Following New Zealand’s exit from the World Cup semi-final, Stephen Fleming, the Test captain, is hopeful their coach John Bracewell will stay on after his contract expires next month. “I think Braces should stay on, I think he’s a fine coach, he’s worked well with this side,” Fleming said in The Press.Bracewell, who is expected to submit a detailed performance appraisal of the squad to New Zealand Cricket (NZC), said a review of the World Cup campaign would determine his future. He was recently under-fire from Martin Crowe, the former New Zealand captain, who suggested that he should resign.However, Bracewell hasn’t given any indication he would join the mass exodus of international coaches and said the priority would be to sort out the player contracts for the forthcoming season. “Once we’ve gone through that review process I’ll make that decision on whether to continue, or that decision will be made for me,” Bracewell told .”Ric Charlesworth [the NZC high performance manager] has a lot of things on the table when we get back in terms of the development plan. We have a month of hard cricket ahead of us, not in terms of playing, but players’ contracts have to be sorted out. There’s a lot of work to do.”New Zealand impressed through the group stages but faltered towards the end of the event. They were exposed in all departments in the semi-final against Sri Lanka, raising questions about their ability to lift their performance in knock-out games. This was their fifth semi-final loss in World Cup history.Though NZC were non committal on Bracewell’s future, Justin Vaughan, the newly-appointed chief executive, was also hopeful that he would continue. He said the off-season would be ideal time for the players to reflect on their performances. “They have been going at it since the series against Sri Lanka in December so they deserve the chance to sit back and reflect on things,” Vaughan said.Reflecting on his side’s showing in the tournament, Bracewell said they had performed above expectations, but admitted they were completely undone by a far superior side in the semi-final. “We were as well prepared as any side that’s has been put together,” he said. “We really have to put our hands up and say we didn’t perform on the day. A good dose of Test cricket will do us the world of good – players like Ross Taylor and Peter Fulton need it to continue their development.”
A hike in monthly pensions for former players, plans to boost support to other sports, and venues for the 2006 Champions Trophy were some of the issues discussed in the BCCI’s working committee meeting in Mumbai on Sunday.Showing the money Players who have figured in 25 Tests or more will receive up to Rs35,000 as pension amount while those who have played in less than 25 will get Rs25,000. The widows of Test cricketers will also receive the same amount. Former cricketers who played for India in Tests and ODIs after December 31, 1993 and all international umpires will receive a sum of Rs10,000 per month.Sharing the booty Sports other than cricket will also benefit from the BCCI’s largesse, after they decided to set up a corpus fund worth Rs50 crore (approx US$11 million) to boost budding talents in the under-15 age group in various sports. “It’s the responsibility of the BCCI to support young talent in sports that figure in the Asian Games and Olympics,” Sharad Pawar, the president of the BCCI, said about this initiative. “The BCCI will pick the No.1 in the under-15 age group and help them in training in India and abroad. The modalities have to be worked out and the BCCI constitution has to be amended for this purpose. We will set aside Rs50 crores and add the proceeds of one off-shore match every year [around Rs40 crores] to build the corpus.”Ground work The board, after negotiations with the ICC, confirmed four venues — Cricket Club of India, Mumbai, Jaipur, Mohali and Ahmedabad — for the Champions Trophy to be held in October-November this year. “The ICC has agreed to reduce the compensation money from US$1 million to under 200,000 dollars for the fourth venue,” informed Pawar. “The ICC rejected Chennai and Bangalore because of the threat of rain and the Cricket Association of Bengal informed the BCCI that it was not in a position to conduct the Champions Trophy games.”Pawar will choose eight venues in India for the 2011 World Cup and the “eight centres will have to send the compliance letter soon,” reported BCCI treasurer N Srinivasan. Also, a special committee headed by Chirayu Amin, the vice president, and comprising Arun Jaitley of the Delhi District Cricket Association, Lalit Modi, Bindra and Ajay Shirke, Maharashtra Cricket Association president, had been formed to come up with proposals to develop the 30 acres of land given by the Delhi Development Authority to the board.To cap it all Agreeing with Sunil Gavaskar’s views on the India cap, Pawar announced that only the national players will wear the cap with the BCCI’s crest on it, while the support staff will not be allowed to wear it.Searching for talent A special committee headed by former chief IS Bindra will give suggestions about optimum usage of the board’s funds, and will also offer recommendations on the Talent Research Development Wing (TRDW). “The committee will submit a preliminary report on all the related issues, including the scraping of the TRDW and the change in the format of the national selection panel [from five members to three],” said Pawar. Gavaskar had earlier criticised the proposed move to scrap the TRDW, asserting that the increase in the number of players from smaller towns was due to this system. He felt it would be a “big mistake” to scrap such a successful system.
Makhaya Ntini and Charl Langeveldt, the two South African fast bowlers, have been fined part of their match fees for breaching the International Cricket Council’s Code of Conduct during the third one-dayer against West Indies in Barbados. Both bowlers were found guilty of “excessive appealing” by Jeff Crowe, the match referee, in a hearing after the game finished at Bridgetown on Wednesday.Langeveldt, the hero of South Africa’s one-run triumph with a last-over hat-trick, was fined 20% of his match fee as he was found to have breached 1.5 Level 1 of the ICC Code. He was penalised for his actions after the fifth ball of the final over, when he celebrated the dismissal of Corey Collymore, the last batsman, before the umpire had given the decision. Crowe added, “Charl, albeit emotional in the dramatic moment, simply did not turn to appeal to the umpire for an lbw decision and pleaded guilty to the breach.”Ntini, who incurred a 25% fine on his match fee, was also found guilty of celebrating the dismissal before the umpire’s verdict in the 11th over of the West Indian innings. “At the ODI pre-series meeting, team management was advised by the Playing Control Team that no tolerance would apply for these actions,” Crowe said. “Makhaya was apologetic after the event and pleaded guilty to the breach.”All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee. The charge was brought to Crowe’s notice by Darrell Hair, Eddie Nicholls and Billy Doctrove, the three match umpires.
Heath Streak, Zimbabwe’s captain, believes one-day internationals should consider new rules and fresh ideas to maximise its interest and appeal.Talking ahead of Zimbabwe’s opening game of the VB Series against Australia at Sydney on Sunday, Streak said: “One-day cricket is a fantastic advert for the game, but there is a risk that unless a tight finish is involved, the game can be predictable for players and fans.”Spectators now have dozens of sports and entertainment to choose from on their TV screens, so cricket has to find a way of holding its own in a crowded market.”Streak had a few ideas of his own on how to shake things up a bit. “For example, as a captain, I’d support the idea of being able to change the current fielding restrictions from the first 15 overs of a match, when you have to have two catchers and only two fielders outside of the circle.”If I could use the 15 overs in blocks of, say, five overs each, it would allow me to experiment more with my bowlers and have new options to try in the field. That might help change the quiet period you often get in games between overs 16 and 40.”He also suggested the introduction of international Twenty20 cricket, the 20-over format introduced in England last season. “We saw the instant impact that Twenty20 cricket had in England when we toured there in the last northern summer,” he said. “Perhaps the ICC could experiment with an international version of Twenty20, which I think would pull in spectators and be an attractive formula for telecasters.”Streak, who has played 172 one-dayers for Zimbabwe, warned that the game needs to keep coming up with new ideas. “With 11 countries playing limited-overs internationals there is plenty of scope to experiment with some fresh thinking,” he said. “Cricket needs to find a way of keeping itself attractive and interesting. Test cricket should always be there as the purest form of the game, but one-day internationals provide the perfect opportunity for some creative thinking.”
The scene of the three match unofficial Test series between Sri Lanka A andKenya now moves to the coastal town of Matara where the visitors will bestriving hard to win the second four-day match and keep their chances ofwinning the series alive. But the home team, meanwhile, will be lookingforward to executing the knock out blow, to seal the series at the UyanwattaCricket Stadium, Matara.Batting made all the difference between the two sides in the firstunofficial Test Match in Colombo. While most of the frontline Sri Lankanbatsmen notched up half centuries, the Kenyan camp failed to provide thegoods with big names like Steve Tikolo and Maurice Odumbe failing with thebat.”Our batting failed in the match in Colombo. Myself, Steve (Tikolo) and theother front line batsmen really didn’t get going,” admits Kenyan skipperMaurice Odumbe.He continues,” It’s even disappointing when you analyse the way we’ve beengetting out. We’ve been getting out going for our shots,”However Odumbe feels that his side can bounce back, “We can pickourselvesup. We know what we are doing wrong. We are going for too many shots veryearly in the innings. So we got to cut down on our shots and got to occupythe crease and bat on,””Occupying the crease,” is the answer to square the series Odumbe feels. TheAfrican nation seems to be ill at ease with the four-day game being moreused to playing one-day games. But this tour is to learn and with noquestion on their ability the visitors might spring up a surprise by doingthe essentials right.Meanwhile Sri Lanka A coach Roshan Mahanama commended his side for a goodperformance with the bat in Colombo, but expects them to start afreshtomorrow.”When the top five make runs it’s a good sign and that eases the burden onthe bowlers, but on the other hand I told the boys that one of them shouldhave gone on and made a big hundred which they didn’t do. So here in Matarathey’ve got an opportunity,” says Mahanama.This is the first real challenge that has come Mahanama’s way from the timethat he took on the post of coach cum manager of the Sri Lanka A team inlast September. He believes in the young guns that have been entrusted tohim and expects a series win here from them.”In Colombo the boys bounced back after a bad start on the first day to winthe match against odds like rain and if they continue the good form we canwin the series here,” believes Mahanama.Both the sides are to decide on the final eleven on the morning of thematch. However it’s felt that the Kenyans will play 25-year-old mediumpaceman Peter Ochieng instead of fellow paceman Lameck Onyango who had arelatively bad game in Colombo.The Sri Lankans have dropped Kaushalya Weeraratne from the side that playedin the Colombo match and have brought in Pulasti Gunaratne.The Uyanwatta Stadium pitch looks a good batting track with a bit of grassthat should help the seamers early on.But if the grass on the track is further pruned on the final day morning itlooks as if Sri Lanka will go with a three men spin attack with RanganaHerath coming in to support skipper Upul Chandana andMutumudalige Pushpakumara.The teamsKenya (from):Maurice Odumbe (capt), Steve Tikolo, Ravindu Shah,Kennedy Otieno, Hitesh Modi, Thomas Odoyo, MartinSuji, Otieno Ondik, Lameck Onyango, Sorongo Ababu,Brijal Patel, David Obuya, Joseph Angara, PeterOgondo,Collins Obuya, Muhammed Sheikh.Sri Lanka A (from):Avishka Gunawardene, Ian Daniel, Michal Vandort,Chamara Silva, T.M. Dilshan, Upul Chandana, PrasannaJayawardene, Muttumudalige Pushpakumara, PrabathNissanka, Ruchira Perera, Rangana Herath, UpekaFernando, Gayan Wijekoon, Pulasti Gunaratne.
Northern Districts was 91-3 at the end of day three of the opening round of the Shell Trophy. They require 82 tomorrow if they are to open their defence of the title with a win.This was a day characterised by tense, no quarter given, cricket, both sides aware that small mistakes could cost them the game.The tension was reflected in some aggressive appealing and over reaction to umpiring decisions which resulted in a complaint from the umpires to ND skipper Robbie HartThe first hour of the day saw yet another batting collapse, with four key wickets falling to ND’s pace trio. Joseph Yovich continued to bowl fast and short, while Simon Doull and Graeme Aldridge concentrated on accuracy, letting the pitch do as much of the work as possible.Tama Canning and Aaron Barnes led a fightback with a fifty partnership. They combined caution with a willingness to get after the bad ball. Each hit a six off one of the spinners, Bradburn and Martin.An otherwise quiet phase of play was enlivened by a warning for verbal abuse after umpire Barry Frost had refused an appeal for a catch at short leg by Hood off Bradburn, even though the ND players had begun their celebrations for the fall of the wicket.A mid-wicket conference between Bradburn, ND skipper Robbie Hart and the two umpires was convened a couple of overs later when the officials felt the need to express their displeasure at comments made following the decision. There may be repercussions in terms of disciplinary action, depending on the contents of official reports.On several occasions during this game players on either side have run to congratulate those involved in the `dismissal’ without bothering to wait for official judgment.Umpires see this as intimidation. In the next English season players will be required to stay in their fielding positions until the outcome of an appeal is known. This may be an idea that will spread to the game worldwide.The Canning/Barnes partnership ended just after lunch, the three remaining wickets following in fairly short order. Richard Morgan struck a few blows to take the Auckland total over 200, setting ND 173 to win.Aldridge finished with four wickets, giving him nine in the match. This, along with his last wicket heroics yesterday, means that he is now firmly established as a member of the ND first class squad. When Darryl Tuffey returns from South Africa and Scott Styris is back to full fitness the depth of ND fast and medium fast bowling will be formidable.Yovich has looked impressive throughout the game, generating real speed from a responsive surface. He deserved more than the four wickets that were his match haul.Doull also performed well, a bowler insufficiently fit to go to South Africa, but who is fitter than than those who are there…He has cut down his pace, but more than compensates with guile and experience. His international career may have been written off prematurely.The spinners, Bradburn and Martin, also took wickets at important times, though Martin gave away a few more runs than ND would have wanted, given the low-scoring nature of the match.ND suffered the early loss of Michael Parlane, lbw to Morgan. Marshall and Bailey put on 62 for the second wicket before Marshall failed to clear midoff. Neal Parlane also went quickly before Bradburn joined Bailey to see ND through to the close.Bailey is the key figure for ND. He faced 145 balls for his unbeaten 43, surviving numerous lbw appeals from Haslam, unflustered. Haslam bowled unchanged from tea to the close, conceding just 20 runs from 17 overs, but was unable to make the breakthrough.ND remain favourites to take the game, but the pitch continues to be less than totally reliable, so Auckland will remain confident that the match can still be theirs. Tomorrow promises to be a gripping, if short, day’s cricket.
The BCCI is contemplating appointing separate head coaches for Test and limited-overs formats for the India team. Its official position, as revealed by board secretary Anurag Thakur, was that it would appoint a coach before the South Africa series in October and the cricket advisory committee has been given the freedom to decide on the structure of the coaching staff, but ESPNcricinfo understands the position may be split.According to board insiders, the BCCI over the last month has approached at least half a dozen overseas candidates. None of them have been forthcoming to accept the full-time role, primarily for two reasons: most of them are associated with a Twenty20 franchise or league and wouldn’t like to part ways with a lucrative short-term assignment.The other factor that has worked against attracting an overseas candidate is the BCCI’s emphasis on not letting a foreign coach get assistants of his choice. Instead, the BCCI has stressed that the head coach will have to work with Indian assistant coaches.It has resulted in eligible overseas coaches being apprehensive of taking charge. The BCCI is understood to have been in touch with three recently-retired cricketers – all of whom have assumed coaching responsibilities with T20 franchises. The high-profile cricket advisory committee comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman is likely to interact with them over the coming fortnight.Thakur hinted that team director Ravi Shastri would remain in contention, but stressed it would be up to the advisory committee to formalise the structure and the number of coaching staff required.”I think it is very important to have a full-time coach for any team. We have taken some time to decide and most probably in the month of September, we will finalise the coach,” Thakur said in a chat with Sanjay Manjrekar and Sunil Gavaskar during the lunch break of India’s second Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday on .”[Ravi] Shastri is holding the position of the director for the last few months and he has done well with the Indian cricket team, the boys have given us a good feedback about him, so the only issue is if we want a full-time coach then what would be the set-up. We can’t be having 10 people with the Indian cricket team.”So we have left it to the cricket advisory committee to decide how many people will be required, how many coaches will be required, whether a bowling coach, a batting coach, a full-time coach or a director. Let them take a call, come back to BCCI in September and before the South Africa series, I can assure you that we will take a call on that.”Shastri continues to be a contender for one of the positions. Thakur and Shastri, team director for almost a year, are believed to have discussed the roadmap in a meeting in Colombo on Thursday. With Shastri having developed a good rapport with India Test captain Virat Kohli, he could well continue to look after the Test team while the new coach may be in charge of ODIs and T20s.
It’s not all been smooth sailing, but since taking the job six years ago, Mikel Arteta has got a lot right at Arsenal.
One area he has helped improve, alongside the Sporting Directors, has been the club’s transfer business, at least when it comes to signing players.
For example, the likes of David Raya, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Magalhães, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori have all joined under his tenure.
However, when it comes to the Spaniard’s best signing, it’s hard to look past Declan Rice, so fans should be excited about reports linking Arsenal with someone who could be their next version of the Englishman.
Arsenal target their next Rice
Arsenal spent far more than they usually do in the summer transfer window, and so some might argue that they don’t need to go big again in January or at the end of the season.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
However, while that might be true in some areas of the pitch, the midfield is a different story.
As things stand, only Martin Zubimendi and Rice are really at the level required to regularly contribute in the middle of the park, with the boss clearly not fancying Christian Norgaard and Mikel Merino thriving up top.
Therefore, the Gunners really do need to sign another top-quality midfielder to provide the two regular starters with competition and chances to rest, and it looks like they’ve found one.
At least that is according to a recent report from Caught Offside, which claims Arsenal are interested in Ayyoub Bouaddi.
In fact, the report has revealed that the Frenchman is now at the top of their list of midfield targets.
However, they are not the only ones interested, as the report has also revealed that Chelsea are keen on the youngster.
Therefore, it could be a complicated transfer to get over the line, but given Bouaddi’s immense potential, it’s one Arsenal should be fighting for, especially as he could be their next Rice.
Why Bouaddi could be Arsenal's next Rice
The first thing to say is that while Ayyoub Bouaddi is very highly rated and looks to have a huge future ahead of him, Arsenal should expect him to come in and be on Rice’s level right away.
The Frenchman is still just 18 years old, and therefore, that would be an unfair expectation.
However, there is no reason he couldn’t eventually reach that level, especially as there are already quite a few similarities between the pair.
First and foremost, like the Gunners’ monster 41, the LOSC Lille gem is primarily a central midfielder, but has shown an impressive level of flexibility.
For example, he has also played in defensive midfield, attacking midfield, and even centre-back – sound familiar?
The second similarity is that, thanks to this ability to play in so many areas, the “world class talent,” as scout Jacek Kulig dubbed him, is someone who can help in build up as well as in defensive areas.
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For example, FBref ranks him in the top 1% of midfielders in Ligue 1 for blocks, the top 2% for long pass completion, the top 8% for successful take-ons, the top 16% for touches in the opposition’s penalty area, and more, all per 90.
Bouaddi’s Scout Report
Statistics
Per 90
Percentile
Blocks
1.99
Top 1%
Pass Completion % (Long)
88.0%
Top 2%
Passes Blocked
1.56
Top 2%
Successful Take-Ons
1.39
Top 8%
Tackles (Att 3rd)
0.61
Top 10%
Successful Take-On %
69.6%
Top 10%
Touches (Att Pen)
2.60
Top 16%
Shots Blocked
0.43
Top 19%
All Stats via FBref
Moreover, respected analyst-turned-scout Ben Mattinson has described his press resistance as “elite level” and his tackling as “exceptional.”
Ultimately, he is still young and has a lot of developing to do, but Bouaddi already looks like a top-level talent and someone who could easily develop into a future Rice.
Notably heralded as one of “the best young talents in world football” by the Guardian’s Ed Aarons, Arsenal should do all they can to sign him next year, before another team get there first.
Arsenal can revive Gyokeres by signing "the best winger in the country"
The international game-changer could be just the player Arsenal needs to get Gyokeres firing.
Lalman Kowlessar, an executive member of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB), has called the recent strike by the West Indies Umpires’ Association (WICUA) during the sixth round of the Carib Beer Series a “total failure”.Kowlessar also praised the six umpires belonging to the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Umpires and Scorers Council (TTCUSC), which was not a part of the strike, and who were drafted in to fill in the void created by the WICUA’s boycott. “The games went on and the umpires did a great job,” he said.The WICUA had withdrawn its services for the last two rounds of the 2007-08 Carib Beer Series to protest against the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) decision to remove Trinidadian umpires Hayden Bruce and Kaso Dowlath from the list of officials for the tournament’s sixth round. The duo are linked to the newly-formed Association of Cricket Umpires of Trinidad and Tobago, a body which is not aligned with the Trinidad board.But Kowlessar said Bruce and Dowlath were not on the list of umpires recommended by the TTCUSC to the Trinidad board, though their names appeared on the list approved by the West Indies board’s sub-committee for umpires. “This was noticed by the TTCB, which informed the WICB, pointing out the perceived error. The WICB then removed those two names.”
Ed Joyce, who starred for Ireland when they qualified for the World Cup, hopes his inside knowledge of the team will give England an edge when they meet Ireland on Friday. Joyce said Ireland were a better all-round unit than some people gave them credit for but England should win by “keeping it simple”.Joyce made two centuries for Ireland in the 2005 ICC Trophy, ensuring the team’s place in the Caribbean. He is now in strong form for England, having made 66 and 75 in the last two group matches against Canada and Kenya.Joyce said his familiarity with England’s next opponents could come in handy. “I have told team analyst Mark Garaway a little bit,” he said on . “I know 11 or 12 of the Irish guys pretty well but there are couple who have come in who I haven’t seen very much of.”I will be able to help out with a few tips but you have to keep things pretty basic against most teams whether you are playing against Australia or against Ireland so I think we’re going to be keeping it pretty simple. Ireland play as a unit very well, they field very well, they bowl as a unit and they’ve got a lot of medium-pacers and spinners who bowl very straight. They bat all the way down to number 10.”Joyce was pleased at Ireland’s success – they made it to the Super Eights with a win over Pakistan and a tie with Zimbabwe – but hoped any further progress would not be at England’s expense. “You want to peak at the right time in these tournaments and we’d like to think we are getting there after the first match,” Joyce said.Adrian Birrell, the Ireland coach, said Joyce had been a great servant of Irish cricket but his history with the two teams would not give England too large an advantage. “We owe a big thank to Joyce for helping us through to the World Cup and look forward to playing against him,” Birrell said.”I am sure he knows all our players, but we also know their players and other players from all the countries. I think with a lot of video available on all teams it’s not a huge advantage, it certainly does help.”Birrell said his side had nothing to lose now they had reaching the Super Eights. “We know all the pressure is on England, they need to beat us to get to the semis,” he said. “They are not carrying any points and if they don’t pick two against us then they are under pressure.”