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Reid to be bowling coach? Victoria expose Indian attack Aussies include Bracken, Williams
Decision on Kale’s plea today |
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Delhi salvage draw against Punjab
Lack of Astro-turfs harming Asian hockey, says Pakistan official
BSF, RCF move into semifinals Punjab quartet wins gold
Ludhiana eves in last eight Maharashtra, Delhi spikers win
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Reid to be bowling coach?
Melbourne, November 27 Informed sources in the team revealed to PTI today that the team management has spoken to cricket board chief Jagmohan Dalmiya about the need for a bowling coach and that they would prefer to have Reid for the job before the first Test in Brisbane starting on December 4. Dalmiya has promised to get back to the team in another day or two. Apparently, the only thing standing between Reid and his appointment as India’s bowling coach is the financial matter which needs to be cleared by the BCCI. Indian coach John Wright has already spoken to Reid and it is learnt the tall reed-like fast bowler is not averse to the idea. Reid had earlier helped out Zimbabwe on their recent tour to Australia and provided "inside information" to the tourists, something which the Indians expect to come handy for the four-Test series. Reid’s contribution was not so obvious in the first Test when the Australians ran up a score of 735, including a world record 380 by Matthew Hayden but Zimbabwe bounced back in the second Test by restricting the Australians to 403, including a 300-plus score for themselves. Reid was instrumental in the astonishing rise of Nathan Bracken, a left-arm paceman who was today picked for the first three Tests against India. Reid coaches Hampshire in the summer in English county circuit, a team he played for as an overseas professional in the 1980s. The choice of Reid has brought the matter on bowling coach to a complete circle after speculation over names of Pakistan’s Wasim Akram, recently retired Javagal Srinath and MRF’s pace director T.A. Sekar. The Indians are concerned about the inexperience of their bowling attack, comprising three left-arm seamers, and senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar was seen directing the pace trio of Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Laxmipathy Balaji yesterday morning about the length they should bowl on this tour. Tendulkar sought the three pacemen out at the MCG before the start of the second day’s play against Victoria and put on two red markers at the adjoining pitch asking the fast bowlers to pitch it thereabout or so. But the hard grounds and bouncy pitches in Australia take a massive toll on a fast bowler’s physical and mental abilities and it would take more than the helping hand of Tendulkar to guide the pacemen through a gruelling tour. Sourav Ganguly arrived in Australia and immediately said he would have loved to have someone like Wasim Akram as the bowling coach but the great left-arm paceman is part of a television network’s commentary team and could only devote his time on an on-and-off basis and of-course as Ganguly mentioned Akram’s would be "sensitive" selection. Reid was a left-arm fast bowler of uncommon height and his rather frail health did not allow him a longer career than only 27 Tests during which he took 113 wickets at an average of 24.63. Reid made a huge impression against India during their tour of Australia for the 1991-92 series, claiming 12 wickets at a miserly average of 11.33. — PTI
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Victoria expose Indian attack
Melbourne, November 27 With Victoria deciding to bat through the third day before declaring on 518 for eight minutes before tea break, the Indians hardly had time to make up for their earlier lapses. In fact, their first innings disaster returned to haunt the Indians as they lost two wickets, including that of Virender Sehwag (20), before making 116 for two. Ramesh, who made 87 in the first knock, logged a few more points for his Test selection with 36 while Aakash Chopra remained unbeaten on 55. But it was Hodge who continued to hog the limelight at the MCG rewriting the record books in compiling 264 studded with 39 fours and a six. There was also some drama in the final half an hour when the Victorians wanted to walk off with six overs remaining. The two Indian batsmen decided to stay put with no signal coming from the dressing room. Obviously the Indians, chafed at Victoria’s continuation of their innings this morning, wanted to make their own point. But they finally decided to call it off, strangely so, with an over remaining. Chopra, who hit two fours in an Andrew Mcdonald over, reached his half-century in 146 minutes off 112 balls and hit eight fours. Rahul Dravid, coming in at the fall of Ramesh, remained not out on one. The day clearly belonged to Hodge who made the highest ever score by an Australian batsman against a touring side in a first class game in 75 years. Hodge’s innings was second only to Bill Woodfull’s 275 (rpt 275) for Victoria against MCC on the 1928-29 tour. Only two scores have been bigger than Hodge’s against India in any form of cricket in the last 14 years. Graham Gooch had struck 333 against India in the Lord’s Test of the 1990 England tour and then Sanath Jayauriya made a hectic 340 in Colombo in 1997. Resuming at his overnight score of 153 in the team total of 348 for five, Hodged batted for 500 minutes in all for his 380-ball knock. Sehwag hit a few flashing drives before suffering yet another failure but Ramesh and Chopra looked in complete control before the left-hander hooked a catch in the deep. Indians (Ist Innings): 266 for 9 decl Victoria (Ist Innings): Arneberger c Dravid b Nehra 8 Elliott c Chopra b Harbhajan 48 Hodge c Dravid b Sehwag 264 Moss run out 42 Hussey c Dravid b Nehra 21 McDonald lbw b Harbhajan 1 Harvey lbw b Balaji 71 White c Patel b Zaheer 39 Roach not out 0 Harrop not out 0 Extras:
24. Total: (8 wkts decl.) 518 Fall of wickets:
1-21, 2-85, 3-192, 4-231, 5-232, 6-383, 7-518, 8-518. Bowling:
Zaheer 24-5-75-1, Nehra 29-6-91-2, Balaji 29-4-122-1, Harbhajan Singh 37-5-159-2, Virender Sehwag 9-2-30-1, Sachin Tendulkar 2-0-10-0, Ganguly 4-0-22-0. Indians (2nd Innings): Chopra not out 55 Sehwag lbw b Harrop 20 Ramesh c Joseland b
Dravid not out 1 Extras: 4 Total:
(2 wkts, 42 overs) 116 Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-114. Bowling:
Matthew Innes 10-3-27-0, Brett Harrop 12-3-34-1 Jonathan Moss 8-3-18-0, Andrew McDonald 6-2-15-1, Andrew Hussey 5-0-17-0, Peter Raoch 1-0-2-0.
— PTI |
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Aussies include Bracken, Williams
Melbourne, November 27 Bracken and Williams, who impressed in the recent triangular series in India, found an easy passage into the team with regular fast bowlers Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee still recovering from their injuries. Both Lee and McGrath are recovering from surgeries on their left ankles. “Williams has now been exposed to Test cricket and his performance along with Bracken was nothing short of outstanding,” said Trevor Hohns, chairman of the selection committee. Also returning to the side, led by Steve Waugh, were leg-spinner Stuart MacGill and paceman Jason Gillespie following injuries which forced both of them out of second Test against Zimbabwe in Sydney in October. Young Simon Katich also found favour with selectors after his all-round performance against Zimbabwe in Sydney. Besides picking six wickets, Katich contributed 65 runs. Katich’s ability with the ball would allow the team to play with four specialist fast bowlers if needed. Squad: Steve Waugh (capt), Ricky Ponting, Andrew Bichel, Nathan Bracken, Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie, Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Stuart MacGill, Damien Martyn , Brad Williams. Hohns said he was confident of his depleted bowling attack performing well against the Indians. “With Jason Gillespie now available and Andy Bichel having gained experience against the Indian batsmen, we are satisfied that we have the necessary firepower to deal with their talented top-order,” Hohns said. — PTI
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Decision on Kale’s plea today Pune, November 27 Kale had challenged the suspension on the grounds that the order of suspension issued by the BCCI through Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) was “illegal, arbitrary and bad in law”. He also pleaded that he be allowed to play Ranji Trophy matches because he was officially selected by the MCA on merit. The Joint Civil Judge and first class Judicial Magistrate VD Kulkarni heard the counsel for Kale as well as the counsel for the BCCI and reserved the order for tomorrow. The counsel for Kale, Manoj Wadekar, contended in his arguments that the suspension ordered by the board after it had received a written complaint from two national selectors Kiran More and Pranab Roy be kept on hold till the inquiry was over. “I am not asking for a stay against the inquiry. All I am asking for is a stay against the suspension order as it is an invasion of civil rights” Wadekar argued. Kale received the official letter about the appointment of a inquiry committee and a notice asking him to appear before BCCI commissioner DV Subba Rao today at 11.05 am when he was in the court. Kale’s counsel said this itself showed the mala fide intention of the BCCI that the notice was delivered to him only after he (Kale) had knocked the doors of court against the BCCI order.
— PTI Bribery charges Kanpur: Kanpur Cricket Association (KCA) has served notice to Ritesh Yadav to disclose full facts before the disciplinary committee on Friday in connection with his bribery allegations on selectors. KCA president Nayeemuddin Siddiqi said Ritesh never represented Uttar Pradesh in the under-17 or under-19 teams. He was not even selected for camps, he claimed. Refuting the bribery allegations, Mr Siddiqi said Ritesh would be given a chance to narrate his side of the story and only then the committee would decide on the future course of action on November 29. In an interview to a TV channel, Ritesh had alleged that selectors had demanded Rs 50,000 for selecting him in under-17 state team in 2002. — UNI
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Delhi salvage draw
against Punjab Patiala, November 27 Once Punjab declared their first innings at 420 for 9, lanky Amritsar medium pacer Munish Bhatia raised illusions of an outright victory with a fiery opening spell. Even as the visitors score had yet to touch the double digit mark, the athletic Bhatia castled opener Mayank Sadhana with a perfect in swinger which beat the batsman in the air to send the stumps cartwheeling. Bhatia's Amritsar colleague and medium pacer Bharat Loomba too was in his elements and bowled a nagging line and length to finish with 2 for 53. However, this was the only success the hosts tasted till the tea break as Raman Sachdeva and Robin Bisht put their heads down to play some good cricket. Later on Shawej Khan with a graceful innings of 63 put the match out of the hosts' reach. Earlier, overnight unbeaten batsman Ravinder Mehra added 31 more runs his score before he was out for a superbly organised 159. Punjab and Delhi managed two points apiece from the encounter and the hosts now square off with Haryana in their next league match slated to be played here from November 30 to December 2. Brief scores: Delhi: (1st innings): 278 all out Punjab: (1st innings): 420 for 9 declared ( Ravinder Mehra 159, Sunny Sohal 84, Harman Bajwa 43, Ankur Jund 47, Karan Harit 4 for 103, Rahul Mehta 2 for 100, Raman Sachdeva 2 for 113) Delhi: (2nd innings): 237 for 4 ( Raman Sachdeva 71, Robin Bisht 60, Shawej Khan 63, Bharat Loomba 2 for 53, Munish Bhatia 1 for 13). |
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Lack of Astro-turfs harming Asian hockey, says Pakistan official Wagah, November 27 Shahid Parvez Bhandara, chairman, protocol committee, Pakistan Hockey Federation, said they had earlier participated twice in the tournament and won the gold medal in 1998. He said the snapping of sporting ties between the two countries hurt the development of hockey in the south Asia. He said the situation was becoming grim in the absence of adequate Astro-turfs in both the countries. Mr Bhandara said cricket did not suffer from the ban as there were other countries in the region, playing cricket but quality hockey was played only in the two countries. The high cost of Astro-turf added to the problem as the turf was imported from Germany and Holland. He said in Pakistan only 12 grounds had Astro-turfs while Holland had around 400 and Australia had more than 350 Astro-turf grounds. The team has 13 players including Captain Muhammad Sarwar, a former captain of the Pakistan hockey team, three international players Anam-ur-Rehman, Mudassar and M. Azam, eight national players Aman Ullah, Ghulam Murtaza, Muhammad Yousaf, Muhammad Ashraf, Rana Asif, Shahid Rabbani, Yameen Bhatti and Abdul Ghafar and one stand-by Rizwan Butt. Besides Bhandara three other officials are Khalid Iqbal, Muhammad Mansoor-ul-Haq and Mirza Waheed Baig. The players were accorded a warm welcome by the members of the Amritsar Hockey Club on crossing over to India.
Official apathy led Sarwar to quit Muhammad Sarwar said he left international hockey as some officials of the Pakistan Hockey Federation did not want him to continue. Thirty-year-old burly Sarwar looked confident and said time was on his side and he could continue to play for the next four or five years but he did not want to lend himself to any controversy. Sarwar was the captain of the Pakistan team from 2001 to 2003. He bid adieu to the international hockey in February 2003. In international career spanning seven years, he played 275 international matches. He was inducted in the Pakistan team in 1995. Born in Renala Khurd town near Lahore he was attracted to the game in his childhood. His two younger brothers also play national-level hockey. He had played in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. Right-in Sarwar has played in several Indian cities, including Chennai, Ropar, Jalandhar and Delhi. He has many friends in the Indian team, including Baljit Singh Dhillon, Gagan Ajit Singh and Dhanraj Pillay. He said he liked to play with India team and hoped that the bitterness between the two countries would subside, allowing the frequent ties between both the hockey teams of both countries. |
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Maharashtra, Mizoram win Jalandhar, November 27 Jammu and Kashmir trounced Orissa 10-2. Ranbir Singh of Delhi scored the first hat-trick of the championship.
Gujarat’s S.D. Kshatriya reduced the margin by managing to score a field goal in the 34th minute (5-10. Maharashtra were leading 5-1 at the lemon break. In the second half, Prakash Sakpal scored another field goal in the 48th minute (6-1). Gujarat’s S.D. Kashtriya scored again in the 53rd minute (6-2) to complete the tally. Mizoram opened their account in the third minute, when Mangra scored a field goal (1-0). The equaliser for Delhi came in the 28th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Ranbir Singh (1-1). In the very next minute, Delhi were awarded a penalty corner and once again Ranbir Singh made no mistake (1-2). Mizoram’s Lalbiaknia scored the equaliser by netting the ball in the 32nd minute (2-2). In the 33rd minute, Delhi’s Ranbir Singh struck once again to score the first hat-trick of the championship, again converting a penalty corner (2-3). In the second half, Mizoram’s Lalbiaknia scored the equaliser for his team through a penalty corner conversion (3-3). Finally, M.S. Dawnglwana of Mizoram scored an impressive field goal from left flank to seal Delhi’s fate (4-3).
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BSF, RCF move
into semifinals Jalandhar, November 27 Earlier, in a keenly contested game, BSF ousted the SGGSFS scoring 1-0 win. Both the teams made some good attacks to open their account, but of no avail. In 40th minute Tejinder Singh of the SGGSFS took control of the ball and pushed the ball towards the box but he missed the target. Both the teams were goalless till the first half. In 88th minute of the game, substitute D.S. Negi of BSF received ball at the top of penalty box from Kamal Kishore and kicked the ball inside the penalty box to seal the fate of the opponents (1-0). In another quarter-final, RCF, Kapurthala defeated CRPF to move into semi-finals, while RCF needed a draw to qualify for semi-final stage, CRPF had to score a victory with a minimum margin of three goals. In 10th minute, Navjot Singh of RCF dribbled the ball and gave a pass to Amandeep Singh, who kicked the ball over the goal post. Both the teams were goalless till the first half. In the second half, CRPF made some good attempts to open their account, but they were foiled by strong defence of rivals. It was only in 86th minute, when Amandeep of RCF received a pass from Manjinder Singh and netted the ball in (1-0). Tomorrows’ fixtures:
Keltron Football Club, Kerala v PSEB, Hoshiarpur. JCT Phagwara v Punjab Police, Jalandhar.
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Punjab quartet wins gold Ludhiana, November 27 In the girls (u-18 years) 3 km team pursuit, Punjab quartet
of Manjot Kaur, Manjeet Kaur, Amandeep Kaur and Kulwinder Kaur clocked
04.36:520 secs to clinch gold. The second and third position holders-
Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar riders took 04.41:844 secs and
04.49:475 secs, to clinch silver and bronze medal, respectively. In
the gruelling 30 km point race (men), international Sukhjinder Singh
bagged gold while Sandeep Kumar Malik and Paramjit Singh, both of
Services secured the second and third positions, respectively. Nilamma
Malligayad of Karnataka garnered 20 points to win a gold in the 5 km
point race for girls (u-18 years) while Gurpreet Kaur of Punjab and
Saritha S. of Kerala got 18 and 16 points to finish second and third
respectively. In the 15 km for boys (u-18 years), Andhra and
Pradesh’s M. Santosh Kumar secured 31 points to annex gold. Gurinder
Singh of Punjab and M. Suresh of Andhra Pradesh followed him with 29
and 19 points, respectively. |
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Ludhiana eves in last eight Ludhiana, November 27 In the pre-quarterfinals, Kapurthala beat Ropar 40-27; Faridkot defeated Sangrur 33-14; Hoshiarpur recorded victory over Mansa 55-27 and Patiala outnumbered Bathinda 58-39 to enter the last eight stage. In the men’s section, championship league is being played among the five teams namely Bathinda, Faridkot, Kapurthala , Jalandhar and Baba Lodhiana Academy of Ludhiana. In the matches played yesterday late evening, Bathinda prevailed over Amritsar 74-64 and qualified for the league while Jalandhar men caused an upset by beating holders Patiala 70-68 in extra-time. Both the teams were tied at 63-each in at the at end of regular period of 40 minutes and the issue was resolve through extra time. In another quarterfinal encounter, Kapurthala got the better of Mansa 59-49. In the semifinal league, Baba Lodhiana Academy with a number of
international players in its ranks, outclassed Faridkot 81-69, with Talwinder Singh contributing 24 points, followed by Jagdeep, Fatehjit Singh and Vijay Kumar who accounted for 17, 15 and 10 points, respectively. For the losers, Nishan Singh top scored with 18 points
while Manpreet and FGurpreet Singh contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively. |
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Maharashtra, Delhi spikers win Davanagere, November 27 Maharashtra warded off a stiff challenge from Jharkhand to win the match 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 25-12 in a Group A encounter, while Delhi, in Group C, and Madhya Pradesh, in Group D, won in contrasting styles to register their wins in the five-team groups. Delhi, who earlier beat Jammu and Kashmir, trounced Bihar in straight sets 25-12, 25-21, 25-22, while Madhya Pradesh survived a late surge by Orissa to win a 95-minute cliffhanger — 25-19, 25-16, 16-25, 15-25, 15-12. In the other morning session encounters, Uttar Pradesh, in a group A match, defeated Pondicherry 25-19, 25-23, 25-20, and West Bengal, in Group B, trounced Chhattisgarh 25-20, 25-16, 25-16.
—UNI |
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