Cricket Australia has signed off on a drugs policy that allows players to be caught four times before they are in danger of losing their contract. The document, which was prepared with the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA), was formed after a survey of the country’s players, with 88% saying the game needed an illicit substances code.The policy allows for a suspended fine and ban of 20 days for a first transgression and a second offence results in more small fines, a 40-day ban and the player’s state and country administration being told. A break of 12 months comes with a third violation and a fourth could lead to immediate termination of the player’s contract.”Cricket Australia is serious about keeping our sport drug free with a policy which balances deterrence with player welfare,” James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, said. “Cricket Australia, state and territory associations and the ACA understand that cricketers have the ability to influence the lives of others.”Paul Marsh, the ACA chief executive, said the policy had the right formula between stopping players from using drugs and providing support for those who were caught. The code will cover all men’s and women’s internationals, domestic and 2nd XI games and allows for random out-of-competition testing.
Munaf Patel’s troublesome left ankle was examined by a specialist from Johannesburg on Wednesday, and the injury is not thought to be serious enough to prevent his participation in the rest of the tour.Though he will miss the tour game against Rest of South Africa, there’s still a chance that he will be fit to play a part in the first Test which starts in Johannesburg on December 15. Patel left Potchefstroom on Wednesday morning, accompanied by Anil Kumble, and the duo only returned in the evening.On the surgeon’s advice, both MRI and CT scans were taken, and they revealed soft-tissue damage around the peroneal tendon. “There is so significant bone damage,” said the report. The surgeon has recommended a rest-and-rehabilitation programme, and it remains to be seen when he will be able to bowl at the nets in the lead-up to the first Test.
James Kirtley, the former England seamer, has been suspended from bowling by the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after an independent assessment of his action at the National Cricket Centre.The assessment was undertaken at the beginning of the month by Dr Mark King, an expert from Loughborough University, after Kirtley was reported to the ECB twice during the 2005 season. King concluded that Kirtley’s action was outside ICC limits. The finding means that he cannot bowl until further tests show that he had rectified the faults.”It is disappointing and frustrating to be in this position again,” said Kirtley, “but from the experiences of last time I know the processes involved and am confident of clearing my name.”Kirtley is no stranger to such problems. In 2001-02 his England one-day debut was overshadowed by his being reported by the match referee in Zimbabwe, although he underwent remedial work and was subsequently allowed to continue. He has since played four Tests. He will now work on his action with Troy Cooley, England’s bowling coach, and will be re-examined when the problems have been ironed out.”We are obviously disappointed for both James and Sussex,” Mark Robinson, the Sussex manager, told the BBC. “The club is looking to digest and analyse the information in order to formulate the right plan for the way ahead.”
Fanie de Villiers, the former Test fast bowler, has appealed to the United Cricket Board (UCB) to "forget transformation" in an attempt to halt South Africa’s spiral of defeats.Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 49 runs in the fifth one-day international in Colombo on Tuesday to complete a 5-0 whitewash, and South Africa’s tenth consecutive one-day defeat. That equals South Africa’s record barren run, which they endured in 1994: the consequences then were Mike Procter’s sacking as coach and Kepler Wessels’s resignation from the captaincy.Sri Lanka also beat Graeme Smith’s team 1-0 in the two-match Test series.A scathing de Villiers said the flaws in South African cricket originated below international level. "Myself, Kepler Wessels and Pat Symcox have been warning for a long time that the systems are not in place, the fundamentals are wrong," he lamented. "We’re hoping that the mistakes we make won’t cost us too much, instead of being pro-active and working out those mistakes before they even happen. We are probably the only country in the game that is not pro-active, that simply hopes we are doing things right."de Villiers said he felt that South Africa’s United Cricket Board was squandering the experience at its disposal, and that, in its attempts to stop the slide, it should sidestep the hitherto untouchable goal of racial integration in all spheres and levels of cricket. "There is so much knowledge in the system that is not being used," he said. "Gerald Majola [UCB chief executive] loves cricket, Ray Mali [president] loves cricket. Everybody loves cricket. But the people need to know that there is knowledge in the system. The previously advantaged, if they want to call us that, have the knowledge that needs to be shared. You can’t not use those people."Let’s forget transformation and get the most knowledgable people involved. People like Kepler Wessels, Fanie de Villiers, Pat Symcox, Brian McMillan and Allan Donald. Let’s get them together in advisory situations, and when players like Makhaya Ntini and Herschelle Gibbs retire we can get them involved. We don’t need to go the transformation route and involve people just because they were previously disadvantaged."Let’s get the people who have played at international level for long enough to have earned the respect of the current players involved."de Villiers was also critical of coach Eric Simons’s pledge to review his position if South Africa did not show improvement, and he had sharp questions for Anton Ferreira, the UCB’s coaching manager. "The players have never been the problem. If the players lose faith or form, if they are too arrogant, or negative or scared, who do you point fingers at? The coach. If I’m a player, and the coach says, `I will jump ship if they want me to,’ I would pin that coach to the wall! Now that the chips are down, now you want to jump ship? What kind of coach are you?”But the problem doesn’t lie just with Eric Simons,” he continued. “The problem lies with who is running professional coaching: Anton Ferreira. Whatever he has done, in the schools and the provinces and right up to international level, hasn’t worked. The players are not coming through, and those who do don’t stay there long enough."How can we struggle for five years to make Neil McKenzie a fulltime international player? The same goes for Boeta Dippenaar, Andre Nel and Mornantau Hayward. Whatever Anton Ferreira and the coaching panel have done has taken South African cricket from No. 1 in the world to No. 6 [in the official Test and ODI rankings]."Ferreira could not be reached for comment.
Zimbabwe all-rounder Gary Brent is set to stay and boost struggling Burridge when his current One-Day International commitments are completed next month.Speaking during Hampshire’s match with the tourists at the Rose Bowl yesterday, Brent confirmed that he will join the Southern Electric Premier League, Division 2 side after the tri-angular final at Lord’s on July 12.Brent, who spent three successful seasons with Burridge in the nineties, had originally planned to spend the whole summer back at his old haunts."But then I was picked for the ODI’s against England and South Africa, so all my plans changed," he said."It will be great to play with the Burridge lads again and hopefully I can help them out of their current predicament."Relegated from Premier 1 at the end of last season, Burridge currently lie fourth from bottom of Division 2, having lost three of their initial five matches.They visit local rivals Gosport tomorrow – minus in-form left-hander Neil Cunningham and Phil Ransley, both ex-Borough players. Suspended Lee Wateridge sits out the second and last match of his club-imposed ban.Unbeaten table toppers Old Tauntonians & Romsey face a stiff test at second-placed St Cross Symondians, who delay selection pending the possible availability of young Hampshire all-rounders Jimmy Adams and Jon Francis.Lymington all-rounder Glyn Treagus is ruled out against United Services by a nasty bout of tonsilitis, so in-form 2nd XI batsman Jason Carr comes in.Easton & Martyr Worthy entertain high-scoring Hursley Park at Cockets Mead, where they also host Sunday’s NVC county final tie against Paultons, 2pm.Sparsholt, who have won their last two matches to slip into a comfortable mid-table slot, ought to make it three victories in a row against winless Purbrook at the Norman Edwards Ground.
One-day bests from Robert Croft (92) and Andrew Davies (5-39) were thebackbone of Glamorgan’s 178–run Norwich Union League Division Twovictory over bottom-placed Essex at Sophia Gardens.Croft plundered his runs off just 82 balls with two sixes and five foursto help set Essex 290 to win in a match reduced to 41 overs each becauseof rain.Promotion hopefuls Glamorgan were given a whirlwind start after winningthe toss thanks to pinch-hitter Keith Newell whose 53-ball 50 helped hisside to 111-1 in the first 15 overs.After Newell and Matthew Maynard perished in quick succession, Croft andMike Powell ensured the impressive run rate continued adding 101 in 14overs before the England off spinner was bowled by Andy Clarke eightshort of what would have been a deserved and robust 100.Some of the Essex bowling figures didn’t make particularly good readingwith Clarke going for 79 from eight overs.The first maidens of the match came in the opening two overs of theEssex innings to put the visitors under more pressure after beingrequired to score at 7.07 an over from the start.Essex soon found themselves 54-3 with Darren Robinson brilliantlystumped by Adrian Shaw off Owen Parkin after Davies had dismissed bothRichard Clinton and Graham Napier.Davies struck again to claim the wickets of Stuart Law and Paul Grayson with consecutive balls as Essex’s dwindling chances were all but extinguished.The rest of the Essex batting crumbled to 111 all out with 16.4 oversremaining.
New Zealand’s bowling coach Dimitri Mascarenhas has declared the visitors put in an even worse performance than they had managed in Brisbane, estimating that the WACA display had been “85% poor” as David Warner and Usman Khawaja ran roughshod over Brendon McCullum’s team.”Doesn’t get much tougher than that does it,” Mascarenhas said. “For 85% of the time we were pretty poor. There are some positive signs, Doug Bracewell bowled well when he hit an area and tried to create some pressure, but the wicket’s pretty good at the moment, good toss to win, and Warner was pretty spectacular.”There were two factors today, Warner was exceptional and I don’t think we bowled as well today as we did at the Gabba. From our point of view we just need to better execute the plans we’ve talked about. If you look at it, we got hit both sides of the wicket for a lot of the game, and when we did actually string some dots together we created some chances. So it’s a matter of taking that, doing that a bit more often.”The generally poor performance of New Zealand’s bowling attack has been a surprise to many. Trent Boult and Mark Craig have gone for more than five runs an over, while Doug Bracewell and the ginger Tim Southee – in doubt ahead of this game due to a back complaint – have been scarcely less expensive. Matt Henry provided a brief injection of pace and energy into the attack, but his one wicket was scant reward.”I can’t put my finger on it at the moment, the boys have had enough bowling, not as if they haven’t bowled enough,” Mascarenhas said, denying the visitors were still underdone. “They’re just not executing at the standard we’d like at the moment for Test cricket, on some very good batting wickets against some very good players. You’ve got to be on the money from ball one against these players.”You look at Warner, his first two balls went four, four, so if you stray a little bit you’re going to get hurt, and we are getting hurt when we do miss. Especially Warner, he sees the ball and hits the ball, and when Trent’s missed a couple of times early, he has paid the price for it.”New Zealand were not helped by a WACA surface that lacked pace and bounce relative to earlier incarnations of the wicket, and it was notable when early edges from Joe Burns and Warner filed to carry to the slips cordon.However Mascarenhas said that in contrast to the words of the curator Matthew Page, the tourists had expected a flat and unforgiving strip based on recent results at the ground. This is to say that in reference to both the WACA and Warner, New Zealand knew what was coming but could do nothing about it.
Vinay Kumar strikes centuryHitting an unbeaten hundred, D Vinay Kumar took Hyderabad to a strong position at the end of Day Two of their Ranji Trophy league match against Tamil Nadu at Chennai.Unbeaten overnight on 56, Vinay Kumar proceeded to compile runs slowly, batting primarily with Venkatapathy Raju (35). He completed his century and was not out on 103, made off 317 balls. He hit 11 fours and a six. For Tamil Nadu, Lakshmipathy Balaji and MR Shrinivas took three and four wickets respectively.The home side opener, Sadagopan Ramesh, fell having made 16, but S Sriram and C Hemanth Kumar batted well before the former fell for 33. Hemanth Kumar was unbeaten on 42 off 84 balls at stumps, and he was accompanied by Hemang Badani, who was not out on 7.Renjith Menon stars for KeralaKerala’s bowlers, spearheaded by Renjith Menon, brought their side strongly back into their Ranji Trophy league match against Goa at Panaji on Tuesday.Comfortably placed at 22/0 overnight, Goa collapsed to 197 all out on Day Two. Barring Tanveer Jabbar, who made 51 off 112 balls, none of the other batsmen could make a significant score. The last seven wickets fell for 37 runs as Menon did an admirable job in cleaning up the tail and returning figures of 5-48.Goa did manage to get in two blows before the close of play, with Narayan Kambli dismissing both openers with the score on 5. At stumps, VB Kamaruddin and C Prashanth Menon were unbeaten on 0 and 1 respectively.
Journalist Dean Jones believes West Ham would need to spend big to lure Aston Villa star Philippe Coutinho to London, GiveMeSport report.
The Lowdown: West Ham links
Once labelled as ‘phenomenal’ by Roberto Firmino, it is no surprise Coutinho has been a regular under Steven Gerrard since joining on loan in January.
He’s contributed to four Premier League goals in six appearances, starting the last five.
Villa have the option to make a loan move from Barcelona permanent in the summer, however, West Ham are now thought to be keen on the 29-year-old ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
The Latest: Jones’ comments
Talking to GiveMeSport, Jones had this to say on the Brazilian, admitting he is unsure where he will end up next season and believes the Hammers would need to pay ‘a lot of money’ for the attacking midfielder in the summer.
“I don’t know where I see Coutinho right now. I think West Ham will be mindful of what they’re signing in Coutinho, if they were to go down that path, because it would take a lot of money.”
The Verdict: In Villa’s hands…
Coutinho has already started as many league games for Villa as he did for Barcelona this season, with Gerrard making the player a key man once again.
On that basis, you’d like to think that Coutinho will be open to making his move in the Midlands permanent over the coming months. However, it doesn’t exactly come as a shock to see other clubs being linked with Coutinho following his eye-catching displays in a Villa shirt against Manchester United and Leeds.
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.
Villa appear to be in pole position for a permanent move, though, so hopefully, the Hammers don’t persuade Coutinho over moving to London.
In other news: Gerrard is reportedly ready to sell this Aston Villa stalwart.
Ryan Hinds, former West Indies international, is contemplating taking a break from the game in the aftermath of his sacking as Barbados captain. Hinds, while refusing to accept the reasoning provided by the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), failed to turn up for a national trial match at Kensington Oval on Thursday.”Sometimes in life you get disappointments. I don’t like to get into politics, but I felt it [his sacking] was a slap in the face to me,” Hinds said. “I am still waiting on the reasons why I was rejected as Barbados captain. I’m just exhausted. I hope that people don’t take it the wrong way. I want an opportunity to get my thoughts together.”Hinds was summoned to a BCA meeting on Wednesday and informed of the association’s decision which led to him expressing his dissatisfaction and missing the trial match. According to reports, discussion surrounding his leadership skills formed part of the meeting after which he was advised to attend a seminar.”I am supposed to be attending some sort of counselling which I am really shocked about. Once I come through these successfully, I’ll be eligible to be the captain again,” he said.”To be quite fair, if they had to ask me to be captain again, I wouldn’t take it. Within the last two years, I don’t like the way I have been treated. When I first took over as captain from Courtney [Browne], there were a lot of discussions whether I would be captain or not the next year.”A lot of it was personal. It was not cricket ability or my leadership skills. It was just personal. I don’t think that was fair.”A veteran of 86 first-class matches since making his debut for Barbados as a 17-year-old, Hinds was unhappy with the support he received during his tenure as captain. “Words can’t really explain how I feel now. My last four years since I took over as captain, my form has been good. I enjoyed captaining Barbados. I just want to say whoever the board selects as the captain would have my support.”Hinds, however, assured fans that being sacked as captain will not change his attitude and commitment towards the team. “I don’t want the public to get the wrong idea, saying that just because he is not captain he is not turning up and he doesn’t care about the cricket. That is not the case,” he said.It was announced later by Conde Riley, acting Barbados Cricket Association president, that Corey Collymore, the West Indies fast bowler, has been appointed Barbados captain.Collymore, with 85 first-class matches in his career including 30 Tests, is looking forward to the assignment and has promised to give it his best shot. “It was never a dream of mine of captain Barbados. My dream was always to play for Barbados and by extension West Indies. To captain your nation or your country is always an honour and I will try to do it to the best of my ability.”