The public are reminded that, in keeping with an assurance made earlier this year, a limited number of tickets will become available in the ticketing system for the nine upcoming Super Six matches which start on Friday.People wishing to attend these matches should keep a check on the CWC ticket sales channels by either visiting their local CWC stadium ticket office, calling the ticket hotline on +27 (0)83 123 2003 or logging onto the website www.cricketworldcup.comTickets now on sale will be limited to four per person.Media contact:Rodney Hartman Communications Director ICC Cricket World Cup South Africa 2003 Tel: +27 11 446 3604 Fax: +27 11 446 3622 Mobile: +27 83 389 0904
Well to go two nil up is fantastic! Another strong team effort by the lads and with a win or a draw in the next Test at Trent Bridge we will retain the Ashes once again. Of course we are looking at winning each Test as it comes along but of course winning and retaining the little trophy is the most important thing.Here is my diary of the second Test at Lord’s:Pre-match:Steve Waugh stated in the post match interviews that he believed the toss did not make much difference. ‘Tugga’ sometimes says that he hopes he loses the toss so that he doesn’t have to decide what to do! The wicket looked pretty good but because it was overcast, Steve thought that our bowlers could exploit the conditions.Day One:The opening day was a tricky one as there were a few interruptions. In my second over Mark Waugh appeared to lose sight of an edge from Trescothick off a no-ball and at that point the umpires felt it was time for a spell because it was too dark.I was bowling from the Nursery End and as we all know from where I was running in there is a slope from my right to left.Too much is made of the slope at Lord’s. At the end of the day, a bowler still needs to hit the right areas time and again to build pressure on the batsman. If a bowler is thinking about run-up, slope, breeze etc. he is not concentrating on the job at hand.During the first innings Steve Bucknor was at my end. Steve Bucknor does not say much, but he has a great sense of humour and when he does have a chat, it is usually funny and leaves you with a smile on your face.When we came back on we made some great inroads into the England top order. After another interruption or two England closed the day at four for 120-odd, with Ramprakash going just before bad light intervened again.During one of the delays we all met Her Majesty the Queen. During the day she had presented the BBC Radio commentators with a cake and when Colin Miller was introduced the Queen (surprise, surprise) asked Funky about his pink hair.Day Two: It was great to wrap up England for under 200. ‘Pigeon’ [McGrath] bowled superbly and got a nice ovation once he bagged his fifth wicket. The crowd seem to warm to our new idea of the bowlers showing the ball and Glenn did his traditional thumbs up to the four corners of the ground.Early in our innings we lost ‘Haydos’ and ‘Punter’ but in walked Mark Waugh and what a knock he played!When the pressure is on, there are not many better players around than Mark Waugh. He always stands tall and his 108 was a masterful knock. Some of his shots on the leg side were such that only Mark Waugh could possibly have played them.He had a big partnership with Steve, before unfortunately getting run out. At the close we had a handy lead, which hopefully ‘Marto’ and ‘Gilly’ would build on tomorrow.Third Day: The Saturday crowd at Lord’s was fantastic. It was a great atmosphere and certainly one to remember. England had their chance to make early inroads with ‘Gilly’ getting dropped.He didn’t let it faze him and went on to make 90 and with ‘Marto’ getting 50 a lead of over 200 was great!There has been talk in the media over here (I believe by one of the England players) that Australia are a lucky side. Well, we are of the belief that you make your own luck. So ‘Gilly’ got dropped a few times in his 90 runs. England weren’t unlucky; they had their chances. It is just not good cricket to let a player like Adam Gilchrist off the hook like that.So with a big first innings advantage it was great to have England three for 50 at tea after some sharp bowling from Brett Lee. Then Mark Butcher and Mark Ramprakash played well and nearly got to stumps before Ramprakash went lbw for 40. Again we were in a strong position and hopefully with some good bowling we could win sometime tomorrow.Final Day: Well ‘Pigeon’ made some early inroads, knocking over Stewart and Ward and we were away. Apart from some strokeplay from Craig White all we needed was 14 to go two up.Personally, getting five-for is always satisfying but it is a small bonus on top of winning the Test match and a bit of reward for the effort.The man of the match award was fully deserved by Glenn who really set the tone and put us in a great position by getting five wickets in the first innings and claiming another three in the second. Mark Waugh was the other contender with his brilliant hundred and his world record for catches taken.We celebrated in the rooms for about seven hours, awesome stuff!Lord’s, as I mentioned earlier, was a great occasion and it was great to see some ex-players over here. Merv [Hughes] and Pistol [Reiffel] were here with their tour group and Heals [Healy] with his. It is great to have these guys over here and catch up with them and seek out their advice.Well we are off to another tour match and then to Robin Hood country inNottingham where hopefully the score line will read 3-0 in a fortnight or so!
Liverpool are their own worst enemies in the Premier League this season.
Arne Slot’s side’s revival continues, with Wolverhampton Wanderers beaten at Anfield. But once again, the Reds supporters have been treated some gut-wrenching viewing in the closing stages, under the cosh after conceding another set-piece.
Liverpool are back into the top four, with Ryan Gravenberch opening the scoring before Florian Wirtz connected with the in-form Hugo Ekitike before the break.
How Wirtz needed that one. The German playmaker is beginning to grow into his skin on Merseyside, and he has finally broken his duck.
How Florian Wirtz has come alive at Liverpool
Liverpool paid Bayer Leverkusen £116m for Wirtz’s signature this summer. It was the all-time British record before Alexander Isak moved to the club on deadline day.
Wirtz, 22, has been one of the most criticised Premier League players this season. The spotlight has been blinding at times. But now he has scored, rubber-stamping what has quietly been an impressive run of form for the German international.
Having assisted Ekitike last week, the striker returned the favour against Wolves, who remain at the foot of the table on just two points. He won 11 duels and completed eight dribbles, as per Sofascore, head and shoulders above his peers and opponents.
Wirtz is coming alive, and it’s important to remember Liverpool have been abject and imbalanced this year, far below the expected standard.
He has a future at Liverpool, alright, but the same sadly can’t be said for all of the Reds, with one of Wirtz’s attacking teammates heading in the other direction against doomed Wolves.
FSG must now sell Liverpool flop
Liverpool have a talented crop of forwards, and Federico Chiesa has found regular minutes hard to come by since joining from Juventus for a cut-price £12.5m fee in 2024.
His fortunes have improved since the summer, but he has equally been kept on the fringes, albeit playing more of a part than in last year’s title-winning team.
Injuries and absences opened the door for a rare Premier League start against Wolves, but the £150k-per-week Italian failed to grasp it.
The Liverpool Echo summed it up: while Chiesa played a part in Gravenberch’s opening goal, he was largely ineffective down the right wing, minimally involved and lacking the vim and vigour that was required to catch Slot’s eye. He was branded with a match-low 5/10 score.
Chiesa’s Game in Numbers
Match Stats
#
Minutes played
61′
Goals
0
Assists
0
Touches
23
Shots (on target)
0 (0)
Accurate passes
10/16 (63%)
Chances created
0
Crosses
0/2
Dribbles
0/1
Recoveries
2
Tackles
0/0
Ground duels
0/3
Data via Sofascore
Chiesa has found opportunities few and far between at Liverpool, with this his first Premier League start at Anfield. He lost all three of his ground duels, and he didn’t complete a dribble.
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Perhaps that was a chance he could not allow to pass him by, and yet it has, carrying off into the bracing wind the prospect of regular starting berths over the next several weeks. It is worth remembering Dominik Szoboszlai missed out on Saturday due to suspension.
With rumours of interest surfacing from his homeland in recent months, FSG might conclude that Chiesa should be sold after his season-and-a-half in Liverpool. When Mohamed Salah returns from AFCON, his playing time will be further reduced, especially as Slot has shown a willingness to field Jeremie Frimpong in an advanced berth.
‘Fede’ has shown himself to have a Midas touch in front of goal this season, scoring twice off the bench in the Premier League. But he’s perhaps better off as an impact substitute.
Maybe Slot knows a thing about management after all. If Liverpool act on their interest in a new winger, it could prompt Chiesa’s sale. That might be the best move for all parties, should the Italian want to play regular football throughout the rest of his prime years.
Semenyo upgrade: Liverpool looking at signing "one of the best LWs in Europe"
Liverpool won’t feel too disheartened by the latest developments with Antoine Semenyo, if they can secure this statement signing instead.
The Indian Premier League may be cricket’s centrifugal force, pulling in eyes, money and attention, but Pakistan and Bangladesh will wait just a bit longer than others before they too are inevitably sucked in. A five-match ODI series awaits, hastily arranged and lacking glamour, but valuable for both nevertheless.Bangladesh were last in Pakistan, what their management called “a brotherly country”, five years ago. They were whitewashed in both the Tests and ODIs, though having pushed Pakistan in the Tests many thought a corner had been turned. That as many people still argue that the corner has yet to be reached indicates perhaps that due progress has not been made. The focus, still, is on what will be rather than what is.”We are playing well but we are a young side,” Mohammad Ashraful, one of the older members of the side, told reporters in Karachi. “We need time, we need a couple of years. If we play [with] the same team for the next 1-2 years we will have a good team.” There is merit in those words, especially if you take into account the scare they gave South Africa in a Test match a month ago and the occasional ODI wins they have chalked up in the last two years.The problem, as coach Jamie Siddons acknowledges, is that wins and performances are only occasional. South Africa recovered to fully wallop them in the remaining Test and ODI series. “Working with Australia, we had 11 world class players there. At Bangladesh have two to three right now and the rest all have the potential to be world class players, so we have a good mix. But I’m looking forward to the next few years. We will be a good side by then. We’re looking right now for consistency. Everyone says we are inconsistent but we would like to prove that wrong in this series.”Against Pakistan, they have been consistent, but consistently poor, as only one win in 18 ODIs emphatically asserts. That statistic, however, makes no difference to Siddons, though not in the way many might think. “We get beaten by most sides above us regularly. We have no illusions about ourselves. Pakistan are one of the better teams and every day we play against them we will learn.”Pakistan on the other hand will be pleased to do anything other than washing dirty linen in public, as they have been doing. A series against Uganda, you suspect, would be a welcome distraction from the current circus, as well as relief in an incredibly barren calendar.
We have no illusions about ourselves. Pakistan are one of the better teams and every day we play against them we will learn – Jamie Siddons
The routine pre-series question asked of any visitor these days is what impact the absence of Shoaib Akhtar will have on the opponents. Graeme Smith answered it most perceptively last year, asking whether his absence would suit South Africa or Pakistan. Siddons and Ashraful chose the path of indifference, one that’s least likely to make another headline.”Pakistan are ranked 5th right now and we are 9th so the discrepancy is massive,” said Siddons. “We’ve got to stick to our gameplans. If Pakistan slip up, we’ll jump on them. So whoever plays for them, we’ll play our own game – it doesn’t really matter to us.” Ashraful was equally unperturbed. “He has not been in the side a lot for the last few years and they still have quality bowlers in the side. If we play good cricket we can beat any team.”Indeed they can, only they haven’t done it often enough. Pakistan is currently a nervy, jittery side, unsure of itself and its natural game. If there is a time for Bangladesh to disprove many a notion, this is as good as any, though the tourists’ mood is cautious. “Pakistan were looking for some competitive games,” Siddons ended, “and we are here. But results don’t matter that much to us, because we’ll get a lot out of the series anyway.”
The launch of Star Cricket, the dedicated cricket channel for the Indian sub-continent, by ESPN Star has meant that there is another player in the crowded cricket broadcast scene in India. Star Cricket will be on air from June, just in time for India’s tour of England where they are scheduled to play four Tests and seven ODIs. The channel will be the 15th network launched by EPSN Star Sports in the Asia Pacific region. This could mean shifting of cricket content from the sub-continent feeds of ESPN and Star Sports to the new channel.Star Cricket is helped by the fact that ESPN Star hold the ICC Telecast rights for the next eight years which includes the World Cups in 2011 and 2015 and the ICC Champions Trophy. ESPN Star have also acquired telecast rights for matches held in England and Australia for the sub-continental viewership.The channel will telecast 24 Test Matches and 42 ODIs in 2007 , and the ICC Twenty20 World Cup to be held later this year with 27 matches.
Ashley Giles is facing another operation on his injured hip and is extremely unlikely to play in the forthcoming series against Sri Lanka.An exclusive report in the Daily Telegraph stated that Giles is unable to bowl or run some four months after undergoing surgery on his troublesome right hip.The initial prognosis was that he would be back in action after two or three months, but the latest news hints that this could be, as Giles himself has intimated, a career-ending injury.The Telegraph article said that repair work was carried out on a damaged cartilage, a piece of bone was removed and the early signs of arthritis were detected in Giles’ right hip at the time of the first operation.
After much speculation about his future, Kevin Pietersen has confirmed that he wants to leave Nottinghamshire even though he still has a year left on his contract.Pietersen, born in South Africa, becomes eligible to play for England next year and is spending the winter at the national academy in Loughborough. He has scored 3,945 first-class runs at an average of 51 during his career and was far and away Notts’ leading scorer last season with over 1,500 runs.Talking to the BBC Sport website, Pietersen said: “I haven’t been happy there for a while and I want to leave.” He added, “The pitch at Trent Bridge has been one of my problems. I’ve been doing OK, but I could have done so much better if the wicket had been good.”And he already has one eye on playing for England. “I qualify to play for England in August next year and if I continue doing the things I have done for the past three years, then hopefully things will happen for me,” he said. “It’s been a huge ambition of mine to play at the highest level and I want to do that for England.”Surrey, Middlesex and Northamptonshire are all reportedly interested in his services for next season.
Two men who started this series on the periphery of things grabbed the limelight on an enthralling opening day’s play at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. First, Umar Gul – a late replacement for Shabbir Ahmed – bowled a magnificent spell that reduced India to 147 for 7, and then Yuvraj Singh, in only his third Test, stroked a glorious 129-ball 112 to take his side to 287. By stumps, Pakistan had knocked off 61 from the deficit, for the loss of Taufeeq Umar.India’s innings, after Rahul Dravid won the toss, had three distinct phases – dominance, collapse, and eventual recovery to a total that was nevertheless somewhat below par. For a 90-minute spell either side of lunch, when Gul’s control of line and length fetched him splendid figures of 5 for 31, it appeared as though they might not reach 180, but Yuvraj and Irfan Pathan – who showed genuine class with the bat – evened up matters with a 117-run partnership characterised by some stunning strokeplay.After Aakash Chopra departed for 4, trapped in front by Mohammad Sami, Virender Sehwag took up where he had left off in Multan. A slashed six over point off Shoaib Akhtar set the tone, and he followed up with some beautiful off-drives as both Sami and Shoaib failed to make use of favourable conditions on a green-tinged pitch.The complexion of the match changed after the drinks break, by which time Gul had come on to replace the huffing-and-puffing Shoaib. He got Sehwag with one that pitched just outside off stump – Kamran Akmal, deputising for Moin Khan, took a regulation catch – and then delivered a real knockout punch. Sachin Tendulkar was struck high on the pad in front of the stumps, and Simon Taufel lifted the finger, though there was some doubt about whether the ball might have gone over the stumps (75 for 3).VVS Laxman played one withering square cut off Shoaib, but otherwise appeared ill at ease, and when Gul tempted him with one outside off, he nibbled it through to Taufeeq at second slip (94 for 4).Yuvraj was quickly into his stride with a nonchalant flick for four off Gul, but India’s innings was in tatters soon after. Dravid had rarely been troubled during his 33, but when he flashed at a fairly wide one from Gul, Inzamam-ul-Haq took a fine low catch at slip (125 for 5). Parthiv Patel didn’t trouble the scorers, bizarrely choosing to shoulder arms to a straight one from Gul (127 for 6).
Ajit Agarkar made just 2 before edging Shoaib behind the stumps – the only success for Pakistan’s ineffectual spearhead – but his dismissal set the stage for a remarkable rearguard action. Yuvraj was especially ruthless on the radar-less Sami – hooking, cutting and square-driving him for four fours in an over.Pathan got going with a sumptuous off-drive off Shoaib for four, and there were also two quite magnificent square-drives when Sami pitched it in the slot. Yuvraj continued to bat in imperious fashion, slamming Danish Kaneria for six over long-on, and then sweeping him over deep square leg for six more. By tea, it was Pakistan under siege, as both Yuvraj and Pathan struck the ball with a fluency that made a mockery of the supposedly bowler-friendly conditions.Yuvraj was dropped by Akmal off Sami – a sharp chance low to his left when he had made 97 – but Pakistan made the breakthrough soon after, when Pathan slapped a half-volley straight back to Kaneria. He departed having made an excellent 49, with his parents watching from one of the enclosures.A misfield at cover gave Yuvraj his century, and he celebrated with a disdainful pull for four when Shoaib returned for a new spell. But Sami, shockingly wayward in conceding 117 from 23 overs, got rid of Lakshmipathy Balaji, and Yuvraj was finally out, sweeping Kaneria down to Imran Farhat at deep midwicket, as India folded for 287 in just 64.1 overs.Balaji sneaked one through Taufeeq’s defence late in the day, but India knew that they would have to bowl extremely well on day two to wrest the initiative back from a rejuvenated Pakistan side that had rediscovered its appetite for the big occasion. After four days of one-way traffic in Multan, the series had finally become the contest that we all hoped for.
Stage two of what England’s captain has identified as their World Cup knock-out run gets under way in Port Elizabeth tomorrow, with the cobwebs blown away to a reassuring degree by their opening win at Buffalo Park on Sunday.This is the last of England’s “minnow matches” and is against a side that is already weighted to the bottom of the Group A table, with two overwhelming defeats (by Pakistan and Zimbabwe) and a massively inferior run rate.With so little time left before their matches against Pakistan, India and Australia, England do not have the luxury enjoyed by the tournament favourites of being able to make changes for the lesser games.”We are running out of chances,” Nasser Hussain said. “There’s no coming back from a loss for us. We have to win convincingly.”The teams will get better and better as the competition progresses for us and we have to look at every game as if it’s a semi-final or final.”Namibia are coached by Warwickshire’s Scotsman Dougie Brown, who played nine one-day internationals for England in 1997 and 1998. Tournament debutants they may be, but Brown is not without ambition for tomorrow’s encounter.”It hasn’t really gone according to plan up to now but there is nothing to say we can’t do something to make people sit up and say we are not such a bad side after all,” Brown said.”We’re not going to be daunted or fazed by any of the players in the England side. We thoroughly respect them but we’re going to try and score and play to the best of our ability. We’re not out there to be everyone’s whipping boys or just to make up the numbers.”Brown’s Warwickshire team-mate, Nick Knight, will be keen to build on his opening 51 against the Netherlands, and believes that England have plenty to offer despite the controversial build-up to the tournament.”Cricket is what we’ve come out here for and we were chuffed to get back on the cricket pitch,” Knight said.”We’re determined to do ourselves justice in the World Cup and do well. We’ve had a good preparation in the last week among all that’s been going on and we’re quietly confident we can do something special.”Michael Vaughan, who also compiled a half-century against the Netherlands, is keeping his fingers crossed that it could be the start of a cup run of his own.”I’m going into these games looking to play exactly as I have all year,” said Vaughan, who reached double figures only three times in his first eight one-day international appearances.”I’ve only played about 20-odd matches and my first eight or so were shambolic performances against Pakistan and Australia in my first series, but I have been quite pleased with the way I’ve been playing.”They’ve now given me a settled position at number three and it is one I feel comfortable in. If I can settle into that role I’m hoping I’ll be able to produce the performances that can help England.”Vaughan also insisted that the England squad are hoping that Hussain will remain as captain, following his admission that he will consider his future in the job after the tournament following the recent Zimbabwe crisis.”Nasser’s doing a fantastic job and we’re all behind him and hope he’ll continue after the World Cup,” Vaughan added, despite hinting that he would be interested in the job further down the line.”First and foremost the job isn’t available and I’m just concentrating on my batting, it’s my first World Cup, which is a fantastic occasion, and I’m determined I’m going to go out and enjoy it.”But if after the end of this tournament, or in a year’s time, the job becomes available then obviously I’d like my name to be mentioned.”
The small fourth day crowd witnessed some bizarre scenes after tea as the entire Middlesex XI plus coach John Emburey turned their hands to assisting the ground staff in order to enable their CricInfo Championship match against Notts to re-start after a downpour.A heavy thunderstorm had halted play with Notts on 193-8, still 20 runs short of making their opponents bat again. Needing just two more wickets to cement their lead at the top of Division Two the Middlesex players helped drag covers off the playing surface and generally assist with the entire mopping up operation.Once the umpires were satisfied with their efforts play re-started just before 5pm with a minimum of 19.3 overs left to be bowled. But only three of those overs could be delivered before yet another shower dashed the Middlesex hopes.At the interruption Notts were on 202–8 but, somewhat incredibly, play once again resumed. Two Read boundaries off Fraser helped Notts sail past the 213 needed to make Middlesex bat again as finally the umpires called it off. Read had batted heroically to end undefeated on 76 and Harris finished on 14. Tim Bloomfield was the pick of the Middlesex bowlers with figures of 5-58Beginning the day on 93-3 Notts last three wickets inside just five overs. Bilal Shafayat and Darren Bicknell both fell to Tim Bloomfield and Paul Johnson was caught at forward short leg off Phil Tufnell for 0.David Lucas scored 11, sharing in a stand of 38 with Read but when he and Richard Logan fell hopes of saving the match seemed to have been extinguished.Read went on the offensive and reached his third half-century of the season in just 69 balls. With Harris as support tea was reached on 187–8. Nine deliveries were possible after the resumption before the showers came but despite the efforts of the Middlesex players there was no longer enough time for them to force a win.