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BBC journalist Fraser Fletcher has revealed some Glasgow Rangers transfer news that he has now been ‘told’ from Ibrox on Alfredo Morelos.

The Lowdown: Uncertain future

With only a year left on his contract, Morelos now faces an uncertain future with the Gers.

He has been linked with a move away from the club this summer, with Sunderland striker Ross Stewart thought to be a potential replacement for the Colombia international.

The Latest: No offers

Taking to Twitter, Fletcher has revealed that interest in Morelos is ‘high’, although no offers have been put on the table for him as of yet, and the Teddy Bears want him to stay put:

“My sources tell me interest in Alfredo Morelos is high but no offers on table. I’m also told Rangers want him to stay at the club as his deal reaches its last year.”

The Verdict: Keep!

The Light Blues really need to be keeping hold of Morelos at all costs, and that means giving him the new contract that he deserves.

He was their top scorer in all competitions last season with a total of 19 goals, and has generally been a goal-scoring machine since stepping foot in Scotland.

The striker is still only 25 years of age as well, and so has not even reached his prime yet.

Thus, Morelos needs to be tied down as soon as possible, at the risk of losing him for a transfer fee that does not represent his true worth.

In other news, find out who RFC have now ‘approached’ to sign here!

Leeds United are interested in a deal to bring Ola Aina to Elland Road in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), who claimed on Thursday that Victor Orta has now made contact with Torino regarding a move for the 25-year-old, whom the Serie A side are desperate to keep “at all costs.”

The report went on to state that the right-back is also being pursued by a number of other English clubs, with the Nigeria international said to be well-known amongst Premier League sides due to his progression through the Chelsea academy, as well as a loan spell at Fulham.

Imagine him & Kristensen

While it is true that Leeds have only recently confirmed the signing of a new centre-back in the £10m Rasmus Kristensen, considering Aina’s extremely impressive positional versatility, it is easy to see why Orta is keen to bring the 25-year-old to Elland Road this summer.

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Indeed, over his 21 Serie A appearances – 15 of which came on the left flank – in 2021/22, the £6m-rated full-back highly impressed for Ivan Juric’s side, creating five big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 0.5 shots, making 0.8 key passes and completing 0.9 dribbles per game.

The £24k-per-week talent who Michael Oti Adjei dubbed “unreal” and Cristian Ansaldi labelled an “animal” also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of 1.3 interceptions, 1.3 tackles, 1.2 clearances and winning 4.3 duels – at a success rate of 54% – per fixture.

As such, it is clear to see just impressive a signing Aina would be for Orta to get over the line this summer, with the prospect of the Nigerian lining up on the left and Kristensen starting on the right of Jesse Marsch’s back four sure to be an incredibly tantalising one for both the Elland Road faithful and the American manager alike.

AND in other news: Victor Orta in ongoing talks for “unreal” Leeds United deal, supporters surely buzzing

West Bromwich Albion are setting up for a big summer transfer window in the Championship with Steve Bruce keen to improve the squad and now reportedly a new transfer target has been approached.

What’s the latest?

According to Football Insider, a West Brom source has told them that the club have approached Aston Villa with the view to sign Conor Hourihane.

The report suggests that Hourihane is not expected to sign a new deal with the Villains and now the Baggies have registered their interest in the player ahead of the transfer window.

Bruce loves him

The Albion manager and the Villa midfielder are no strangers to each other, as Bruce was the manager at Villa Park when Hourihane joined back in 2017, so it’s clear that the manager loves him and would like to add his qualities to his current squad at The Hawthorns.

Hourihane scored a hattrick against Norwich City when the former Villa boss gave him his chance in the team five years ago, and Bruce was full of praise for the player:

“I’m delighted for Conor.

“It is not often a midfield player gets a hat-trick. He was terrific.”

Since working with Bruce, the 31-year-old has been on loan at Swansea and more recently played his part in Sheffield United’s promotion challenge in the play-offs.

This season the £42k-per-week ace who was hailed “impressive” by Steve Cooper has scored one goal and contributed four assists, creating six big chances, making 1.3 key passes on average per game whilst being successful in the large majority of his dribbles (82%) and winning most of his aerial and ground duels (61%) in the Championship.

Hourihane who has been dubbed a “lucky charm” for his team by journalist Matt Law, has offered consistency and creativity for Sheffield United which has obviously caught the eye of the Albion boss with a reunion between the pair is looking possible if the reports are to be believed.

Ultimately, Bruce must recruit the right players who can offer leadership and qualities that can push West Brom back into the right direction next season so that they can push for promotion back into the Premier League sooner rather than later.

AND in other news: Steve Madeley: WBA eye move for “unbelievable” 18 G/A gem, he’s a big Diangana upgrade

There was no fairytale hundred, but Alastair Cook still managed to produce a medley of greatest hits on his Test farewell

George Dobell at The Oval07-Sep-20181:08

Thought ‘this is meant to be’ when Cook was dropped – Moeen

You didn’t need to be watching to know what had happened. The groan that went around the ground told the story.Alastair Cook was out. With a tiny kick of frustration, he was gone. He walked off the pitch the way he walked on: a standing ovation accompanying every stride. If there was any doubt about the affection in which he is held by the vast majority of England supporters, it had been dispelled. A great career, an era even, is coming to a close.You could feel The Oval willing him to succeed here. It wasn’t just the guard of honour the India players provided – even the umpires applauded Cook to the middle – and it wasn’t just the presentations made to him before the game. Nice though some moments are, they have become relatively customary.No, you could feel it more in the anxious silence that took hold around the ground as each ball was delivered. You could hear it in the cheers of relief that greeted the first boundary and you could see it in the sustained ovation – standing again – that greeted his half-century.Cook’s relationship with England supporters is interesting. Some players – think David Gower or Ian Bell – owe their popularity largely to the beauty of their play and others – think James Anderson or Ian Botham – to the abundance of their skill. But the love affair with Cook has taken a different course. Sure, he started well and there were times, such as in Australia in 2010-11, when the run-scoring business appeared gloriously simple. Times when he looked infallible.But there were lean times, too. Many of them. Times when every innings became a feat of endurance. Times when it seemed every run had to be hacked out of his soul with a blunt spoon. Times when he looked very, very fallible.In an odd way, perhaps that is why his popularity became so enduring. Because batting was, at times, so hard and because Cook clearly had to dig deep to overcome his limitations. He wasn’t an impossibly talented genius – like Viv or Virat – but an everyman giving his all to sustain his dream. And, in fair weather and foul, he would put himself in the firing line looking for neither hiding places nor excuses. It is a remarkable feat of endurance, persistence and determination that, of all those to have represented England, it is Cook who finishes as the leading run-scorer and centurion. He would be the first to admit he is nowhere near the most naturally talented.

It is a long, long time since Cook has batted better against a good attack in demanding conditions

Everyone watching at The Oval – a fair few of them in chef’s hats – knew what Cook has been through. The desperate, public struggle for runs. The equally public humiliation of losing the ODI captaincy on the eve of the World Cup. The abuse that was heaped on him in the aftermath of the Kevin Pietersen debacle. Many of us didn’t agree with that decision; few can have thought he deserved the level of vitriol directed his way by some. It didn’t help Pietersen, either. Increasing divides and scratching at wounds rarely does.They knew this was Cook’s farewell tour, too, and they were hoping he would show us a medley of the greatest hits. And, for a while, that’s exactly what he did. There was the classic cut-pull combination – successive boundaries off Jasprit Bumrah – which must have accounted for a fair proportion of the 1428 fours in his Test career; as good a cover drive as he can ever have played to bring back memories of the 2010-11 Ashes tour; and, early on, a perfectly timed flick through midwicket off Ishant Sharma that provided an echo of Cook at his very best.That was quite a revealing stroke. Cook can only play it – and the straight drives that punctuated this innings – when at his best. And, since the start of the Southampton Test, his technique has looked in far better order.Instead of going back as the ball is delivered, he had reverted to going back and across to ensure he doesn’t have to reach for deliveries on or around off stump. And, instead of standing square at the crease – as most coaches would suggest batsman should – Cook has reverted to the slightly more open stance recommended by his sometimes coach, Gary Palmer (who had his fingerprints all over this innings), that allows him to maintain his balance when the ball nips back at him and sees his back foot pointing towards mid-off when he drives. It’s anathema to many coaches, but it works for Cook.Perhaps it could work for Joe Root, too. He again fell due to a lack of balance at the crease. And he again squandered a review, as he has no idea where his head is at the moment of impact. Standing perfectly square – as the coaching manual suggests – Root finds his front foot in the way when the ball in angled in and tends to fall away to the off side as he plays around it. A more open stance may well be the solution. It’s not where he bats that is bothering him; it’s how.Might this innings – and bear in mind it was made on a day when only three men passed 11 – give Cook cause to rethink his retirement? It’s possible. He is only 33, after all, and an English winter – a season that overplays its hand like the last guest to leave a party – will drive even the happiest family man to wonder if that tour of the Caribbean was such a trial, after all.Alastair Cook raises his bat to the crowd while walking off•Getty ImagesBut realistically, he was able to play this innings because he knew he was in the home straight. It was his concentration that let him down in Southampton; twice drawn into loose strokes. But those powers of concentration, the focus, are easier to find if you know the requirement is finite. And here, freed from the concerns for his future, freed from concerns about the outcome of the series, freed from consequence, he seemed able to find those reserves once more.It is a long, long time since he has batted better against a good attack in demanding conditions. He’ll miss all this, of course, but there will be relief it’s over, too. If he finds himself in the Caribbean, it is much more likely to be as a member of the media.He had some fortune. Just after lunch – concentration disturbed, perhaps – he was lured into poking at one that flew low to gully. But, underlining how tough life has been for batting this summer, he went on to register the first half-century by an opening batsman on either side in the series. He probably deserved a little fortune. Few would begrudge him a few more hours in the sun.Gradually, confidence in the crowd began to grow. From those nervous ovations at the start, where every run was savoured and rewarded, so thoughts began to turn to the dream scenario. Could he pull off the impossible: a century on debt and farewell performance? They hardly dared give voice to the hope. But, as Kohli’s desperation seduced him into an optimistic review, as the nudges into the leg side for singles came more often, as he started to look more like Cook of old, you could hear the whispers grow. Maybe something special was unfolding.It was not to be. Sport doesn’t offer many fairytale endings and tends to remind us that, if it doesn’t end badly, it doesn’t need to end. There was to be no century. Not in this innings, anyway. Drawn into poking at one that nipped back at him, he was bowled off the inside edge. The Oval groaned and Cook walked back with his head bowed.But all the best performers leave you hungry for a just a bit more, don’t they? And, in providing this encore, Cook provided a reminder of his many qualities. And showed how much he’ll be missed.

The former Hampshire captain turned commentator’s deep love for the game infuses his autobiography with an enthusiasm that is as irrepressible as it is genuine

Alan Gardner10-Dec-2016It should come as no surprise that Mark Nicholas considers cricket to be a beautiful game. It had stolen his heart by the age of nine and has been his sweetheart ever since. Beauty is the beholder’s business, of course, but “Nicko”, the roving romantic who went from captaining Hampshire to helming TV coverage in both hemispheres, puts his perspective across pretty convincingly. Never mind goalposts, jumpers are for keeping you warm in the slips.For those who know Nicholas chiefly through his work as a commentator and presenter, such ardour has long been obvious. Cover drives are “dreamy”, unplayable deliveries “crackerjack”. Plenty of cricket fans – particularly those immersed in Channel 4’s innovative coverage of England in the early 2000s – will have a favourite Nicholas moment (and there’s a good chance it came during the 2005 Ashes): his description of Steve Harmison’s slower ball to Michael Clarke at Edgbaston remains gloriously overblown, while other moments of appreciation verged on the pornographic. Nicholas sprayed his enthusiasm around like a Formula One driver with a fresh magnum.This approach, he notes in his autobiography-cum-memoir , meant he “came in for some stick – hyperbole and exclamations being the main grumble”. But the Nicko-isms (should that be Nicko-gasms?) were principally what made him one of the stars of the show once the rights to broadcast England Test matches switched from the BBC – staid old Aunty – in 1999. As Nicholas writes, “Channel 4 was where the flame burned brightest for me”, though he surprised many by subsequently carving out a niche as the polished Pom host of Channel Nine’s coverage in Australia.The great strength of his style is that it is so genuine. The book’s subtitle is “My love affair with cricket” and Nicholas bubbles over with anecdotes, lore and affection for the game. His 18-year career with Hampshire is also described as a “love affair”. The Channel 4 years were an equally passionate tryst: “It was a love affair with cricket and we stopped at nothing to make the lover special and everyone else appreciate her.”

The great strength of his style is that it is so genuine. The book’s subtitle is “My love affair with cricket” and Nicholas bubbles over with anecdotes, lore and affection for the game

The first notch on his bedpost came nearly 40 years ago, when scoring a hundred in Dover for Hampshire 2nd XI – “which was orgasmic”. Nicholas rose quickly to prominence at Hampshire, becoming captain at 23, though he never quite made the grade for England. He was selected to lead an A tour to Zimbabwe (contracting a potentially fatal strain of malaria while away) and nearly capped via the TCCB’s captaincy roulette in 1988, Mickey Stewart informing him during a county match in Guildford that he had lost a three-two vote against Chris Cowdrey.As a batsman Nicholas was good enough to score 36 first-class hundreds, but leadership was his metier. “Elvis”, the overweight public schoolboy who briefly worked as an analyst in the city during the off season, became “Jardine”, the bold captain who would lead Hampshire to four one-day trophies in six years. Along the way, he drank deeply of cricket’s heady brew: seeking batting tips from Barry Richards and Garry Sobers; being transfixed by Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket in Australia (“cricket porn”); and chatting with Don Bradman and Bill O’Reilly in the back of the press box.In between sections on playing the game and covering it, Nicholas just loves talking shop too. Whatever your view on his ability or his insight, he has a great store of knowledge about the game, and a range of experience that includes having faced Jeff Thomson, met Packer (one of the book’s best anecdotes) and called Richie Benaud a colleague for many years. He writes touchingly of “Maco”, his great Hampshire team-mate Malcolm Marshall, and the Smith brothers, Chris and Robin, as well as sadly departed commentary box companions such as Benaud and Tony Greig. In one of the final chapters, he even heads off into the future to imagine an intercontinental championship for Test cricket (played over four days), a 30-over World Cup and the rise of Max10, an even shorter shortest format.Allen and UnwinAs readers of his work on these pages will know, MCJ Nicholas can rarely be accused of being dull. Peter O’Toole, Tiger Woods and Mick Jagger crop up either side of tales about facing the deadly combination of Derek Underwood and Alan Knott on a wet pitch; there are references to Ziggy Stardust, Alistair Cooke (no, not the England captain) and Bruce Springsteen. Nicholas is not afraid to confront criticism, either, raising the subject of an excoriating 2015 article by Geoff Lemon on the sliding standards at Channel Nine. He concedes that Lemon “had a point” and hopes that changes made to the coverage in Australia reflect a sincere desire to get back on track.”No one does it better” is a quote on the cover of , from Geoffrey Boycott. Few would argue with Sir Geoff. With the passing of a host of iconic broadcasting voices in recent years, it is tempting to suggest that Nicholas is now one of the keepers of the flame. He continues to spread the gospel, over the airwaves and through his work with the Chance to Shine charity in the UK. There is a sense that he wanted to write less about himself and more about cricket, though it is all the more readable for the personality bursting through. Besides, the two seem to go pretty well together: call it a beautiful friendship.A Beautiful Game
By Mark Nicholas
Allen & Unwin
420 pages, £20

He started out as a natural talent who lost his way. Now, able to marry venom and control, Steven Finn finally feels back to his best

George Dobell at Edgbaston30-Jul-2015Just over a year ago, Steven Finn sat in the dressing room at Edgbaston and wept. The pace and rhythm were gone. The England place, too. There were no guarantees that any of them would be back.At the time, Finn had been reduced to bowling first change for Middlesex. It wasn’t that he minded; it was that he didn’t understand what had gone wrong. He didn’t understand why the game that had once come so easily had suddenly become so hard. He didn’t understand why all his hard work was getting him nowhere.But as he sits in the same pavilion, he may reflect that the experience has been the making of him. He may reflect that, where once he was a talented kid, he is now an experienced professional. He may reflect that the whole experience, painful though it was, was a necessary process that helped him develop from something raw into something quite special. He’s not a brute hurling a ball now; he’s a fast bowler.And yes, he is fast. Finn has bowled faster than anyone – including Mitchell Johnson – in this Test. His speed, in both innings, has gone above 90mph, with a first-innings high above 93mph. With his height, that presents an uncomfortable challenge for a batsman. Even a batsman as good as Steven Smith, rated No. 1 in the world, who Finn has dismissed twice in this match.Just as importantly, he has gained swing. While the Finn that first represented England swung the occasional ball, the version that has come back into the side appears to have control and regular away shape. The wicket of Mitchell Marsh – bowled by a full delivery – even seemed to tail in just a fraction. It has made him a far more complete package as a bowler.And, most importantly, he has hit the seam and maintained a good length. His spell of 8-1-25-4 either side of tea, in which he dismissed Smith and Michael Clarke, squared up by one that left him slightly off the seam, may well have settled this game. His obvious happiness afterwards – “it feels pretty darn good,” he said in what might have been considered a pretty good Hugh Grant impression – was understandable. There have been some dark days on the journey.In the beginning, fast bowling came easily to Finn. While his school friends were doing their GCSEs, he was making his first-class debut. For a 16-year-old to play professional sport is impressive enough; for a fast bowler to do so is remarkable.Six years later, he was celebrating becoming the youngest man to claim 50 Test wickets for England. He hadn’t had to think about the game; it all came naturally.

Like fixing an engine, Finn was forced to understand how each part of his action worked and how to gain the best from it

But then came the obstacles. His propensity to leak four runs an over made him something of a liability in a four-man attack who prided themselves on attrition and control. Then, after his habit of knocking the stumps in his delivery stride became more than an irritation in 2012, the attempts to alter his action and approach started.The results were, initially at least, wretched. The run-up was shortened, then lengthened again. The pace dropped – Finn continues to deny this, but the statistics brook no argument – the control disappeared and a man who once looked natural and confident then appeared deliberate and diffident.He played his last Test at Trent Bridge in 2013 – he bowled especially poorly in the Lord’s nets ahead of the second Test of that series and was dropped – and, by the time England reached Australia later that year, looked a shell of the bowler he had once been.The image of him alone in the nets at the SCG, bowling delivery after delivery in agonisingly arrhythmic fashion, growing slower the more effort he applied, was one of the sadder sights of the tour. By the time Ashley Giles sent him home suggesting he was “not selectable” – a phrase that had been used throughout the tour by the coaching staff away from the microphones – it was a kindness. He needed a break.What he gained, in reality, was time and space and support. Back at Middlesex, in a more benevolent environment without some of the “banter” that was not always helpful in the England dressing room, Finn worked for hour after hour with the club’s bowling coach, Richard Johnson.There was, for a long time, little sign of improvement. But perhaps at Finchley Cricket Club, where Finn started bowling off two paces, then built it up off three, then four and more, perhaps at Lord’s in May, when Jonathan Trott said Finn was back to his best, or perhaps at Merchant Taylor’s School earlier this month, when Finn and Johnson both came to the same conclusion, Finn started to bowl with the venom of old and the control of new. And, just as importantly, he started to believe in himself again.The process of rebuilding that action will prove priceless. Like fixing an engine, he was forced to understand how each part of his action worked and how to gain the best from it. He was forced – prepared might be a better word; plenty wouldn’t have bothered – to confront technical lapses that his natural talent had, for a while, allowed him to ignore. He was prepared to do the hard work to come again.”Trying to improve hindered me for a while,” he said recently. “But overall it’s been a beneficial experience. I came home and reassessed where I was. I feel good now. I feel I can do myself justice.”That may prove just as well for England. There seems a very strong chance that James Anderson will miss at least the Trent Bridge Test, providing a peek into England’s future. Anderson will surely prove irreplaceable but, at least if Finn is fit and firing, the future does not look quite so worrying.It is not a unique story. The likes of Anderson, Matt Prior and Ian Bell were also selected young only to then struggle and benefit from a spell back in the county game. Gary Ballance will surely prove the same.Bearing in mind the occurrences of players struggling in the England environment, it does provoke reflection on the ECB’s belief in the academy at Loughborough. While millions are spent on a centre that appears to produce little – there are several examples of players who feel their career was detrimentally affected by its coaches – the ECB is drawing up plans to cut the County Championship schedule by 25%. To do so risks weakening the foundations of everything good in the English game.Finn, himself, credits the endless support of Johnson and, to be fair, the ECB’s Kevin Shine. “I’m indebted to those guys,” he said. “They put in hours and hours of early mornings with me bowling through to a mitt, or to a stump and watching and giving feedback. I’m very grateful to the way those guys have given their time so selflessly to me after the last 18 months.”Steven Finn found an irresistible rhythm to rip through Australia’s top order•Getty ImagesBut he also credited a refreshed atmosphere in the England dressing room. More comfortable in the less intense environment, Finn is not thinking so much at the runs he must avoid conceding as the wickets he wants to take. It is a subtle difference, perhaps, but it has helped him relax and produce the cricket that he had shown for Middlesex this summer.”I’m enjoying playing cricket at the moment,” he said. “I used to put myself under a huge amount of pressure. But now we just want to play with smiles on our faces.”We’re playing with a can-do attitude. Before, we were playing some very attritional cricket because it suited the players that we had. Now we’re trying to be a team of people who can showcase our talent. It seems to be working.”It was not as if he had things all his own way. His first over was hit for 14, mainly by David Warner, and he was quickly whipped out of the attack and brought back at the other end.It proved a masterstroke by Alastair Cook. Two ball later Smith, perhaps trying to pile the pressure on to a bowler who has sometimes been suspected of cracking when he is targeted, top edged an attempted pull. Shortly after tea, Finn was on a hat-trick and Australia were the ones under pressure. He had been tested and he had come through.”There have been dark times along the way,” he said. “But it makes those good times all the more satisfying.”Indeed, it will. And, in the long-term, his hard work and increased understanding of his art will serve him and England well.

Bangladesh, organising its first major tournament, had only been a Full Member for a year or so when the idea was mooted. Now, in an expanded format, the World T20 welcomes three newcomers from the ICC’s frontiers

Alan Gardner in Chittagong15-Mar-2014For hundreds of years, the geographical area now known as Bangladesh has been a nexus of people: Bengalis, Mughals, the British, merchants from across the globe. The landscape is crisscrossed by rivers, the paths of which are continually shifting. India, with which it shares a 4000km border, looms large in national affairs. It seems an apposite location in which to examine where world cricket has come from, and where it is going.After more than a decade of Twenty20, the game’s shortest, ritziest format continues to drive innovation, expansion and wealth creation. The fifth World Twenty20 may come to be the most powerful confluence of the three yet. Bangladesh, organising its first major tournament, had only been a Full Member for a year or so when Stuart Robertson pitched the idea of T20 cricket at an ECB board meeting in 2001. Now, in an expanded format, the World T20 welcomes three newcomers from the ICC’s frontiers.The aspirations of Nepal, UAE and Hong Kong may not have soared on the back of recent politicking to redistribute world cricket’s funds – even if everyone gets richer, the divide will also widen – but here is tangible encouragement: the chance to play against the leading nations. Albeit the chance is small, with the ICC having effectively added a qualifying round to the start of the tournament, pitching the six Associates (which also include Ireland, Afghanistan and Netherlands) against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe for two spots in the main group stage, the Super 10.The result is a larger, longer World T20 and the first few days could provide something of a slow burn, with games in Groups A and B having to compete for attention against a backdrop of the major teams arriving. Evangelism is what the ICC should be about, however, and recent scenes of celebration in Kabul and Kathmandu have been worthy reward for the governing body’s commitment.It is surely a gamble requiring the hosts to qualify – only the top eight-ranked teams avoid the first round – and grumbles have emanated from the Bangladesh camp but alongside the expectancy which weighs heavy on the team, causing Shakib Al Hasan to murmur cautiously about their chances, there is a sense that the World T20 can surf a wave of local ebullience for the next three weeks. Political strife that at one point threatened the tournament has receded; a Sri Lanka tour and the Asia Cup have passed off successfully. Now the world will be welcomed.Bangladesh was a co-host of the 2011 World Cup, of course, but the global cricket caravan actually passed through the delta long before, when Dhaka’s Bangabandhu Stadium was the venue for the 1998 Wills International Cup (a tournament that gradually morphed into the Champions Trophy). Then, the funds raised to aid the game’s development, were some US$10m. Fifteen years on, Bangladesh’s government and the BCB have ploughed US$70-80m into renovating stadiums, transport links and infrastructure. Growth, capital, T20.Such is the importance of putting on a successful show, Bangladeshi authorities have asked the majority of the country’s fertiliser factories to close production in order to prevent power cuts in the three stadiums, in Dhaka, Chittagong (where a warm-up game between Afghanistan and Netherlands was affected by floodlight failure) and Sylhet.Energy of a different sort should be in plentiful supply, even if Bangladesh’s participation is not guaranteed beyond three first-round games. Despite being a neutral host for the Wills International Cup, the enthusiastic Bangladeshi support won praise from . “The moment Bangladesh gets a national team which does them credit, it will be cricket’s boom country,” wrote Matthew Engel. It is arguable that the prevailing situation remains a case of bust.The most dangerous Tigers will likely turn out to be in the Sundarbans but the possibility of upsets should prowl all the three venues throughout. Afghanistan and Ireland, who have torn up the second tier to widespread acclaim, will have genuine hope of unseating Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in their respective groups to expand their remit for giant killing.If there have been fewer surprises at the two most recent World T20s – perhaps an indication that the strong have developed a touch more respect for the weak – the warm-up victory for a vibrant young Hong Kong side over Zimbabwe was a reminder that the format retains a piquant flavour of unpredictability, even as the video tapes roll and the datasheets fill up. The “quants” may rule in the backroom but there is still room for the unquantifiable, particularly at this level.With eight Asian teams, three European, two African, two Australasian and one Caribbean, the ICC’s T20 jamboree is more global than it has ever been. As the players arrive, they will be greeted by ubiquitous corporate signage to go alongside arrangements of fairy lights that carry a little more charm (there will be plenty of time to soak in such sights while negotiating traffic). The cricket world will be watching – a record-breaking potential audience of 1.8 billion, according to the ICC – ready for the “Char, Chokka, Hoi, Hoi” (the name of the official song, which roughly translates as “fours, sixes, fun and games”) to begin.But fun and games are only part of it. In the 16th century, as Europeans began to encroach on south-Asian trade routes, the Dutch referred to Bengal as “the fat meadow”. The fact Bangladesh remains one of the poorest countries in the world reflects that prosperity was not for all. The lesson for cricket does not need spelling out.

Plays of the Day from the first ODI between Australia and Sri Lanka, at the MCG

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG11-Jan-2013Debuts of the day
Three Australians made their ODI debuts in this game: Phillip Hughes, Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja. The last time Australia had so many first-gamers in a one-day international, none of Hughes, Finch and Khawaja had been born. It was January 1986, when Steve Waugh, Dave Gilbert, Bruce Reid and Simon Davis all debuted together against New Zealand, also at the MCG. This time there was the added novelty of the three debutants batting in the top three spots, and they received their ODI caps from three former top-order batsmen. Mark Taylor awarded Finch his cap, Dean Jones presented one to Hughes, and Michael Slater handed one over to Khawaja.Run-out of the day, mark I
One of Australia’s debutants, Hughes, enjoyed the day with a century, but for another, Khawaja, it wasn’t quite so memorable. Khawaja was on 3 when he pushed a ball to midwicket and took off for a single, but he was sent back by his partner Hughes. Khawaja dived at full stretch and appeared to have made his ground but on replay, it became apparent that the throw from Jeevan Mendis had Khawaja in trouble. Khawaja had indeed got his bat past the crease, but it had bounced awkwardly and while half the blade was clearly hovering over safe territory, none of it was grounded.Run-out of the day, mark II
Khawaja’s fielding was one of the areas of his game that Australia’s selectors wanted him to work on when he was dropped from the Test side last summer. He has. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal had steered Sri Lanka into a position from which they could realistically dream of a successful chase when Dilshan pushed a ball to mid-off and took off for a single. Once upon a time, that might have been safe with Khawaja the fielder, but this time he pounced on the ball and threw down the stumps at the non-striker’s end to find Dilshan well short.Run-outs of the day, mark III and IV
As if the loss of Dilshan wasn’t bad enough, Sri Lanka gave up two more wickets to run-outs shortly afterwards. From consecutive balls. And both from the fielding of Glenn Maxwell. The first one came when Chandimal pushed the ball to midwicket and sent his partner Angelo Mathews back, and he couldn’t beat Maxwell’s direct hit at the non-striker’s end. Next ball, Chandimal again found Maxwell at midwicket but this time took off for a run. His partner Lahiru Thirimanne had no hope of making his ground at the striker’s end and was out for a diamond duck.Unexpected delivery of the day
37.4 good length ball outside off stump from an unknown shirtless bowler, the pitch displaying some tennis-ball bounce.Throughout the day, the MCG scoreboard repeatedly advised spectators that fines of up to $8500 would be incurred for anyone who ran on to the field. It didn’t stop one pitch invader in the 38th over of the Sri Lankan chase. But what made this man different was that he came prepared. Not only did he make it to the pitch but he brought with him a tennis ball, which he then ran in and bowled, before trying unsuccessfully to make a getaway. For the record, he hit a line and length that Glenn McGrath would have been proud of.

Plays of the Day from the first day of the second Test between India and New Zealand in Hyderabad

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2010Comforting moment of the day
On the flattest of pitches at Motera, Tim McIntosh had made a pair, falling to Zaheer Khan both times. He had faced no other bowler in the match. Today, on a juicier surface in Hyderabad, McIntosh remained strokeless in the opening exchanges against Zaheer and played out two maiden overs. The moment he finally got to face another bowler, though, off the last ball of the sixth over, McIntosh strode forward and drove Sreesanth through covers for four. The confidence had clearly grown, for when he faced his 15th delivery from Zaheer, McIntosh played a square drive through point – his first scoring shot off the bowler.Let-off of the day
Martin Guptill had blown it. Dropped for the disastrous tour of Bangladesh, and not selected to play at Motera, he had got his chance in Hyderabad and he had blown it, by nicking Sreesanth to MS Dhoni. He had nearly walked off the ground and Ross Taylor had almost reached the pitch when word reached him that Sreesanth had over-stepped and the umpire Kumar Dharmasena had checked with the third umpire late. Guptill wore a sheepish smile as he walked past Taylor towards the middle to resume his innings. He would get another lucky break soon after, when Dhoni failed to catch an edge, and he made his luck count.Unexpected shot of the day
New Zealand had seen off the new ball, hit only five fours and were chugging along at fewer than three an over in the first 20. The discussions had switched to whether the threatening clouds would cause a rain interruption when Guptill put the cricket back in focus by taking a neat step down to Harbhajan Singh and lofting him over the long-on boundary. The attack came out of nowhere and its follow-through was full but not lavish. A graceful pick-me-up the session needed.Nuisance of the day
Play being held up by malfunctioning sight-screens is perhaps the most annoying interruption in cricket. How hard can it be to put a well-oiled sight-screen in place? Before the second over began after lunch, the sight-screen at the North End decided to act up. It refused to change from displaying the sponsor advertisement to white, and at one stage it showed one half of two logos. Having failed to fix it, the groundstaff attempted to move it out of the batsman’s view by wheeling it to one side. It refused to budge though. There was little choice but to turn violent and, with a couple of shoves, the groundstaff toppled the stubborn sight-screen onto its back and out of view. It had served little purpose anyway because the region behind it was draped with white sheets.Over-dressed fielder of the day
In the 60th over during the final session, McIntosh went back to a long-hop from Harbhajan and cut hard towards cover-point, where the ball was intercepted by a fielder. Nothing unusual about it, except the fielder was wearing a helmet and shin pads. Gautam Gambhir had been stationed at short leg for new batsman Taylor and didn’t bother shedding the extra gear when he was moved to cover-point for McIntosh. Just as well he didn’t have to chase anything.Revelation of the day
McIntosh is a big batsman, taller than Dhoni, who was crouched behind him for the entire day. And yet he almost never showed any sign of power. McIntosh scored 25 runs in the morning session, 30 in the second and toiled for them. Virender Sehwag had come close to 100 in the first in Ahmedabad. And then McIntosh played an astonishing stroke. Shelving the steers, glances and economical drives that had brought him five fours, he took two steps forward to Pragyan Ojha and lifted him over the midwicket boundary. At first it appeared as though the ball might just clear the in-field – so light was his touch – but it went the distance.Landmark of the day
When McIntosh drove Harbhajan to deep mid-on to reach his century, the first by a New Zealand opener away from home since Stephen Fleming at Trent Bridge in 2004, there was initially little applause. Only when he raised his arms aloft and celebrated the achievement did the spectators realise and give him a cheer. The fault was not theirs, though, because the scoreboard at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium shows only the team’s total and no scores for individual batsmen. McIntosh was obviously counting.

When it comes to England in India, it’s all too clear who the poor relation is now

Suresh Menon28-Feb-2006

The last time England won a Test series in India, under David Gower in 1984-85, the past was still ruling the present. Superpowers England and Australia had the right of veto in the ICC, which was administered by the MCC, a venerable private club whose members hadn’t yet recovered from an attack of modernity in 1965 when the ICC ceased to be the Imperial Cricket Conference.Today, a combination of world-class players, business-savvy officials, a cricket-hungry market and a huge fan base has made India the game’s sole superpower. The media explosion has contributed too. Seven of the 11 who played in the final Test against Gower’s England have turned television commentators, some adding lustre to the profession, others letting the fusion between cricket and language end in confusion.India generates over 60% of the money in the game. That they are attempting to do with money power what England did with colonial arrogance may be a case of bullying by other means, but both England and the ICC have succumbed to the blandishments of the rupee and cannot complain now. You can view at it either as payback, or as the progression of a sport that leaped from the dark ages of colonialism to the modern age of globalisation without a necessary period of enlightenment in between.Gower’s tour is a good starting point. India had won the previous World Cup, and a group of marketing managers had emerged to convert the popular appeal of the game into big money. Colour television had arrived in India only a couple of years earlier, and Indian cricket was at the take-off stage.England lost the first Test after a traumatic introduction to India. Within hours of their arrival, the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated and the capital was in flames. The England team then accepted an invitation from Sri Lanka to practise there. When they returned, they had dinner with the British Deputy High Commissioner, who was shot dead a day later, on the eve of the first Test. As Gower said, “It’s all pretty grim isn’t it?”Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, the legspinner, claimed 12 wickets in the Bombay Test and the visitors were quickly one-down. They then came back to win two Tests and take the series. Madras prepared a “turner” but it was the medium-pacer Neil Foster who took 11 wickets there to settle the issue. Mike Gatting and Graeme Fowler became the first pair of English batsmen to make double-centuries in the same Test. By then the Sivaramakrishnan bogey had been laid to rest by batsmen willing to play the sweep. The new spin twins Pat Pocock and Phil Edmonds had harried India to defeat in the second Test at Delhi. Pocock was 38 at the time, and Edmonds had a reputation for being “difficult”; he was in the team only because Gower said he could handle him.By the time England next came to India, in 1993, their hold on the game, supported by the mindset of their former colonies, was beginning to slip. First there was the 3-0 clean sweep that Mohammad Azharuddin’s men dealt them thanks to the spinners, particularly Anil Kumble, who claimed 21 wickets. This after a spying mission by Keith Fletcher, and his immortal conclusion that Kumble was no bowler, and that England “had nothing to fear”.India won in Calcutta thanks to some judicious help from the fog, in Madras because the prawns at a Chinese restaurant turned the English stomachs more than Kumble turned the ball, and in Bombay because skipper Graham Gooch didn’t shave. England’s chairman of selectors Ted Dexter then kindly volunteered to set up a commission to study the pollution in Calcutta. He didn’t delve into the eating habits of his players, particularly Mike Gatting who, as on the previous tour, swept all before him. In the end Gooch’s face was left bloody but unmowed. In those days it was still possible to make India feel apologetic about thrashing England.Mike Atherton saw it differently in his book, Opening Up. “For the dusty turners of India we prepared on the hard rock surfaces of Lilleshall. We knew we would be facing a phalanx of spinners, so we left out our best player of spin, David Gower. In Kolkata the pitch looked dry and cracked, so we played four seamers. We knew that the food could be dodgy so we ate prawns in Chennai and got food poisoning,” he wrote. Not surprisingly, Atherton was made England captain soon after.Some weeks after the end of the tour, there was a divorce; the ICC became an independent body, with its own chief executive and its headquarters at Lord’s. Significantly, the veto rights were abolished. Eight decades after the founding of the governing body, there was some measure of equality. The two men chiefly responsible for this, IS Bindra and Jagmohan Dalmiya, have since had a falling out.The manner in which India “stole the World Cup” from under England’s nose in 1987 because the Indian board president four years earlier, NKP Salve, was denied extra passes for Lord’s, is part of folklore. The anointment of Dalmiya as the president of the ICC in 1997 did not go down well with the old order in England. Made to feel like an outsider, Dalmiya decided to hit back every opportunity he got. He scheduled matches in Agartala and Jamshedpur on the current tour. The message was clear – India ruled, and England had better realise that. Some months before the tour, however, Dalmiya was voted out of office, and the new dispensation, which had no personal vendetta, agreed to change the venues.There is no telling just how often Dalmiya would have taken world cricket to the brink with his desire to appear a patriotic Indian who wouldn’t kowtow to the former colonial masters. The media lapped up the posturing, and it was fun, if a bit childish, while it lasted. In the new millennium, though, Dalmiya was already an anachronism, as Lalit Modi, the present vice-president of the board has shown.In the decade during which England did not come to India for a Test series, India’s accent shifted from post-colonial angst to global chic. Personal vendetta is passé. It is not the colour of skin that matters, but the colour of money, and India has been telling the leading cricketing nations something along the lines of, “Behave yourselves, listen to us, and there is enough money for all. Rock the boat, and you go down.”It is to this new India that Michael Vaughan leads the 11th English Test squad (if you don’t count the one-off Jubilee Test which England won). England have won only three of those series – the first in 1933-34, and the second under Tony Greig in 1976-77 when Derek Underwood took 29 wickets and made rather better use of the Indian turners than the famous quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan. Greig was all praise for the Indian spinners and named the first three as the best of their type in the world. But except in Bangalore, where everything clicked for India, including a brand new fielder at short leg, Yajurvindra Singh, who clung on to a world-record seven catches, England had the upper hand, having won the first three Tests.When India recently threw the ICC’s Future Tours Programme out of the window, most Englishmen asked why Australia are generally given preferential treatment with regard to venues and dates. There is a simple answer: Australia have usually come to India with their best team, led by their reigning captain.Englishmen pulling out of tours on flimsy grounds have always irritated Indians. Geoff Boycott didn’t tour India until the world-record aggregate was within his grasp. In 1981-82 he played three Tests, went past Garry Sobers’s record of 8032 runs, played one more Test in Kolkata (during which he disappeared to play golf in the middle of the match), and was gently asked to go back home. He wasn’t particularly fussed since that was what he had in mind once the record was his anyway. From such an India-hater Boycott has metamorphosed into the India-lover of television. He loves Indian players, Indian actresses, and even Indian food. Such is the pull of television money. The delicate walls of Boycott’s stomach are now lined with Indian rupees.Douglas Jardine’s only tour following the Bodyline series was to India, the country of his birth, in 1933-34; in 1951-52 England were led by a debutant, Nigel Howard. Howard only ever played four Tests, all as captain on that tour. Freddie Brown, captain in England’s previous series against South Africa wasn’t in the team. Nor were Len Hutton, Denis Compton, Godfrey Evans, Alec Bedser, Jim Laker or Peter May. In the next series, in 1961-62, there was no Colin Cowdrey, Brian Statham or Fred Trueman in Dexter’s side. Mike Smith’s 1963-64 squad did not have Cowdrey originally. A decade later another debutant, Tony Lewis, captained England. When Fletcher came to India as captain, he had been in retirement for four years. Such condescension was not guaranteed to endear English cricket to the average Indian fan who was treated to the Benauds and Borders from Australia leading teams while at the top of their games.Vaughan’s team is not the first that will begin the series as underdogs. India have won five series to England’s three, 12 Tests to England’s 10. From here on, the two teams will play each other home and away in four-year cycles. If India get their math right they could host the 2011 World Cup too.England are not just cricketing underdogs vis a vis India (14-1, in the eyes of some London bookmakers), but in other senses too, with a softer voice in international cricket than their rivals. This is a new situation for both, even if India have been heading for superpowerdom for some time now.The new officials will try to divorce India’s performance on the field from their influence off it – the reverse of the West Indies situation in the 1980s, when they were the best team in the world but had no voice in the ICC. India’s current position may have been built on the successes of their teams, but they have known failure too and their administrators, so full of beans and ideas today, will not want to go around with a begging bowl tomorrow. It is not just the Future Tours Programme that comes in cycles. After the first flush of triumph and triumphalism, the Bindras and the Modis will have to look beyond the market, and that is where the relationships they carve out today will be important. If Gower arrived when the past was ruling, Vaughan arrives when the future is set to rule the present.