Caribbean Memories: Charlie Davis on West Indies v India 1971 Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”) Streaming Audio: Real :: WMAWe’ve already heard about India’s famous win against West Indies at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad from Salim Durani, and now it’s time for a West Indian point-of-view on the same historic game. Charlie Davis top-scored for his side in both innings, and remained unbeaten through the series. Chatting with Cricinfo’s Nagraj Gollapudi, he reveals the secret of his success in that game.He also talks about how S Venkataraghavan thrived against the three West Indian left-handers, Roy Fredericks, Clive Lloyd and Gary Sobers. He tells us what he thought of Sunil Gavaskar, whose debut Test it was, and shares with us a delightful West Indian theory about why Bishan Singh Bedi was such an accurate bowler. It has to do with his long hair and the threat of scissors! Listen up.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”) Streaming Audio: Real :: WMA
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has abandoned tentative plans to start its own TV channel in the wake of the broadcast-rights dispute that cast such an unwelcome shadow over the last Indian season. The channel had been proposed by IS Bindra, president of the Punjab Cricket Association, and Lalit Modi of the Rajasthan Cricket Association.The Khaleej Times quoted Jyoti Bajpai, the BCCI treasurer, as saying: “We can’t see such a thing happening for a long time. Not in the near future anyway.”With ESPN-Star, Zee and the BCCI fighting pitched battles in the courts, Bindra and Modi had suggested that having a channel run by the board would prevent such controversies and also allow cricketers to earn even more as a result of increased TV revenue.According to Bajpai, last season’s fiasco has resulted in the board taking fresh stock of the whole tender process. This will now be done in two stages, with the first stage considering whether the said TV channel had a pedigree when it came to cricket telecasts.”There would be an initial screening of interested companies where it would be ascertained if they are technically qualified to telecast the matches,” said Bajpai. “Only once they clear the specifications spelled out by us would be they considered for telecasting rights.”According to the new criteria, only the likes of ESPN, Star Sports, Ten Sports, Doordarshan and Set Max would be eligible to bid for telecast rights. Zee, which outbid ESPN-Star before the matter ended up in the courts last year, would be an outsider, even though they have recently launched a sports channel.The biggest gainer from the telecast-rights fallout ahead of the Australia series last season was Doordarshan, who got to telecast high-profile matches involving Australia, Pakistan and South Africa. In addition to the loss of revenue that resulted from hurriedly putting together a deal with the national broadcaster, the BCCI were said to be far from satisfied with the quality of the finished product – viewers became quite accustomed to overs being a five-ball affair as commercials took centre-stage.
Michael Vaughan hailed England’s determined batting after his side battled out for a draw in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle. England were just one wicket away from defeat when they were offered the light with four overs remaining.”I think we can be very proud of the team. To lose the toss on this pitch and fight for five days is an exceptional effort," a relieved Vaughan said. “It was pretty nervous in the dressing room, though Ashley had a fantastic game and there were some fantastic performances throughout the team. We showed great character to get the draw."He continued: “It was nervy seeing Hoggy stroll to the wicket, but they hung in there and we are strong for Kandy. We will go on to Kandy and look to put in a similar performance.”Hashan Tillakaratne, the Sri Lanka captain, admitted it his frustration, but he insisted his team would be in a confident mood for the next Test.”I just want to thank the boys for playing such lovely cricket. The weather was not with us but we can’t blame it," he said. “We need to brush up a few areas before next match but we will regroup and play good cricket in the next two matches.”Muttiah Muralitharan, Man of the Match with 11 wickets, added: "It is frustrating, but it is okay because there are another two games to go. We will come strong in the next game.”
Mutare Sports Club are national league champions for the first time after winning their final game of the season. Tied first with Old Georgians and Universals going into the last game, they finished on equal points with OGs (after both sides had won) – but went through on a higher run rate.Travelling to Old Hararians in Harare to meet Bulawayo Sports Club last weekend, they prevailed by nine wickets with time to spare. Managing only a disappointing 77 in 39 overs after winning the toss, BSC succumbed to disciplined Manica bowling with Sims collecting two for 10, Burmester two for 19 and Iain Coulson mopping the tail with three for 2.Neil Ferreira (40 not out) and Andy Flower (29 not out) knocked off the runs after the early loss of Tafadzwa Madondo – playing his last game for Manicaland prior to departure to New Zealand to start a professional rugby career. It’s not clear exactly how he is going to break in, but he is initially heading to Auckland to stay with family. He has been made to understand his prospects are good. He certainly won’t miss the black cricketers from Takashinga club. Batting against them a fortnight ago, they taunted with him unfavourable comparisons to his deceased Test-playing brother Trevor and his willingness to play for the enemy (Manicaland).Flower batted slowly, trying to get maximum time in the middle prior to his departure to India with the Zimbabwe team later this week. Alistair Campbell was missing from the Manicaland team having bruised a thumb, courtesy of a Henry Olonga lifter during a mid-week net practice. He too will be joining Flower in India, having finally finished a period of extended punishment for talking to the English media. He appears to have learnt his lesson. All friendly approaches by this journo last week attracted glacial reserve from this normally outgoing man.Takashinga return to Mutare Sports Club next Sunday to play Manicaland in an end-of-season knockout competition for the top four sides of the national league. Expect more sparks to fly. And this time Manicaland will be without their top guns – Flower and Campbell in India, Whittall and Sims in South Africa with Zimbabwe A. The other two teams in the competition are Old Georgians and Universals.Watching the antics of Takashinga two weeks ago was former Manicaland Secretary Graham Skidmore. Out from Taunton for a short holiday to visit his daughters, he remains an active umpire in the UK and spent much time pressing umpire test-questionnaires into the hands of bemused local umpires. He also gave news of Jeremy Barnes, former Mutare Boys High teacher of the late 70’s and Manicaland cricketer. After a long spell teaching in Johannesburg he is now a professor – married to an American GP – and raises corn and chickens in Texas.This Friday sees the start of Manicaland’s first class program with a four-day game against the CFX Academy at Mutare Sports Club. Making their first-class debuts will be Naeem Sheth and schoolboy’s Tino Mawoyo (16) and Adiel Kugotsi (17).
Leeds United duo Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper could both return from injury for the Whites’ Premier League clash with Wolves on Friday evening.
The Lowdown: Leeds face huge game
The Whites face yet another vital match in their quest to avoid relegation, with an impressive eighth-placed Wanderers outfit making the trip to Elland Road.
Last weekend’s 2-1 victory at home to Norwich City was a massive moment in Leeds’ season but more positive results are required in order to avoid the drop, with Everton grabbing three points of their own on Thursday evening.
Phillips and Cooper haven’t yet featured at all in 2022, but in a huge boost, that could be about to change.
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The Latest: Double injury boost
Taking to Twitter on Thursday, journalist Phil Hay confirmed that the key Leeds duo are back in training ahead of the game, with Jesse Marsch describing it as ‘big’:
“Jesse Marsch talking at his press conference – Phillips and Cooper both back in training and potentially available for tomorrow.”
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The Verdict: Massive news for Marsch
Phillips and Cooper have been two of the star men at Leeds in the last four or five years, with both playing such big roles in them returning to the Premier League.
The former has matured into one of England’s key men and has been a huge miss in midfield, while captain Cooper – Leeds’ second best player this campaign according to Whoscored match ratings – has also been a big loss, with the Whites conceding 65 goals in 29 league matches this season.
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While a start may come too soon for Phillips and Cooper against Wolves, having them back in the fold in any capacity is absolutely enormous and a cameo appearance can’t be ruled out. They will be vital in helping Marsch’s side hopefully pull clear of safety.
In other news, one Leeds player could miss out against Wolves, though. Read more here.
ScorecardThe Lions eased to a 68-run victory over Zimbabwe in their Standard Bank Pro20 match at the Wanderers on Thursday. It was the hard-hitting of Vaughn van Jaarsveld and the wonderful new-ball bowling of Cliff Deacon that set up such a comfortable win, the Lions scoring 158 for 5 and then bowling Zimbabwe out for just 90.Deacon’s swing back into the batsmen was a potent tool and Zimbabwe lost their way early on as they crashed from 25 for 1 to 29 for 5 in the space of three overs. Deacon, a left-arm swing bowler, finished with fine figures of 4 for 15 and after his top-order demolition job there was no more hope of Zimbabwe registering their second victory in this year’s competition. Stuart Matsikenyeri delayed the rout with 32 off 27 balls, but there was no other resistance from the Zimbabwe batsmen.It was Van Jaarsveld who provided the Lions innings with a late surge, biffing five sixes in his 65 not out off just 37 balls in a top-class display of power hitting. Justin Ontong had motored to 35 off 27 balls to see the Lions to a solid start. Keith Dabengwa, the left-arm spinner, was the most successful Zimbabwe bowler with 2 for 34 as he bowled both Alviro Petersen (19) and Stephen Cook (22). But he was not the most impressive of their attack: Prosper Utseya conceded just 23 runs in his four overs.Zimbabwe were sluggish in the field, whereas the Lions had a pair of fielding stars in Deacon and Blake Snijman, who shared five outstanding boundary catches between them. The Zimbabweans will be cursing their poor batting displays in their last two matches after starting the campaign with a victory over the Eastern Cape Warriors in Port Elizabeth. ScorecardAn all-round performance by Roelof van der Merwe helped the Titans to a convincing 31-run victory against the Warriors at Willowmoore Park in Benoni. van de Merwe hammered 66 off 30 balls, took 3 for 41 with his left-arm spin to lead his side’s domination in the tournament.Walking in at the end of the first over after the Titans opted to bat first, van de Merwe dominated a stand of 82 with Gulam Bodi, slamming ten fours and two sixes in just over half-an-hour at the crease. After Bodi’s dismissal with the score at 98 for 3, Francois du Plessis and Albie Morkel took control and added 43 in 4.3 overs before Wayne Parnell accounted for du Plessis. Morkel and Farhaan Behardien then combined to push the score past 170.The Warriors top order failed to convert their starts as Morkel and Ethy Mbhalati took early wickets to reduce them to 49 for 4. du Plessis, the legspinner, claimed two wickets in as many balls in his first over to sinks the opposition further. Davey Jacobs top scored with 33 off 24 balls before falling to van de Merwe in the 16th over. By then, the score read 118 for 8 and the target proved way out of reach for the lower order. du Plessis finished with 3 24, the best figures of the match.
Roger Mosey, the BBC’s director of sport, has revealed that their World Cup highlights programme attracted more than 17m people, compared to 6.6m who tuned into BSkyB’s live coverage.In a wide-ranging speech at the Professional Cricketers’ Association Business Summit on Thursday, Mosey spoke of the BBC’s flagship Test Match Special, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this summer, and the importance of balancing traditional programming with modern techniques in what is increasingly an advertisers’ market.Yet, while the BBC have continued to dominate cricket broadcasting over the radio waves – for half a century – the world of television is more fickle. The BBC’s rights to cover live cricket ended in 1999 when it was sold to Channel 4. Subsequently, in 2005, the ECB’s decision to sell the rights to BSkyB was met with admonishment by many, including several MPs, and Mosey is insistent that pay-per-view television has cut off a large section of the British population”The issue isn’t about Sky: it’s about pay television compared with free-to-air,” he said. “It’s exactly the reason why audiences for English Test cricket have fallen significantly since it moved to pay TV.”Being on terrestrial TV and being free-to-air is vital if you want to attract large audiences to sport. Don’t believe the line that after analogue switch-off and when we’re all digital it will be a level playing field among all broadcasters,” he said. “Forking out an extra £35 a month or whatever for pay TV with sports channels is a rather key differentiator between channels.”Sky won the rights in 2005, ending Channel 4’s coverage which, in their brief but successful six-year span, had attracted many new supporters to the game. Innovations such as Hawk Eye, their weekly cricket road-shows and high-profile commentators such as Richie Benaud and Tony Greig all helped rejuvenate a product which, in the hands of the BBC, had become stale.”Personally, I would never argue that cricket shouldn’t take some of its money from pay TV: it should be absolutely at liberty to do that,” Mosey said. “But, I have a problem with the notion of the whole of the live content of a particular sport being on one platform – especially when it’s a sport with as many hours as cricket.”We do not believe it’s essential or healthy that 100% of any live sport is with one operator. We do believe it’s possible to arrange future contracts so that they give mass audiences the opportunity to see some matches live.”The BBC will have to wait, though, as the current contracts are not up for renewal until 2009.
Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC, has said the corporation is considering bidding for the television rights when they next come up for tender in 2009. Last year, the ECB sold the rights to BSkyB who, from this year, hold an all-encompassing exclusive deal for the next four years.Thompson, who was appointed director general in 2004, believes the BBC “should look very closely at cricket again,” while refuelling the debate that the ECB’s asking price was too high.”I thought that the last round the amount the English cricket board were asking for the rights was very high [sic],” he told BBC Radio Five Live. “It’s a more specialist audience – it’s not as big, for example, for live Premiership football.”We have to think about value. If you buy one thing, you can’t buy another so what you’re trying to do when you’re thinking about the portfolio of rights is what’s your priority.”The decision to sell the rights to BSkyB caused an uproar among supporters and even in government. John Grogan, a Labour MP, tabled an early-day motion in the House of Commons calling for home Test matches to be returned to free-to-air TV. And lobbyists, notably Keep Cricket Free, campaigned for the decision to be overturned.Last November it was revealed that the BBC did attempt to reach a deal with the ECB by pushing for a “dip in dip out” basis; their proposal was to show shortened portions of the day’s play allowing Sky to retain their ball-by-ball live coverage. However, as Thompson concedes, the limiting factor was the money involved.”It depends not just on the choice of the sport, he said, “but also on how much it’s going to cost.”
Brian Lara has been given permission by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to miss the one-day internationals on the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Lara, 36, is intent on extending his scintillating Test career and said that a reduction in the amount of one-day cricket might give him “a little more time in the Test arena”.”That’s what I enjoy a lot, the five-day game,” he told the BBC and added that he had already informed the WICB of his decision. Leonard Robertson, the West Indies communications manager, confirmed that the WICB had complied. Lara was among the 13 players picked for the Sri Lankan tour, which will include two Tests, in Colombo and Kandy, and a triangular one-day tournament also involving India.Early hints of Lara’s reluctance to play one-dayers were provided when he was “rested” for the three ODIs against Pakistan at home last month. Bennett King, the side’s coach, hinted at a change in Lara’s attitude as far back as the VB Series in Australia in January. “I think we’ve got to be mindful of his longevity in the game and how we manage him so that we can get the best out of Brian for as long as he wants to play,” King said then.Lara has amassed 9,354 runs in 256 ODIs, including 19 hundreds, and has been one of the most thrilling batsmen in both forms of the game for more than a decade. But Lara’s move might not mean an end to his one-day career as he has already publicly said that he is keen to play the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean. West Indies are not scheduled to play any more ODIs until they visit New Zealand next February and March and Lara will get a chance to concentrate solely on Tests in the intervening period.