A groin injury may cause Herschelle Gibbs to miss South Africa’s forthcoming tour of Pakistan.Gibbs will undergo a tough fitness test on Friday, after which team physiotherapist Shane Jabaar and the team management will make a final decision on whether he can join the touring party.The South Africans depart for Pakistan on Sunday for three one-day internationals and three Test matches, but Jabaar is optimistic. “Since we’ve got five days to treat his injury, I’m fairly positive that Herschelle will be fit for the tour."Gibbs is also confident that he will be ready to take his place in the side. “I receive treatment daily, and I don’t believe it [the injury] will be a problem," he said. "It’s a strange sort of injury. I don’t even know how I sustained it."
HAMPSHIRE’S field of dreams has been named as the second best in the country in a survey of cricket grounds.The new multi-million-pound Rose Bowl complex at West End compiled 76 points out of a possible 100.The author Anthony Meredith was so impressed by the setting that he described the new venue as “a thrilling, unambiguous statement of self-belief. I wish I could award it 20 out of 10”.The writer, in his annual report for The Cricketer magazine, gave the club full marks for sign posting and car parks, and was also impressed by its catering, friendliness, and the scope of goods on sale at the ground.But he was critical of Hampshire – as well as many other counties – for their poor promotion of home players, describing their overall anonymity as “disastrous”.He also took every county to task over their marketing of the four-day championship.Canterbury was given the accolade of being the best ground with 86 points. Derby was denigrated as the worst, scoring just 45 points, one more than the home of English cricket, Lords. Both were slammed for their lack of atmosphere.Graham Walker, Hampshire’s chief executive, was encouraged by the results, but warned: “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”He added: “It’s like the car hire advert – `we may be number two so we have got to try harder’.”The county have their sights set on achieving Test county status. Durham’s Chester-Le-Street ground, which has been the county’s home for only six-and-a-half years was recently awarded a floodlit one-day game between England and India next summer, and Hampshire have been given ODI status from 2003.Hampshire have just started a £2m fitting out of the pavilion. This will include a Long Room, with a 240-seater restaurant, a members’ bar with seating for 200 people, and the club will be putting some 600 seats on the top deck which will be used for entertaining.The pavilion will also include refurbished players’ and umpires’ dressing rooms, plus an office for the director of cricket.”A lot of people have put a lot of hard work into this ground, but there is still a long way to go,” added Walker. “We didn’t score too highly in the `pizzazz’ and `heroes’ categories in the survey, so we have a lot more work to do.”But I can guarantee we will have a lot more pizzazz next summer.”
Six of the best and 32 fours as wellAlistair Brown continued to batter Leicestershire at Oakham School and wenton to a career best 295 n.o.. Surrey were already in a formidable position in scoring 505 which they enhanced by cutting down their hosts to 134-9 at the close with another 222 runs needed to save the follow-on.Brown hammered a six and 32 fours in his 517 minutes at the crease. Saqlain Mushtaq, whose 66 was his championship best, added 141 runs with Brown for the last wicket. However he was bowled by Vince Wells with his partner fiveruns adrift of a triple-century.Then Brown caught two batsmen at slip to help Alex Tudor and Martin Bicknell,with three wickets, rout the Leicestershire early-order batting. The home county went in to tea at 51-7 in under 16 overs. The batsmen were undone primarily by sharp slip catching and the needless running out of Ben Smith. Even they were refreshed somewhat by the interval with Phil DeFreitas (38) and Neil Burns adding 55 runs. Yet they were in disarray again before the close and could only hope that the weather could stop the seemingly unstoppable Surrey.
Newcastle United booked their place in the semi-finals of the League Cup on Wednesday night with a last-gasp victory over Fulham at St. James’ Park.
In a fairly low-quality affair, with one ‘big chance’ per team (Sofascore), it was the Magpies who edged out their Premier League rivals as they continued their defence of the trophy.
It took a stoppage-time header from Lewis Miley to secure their place in the last four, to cap off a phenomenal performance from the academy graduate in a new role.
The new position that Lewis Miley could thrive in
The injury situation at St. James’ Park forced Eddie Howe to get creative against the Cottagers, and he decided to play Miley as a right-back in the back four.
Usually a central midfielder, the England youth international excelled in his new role and showed that he may even have a future in that position, given how impressive his performance was.
The highlight of his game was, of course, the winning goal as he nodded the ball into the back of the net in the 92nd minute from Sandro Tonali’s brilliant inswinging corner.
However, it was his defensive work that really caught the eye. Per Sofascore, Miley won six of his seven ground duels and four of his five aerial duels, making three tackles and one interception.
This means that, despite not being a natural defender, the English starlet was incredibly dominant defensively and was not a weak link that Fulham could attack, even though he was out of position.
His defensive display proves that it is a position that he could thrive in moving forward, which could come in handy after Tino Livramento came off with a knee injury, and it remains to be seen how serious that will be.
Miley’s Player of the Match performance saved the Magpies from going to penalties or being knocked out, and saved some of the team’s underperformers, including Joe Willock.
Why Joe Willock should be dropped
The English midfielder scored in seven consecutive matches whilst on loan from Arsenal in the second half of the 2020/21 campaign, in what was a phenomenal start to his career on Tyneside.
His impressive form convinced the Magpies to spend £25m to sign him on a permanent deal in the summer of 2021, but he has failed to hit those same heights again since.
Since scoring 11 goals in all competitions for Arsenal and Newcastle combined in the 2020/21 campaign, Willock has failed to produce more than three goals in a single season.
Joe Willock’s Newcastle career
Season
Appearances
Goals
25/26
12
0
24/25
41
2
23/24
14
2
22/23
43
3
21/22
31
2
20/21
31
11
Stats via Sofascore
Willock has been well past his best for several seasons now and his performance against Fulham on Wednesday night was, unfortunately, a typical display.
The former Arsenal man won two of his seven ground duels and lost all three of his aerial duels, per Sofascore, as he failed to make a single tackle or interception in the middle of the park.
On top of his defensive struggles, Willock did not register a single shot on goal and did not create any ‘big chances’ for his teammates in 72 minutes on the pitch, per Sofascore, which shows that the midfielder did not offer much quality in possession. He also had even fewer touches (40) than goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale (47).
Subscribe to our newsletter for Newcastle insights Want more than match headlines? Subscribe to the newsletter for in-depth breakdowns of tactical shifts, player form and selection debates — from positional breakthroughs to transfer-era questions — that put Newcastle developments in context. Subscribe to our newsletter for Newcastle insights Want more than match headlines? Subscribe to the newsletter for in-depth breakdowns of tactical shifts, player form and selection debates — from positional breakthroughs to transfer-era questions — that put Newcastle developments in context.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Tonali replaced Willock for the final 18 minutes of the match and his cameo showcased the gulf in quality between the two players. Per Sofascore, the Italy international won five of his seven duels, completed 88% of his attempted passes, and provided the assist for Miley’s winner with a terrific corner.
It was, unfortunately, not a rare bad night for Willock. In the Premier League this season, per Sofascore, the midfielder has lost 83% of his aerial duels and is yet to deliver a goal or an assist for the team, in seven appearances and two starts.
The £25m signing from Arsenal has also produced just 0.4 key passes per game, less than one chance created every other appearance, which speaks to the lack of quality that he is providing on the pitch for the Magpies.
He'd revive Gordon: Newcastle could replace Howe with "world-class" coach
Newcastle chiefs PIF will expect to see an upswing of results before long.
2 ByAngus Sinclair
These statistics illustrate why Willock should be immediately dropped from the side for Tonali, and show that he looks well past his best, which was when he was in immense goalscoring form in 2021.
Cricket Australia (CA) says a decision on whether the national team will tour Pakistan later this month is expected to be made by the end of the week. Creagh O’Connor, CA’s chairman, and his counterpart with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Nasim Ashraf, are scheduled to have a talk by telephone this week to discuss the situation with the tour considered in major doubt.Australian players have expressed reservations over the security situation in Pakistan following a spate of suicide bombings. “Clearly the clock is ticking and there is a sense of expectation where we will reach a point certainly no later than this week on working out exactly what is happening,” CA spokesperson Peter Young said.The proposed tour has been compressed into a month, starting on March 29, and PCB officials have said they are against moving Australia’s tour outside of Pakistan because of its long-term impact on cricket in the country. The Australian team has not played in Pakistan for a decade.In 2002 a series that was scheduled for Pakistan was shifted to Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. The PCB has promised to provide extra security for the Australian players. Cricket officials met with Australia’s foreign ministry in Canberra last week to get the latest updates on the situation inside Pakistan before making their tour decision.
Not many South Africans may have made it to Guyana for the cricket but god knows there have been enough of them addressing press conferences. There were three of them in one hour this afternoon, and the least somebody could have done is got a going, seeing how there is not a morsel of food to be found at the National Stadium on non-match days anyway.With most of the Super Eights clashes arousing about as much anticipation as an invitation to watch cows cud, it is what preview days at this World Cup have been increasingly reduced to, cute symmetries and connections, such as, for example, how the teams for Tuesday’s encounter both have South African coaches and, what’s more, the two have been friends.Yet if there is a degree of mutual admiration between Mickey Arthur and Adrian Birrell, the Ireland coach, it is borne out of professional achievement. When Arthur talks of Birrell and Ireland, he could almost be describing his own team.”I think what makes them a tough side,” he said, “is that the play for each other. They have an incredible team ethic, and that again is credit to AB (Adrian Birrell). As coaches you all strive to go in the right direction with a good work ethic and a sound structure and AB’s got it right with them. They play with an incredible amount of passion and they play for each other and in tight games that’s the key as we saw against Pakistan and Zimbabwe when they came from virtually the dead to tie that game.”Birrell himself remembered the transition as he moved from a professional background as a provincial coach in into an amateur setup. “The fixture list looked like Denmark, Free Foresters, Duchess of Norfolk, MCC… you know. Fortunately we’ve made some progress since. Now our itinerary looks like South Africa, Australia, New Zealand.”Having been reduced to 91 for 8 in a warm-up match in Trinidad a month ago, the South Africans are well aware of the progress. It has also meant some revision of homework plans.”We had to take the Pakistan footage out and put the Irish footage in,” said Arthur. “There are two batters in our mind that are crucial to the way they play, and two bowlers. We’ve singled out probably four of their players for extra attention.” Three of those are certain to be the fast bowler Boyd Rankin, the middle-order keeper-batsman Niall O’Brien, and the opener Jeremy Bray.It remains to be seen whether Bray, left-handed, like his opening partner William Porterfield, will take to Shaun Pollock as have as the Australian and Sri Lankan lefties have done over the past fortnight. While nagging last-hurrah seamers such as Glenn McGrath and Chaminda Vaas have been choking opposition to the figure of 13 and 16 runs per wicket, Pollock has averaged 79 for two wickets in four matches. Neither of those wickets came against Australia, where he went for 83 in 10 overs, or Sri Lanka when in a low-scoring match he conceded 46 from eight overs, and 32 in his opening spell of four.
Once teams would have been happy to play out a bowler like Pollock for none for 35, suggested Arthur, but times have changed. “I think good teams target the opposition, to be the best in the world you have to target the opposition strengths and that’s what teams are doing with Pollock.””Most teams that you come up against now have a lefthander at the top of the order. We’ve put a lot more thought into bowling to a lefthander after what’s happened with (Matthew) Hayden and (Sanath) Jayasuriya. But Polly’s an unbelievable performer. After two games where he’s been hit a bit I can promise you he’s raring to go tomorrow. He’s going to come back hard.””This is the business end of the competition, you can’t afford any slip up. Our preparation, our mental training is the same it would have been for any other game of the Super Eights.”For Ireland it is another opportunity to justify their place in this leg of the competition, though it has all gotten quite tiresome for Birrell. “We deserve a little bit of credit. We have got a lot of credit from the cricketers’ point of view. It is the media that set on us being party poopers. But if you look at in the bigger scheme of things, the achievements of Bangladesh and Ireland are very good for the game.”South Africa (likely) Graeme Smith (capt), AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Justin Kemp, Andrew Hall, Robin Peterson, Makhaya Ntini, Charl LangeveldtIreland (likely) William Porterfield, Jeremy Bray, Eoin Morgan, Niall O’ Brien (wk), Andre Botha, Kevin O’ Brien, Trent Johnston (capt), Andrew White, Kyle Mccallan, Dave Langford-Smith, Boyd Rankin
Dan Cullen, the South Australia offspinner, has replaced Mick Lewis as the only change in Australia’s one-day squad for the tour of Bangladesh beginning in April. The Test side remains unchanged after a series win in South Africa.”It’s been a tough few weeks and I’m obviously disappointed to be left out of the Australian team,” said Lewis. “There was a lot of noise following the final game in South Africa, and while it wasn’t my favourite performance, I don’t believe that this was the only reason for my omission.”The conditions in Bangladesh suit the spinners a bit more, so it’s understandable that a quick missed out. The selectors have shown with the likes of Kaspa [Michael Kasprowicz] that being dropped doesn’t mean the end of the road so I’ll push as hard as I can to regain my form, and hopefully my spot in the team.”Lewis had a torrid time during Australia’s 3-2 loss to South Africa in the recent one-day series. He picked up just two wickets in three games and conceded a world record 113 runs from ten overs in the final game at Johannesburg. He also received a flogging in the Pura Cup final against Queensland, taking 1 for 156 from 39 overs. Lewis will play for Durham during the Australian winter.Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said that the extra spinner would be useful for the conditions in Bangladesh. “With the players in the current squad we feel we are well covered for the conditions that may prevail in Bangladesh. We have brought Daniel Cullen into the one-day squad to give him an opportunity to perform at the next level,” said Hohns. “It will be a good test for Daniel and we think it is the right time to give him some experience and a chance to be a part of the Australian team environment.”Test squad Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Stuart MacGill, Shaun Tait, Stuart Clark, Michael KasprowiczODI squad Adam Gilchrist (wk), Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Brad Hogg, Stuart Clark, Daniel Cullen, Mitchell Johnson
Bob Woolmer confirmed that Shoaib Akhtar was left out of the squad purely on fitness grounds and urged him to regain his full fitness by playing first-class cricket. Shoaib had said he was confused about the reasons for his exclusion from the squad chosen for the West Indian tour and had demanded an explanation from the selectors regarding the same.”There is no personal agenda involved here,” Woolmer was quoted as saying in , a Pakistan based daily. “All that is required is that he confirms his match fitness by getting back to bowling 20 to 25 overs in an innings of a first-class game and satisfies the selectors and we will be happy to have him back in the side.”Woolmer insisted that there was no contradiction with regard to the reasons for leaving Shoaib out of the squad. “The selectors and board has made it very clear that they feel he is not match fit,” he said, “and that they want him to regain full match fitness and he would be considered for selection again.”He added that Shoaib was a matchwinning bowler but said, “The selectors first have to be satisfied with the fitness of a player.”Inzamam-ul-Haq, who kicked up a minor storm last week by saying that Shoaib was left out on disciplinary grounds, also spoke about Shoaib’s omission and made it clear that he had nothing personal against him. “I think he should simply concentrate on regaining his match fitness and satisfying the selectors that he is fit,” said Inzamam. “There is a lot of cricket coming up in the next few months including the home series against England and India.”
The last in our series of articles examining how the Indian team is shaping up for the coming 2003-04 season. This one focusses on the pace attack.It may be true that fast bowlers are born, not made, but even those who have the natural ability to bowl fast take a few years to mature at Test level. This year, observers of Indian cricket will feel that the years of apprenticeship served by Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra at Test level are finally over, and that they will take wickets at more than three a game – which is what they average so far – and make a decisive impression on the team’s fortunes, especially abroad. Sourav Ganguly will be hoping that Javagal Srinath hangs around for one more season to give them company, especially since his experience would prove invaluable when India tour Australia in December. If Srinath confirms that he has more Test cricket left in him, the Indian pace-bowling attack will have a settled look about it, while still leaving room for the best of the other contenders; if he calls it a day at last, then a place is immediately open for the contender with the most ambition. Zaheer, Nehra and Srinath are certainties for selection, if available; Wisden CricInfo sizes up the other contenders.Ajit Agarkar Agarkar has been in and out of the Indian Test side for four seasons now. He had already taken over 50 one-day international wickets by the time he made his Test debut, and this made his inability to translate his obvious promise into good Test match performances all the more disappointing. His 35 Test wickets have come from 16 Tests, and his bowling average is over 46. Only the promise of his batting has kept him in the side in situations where another bowler could have been chosen. There are still those watchers of Indian cricket who think Agarkar is a long-term prospect as third seamer. This season might present his last chance to show that this may be the case.Aavishkar Salvi Salvi was a fringe bowler for the Mumbai team a year ago, but last season he took 28 wickets in 6 games in the Ranji Trophy, 29 in 5 on the A tour to the West Indies, made an assured one-day international debut in Dhaka, and took another 14 wickets on the A tour of England. By all accounts, he is now ready for Test cricket. His high-arm action and accuracy have already earned comparisions to Glenn McGrath’s bowling style, and his ability to generate bounce from a good length is a special attribute. Of all the contenders not to have played a Test match yet, Salvi is the best prospect.Lakshmipathy Balaji Balaji has taken the same route to national contention as Salvi, with impressive performances in domestic cricket over the last season and then good A tours of West Indies and England. He made his one-day international debut against West Indies last year and was given a brutal introduction to the rigours of international cricket by Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds, but the experience will have done him no harm, and in fact he returned to domestic cricket to apply himself with renewed vigour. Balaji was the main reason for Tamil Nadu making it to the Ranji Trophy final last season, with six consecutive five-wicket hauls.Irfan Pathan Jr Just 19, Pathan is one for the future. A tall left-arm bowler – Indian cricket has no shortage of those right now – Pathan has combined with Zaheer Khan and Rakesh Patel to make up perhaps the best of the country’s pace attacks at domestic level. He was the top wicket-taker on the recent A tour to England, with 17 wickets at just over 28. That two other left-arm fast bowlers are already part of India’s Test make-up may actually prove to be a help to Pathan – there will be much to learn from bowling in conjunction with Zaheer at state level, and he can make progress steadily instead of being picked before he is ready.Tinu Yohannan Yohannan’s has been a mystifying story. He was picked out of near-obscurity to spearhead the attack two seasons ago in the home series against England, after a disappointing performance by the Indian seamers in South Africa – Zaheer, Nehra and Agarkar among them. In his first game he looked immediately at ease on the Test match scene, dismissing the English openers in both innings, and his height and physique seemed to mark him out as a heir to Javagal Srinath. But he has only played two Tests since, for one more wicket. Yohannan has been on a number of tours now without breaking through into the side, and his inability to crank up his pace by a few more yards is said to have gone against him.Amit Bhandari Bhandari is nearly 25, and the oldest of all those profiled here bar Agarkar. He has been in national contention for a few years now – he made an unmemorable one-day international debut as long ago as 1999, against Pakistan – and will perhaps be feeling the need to take the step up immediately a little more urgently than the others. Bhandari is not as quick as some of his rivals but moves the ball about, and took 16 wickets on the A tour of England at just under 30. If he keeps up the good work in the Challengers and the Irani Trophy, a national call-up may not be very far away.The rest Other dark horses who could possibly be called up are Rakesh Patel and – this appears more likely – the 22 year-old fast bowler who has made such a stir lately because of the pace at which he reportedly bowls, Munaf Patel. Patel is yet to play a first-class match, but if Javagal Srinath hangs on for another season, then the Indian pace attack will have a stable look to it, and this could encourage the selectors to gamble on raw speed when they sit down to decide on the back-up bowlers.Expert views Karsan Ghavri: Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar and Javagal Srinath form quite a formidable pace attack at the moment, one even capable of troubling the Australians on a hard, bouncy track. Zaheer and Nehra in particular can put any side under pressure. Among the contenders, the first person to strike my mind is Aavishkar Salvi. There are some other good young fast bowlers around – Irfan Pathan, for example, or L Balaji – but they will have to go through the grind of domestic cricket before they get into the top league. There is a bowler called Shabbir Ali, who plays for Bengal and is in Bangalore bowling to the Indian players. He is quite promising. A lot of credit goes to the MRF Pace Academy, which is producing these young fast bowlers.TA Sekhar: If Javagal Srinath stays on for another season, then the Indian pace-bowling attack appears quite stable, with Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra to support him. Among the other contenders, I would be inclined to give Munaf Patel a go. We could be taking a number of fast bowlers to Australia, and I think we could afford to pick Patel even if he is a largely unknown commodity, purely because of his pace – no batsman is ever entirely comfortable playing that kind of speed. That leaves another fast bowling slot, which will perhaps be contested by Agarkar or Salvi. Whether the selectors go for experience in the form of Agarkar or the promise of Salvi is their prerogative.Atul Wassan: Aavishkar Salvi is ready for Test cricket. It is time we dispensed with the services of Javagal Srinath, who in any case has been unprofessional about whether he is prepared to continue playing for India, leaving everyone in suspense about the matter. I think Ajit Agarkar has it in him to serve India with both ball and bat at Test level. I would pick him as my third seamer.Chandrahas Choudhury is staff writer of Wisden Asia Cricket.Openings for openers The settled middle order Finders, keepers Turn, turn, turn
The Central Districts Women’s Under-21 Team to play in the National Tournament at Christchurch on December 27-January 1 is:Cindy Forsyth (captain, Manawatu), Sarah Duffill (Hawke’s Bay), Philippa Gerrish (Horowhenua Kapiti), Erin McDonald (Hawke’s Bay), Sara McGlashan (Hawke’s Bay), Zara McWilliams (Hawke’s Bay), Aimee Mason (Taranaki), Aroha Northover (Hawke’s Bay), Elizabeth Perry (Wairarapa), Amy Pope (Taranaki), Toni Street (Taranaki), Kelly Sutherland (Hawke’s Bay). Coach: Mario William (Marlborough). Manager: Catherine Brady (Hawke’s Bay).