Bruce Aanensen has handed in his resignation as West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive. The board will now meet to discuss whether or not to accept the decision, potentially bringing to a close a turbulent six months in the Caribbean.”I have sent in my letter of resignation to the president. He has indicated to me that they are going to meet on Wednesday to discuss the letter and hence I think that it is inappropriate for me to comment on the matter at this point,” Aanensen told .”Surely by Thursday of this week, I would be able to make a comment and give the reasons for my decision.”Barry Thomas, the WICB’s chief financial officer, is expected to act as CEO in the interim. Aanensen is currently on vacation. Aanensen took up the position in February this year, replacing Roger Brathwaite, who stepped down the previous year.Aanensen told CMC Sports he will explain the reasons for his resignation after the board meets in Barbados on Wednesday. “I have sent in my letter of resignation to the president. He has indicated to me they are going to meet on Wednesday to discuss the letter and I think that it is inappropriate for me to comment on the matter at this point,” he said.The decision will, no doubt be a popular one with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), who have called for him to step down after a series of disputes. WIPA’s stance came about initially after comments attributed to Aanensen in which he referred to the West Indies team as ‘incompetent’. But since February, Aanensen has been involved in a number of clashes with the players’ body.There were disagreements over players’ contracts in the run-in to the World Cup and he was also involved in the dispute surrounding the summer tour to England and whether it was a part of the ICC’s Future Tours Programme.Dinanath Ramnarine, President WIPA, subsequently wrote in a letter to the board that he found it difficult to work with Aanensen and that his management style was “unfortunate and surprising for a CEO who has only recently assumed his position”. Ramnarine denied writing the letter. however.Ramnarine’s subsequent appointment as a director with the board is thought to have made Aanensen’s position untenable. But the decision by the new president of the WICB, Julian Hunte, to work with WIPA in resolving all outstanding issues, is thought to have played a determining role in Aanensen’s decision.Hunte is keen to improve the board’s relationship with WIPA and, according to the respected “has been working behind the scenes to get the players paid but Aanensen has been firm in his belief that issuing the payments will put him in legal hot water.”The website further reports that In his resignation, Aanensen cited being caught between a rock and a hard place – likely to be pushed out if he refused Hunte’s directive or facing legal problems if he went ahead and issued payments.
Sussex took the honours on the opening day against Kent at Canterbury after dismissing the hosts for 241. In reply, they reached 102 for 2 and trail by just 139 runs. Somewhat inevitably it was Mushtaq Ahmed to the fore once more for Sussex, ripping out the middle-order and ending with the impressive figures of 6 for 58; in the process he took his 82nd wicket this season. The only man to stand in his way was Martin van Jaarsveld who struck 20 fours and a six in his third hundred of the season. But Kent subsided dramatically, losing their last seven batsmen for just 26 runs in 11 overs. In reply, Sussex lost Richard Montgomerie and Carl Hopkinson cheaply before Murray Goodwin steadied the ship with an unbeaten 49.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is expected to make public the report submitted by the Sponsorship Negotiation Review Committee (SNRC) within ten days. Following detailed and extensive discussions, the Executive Committee of the WICB said in a news release that they had decided to make the report available to the public, along with the board’s comments.The Executive Committee met on Sunday in Antigua and among items on the agenda was consideration of the report from the SNRC, that comprised Justice Anthony Lucky (chairman), as well as accounting professionals Gregory Georges and Avondale Thomas.Excerpts from the report have appeared in the media over the last few weeks. A newspaper reported yesterday that the board intended to challenge the findings of the SNRC Report, since they believe there are a number of contradictions in the document.The committee was set up under Teddy Griffith, the previous WICB president, to review and examine all correspondence, transactions, communications, minutes, contracts, records, arrangements and any other relevant information concerning the WICB’s switch of major sponsors from Cable & Wireless to its main telecommunications rival Digicel, . The report was presented to Ken Gordon, the new president, on August 15.The committee was asked to determine whether the WICB treated Cable & Wireless fairly in the negotiations; whether an improper relationship exists between the board and Digicel; whether the new sponsorship arrangement was in the best interests of the board and continued cricket development in the West Indies; and whether payments were improperly accepted by members of the WICB as an inducement.
Zaheer Khan has announced that he has regained complete fitness, and only needs more bowling practice to get back his rhythm. Speaking to the media on the last day of the fitness camp in Bangalore, Zaheer said: “My fitness is fine now, but I’m at a stage where I just need to bowl more and more. Injuries have been a worry for me, but this is just a phase and I’m confident it will soon go.”Zaheer was plagued by injuries for most of last season – he missed two out of four Tests in Australia due to a torn hamstring, and then pulled out midway through the first Test against Pakistan.Commenting on the recovery process, Zaheer said: “For any player, staging a comeback is very difficult and I am analyzing how not to get injured as well as maintaining my length and speed. I don’t think I really have to cut down on my pace.”In an attempt to regain match-fitness, Zaheer briefly tried his hand at county cricket, playing as an amateur for Surrey. He was supposed to figure in one-day game and two four-day matches, but pulled out of the last four-day fixture after a disappointing game against Kent. Speaking on the arrangement with Surrey, he said: “They wanted me to stand in for Saqlain Mushtaq and I wanted to have a go at bowling because I had already spent two weeks in England training. But after the first [four-day] match I realised that I needed to bowl much more in the nets before I started bowling in matches.”Zaheer’s priority will be to get ready for the six-nation Asia Cup, which starts on July 16.
Highly rated Western Australia all-rounder Adam Voges will be Bournemouth’s overseas player in the ECB Southern Electric Premier Cricket League this summer.The 23-year old starlet flies in from Perth at breakfast time tomorrow (SAT) and has been pencilled in to make his Bournemouth debut in Sunday’s friendly match against Dorset at Chapel Gate, 11am.Bournemouth’s Director of Cricket Richard Scott described the signing of Voges as a “major coup” and anticipates the young Australian all-rounder will make a major impact in the Premier League this season.Voges, who was recommended to Bournemouth by Hampshire Team Manager Paul Terry, arrives at Chapel Gate with a glowing CV.A forcing right-hand batsman and orthodox left-arm spin bowler, he toured England with the Australia Under-19 side in 1999.He spent 2001 at the famous Commonwealth Bank Academy at Adelaide and earlier this year made four Pura Cup (Sheffield Shield) appearances for the full Western Australia side, playing against Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.Ironically, Voges made his debut in the same 4-day match at the WACA against Tasmania as Luke Ronchi, who scored over 2,000 runs in his three seasons with Bashley (Rydal).He made several scores of 30 and above batting at number 5 in his Pura Cup matches.Voges, whose nickname is `Happy’, has spent all of his adult cricketing career under the watchful eye of Paul Terry at Melville, the powerful WACA Grade club just outside Perth, where the Hampshire man is head coach.”Adam is a very dedicated young player with a real determination to make his mark in cricket,” praised Paul Terry.”He’s the type of player who will quickly adapt to the different playing surfaces in the Premier League and he’ll be a massive influence both on and off the field at Bournemouth.”A regular team-mate of Hampshire all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas in Western Australia Grade cricket, Voges captained Melville to this season’s One-day final, hitting a century against a star-studded Scarborough team under the WACA floodlights.Mascarenhas played for Bournemouth in 1996, helping Richard Scott’s side win the old Southern League championship.Voges has scored over 2,000 runs and taken almost 100 wickets in A-Grade cricket in Perth.
Ranji Trophy champions Baroda and former champions Mumbai would play atriangular limited overs cricket tournament in Kenya, with the hostsbeing the third team, from September 10 to 24.The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) joint secretary, Mayank Khandwalatold PTI in Mumbai today that the Mumbai team would play Baroda andKenya three times each in the league phase. The final is slated forSeptember 24. Mumbai will also play a three-day match against Kenya.”The main intention of touring Kenya is to give exposure to Mumbaiplayers and help them get accustomed to staying together which in turnwould help them knit well as a team,” he said.”An invitation from the Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) was receivedby the MCA and the newly formed Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC)sanctioned the tour immediately. The MCA selectors will meet here inthe third or fourth week of August to pick the team for the tour,” headded.Kenya had invited Mumbai last year as well but the tour was cancelleddue to non-availability of star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who was busywith the Indian team’s conditioning camp for the International CricketCouncil’s (ICC) Mini World Cup.
West Bromwich Albion didn’t experience any festive cheer on the road at Hull City on Saturday as yet another away defeat in the Championship this season came their way.
Worryingly, Ryan Mason’s Baggies have now lost a bumper nine league games in a row when not playing at the Hawthorns, with an Oli McBurnie penalty for the Tigers ending up being the crucial difference maker.
There would be a lot of grumbles on West Brom’s end when the penalty was given, with several big chances missed by the visitors, before the referee pointed to the spot, courtesy of a handball from a Baggies defender.
To make matters worse, West Brom would also be on the receiving end of a dubious red card decision involving second-half substitute Alfie Gilchrist, as the West Midlands outfit endured a nightmare trip to the East Riding of Yorkshire.
How Alfie Gilchrist got on against Hull
The former Chelsea youngster had only been on the pitch for a matter of eight minutes before he was given his harsh marching orders.
Coming in to the side for only his seventh Championship runout of the campaign, Gilchrist would have been eager to impress.
Instead, a high challenge on Liam Millar would be punished, as his first stint away from Stamford Bridge continues to fail to ignite.
Indeed, with zero clean sheets next to his name from those seven appearances, it looks unlikely that Gilchrist will be able to break into the starting XI down the line, with Mason comfortable with the likes of Nathaniel Phillips in the heart of his defence.
Gilchrist’s performance vs Hull
Stat
Gilchrist
Minutes played
8
Touches
6
Accurate passes
4/5 (80%)
Tackles won
0
Duels won
0/1
Red card
1
Stats by Sofascore
He certainly won’t have boosted his case for more starts with his whirlwind eight-minute cameo against Hull, even if he can be deemed a little unlucky, for a tackle judged to be a “strong yellow” at most by West Brom-focused journalist Lewis Cox.
It would also be extremely harsh to say Gilchrist’s dismissal solely changed the complexion of the match, as one wasteful underperformer looked even worse than the 22-year-old defender, as another Championship contest passed him by.
The West Brom flop who was worse than Gilchrist
As the under-fire Mason summed it up at the full-time whistle, West Brom ultimately lost the contest when squandering a whole host of golden opportunities in the first half.
Karlan Grant, in particular, spurned various chances to put his inconsistent side into the lead, with five shots registered at the Hull goal in quick succession by the left winger. In the number ten spot, too, Isaac Price, also let the away side down, again, with another below-par performance in the attacking areas, as his goalless run in the Championship now stretches to a shambolic 12 matches.
Price’s performance in numbers
Stat
Price
Minutes played
66
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Expected goals (xG)
0.78 xG
Touches
30
Accurate passes
18/22 (82%)
Key passes
2
Big chances created
1
Successful dribbles
0
Total duels won
0/1
Stats by Sofascore
On another day, that duck would have been broken against Hull, as seen in his xG reaching a high 0.78. But the Northern Ireland international’s shattered confidence was clear for all to see in the first 45 minutes, when he somehow fired a point-blank chance over the bar.
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On top of that, Price would also fail to complete a single successful dribble or win a single duel, as the ex-Everton youngster eventually retreated into his shell, leading to West Brom ultimately accepting another away-day disappointment.
It has been a dramatic drop-off for Price at the Hawthorns, as the 22-year-old would amass five goals and two assists during the early stages of this second-tier campaign. Moreover, he was also labelled a “breath of fresh air” by Baggies legend Chris Brunt earlier in the season, with how electric and forward-thinking he looked on the ball.
Fast forward to the present, though, and Price looks a shadow of his former self, with the playmaker equally frustrating to watch last time out on the road – before the trip to Hull – away at Southampton, when failing to convert another six shots.
Mason will know, if he doesn’t arrest the slide at West Brom soon, that he could pay the price with his job, with the hot-and-cold attacking midfielder perhaps one face he has to consider dropping moving forward, as his lack of cutting edge proved to be far more costly than Gilchrist’s wild cameo.
Corberan 2.0: West Brom could hire "elite" manager who's better than O'Neil
West Bromwich Albion must now consider replacing Ryan Mason with this standout manager target, who could be their next Carlos Corberan.
Gautam Gambhir’s 82-ball 67 and an unbeaten 62 from Milind Kumar took Delhi to a five-wicket win against Odisha in Delhi. Gambhir’s knock kept Delhi on track in the first half of the 226-run chase and once he was dismissed in the 27th over, Milind stepped up and took Delhi towards victory adding 72 runs for the fifth wicket with Vaibhav Rawal. Earlier, an 81-run partnership between captain Natraj Behera and Biplab Samantray anchored Odisha, who were put in to bat, but the side lost a cluster of wickets on either side of the partnership and were kept to 225 for 9. Natraj Behera top-scored with 50, while Samantray contributed 47.Kedar Jadhav’s swift 131 off 90 deliveries set up Maharashtra‘s thumping 111-run win over Tripura in Delhi. Jadhav, who walked in to bat with the score at 97 for 3 in the 24th over, struck 17 fours and three sixes, while taking the lead in a string of useful partnerships with the lower order. His century guided Maharashtra to 294, a total their bowlers defended easily. The attack combined to bring Tripura down to 91 for 7 in the 26th over. Rana Dutta and Sanjay Majumder resisted with an eighth-wicket partnership of 75, but Maharashtra wrapped up the innings for 183 soon after Dutta was dismissed. Majumder followed up his earlier three-wicket haul with an unbeaten 52 off 68 deliveries. Part-time offspinner Swapnil Gugale took 4 for 21 and also effected a run-out.Vidarbha put behind their disappointment of an earlier three-run loss to Odisha by brushing past Baroda by seven wickets to record their second win in three matches in the 2015-16 Vijay Hazare Trophy. Ravikumar Thakur, the left-arm seamer, picked up four wickets to restrict Baroda to 173. As many as eight batsmen got off to starts, with the highest score being Ambati Rayudu’s 40. Thakur was backed up well by Rajneesh Gurbani and Ravi Jangid, who picked up two wickets apiece. Vidarbha lost two wickets inside 15 overs, but Faiz Fazal steered them forward. While he fell 11 short of a century, S Badrinath, the captain, saw the team through with an unbeaten 47, Vidarbha winning with eight overs to spare.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said that it was difficult to judge how much Bangladeshpushed the hosts because of the quality of cricket his team played in both the Testand one-day international series. Jayawardene’s men routed Bangladesh with comprehensive 3-0 victories in both the Test and one-day series, not giving the opposition any chance to make a comeback.”They tested us on a few occasions in the Test matches as well as in the ODIs, but we showed a lot of quality and a lot of character to come back from different situations and we challenged ourselves to be different. We could have taken things easily but we didn’t. We wanted to play very positively even in the Test matches and try to get it done with as quickly as possible. In that manner it is very difficult to say whether Bangladesh really pushed us,” he said.”The way Bangladesh plays, they come hard at you for a while and then they give up. You just need to hang in there for that period and fight it off. Once we get that advantage we just move forward. That has been the pattern throughout the series. Our game plan was to not let them have early success. That was the trend even today. We never took the foot off the pedal. Weneeded to win the series 3-0, that’s the goal we set ourselves. The way we finished it off showed we played good cricket.”Jayawardene was all praise for Man-of-the-Match Jehan Mubarak who was the top scorer in thematch with an 83-ball 72. “It’s brilliant to see the way Jehan batted today. We opened roles for a lot of guys and Jehan put his hand up and said that he is ready to take responsibility, which isexcellent. Today’s innings showed that we can fit him in at any position in the batting line-up. We started off with him at seven. Today we pushed him at five just to give him more batting time in the middle,” Jayawardene said.Mubarak who has been in and out of the team due to indifferent form said: “There hasalways been talk that I have not been playing to my full potential and making use ofthe opportunities I’ve got. In that context it is definitely satisfying to go out there and win a match for your country in slightly difficult circumstances.”It gives me a lot of confidence and a feeling that I belong in this team and that I am a part of the team. I feel that my game now is a bit more complete than what it was a year ago. There’s a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully I can build on it and cement my place in the side.”Mohammad Ashraful, the Bangladesh captain, felt they had missed a great opportunity to beat Sri Lanka who were without the service of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas. “Both in the first match and today we had a chance of winning, but our batting let us down. Although we missed a number of chances today, our bowling was good torestrict Sri Lanka to a total of 196 in 40 overs, but our batting has been thebiggest problem. Throughout the series the bowlers have bowled well. The resultshave not come our way because of the batting. There is room for improvement, wecould have done much better.”Asked whether Bangladesh missed the services of former coach Dav Whatmore, Ashrafulreplied: “Shaun Williams did a very commendable job in the series. If the playersdon’t play well, even Whatmore or any other coach can’t do much.”The match was also the farewell for Sri Lanka’s interim coach Trevor Penney who willbe joining Tom Moody as his assistance in Western Australia.”Half way through the match I was worried whether we were going to win. I really wanted to go out with a win. At the end before the last wicket fell I thought this is the last time I will be with the guys. That was quite a sad moment but I’ve made my decision and I’ve got to move on with it now,” Penney said.Penney described the Sri Lankan team as “a talented bunch of cricketers” and saidthat he was very much impressed with the progress they have made over the past twoyears. “When I first came they weren’t batting well but the players have made a lot ofimprovements, most importantly the middle order batting in one-day cricket. Themiddle to late-order, that’s a real plus for me. The fielding’s improved and so manythings. I’ve made a lot of friends, and that’s the saddest part,” he said.Sri Lanka will have four weeks off from international cricket and when they begin inSeptember they will have Trevor Bayliss as coach and Paul Farbrace as assistantcoach for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.
John Reid, the New Zealand Cricket president, believes a lack of video evidence will not harm the allegations of ball-tampering against Pakistan. Reid, speaking to in his capacity as a match referee from 1993 to 2002, said there were “quite a number of occasions” during his career as an official that there were concerns over the tactics of Pakistan’s bowlers.In 2000 Reid fined and suspended Waqar Younis for a game for tampering and was called “racist and biased”. “It’s obvious he was in the wrong but the umpire or referee gets the blame,” he said.Reid said in the current case the only evidence Hair needed to prove the allegation was the ball. “Everyone is saying there is no video on this,” Reid said. “You don’t need video evidence. You’ve got the ball … They would have had the ball at the meeting [when the charges were laid]. They wouldn’t do that unless the ball showed a lot of evidence of ball tampering.”Reid told the paper Hair had “done a good job” but had gone “one step too far” with his request for a payout of $US500,000. “It’s going to be very difficult for Darrell Hair from now on I would imagine,” he said. “He’s a well respected umpire. OK, he’s a tough old bloke but you’ve got to be a tough old bloke every so often.”Reid said Imran Khan, who last week labelled Hair a “mini-Hitler”, was one of the pioneers of tampering. “He wrote a book about it,” he said. “Have a look at the book. There was a chapter in there saying how to do it. It’s a joke, I’m afraid.”