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A round-up of the third day’s play of the seventh-round Group A games of the Ranji Trophy 2013-14

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2013
ScorecardBhargav Merai scored his second century of the season•ESPNcricinfo LtdBhargav Merai’s second first-class century helped Gujarat mount a solid reply as they looked to hunt down Haryana’s mammoth first-innings total in Ahmedabad. He and Venugopal Rao, the other unbeaten batsman, still have considerable work to do as the home side went to stumps 259 runs behind.Gujarat took more than 20 overs to move from 68 to 96 – a run rate of 1.36 – but the arrival of their captain Parthiv Patel instilled life into the innings. His 44-ball 37 was part of a 71-run stand with Merai which was accumulated at 4.68 per over. When he was out leg before to medium-pacer Ashish Hooda, Rao ensured a similar rhythm was maintained as he struck nine fours and a six in his 64.Gujarat, who are placed fifth in Group A, have one more day left to snare a first-innings lead and collect a crucial three points and push past mid-table mediocrity.Read the full report of Mumbai v Odisha here: Odisha fight to prevent innings defeatRead the full report of Karnataka v Punjab here: Vinay ton leaves Punjab battling for survivalRead the full report of Delhi v Vidarbha here: Delhi stay in hunt with crushing win

Queensland swept to victory over Western Australia on the final day at the WACA ground to clinch a place in the Sheffield Shield final, where they have the chance to defend last year’s title

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2013
ScorecardQueensland swept to victory over Western Australia on the final day at the WACA ground to clinch a place in the Sheffield Shield final, where they have the chance to defend last year’s title.James Hopes, Ryan Harris and Nathan Hauritz were the chief wicket-takers for the Bulls as WA never threatened their fourth innings target of 273. Both sides needed an outright win to clamber across a tightly packed Shield table and reach the final, and it was the visitors who were rewarded for fighting hard and well after a poor start to the match.Still catching up from their first innings dismissal for 164, the Bulls began the day with a narrow lead and only four wickets in hand, but half centuries from Michael Neser and Ryan Harris stretched the advantage so effectively that Hopes was granted the luxury of declaring at lunch.The Warriors quickly slipped to 5 for 71 and this time there were to be no late order heroics from the hosts, who had pushed themselves into contention for a spot in the final with a trio of remarkable comeback wins in the three rounds prior to this one.

A day dominated by the two youngest men to represent Middlesex in first-class cricket ended with Derbyshire in the sort of parlous position that many would have predicted after they had lost the toss and were inserted

Alan Gardner at Lord's17-Apr-2013
ScorecardSteven Finn’s return to action was productive with four wickets•Getty ImagesA day dominated by the two youngest men to represent Middlesex in first-class cricket ended with Derbyshire in the sort of parlous position that many would have predicted after they had lost the toss and were inserted. Had it not been for Billy Godleman, who debuted as a 16-year-old for Middlesex in the same match as Steven Finn back in 2005 and made a stoic, 244-ball half-century for Derbyshire here, the situation could have been far worse.In taking 323 minutes, Godleman’s is a contender for the slowest-ever Championship fifty – though he was still half-an-hour quicker than “The Barnacle” Trevor Bailey with his 350-ball effort in the first Ashes Test of 1958-59. Godleman’s innings, assembled in the painstaking manner of a man constructing a model ship in a bottle, was ended six minutes shy of six hours, though it might have felt longer to the smattering of Middlesex members who attended the opening day of the season at Lord’s.”I just love batting,” Godleman said, “I don’t necessarily see it as grinding, although the spectators might have a different view.” When it was suggested he may have set a record, he replied with a grin: “It wouldn’t surprise me, because it was pretty slow.”Godleman is at his third county in Derbyshire, having been released by Essex last year. His first full season at Middlesex, in 2007, brought 832 runs at 38.27 but he has never bettered that return and left his native London at the end of 2009. His Camden twang is still distinct and, although their paths have diverged he refers to Finn – who took 4 for 36 in his first outing of the season – as his “dearest friend”.The innings will undoubtedly long live in the memory – whether those present want it to or not – though it did not provide Derbyshire the platform it might have. Still, Godleman was pleased to have acquitted himself back at HQ. “Lord’s is always a special place but for me specifically, having grown up here and Middlesex being my boyhood club and facing my best friend opening the bowling against me, yeah.”It was a burst of 3 for 11 in six overs from said friend that most severely undermined Godleman’s graft, as Derbyshire’s 132 for 3 at tea rapidly became 150 for 6. In , Laertes warns his sister Ophelia that the “best safety lies in fear” but, having countenanced the danger and avoided it well enough in morning, Derbyshire’s batsmen became comfortably complicit in their demise. Dan Redfern and Chesney Hughes both poked at Finn deliveries they could have left on length, though Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s departure before the interval, pulling loosely to midwicket, was the most surprising.If the morning session had been billed as a horror show, with Division One newcomers Derbyshire put in under cloudy skies against one of the most-vaunted pace attacks on the circuit, it was to prove disappointingly short on video nasties. Finn’s second delivery was a leg-side wide and his opening spell of 7-5-5-0 camouflaged what had been a mixture of the unplayable and the unreachable.Toby Roland-Jones – who took eight wickets in the win over Nottinghamshire last week – was also wayward, though Tim Murtagh should have seen Godleman on his way when he had made just 2 but a low chance to third slip wriggled out of Sam Robson’s grasp.There was one early breakthrough and Wayne Madsen’s eminently preventable run-out foreshadowed the eventual path of the Derbyshire innings. In digging out a Finn delivery, a pinball ricochet sent it via Godleman, the non-striker, towards Chris Rogers at mid-off who was unerring in throwing down the stumps as Madsen belatedly realised his mistake in trying to get off the mark.Wes Durston and Godleman added 83 for the second wicket, the former looking increasingly assured right up until the moment he pulled Finn confidently straight to deep fine-leg and gave the bowler his 300th first-class wicket. That the ensuing collapse unfolded in slow motion was appropriate, though Godleman’s grit may yet prove vital for Derbyshire.

Shane Watson’s greater experience of England and his capacity to bowl some of the kinds of spells Ryan Harris might have delivered for Australia appears set to squeeze him into the first Test team ahead of Mitchell Marsh

Daniel Brettig in Cardiff06-Jul-2015Shane Watson’s greater experience of England and his capacity to bowl some of the kinds of spells Ryan Harris might have delivered for Australia appears set to squeeze him into the first Test team ahead of Mitchell Marsh, as part of a bowling attack the assistant coach Craig McDermott still calls the best in the world.While the younger Marsh has turned plenty of heads with his bold batting on tour, the Australian team’s decision-makers still feel Watson offers more security as a bowler. Without Harris, the control Watson can offer with miserly spells and swing of both conventional and reverse varieties will be even more highly valued.McDermott, on his first Ashes tour since leaving the 1993 trip early due to a life-threatening twisted bowel, said that while Marsh’s bowling was improving, Watson still had something of an edge. “With the fourth seamer only bowling 10-15 overs tops depending on how they’re bowling and how the other guys are going, his control is excellent,” McDermott said. “He’s a lot more experienced and has been around for a long time so you’d expect his control and everything else to be better.”Mitch is still developing. He’s got some pace back; the No. 1 thing we were chasing for from him was to get some speed up. Him obviously being nervous with his injuries throughout the summer in Australia and wanting to stay on the paddock made him back off a little bit I think. Now he’s our No. 1 man over the 2km time trial and all that sort of stuff he’s got his fitness back, he’s lost some weight and he’s got his pace back up.”He’s actually swinging the ball nicely now, he bowled a lot better in the second innings in Essex than the first innings and also Canterbury. So considering he hasn’t had a lot of four-day cricket bowling it’s a work in progress but he’s coming on nicely.”Shane Watson appears in line to pip Mitchell Marsh for a place in the first Test•Getty ImagesWhile Australia’s order of preference for pace bowlers has been shaken up considerably by Harris’ exit, it remains likely that Peter Siddle will miss out on a place in the team unless the selectors plump for the unlikely option of choosing four fast men in addition to Watson. At the very least, Siddle’s quality bowling in Canterbury, Chelmsford and the Cardiff nets is keeping Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson on their toes.”It’s disappointing for him but we’ve got to find someone else to do the job he does and I’m sure four of the guys we’ve got are quite capable of doing that,” McDermott said. “Peter Siddle’s bowled very well in the last couple of games, the other guys are getting back into their work, and Jono’s bowling quicker here than he has for a while I think and swinging the ball nicely. So those four frontline guys are all in the mix and if we don’t play four it’ll be a tough selection call.”Everyone who’s been through the World Cup and to the IPL in particular took a bit of time to get back into their work. Jono’s arm path has got a bit better over here, a bit higher and he’s got his seam in a better position, and he’s just got a real spring in his step at the minute, so that’s good for us and hopefully not good for the Poms.”Starcy and Josh basically had two and a half weeks off from game time, so just took a little bit of time to get back into their rhythm and bowling. They both bowled very well in the second innings in Essex, so we’re pretty happy with their preparation, and Sidds bowled well in both games and his pace got better as well.”Two of the vagaries of English conditions are the swing extractable from the Dukes ball and the smaller dimensions of the grounds, meaning runs can accrue quickly if bowlers get too greedy in their search for a “glory ball”. McDermott espoused the virtues of balance, and did not mind the thought of a new, more aggressive England going out searching for deliveries bowled in the fourth stump channel.”We’ve got to bowl our good lines and lengths which we did in Australia in the last series, and we stuck to our game plan,” he said. “You don’t want to attack too much, but you need still to attack. Our game with our bowling and fielding is to be attacking and aggressive, that’s the Australian way and the only way we know how to play.”The boys this morning were swinging the ball a lot. So it’s making sure you don’t get too greedy and using the crease to get your lines correct and make the batsmen play. If we do get a lot of swing we can use the crease to maximise that, and that’s pretty important for our attack and certainly Sidds is one who uses the crease well. The other guys do as well, but he uses it as good as anyone.”We’ve got a bowling attack that suits pretty much every facet of cricket, whether it’s a reverse wicket or a wicket that turns with seven left-handers is good for Lyono, and obviously if the wicket’s got green grass on it and goes through a bit, even if it’s a bit slower, the wicket’s still going to seam if it’s got some grass on it. Our attack is really well placed for whatever we get dished up.”

Inter Miami have officially set their first preseason friendly on the calendar, with a match against the national team of El Salvador on the books.

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Inter Miami schedule preseason friendlySet to take on El Salvador national teamRumors of River Plate friendly followWHAT HAPPENED?

January 19 will see the Herons return to the pitch for the first time in 2024, with Messi and co. taking on Los Cuscatlecos. The match will be played on the road in San Salvador at the Estadio Cuscatlán, one day before the USMNT take on Slovenia in Texas in an international friendly. In addition to the El Salvador friendly, the Herons have also been linked with a match against Argentine powerhouse River Plate Thursday, that comes on top of previous rumors of matches against Al-Hilal and Newells Old Boys.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

With the match being played one day before the USMNT take the pitch, both Gregg Berhalter and Tata Martino will have to make a decision on where Benjamin Cremaschi and Deandre Yedlin go. The young attacker made his international debut in a friendly in September against Oman, but is not yet cap-tied due to not competing in an official competitive match. Yedlin, meanwhile, has been on the outskirts of the program of late, but could feature in January due to it not being an official FIFA window.

WHAT INTER MIAMI SAID

“We’re excited to start announcing our preseason plans and preparations ahead of a thrilling 2024 campaign. We look forward to facing the El Salvador national team in what will be a good first test for our squad against the best players from the country,” said Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director Chris Henderson.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR INTER MIAMI

The Herons will make their official return to the pitch on January 19, but in terms of build up until then, Inter Miami are in offseason mode. They'll go about planning roster additions, contracts and preparation for the 2024 MLS Draft, but more than anything, it's a small break from a congested schedule.

Guyana have missed the WICB’s deadline to submit their squad list for the Caribbean Twenty20 that will be held in January 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2012The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has missed the WICB’s deadline to submit its squad list for the Caribbean Twenty20 that will be held in January 2013. The deadline was November 22, but the West Indies board issued a release stating it would approach the GCB once again and ask it to submit its list of players.”The board has directed the WICB management to again request the GCB to provide a Guyana team to participate in the Caribbean Twenty20 and for WICB Management to set a date by which the Guyana team is to be submitted,” the release said. “The WICB Management will set the date and once finalised will communicate same to the GCB and the public.”The issue is part of an ongoing conflict between the GCB and the Guyana government, which began when the Guyana government dissolved the GCB due to a dispute over its July 2011 elections. The elections were boycotted by some of the board’s constituent members, one of which, the Berbice Cricket Board, took the GCB to court, claiming the new administration was not properly established. The Chief Justice recommended that “there may be immediate need for the minister responsible for sports to impose his executive will in the national interest.”Following that ruling, Guyana’s sports minister Dr Frank Anthony appointed an Interim Management Committee (IMC), headed by ex-West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, to run cricket in Guyana. The WICB, however, refused to acknowledge the IMC, in keeping with the ICC’s stance against government intervention in cricket administration, and said the only authority it would recognise was the GCB.Guyana’s participation in this year’s Caribbean T20 had also been under a cloud due to the problem, but they eventually played.The WICB release also said the board’s directors were very concerned about the lack of a breakthrough in the Guyana impasse, and reiterated their backing of the GCB. “The WICB, at a meeting of the board of directors, on Saturday and Sunday, expressed grave concern at the length of time it is taking for a resolution to be had to the situation in Guyana. The board further implores all parties involved to use their best endeavours to ensure that the situation with regard to cricket in Guyana returns to a level of acceptability in the shortest possible period.”The board reiterates its position that it recognises the Guyana Cricket Board as the sole governing body responsible for the administration, management and development of cricket in Guyana.”

The Indians drew their warm-up game against New Zealand XI after taking a first-innings lead in Whangarei

The Report by Abhishek Purohit in Whangarei03-Feb-2014
ScorecardAmbati Rayudu spent two hours in the middle•Getty ImagesThe first five Indians in the batting order in the Whangarei practice game will all be part of the first Test XI in Auckland. Of them, the first three fell after getting starts, and the next two made fifties before retiring. All five spent at least an hour each in the middle but the Indians would have wanted the top-order batsmen to have had a longer hit on the flat pitch before the side heads back to Auckland.M Vijay went in the second over of the second day, losing his off stump as he tried playing a pitched-up delivery from the crease. Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara carried on without any trouble but Dhawan ran himself out, going for a third run after punching through extra cover.Pujara was quite solid in his first outing after arriving in New Zealand. He left well, pushed forward to defend confidently, and cut in his vigorous fashion whenever he got width. Having motored to 33, he missed an incoming delivery off the back foot to be trapped in front.Vijay played 56 deliveries, Dhawan 68 and Pujara 66. While none could reach the point where they had the luxury of retiring, whatever practice time they managed before the first Test was still better than falling early.Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane helped themselves to some more batting practice, making 59 and 60. Rohit had a few unconvincing slogs at the spinners, but none of the mis-hits was realistically a chance. Both batsmen were hardly bothered against an attack comprising fringe domestic players. After these two walked off within a few overs of each other, Ambati Rayudu, the reserve Test batsman, put in an unbeaten, two-hour stint that fetched him 49.Wriddhiman Saha did not last long but R Ashwin came in to play some outstanding strokes. He hooked successive sixes when he was bounced and pulled as convincingly. Ashwin cracked 46 off 51, and the match was called off soon after his dismissal.

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2013Sreesanth, the India and Rajasthan Royals bowler, has alleged the IPL withheld the “real video” of the incident between Harbhajan Singh and him in IPL 2008. In a series of tweets from his personal Twitter handle Sreesanth said Harbhajan had not slapped him but was a “backstabbing person”, and he received “no support whatsoever” from “selfish” people involved in the issue even though they knew “it was not my fault”.”I want the world to c it..Whn I went to shake hands afte the match..he had lost it..he had already planned to hit me(elbow me)all his anger,” Sreesanth tweeted. This tweet, along with several others, has since been deleted.Harbhajan refused to comment on the issue when he was approached in Mumbai by the media.He was scared to speak out earlier, Sreesanth said, but now wants the “world to know what happened”. The truth would be revealed by the video he said, which was kept “in hiding” by the IPL. He said Sudhir Nanavati, the BCCI-appointed commissioner who investigated the incident, knew the truth. He also said the “incident was planned by a few”.However, Sreesanth did not reveal his version of events. Footage of the actual incident has never been shown to the public.Meanwhile, Nanavati contradicted Sreesanth’s claims that he was elbowed saying that Harbhajan did slap him. “In the video footage, I have seen Harbhajan use the backside of his right palm to give him (Sreesanth) a slap on the right side of his face,” Nanavati told . “It was clear cut, it was there to be seen in the video footage.”What I have seen in the frame of the video was that Harbhajan, after giving him a slap, was coming back once again to hit him but at that time, two security personnel had stopped him.”The 2008 incident involved Mumbai Indians’ Harbhajan Singh hitting Sreesanth, his India team-mate who was then playing for Kings XI Punjab, during the routine round of handshakes after the game between the two teams in Mohali. The incident itself was not shown on camera but Sreesanth was spotted in tears after that. Harbhajan was banned for the rest of the tournament, while Sreesanth was let off with a warning. After the hearing by match referee Farokh Engineer, the then IPL chairman Lalit Modi said Engineer had found Harbhajan’s attack to have been “totally unprovoked”.The outburst was prompted by a report in Friday’s that said the Virat Kohli-Gautam Gambhir spat during the IPL game in Bangalore on Thursday was similar to “slapgate”. As Kohli was heading back to the pavilion after being dismissed, Gambhir ran past him on his way to celebrating with his team-mates. They appeared to exchange words and then charged at each other before the other players and one of the umpires separated them.Harbhajan and Sreesanth are due to meet on April 17 in Jaipur, when Royals play Mumbai Indians.

The Norwegian midfielder may not be a stereotypical captain but he has stepped up to the mark time and time again this season

Martin Odegaard looked like a man possessed against Chelsea on Tuesday night. Arsenal’s captain was singled out for a lot of criticism after the defeat at Manchester City a few days earlier and he certainly gave the impression of a man with a point to prove as he drove Mikel Arteta’s side to a much needed 3-1 win.

The Norway international was at his very best, scoring twice to set the ball rolling in the first half and producing the type of tireless display that has been the hallmark of his impressive season in north London. Odegaard now has 14 goals in the Premier League, as well as eight assists. Those are fantastic numbers for a 24-year-old who started the campaign with many wondering whether he had it in him to be so decisive in the final third.

So, it’s somewhat surprising that the playmaker still seems to have people questioning him, both as a player and as a captain.

Getty ImagesNeville's criticism

Gary Neville did just that after the mauling at the Etihad, pointing a finger at the Gunners skipper when discussing what he felt went wrong for Arteta’s side. The pundit said: “I look at Martin Odegaard, fantastic professional. Oleksandr Zinchenko, great professional. But when you actually get to the highest pressurised moments in the biggest matches in the crux of the season, are they leaders then?

"Arsenal’s senior players, Partey, Zinchenko, Odegaard, in the most difficult period, they didn’t impact the rest of their team-mates on the pitch. Odegaard had probably his most difficult game against Manchester City."

Neville’s right, Odegaard did have a difficult game against City. But when you think about what went wrong at the Etihad, it’s surprising that he was one of the players picked out as an issue. Arsenal couldn't get close to their hosts on the night, but that was not down to how their skipper performed.

AdvertisementGettyArteta's response

Questioning Odegaard's leadership abilities was out of line. Odegaard has led Arsenal exceptionally well this season, both away from the pitch and with his performances on it. One quiet performance where he was completely starved of the ball does not change that.

Time and time again he has been the driving force behind Arsenal's surprise title challenge. He is often the man who sets the tone, and his manager knows it. “I don’t read those comments,” Arteta said of the criticism of his captain.

“What I can say is that he’s been exceptional for us. You look at his contribution, every single day in the team and then what he does out there for us every single time, it’s exceptional. 

"The perfect player that plays perfect football every time doesn’t exist. But what Martin has done this season deserves a lot of credit.”

GettyGuardiola out-thought Arteta

City were incredible in that game at the Etihad and barely let Arsenal out of their half for 90 minutes. Odegaard just didn’t see any of the ball. Had he been given the sort of space Kevin De Bruyne was repeatedly allowed to run into, there’s no doubt he would have been able to influence the game in the same way as the Belgium international.

Arsenal’s front four were passengers against City because Pep Guardiola got his tactics spot on and Mikel Arteta didn’t. The hosts went direct to Erling Haaland, bypassed the press and the Arsenal backline and midfield couldn’t deal with it. That took Odegaard out of the game completely.

But that subdued showing shouldn’t detract from what has been a superb season from the 24-year-old. He may not be your stereotypical captain. He doesn't scream and shout all of the time. But that doesn't mean he doesn’t show leadership qualities. Anyone who has watched Arsenal regularly this season will tell you that he shows them on a regular basis on the pitch.

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GettyLeading by example

Odegaard has led by example with his performances all season long. There was the win at Tottenham, when he ran the show in the north London derby and inspired Arsenal to their first three-point haul at the home of their rivals in nine years.

He bagged both goals in the win at Wolves, while he both scored and produced one of the assists of the season in the excellent victory away at Brighton. The list goes on and on.

But what has really stood out this season with Odegaard is his hunger and his drive to lead from the front. No-one presses harder and does more on the pitch to try and get more out of his team-mates. He sets the standard that others must follow.

“The energy that he has, when he hasn’t got the ball, the movement, the quality, the way he is in that dressing room is exceptional,” Arteta said when asked about Odegaard after Tuesday night’s win. "We’re really pleased to have him as captain.”

The PCB has asked the ICC to set a date for offspin-bowling allrounder Mohammad Hafeez to have his action officially reassessed

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2015The PCB has asked the ICC to set a date for offspin-bowling allrounder Mohammad Hafeez to have his action officially reassessed. The test has been set for February 6 in Brisbane*, with the PCB hoping to have Hafeez cleared to bowl in time for the World Cup that begins on February 14.While Hafeez is part of Pakistan’s World Cup squad, he will not be allowed to bowl in the tournament unless cleared, having been suspended from bowling in international cricket in December. Pakistan are already without the services of Saeed Ajmal for the World Cup, who has also been banned.Hafeez’s action was tested at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. The analysis, an ICC statement said, found the flex in his action to exceed the 15-degree limit for all deliveries. Later, he was sent to Chennai to undergo remedial work and unofficial tests on his bowling action at Sri Ramachandra University. He had failed one of those unofficial tests, in January; he bowled 11 deliveries in that test, and of those the flex in six deliveries was above the 15-degree limit.If he fails the official test, the ICC’s Bowling Review Group (BRG) will specify a period during which Hafeez will not be entitled to approach the ICC for reassessment.Hafeez was first reported while playing for Lahore Lions during the Champions League T20 in September, but that sanction did not apply to international cricket. He was reported again after the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in November.Ajmal, who is not part of the World Cup squad, will undergo official ICC testing in Chennai on January 24.* January 23, 2015 11:15 GMT: The story has been updated with the date of Hafeez’s test