Zimbabwe domestic cricket continues to be troubled by indiscipline among its players after Charles Coventry walked out during a National League match between Bulawayo Athletic Club and Alexandra Sports Club at Queens Sports Club.Coventry, 23, had a disagreement with Zimbabwe medium-pacer Tawanda Mupariwa, who is acting as a coach with BAC while he recovers from a knee injury. Mupariwa criticised Coventry for leaving the dressing room after he was dismissed for 13.After the confrontation Coventry said he would not be returning to the match the following day and when he didn’t turn up on the Sunday morning BAC were forced to field their coach Chris Phiri.It is unclear whether Coventry will play again for BAC in the National League. The player left the Zimbabwean team after a disagreement during the tour of West Indies in April this year, headed to play club cricket in England and vowed not to play for Zimbabwe as long as Kevin Curran and Andy Pycroft are involved in the game.Coventry has played two Tests and 11 one-day internationals for Zimbabwe with an ODI top score of 74.
ScorecardTahir Mughal finished with 5 for 64 after he tore through the Service Industries’ batting order as they collapsed from 102 for 2 to 234 all out while Masood Asim remained unbeaten on 96 against Pakistan Telecommunication in their Patron’s Trophy match at Faisalabad. Services had got off to a good start with a second-innings partnership of 58 runs between Afaq Raheem (46) and Asim. After Mughal bowled Raheem with the score on 91 for 2, a procession of wickets ensued as Services collapsed to 140 for 7 before Mohammad Irshad made 28 to take the total past 200. ScorecardWater and Power Development Authority (WPDA) were in a sound position at 74 for no loss against Zarai Taraqiati Bank (ZTB) at the Sheikhupura Stadium. They were 122 behind after ZTB were skittled for 196 in the first innings. Kashif Raza finished with figures of 4 for 68 for WPDA. ZTB never got a substantial partnership going as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Naved Ashraf top-scored with 52 but received little support from the other batsmen.
Scorecard At Boland Park in Paarl Boland took revenge over North West by beatingthem in this Shield encounter after losing the three-day game the daybefore. Batting first after winning the toss North West put together a decenttotal of 241 in their 45 overs, with the opener Richard Stroh making 89. Then 54 from Mohammad Akoojee consolidated the innings. Boland nearly lost touch with the required run rate, but scraped home in the end with five balls to spare, thanks to a run-a-ball 94 from Smith and 43 not out from their wicketkeeper Wesley Euley. ScorecardAt the Technicon ground in Bloemfontein Free State made light work ofEasterns as they raced away to win by eight wickets with nearly 16 oversto spare. Easterns never came to grips with a drying pitch after being sent in, and were bowled out for 160 in 44.3 overs. The wickets were shared around, with Christo Ferris picking up 3 for 35 in his seven overs. Jonathan Beukes and Colin Ingram then put on 98 for the second wicket as they raced away at over five runs an over to make sure of the extra bonus point. Beukes was eventually caught and bowled by Sean O’Connor for 85 off 84 balls, but Ingram ended not out with 64 off 73 balls.Keith Lane works for Cricinfo in South Africa.
Nathan Bracken (3 for 25) and Brad Williams (4 for 22), grateful to have first use of the conditions, destroyed New Zealand’s top order with a display of controlled swing and seam bowling.For Bracken it was simply a case of going back to the basics. He kept the ball on the stumps and on a good length. Of his 54 deliveries, just 4 were short of a length, and none rank long hops. When he did err on length, it was on the fuller side. But with length, you need line. And Bracken seldom bowled too straight. He landed 42 of his 54 balls on or outside the off stump and did not once bowl down the leg side.
Untitled Document
Nathan Bracken
Length
Balls
Line
Balls
Full
10
Outside off
30
Good length
44
On the stumps
24
Short
0
Outside leg
0
A big reason for this was the fact that he was bringing the ball in to the batsmen, and it would be safer to push the ball wider and bring it in, rather than land on the stumps and slip down the leg side. Of his complement, as many as 34 deliveries moved in the air, leaving just 12 straight balls.Williams, blessed with more pace but less swing, kept the ball shorter than Bracken, giving the batsmen nothing to drive at. Of his 59 balls, only one was really full, a yorker. Williams’s outside-the-off line was also a factor. He delivered 49 balls outside off. Where Bracken was swing, Williams was seam. Almost half his deliveries (26) moved off the wicket.
Brad Williams
Length
Balls
Line
Balls
Full
1
Outside off
49
Good length
56
On the stumps
9
Short
2
Outside leg
1
On the day, it was simply a case of two bowlers doing what they each did best, exploiting favourable conditions to the fullest.
Marcus North has been included in the Western Warriors squad to play the Tasmanian Tigers in a Pura Cup game in Hobart starting Friday.North was included in the team following last night’s dismissal of Brad Hogg’s appeal against a one-match suspension from the WACA’s Sunsmart League.The suspension coincides with the Western Warriors Pura Cup game against the Tasmanian Tigers and under WACA Cricket Council rules he is automatically suspended for this first-class fixture.Last night the WACA’s Appeals Board met to hear an appeal lodged by Brad Hogg of the Willetton Cricket Club against a penalty handed down by the Pennant Cricket Committee last Tuesday evening. Hogg’s penalty was a one-match suspension and one suspended match, from the WACA’s Sunsmart League.Hogg appealed against the severity of the penalty on the grounds that it resulted in severe personal hardship and was not in the best interests of WA cricket.The Appeals Board dismissed Hogg’s appeal saying that after careful deliberation, they found that Brad Hogg was unable to make a sufficient case under the Cricket Council rules to satisfy the Appeals Board.Speaking on the decision Appeals Board Chairman Tony Claydon said,”It is in the interests of WA cricket for the Cricket Council rules to be enforced and it seems equally important for the rules to be seen by all players to be enforced.”After the hearing, Brad Hogg was repentant.”In regard to this incident, I would like to apologise to my family, my team-mates, both Willetton and Western Warriors, to fellow grade players and to those who follow and support WA cricket to the fullest, especially up and coming junior Warrior cricketers striving to attain the highest levels.”The WA team to play Tasmania now reads as follows:
Justin LANGER (Capt.)
Jo ANGEL
Ryan CAMPBELL
Michael CLARK
Murray GOODWIN
Kade HARVEY
Michael HUSSEY
Simon KATICH
Scott MEULEMAN
Matthew NICHOLSON
Marcus NORTH
Brad OLDROYD
Standby – Luke RONCHILuke Ronchi has been taken to Hobart with the Western Warriors squad, on standby for Ryan Campbell. Ronchi’s inclusion in the squad is a precautionary measure in the event that Ryan Campbell is unable to take his place in the team due to his injured left thigh.Campbell suffered tightness in his left thigh late on Sunday afternoon during the Pura Cup game v the Victorian Bushrangers. As a consequence Campbell did not take the field for the remainder of the game and has since been receiving regular treatment from team Physiotherapist Ross Clifford.Ross Clifford is in Hobart with the Warriors squad and will be providing regular treatment to Campbell in the hope of Campbell making a full recovery from injury in time to play the Tigers.
Min Patel sustained his run of success by bowling Kent into a strong position against Hampshire at Portsmouth. Following his haul of 8 wickets in his county’s previous match against Derbyshire the left-arm spinner took another nine as Hampshire’s vulnerable batting folded. He took 4-118 in the first innings and 5-46 in the second innings.The hosts seemed to have started the day at an advantage being 84 ahead at 16-1. However they collapsed quickly against Patel’s accurate spin backed up by sharp fielding and catching. Only tow batsmen reached double figures in a score of 136 extras with extras at 15 being the third highest score. Opener Giles White, who carried his bat for the second time this summer, made 80 n.o. with Dmitri Mascarenhas second highest on 17. White lasted 181 deliveries and hit six boundaries but he was unable to prevent Patel spinning out his colleagues. There was more than enough time for Kent to attain the 205 runs they needed to win and they started cautiously in bright sunshine.David Fulton and Robert Key scored 67 carefully in 34 overs as Shane Warne wascalled upon for another long bowling session. Shaun Udal had Fulton leg-before for 42 but Rahul Dravid, hero of the first innings, joined Key in taking the visitors to 117-1 from 55 overs at the end of the day. Kent have the whole of tomorrow to score the 88 runs needed to win.Warne was unable to repeat Patel’s performance but bowled tightly in conceding only 32 runs from 20 overs. Peter Hartley came closest to break the partnership between Key and Dravid but the latter edged the ball through the vacant slipsto the boundary.
Celtic have held talks with the agent of Antoine Semenyo, according to Football Scotland.
The Lowdown: Strachan’s trip
The Hoops sent senior scout Craig Strachan to watch the Bristol City forward in action against Reading last month. The 22-year-old who was named the Championship Player of the Month for January, scored in a 2-1 win for the Robins. that night.
Semenyo has contributed to 14 goals in 21 appearances in the English second tier this season and is into the final 18 months of his contract at Ashton Gate.
The Latest: Agent’s comments
Football Scotland’s Mark Hendry shared an update regarding the striker on Monday afternoon. In confirming that there has been a conversation with Strachan, Semenyo’s agent Tony Finnigan said:
“I had a conversation with Strachan who rang up to ask little bits of info on the player and a bit about how I found him and what he’s like as a lad.
“That was it. If it’s something they’re going to do in the summer window I’m not sure but it’s nice to know that his talents are going as far as Scotland to one of the great institutions in world football.
“There’s not really much more to say than that.”
The Verdict: Interesting…
Transfer insider Dean Jones claimed that it would have cost any club around £15m to have signed Semenyo in January, adding that it will take a ‘big package’ to sign the forward.
On that basis, Celtic may well have to pay in excess of £10m for a player for the first time in their history, should they wish to secure the Bristol City man’s services.
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He will be into the final 12 months of his contract in the summer, so you’d like to think that his £15m valuation would drop slightly. However, it still may need an eight-figure fee to persuade the Robins to sell, and with contact from the Hoops now confirmed, it could be one to keep an eye on ahead of the summer.
In other news: Devlin reveals that Celtic ‘definitely want’ to sign ‘incredible’ £22k-p/w international
Salman Butt, the Pakistan vice-captain and opener, was admitted tohospital early this morning with suspected gastroenteritis.Talat Ali, the Pakistan manager, said Butt experienced severe pain in hisstomach late last night and a decision was taken to take him to hospitalearly this morning. “He is still at the hospital. He was on a dripinitially but the doctors suspect gastroenteritis.”No word was forthcoming on whether or not Butt would take the field at anystage but Yasir Hameed has taken his place in the field. This is Butt’sfirst Test for Pakistan in over a year and is also his first asvice-captain.
Scorecard Heavy morning rain on the fourth day at St Kitts forced the second unofficial Test between West Indies A and Sri Lanka A to be called off without a ball being bowled. The match and series have been drawn at 0-0.West Indies A, trailing by one run on first innings, were 73 for 3 in the second at stumps on the third day. “I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed,” David Williams, the West Indies A manager told Caribbean Media Corporation. “The three days that we played were pretty good cricket. If we probably had batted for another 40 overs we probably could have made a match out of it. But really and truly the wicket was too good, the match was basically heading for a draw.”Williams, who is also a former West Indies wicketkeeper, said it was disappointing that both games were drawn. “To come close in Trinidad and then on this beautiful batting track here, tomake 358 and then to hold the Sri Lankans to 359 as well, it wasn’t bad effort.”
Pakistan’s preparations for the Test series against England took another blow with the news that Mohammad Sami is likely to miss the first Test in Multan beginning from November 12.Although board officials weren’t willing to rule him out just yet, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan captain, has reportedly told a private news channel that Sami’s groin injury will require two weeks to heal, thus ruling him out of the first Test.Wasim Bari, chairman of the selection committee, told Cricinfo, “Sami has got a small niggle but he is hoping to be fit in time for the Test. The team management has not yet asked for a replacement to be picked and Sami is receiving treatment with the physiotherapists at the moment. We can’t rule him out definitely just yet.”Pakistan’s cricketers are due to assemble once more in Lahore on November 6, before departing for Multan two days later and Sami’s fitness will be tested one last time in Lahore. According to the , Sami has said he is confident he will be able to recover from the injury and pass the fitness test.The news is a further blow to Pakistan, already reconciled to the loss of Abdul Razzaq for the first Test with an elbow injury. Worryingly, however, the development yet again deprives Pakistan the luxury of choosing from four fully fit fast bowlers.Although Pakistan can boast the considerable resources of Shoaib Akhtar, Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Umar Gul and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, selecting any combination of three or four out of them has been impossible over the last two years owing to a combination of injuries and problems with actions.In fact, since the 2003 World Cup, Pakistan have rarely been able to field what could potentially be their first-choice pace attack, comprising Shoaib, Sami and Shabbir. They have played together in a solitary Test. Shoaib, Sami and Gul – another preferred combination – have also played only once. Gul hasn’t played a Test since March last year, Sami since March this year and Shoaib since January.Apart from their opening worries – nine different combinations in the last ten Tests since Bob Woolmer took over – Pakistan have struggled, albeit for reasons beyond their control, to find a settled new-ball pair. In the same period, eight different pairs have opened the bowling, three different third seamers have been tried and altogether eight pace bowlers have been utilised. Shoaib and Sami, in ideal circumstances, the first-choice new-ball pair, have played together in only three Tests together in that period.