven Pienaar to the Merseyside club after a failed spell at Tottenham Hotspur.
Following the agreement to let 32-year-old club icon, Tim Cahill, join New York Red Bulls on Monday, Moyes will not allow any other departures – Yobo aside.
Though it has caused tensions between the two clubs, Fenerbahce are likely to push through the transfer of the Nigerian.
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Heitinga’s contract runs until 2014 and despite interest from Italy and Russia he has declared he is not looking to leave Everton before the new season.