The rehabilitation of Ajay Jadeja progressed by one more notch as the Supreme Court refused to stay a Delhi High Court interim order allowing him to play domestic cricket. The court directed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to approach the division bench of the High Court to seek modifications.Dismissing the BCCI’s petition for a stay, the Supreme Court said: "he [Jadeja] has been allowed to play only domestic cricket."The vacation bench of the Supreme Court consisted of Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice Shivaraj Patil. They said that though the next High Court hearing on the matter was scheduled for July 21, the BCCI had the right to approach the High Court before that to make their submission.Jadeja was present at the court, but refused to comment on the incident. He said that he did not understand the ruling and would consult his lawyers before expressing himself on the matter.
Dunedin’s Albion Cricket Club has done it again.Is there a better annual report produced by any sports club in New Zealand?Meeting the needs of their members by producing an annual statement is one of the chores of amateur sports administration in this country, but Albion have decided to have some fun with their report.The result is an entertaining, and thorough, account of a year which, while recording the on-field results, does not leave the obvious off-field sense of club out of the report.Among the various snippets included in a special section of the report are details of the brother of the club’s former patron, life member, president, treasurer and senior scorer Dave Waddell. A fascinating portrait of Lieutenant James Waddell, one of the most highly-decorated soldiers in the French Army in the Second World War, is typical of the diversity which makes the Albion club report so interesting.Another is an article contributed by the former Professor of Economics at the University of Otago, John Howells, who is also a member of the Otago Cricket Eccentrics, a club which has its home at the Albion Cricket Club.This is a fascinating, thought-provoking piece under the heading, “Lies, Damn Lies, and Batting Averages.”
The Athletic’s Leeds United correspondent Phil Hay has claimed that the club are due to make an announcement regarding a new manager on Monday.
The Lowdown: Bielsa gone; Marsch agreement
The Whites officially parted ways with Marcelo Bielsa on Sunday morning following the 4-0 defeat to Tottenham less than 24 hours earlier.
Leeds confirmed that plans for a permanent tribute to the 66-year-old at Elland Road are already underway, as is the club’s pursuit of a new manager.
Fabrizio Romano revealed shortly after Bielsa’s departure that a verbal agreement has been reached with Jesse Marsch, with work permit issues needing to be finalised.
The Latest: Hay’s claim
Hay shared an in-depth story regarding Bielsa on The Athletic and touched on the topic of his successor on Sunday morning.
When it came to Marsch, Hay admitted that the American is the 66-year-old’s probable successor, with an announcement due on Monday.
The Verdict: Huge few months
Leeds chiefs obviously feel that they have a better chance of Premier League survival with Marsch in charge instead of Bielsa, and with the Whites now just two points off the relegation zone, the next few months will be crucial in terms of the club’s long-term project.
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Should Marsch hit the ground running and steer the Whites away from trouble, it could prove to be an inspired call with the American leading the club for years to come. However, if he fails to turn things around, Leeds could end up being back to square one just two years after returning to the top flight.
In other news: ‘I’m told’ – Phil Hay drops hint of possible return date for injured Leeds duo
Ahead of what has all the makings of a competitive one-day international between India and Australia, Adam Gilchrist believes his side are well prepared. Australia were knocked out of the ICC World Twenty20 by India in a tight semi-final but as Gilchrist put it, there was no excuse here.”We’re very excited about it, it’s great to be here and having some cricket under out belts. We feel like we’ll be ready to go tomorrow,” he said before Australia’s practice session at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. “We have enough preparation leading into this series. We were probably caught short at the T20 tournament but there’s no excuse now. We know the conditions well here and with the amount of networking we’ve done we should be good to go.”Australia are without Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson and Nathan Bracken due to injuries and personal leave. According to Gilchrist this was the time for Australia to fall back on their greatest strength – depth. “We definitely have to rely on the depth in our squad. We have six changes in this, our first ODI since the World Cup, owing to retirement and injuries and babies being born. We’ve got a few new faces which not a lot of people would have seen a lot of, and we’re confident about them.”Australia have often engaged in a war of words before tough series. Ponting has said that the pressure is right back on India and the return of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid might work in Australia’s favour as they’ve played against the three many times. Andrew Symonds too felt that there was too much celebration after India’s triumphant return from South Africa.Was this a deliberate plan? “No, it’s far from a plan to get verbal,” said Gilchrist. “There’s been a lot of focus on the fiery nature of the Indian players in that semi-final and I think they’re going to continue playing that like. And that’s fine; we expect that. If you don’t have a bit of fire in the belly as a fast bowler I think you’re already sort of half-knocked as a team. It doesn’t matter what you say, you’ve got to back it up with good cricket. And India did that throughout the T20 tournament. We’ve been doing that for the last ten years.”When questioned as to whether Australia saw any perceived threat from India, Gilchrist shot back his reply. “Definitely there’s plenty of threat. As you saw they knocked us out of the Twenty20 final,” he said. “They play with great passion and energy and they’ll be relying on all those same qualities in the next seven games. We’re expecting them to come out full of confidence and that’s a great challenge.”Gilchrist said he had a brief look at the surface and expected it to play out well for the batsmen and bowlers. “It has been a good track in the past. We’ve played Test and ODI cricket here and scored runs so we’ve got fond memories. It looks like it’ll come through nicely again.”If Australia are reading from their stand-in captain’s script, then its business as usual as the seven-match contest gets underway.
After more than a year of reports of more concrete links between the USA and the Caribbean being established, the city of Lauderhill in Florida has announced a deal with Falmouth in Jamaica to use the newly-constructed stadium in Trelawny to promote cricket in Jamaica and the USA.The partnership was launched with a match between a USA Invitational XI and the Jamaican national team on September 30, which the Jamaica side won by 36 runs.The purpose-built venue was initially intended to form the basis of a plan for the USA to host matches in the World Cup, but that fell through for a number of reasons, and the ICC’s poor relationship with the USA Cricket Association cannot have helped.Lauderhill, sometimes referred to as Jamaica Hill, boasts the largest Jamaican population in Florida.The ground is the second major purpose-built cricket venue in Florida. Broward County Regional Park has already hosted matches played under the Major League Cricket banner.
Sourav Ganguly, India’s captain, has been suspended for two Test matches because of India’s slow over-rates during the BCCI Platinum Jubilee one-dayer against Pakistan. According to the Press Trust of India, Clive Lloyd, the match referee, made this announcement in a Kolkata hotel a day after the game. The Indian board has announced that it will appeal to the ICC against this decision, and will name a replacement for Ganguly in the India squad only if the appeal is turned down.Ganguly, who had missed the last two Tests against Australia because of injury, will, thus, miss both of India’s Tests against South Africa. Rahul Dravid will captain the team in his place.Ganguly had breached clause C1 of ICC’s code of conduct, which is a level two offence, and would not ordinarily carry a suspension. But because this was his second such offence within a span of 12 months, it was automatically treated as a level three offence, and the suspension followed.No other current Test captain encourages slow over-rates the way Ganguly does, with frequent consultations with bowlers. He would feel a little hard done by this time, though, as there were plenty of interruptions during the game, and as many as eight ball-changes. Lloyd, who was also the match referee when Ganguly was pulled up for slow over-rates earlier this year, disagreed.”The ICC code relating to over rates needs to be strictly observed,” he said, “and it is important for all the stakeholders in the game to have matches finished on time. The allotted three-and-a-half hours is ample time to bowl the required 50 overs, so captains need to ensure that all efforts are made to achieve this.”Besides the punishment to Ganguly, Lloyd announced that Yousuf Youhana and Irfan Pathan had also been found guilty of breaching ICC’s code of conduct. The two exchanged a few words in the 35th over, for which Youhana was fined 75% of his match fee and Pathan was fined 50%.
Most of Zimbabwe’s rebel players may by now be scattered across the globe, but the ramifications of their dismissal continue to rumble on.Their solicitor, Chris Venturas, admitted at the weekend that the players consider the matter almost at an end. But he did deliver a parting swipe at the ICC who, he claimed, was directly asked on May 20 to form a dispute resolution committee to arbitrate in the showdown. “We gave the ICC seven days to get back to us and we haven’t heard anything,” he said. “We have to assume that nothing is happening, or even if it is it’s too late for my clients. They want to move on.”For its part, the ICC denies that it has ignored the rebels’ request. “A panel has not been formed at this stage because the ZCU is disputing whether that system has any jurisdiction,” Brendan McClements, the ICC’s corporate affairs manager, told Reuters. “We have said to the ZCU we think it does and the players have said to us they think it does. The ZCU do not concur.”He [Venturas] is right in that a panel has not been convened at this time, primarily because the ZCU are fighting it and saying it wouldn’t have any authority.”McClements added that both sides were now taking legal advice about how to proceed.
Omar Henry, head of the South African selection committee, has hit back at Bob Woolmer’s comments that South African cricket is in a mess, while Graeme Smith insisted that he didn’t receive any sort of contact from Woolmer regarding his acceptance of the captaincy.Henry said: “I don’t know in which country Bob Woolmer finds himself right now. Perhaps he must have his eyes tested.” Henry’s comments were in reaction to Woolmer, the former national coach, who speaking at a benefit dinner for Dale Benkenstein in Pietermaritzburg, said he was deeply hurt by the present state of affairs in South African cricket, before going on to point a finger at Smith, who had questioned Klusener’s team ethic in a breakfast interview.”I can’t really believe that Lance has not been selected to tour England,” said Woolmer. “It was because of him that we got to the semi-finals of the 1999 World Cup in the first place. That man wins games for South Africa and then someone had the temerity to attack him at a breakfast.”Smith is the youngest man ever to lead the national side, and Woolmer was incensed by his lack of respect for a man who has been a mainstay of the team for over half a decade. “Graeme Smith has not been playing long enough and after five Tests has no right to criticise someone whose track record for South Africa is so good,” he said.He added that he had cautioned Smith against accepting the captaincy when it was offered to him in the wake of Shaun Pollock’s sacking. “I pleaded with him not to take the captaincy but to rather wait until he was 26, more experienced and more settled in the side so he could handle all the pressures.”However, Smith has since insisted that he in fact never received a call from Woolmer to that effect: “Bob’s entitled to his opinion on whether I should be the captain or not,” he said. “I don’t begrudge him that. But I just don’t remember him phoning me and suggesting that I should wait until I was 26 before taking over as captain.” He added, “I know I’m only 22, but my memory’s in pretty good working order.”Woolmer also hinted at provincialism in South African cricket when he said, “Lance, I must tell you that if you live in Cape Town you have more chance of playing for South Africa, and you think I’m joking.” Henry, Eric Simons, the national coach, and Smith are all from Cape Town.As South Africa prepare for what is sure to be a closely contested series in England, Woolmer – who played for Kent and England – said he considered himself a South African, though he felt dismayed at the about-turn in the nation’s cricketing fortunes. “I feel more like a masochist at the moment because the state of our sport really hurts me,” he said. “I wish I knew what was going on in our cricket because at the moment it is a complete mess.”
Roger Harper yesterday chided observers who described the West Indies’pre-tour camp as an army-type exercise which was not suited forcricketers.The West Indies coach, to the contrary, believed the two-week camp inTrinidad served its purpose in preparing the team for tours ofZimbabwe and Kenya.A lot of things have been said about the camp and wrongly so. A lot ofpeople from the Press have made some ill-advised and unresearchedstatements, he said on his return to the Caribbean yesterday after asuccessful tour.The West Indies coach lauded the effort of team sports therapistRonald Rogers and two physical training instructors from the Trinidadand Tobago Defence Force for their input at the camp.But he was critical of those who made negative comments about theexercise.I read things in the Press about an army-style camp. I have never beento an army camp and I don’t know what it’s like, Harper said.I doubt whether the people who made those comments saw any details ofthe programme of the camp.He added that Rogers’ assistants had previously worked with otherinternational sports teams.Certainly they are not army drill sergeants. The programmes they ran,as designed by Ronald, were specifically geared to getting our team inthe best physical shape and mental condition as well, Harper said.Judging from the results, obviously they have to be given some sort ofcredit.Harper was speaking to reporters during a welcome reception for theteam, hosted by British Airways in the Club Caribbean Lounge at theGrantley Adams International Airport.The reception was held following the success by the West Indies teamwhich returned from an overseas tour with positive results for thefirst time in six years.Carl Hooper’s men won the Coca-Cola Cup in a three-way limited-oversseries that also involved Zimbabwe and India, and followed up with a1-0 series victory in a two-Test series against Zimbabwe.On leaving Zimbabwe, the West Indies moved over to Kenya where theyeasily defeated the hosts in three One-Day Internationals.By no means have we arrived, Harper said, with the knowledge thatZimbabwe and Kenya are two of the weaker teams in internationalcricket.This is a process of development, a process of growing and we’ve shownthat we are learning.He said the success in Zimbabwe was significant because India had onlyrecently stopped the winning streak of mighty Australia but wereunable to defeat Zimbabwe in the preceding Test series.Winning in Zimbabwe was no mean feat. Defeating India in the (Coca-Cola) final was a significant achievement.We managed to overcome the adversity of losing a number of key playersto injury.The team stuck together well, fought very well and there was thedetermination and the will to win that process started way back in thecamp.The tour started with major injury worries for the West Indies whichresulted in champion batsman Brian Lara, leg-spinner DinanathRamnarine, and fast bowlers Cameron Cuffy, Mervyn Dillon and KerryJeremy having to return home early.If you look at the schedule of international cricket being playedaround the world, you will get injuries due to wear and tear, Harpersaid.What we have to try and do is to put together a process in theCaribbean of preparing our youngsters from early, making them fitterand stronger so that when they get to international level they arebetter prepared to take on the rigours of the sort of schedules wehave at the moment.The reception was attended by Barbados Cricket Association officials,including first vice-president David Holford, second vice-presidentOwen Estwick, board members Conde Riley and Bobby Goodman, consultantSelwyn Smith, as well as British Airways’ area commercial managerElvin Sealy.The West Indies’ party included Harper, Barbadians Courtney Browne,Corey Collymore and Pedro Collins, Guyanese Shivnarine Chanderpaul,Reon King, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Neil McGarrell and Trinidadian DaveMohammed.
Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja got the nod, Cameron Bancroft and Shaun Marsh just missed out, but there was also plenty of discussion about the veteran Michael Klinger in Australia’s selection meeting ahead of the first Test against New Zealand. At 35, Klinger seemed unlikely to be seriously considered for the start of a rebuilding process after a number of post-Ashes retirements.However, his double-century for Western Australia in the first round of Sheffield Shield matches was timely as the younger contenders around the country failed to have an impact in the last innings before the squad was chosen. It was Klinger’s 14th century across all formats in the past year, and head coach and selector Darren Lehmann said his name had been part of the discussion.”We spoke about him quite a lot, to be perfectly honest,” Lehmann said on SEN radio in Melbourne on Friday. “He was very, very close. It’s a tough one isn’t it. His experience is there. He’s 35, we’ve already got Adam Voges who is 36. Do we want to go down that path?”Age is not too much of an issue, but when we’re looking at players over a period of time – he averages 38 in first-class cricket, Khawaja averages 40 for example and he’s seven or eight years younger. Sometimes you just have to go with a gut feel. It’s a tough call sometimes. But we certainly looked at him.”National selector Rod Marsh was blunt when asked about Klinger, declaring that although he had been discussed, his long-term performance had not been such that he warranted jumping ahead of the younger men.”Of course we’ve looked at Michael Klinger,” Marsh said. “He’s got to keep making runs. “Have you looked at Michael Klinger’s batting average in first-class cricket? It’s not as good as the other boys. Part of our selection policy is if you’ve got two blokes that are absolutely equal you go for the younger bloke, and I think that’s very fair.”If one bloke is noticeably better and is more likely to influence the outcome of a game, then you pick the old bloke. But if they’re not noticeably better and they’re not likely to influence the outcome of a game, then you must always go with your youth. That’s our policy, and whether you agree with it or not, it’s irrelevant.”Although Klinger’s long-term figures might appear slightly underwhelming, he has enjoyed a productive period in his thirties. In the past two years he has averaged 45.95 in first-class cricket, with 11 centuries, but even if Burns and Khawaja fail to grasp their chances against New Zealand it would appear more likely that younger men such as Bancroft would be the next contenders.Michael Klinger’s recent double-century for Western Australia was his 14th century across formats in the past year•Getty Images
Bancroft had been part of the squad named for the abandoned tour of Bangladesh, and would likely have opened with Burns had that trip gone ahead, with David Warner out of action due to a fractured thumb. Burns debuted in Test cricket at No. 6 but now has the opportunity to become Warner’s new opening partner, having thrived as an opener for Queensland – he averages 46.58 as a first-class opener for the Bulls.”I guess my last two years for Queensland has been as an opening batter and I feel really comfortable and confident in that role,” Burns said. “I’ve had some consistent success there, so it is very easy to just slide in and I guess the fact that the first game is at the Gabba, my home ground, makes it a little bit easier as well. So, it is a challenge that I’m really looking forward to; I’m excited about the prospect of opening the batting for Australia”Burns averages 40.86 at the Gabba, which is also the adopted home ground of the now Queensland captain Khawaja. It has been an especially productive venue for Khawaja, who averages 67.46 from nine first-class matches there, and now has a chance to play his first home Test in nearly four years.Khawaja’s return to the side is all the more impressive given that last December he suffered a serious knee injury that put him out of action until the middle of this year. He said there were times during his lay-off that he wondered if his career might have been over, but now he has the chance to build the solid Test career that he has promised since his debut in 2011.”It’s massive, I’m just happy to be playing cricket again,” Khawaja said. “I was thinking about it this morning and at one point I thought – with the knee injury my career might have been over. And then obviously I did a ton of work to get back. I’m just happy to be playing cricket again, it’s a lot of fun. So yes it’s a big bonus I think.”