ScorecardWestern Australia edged to a 13-run win against Tasmania despite a fighting 105 by Michael Di Venuto at the Devonport Oval. Shaun Marsh guided WA to a competitive 6 for 236 before their bowlers turned in a fine performance to dismiss Tasmania for 223 in 49 overs.Di Ventuo played a lone hand in the chase and received support only from George Bailey, whose 45 was the other score above 20. He and Di Venuto added 95 runs for the fourth wicket and Tasmania needed a comfortable 52 runs off 63 balls when Bailey fell (4 for 185). WA turned on the pressure and dismissed Rhett Lockyear and Luke Butterworth in quick succession (6 for 190), but it was Di Venuto’s wicket, after he had made a brilliant hundred, that derailed the run chase. Ben Edmondson was the best bowler with 3 for 31 and Peter Worthington chipped in with 3 for 34.After being asked to bat, Justin Langer and Luke Ronchi got WA off to a solid start with an 88-run stand. But it was Marsh who held the innings together after three quick wickets reduced them to 3 for 96. Marsh was unbeaten on 81 – he struck three fours and three sixes – and added 95 runs with Chris Rogers for the fifth wicket to take the score to 236. Ben Hilfenhaus provided some controversy when he was ordered from the attack by the umpires for delivering two head-high full tosses in a row.
Royal College 94 (Peiris 3-16) v St Thomas College 152 for 2 (Peiris 64*, Silva 35*) ScorecardOn the day that England A wrapped up a comprehensive 197-run victory over their Sri Lankan counterparts at the Colombo Cricket Club, not many of the city’s cricket fans were paying attention. They were instead gathered half-a-mile down the road at the Sinhalese Sports Club, where Royal College and St Thomas’s – two of Sri Lanka’s most illustrious schools – were engaged in their annual "Battle of the Blues".This was the 126th meeting between the two school teams whose annual fixture puts even Eton and Harrow to shame. And, judging by the first day’s events, it was shaping up as one of the most one-sided as well, as St Thomas’s took the game by the throat, bowling Royal College out for 94 after winning the toss, and then easing to 152 for 2 in reply.St Thomas’s hero was their opening bowler and No. 3 batsman, A Peiris. He rocked Royal College back on their heels in his very first over, by trapping their opener, S Senaratne, lbw for a second-ball duck, and later returned to sweep up the tail, for figures of 3 for 16 from 11.4 overs. None of the Royal batsmen could come to terms with the probing St Thomas attack, and only two batsmen made it into double figures.St Thomas had a moment of anxiety when N Perera was removed for 4 in the third over of their reply, but Peiris returned to the fray to calm the nerves. By the close, he was unbeaten on 64, with the wicketkeeper, K Silva, alongside him on 35, and with a lead already standing at 58, the stage was set for a day of dominance when play resumes tomorrow.
West Indians 404 for 5 dec and 343 for 6 (Samuels 147, Ganga 69*) drew with Zimbabwe A 242 and 246 for 9 (Evans 59, Taylor 6 for 58) ScorecardA devastating spell of reverse-swing bowling by Jerome Taylor almost broughtthe West Indian tourists an unexpected victory over Zimbabwe A after thematch had looked dead and buried at tea, but the determination of GavinEwing, dropped from the Test team, denied them at the death. Zimbabwe Afinished with 247 for 9.Despite their lead of 408, the West Indians decided on more batting practiceon the final morning, presumably for the benefit of Daren Ganga, 25overnight after a century in the first innings. This decision was to costthem a chance of victory. Ganga and Marlon Samuels found it easy going until Samuels drove a ball from Stuart Matsikenyeri down the throat of long-on to depart for 147. The declaration came at drinks, with Ganga unbeaten on 69 and the target a token 506.The lbw curse soon struck Zimbabwe A again, with Vusi Sibanda adjudged infront to Taylor for 4, with the total on 9. Then came a long period ofattrition as Dion Ebrahim and Craig Evans, both playing for their Testplaces, dug in and withstood the West Indian assault. Ebrahim finally fellin mid-afternoon for 41, caught off bat and pad off the bowling of RamnareshSarwan, but Evans reached his fifty. He clearly set his eyes on a century,playing safe instead of employing his usual buccaneering style and penchantfor massive sixes, especially when the spinners were bowling.By tea it seemed as if the West Indians had accepted that the match wasmeandering towards a draw, with a score of 132 for 2. However, Taylor returnedimmediately after tea and his first ball kept low to shatter Evans’s stumpswith a ball that kept slightly low, bowling him out for 59. After a fourand two singles off the next three balls, Taylor gave the same treatment toMatsikenyeri, bowled for 5. Two overs later, it was the unfortunate EltonChigumbura’s turn, yorked by Taylor to complete a pair.Travis Friend scored just 4 before being caught at bat-pad, again offTaylor, who had now taken four wickets in four overs since tea, and ZimbabweA were 157 for 6. Drakes in the first innings and now Taylor had shattered themiddle order with their sharp reverse swing, a problem that the top playerswill need to confront in the Test next week.Barney Rogers, like Matsikenyeri in the first innings, stood firm through itall and appeared to bat without undue difficulty. But he fell just as heappeared to be making the match secure, driving uppishly at Drakes and beingcaught low down at short extra cover for 45.The last hour began with the West Indians needing three more wickets to winthe match. Alester Maregwede (5) became another lbw victim as Taylorreturned, but Gavin Ewing, who clearly felt he had a message for thenational selectors, and Blessing Mahwire were determined not to give ineasily. At this point the West Indians began to show boredom in the fieldand indulged in some quite ridiculous and pointless time-wasting – a problemwhich the ICC still does not have the guts to tackle effectively.Mahwire (10) fell to a slip catch by substitute Brian Lara in thepenultimate over, bowled by Drakes, but Ewing, unbeaten with 42, played outthe final over from Ravi Rampaul to ensure the draw. Taylor finished withsix wickets.
With Graham Grace hitting an unbeaten maiden limited-overs century, North West scramble to a one-wicket win over Border in a Standard Bank Cup match in Potchefstroom on Sunday.Grace, who went to the wicket with North West at 2 for one, stayed for the rest of the innings for his 111 not out, adding 21 with last man in, Jake Malao, to see North West home.Earlier, Border’s 205 for eight had been built around contributions of 54 from Stephen Pope and 42 from Craig Sugden.
Nick Speak produced a captain’s innings of concentration and careful shot selection to give Durham the first day honours at Taunton.Having won the toss and chosen to take first use of a typically batsman-friendly pitch at the County Ground, Speak found himself walking out at88-3, with Somerset threatening to get on top.By the time he was out in the final session the scoreboard read a healthy 287-6 and an unbroken stand between Andy Pratt and John Wood took it to 324-6 by the close.Speak faced 211 deliveries for his top score of 78, hitting 7 fours, but building his innings mainly on watchful defence.He shared stands of 128 with Paul Collingwood and 65 with Jimmy Daley during a day of attrition, which saw Somerset’s below-strength attack struggling to find any penetration.Jon Lewis and Michael Gough had given Durham a solid start with an opening stand of 52 before Lewis was well held low at second slip by Parsons off Graham Rose for 31.The tall Gough produced some sweetly-timed offside strokes in his 33, but fell to a poor shot, caught behind attempting to cut a wide ball from Jamie Grove.When Simon Katich was pinned lbw by Grove trying to force a straight full-length ball through mid-wicket Somerset may have sensed a collapse.But Speak dropped anchor, while Collingwood punished anything loose, hitting 11 fours in reaching his half-century off 71 balls.Collingwood was never as fluent from then on, but had battled his way to 74 when getting the one ball of the day that turned appreciably off a good line and length. He was caught by Rose at slip off left-armer Ian Blackwell.It was a solitary success for the two Somerset spinners. Blackwell and Adrian Pierson shared 36 overs, bowling tidily enough, but rarely troubling the batsmen.Their seam bowling colleagues also had to work hard while getting precious little encouragement from the pitchAt 281-4, Durham looked set to end the day in an even more commanding position. But then Daley and Speak fell in quick succession to avoidable dismissals.Daley had made a season’s best 34 when run-out by Keith Parsons from mid-off answering Speak’s call for a quick single. The throw hit the stumps without the assistance of wicketkeeper Rob Turner, with Daley inches short of his ground.It was a breakthrough Somerset’s bowlers, lacking Andy Caddick on Test Match duty and Peter Trego with England Under-19s, did not look like making.Soon Speak had hooked Grove’s first delivery with the second new ball for four. But he departed trying to repeat the shot, caught off a top edge by Pierson at third-man.The Durham skipper had reached his fourth half century of the season off 137 balls, with only 3 boundaries. He was prepared to await the bad ball, which came less often after tea when Pierson and Blackwell bowled in tandem.Pratt and Wood took advantage of some tired bowling to add 43 in quick time after the Durham innings looked to be getting bogged down and the visitors will be looking for maximum batting points on day two.
Some of Bermuda’s most talented young cricketers will compete for an Americas XI in a mini World Cup to be held in the West Indies next month.The Under-15 tournament will also include West Indies, Ireland, Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan, Holland and Zimbabwe. Bermuda were invited to send a team but because of exam commitments the board opted to be part of an Americas select instead.Lionel Tannock, the manager of the senior national team, has been selected as the Americas manager with Theo Cuffy, the Cayman coach, chosen as head coach.The group stages will take place in Trinidad and Guyana, from April 19.Bermuda coach Gus Logie said the selectors would choose five or six youngsters to be part of the squad, which will also include players from Canada, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.”The squad is in training at the moment,” he said, “and the selectors will be getting together over the next few weeks.”Grant Smith, the Under-15 national coach, said the quality remained pleasingly high – an age group Bermuda traditionally dominate in the Americas.The likes of Greg Maybury, Tre Govia and Deunte Darrell – who travelled with the Under-19s to the recent World Cup – along with Shea Pitcher, Josh Gilbert, Sinclair Smith and Kevon Fubler are all in contention for a place in the Americas side.”It should be a very competitive tournament. The last time they held an Under-15 World Cup was quite a few years ago,” Logie said. “A few of the big names, like Australia and South Africa, are not participating. I don’t really know what to expect to tell you the truth.”Bermuda Sun
While Tottenham Hotspur have seen a number of exciting academy talents come through the system over the years, perhaps no-one comes closer to matching the ‘what if’ story than one Marcus Edwards.
Speaking back in 2016, former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino raved: “The qualities – it’s only looks, his body and the way that he plays – remember a little bit from the beginning of Messi.
“He’s small, he’s left-footed, I remember a little bit (Erik) Lamela when he was at River Plate, remember he had long hair, when he was 14, 15 years old, there is a lot of videos on YouTube that you can see, that he took the ball, didn’t give a pass and shot straight away.
“He (Edwards) is a very good prospect and potentially he can be a top player, but we need to be patient and tell him that he has a lot of talent, enough talent to be a top player, a great player.”
In fact, his former teammate at England’s youth levels, Stephy Mavididi, had this to say about Edwards: “He is insane. Every time someone asks me about this guy, for me, he is one of the top three players I have played with.
“Dribbling, agility, low center of gravity, his change of direction. I haven’t seen anyone better than him with my own eyes. The guy is a joke, in the pockets and on the turn.”
But having been let go in 2019, Edwards has carved out a very fine career out in Portugal, first with Vitoria and now more recently with Sporting CP, whom he joined earlier this year in the January transfer window.
At the time of his exit from north London, the English ace was valued at just £1.13m (Transfermarkt).
Now with a buy-out clause of around €60m (£50m) at Sporting, Edwards has continued to light it up in the Portuguese top-flight.
In 23 games this season in the league, the diminutive winger has scored eight times and provided four assists, including featuring quite recently in the Champions League last 16 draw away against Manchester City – quite the difference from how his career at Spurs went.
Indeed, earlier this month, Edwards spoke candidly about some of the troubles he faced back at Hotspur Way, saying: “I definitely still think some people didn’t understand me. Now I know how to carry myself a bit differently. When I was younger, only certain coaches took the time out to really understand me and realise I’m just a normal guy, whereas now that’s a bit different.
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.
“You know how rumours spread in football. When I was leaving Tottenham, some people didn’t want to take me because of stuff they’d heard.”
Given how Edwards is now finally beginning to do his talking on the pitch, the likes of Daniel Levy and co back at Spurs may just be wondering whether they could have done a little more to convince the talented attacker to stay put in north London.
AND in other news: “Incredibly deadly”, “Robben-esque”: Paratici plotting Spurs swoop for £36m-rated ace
Wickets continued to tumble in Siliguri as Debasis Mohanty and Preetamjit Das, Orissa’s new-ball bowlers, shot Bengal out for 124 in the second innings to give their side a great chance of an outright win. Orissa had conceded an eight-run lead, in a low-scoring battle, but fought back splendidly in the second innings. Mohanty added four wickets to the two he had picked up in the first innings and Preetamjit, in just his fifth first-class match, ended with five for the match. For Bengal only Arindam Das, Sourav Sarkar, the bowling hero in the first innings, and Ashok Dinda, the No.11, managed double figures. Left to get 133, Orissa were solidly placed at 82 for 3 with Bikas Pati, Niranjan Behera, and Rashmi Ranjan Parida steering the chase. With 51 runs to get and seven wickets in hand, Orissa were favourites to wrap up their second successive win. Scorecard Bowlers thrived in Uppal too as MP Arjun’s stunning six-wicket burst allowed Hyderabad to storm back into the contest against Andhra. Resuming on 52 for 5, Hyderabad fell short of Andhra’s 159, with captain Arjun Yadav playing a lone hand with 49. Having gained a 27-run lead, Andhra would have wished to close out the contest but medium-pacer Arjun, in only his sixth first-class match, claimed all the wickets to fall. He trapped Hemal Watekar in his third over but it was really his next, the eighth of the innings, which wrecked Andhra’s innings. He bowled ASK Varma for a duck in the third ball before nailing AG Pradeep and Shankara Rao off the fifth and sixth deliveries. Scorecard Saurashtra’s new-ball bowler Sandeep Jobanputra, scythed through Karnataka’s batting line-up with a six-wicket haul, giving his side a great chance to gain the first-innings lead in Mysore. Having ground out 245 in the first innings, Saurashtra responded through their bowlers, striking at regular intervals. Jobanputra removed the top four, including the dangerous Robin Uthappa, before returning to knock off two tailenders. KB Pawan waged a lone battle, grinding out 110, and was still out in the middle with No.11 KP Appanna. Karnataka still needed 29 to gain the first-innings lead but Saurashtra should be favourites to gain the advantage. Scorecard Oblivious to the bowler-friendly matches around the country, Punjab amassed 496 for 8 by the end of the second day against Baroda in Amritsar. Ravi Inder, one of the overnight batsmen, brought up his maiden century, going on to post 142, while the rest of the order chipped in too. Karan Goel, who had brought up his century yesterday, fell for 127 in the fifth over of the day but Sunny Sohal, who smashed a 64-ball 55, and Ankur Kakkar (56) continued the good work. Baroda’s bowlers managed only eight wickets in two days with Sumit Singh and Sankalp Vohra, the opening bowlers, sharing five wickets between them. Scorecard Ramesh Powar’s four wickets pegged back Rajasthan on the second day’s play in Jhalawar, allowing Mumbai to eye an outright win. Having been kept down to 295 in their first innings, Mumbai fought back through Powar’s offspin, claiming wickets at regular intervals. Rajesh Bishnoi and Nikhil Doru managed half-centuries but Rajasthan couldn’t sustain the fight. ScorecardVijaykumar Yomahesh and P Amarnath snared six wickets between them as Tamil Nadu sneaked out a slender 11-run lead against Himachal Pradesh in Chennai. Paras Dogra (49) and Manvinder Bisla (61) powered Himachal forward, with good support from Sarandeep Singh and Vishal Bhatia in the lower order, but Yomahesh broke the partnership and mopped up the tail. ScorecardAakash Chopra and Mithun Manhas struck half-centuries as Delhi gained the advantage in Nagothane. Read the full report here.
Cameron White’s re-entry into the Australia team has been so strong that he has out-hit Andrew Symonds in their past two partnerships. After muscling four sixes in the Twenty20 win over England, White blasted another three against New Zealand in Hobart on Sunday as Symonds played the support role with an almost run-a-ball 69.White’s 45 from 32 deliveries helped take the game away from New Zealand during a 90-run partnership with Symonds in nine overs. Symonds has been impressed with White’s power since he came back into the national set-up and said it meant he did not feel pressure to force the pace. “When you’ve got that going on at the other end, it makes it a lot easier for me,” Symonds told AAP. “I’m happy to give him the strike … he was the ideal man for the job.”In a striking assessment Symonds agreed there was probably not a cleaner hitter in Australia than White. “You’d have to say so after that Twenty20 effort the other night and today,” Symonds said. “It’s not like he’s just clearing the rope. There’s absolutely no doubt when he hits it in the middle, it’s maximum.”White’s bowling was not as productive as his blasting, which included consecutive sixes off Daniel Vettori and another from Shane Bond that landed on a grandstand roof. His first two overs went for 18 as he was targeted by Ross Taylor, but he returned to take the final wicket of Jeetan Patel and secure the 105-run win. He also gave up 27 runs in three overs during the victory over England on Friday.However, the performances have not been a concern for Ricky Ponting. “I just see him as someone, if we can, to give him some overs, give him some experience and exposure, give him some confidence,” he said. “I can see him as a good wicket-taking option for us. He’s just going to get better and better with more experience.”
Greg Chappell and Inzamam-ul-Haq voiced their concerns over the pitch at Lahore which has aleady yielded over 700 runs inside two days. Chappell said that it reminded him of the pitch at Faisalabad in 1980 which Dennis Lillee descibed as a bowlers’ graveyard. Australia made 617 in 211 overs and Pakistan replied with 382 for two as the match was drawn.Chappell who scored 235 in that match said at a news conference, “I still think that was the best batting pitch I played on. But I would say this one is 75 percent close to it. It’s a good flat batting wicket with not a blade of grass seen on it and I don’t think the wicket would change much, but we have to wait and see because there are still 270 overs remaining in the match.”Chappell, however, pointed out that the end result could not be taken for granted. “What I know is that we are under pressure and need to bat well for the next few days to save this Test.”Inzamam-ul-Haq said he feared for a drawn first Test if his bowlers failed to enforce a follow-on on India on the third day. “I know it will be tough for the bowlers because there isn’t much in the wicket. But we need to give our best shot because not every day you post a huge score at an average of over four runs an over. We will come out all guns firing and see what happens. But one thing is for sure; we need to grab even the half chances on this track,” he said.Inzamam indicated that Danish Kaneria could hold the key to extract some turn from the surface. “Danish is a lanky bowler who turns the ball. He has improved tremendously over the years and mixes his deliveries well. But he needs to keep a cool head on his shoulders because there would be times when he would be hit against the turn or good balls would be punished severely.”Inzamam was full of praise for his batsmen, especially Shahid Afridi. He said, “Younis Khan played a gem and it was so sad to see him run-out for 199. But Shahid Afridi is someone who keeps everyone on the edge of their seats when he is batting. After he struck four straight sixes, I thought he had a good chance of hitting two more because Harbhajan (Singh) looked confused by then and had again came over the wicket after being struck for two sixes while bowling round-the-wicket.But Harbhajan is not a bunny and bowled the last two balls intelligently and avoided from going into history as the only bowler to be hit for six sixes.”Chappell added that he had not seen anything else like it. He said, “It’s one of the best hitting I’ve seen. I’ve seen Ian Botham, Clive Lloyd and of course Adam Gilchrist, but Afridi’s innings is up in the top group. No ground is big enough to keep him quiet. Our bowlers tried their best.”