One of South Africa’s most controversial batsmen signed off from first-class cricket on Sunday. Daryll Cullinan, Titans’ captain, finished his career with a first-innings hundred which helped to ensure that Western Province-Boland would not qualify to defend their SuperSport title in the final later this week.Cullinan, who turned 38 last week, told the Cape Argus that while he was still hitting the ball as well as ever, he knew he had made the right decision to retire. “My eyes and hands are good and if I wanted to go on I could," he explained. "But the game has changed, and now is the time to move on."Cullinan made 70 Test appearances for South Africa, scoring 4554 runs at 44.21 as well as winning 138 ODI caps. He will now concentrate on his work as a television commentator and also his coaching centre in Johannesburg.
Ashley Giles emerged as the unlikely hero for England, returning to form with three wickets to give his side the edge on a rain-affected first day at Galle. It was a tale of two halves either side of a two-hour rain delay in the afternoon: the first one belonged to Sri Lanka, but England hit back to take the honours in the second as Sri Lanka closed on 138 for 4.On another brutally hot day, Michael Vaughan was beginning to rue his failure to call correctly at the toss – today was his eighth reverse in his last nine internationals – as Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu fended off the new ball and passed 3000 Test runs together as an opening pair. Atapattu was as watchful as ever, while Jayasuriya started with a bang, but then also knuckled down to solid defence.England’s bowling was economical rather than threatening. Paul Collingwood, making his Test debut in place of Nasser Hussain, who has a viral infection, was brought on for a brief spell and found some useful shape with his outswingers. Gareth Batty, who had to be dragged from the sea after a surfing incident on Monday evening, was brought on ahead of Giles, and bowled with good flight and spin, but with no result.Atapattu and Jayasuriya slowly stepped up the pace. Jayasuriya had a couple of chances to free his arms and gleefully carted the ball past point, even though he also cut a couple of streaky boundaries, especially off Batty. And just as the dark clouds approaching the ground seemed to pose the most threat to the batsmen, Giles eventually made the breakthrough in his second over. Jayasuriya, on 48, lunged forward and clipped the ball off the pad straight to Collingwood at short leg (76 for 1).It was a welcome relief for England and eased the pressure in the horribly humid conditions, but just as they had something to shout about, the customary afternoon storm swept across the ground. The groundstaff, which had been in place for half an hour, knew what was coming and dragged the collection of covers onto the ground as the players scurried for shelter.But a change in weather brought a change in luck for England. After play resumed, Andrew Flintoff made an immediate impact with the wicket of Atapattu. Flintoff hurled a short ball down the leg side and Atapattu gloved it to Chris Read for a watchful 29 (88 for 2).
Meanwhile, Kumar Sangakkara was in a hurry to make up for lost time, and he took a liking to Matthew Hoggard in particular. He smashed him through midwicket the first ball after the restart, cut him past point to signal the hundred, and then drove him through the covers for another boundary.But Giles seized the initiative as the Sri Lankans gradually went into their shell. Bowling round the wicket, he first snatched the big scalp of Mahela Jayawardene. The ball pitched on middle and leg and then straightened to take the inside edge, and flew to Collingwood at silly point via the pad (132 for 3).Then Hashan Tillakaratne fell for a duck when he attempted to cut Giles through point. Leaning back, he wafted at the ball and edged a sharp catch to Read, and after looking lost in the morning, England were suddenly in control (132 for 4). Unsurprisingly, Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera accepted the offer of bad light at 6.05pm local time, and England could reflect one a good first day’s work.
Northern Districts ended the first day of their sixth-round State Championship match with the advantage over the hosts, having elected to bat on an even green Eden Park Outer Oval pitch and finishing with a satisfying 301 for six.The Northern score was built on the back of, first, a controlled 85-run partnership by James Marshall (55) and Michael Parlane (31) after the first-over departure of Matthew Hart and, second, a superbly constructed 73 from the all-rounder Scott Styris batting at number four.Styris applied a judicious leave, a solid defence and a brutal demolition of anything loose, in the process hitting the leg spinner Brooke Walker out of the attack after just two overs.On a pitch that was offering a little movement off the seam, his departure at 225/5 might have signalled difficulties. Instead the Auckland bowlers – Chris Drum excepted – failed to apply pressure and first Grant Bradburn (44) and then Robbie Hart (27 not out) and Joseph Yovich (18 not out) ensured Northern ended the day in a position from which they could dictate proceedings.Drum ended with two for 61 from 21 overs. Richard Morgan, his opening partner, failed to find a consistent line. He ended with one for 52 from 23, figures that flattered through the number of balls the batsmen did not need to play.Sanjeewa Silva, the Sri Lankan medium pacer playing his first first-class match in New Zealand, ended with two for 55 from 19 – more consistent in line than Morgan but also consistently too far outside off to trouble the batsmen. He also contributed eight no-balls to the total.In fact the total of 16 no-balls and three wides added to Auckland’s bowling woes, not least because they went 25 minutes past the scheduled close.Northern will start the second day intending to build on a solid base; Auckland will be seeking to find a tighter line to cut short their oppositions’ progress.
This was not the sort of preparation Australia would have wished for in their penultimate match before the limited-overs NatWest series. They were beaten comfortably, by six wickets, by second division county Middlesex.Chasing a modest 233, the Middlesex batsmen seemed to be in no trouble at any stage against the six bowlers that the tourists used. Australia’s sole early success came in the sixth over when Andy Strauss (15) skied his drive to extra cover off Nathan Bracken. Thereafter, the match was almost entirely in Middlesex’s control.With the entertaining strokeplay in their century, second wicket, stand, Ben Hutton and Owais Shah, both in excellent form this season, took the game away from Australia. Hutton took 76 balls for his half-century and Shah needed six less, hitting four boundaries.When Shah decided to give the charge to Shane Warne and missed the ball to be stumped by a yard, Middlesex needed 87 from twenty overs. Hutton, on 73, was unlucky to have a straight drive from Robin Weston, deflected on to his stumps as he backed up for a run and Middlesex were 170 for three.The only other wicket to fall was that off Simon Cook for a quick 20. He had made his intentions clear when he swept his first ball for the only six of the innings.Finally, with Weston on 36 from 46 balls, Michael Roseberry hit the winning runs with a boundary to square leg to see Middlesex home with seventeen balls to spare.Australia’s batsmen, having been asked to bat earlier on a slowish wicket at Lord’s, failed to make much of an impression until the late stand between Ian Harvey and Jason Gillespie.Their first two wickets went down on 17 and 36, both taken by James Hewitt. Matthew Hayden was the first to go for three, mistiming his pull, followed by Mark Waugh for 14. With Steve Waugh out for four and Damien Martyn for 19, the Australians had slumped to 78 for four.Harvey and Gillespie’s ninth-wicket partnership of 75 boosted the Australian total to 232 with Harvey in brilliant hard-hitting form. He came to the crease after half the side had been dismissed for 106 in only twenty overs and then two runs later he saw the dismissal of another One-Day specialist, Andy Symonds, leg before to Cook who eventually finished with three wickets, as did off-spinner Paul Weekes.Although there wasn’t another substantial partnership in the innings, there was one brilliant display of aggressive strokes. Ricky Ponting, such a delight to watch when he is in full flow, needed only 47 balls to hit 57 and all but nine of those runs come from boundaries.Ponting’s 50 came with one of the best shots of his innings, a beautifully timed drive for four to long off. The stroke also brought the hundred up, in the eighteenth over.Harvey’s 84 runs, exactly half of which came from boundaries, included the only six of the innings when Hutton was hit to mid-wicket. He faced as few as 65 balls during his entertaining knock and showed how particularly strong he is on the leg side.Gillespie, having given excellent support to Harvey, remained not out with 19 as the Australians were dismissed for 232 in 44.2 overs.Afterwards Ben Hutton credited his winter playing grade cricket in Australia as the reason for his breakthrough this year, and acknowledged his family pedigree: “It’s really good to carry on the tradition of scoring runs against the Aussies.”Before I went I hadn’t backed myself enough and while I was out there Ideveloped a new Australian attitude and began to believe in myself. I started to value each innings as you only got the chance to bat once every two weeks.”Ian Harvey admitted the tourists were disappointed, but stressed that this was a warm-up game and that the team would improve.”The whole side will have learned from today,” he said. “We wanted someguys to have time out batting and bowling in the middle. But we are disappointed we have lost, we came here to win.”We are the world champions and if you are to be the best in the world youneed to win 99% of your games.”
Wolves trio Willy Boly, Romain Saiss and Raul Jimenez all struggled in the chastening 3-2 defeat at home to Leeds United on Friday night.
Bruno Lage’s side suffered a dramatic loss to the Whites at Molineux in what was a Premier League classic. Wolves led 2-0 thanks to goals from Jonny and Francisco Trincao, but Jimenez was shown a red card in the second half and the game was duly turned on its head. with the visitors striking three goals, including a stoppage time winner, to complete a crazy turnaround.
We’ve looked at the numbers from statistical experts Sofascore to analyse who the Old Gold’s three worst players were on the night, among those to have played for 45 minutes or longer.
Willy Boly – 6.1
Making a rare start this season, Boly failed to enjoy a productive night upon being restored to the first XI. The centre-back lost possession 18 times in total and was part of a Wolves defence which fell to pieces after Jimenez was sending off., conceding three times in a fairly short period.
Boly also played only three accurate long balls out of 13 attempted and won just half (3/6) of his ground duels.
Romain Saiss – 6.1
Saiss was another Wolves player who was far from his best at Molineux as his team’s European aspirations took an almighty hit.
The Moroccan didn’t win either of his two aerial duels against Leeds, also prevailing in just two out of six ground duels as he failed to dominate at the back.
Saiss also gave away two fouls and lost possession eight times in what was an erratic showing from a player who has largely been excellent this season.
[freshpress-quiz id=“388797″]
Raul Jimenez – 5.1
It was Jimenez who got the lowest rating, no doubt chiefly because of his red card, although it seemed a harsh decision following a foul on Illan Meslier which earned him a second booking.
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Nonetheless, the Mexican only managed 26 touches during his 53 minutes on the pitch, the second fewest of any Wolves starer, also losing the ball 10 times and winning just three out of 11 ground duels.
No tackles or interceptions recorded highlighted how Jimenez also struggled out of possession on a bad night for the 30-year-old.
In other news, Tim Spiers has bemoaned one Wolves-related update. Read more here.
Scorecard A comfortable ten-wicket win over the Combined Campuses & Colleges put Jamaica on top ofthe standings in the Carib Beer Series. Chasing just 26 to win, after they dismissed the CCC for 213 in theirsecond innings, Jamaica eased home after tea on the third day at Kensington Park. Jamaica’s spin-bowling trio of Nikita Miller, Odean Brown, and captain Tamar Lambert shared the ten CCC second-wickets to fall, Miller the most successful with 4 for 65 from 31.4 overs. Legspinner Brown, who took ten wickets in the opening match against Leeward Islands, took 3 for 40 and Lambert, bowling offspin, 3 for 59. CCC’s overnight pair of Simone Jackson and Nikoli Parris batted solidly till just before lunch, when Miller had Jackson caught behind for 49 playing defensively forward to leave the home team on 120 for two at lunch. Jackson and Morris added 91 for the second wicket and the innings crashed after the interval, as CCC, as they lost their last eight wickets for 76 runs. Scorecard Title-holders Barbados put themselves in a great position to whip Guyana, first totalling 531 – their highest total of in six seasons – and then reducing the opposition to 85 for 3 in their second innings when fading light ended play seven early on the third day of their second round match at Kensington Oval. Resuming on 256 for 3 Ryan Hinds perished in the second over of the day, for 108, but wicketkeeper Carlo Morris’ maiden first-class half-century, on his 28th birthday, and some positive, attacking batting from Sulieman Benn and Alcindo Holder lifted Barbados. Morris slammed a run-a-ball 70, Holder and Benn also helped themselves to scores of 58 apiece and Shamarh Brooks, set to captain West Indies Under-19 in this year’s ICC Youth World Cup in Malaysia next month, made 39. Holder and Brooks added 86 for the fifth wicket, in contrasting styles, before Morris and Benn put on 91 for the seventh. Kemar Roach, the fast bowler, had Guyana in early trouble wen he nipped out openers Travis Dowlin and Royston Crandon in his first two overs. Leon Johnson, the former West Indies yout captain, and fellow left-hander Narsingh Deonarine consolidated with a stand of 75 before Deonarine fell to Benn’s left-arm spin. Johnson, unbeaten on 21 from 101 balls, and Ramnaresh Sarwan have plenty to do on day four. Scorecard Leeward Islands swung themselves back into the game with the crucial wicket of Andre Fletcher and left themselves four wickets away from victory at Queen’s Park. Set 289 to win, Windward Islands collapsed to 186 for 6 at stumps on day three. Fletcher played some aggressive shots in his 57 but his dismissal, in the final hour of play, triggered a slide that saw the home team drop from 164 for 3 to 167 for six. Earlier, disciplined bowling from captain Deighton Butler and offspinner Liam Sebastien revived the Windwards’ fortunes as the visitors’ last five wickets tumbled for a mere 42 runs. Leewards resumed on 179 for 5 but Butler’s 4 for 50 and Sebastien’s 3 for 62 cut them to 221. Omari Banks, the captain, made 57, the highest score of the innings.
Matthew Hayden admitted his return to the one-day team had yielded disappointing results and he was looking for a big score against England at Adelaide on Friday. But Shane Watson’s comeback for Queensland on Thursday could mean the race to partner Adam Gilchrist in the World Cup is back on in earnest.Watson, who was given the role of opening for the Champions Trophy in India, was named in Queensland’s limited-overs team for their match against Western Australia but will play as a specialist batsman. He initially hurt his hamstring in a domestic one-dayer shortly before the Ashes started – he was pencilled in for the No. 6 position instead of Michael Clarke – and when he returned for Queensland before Christmas he injured the muscle again while bowling.But with the World Cup rapidly approaching Watson is keen to be back among the runs after impressing at the Champions Trophy with two half-centuries from his five innings at the top of the order. “It has been a long time coming,” Watson said in of his return. He said he hoped to bowl a few overs but the Australia camp is keen for Watson to take it easy after his ill-fated comeback in December.”I will probably be slightly hesitant but that does not mean I won’t be playing at my best,” he said. “It will be in the back of my mind because I felt I was 100 per cent fit when I broke down last time. The more I am doing now, the more confident I am getting.”Hayden, who was recalled to the ODI team when Watson was unable to recover in time for the CB Series, has not grabbed his opportunity with both hands. He has made starts but failed to turn any into a decent total and his four scores so far have been 28, 27, 19 and 0.He said he was desperate to build a big opening stand with Gilchrist to prove the pair was the right one for Australia’s top order. “Gilly and I have had a few good starts but it was a disappointing weekend for us,” Hayden said of their partnerships of 26 against England on Friday and 6 against New Zealand on Sunday. “I think we got dragged down a little bit by the totals. Small totals are always tricky to chase.”
Around 20 years ago, a left-arm seamer called Rudra Pratap Singh playedhis first and penultimate one-day game for India. Hailing from UttarPradesh, he was one of the several new-ball bowlers who were tried out inthe mid ’80s, when India were almost obsessed with choosing medium-paceover spin, but ended with a lone international wicket and failed to makethe Test grade. In a queer parallel, another Rudra Pratap Singh, also fromUttar Pradesh, also a left-arm seamer and also a consistent domesticperformer, turned out for India. However, this was a Test and RP made it amemorable debut to boot.RP Singh’s selection made the headlines primarily because of the man whomhe replaced but he carved a niche of his own with a diligent effort.Dennis Lillie, who bowled on this ground around 25 years back, had termedthe pitch as a “graveyard for bowlers” and it appears to have retained itscharacter over the years. Having being given the new ball on his debut, RP Singhinduced a chance in his very first delivery, only to see a thick edge flythrough Anil Kumble’s outstretched hands at gully. “I just treated it likea normal ball,” he said when asked about what he had thought before thebig moment. “I didn’t try anything different. I always try to maintain adisciplined line and that is exactly what I was attempting right through.”He revealed that he had been told about his selection on the morning ofthe game, and acknowledged his team-mates for helping him cope with thenervousness. “We were told to be prepared before every game and I foundout that I was playing in the morning. I got a lot of advise from thefielders and they told me to treat it like a one-dayer, maintaining an offstump line. That released the pressure. I needed to bowl to a disciplinedline and the results followed.”He’s not the sort of bowler who will have jaws dropping but the ability topersist with a certain length, to worry only about hitting the rightareas, and to weather a torrential run-glut make him a valuable asset. Hesaid he wasn’t too intimidated to bowl to a “great batsman” likeInzamam-ul-Haq adding, “my job was to keep a disciplined line. I did notthink of anything else. I think four wickets on this track is a goodperformance.”He revealed that making one’s debut against Pakistan was a “specialfeeling” and added that he had hoped for a chance on this tour. “I didn’tget a chance against Sri Lanka and was hopeful of playing here,” he added.”The conditions are the same here and playing here is a different sort offeeling.” It was interesting to see Dean Jones getting excited about RPSingh and praising his accuracy. Jones probably remembers his dismissal ina one-dayer at Rajkot in 1986, when another Rudra Pratap Singh snapped himup to get his only international wicket.
Andrew Leipus, who was replaced by John Gloster as the Indian team’s physio in February, has yet to be paid for the last five months of his tenure with the Indian team. Since his contract was worth US$50-60,000, the money owed to him is US$21-25,000. This revelation, by the , is the latest in a series of blows to the BCCI’s reputation in matters of finance.SK Nair, the secretary of the board, parried the issue to Jyoti Bajbai, the treasurer. “I distinctly remember that two weeks back I had cleared the payment,” said Nair. “The treasurer’s office usualy transfers the amount from the bank account in Kanpur to Andrew’s bank. We usually pay him in three instalments because of the RBI regulations.”Maybe,” Nair added, “the money is in transit.”Bajpai admitted that there had been a delay and said he was yet unclear about the payment. “I will have to check up. I am not quite sure about the payment. But, yes, there has been a delay.”The same newspaper stated that John Wright, who looks set to end his tenure as coach after Pakistan’s tour, remained unpaid for seven months last year, that the Indian team was yet to receive the Rs50lakh (approx. US$114,000) bonus they were awarded by the board after the series win in Pakistan, and that the first of the graded payments were still to be made to the team.
The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has defended its decision to impose a £160 (US$225) “cricket surcharge” on tickets made available to England supporters who are travelling to the Caribbean in April next year to watch the series between England and West Indies.The Caribbean – Antigua and Barbados in particular – has become a popular destination for cricket-watching overseas tourists, and on England’s last visit in 1997-98 there was considerable local unease with the number of tickets allocated to visitors as many locals were unable to watch games. The cash-strapped WICB has looked to derive revenue and stem burgeoning demand from the tourists with the levy, leaving many supporters fuming with accusations that its actions amount to little more than “blackmail and theft”.The WICB explained that the extra revenue would be spent on developing the local infrastructure ahead of the 2007 World Cup, and that the massive demand for the St John’s and Bridgetown Tests had left them with little option. “We recognised that there is always a huge influx of supporters from the United Kingdom and Europe and that we haven’t managed the ticketing procedure properly in the past,” Darren Millien, the WICB’s marketing executive, told the Times newspaper. “Installing up to 7000 visitors in our small, 8000-seat stadiums has brought us harsh criticism from our own supporters, who were unable to get into the matches. This way we will be able to increase the stadium capacity by installing temporary stands and manage the situation properly, so that we have a much fairer distribution of tickets.”Five-day tickets for the third Test in Barbados range in price from £289 to £348, while similar packages for the final Test in Antigua cost between £258 and £389. Tickets for the less-popular Jamaica and Trinidad Tests are cheaper, but are still more than £200 for a five-day pass. At between £40 and £70 a day, it compares with the most expensive seats at any Test ground in England. A final sting in the tail is that there are no refunds on any day if more than 15 overs are bowled.One Cricinfo reader wrote to us to say that the increase was “a disgrace”. He explained that in 1998 he paid a total of £55 for the five days of the Barbados Test and planned a return visit with his family in 2004, but that the new prices were out of his budget. But according to London-based New Century Marketing, who are handling ticket sales to England supporters, there has been little drop-off in demand, with some stands in Barbados and Antigua sold out within days of tickets going on sale.