Category Uncategorized

One of the biggest talking points of the IPL auction was how Delhi Daredevils spent their money and who they spent it on. They acquired the as yet uncapped Pawan Negi for INR 8.5 crore, the highest billing for an Indian player this year. They paid 40 times Karun Nair’s base price of INR 10 lakh; he too is yet to play international cricket but will earn more than Kevin Pietersen’s INR 3.5 crore this IPL season.Then they went after Carlos Brathwaite, who has played only 2 T20Is for West Indies and 37 T20s overall, to the tune of INR 4.2 crores, and picked up Sanju Samson for the same amount to eventually end up with as many as four wicketkeepers.Overall, Daredevils were responsible for five of the top 13 buys in the auction and are the only team to reach the maximum stipulated squad strength of 27. It could be that a number of these players may not even get a game. But Hemant Dua, the Daredevils CEO, mounted a sturdy defence of what he called a “strategic shift.””We have invested definitely in younger talent. We have bought the bigger names in the past and you know what has happened,” he told ESPNcricinfo.After much deliberation over the last year, Dua said the Daredevils franchise, which has never won the IPL, decided to do away with the star system and put youth first. This shift in thinking has had a lot to do with the success they had with Shreyas Iyer last year.”We have banked on stars in the past and it has not paid off. We banked on a guy like Shreyas Iyer, and he was proving us right by being the emerging player [of the tournament]. Gave us a lot of confidence.”We spent a lot of time analysing various players and scouting. In the past we have done everything and we haven’t gone where we should have.”Dua also said Daredevils weren’t entirely devoid of a core of senior players. “You look at seniors in a different way. We look at them differently,” he said. “I think Quinton de Kock is a senior player. He has done well for South Africa, especially in Indian conditions. JP Duminy, Zaheer Khan and Mohammed Shami are very senior players. What we have done is we now have performers.”He also justified the price paid for Negi and the other young players as decisions based on their knowledge of local conditions, and also as an investment for the future. “Even the Indian selectors have seen something in Pawan Negi to pick him in the World T20 squad. We were not the only team bidding for him. Obviously we spent what we did also because the other team had bid for him up to a point.”The youngsters we have taken, a lot of them are youngsters with IPL experience like a Samson or a Karun Nair. They know what they have to do. Like a Negi or a Rishabh Pant, they are Delhi boys. [Pawan] Suyal again is a Delhi boy. It gives us a Delhi story. They know and understand the field they play on.”Dua was unconcerned about the possibility that most of these players may be stuck warming the bench, and that with the big auction in 2018 only a handful of them would be retained. “A couple of years is far away. I don’t know what the rules will be. We don’t know what is going to happen,” he said. “I need to perform in the next few years. You think why I have picked a [Mahipal] Lomror or a Khaleel [Ahmed]? The reason is very simple: they will learn from masters like Zaheer Khan.”We might end up retaining guys like them. A Mahipal Lomror knows he will never get to play. They don’t get frustrated at 16 years. People who get frustrated are the 30-40 year olds.”There is a strong imprint of Rajasthan Royals in Daredevils’ choice of players – Samson, Nair and Chris Morris have, in fact, played for Royals in the past. Added to that were rumours of Rahul Dravid being roped in as the team’s mentor, but Dua categorically denied Dravid’s hand in their auction strategy.”If you think there is an RR influence, yes we had hired Zubin Bharucha, who has worked with the Royals in the past,” he said. “So he has brought this influence. But this is a collective influence. There was Sunil Valson, Zubin, [Sridharan] Sriram, [TA] Sekhar and [Pravin] Amre who scouted extensively for talent.”All sorts of speculation has been going on [about the appointment of Dravid as mentor]. But I can tell you that there are three or four coaches we are evaluating and they are all in the mix. We will make a decision by the end of the month.”Dua said he was satisfied with the way the auction had panned out, and was confident that the results would justify their approach. “Simple catch: youngsters are more hungry than older players. In the past, Moneyball has worked for a lot of teams. I am confident it will work for us. Not a single boy we didn’t get except Nathu Singh, for whom we went up to Rs 2 crore.”When we spent Rs 16 crore [on Yuvraj Singh] were we asked why we did it? Now, when I spend Rs 8.5 crore on Negi, again there is the same question. In the past, our thought process has been different. At the end of the day, when the boys do well on the field, people will understand [our decisions]. Everything will fall in place.”

Former Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer’s stomach samples contained significant amounts of a deadly pesticide, the chief forensic officer at the government forensic laboratory in Kingston told the inquest into Woolmer’s death on Thursday.Fitzmore Coates said the toxicology analysis showed that there was 3.4 milligrams of cypermethrin per millilitre in Woolmer’s stomach sample. He also testified that there were traces of cypermethrin in the blood and urine samples, and in a straw-coloured liquid taken from his room at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel.”The final calculation of cypermethrin in the stomach content which I analysed would be significant. It could cause vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and death,” Coates told AFP. His testimony backed the findings of Ere Sheshiah, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Woolmer. Sheshiah had said that the cause of death was “asphyxia, associated with cypermethrin poisoning”.Woolmer was found unconscious in his room at the Pegasus Hotel in Jamaica on March 18, a day after Pakistan’s shock defeat to Ireland in the World Cup. The police had initially backed Sheshiah’s finding that Woolmer was murdered and released a statement to that effect. However, a review by three other pathologists – Nathaniel Cary, Michael Pollanen and Lorna Martin – said Woolmer died of natural causes, possibly due to a heart attack.As the investigation continued, toxicology tests could not conclude whether Woolmer was injected with a poison or not. Marcia Dunbar, a Jamaican forensic analyst, testified at the inquest that evidence of cypermethrin was found in blood and urine samples. Of three samples of blood taken from Woolmer, Dunbar said one tested positive for cypermethrin while the others did not, and no suitable explanation was given for this. She also said that one of the containers she received from the police containing the samples had been contaminated.John Slaughter, a British forensic expert, later told the inquest that he found no pesticide in the sample which was tested in his lab on May 4. He said the presence of cypermethrin could have been due to contamination at the government forensic laboratory in Kingston.However, Judith Mowatt, the director at the government forensic science laboratory, testified that she had received an email from Joe Marchesi, a crime scene manager at the metropolitan police in London, which stated that Slaughter had said the samples sent to his office were insufficient to conduct a thorough investigation. Mowatt, however, said she hadn’t discussed the issue of inadequate samples with Slaughter.”He [Marchesi] said there were concerns about the amount of samples available for them to work with,” Mowatt told the . “He indicated that there was enough stomach content but in regard to urine, blood and straw-coloured liquid there was not enough for a tox-screen.”On November 5, the coroner Patrick Murphy had asked for further tests to be carried out on samples taken from Woolmer’s body. The directive came on a request from Mark Shields, the Jamaica deputy commissioner of police, following discrepancies in the toxicology reports by forensic scientists from the Caribbean and the UK. Shields said more samples would be retrieved from the UK and the local forensic laboratory.

James Anderson has been a rare positive in England’s one-day horror show © Getty Images

With England down to the bare bones of their side, they can ill-afford to lose any more of their key players, especially the ones who have actually shown some form. It is therefore understandable the management are keeping a close eye on James Anderson, who has reported some back stiffness in recent days.Anderson went for an MRI scan before England’s 90-run defeat against New Zealand at Adelaide – where his figures were a respectable 2 for 47 – and the check-up gave him the all clear.However, it is less than a year ago that he returned from the tour of India with back pain and was promptly ruled out for most of last season with a stress fracture. He was forced to spend six weeks in a back brace.Anderson has been quick to play down concerns over his fitness, saying it comes with the territory as a fast bowler. “I’ve had a bit of stiffness but you are always going to get that stiffness coming back from an injury.””You always get a stiff back as a bowler. I’ve no worries at all about my fitness. There is a difference between having a stiff back and the sort of pain I was getting when I had the stress fracture.Although it is his one-day form which is providing a timely boost to Anderson, and also produced his finest hour during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, he is determined not to be pigeon-holed.”I would be quite happy if I had the World Cup I had last time as a bowler, but I’d like us to get a bit further in the competition. That’s what matters. The white ball swings a lot more for me, so I enjoy that, but don’t call me a white ball specialist.”England’s next CB Series outing is against Australia, at Adelaide, on Friday.

ScorecardAvinash Aware’s triple strike restricted Tripura to 141 for 5 to give the advantage to Goa by the end of the opening day’s play at Margoa. Rajesh Banik and Sujit Roy, the Tripura openers, had pushed the score along to 40 when Aware struck twice off successive deliveries. He first trapped Banik lbw and then removed the next man in Subal Chowdhury in a similar fashion. Chetan Sachdev was the lone Tripura batsman to offer some resistance.
ScorecardAn unbroken 82-run partnership between Dishant Yagnik and Ajay Jadeja, the captain, lifted Rajasthan to a commanding 240 for 4 against Kerala at the close of play at Jaipur. Earlier Rahul Kanwat stroked a fine 61 to lay the foundation for a big first- innings score. Sreekumar Nair, the Kerala captain, tried eight bowlers on a day where Rajasthan batsmen applied themselves admirably to grind out the attack.
ScorecardAnand Rajan, Madhya Pradesh’s opening bowler, struck thrice as Jharkhand slipped from a comfortable 149 for 1 to 258 for 6 by the end of the opening day at Indore. Half-centuries from Manish Vardhan and Ratan Kumar, the openers, had lifted Jharkhand to 110 when Rajan, the debutant who honed his fast-bowling skills at the MRF pace Foundation in Chennai, trapped Ratan Kumar in front. At close, Jharkhand’s hopes of a big first innings score rested on the shoulders of Ghosh (36 not out) who added an unbroken 47-run partnership with Rajiv Kumar.
ScorecardA 147-run opening partnership between Shiv Sunder Das and P Patel lifted Orissa, opting to bat first, to a comfortable 271 for 3 against Vidarbha at the end of opening day’s play in the third-round Ranji Plate match at Nagpur. Subit Biswal (41 not out) and Pravanjan Mullick put together an unbroken 57-run stand to ensure Orissa didn’t waste the Das-Patel laid platform.
ScorecardVikrant Taggar and Arshad Bhatt hit half centuries as Jammu & Kashmir, choosing to bat first, plodded along at a tedious rate to reach 172 for 2 against Assam at close of the opening day at Guwahati. Zakaria Zuffri, the Assam captain, deployed eight bowlers but couldn’t disturb the patience of the batsmen. Taggar in particular was extremely cautious, his unbeaten 73 coming off 297 balls as he steered J&K to a position of strength.Saurashtra v Himachal PradeshPlay to be rescheduled following political problems within the Himachal Pradesh camp.

Minki van der Westhuizen: under the spotlight© Getty Images

It’s been a bad few days for Graeme Smith. While England have moved towards a series victory over South Africa, Smith’s private life has been dominating many of the county’s gossip columns where it is reported that his relationshiop with his high-profile girlfriend Minki van der Westhuizen is in trouble.So rife was the speculation that van der Westhuizen’s spokesman was forced to issue an official announcement denying the stories, while admitting the relationship had its problems. “This is very normal and natural in most relationships,” the spokesman said. “The only difference being that with a high-profile relationship such as theirs, the details usually end up in the press. This often doesn’t afford them the luxury of being able to approach normal relationship challenges as couples who are not in the spotlight would.”The spokesman then admitted that a split – by the usual mutual consent – had been on the cards but that the pair had "agreed to try to work through their difficulties without necessarily ending their relationship."The rumours started when Smith admitted on a national radio show that he was no longer seeing van der Westhuizen, but by the end of the next day the rift had been patched up if not healed.

The rhetoric was familiar, but after a less than impressive performance in the first Test at Darwin, Steve Waugh’s assertion that Australia would be looking to improve carried a little more weight than usual.”I think people expect Bangladesh to improve in the first Test, but I expect us to improve more," Waugh told reporters in Cairns ahead of the second Test which starts on Friday. “So we’ll be putting on a good show in this Test match, we’ll be going hard, we’ll be playing as tough, as competitively as we can be. There’s a chance we’ll bowl on that wicket. There’s a bit of grass there. We like to attack as a general rule and we’ve got some good bowlers. I don’t mind what we do at the toss but I expect us to go hard."The pitch is expected to be hard and fast, unlike the one at Darwin, and with tinges of green, Australia’s bowlers are sure to give Bangladesh’s batsmen a hard time. "I think that’s what they need," said Waugh. "You want to see your players put under the most possible pressure and see who puts their hand up and see who’s a Test match player and who isn’t a Test match player.”Tempo, poise, purpose, intensity, body language, patience and self-belief are words that they need to use and put into practice. They have talent in all areas of the game, which will develop as they acquire match practice in pressure situations.”Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s coach, welcomed the chance for his charges to be tested to the hilt. “Our objectives are still to strive as hard as you can to show that we can get through some tough periods, to actually bat a session as individual players, those are the things," he said. “The boys are very keen to play. You can see they are keen to show some fight and be very competitive. I can’t ask for much more than that.”

Glamorgan have confirmed that the E.C.B. have agreed that two of theirEnglish born players, Steve James and Dean Cosker, can play for Wales inthe international challenge match at Cardiff on June 24th. Both qualify onresidence grounds, but all-rounders Keith Newell and Alex Wharf do not meet theBoard’s four-year qualifying criteria.”I think the game is an exciting concept and I know that the boys are alreadylooking forward to it,” said Steve James, Glamorgan’s Lydney-born captain. “It will seemstrange for me playing against England because I was born and grew up there, and playedtwo Test for England in 1998. But I’ve got a Welsh wife and daughter and I feel like anadopted Welshman these days as I’m so settled here.””Wales versus England is always a special occasion, whatever the sport, and I don’t thinkit will be any different in cricket. Our players will be fired up to win and I’m sure we’llhave a fantastic crowd behind us. I think it will be a great game and I don’t see anyreason why we can’t win on our own ground.”The match will be staged at the start of the one-day NatWest Series involving England,India and Sri Lanka, and with the match not clashing with any action from the summer’s WorldCup soccer tournament, Glamorgan are hopeful that the game will be a sell-out.”It’s a good game for England because they will be using it as preparation for theNatWest Series,” said Glamorgan chief executive Mike Fatkin. ” and I don’t think they will beunderestimating the Wales side. This is not a Wales Minor Counties team, as some people seemto believe, but a team of very good and established cricketers. We’re obviously delightedthat our English-born players Steve James and Dean Cosker, like Matthew Maynard and AdrianDale who have been in Wales a little longer, meet the criteria to play and that willstrengthen the squad even further.”The Wales team, who are likely to wear a special red strip, will therefore be chosen fromthe bulk of the Glamorgan squad, whilst two other Welshmen – Sussex batsman Tony Cottey andSomerset paceman Steffan Jones – are also eligible to play.

James Hunter has praised the performance of Jack Clarke as Sunderland drew 0-0 at Lincoln City in League One on Saturday afternoon.

The Lowdown: Two points dropped by Sunderland

Alex Neil’s team will feel as if it was two points dropped more than one gained, given the amount of possession and chances that they had in the match.

Still, they find themselves in the play-off positions, but will certainly be looking over their shoulders at both Sheffield Wednesday and Wycombe Wanderers behind them.

The Latest: Clarke praised by Hunter

Writing in his latest player ratings piece for The Chronicle, Hunter waxed lyrical about Patrick Roberts in particular, giving him an 8/10 overall rating, the highest out of any Sunderland player on Saturday.

The journalist claimed that the 25-year-old was their ‘best player by a mile’ and ‘looked a cut above’, as the Imps ‘just couldn’t handle him’.

Hunter also praised Clarke’s display, given him the next best rating of a 7/10, noting his ‘real attacking threat’ and claiming that he did ‘everything but score’.

The Verdict: Clarke improving

Clarke is certainly improving on Wearside, having recently registered a goal and an assist against Fleetwood Town and Crewe Alexandra respectively, on top of his impressive performance against Lincoln (Transfermarkt).

Neil has certainly shown a lot of faith in the Tottenham loanee, playing him in every match so far under his management, and the 21-year-old will want to continue impressing not just for the Black Cats, but for Spurs as well.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

The loan deal looks to have been a successful one so far for both parties.

In other news, find out what ‘shocking’ incident on Saturday left this Sunderland podcaster fuming

Roberto Martinez will decide tomorrow whether or not he wants to be Liverpool’s latest manager. It seems like an easy decision for someone so highly regarded but is he really the man to oversee an Anfield rebuilding process?

It’s difficult to know what side of the fence is more comfortable for fans. Some say Martinez is a good manager with a lot of potential who plays football the right way. Others say he’s too young, too inexperienced and has little outstanding achievements on his CV to warrant taking over a club as big as Liverpool. Club captain Steven Gerrard was diplomatic about his potential arrival:

“I’m aware Roberto Martinez has been talking to the club but all I’ve heard about him is positive. If he is going to be the manager he’s got my full support.”

Both sides of the argument raise interesting points so perhaps the best way to see whether he’s the right man for the job is to weigh up the pros and cons of his impending appointment.

First the pros which show Martinez has a decent managerial record after spells with Swansea City and Wigan Athletic. He’s earned a reputation for playing attractive football and it’s the style of play he’s imprinted on his teams that the Anfield hierarchy will hope he can bring with him to Merseyside.

It was eye-catching football that earned him his chance to manage in the Premier League but he also left Swansea with an impressive win rate of 50% from 126 matches. His style was so well received that the club has strived to continue that precedent and many Swansea fans note the importance of Martinez’s reign as a precursor to the eventual success enjoyed by Brendan Rodgers.

So far so good and Martinez has continued this trend at Wigan. Having survived relegation twice he’s now a hero in Lancashire and with excellent support from Chairman Dave Whelan has managed to keep his team in the top flight using a style of play more akin to European competition than a relegation battle. Whelan told BBC Sport:

“I should not be saying how good Roberto is because I want to keep him. There’s no question he’s the best young manager in Europe.”

Perhaps Liverpool would be lucky to have him but just because Martinez is currently the flavour of month doesn’t mean things have always gone swimmingly for him. Overachieving with Wigan is all well and good but is surviving in the Premier League as impressive as it sounds?

The cons say no as Wigan have been in the Premier League for 7 seasons and should really have established themselves by now. The previous season Martinez just kept Wigan up on the final day and yet he was given legend status for effectively being the best of the worst. He followed that with an abysmal start to last season losing 8 straight matches early on and failed to win at home for 7 months. This included winning only 4 matches between August and February and led to Wigan being unanimously written off in their quest for survival. They also won only 5 home matches all last season and given the recent struggles experienced by Liverpool in front their own fans, is that something they will want to see continue next term?

Martinez was adamant that points would come if they kept playing the same way and ultimately he was right. Wigan edged away from the relegation zone and picked up some impressive results towards the end of the season but Liverpool fans will expect success, not be pleasantly surprised by it.

Most supporters are fairly underwhelmed by his imminent arrival and feel the club needs a more established man to take them forward. Considering the names being linked it’s understandable that Martinez would feel like a step down to many supporters dreaming of a blockbuster name.

The powers that be see it differently and Liverpool’s search for a new boss has seen them linked with up and coming managers like Frank de Boer, Brendan Rodgers and Andre Villas-Boas so clearly they want someone young to start a new era at Anfield. Experienced leaders like Pep Guardiola, Fabio Capello and Louis van Gaal have been considered but not pursued although the Dutchman is being linked with a senior role at the club, perhaps to babysit any eventual appointment.

It would appear the cons outweigh the pros. Like many Martinez has been criticised during his career but he’s also been applauded for the way he recovers from adversity. He’s admired for his persistence and his adaptability but he’s also struggled for large parts of the season so will Fenway Sports Group provide the same support Whelan gave him in order to turn things around?

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Clearly Martinez’s style is attractive but his CV doesn’t compare with more impressive candidates so there are question marks over his ability to bring Liverpool the success they crave. Whether fans are for or against him, he’ll have a lot to prove at Anfield and will have to hit the ground running quickly to show why so much faith has been put on his aspiring shoulders.

Do you want Martinez as Liverpool manager? Are Liverpool making a mistake appointing the Spaniard? Should John W. Henry be looking for a more experienced leader?

Let me know your views and opinions by following me on twitter – Tweet me @Alex_Churcher

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]

Corinthians and Flamengo both won 1-0 away from home on Sunday to hold first and second place respectively in Brazil’s Serie A.Corinthians had to wait until the 70th minute at Estadio Serra Dourada to break the deadlock against struggling Atletico Goianiense.

A goal from striker Willian with 20 minutes to go ensured the visitors came away with all three points and secured their fifth-consecutive victory.

They remain top of the table and remain three points clear of Flamengo, who returned to second place after beating last season’s champions Fluminense 1-0.

Visitors Flamengo needed a goal from midfielder Willians one minute into first-half injury time at Estadio Olimpico Joao Havelange to record a valuable win on the road.

Defeat leaves Fluminense ninth, already 10 points off the pace despite having played one more match than Corinthians.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Santos’ woes continued when they went down 3-0 away to Palmeiras.

First-half goals from Maikon Leite, Mauricio Ramos and Patrik wrapped up a comprehensive victory for the home side.

They are now who fourth in the table, four points behind the leaders.

Copa Libertadores winners Santos, with star men Neymar and Ganso absent as part of Brazil’s Copa America squad, have won just twice from seven matches played.

Jhonata Obina and Neto Berola were on target as Atletico Mineiro defeated America Mineiro 2-0 at home, while Gremio saw off visitors Coritiba by the same scoreline.

A 78th-minute equaliser from Fahel helped Bahia draw 1-1 at home to Botafogo, who had led through Elkeson’s first-half goal.

And Figueirense also had to come from 1-0 down to draw 1-1 at home, with Maicon netting just past the hour mark to cancel out Washington’s third-minute opener.