Defending champions Barbados take on Windward Islands on the opening day of the West Indian cricket season, which gets underway on January 7. In the two other matches on the first day of the Carib Beer League Cup, Guyana visit Trinidad & Tobago while Jamaica host Leeward Islands at home.This year the tournament will be played on a home and away basis and the Carib Beer League is scheduled to be completed on March 14. The two top teams in the League will meet in the Carib Beer Challenge over five days beginning on March 18. The runner-up must defeat the League champions outright to win the Challenge Trophy.The League winner will receive the Carib Beer Cup and US$12,500 with the Man of the Match for each game receiving US$150 and a medallion. The winner of the Challenge will earn the Carib Beer Challenge Champion Trophy and US$5,000.There are also individual prizes – named after West Indian legends – to be won with the top batsman, bowler, fielder, allrounder and wicketkeeper each collecting US$1500.
Hashan Tillakaratme, Sri Lanka’s 35-year-old Test captain, has vowed to makeup for lost time and continue to play Test cricket for Sri Lanka as long aspossible. Claiming he’s fit, healthy and, most importantly, still hungry forsuccess, Tillakaratne has made it clear that he has no retirement plans.
“After two years out of the team I have a lot of catching up to do,” writesTillakaratne in the official England tour souvenir for Sri Lanka Cricket. “Imay be 35-years-old but I am fit, agile and hungry for success. I want toplay many more Test matches for Sri Lanka.”Tillakaratne had spent two years in the wilderness after the 1999 World Cup,a disastrous tournament for Sri Lanka that precipitated the implementationof a radical youth policy by the selectors. When he finally returned, aftertwo seasons of heavy scoring in the domestic competition, he scored a stackof runs, claiming back a regular place.Then, when Sanath Jayasuriya stepped down as Sri Lanka captain earlier thisyear, Tillakaratne assumed the captaincy – a surprise choice from theselectors. But now, after a drawn home series against New Zealand and a 1-0defeat in the Caribbean, Tillakaratne is under pressure to perform. Defeatagainst England would almost certainly end his tenure.
But Tillakaratne, an adhesive player who clearly revels in adversity,rejects criticism that his captaincy has been too negative thus far, arguingthat with greater luck Sri Lanka could have bagged their last two Testseries against New Zealand and West Indies.”We failed to win my first two Tests series in charge, against New Zealandand West Indies, but the margin between success and failure is small and,with some more luck and a bit more application, we could have won both,” hesays in his column.”Against New Zealand, we were let down by our catching in the first Test. Wespilled an unacceptable number of chances. Then, in the second Test, we wereunfortunate to lose so much time to the poor weather. In the end we wereleft with too few overs to chase a modest victory target.”The first Test in the West Indies was rain-affected and drawn. We playedcreditably. In the second Test we were in the hunt for a series win.However, we batted badly in the second innings. Had we dismissed Brian Laraearlier in the final run chase – which we so nearly did – it could so easilyhave been a different result.”
He’s looking forward to taking on the challenge of facing the English, and achance of securing some payback from two heavy defeats in the last twoseries between the sides, particularly the painful 2-1 loss at home in 2001.”This series, against a newish-looking English outfit, we need to pulltogether all departments of our game,” he says. “Although I didn’t play inthe last home series against England, my assessment was that we did more tolose the series than England did to win it. We must be tougher and play toour potential.”England have a sturdy top five that is stacked full of experience,” hesays. “One of the keys will be to make early inroads into this powerful toporder and put pressure on a lower middle order weakened by the absence ofAlec Stewart.”We have the bowlers to do that, especially the hard-working Chaminda Vaaswith his skilful swing bowling and Muttiah Muralitharan, a bowler who issurely destined to become the highest wicket-taker in Test history.”But we cannot rely solely on this pair. We have done so too much in thepast and that has held back our development. We need the bowlers to click asa unit. The support bowlers must maintain the pressure created by Murali andChaminda.”Once again our batsmen must be on guard. Our batting, especially the middleorder, has not lived up to expectations during the past year. It’s essentialthat we knuckle down to play with discipline and determination. The goodnews is that most of the top order has found good form in the currentdomestic tournament.Tillakaratne hopes that an extended four-month break for the players sincethe last tour will have a positive effect: “We are fortunate to have had aproper break. After nearly two years of non-stop cricket everyone needed tospend time with their families to refresh the mind and body. We should nowbe hungry and sharp.”
Andhra Pradesh successfully chased a target of 89 to win their Ranji Trophy league match over Goa at Vijayawada on Wednesday.Reeling at 57/6 overnight, Goa found a rescuer in Kiran Powar, who scored his second century in as many Tests. Remaining unbeaten on 104, Powar saw his side through to a total of 191, avoiding an innings defeat if not giving his side a shot at victory. He was supported only by HAS Khalid, who made 52 lower down the order.Set a target of 89, Andhra Pradesh shrugged off the early loss of openers and went on to win after the loss of only three wickets. They pick up eight points from this win, while Goa gain none.
ScorecardEngland’s bowlers enjoyed a productive work-out on the second day at Senwes Park but Alex Hales missed a second opportunity to make his case at opener. Hales, who is at the head of the queue to become Alastair Cook’s eighth Test opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss, made another underwhelming contribution, although the stand did reach double figures on this occasion.Hales was uncharacteristically subdued in grafting for 8 off 42 balls – the same number of runs he made in the first innings – before playing on to his stumps trying to defend off the back foot. Cook was far more fluent during a partnership of 46 but he followed Hales back to the dressing room an over later, for 37 off 47 balls with seven fours, after playing around a straight delivery from Andile Phehlukwayo.Cook would doubtless have preferred a longer stint in the middle but he could reflect with satisfaction on England’s earlier efforts with the ball. Stuart Broad took 3 for 18 and all of the seamers bar James Anderson – who only bowled four overs during the afternoon – were among the wickets as the SA Invitational XI were dismissed for 188.Mark Footitt was a touch wild and woolly on his first appearance in an England shirt, taking 2 for 52 from 12 overs. Ben Stokes also picked up two wickets as his comeback from injury continued to go well, and Moeen Ali produced tidy figures with his offspin, while also accounting for SA XI top-scorer, Heinrich Klaasen.Centuries from Stokes and James Taylor on the first day had already put England in charge and they opted for further batting practice during the final session.Nick Compton followed up his first-innings half-century at No. 3 by making 15 before chipping to long-off and his dismissal allowed Gary Ballance – another batsman returning to the England fold – some time at the crease. Alongside Joe Root, he helped the tourists to 99 for 3 and a lead of 381 with one day left in the game.Stuart Broad claimed two wickets with the new ball•Getty Images
After Cook had declared England’s first innings on their overnight score of 470 for 5, Broad struck with the fourth ball of the morning, Aiden Markram edging to first slip. Broad also removed Luthando Mnyanda in his fourth over, a thick inside edge helping to uproot off stump, and was then given a rest until just before tea, when he returned to end a last-wicket stand of 51 between Thandolwethu Mnyaka and Johannes Diseko.Left-armer Footitt is generally regarded as one of the fastest bowlers around the county circuit and he began at full tilt. SA XI opener Simon Khomari, also a lefty, found the pace to his liking and struck a boundary in each of Footitt’s first three overs; when the bowler responded with a bouncer, it flew high and wide of wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow for four byes.Despite the heat pushing up towards 35C, Cook kept Footitt on for a six-over spell and he finally hit his mark with the penultimate ball before the drinks break, sliding a delivery across the right-handed Zubayr Hamza to take the edge, Bairstow completing a low catch to his right. In Footitt’s second spell, Klaasen took him for three fours in an over, as runs continued to flow, but another breakthrough followed soon after as Qaasim Adams was adjudged lbw.Klaasen and Adams had helped repair some of the damage done during the morning session, after the SA XI had slipped to 56 for 5. Chris Woakes, seemingly contesting the third seamer slot for the Durban Test with Footitt, removed Khomari with a back-of-a-length delivery that was quicker than it looked and Stokes had Somila Seyibokwe caught behind off the glove, also trying to pull.Klaasen was the more aggressive during a 62-run stand but, after Adams’ dismissal by Footitt, he fell two runs short of a half-century, edging a drive off Moeen to slip. Stokes picked up his second wicket, Phehlukwayo bowled attempting to leave, and Moeen deflected a shot from Mnyaka into the stumps at the non-striker’s end to run out Ruben Claassen and leave the SA XI 137 for 9.
Wolves are back in Premier League action this afternoon with a clash against Crystal Palace at Molineux in their latest attempt at moving closer to securing European football for next season.
Having lost their two previous league games against Arsenal and West Ham United, both in London, the Old Gold will be doing all they can to pick up all three points in front of their home fans today against team from the capital in Patrick Vieira’s side, who are currently three places and 10 points behind the Midlanders in the league table.
On the chalkboard
In regards to which players Bruno Lage could pick in his starting XI to take on the Eagles, one man who started last weekend against West Ham but we think should be taken out of the team on this occasion is Fabio Silva.
Since arriving at Molineux in September 2020 from FC Porto for a club-record fee of £35.6m, the 19-year-old has only netted four goals in 54 appearances across all competitions, showing that he hasn’t been particularly reliable when it comes to finding the back of the net.
Furthermore, the £19.8m-rated striker’s performance against the Hammers last weekend showed why he may not be suited to start this time around either, having had just one clear shot at goal throughout the entire 90 minutes at the London Stadium, and that was off-target.
The youngster also made just 14 accurate passes and won only one of his six duels, ultimately earning himself a disappointing overall match rating of 6.1/10. That made him the lowest-rated player from either team according to SofaScore, even lower than Francisco Trincao, who only played 60 minutes and came in for criticism from some journalists for his performance.
Labelled a potential “hindrance” for the club as a result of his poor performances in the past by Liam Keen, that is exactly what he was for Lage last time out and why he shouldn’t be given the opportunity to start again this time around, with Wolves in need for a victory to reignite their push for Europe.
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With that in mind, now could be the right time for the Wolves boss to bring Raul Jimenez back into the team this afternoon and hope that he can do the business for them in front of goal.
In other news: John Percy shares worrying Wolves update, it’s a “big blow” for Lage
Victoria have called on Clint McKay and Darren Pattinson as they face a familiar problem with several of their frontline fast bowlers missing through injury. The pair has been included in the Bushrangers’ 12-man squad for their FR Cup match against South Australia in the Gippsland city of Traralgon on Sunday.They were already missing Dirk Nannes with a foot injury and Gerard Denton with an ankle problem, but now Shane Harwood and John Hastings have been added to the casualty list. Harwood has a groin injury after playing in the Pura Cup win over the Redbacks this week, while Hastings had surgery earlier this week to have a pin inserted in a fractured finger.The veteran Mick Lewis also cut their pace options by one when he announced his retirement from state cricket on Wednesday. It leaves Peter Siddle to spearhead a less experienced attack, bringing back memories of last summer when all of Victoria’s contracted fast bowlers were injured at one point.The limited-overs clash will be the closest thing to a genuine home game for Siddle, who was born in Traralgon and was raised in the nearby town of Morwell. A win for the second-placed Redbacks would give them a strong chance of reaching the FR Cup final, while the bottom-of-the-table Bushrangers could jump as high as third with a victory.Victoria squad Aiden Blizzard, Michael Klinger, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Cameron White (capt), Rob Quiney, Andrew McDonald, Adam Crosthwaite (wk), Peter Siddle, Clint McKay, Bryce McGain, Darren Pattinson.South Australia squad Matthew Elliott, Daniel Harris, Mark Cosgrove, Callum Ferguson, Nathan Adcock (capt), Daniel Christian, Graham Manou (wk), Mark Cleary, Ryan Harris, Jason Gillespie, Dan Cullen, Paul Rofe.
At the end of the second day of the Ranji Trophy final Mumbai were right on top thanks mainly to a penetrative spell from Zaheer Khan, who picked up five wickets and skittled Bengal over for only 143 in response to the hosts’ 320. Bengal’s tail was good enough to avert a follow-on that seemed likely at one stage, but when Mumbai ended the day on 113 for 2, an overall lead of 290, one team held all the aces, with three days to play.When the day began with Mumbai on 281 for 5, there was still hope that they would post a score tall enough to allow them to bat just once in this game. But Abhishek Nair (15) copped an unlucky break, and was given out caught behind off Sourav Sarkar when the bat appeared to miss ball and strike the floor. With just 17 added to the overnight score of 281, the door opened for Bengal.Sarkar was in the action again as Rohit Sharma was sent back by Vinayak Samant after setting off for a single, and run out for 15. At 298 for 7, all that was left to do, with no recognised batsmen left at the crease, was scramble a few runs. But Ranadeb Bose, who bowled well without much luck on the first day, had other plans; he removed Samant (0) and Zaheer in the space of 15 runs. Ramesh Powar, usually good for a few runs, tried to disrupt the bowlers’ rhythm by stepping out or making room, but he failed in his quest, and was bowled by Sarkar, ending the Mumbai innings on 320.If Bengal felt any sense of relief it evaporated soon enough. The superior bowling firepower of Mumbai set to work immediately, and Ajit Agarkar produced a brute of a delivery that got big on Deep Dasgupta, who could only fend awkwardly to Sharma at short-leg. Bengal had lost their captain for a duck in the first over, and worse was to follow. Zaheer angled the ball nicely across Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and when the batsman prodded without much foot movement the result was a nick that Samant snapped up behind the stumps.A partnership of sorts built between Arindam Das and Manoj Tiwary, but Zaheer made his Mumbai debut memorable by hurrying Das for pace and having him caught behind with the score on 28. Then the excitement built to a fever pitch as Sourav Ganguly walked slowly out to the middle and took his time marking his guard as the crowd cheered his name.The hype was deflated instantly as Zaheer punched through Ganguly’s defences with a quick delivery that slanted back in and beat the stroke for pace. The ball took the inside edge and uprooted the middle stump, and Mumbai were over the moon, celebrating in a huddle as Ganguly was sent back for a first-ball duck. At 28 for 4, with their premier batsman gone, Bengal were in dire straits.For Zaheer, though, this was business as usual – he has now dismissed Ganguly for three ducks in the last three times the two have come up against each other. The last occasion was the Duleep Trophy final in the previous season when two screaming yorkers sent Ganguly back without troubling the scorers. Tiwari’s attractive strokeplay saved Bengal from further embarrassment as he who took the score from 28 for 4 till 72 before the next cluster of wickets fell.
Zaheer struck again, having Rohan Gavaskar caught behind. Two more wickets fell on the same score, as Zaheer and Samant combined again to remove Laxmi Ratan Shukla. The real big blow came soon after, though, when Tiwary was slow in moving his feet to a well-pitched up delivery from Wilkin Mota and was trapped lbw for 42.At 72 for 7 the follow-on target of 120 looked miles away. However, Mumbai’s intensity flagged and the tailenders made the most of this, swatting the ball for runs. Saurashish Lahiri (22), Sarkar (25) and later Ashok Dinda (22 not out), took Bengal to relative safety at 143 all out. Zaheer had picked up 5 for 40, and Mumbai had a more-than-handy 177-run first-innings lead.Sahul Kukreja went early once more, and then an hour of attractive strokeplay followed as Wasim Jaffer and Sharma put on 107 for the second wicket, making the most of good batting conditions against Bengal’s tiring bowlers. There was little in the pitch, and the runs flowed easily, till Sharma (57) was slightly late on a ball from Dinda and was bowled. Jaffer was unbeaten on 50 as Mumbai went off at stumps on 113 for 2.
Michael Vaughan is expected to renew his contract with Yorkshire before leaving for India. Vaughan is currently recuperating from a knee injury but expects to be fit for what will be an arduous tour of India.”I hope to sign a new contract with the club in the next couple of weeks,” he told the . “We’re in the middle of trying to sort it out but hopefully I will be here for a while. I can’t see myself playing anywhere else yet.”Vaughan was quick to play down England’s chances ahead of the subcontinent tour, stating that ‘people have to be realistic.'”We’re quite young, we’ve got some really good players but our experience playing abroad is not there at the moment,” he said. “They (India) have got to be favourites on home soil. Only Australia in the last 14 years have won there, which is a hell of a record at home.”They’ve got every area covered – seam bowlers, mystery spinners and phenomenal batsmen – but that’s not to say we can’t have a good tour if we keep our discipline and work hard.”England leave for India in February, and play their first Test on March 1 at Nagpur.
An innings of 77 off 92 balls from Stephen Fleming carried New Zealand to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first one-dayer at Eden Park in Auckland. Having only 141 to defend, their fourth lowest total in one-day internationals against New Zealand, Sri Lanka found themselves well short of the required bowling firepower. New Zealand surpassed the modest target in only 34 overs.Fleming registered his 38th half-century in ODIs but it was the manner of his innings which suggested that he was coming into his own again. Two sixes, one each off Sanath Jayasuriya and Farveez Maharoof, were superb straight shots of characteristic elegance but contained more power than usual. While he anchored the innings, the winning runs were hit by Hamish Marshall, who swept one to the boundary to finish unbeaten on 14.New Zealand’s recent hard stint in Australia stood them in good stead. In comparision, Sri Lanka appeared short of match readiness. There was solidity in New Zealand’s bowling, enhanced by the return of Daryl Tuffey, while the batting was composed.Conditions were not excessively bad when the Sri Lankans were asked to bat first on the portable pitch. It was a hard surface, with some swing and cut off the pitch. The difficulty for the Sri Lankans was that they batted for much of their innings without the benefit of the warm sun that came out during stages of New Zealand’s innings.After they were dismissed in the 42nd over, Sri Lanka bowled five overs, in which time Chaminda Vaas prised out Nathan Astle. Any hopes that they could get among the New Zealand top order were extinguished in a careful stand of 57 between Stephen Fleming and Mathew Sinclair. Sinclair had made 31 (53 balls) when he tapped back a return catch to Upul Chandana.Fleming, who had been cautious and even looked a little out of sorts, began to find his rhythm in partnership with an aggressive Scott Styris. He greeted the introduction of Sanath Jayasuriya by going down the track to drive him for four, and then repeated the placement, but with more force, to take six runs. That followed a six blasted over long-on by Styris off Chandana. But his innings of 12 was cut short when Fleming turned down a quick single (101 for 3).
Sri Lanka earlier had little chance to unleash their strokeplay. Jayasuriya was forced into a much more restrained role after four batsmen departed. The first of them, Saman Jayantha, was trapped in front by Tuffey in the first over of the day, and Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were also dismissed cheaply.Jayasuriya scored 43, with one four and a six – a glorious straight drive for six off Chris Cairns. But Cairns had the final say when Jayasuriya looked to hook a bouncer and clipped the ball onto his helmet for it to rebound to Marshall at point.Tillakaratne Dilshan performed a useful salvage job in the middle order where he added 44 runs with Chandana, but fell to a fine one-handed catch from Fleming at slip, off the bowling of Cairns, after he had scored 48 off 79 balls.Cairns was able to put his experience to good use to ensure there was no prospect of a Sri Lankan batting revival on the day. His variations complemented the good line he slipped into right from his introduction at the bowling crease. He finished with 4 for 33 from eight overs, while Tuffey marked his return to internationals with 2 for 17 off his eight overs.New Zealand’s facile victory sent out a clear message to an under-par Sri Lankan side, who will have to improve in all departments to make a contest of the five-match series.
As South Africa got off to a flyer at The Oval thoughts in the press boxturned to absent friends. Peter West, who died earlier this week, didsome of his best work in the BBC’s box in the days when it wasprecariously perched on top of the pavilion here. With a seeminglypermanent smile, and a nearly ever-present pipe, West alwaysseemed so at home in front of the camera that it was a surprise tolearn that he was always asking colleagues how he was faring.David Frith, the founder editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly,recalled a slightly peeved West asking why his name had been left offthe caption for a magazine cover in the early ’80s that depicted IanBotham and Clive Lloyd. “All you could see was the back of Peter’shead. I suppose in a small way that backs up the stories about howinsecure he was.”Like many in the media, David Lloyd – the one from the EveningStandard not the ex-England-coach turned Sky pundit – remembersWest fondly. After he retired from the BBC, West fulfilled a long-heldambition by covering the 1986-87 England tour of Australia for theDaily Telegraph. “He was a lovely bloke,” said Lloyd. “That wasmy first tour too, so I remember it well. I’ve got lots of great memoriesfrom it – and Peter features in most of them. He was such a nice,genuine character.”That was a great tour from an England point of view – Mike Gatting’sside won the Ashes, and two one-day competitions to boot – but itwasn’t all fun for West off the field, however. I had a vague recollectionof his tour book, Clean Sweep, containing the odd pop at theTelegraph sports desk – but a quick re-read revealed almost dailyconflict, culminating in a therapeutic two-page letter (never actuallysent, which is often the best way) giving the then sports editor a blast.Edited highlights include: “I have received your latest letter and notedthat as seems to be customary you begin it with a complaint from areader … do you happen to realise that I have now been in Australia forseven weeks, filing every bloody day and never a day off, and, apartfrom sending congratulations on what you term my [Bill] Athey analysis,you have not yet been able to tell me that you have actually liked asingle thing I have written … I would ask you to remember that just anoccasional touch of the carrot can mean a lot.”There’s more – much more – in the same vein, which makes it ratheran unusual tour book. The desk’s daily demands must have clangedseveral bells with other journalists, and serves as a reminder of thosenot-terribly-distant days before e-mails and global-roaming phones,when overseas communication was by peremptory telex or a late-nightphone call (“Towards midnight, Sportsed calls from London. I amdisappointed to hear that he thinks Brisbane is eight hours ahead ofGMT, when in fact it is ten …”).In case you’re wondering, the cricket does get a look-in, with theoccasional shaft of West wisdom – such as this one, from the secondTest at Perth: “[Steve] Waugh finishes with 5 for 69 after bowlingunchanged for almost three hours. He looks an extremely promisingcricketer.” Waugh was still 30 months away from a Test century, butWest had the vertical hold on the old crystal-ball just right.Interestingly, the Telegraph‘s own obituary of West omits thattour book, although it does mention his autobiography and his book on Denis Compton. He also wrote two earlier tour books, but anyone might be forgiven for missing them – West’s 1986-87 tour account was more than 30 years after his previous effort, on Jim Laker’s triumphant Ashes series in 1956. My copy of that one bears the brief inscription “Salutations! Peter West”. And The Oval press box saluted him today.Steven Lynch is editor of Wisden CricInfo.Wisden Bulletin: Glorious Gibbs gives South Africa control