The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday found Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former India cricketer-turned-commentator, guilty of culpable homicide, not amounting to murder, in a case dating back to an incident in Patiala in 1988. The sentencing will take place on Wednesday; the maximum sentence under the law is 10 years’ imprisonment.In the case, Sidhu and an associate had been charged with assaulting Gurnam Singh in a dispute over the parking of vehicles outside the State Bank of Patiala. The victim later died of his injuries. In 1999, Sidhu was acquitted by the Patiala district court but the Punjab government and the victim’s son filed an appeal in the high court.At the time of the incident Sidhu was one of India’s frontline batsmen, on his way to establishing a reputation as a big-hitting opener. He played 51 Tests and 136 one-day internationals before retiring in 1999. His career post cricket has been as eventful; he first established a reputation as a TV commentator with his homespun “Sidhuisms”. In the last national general elections he contested the Amritsar seat in his home state of Punjab, winning easily as a candidate of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party.Sidhu reacted to the news by offering to resign his parliamentary seat, which will come as a blow to the BJP. Punjab is due for local elections next year and Sidhu was its star campaigner.
A fiery six-over spell from Makhaya Ntini, when he rocked Australia’s middle order with darting pace and whizzing bounce, turned the first Test around, putting South Africa on top on the first day at Perth. In a span of 13 deliveries, he prised out Michael Hussey, Brad Hodge and Adam Gilchrist and wrenched away Australia’s advantage, set up by a glorious counterattacking half-century from Ricky Ponting.An absorbing opening day of the series, with South Africa playing a Test at the WACA for the first time, witnessed a see-saw battle as a four-pronged seam attack kept Australia to 258, despite three partnerships that threatened to take the game away. The South African openers then raced to 38 off the last seven overs of the day, with AB de Villiers hooking the very first ball for four, and gave them a great chance to drive home the advantage.At 3 for 175 at tea, with Hodge and Hussey having found their groove, Australia were well set up for reaching a cosy position but Ntini dashed all those plans in a trice. Running in with customary verve, varying his length cannily and hustling the batsmen with zip, he floored the two set men in a quick burst – Hussey became the third batsman to get on the front foot and top edge a pull with Charl Langeveldt pulling off a sensational one-handed catch running in from mid-on; and Hodge snicked an attempted front-foot drive after being beaten by the seam movement. Ntini then got Gilchrist to edge a full swinging delivery, endured seeing Justin Kemp grass a low chance at first slip, ran in faster, pitched it shorter and, four balls later, got him to edge again. This time, Herschelle Gibbs, at second slip, held on to the chance and the game had well and truly changed course.It was Ntini who had given a Jacques Kallis-less South Africa a near-perfect start, under overcast conditions, as his second ball of the game accounted for Matthew Hayden, undone by the bounce as his attempted pull ballooned to gully. And just when the game appeared to be slipping away, with Ponting engineering a serious drilling, he forced Langer into a similar indiscretion, as the top edge soared straight to mid-off. He could have had Hodge when he was on 3, with Mark Boucher managing to only get his gloves to a steepling edge, as Ntini, snapping up his 10th five-wicket haul, refused to let Australia run away with the game. It was on this ground, nearly eight years back, where he took his first strides in international cricket and it proved to be a happy return for the lad from Mdingi.
For all his zest, Ntini might have not had as good a return if not for the workman-like spells from Shaun Pollock and Andre Nel, choking runs and inching South Africa back into contention. Bustling in with his characteristic vigour, Nel maintained a full length while bowling against an attacking Ponting. He was driven on a couple of occasions, gloriously in fact, but didn’t dig it in short, unlike the erratic Charl Langeveldt, and stopped the leak of runs from one end. Pollock’s rigorous methods added to the batsmen’s frustration and Ponting was trapped in front while trying to turn one to the on side. Nel was rewarded for his consistency with two wickets at the end of the innings and if not for Langeveldt’s extravagance, conceding exactly 100 runs in his 17 overs, Australia might have been in deeper strife.What saved them, though, was some feisty brilliance from Ponting, who cut through the morning tension like a hot knife through butter. Ponting’s first ball had a sense of déjà vu as Ntini’s superb bouncer rattled him on the side of his helmet, reminding one of Steve Harmison’s snorter that caused a bleeding cut on the opening morning at Lord’s. But a change of guard was enough to get back his terrific judgement. In Ntini’s next over he rattled 13 – a cracking pull to midwicket, another pull backward of square, and a drilled boundary in front of square when Ntini pitched it up. Four more controlled fours flowed from his bat and he got stuck into Langeveldt with two classic pulls.Langer’s gritty knock was just beginning to flower and the duo motored along after the lunch break. Despite both falling in quick succession, Australia carried on the momentum through Hodge and Hussey, who belied their international inexperience by constructing a composed 63-run stand. Shane Warne and Brett Lee also chipped in with plucky contributions, and pushed the score past the 250-mark, but South Africa fought fire with fire and took most of the day’s honours. The aggression with which Graeme Smith and de Villiers went after the bowling in the end of the day, showed that they weren’t willing to hold back and Australia, for the first time this summer, had an opponent looking them in the eye and engaging them in a scrap.How they were outMatthew Hayden c Rudolph b Ntini 0 (1 for 0) Justin Langer c Smith b Ntini 37 (2 for 111) Ricky Ponting lbw b Pollock 71 (3 for 117) Michael Hussey c Langeveldt b Ntini 23 (4 for 180) Brad Hodge c Boucher b Ntini 41 (5 for 185) Adam Gilchrist c Gibbs b Ntini 6 (6 for 199) Shane Warne lbw b Langeveldt 24 (8 for 243) Nathan Bracken c Boucher b Nel 10 (9 for 258) Glenn McGrath c Boucher b Nel 0 (258 all out)
Jeff Wilson has been included in New Zealand’s team for the first game of the three-match series against the FICA World XI to be played at the Jade Stadium in Christchurch tomorrow. Wilson will make his first appearance for the national team in 12 years while Craig McMillan, who joined the squad after Jacob Oram was withdrawn from the first match because of a back strain, was named as the 12th man.The rest of the team was on expected lines with two specialist medium pacers in Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills and a powerful batting line-up backing them up.The three matches will be played on January 22, 24 and 26, and proceeds from the games will go towards providing relief to the victims of the tsunami disaster which hit south Asia on December 26.New Zealand 1 Stephen Fleming (capt), 2 Nathan Astle, 3 Mathew Sinclair, 4 Hamish Marshall, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Chris Cairns, 7 Brendon McCullum, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Jeff Wilson, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Daryl Tuffey.
If Rahul Dravid’s partnership with VVS Laxman bailed India out of a tricky situation, then his 182-run stand with Sourav Ganguly shut New Zealand out of the contest, and ensured that the best result they could hope for was a draw. Ganguly’s innings was played out in three different parts: in the first session, he scarcely played a convincing stroke, scoring 19 from 73 balls. For much of that period, he made generous use of his pads.
1st session
2nd session
3rd session
Balls
73
101
37
Runs
19
56
25
Minimum Footwork
12
5
5
Hit on pad
13
13
2
The fluency started to come into his batting towards the later part of the afternoon session, when he scored 56 from 101 balls. As the table indicates, his footwork became more assured too. The 55 minutes after tea was when Ganguly was at his best, hitting 25 off 37 balls. Overall, Ganguly’s not-in-control percentage was 20 – that is, once every five balls he played-and-missed, edged, or was struck on the pads. For Dravid, that figure was only 12%, a figure which suggests the mastery which he displayed for more than a day and a half.
The Victorian Bushrangers today included Damien Fleming in a squad of 13 for Sunday’s ING Cup clash with the Western Warriors at the MCG. The match will be Fleming’s first since straining a hamstring during Tasmania’s first innings of the Pura Cup match at Bellerive Oval two weeks ago.BUSHRANGERSMatthew Elliott (c), Brad Hodge (vc), Rob Bartlett, Darren Berry, Simon Dart, Damien Fleming, Ian Harvey, Shane Harwood, Ian Hewett, Michael Klinger, Michael Lewis, Jon Moss, Cameron White
Somerset stun KentSomerset slammed 295-7, the highest score in the National League this summerto date, at Maidstone as they took out their frustration on Kent for having pulled away from defeat after following in the corresponding championship match which ended yesterday. Their win by 54 runs took them to six points behind Division One leaders Worcestershire.
Marcus Trescothick, who must in line for an England place sooner rather thanlater and was let off early in his innings, led the assault with 71 runs from 50 deliveries (11 four and one six): his first-wicket partnership with Jamie Cox (51) brought 114 runs in 16 overs, but Kent launched a spirited reply only to lose two wickets in the same over.Kent’s young bowlers suffered a pasting before spinner Min Patel put a breakon the scoring with two wickets. With Keith Parsons (49 n.o.) and Ian Blackweel (30) going strong Somerset seemed likely at one stage to score many more.The home county started badly with the early loss of openers David Fulton andRahul Dravid. Experienced Mark Ealham and Alan Wells (59) weathered the storm and began to make headway taking the score to 148-4 when the latter was out. Captain Matthew Fleming and Matthew Walker seized the initiative to such extent that Kent had the advantage according to the Ducksorth-Lewis as a persistent drizzle started to fall.Both were out in the same over to Blackwell (3-30) however leaving suchcalculations academic. Trescothick took 3-45 in an encouraging performance with both bat and ball.
West Bromwich Albion could struggle to sell a number of their unwanted players in the summer transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a claim made by Joseph Masi, with the Express & Star journalist stating his belief in a recent video that, with Albion having handed out a number of long-term deals earlier this season, Steve Bruce – or whoever West Brom’s manager happens to be this summer – may struggle to revamp the Baggies first-team squad ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
Speaking about Albion’s plans for the summer, Masi said: “The contracts thing is a real worry; Karlan Grant, Callum Robinson, Kyle Bartley, Jake Livermore, Matt Phillips, Darnell Furlong – they’re all on long deals.
“I’m not saying those players all need to leave, but if you want to refresh this group – which, let’s be honest, any manager probably would – they’re all on long-term deals, can Albion offload them? After this season, it’s going to be very, very unlikely.”
Fans will be seething
Following the 2-0 loss to Swansea City on Monday night, West Brom find themselves languishing down in 13th place in the Championship standings – eight points behind Luton Town in sixth, having played a game more than the Hatters.
Indeed, even the most optimistic of Albion fans would struggle to make a compelling argument that, with 12 league fixtures left to play, West Brom still have a chance of securing promotion back to the Premier League this season.
As such, with the Baggies paying out a reported £18.5m-per-year in salaries, with another year in the second tier looking incredibly likely, this wage bill will undoubtedly need to be trimmed rather dramatically.
However, with Grant earning £20k-per-week until the summer of 2026, Robinson on £18k-per-week until 2025, Bartley earning £15k-per-week until 2023, Livermore on £16k-per-week until 2023, Phillips taking home £12k-per-week until 2024, Furlong on £15k-per-week until 2025 and Kenneth Zohore earning £26k-per-week until 2023, it would indeed appear unlikely that Albion will be able to shift many – if any – of these players come the end of the season.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
If this does turn out to be the case, not only will the manager find it an extremely difficult task to refresh his West Brom side this summer, but the club will also be burdened with what is essentially a Premier League wage bill without the windfall of cash that comes with playing in the top flight – something that, considering this is a mess of the Baggies’ own making, is sure to have left fans seething.
In other news: Bruce can finally axe £14k-p/w “Rolls-Royce” as WBA plot offer for £20k-p/w “beast”
Brijesh Tomar, the right-hand middle-order batsman, has been named captain of a 15-member Madhya Pradesh squad for Ranji Trophy Plate League during the 2007-08 season.Tomar’s elevation to captaincy was necessitated by former captain Abbas Ali’s decision to join the Indian Cricket League; a move which made him ineligible to play in matches conducted by the Indian board.The squad includes Devendra Bundela and Naman Ojha, the wicket-keeper batsman, both former India A players. Ojha, 24, was in the India A team that toured Kenya in 2004.Madhya Pradesh’s bowling attack will be led by Anand Rajan, the promising 20-year-old medium-fast bowler, who also played for India Under-19 as well as the Australia Centre of Excellence in this year’s Cricket Australia Emerging Players Tournament. Rajan has taken 37 wickets in nine first-class matches at 27.75, including a five-wicket haul on his debut in 2005.Madhya Pradesh begin their upcoming domestic campaign by taking on Jharkhand in a Ranji game from November 3.Madhya Pradesh squad Brijesh Tomar (capt), Naman Ojha (wk), Mudassir Ojha, Devendra Bundela, Rahul Bakshi, Zafar Ali, Murtaza Ali, Sanjay Pandey, Shantanu Pitre, Anand Rajan, Ashutosh Jadhav, Asif Ali, Jatin Saxena, Jalaj Saxena, Sunil Dholpure Coach: Amitabh Vijayvergiya
The day and the surface demanded unglamorous qualities; some toil, somegraft and liberal helpings of discipline. Happily for Brian Lara, the WestIndies provided precisely that, in restricting Pakistan to below threeruns an over and importantly, removing two-thirds of a heavy scoringmiddle-order triumvirate.”I was very satisfied with the bowlers,” Lara told reporters at the end ofthe day. “On such a pitch it was very tough for the bowlers and to keepthem under three an over was a very good effort. We had to bowl in theright areas, keep the runs down and take any chances that came our way. Wetook four of the five that did and I can’t fault the bowlers for theirefforts.”And some mammoth efforts they were. Corey Collymore might walk under aladder, break a mirror and let a black cat stroll across him repeatedlyand he’d still have more luck than has thus far come his way on this tour.Despite beating batsmen as if it were slipping out of vogue, he has thesolitary wicket to show for it and 16 overs today drew no reward butsympathy. He might try some of what Jerome Taylor is having, for though heeventually redeemed an iffy morning spell, his wickets came off widedeliveries Collymore would scoff at.
Corey Collymore might walk under a ladder, break a mirror and let a black cat stroll across him repeatedly and he’d still have more luck than has thus far come his way on this tour
Cruel to begrudge him success though, especially on a surface Larareckoned was made for batsmen. “The pitch again is made for batting. Justone day gone and we expect, in this part of the world, for it to continuelike that. There will be some deterioration of course, from bowlers’footmarks but as far as I can see it is full of runs. We’re hoping on thispitch we can get some good runs.”One man who won’t have the opportunity is Ramnaresh Sarwan, not includedin the team for this Test to the surprise of some. Sarwan’s recent formisn’t prolific – 137 runs in six matches during the Champions Trophy and112 in five DLF Cup matches – but Lara argued it was a decision based onthe needs of the team. “It wasn’t designed as a drop. I think it was asituation where the best team combination was chosen to get a result. Wealso made another change in dropping Fidel Edwards.”Two fifties in his last two Tests earlier this year in New Zealand,coupled with some ODI form, meant though that Runako Morton was adeserving replacement. “Runako has also had a couple of opportunities overthe last 12-18 months and he’s produced in it. Unfortunately, he foundhimself out of the team so he has an opportunity now. But it is just amatter of picking what we feel is the best team and Sarwan still remainsone of our main players. He’s only missing five days of cricket,” Larareasoned.A couple of early morning wickets, especially of Inzamam-ul-Haq, and thelabours of today may yet bear sweet fruit. Even without Sarwan, thereis as much depth in this batting as there is flatness in the pitch.”Sometimes you get the results of it the following day and we have to comeback and wrap up the remaining six wickets,” Lara continued. “I was pretty happy with theposition of the match on such a pitch and when the opportunity comes forus to bat we have to make full use of it.”
India’s cricket chiefs plan to speak to Greg Chappell, India’s coach, over a rude gesture he reportedly made to crowds in Kolkata last week, an official said on Monday.”We will certainly discuss the matter at the board’s annual general meeting in Kolkata on Tuesday,” said Inderjit Bindra, former head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). “I don’t think any action will be taken but we will tell him such a thing should not happen in future.”Television footage showed Chappell putting his right hand out of a window of the team bus and pointing the middle finger towards the crowds outside the Eden Gardens prior to the fourth one-day match against South Africa. Newspapers slammed Chappell for what they said was an insulting gesture to fans who were taunting him for excluding local hero Sourav Ganguly from the one-day side. Team spokesman M Baladitya said “Chappell had injured his finger during practice and he said he was just attending to it. He did not gesture at anybody.”It was an explanation few were willing to buy, but Chappell insisted he had done nothing wrong. “I see no reason to keep defending myself for something I have not done,” he was quoted as saying in the . “If I want to point a finger at someone, I would point it openly, not when I am inside a bus.” The newspaper also commented: “Indian fans might be a tad too emotional for Chappell’s tastes. But they don’t deserve such disrespect. By his extravagantly tasteless gesture, the legendary Australian cricketer has virtually guaranteed that the debate would now be on him rather than the overtly sentimental crowd.”The Indian team was jeered off the field after South Africa thrashed them by 10 wickets last Friday to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Many in the 90,000-strong crowd taunted Rahul Dravid and his team during and after the match and raised slogans against Chappell and the selectors. Ganguly, India’s most successful Test captain with 21 wins, was sacked and replaced by Dravid this season following a public spat with Chappell. The 33-year-old left-hander was not picked for the home one-day series against Sri Lanka and South Africa, but has been named in the team for the first Test against the Sri Lankans at Chennai from December 2. Chappell, 56, was appointed India’s coach in June for a two-year term till the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.India must win the final one-dayer against South Africa at Mumbai on November 28 to draw the series.