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Trent Copeland reminded Australia’s selectors of his credentials with a five-wicket haul that set up victory for New South Wales in Sydney

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2011
ScorecardTrent Copeland collected 5 for 44•Getty ImagesTrent Copeland reminded Australia’s selectors of his credentials with a five-wicket haul that set up victory for New South Wales in Sydney. Copeland was axed from the Test squad for the series against New Zealand, having toured in South Africa and Sri Lanka, and in his second match back for the Blues he picked up 5 for 44 to help restrict Western Australia to 199.Copeland struck three times in his first three overs and the Warriors never fully recovered from their shaky start of 4 for 14. The opener Wes Robinson steadied things somewhat with 87 but his only serious support came from the fast bowler Nathan Rimmington, who was coming off his maiden first class hundred and scored 46 in an 89-run stand with Robinson.The visitors were all out in their 49th over and didn’t crack the 200 mark, hardly what the stand-in captain Luke Ronchi wanted when he chose to bat. The New South Wales chase was reduced to 198 from 46 overs due to rain and when they stumbled to 5 for 103 the hosts looked in danger.But half-centuries to Steven Smith (57 not out) and Peter Nevill (55 not out) got the hosts home with 16 balls to spare.

Shaminda Eranga, the fast bowler, has a strong chance to make his Test debut for Sri Lanka in the second Test that begins tomorrow in Pallekele, as left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara struggles with a knee problem

Daniel Brettig in Kandy07-Sep-2011Shaminda Eranga, the fast bowler, has a strong chance to make his Test debut for Sri Lanka in the second Test that begins tomorrow in Pallekele, as left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara struggles with a knee problem. Eranga, 25, had impressed during his appearances on the ODI-leg of this tour, and Australia were a little surprised not to see him in the XI for the first Test in Galle, which the hosts lost by 125 runs.Welegedara had trained gingerly on Wednesday, and his place in the side will hinge on a fitness test scheduled an hour before the Test begins. Ajantha Mendis is also likely to be included in the Sri Lanka XI in place of Suraj Randiv.”[Mendis] is in the 13, we have not picked the final XI,” Sri Lanka’s captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said. “Welegedara is having slight knee pain and we have to assess his fitness tomorrow morning and then make a decision.”Sri Lanka’s readiness for the contest has been questioned after the Galle Test, with former captain Arjuna Ranatunga saying that while the hosts look the stronger side on paper, Australia were more committed. Dilshan said his team had built up a more positive mindset while training in Pallekele, and was now ready to fight for a series-levelling victory.”In the last two days we’ve had good training sessions, everyone is ready to play their part in this match. I think we have the confidence [to bounce back], everyone is good mentally.”A potential ally for the hosts is the pitch in Pallekele, which seems to display none of the ill-will of the Galle surface, allowing Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene to harbour thoughts of dominating with the bat. Australia’s defeats in the last Ashes, Sri Lanka would recall, came as a result of the weight of runs pressed upon them by England’s batsmen.”It looks a good wicket, especially for the batsmen. I think for the first three days it will be good for batting and then it will start turning,” Dilshan said. “In Galle I lost the toss, batting in the second innings was a little hard, but this is a different wicket.”Dilshan’s own performance in the first Test placed him under heavy scrutiny, but he has no intention of changing his attacking methods. He is looking forward to improving his productivity though, and the memory of his blistering century in the first Twenty20 international of the tour at this venue could put his mind in the right space.”I do need to put some runs on the board, especially at the start. The start is really important,” Dilshan said. “Definitely this wicket will help the batsmen – all the batsmen can take advantage and score some runs.”We have talked about what happened in the last match. This is a new match, a new wicket, new conditions. We’re looking forward to coming in with new tactics.”

Trinidad & Tobago secured a place in the final of the Regional Super50 with a four-wicket win against Guyana at Providence

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2011Trinidad & Tobago secured a place in the final of the Regional Super50 with a four-wicket win against Guyana at Providence. Guyana chose to bat but came unstuck against T&T’s spin-heavy attack and medium-pacer Rayad Emrit. Legspinner Samuel Badree, who bowled an economical spell of 1 for 28 in ten overs, struck the first blow, dismissing Guyana captain Assad Fudadin for a duck. Emrit got rid of the other opener, Trevon Griffith, and Guyana were 22 for 2. Leon Johnson, who top scored with 66, led the resistance from the middle order but it was broken by the offspinners, Sunil Narine and Sherwin Ganga. Narine bowled a 12-over spell and finished with 2 for 26. Emrit returned to jolt the lower order, picking up 4 for 39 as Guyana were limited to 200 for 9.T&T’s chase got off to a rocky start with wicketkeeper William Perkins falling to offspinner Steven Jacobs before a run had been scored. Jacobs would go on to finish with figures of 2 for 20 in 12 overs. The other opener, Justin Guillen, scored 63 to keep one end steady but there was little support at the other. Guyana were in with a solid chance when Sherwin Ganga fell with T&T on 106 for 5 in the 28th over. Jason Mohammed, however, scored an unbeaten 65 from No. 5 and shepherded T&T home. He had support from Emrit and Kevon Cooper, who both made 17, as they reached 201 for 6 with 23 balls to spare.

A 3-2 victory and a Man-of-the-Series award concluded a four-day period that couldn’t have gone much better for Cook

Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford09-Jul-2011If Alastair Cook really meant it when he said he wasn’t motivated “to prove anyone wrong” then he has a strange way of going about things. A 3-2 victory and a Man-of-the-Series award concluded a four-day period that couldn’t have gone much better for Cook.A series defeat against Sri Lanka, the World Cup runners-up, wouldn’t have been calamitous for Cook, especially if he’d made the runs he did, but the pressure would have been increased a few notches. Now, though, he has his second one-day trophy as ODI captain, following the win in Bangladesh last year, and can look forward with confidence to the challenges ahead, after a period back under Andrew Strauss’ leadership in the Test team.While showing that he can translate his Test batting form into the one-day game with 298 runs at a strike-rate of 96.75 in the series, Cook also displayed, during the deciding game at Old Trafford, his tactical acumen in the field. With three frontline quicks and two spinners to rotate while defending 268 there wasn’t much room for a wrong call, particularly after Sri Lanka twice recovered through Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews; but Cook got it all right.That came right down to giving Jade Dernbach, preferred to the struggling Stuart Broad, the 49th over, with 17 needed off 12 balls after Lasith Malinga had launched James Anderson for a six. Dernbach was in just his fifth ODI but pulled out his trademark slower ball which Mathews spooned to short third man, and then gave Malinga a taste of his own medicine with a swinging yorker.”He has bowled really well at the death, and one of the main reasons he’s been brought into that side is because of the skills he has – and you saw it at the end there, a slower ball followed by a yorker,” Cook said. “We need everyone to be able to do that. He’s bowled very well in pressure situations and in Powerplays.”That’s the first time I’ve had a really tight scenario in my eight games as one-day captain, and I thought we handled it well. The way we committed to what ball we wanted to bowl and were very clear in how we want to bowl was very pleasing.”At the start of the 35th over it appeared Cook was about to give Kevin Pietersen an over to give him some leeway later in the innings. But Sri Lanka took the batting Powerplay and Cook opted to return to Tim Bresnan and Dernbach. The visitors made 37 runs and didn’t lose a wicket, but Cook was confident England could hold on with Graeme Swann and Samit Patel having overs left.”Once we got through that Powerplay and they still needed seven-and-a-half an over and we had five overs of spin, I was quite confident. But we needed to get Mathews.”It was also a match which showed how vital it is to use up 50 overs after a collapse because the 15 runs added by Anderson and Dernbach off the final 11 balls of England’s innings proved the difference. “From the position we got ourselves into, 213 for 3, we would have liked 280 or 290,” Cook said. “But we are being critical – because 270 on that wicket was a very good score – and that little partnership at the end got us there.”Even though Cook has insisted there are no personal agendas for him there was more than a hint of satisfaction at what had been achieved, especially in the light of the growing criticism after England’s performance at Lord’s last week.”Everyone was writing us off, and we’ve played well in these past two games in all conditions; on spinning wickets and flat wickets,” he said. “When you pull on an England shirt, people are always going to have their own opinions.”I don’t do it to prove anyone wrong. I do it for the satisfaction that we got in that final half-hour of the game, and you can’t replicate that. That’s why you play the game. I think the most pleasing aspect is the way we fought back from 2-1 down in the series.”

James Foster, the Essex captain, has been banned for two matches after a spate of disciplinary problems at the county who have also been fined £5000 by the ECB

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2011James Foster, the Essex captain, has been banned for two matches after a spate of disciplinary problems at the county, who have also been fined £5000 by the ECB.The ECB have a system of penalty points in place when a player breaks the code, but the Cricket Discipline Commission Panel criticised Essex for failing to take quick enough action following reports by umpires of misconduct over the last year and found Essex guilty on “five or more separate occasions of fixed-penalty offences in a 12-month period.””We are disappointed that Essex had taken no prompt action,” a statement said. “No management policy to safeguard against potential future incidents is in place.”They were especially critical of Foster’s role in failing to curb the problems. The most recent incident of the ECB imposing penalty points on an Essex player was against Foster for serious dissent in the Friends Life t20 match against Surrey on June 13.”The regulations make it absolutely clear that the captain is responsible for discipline on the field and ensuring no repetition occurs,” the statement continued. “We have taken into account the penalty imposed by Essex on the captain for his misconduct but in our view the captain’s responsibilities are great and we conclude that taking all the mitigation into account the correct penalty is an immediate two-match suspension.”Essex have accepted the punishments handed down but believe actions put in place by the club have not been taken into account by the panel.”We are however disappointed that the actions taken by the club following umpires’ reports on misconduct of players have been ignored by the disciplinary committee,” the club said. “We should like to clarify that we do take any breaches of discipline very seriously and have an internal process to deal with them. If a transgression is reported to us we investigate the circumstances of the offence and if considered appropriate we take robust action against the offending player.”The captain and the players have all been reminded that while we recognise the need to play with passion and intensity they have a responsibility to uphold the traditions of the game and operate within the regulations and in the spirit of cricket.””The club has every confidence in James and his abilities as captain,” they added. “In his long career he has had an unblemished disciplinary record with the ECB, and both James and the club now wish to draw a line under these unfortunate incidents.”Essex have to make a further £300 contribution towards the costs of the hearing and Foster will miss the Friends Life t20 fixtures against Hampshire and Glamorgan. With Essex currently fourth in the South Group and battling for a quarter-final spot his absence comes at a vital time for the club.

Ajmal Shahzad has been ruled out of whatever further matches England play at the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2011With England having kept their World Cup hopes alive after their 18-run victory against West Indies they need to decide on a replacement for Ajmal Shahzad who has been ruled out with a hamstring strain.Shahzad picked up the problem, a recurrence of an injury he suffered in Australia, between playing Bangladesh, where he took 3 for 43, and the West Indies match and missed the final group game in Chennai. A spokesman said Shahzad “will return to the UK for further assessment” but the management were waiting on the West Indies result before considering their options.A defeat would have sent England home and, although they still need results to go their way, it’s likely another player will now be flown out. The likeliest replacement is Chris Woakes, the Warwickshire seamer, who made his international debut in Australia and impressed in both the Twenty20s and ODIs. In the first T20 at Adelaide he held his nerve to hit the winning runs then, in the fifth ODI at Brisbane, he took 6 for 49 which are the second best figures by an England bowler in one-dayers.In recent weeks he has been on the Lions tour of West Indies playing the regional four-day tournament and took a hat-trick against Guyana at Providence. Another option could be Adil Rashid, the Yorkshire legspinner, but with James Tredwell having come into the side with 4 for 48 against West Indies England will probably feel their spin options are covered.Shahzad becomes the third England player to be sent home from the World Cup following Kevin Pietersen (hernia) and Stuart Broad (side) back to the UK. Eoin Morgan was initially ruled out of the tournament, but then replaced Pietersen having recovered from his broken finger.

Shane Watson has said he is looking forward to an “exciting” new era as his team shifts focus from a disappointing World Cup campaign to the one-day series against Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-2011Shane Watson, the newly appointed Australian vice-captain, has said he is looking forward to an “exciting” new era as his team shifts focus from a disappointing World Cup campaign to the one-day series against Bangladesh.”It’s very disappointing not to get through further than what we did in the World Cup. Unfortunately, that’s been done with and we have got to move on,” Watson said on Wednesday. “We have got three games in Bangladesh with a new captain (Michael Clarke) that will add a slightly new dynamic to our team. I think it’s really an exciting phase in Australian cricket. It’s a changing time in Australian cricket.”This will be Ricky Ponting’s first ODI series as a rank-and-file player since 2002, after leading Australia in a record 228 one-dayers. He stepped down as leader after Australia’s campaign for a fourth straight World Cup ended in a quarter-final defeat to India last month.Watson said the continued presence of Ponting in the side will help Australia’s attempts to arrest their slide from dominance. “I think it is absolutely brilliant that Ricky still continues to play on. Having his experience around the group is very important for our development moving forward.”Australian coach Tim Nielsen agreed Ponting will be an influential player during the transitional phase. “Michael had done a little bit of captaincy before but Shane hadn’t necessarily been involved in the leadership group at all. So it will be excellent for both of them to have Ricky’s experience, cricket knowledge and his competitiveness.”Australia play a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI on Thursday in Fatullah, before taking on Bangladesh in three one-dayers starting April 9.

Wolverhampton Wanderers will look to get their push for European football back on track as they host Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League this afternoon.

With just five matches to go, Wolves are still firmly in contention of securing a place in one of the continental competitions for next season, with Bruno Lage’s men three points behind seventh-placed West Ham United whilst having a game in hand.

However, three defeats in their last four matches have seen the Old Gold suffer a major blow in the race for Europe, and they can no longer afford any slip-ups.

Getting back on track with a victory against the Seagulls today is crucial, but who will start for Lage’s side? Here is how Football FanCast expects Wolves to line up this afternoon:

Wolves XI – Sa; Boly, Coady, Saiss; Semedo, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Jonny; Hwang, Neto, Jimenez

We anticipate just one change from last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Burnley, which sees Fabio Silva replaced by Pedro Neto, with Raul Jimenez leading the line against Graham Potter’s side.

Silva has seriously struggled to make an impact this season and the £35m fee they paid for him in 2020 is still yet to be justified.

Labelled a “hindrance” by Wolves journalist Liam Keen earlier this season, the 19-year-old is yet to score in the current campaign, despite making 24 appearances across all competitions. Lage has tried to play the Portuguese youngster in the same line-up as Jimenez, but Silva’s sorry goal return shows that it hasn’t worked.

In his place comes Neto, who is still being managed carefully having recently returned from a serious knee injury. The 22-year-old returned to the side in late February after a ten-month spell on the sidelines but has started just one match since.

With Neto having been declared fit enough to be involved for Wolves for the past two months, Lage must now unleash the £39k-per-week winger, who Jamie Carragher described as a “superstar” last season after scoring five goals and providing six assists.

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Quality in the final third has been severely lacking for the Old Gold this term, with only four teams scoring fewer Premier League goals, and Lage will need to find a solution to his team’s woes in front of goal. Involving Neto would certainly be a worthwhile test of his ability to address Wolves’ lack of bite in attack.

Although victory will most likely keep Wolves eighth due to West Ham’s superior goal difference, it is vital that Lage’s men keep breathing down the necks of the Hammers and Manchester United.

AND in other news: Forget Marcal: Lage could sign perfect Wolves upgrade in “tremendous” £35k-p/w “beast”

Shahid Karim, Mohammad Amir’s lawyer at the spot-fixing hearing in Doha, has said that the ICC tribunal’s decision to defer their verdict gives his client hope

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-2011Shahid Karim, Mohammad Amir’s lawyer at the spot-fixing hearing in Doha, has said that the ICC tribunal’s decision to defer their verdict gives his client renewed hope.”The last day of the (six-day) hearing was very positive,” Karim told on his return to Lahore. “It could be a silver lining for us. I hope Amir will be exonerated next month when the verdict will be announced.”Karim had earlier requested the three-man tribunal examining the charges to take more time to study the case before announcing its verdict, which was initially due on January 11. Following the six-day hearing, the tribunal deferred the verdict to February 5.Karim hopes Amir’s age and unblemished record will work in his favour. “I am happy with the procedure of the hearing,” he had said in Doha. “The ICC code of conduct has a clause which points to looking at the player’s age and past disciplinary record and Amir is young, so we hope the tribunal will keep this in mind.”

Gabby Agbonlahor has given his reaction to some early Glasgow Rangers team news that has now emerged before their UEFA Europa League clash.

The Lowdown: No Morelos or Roofe

Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of the match, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has now confirmed that both Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe will not be available for the semi-final first leg against RB Leipzig through injury.

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It means that the Dutch manager will have to look for an alternative solution up top, with Fashion Sakala filling in there in the 3-1 win away at Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership over the weekend.

The Latest: Agbonlahor reacts

Speaking to Football Insider, former Aston Villa and England international striker Agbonlahor, who is also a pundit for Sky Sports and talkSPORT, has claimed that it is a ‘big blow’ for the Teddy Bears to be without both Morelos and Roofe:

“It’s looking very tough for Rangers.

“Without Morelos and now without Roofe, that’s a big blow. It’s going to be very difficult without an out-and-out striker.

“Their best bet is to try and park the bus in that first leg. Try and get out of there alive. Even a 1-0 defeat is not the worst result, they can’t come out of that game with a 3-0, 4-0 loss.

“They can’t go in open because it’s going to be a crazy atmosphere at Leipzig are a top team. The tactics have got to be spot on, try and frustrate Leipzig and get the game back to Ibrox.

“When you’re at Ibrox, that atmosphere with a chance of getting to the final, anything can happen.

“They’ve really got to be on it in the first leg though.”

The Verdict: Worrying

Of course, being without both strikers for the game will be worrying for the club and its supporters.

They are the top two scorers in the squad, with no fewer than 35 goals between them in total over all competitions so far this season, and the Light Blues may need a few goals to get through the tie given Leipzig’s firepower.

Christopher Nkunku is the main threat, with a whopping 30 goals from midfield in all competitions, and so players like Sakala will now have to step up in order to overcome the Bundesliga side.

In other news, find out what big behind-the-scenes twist has now emerged at Gers here!