Ben Smith has agreed a two-year extension to his existing contract which will take him to the end of the 2008 season. Smith is in his fourth season with Worcestershire since moving from Leicestershire and recently scored a century in three successive championship matches.”I have made it no secret that I would like to finish my career with Worcestershire and I am delighted that we have agreed to this contract extension,” said Smith. “It gives me some future security and I can concentrate on helping the team achieve the success it is due.”
India 675 for 5 dec (Sehwag 309, Tendulkar 194*, Yuvraj 59) beat Pakistan 407 (Hameed 91, Inzamam 77, Pathan 4-100) and 216 (Youhana 112, Kumble 6-72) by an innings and 52 runs Scorecard
It took India just 12 balls on the final morning to put the lid on their historicmaiden Test win in Pakistan. If Rahul Dravid, leading the side in Sourav Ganguly’s absence, had sat down and written a script for his dream Test match, it would have been exactly as this one played out. Pakistan were bowled out for 216 after following on, and India won by an innings and 52 runs. After 52 years of India-Pakistan encounters, 49 years after India first toured Pakistan, they could finally savour the sweet taste of victory here.And it was sweet. For the team had come together spectacularly over four days and a bit. When the final wicket fell, every member of the team rushed towards the stumps at both ends. Within minutes only the two stumps that housed cameras were left standing. Instinctively the team gathered in a huddle and began to jump up and down, unable to contain their joy. The huddle, which has become a feature of Indian cricket in recent times, was on display again. Some consider it to be an ostentatious display of team spirit and unity, but at the moment it’s working for India.But, winning a Test is not merely about huddles. It’s about sticking to a plan over a period of time and delivering the goods. For India Anil Kumble and Irfan Pathan did just that over two innings on a wicket that had nothing in it for the bowlers. And it was fitting that this pair bowled the last two overs of the match.Kumble began the proceedings on the final day, and bowled from around the wicket in an attempt to exploit the rough created by the fast bowlers’ follow-throughs. Yousuf Youhana played out the over safely, and stole a single off the last ball to retain the strike. Pathan was given the ball to send down the second over and he continued to bend his back and put in maximum effort. Youhana struck one gorgeous boundary back down the pitch, and just for a moment it appeared as though he was prepared to go after the bowling.Pathan then banged the fifth ball in short and Youhana swayed out of the way. Pathan repeated the exercise with the last ball and this time Youhana (112) had to play a shot in order to try for a single to keep the strike. He miscued his pull shot, and Dravid called early to get under the catch that sealed India’s win .This win is all the more significant as it comes in the first Test of a series. India have won solitary Tests in Dhaka, Bulawayo, Kandy, Port of Spain, Leeds and Adelaide before this one in Multan, but none of those wins, barring the one-off Test against Bangladesh, have resulted in series victories. This triumph gives India an excellent chance of winning a series overseas.
The ECB National Academy defeated Victoria 2nd XI by 30 runs in Melbourne,Australia, in the squad’s first match after the Christmas break.Set a target of 404, Victoria were bowled out for 374 with Durham’s SteveHarmison again taking four wickets, so recording an eight-wicket match haul.A third wicket stand of 230 between Jewell (118) and Hussey (112) put Victoria in a strong position but the ECB NCA hit back to take the final eight wickets for 110 runs. Harmison found support from Steve Kirby, who took three wickets, Mark Wagh with two, and Chris Tremlett, who claimed a single victim. Wicket-keeper Mark Wallace took five catches.The ECB NCA earlier declared on 358 for seven, having added a further 39 runswithout loss to their overnight total. Chris Schofield finished on 48 notout, and Mark Wallace was unbeaten on 36.
Nottinghamshire batted stubbornly in the sunshine at Hove to prevent Sussex from capitalising on their big 404-5 score on the first day. At 240-3 by the close the visitors were 82 runs away from saving the follow-on in this Division Two championship match.Jason Lewry and James Kirtley found little life in the pitch and the only early wicket was that of Guy Welton caught at slip. Darren Bicknell crept to 2 by lunch, took 56 minutes afterwards to increase, and got finally into double figures after being 26 overs at the crease. Captain Jason Gallian was run out for 44 but John Morris increased the scoring rate with three boundaries in an over from Will House. He seemed to be set to prosper on a pitch which seemed to be made for batting.Sussex accepted the challenge by turning to the unorthodox left-arm spin of Michael Bevan who dismissed Bicknell at 163 to a slip-catch by Tony Cottey.Bicknell’s 45 had taken 66 overs. Usman Afzaal had an early life as Umer Rashid missed a easy chance. After that the batsmen proceeded easily enough with Morris on 75, just eleven runs short of his highest score of the season.Earlier Sussex had increased their overnight total by only 68 runs as the last five wickets toppled for 17: Paul Reiffel took three to finish with 4-85.
‘It doesn’t seem likely’ that Matt Targett will be at Newcastle United next season, transfer insider Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport.
The lowdown
In January, the 26-year-old sealed a loan move from Aston Villa to St James’ Park until the end of the season. He was one of five players signed by Eddie Howe in January, along with Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood.
The Shields Gazette have reported that Newcastle will have the option to purchase the left-back in the summer for a fee of around £15m.
The latest
Jones has said that Targett’s future is uncertain, but as it stands, the journalist doesn’t think that it lies at St James’ Park.
He told GiveMeSport: “Matt Targett’s future is up in the air at the moment. There is a possibility that he will join Newcastle but, at the moment, it doesn’t seem likely.”
The verdict
This is certainly a surprising revelation from Jones, as you would think that both parties would be keen on extending Targett’s stay on Tyneside.
It may well be best for the 26-year-old to leave Aston Villa permanently following their £25m January signing of Lucas Digne, who also plays in his position, while Howe has selected him every time he has been available in the Premier League.
In those seven games, he has averaged 2.9 clearances, 1.9 key passes (a team-high) and 1.9 tackles per match. Strikingly, his overall WhoScored rating of 6.98/10 is the fourth-highest in the squad.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Indeed, Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher believes that Targett represents a ‘huge’ improvement on what has come before at Newcastle, so losing him would feel like a big setback for Howe and co.
In other news, this injured Newcastle duo are joining their team-mates in Dubai this week
Sussex’s members looked quizzically at one another when Mushtaq Ahmed’s name was not mentioned in the team to face Surrey at Hove. It was later revealed that Mushtaq, Sussex’s whirling legspinner, underwent keyhole surgery on his right knee on Wednesday.”We made the decision very quickly on the Wednesday morning,” Mark Robinson, Sussex’s cricket manager, said. “We were originally hoping that we would just play him in four-day cricket up to the Twenty20 window where he’d then have the operation.”However, on reflection, we felt it wouldn’t be right to compromise our strike bowler by having him playing in discomfort, so, with the amount of unsettled weather around and the fact our club surgeon said he could get him in that day, we felt it was the wisest decision to make. It is a routine operation that many sportsmen have and we are hopeful that Mushy will be back between two and three weeks.”Mushtaq was replaced by Ollie Rayner, the young offspinner, as play finally got underway at Hove after the first day’s washout.
West Indies’ tour of England has been plunged into further crisis with just two days to go until the Twenty20 internationals at The Oval, after Chris Gayle, the one-day captain, was condemned by the West Indies Cricket Board for refusing to back down from his recent criticism of the team’s shambolic tour arrangements.Gayle, who had already been smarting from the board’s initial vetoing of his appointment as one-day captain, hit out in his Cricinfo diary after the squad was forced to draft in five players from the local leagues to make up the numbers for their tour match against England Lions at Worcester last Thursday. The one-day specialists in the squad did not arrive from the Caribbean until the morning of the match, and so were unable to take part in the match.”The WICB says they want the best out of players but we also need the best out of the board,” said Gayle in his diary. “The board is always talking about players needing to change but we, the players, need changes from the board as well. We can’t be out in the wilderness all the time because we are the ones who are getting all the blame.”Gayle’s stance drew a sharp response from the board. Ken Gordon, the president, and Michael Findlay, the team manager, met with him on Monday for “lengthy discussions”, advising the player that his statement was “ill-advised and has caused unnecessary embarrassment to the WICB.” Gayle, however, was unrepentant and, in “a very strongly-worded letter of reprimand” was advised by Gordon and the board that his conduct was “totally unacceptable”.The matter is unlikely to end there, with the WICB threatening to pursue things further at the end of the tour. “The WICB is hopeful that notwithstanding his unwillingness to apologise, Mr. Gayle will understand the seriousness of his actions and avoid any further statements or behaviour that will force the WICB to take drastic and immediate action against him.”The intensity of the stand-off will only serve to deepen the resentment currently brewing in the West Indian camp. None of the senior board members were present during the 3-0 Test series defeat, and Gordon is only in the country to attend this week’s ICC meeting.Following an arbitration panel’s ruling last week which means that the WICB faces having to negotiate the contracts for this tour retrospectively, this public carpeting of one of their most senior players is an indication that those contracts are unlikely to be favourable to a team that, rightly or wrongly, feels it has been cut adrift by its paymasters.
The bat used by Don Bradman in his first Test against England at Brisbane’s Exhibition Ground in 1928-29 has been sold at auction in Sydney to an undisclosed buyer for $58,000 (US$44,000).Bradman had a quiet match, scoring 18 and 1 as England romped to an innings victory in the series opener. For the only time in his career, Bradman was dropped, returning for the third Test at Melbourne where he scored his maiden hundred.Sir Donald donated the bat to a children’s hospital, who in turn awarded it to a schoolboy for winning in a fundraising competition.Other items to go under the hammer included a bat, glove and Ashes handkerchief of Victor Trumper, items belonging to Warwick Armstrong and WG Grace, and a signed team photo of the 1909 Australian cricket team.
Sourav Ganguly shrugged off an indifferent start to his English season and cracked a defiant 142 for Glamorgan in their County Championship game against Kent at Cardiff. He smashed five sixes and 15 fours and was the last man out after a tenth-wicket stand of 80 with Andrew Davies had salvaged some pride for his struggling side. Ganguly had got into his groove in the first innings with a solid 69 and ended up as the joint top-scorer along with David Hemp. However, Glamorgan had fallen too far behind by then and were eventually beaten by ten wickets.The other Indians playing in England didn’t have much to cheer. Irfan Pathan couldn’t pick up any wickets in his 23 overs while playing for Middlesex against Surrey at Lord’s and ended with 0 for 73. He had earlier made a good impression with the bat, though, and his breezy 68 had taken Middlesex to a healthy 437 in the first innings. There was a mini-battle in the game as Pathan faced Harbhajan Singh, his Indian collague who is representing Surrey this season. Pathan spanked 11 fours in his 93-ball knock, including a brief charge against Harbhajan, but he was finally deceived by an offspinner that turned sharply and was bowled. Harbhajan finished with 2 for 87 from his marathon 35-over bowling spell.
Canterbury 215 (Fulton 90, Wiseman 65, Orchard 5-10) and 136 for 3 (Stewart 78) trail Northern Districts 434 by 83 runs Scorecard The weather may turn out to be be Canterbury’s ally in the race for a place in the State Championship final. While nearly a full day was possible at Gisborne, Wellington and New Plymouth were subjected to the heavy rain that hit most of the North Island. If no further play is possible in the other two games, Canterbury will hang on by their finger nails, with the knowledge that they will have to beat Wellington outright to claim the title.Canterbury will also need to put up a better show than they produced after being asked to follow on. Peter Fulton’s innings ended on 90, soon after the resumption, while Paul Wiseman scored 65 after 231 minutes of graft. But he became the first of the victims who were involved in a hat-trick by Mark Orchard. It was only the fourth occasion in ND’s 51-year history that a hat-trick had been achieved, as Orchard finished with superb figures of 5 for 10.In their second innings, Canterbury lost two early wickets, including Fulton for a duck, but then recovered to reach 136 for 3 at stumps. Shanan Stewart (78) fell towards the end of the day after a 111-run partnership with Gary Stead (39 not out). However, Canterbury were still 83 runs behind ND’s first innings total.Otago 154 for 2 (Gaffaney 69) trail Wellington 482 for 9 dec (Walker 126, Nevin 124*) by 328 runs Scorecard Central Districts 268 trail Auckland 316 by 48 runs Scorecard