VVS Laxman, who has gone through a rocky time in Test cricket and found himself out in the cold as far as the one-day side is concerned, has blamed a lack of tactical flexibility for India’s recent troubles. Speaking to the The Indian Express during an India-Pakistan match for the visually impaired, Laxman insisted that a tweak here and there would once again propel India towards the top rung of international cricket.”In the past few years the opposition has understood us well, but that is the trend of international cricket,” he said. “We have not totally surrendered to teams, and therefore we don’t need to make drastic changes in the team. But we must improve our consistency. You cannot have the same strategy for Australia and Pakistan. They are totally different teams. Every series is different and needs new ideas.”According to Laxman, who was jettisoned from the ODI side before the tour of Bangladesh last winter, the reluctance to experiment was one of the root causes of the 2-4 reverse against Pakistan. “You cannot have a set pattern,” he said. “It is very important that the team has good options. One must look at the situation first – if early wickets are lost then the game-plan has to change. Flexibility is the key.”It was only four years ago that Laxman played the finest innings ever by an Indian batsman, and one of the greatest of all time, as Australia were vanquished in a remarkable Test match at Kolkata. He came in then at No. 3, his chosen slot, but with Rahul Dravid having established himself as one of the all-time greats in the very same position, it has been difficult for Laxman to reproduce similar heroics.”I have won matches for India at No. 3, though I can win games in any position,” he said. “John [Wright] also knows that I have always delivered at No. 3 in Tests and one-dayers, and therefore has always wanted me to bat there.” Laxman added, however, that there was no question of demanding the position for himself. “You cannot ask Rahul Dravid to move from that slot, because he has done wonderfully well there. I have spoken to Sourav and Wright about it, but I am not going to keep asking them for it. I will play where the team requires me to play.”What Laxman does believe, though, is the merit of shuffling your line-up according to the match situation. “Flexibility is important. Dravid, captain in the Mumbai Test against Australia, suggested that I bat at No. 3 with the new ball in play. I scored a crucial 69, put together a partnership with Sachin [Tendulkar], and we won the Test.”The criticism that has come his way in recent times has clearly irked. “I got two fifties against Pakistan in the Tests and everyone said I failed in the series,” says Laxman. “No-one bothered to check that I batted lower down the order with no support from the tail. I got 79 at Bangalore with the tailenders. I could have been selfish and played big shots, but I knew that crease-occupation at that time was important.”After suffering the heartache of missing out on the last World Cup squad, Laxman appeared to have resurrected his ODI career with three scintillating centuries in Australia, and another sublime innings in the decisive Lahore game last March. Subsequently, inconsistency and the perception that he is a liability in the field forced him out of the squad, but Laxman insists that a comeback is far from implausible.”My basic mantra is to rotate the strike, occupying the crease and keeping the scoreboard ticking,” he says. “Just hitting fours and sixes doesn’t work. Rahul and I have to stick around for 40-45 overs and eventually the team gets a big score. Check the records – if I have played around 40-45 overs, we have got 300-plus totals and won.”
Day 3 of 4 ScorecardWhile the other two Pura Cup games were affected by rain, a fightback by Western Australia and a strong start by South Australia made for an intriguing final day’s play at the Adelaide Oval. Ben Cameron and Mark Cosgrove put on an unbeaten 64-run partnership to take their team to 1 for 106, only 232 adrift of the target. But the day’s honours went to Darren Wates and Brad Hogg, who fought tooth and nail to gain the upper hand after Western Australia had lost 7 wickets for 116.The day had begun with Western Australia on 3 for 62, and the situation deteriorated rapidly when Paul Rofe dismissed Marcus North and Ryan Campbell off successive deliveries. Shaun Tait then swung into action and removed Murray Goodwin (6 for 83).A wicket and two hours later, Wates and Hogg had put on 119 runs and their team was in a position to dictate terms. Hogg, given a life before he had scored, stroked 10 fours in his 75 (8 for 235) before being dismissed, but Wates soldiered on. Last week, Wates had displayed a penchant for hard hitting during the ING Cup final, and here, with only the tail for company, he struck out again and scored 99 before being run out one short of what would have been his first hundred.Cameron and Cosgrove then took over, and shrugging off the loss of Shane Deitz, scored at four and a half an over to give South Australia a palpable chance of victory.
Robinvale’s Daryl McClure and Gai Campbell from Aspendale have been named Cricket Victoria’s 2002/03 Volunteers of the Year. ICC Chief Executive Officer and special guest Malcolm Speed announced the winners in a breakfast function at the MCG during the Boxing Day Test Match.Community Cricket Manager John Harris said the winners had made exceptional contributions to cricket. “We had a nomination from each of Victoria’s 16 regions and realistically, all would have been worthy winners. However the judging panel felt that both Daryl and Gai have been absolutely outstanding volunteers, making a vital and unique contribution to cricket in their respective regions”.Harris said that Malcolm Speed’s attendance at the function had demonstrated the esteem with which the Volunteer of the Year Awards were held. “Malcolm spoke with great knowledge and passion about the role volunteers play in cricket. He foreshadowed a future where volunteers will continue to be recognised, with their skills and expertise a commodity that should be used in developing the game in junior cricket nations throughout the East Asia – Pacific region”.BACKGROUND INFORMATIONEach one of Cricket Victoria’s 16 Regions are invited to nominate their Volunteer of the Year, with those selected automatically eligible for the two major awards – Country and Metropolitan Volunteer of the Year.The respective regional winners are assessed primarily on their contribution to a particular cricket project or program in the current and/or previous season.Country Volunteer of the Year – DARYL McCLURE (Robinvale-Euston CC)Daryl is the current and inaugural club secretary of the Robinvale-Euston Cricket Club. The club was formed in 2000/01 as the result of difficulties being experienced at the time by the Robinvale & District Cricket Association (R&DCA). Gaining the support of the remaining R&DCA clubs, Daryl became the driving force behind a combined side from Robinvale achieving entry into the Sunraysia Cricket Association.He has also been primarily responsible for raising funding in excess of $35,000 for new clubrooms, a turf wicket, roller and general upgrade of the ground and facilities at Riverside Park. Daryl was directly responsible for coordinating sponsorship and recruiting both playing and administrative personnel to the new club.Not content with these tasks and achievements, Daryl has also established the club’s website, been instrumental in recruiting an overseas player for the previous two seasons and above all, retains his spot in the Robinvale-Euston 1st XI as a wicketkeeper/batsman. He is also committed to junior development in the Region through his duties as Manager/Assistant Coach of the U/15 Schoolboys and the Mallee-Murray Cricket Region U/15 team.Metropolitan Volunteer of the Year – GAI CAMPBELL (Aspendale CC)Gai has single handedly undertaken to resurrect junior cricket at the Aspendale Cricket Club after a five-year absence. As Junior Coordinator, Gai conducted pre-season letter drops and campaigned to local schools as part of her plan to recruit juniors back to the club. She has also enticed many parents to participate on match days and at training, developing family involvement within the club.Gai has successfully lobbied local council in attaining improvements in net and practice facilities for the junior competition, as well as obtaining grants for the purchase of protective equipment for players.Gai has also added her considerable talents to the senior section at Aspendale as club secretary and team manager for the 3rd XI. In all, her weekend cricket duties begin at 7.00am Saturday morning through to 8.30pm Saturday nights, with her 3rd XI commitments on Sunday afternoons.With all of her four boys playing cricket at Aspendale, as well as her husband playing in the club’s 1st XI, Gai has embraced both cricket and the Aspendale Cricket Club in a unique way.THE CRICKET VICTORIA “VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR” AWARDS ARE PART OF THE KOOKABURRA VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION PROGRAM
Somerset coach Kevin Shine named the following squad of 12 for the CricInfo Championship match against Surrey at The Oval starting on Wednesday:Jamie Cox, Piran Holloway, Mike Burns, Peter Bowler, Mark Lathwell, Rob Turner, Peter Trego,Keith Dutch, Richard Johnson, Matthew Bulbeck, Steffan Jones and Ian Blackwell.”Richard Johnson has come through two days of intensive tests without any problems and is 90% certain of playing. However as cover we are taking fast bowler Joe Tucker, who had such a super game for the seconds last week with us,” said the coach.
Aston Villa look set to pip Liverpool to the signing of Rangers forward Rory Wilson, according to The Scottish Sun.
The Lowdown: Academy additions at Villa
Despite winning a first FA Youth Cup since 2002 last year, Villa have continued to bolster their academy ranks with a number of signings.
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Kerr Smith, Finley Thorndike, Finn Azaz, Caleb Chukwuemeka, Declan Frith and Tim Iroegbunam have all made the move to Bodymoor Heath in the last 12 months.
Iroegbunam has been the standout youngster to catch Steven Gerrard’s eye, with the midfielder now regarded as a first-team player after signing a new deal.
The Latest: Wilson next for Villa?
The Scottish Sun shared a story on Monday morning, revealing that Villa look set to pip Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United in the race for Wilson’s services.
The 16-year-old has been labelled a goal machine, with Villa needing to pay a compensation fee to Rangers, believed to be in the region of £300,000.
The Verdict: Exciting move
Wilson looks like he could be a star in the making, going by the widespread interest that he is receiving from elite clibs.
Therefore, he looks set to be another exciting addition for Villa’s academy, with Rangers now resigned to losing the youngster despite offering him professional terms and Gerrard set to cause frustration for his former club Liverpool.
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Hopefully a deal will go through soon and Wilson will settle into life in the Midlands relatively quickly, and over the coming years, we could see him break into the first-team squad.
In other news: ‘Monster’ – Source reveals Villa now want to hijack major Tottenham move; same agent as Pogba
Here’s to you As soon as he had stepped out against Muttiah Muralitharan and hit him over mid-off for four, Sachin Tendulkar pointed his bat towards India’s dressing room in celebration of his first fifty of the series. It was, perhaps, a gesture of thanks to his team-mates for showing patience as he walked out of the shadows of doubt that had enveloped him in the tri-series till now. Before this match Tendulkar could muster only 128 runs in seven innings but chasing a small target, he dazzled a relatively small Hobart crowd.Getting out of the web Humour is never lost on Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Having neatly completed an easy offering off Kumar Sangakkara’s outside edge, Dhoni flapped his gloves and mocked at the webbing, making sure there was nothing wrong this time after he had to change his gloves because in India’s previous game, against Australia, the webbing was against the laws of the game.Ripper! Point is the toughest position to field in the game. The fielder is moving in and normally the ball travels at a high speed. Reflexes and agility are the key. Mahela Jaywardene slashed hard at a short one from Praveen Kumar and it went straight and low to Rohit Sharma, who picked it up cleanly shoe-laces level. Calm, poised, alert – full marks to Rohit, in a position previously occupied by Yuvraj Singh, now placed at mid-off.Free falling Speaking of Yuvraj, one of the best fielders inside the 30-yard circle till a niggling knee injury acted up further, he has been abysmal by his standards. Its obvious that Yuvraj, knee brace in place wherever he’s been for over a month now, has been slow to move and that has allowed opposition batsmen to capitalise. Today was one such case again: Chamara Kapugedera drove uppishly off Munaf Patel towards mid-off, but a static Yuvraj dived on top of the ball. It sneaked past him and the batsmen ran four. Munaf was understandably disgusted, while Yuvraj had his head down.Converting a six into two The ball was sailing over the square-leg boundary when Gautam Gambhir, running a few yards to his left, leaped, caught the ball with both hands, but realised he would cross the rope in trying to regain balance, so he flicked it to the ground. A catch dropped, but a six avoided.
Former Zimbabwe coach Phil Simmons has spoken out about the state of cricket in country and called on the ICC to take action to investigate allegations of mismanagement.Simmons, who takes charge of Ireland after the World Cup, told cricket365.com that there were many things that needed looking into, with the most pressing being the unanswered questions about the whereabouts of the millions of dollars poured into the board in the last few years.”Where’s all the money gone? Because there’s no new infrastructure, no new grounds have been built. Where has the money gone?And he warned things were only likely to get worse. “If things aren’t run properly, it’s the players that you lose. They’ve lost so many players over the years and they’re going to lose a lot after this World Cup. A lot of these youngsters are disillusioned with what’s happening and they’re going to lose a lot of them straight after this World Cup because they’re fed up with all sorts of things.”I think that the ICC should get a full independent audit team to go in and go through all the books and find out where all this money went before they decide to pay the millions they’re meant to pay them now. Because all that’s going to happen is that those funds are going to disappear too. They should also make sure that everyone who they owe money is paid before any money is given to the organisation.”Simmons is owed more than US$100,000 by the board following his dismissal as coach in 2005, and several other players, including Heath Streak and Andy Blignaut, are believed to be claiming more than US$200,000. It is the manner of his removal that grates as much as the money. “Even before they told me that they were re-assigning me, Kevin Curran [the current coach] was down there to take over so it must have meant that they had spoken to him before they decided to re-assign me. They seemed pretty eager to get rid of me because players were still coming to me for advice.”They even tried to ship me out to Kenya, saying that Kenya wanted someone to run their academy. If you look now a lot of players are still coming to me and asking for advice.”Referring to reports that shortly after his dismissal almost all the Zimbabwe players had signed a petition asking for his recall and saying they did not want Curran, Simmons told cricket365.com: “Well, if you sign a petition saying that you don’t want someone as your coach it means you don’t have any confidence in him. And as far as I’ve heard from the players nothing has changed since then.”
As the West Indies face the humiliating prospect of their fourth successive series whitewash overseas in the third and final Test against New Zealand, starting here tomorrow (overnight eastern Caribbean time), the words of the old typewriting exercise are appropriate.”Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party” is the sentence forever used to assess proficiency on the keyboard. It is equally pertinent for beleaguered cricket teams, especially the ones depending as heavily as the West Indies on their ‘good men’, those with the experience and the statistics to render them leaders.In this case, they are Brian Lara, the most prolific of all batsmen, multiple record holder, twice captain and a veteran of 122 Tests; and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the current captain and a consistent campaigner with the healthy average of 45 in his 93 Tests. Neither has come to the party in the preceding two Tests and the West Indies have duly lost.Had each put together only half his average in each innings, the West Indies surely would not have let certain victory in the first Test turn to defeat by 27 runs. Their failures in the second Test were key moments in the middle-order collapses that opened the way for New Zealand’s triumph by ten wickets.Lara, scorer of one quadruple, one triple, six doubles and 23 single hundreds in his record 11170 Test runs at an average of 54, has scraped together only seven runs in his four innings. Chanderpaul managed 13 and 15 in the first Test, 8 and 36 in the second. Lara came into the series straight from the Caribbean, arriving a week prior to the first Test without a first-class match in six weeks.Chanderpaul has been so burdened with the leadership of a team deeply divided by the boycott of a tour of Sri Lanka last July, by most leading players, that he hasn’t registered a half-century in 13 Test innings since.With another key batsman and vice-captain, Ramnaresh Sarwan, forced to return home after the first Test because of a leg injury and the two promising young apprentices, Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin, severely short of the form and confidence that made them standouts in the series in Australia last November, the reliance on Lara and Chanderpaul has intensified.The simultaneous slump of the foremost batsmen of the past dozen years has been crippling but, in the 17 Tests the West Indies have lost since England’s 2004 series in the Caribbean, the two have rarely come to the party when most needed-in the second innings.The statistics are revealing. Lara appeared in 15 of those matches, reeling off one double and three single hundreds at an average of 69.6 in the first innings when he has seldom had support. In the second innings, when similar scores were required, he has totalled 212 runs, with a top score of 44 and an average of 14.13.In the 17 losses in that time, Chanderpaul accumulated 603 runs in the first innings at 37.68, with his unbeaten 126 at Lord’s in 2004 the highest. His overall 394 in the second innings have been at 26.26, with his unbeaten 97 in the same Lord’s Test the highest. The upshot was inevitable. Nine of the 17 all out second innings totals were under 200, including 47 at Sabina Park and 94 at Kensington Oval against England in 2004, and only one over 300.And if the good men don’t come to the aid of the party over the last few days, the series will end in yet another clean sweep by the opposition, of which there have been seven since the first of the modern era in Pakistan in 1997.
With John Wright all set to leave the Indian team after the home series against Pakistan, the clamour over a replacement coach is reaching fever pitch. Greg Chappell, the former Australian captain, batting great, and currently one of the most lucid thinkers and talkers of a game of cricket, is one of the strong contenders for the post. He was in Mumbai on a coaching and promotional trip, and spoke exclusively to Cricinfo.
Firstly, are you interested in being coach of the Indian team? I haven’t really thought about it very much. If they [Indian board] approach me and want to talk about it, I’m happy to do it. I’ve got plenty to do and I’m really focussing on getting on with my life. I tend not to think too much in hypothetical terms. I’m open to most things and always prepared to look and listen. If someone wants to talk to me about a job – in or out of cricket – I’m open-minded enough to have a listen. Coaching any national team would be a great honour, but it would also be difficult because it brings its own set of challenges. It would depend very much on what the offer was.You’ve dealt with the Indian board before. You were one of the candidates in the running when John Wright was picked. Will that experience colour your thoughts on the Indian board? No, not necessarily. That was a different set of circumstances and in a number of cases different personnel. I tend not to hold on too much to things that happened in the past. I prefer to look at each situation in its own right and take a decision on what needs to be done. I wouldn’t consider that a problem.Your name has cropped up with other coaching jobs. But stories have gone around about things not working out because of parties not being able to agree on suitable terms. Why exactly do you want to coach India? Coaching, for me, and being involved in cricket, is about remaining with the game I love and passing on some of the knowledge and experience. I had a lot of people who helped me – as a young cricketer and throughout my career. If I could help other young cricketers get as much satisfaction out of the game as I enjoyed, I’d be delighted to be involved. A full-time coaching job has some horrendous demands on it, especially at the international level. I’d have to consider all those things before I made any decision. I’m probably in a better position to take up a job like that now than at any other time in my life – my family has grown up, the kids are out and doing their own thing. I just enjoy the game and I find I’m still learning about it, discovering new things every day. Or perhaps a new way to do an old thing.The five years of coaching South Australia probably taught me more than any other period of my involvement with the game because I had to think about things differently. Coaching is very different from playing in that you can’t impact on the game as a coach. As a player you can impact a game by scoring runs or taking a wicket or taking a catch. Being a coach is more like being a parent and raising children. All you can do is prepare them the best you can and then it’s up to them to make something of it. Watching children grow up, and play sport, is the hardest thing you can do because you have no real influence. Once someone walks out onto a cricket field it’s up to him and his ability to be able to respond to a situation that develops. I suppose the art of coaching is to give a player as much information and support as they need, when they need it. And as much confidence as they need to be able to go ahead and do whatever it is they have to do. There’s no right or wrong way to do it, and it’s a demanding 24/7 kind of job.Would you want to be the national coach? Or be involved in putting a coaching structure in place? The two go hand in hand. It’s difficult to take on one job without wanting to have an influence at the other. If you’re coaching a national team you want to have some input into the development process. A coach lives and dies by the performance of his players, and a coach is restricted by the players he has to work with. I think world cricket really needs to re-think the role of national coaches. It’s something that’s evolving and a reasonably modern phenomenon. One of the things that would encourage me to take on a coaching role would be to have more input in the development process. I have some ideas on that but am not prepared to expand on them at this stage. I would be happy to sit down with the relevant administrators and talk through the process of what I think is required for the modern game of cricket. I don’t feel inclined to discuss them hypothetically with relation to India, through the media.You’ve said that you would be open to talking to them if the BCCI approached you. But you won’t be approaching them, and you won’t lose any sleep if nothing came of this … No it’s not something that I have a need for. I don’t need to coach anyone. But I enjoy working with cricket. The more talented the cricketers you work with, the more likely it is that you’re going to achieve some success. But it’s not necessarily the area where you can make the biggest difference. I believe the best coaches should be working with junior cricketers. I’ve committed through the ChappellWay program to touch as many players, coaches and parents as possible through the Internet. Just to work with 15 players is restrictive. Having said that, elite players respond better to advice than anyone else. I’ve really enjoyed the exchange of ideas and the quick feedback that I’ve got from the elite players I’ve worked with.