Anura Tennekoon, the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) chief executive, has announcedthat he will be standing down after England’s tour of Sri Lanka. Tennekooncited personal reasons for his decision to step down.Tennekoon, a former Sri Lanka captain and opening batsman, announced hisdecision on Friday. “Due to personal reasons I am relinquishing my duties aschief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket,” he said in a media statement. “Iwould like to take this opportunity to wish Sri Lanka Cricket the very bestin the future.”Tennekoon was appointed in Dec 2000 after the controversial sacking ofDhammika Ranatunga, the brother of World Cup winning captain Arjuna.Although widely respected for his honesty and integrity, he had facedgrowing criticism for not being forthright enough in various commercial andcontractual negotiations.”Anura is a man of great honesty and integrity and we needed someone likethat at that controversial juncture,” said Mohan de Silva, the SLCsecretary. “He always had the game at heart and he made a big contributionto the development of the game in Sri Lanka.”According to de Silva, the search for Tennekoon’s successor will beginimmediately. The SLC will headhunt a top business leader with a cricketingbackground.
The Australian influence in Otago cricket continues to grow with the inclusion of ‘sandgroper’ Nick Morrison in the association’s Under-19 squad.The Western Australian was born in New Zealand but has lived most of his life in Perth. He intends to study at Otago University next year.Standing at almost two metres tall, Morrison is a left-handed top-order batsman and right-arm part-time bowler with the ability to generate significant pace. He played for the Western Australian Under-17 team last summer and at just 17 himself has another season at Under-19 level.Four of last year’s team return with Jordan Sheed, Matt Adair, Alistair Collie and Jarrad Waldron back in harness. And there is also a good representation from last summer’s Otago Under-17 team with Henry Bates, Stephen Brown, Eric Standfield and Nic Turner making the step up.The squad will be trimmed by one after the mid-December match against the Otago Under-22 selection with the three-day match against Canterbury in Oamaru just before Christmas signalling the beginning of the tournament.Otago then plays Auckland in Auckland in another three-dayer starting on December 27 with one-day games against Central Districts, Wellington and Northern Districts rounding out the series.The squad is: Jordan Sheed (captain, Dunedin), Matt Adair (Central Otago), Henry Bates (Dunedin), Stephen Brown (Dunedin), Alistair Collie (Dunedin), Mathew Harvie (Dunedin), Simon Murley (Dunedin), Michael Ross (Dunedin), Eric Standfield (Central Otago), Nic Turner (Southland), Jarrad Waldron (Dunedin), Nick Morrison (Western Australia), Tim Geeves (North Otago). Coach: Mike Hesson, manager: George Morris.
South Africa declared their innings closed overnight on a score of 293/6 there was everything to look forward to on the morning of the second day of the three day game. In contrast to the first day, there was a sprinkling of cloud cover that gave the stadium a cool air. It was not only the weather that was different from the previous day. The pitch that afforded no bounce on the first day was suddenly responsive as the powerful South African opening bowlers steamed in. Allan Donald and Nantie Hayward gunned for pace and bounce against Arun Kumar and Wasim Jaffer.Donald was clearly bowling well within himself. Though he generated good lift off the wicket, Donald was appreciably slower than Hayward. Arun Kumar played a couple of handsome shots in Hayward’s very first over, finding the boundary on both occasions. He assumed that batting against the South African quicks was not as difficult as it was cut out to be and paid the ultimate price. Arun Kumar was late on a straight full delivery and looked back to see his stump cartwheeling towards Mark Boucher.Mohammed Kaif came in at one drop and his trial by fire began immediately. Hayward bowled at full tilt and got the ball to rise sharply to the youngster. Kaif took his eyes off the ball in the last minute and the bouncer struck him on the side of the helmet. Visibly disturbed by the blow, Kaif motioned to the dressing room and the helmet was given a fair bit of attention. In the end, Kaif seemed largely unhurt and continued.Wasim Jaffer looked the part as an opener while he was at the crease. From the word go, he middled every ball he played. When the ball was even slightly out of reach he let the ball go, a sign of a batsman comfortable opening the innings. Jaffer settled down to a good rhythm and was not flustered by either the accuracy of Donald or the pace of Hayward. Donald’s first spell of five overs cost him just three runs.Having done all the hardwork in the initial stages Jaffer looked good for a long innings. However, the double change in the bowling, when Jacques Kallis and Lance Klusener came into the attack the Mumbai opener’s rhythm was unsettled. Klusener kept the ball up to the bat and bowled fairly straight. He rapped Jaffer on the pads and went up in an enthusiastic appeal. However, he was hardly backed up by the fielders and the appeal was turned down. In the 18th over, a similar shout was upheld by the umpire. The ball was full, dead straight and Jaffer looked very adjacent. After making a patient 12 off 53 balls, Jaffer gave way to Mohammed Azharuddin.Azhar walked out to hearty cheering from the Mumbai crowds and looked at ease at the wicket. Lance Klusener made things easier for Azhar to settle down by sending down a fair few leg stump deliveries. Azhar made easy work of these and kept the strike rotating.Spin in the form of Clive Eksteen was introduced into the attack at the end of the 23rd over. With lunch drawing close, Azhar took no risks and played out the left arm spinner’s overs.Kaif’s spirited resistance came to an end in disappointing fashion as he inside edged a Hayward delivery onto his pads and onto his stumps. Kaif looked back in dismay as the ball trickled onto the stumps and knocked a bail off. Kaif was at the wicket for over one hundred minutes in his innings of 23. What was equally indicative of the kind of innings he played was the fact that 20 of these 23 runs came in boundaries. At lunch, the Indian Board President’s XI were precariously poised at 68/3.A most interesting session immediately after lunch resulted in a flurry of events. The new man in, Ajay Jadeja looked less than convincing at the crease as Hayward squared him up time and time again with extra pace. It was only a matter of time before a ball pitched in the right spot made short work of the batsman. In Hayward’s 12th over the expected happened. A short, rising delivery outside off stump clipped the outside edge and flew through to the waiting gloves of Mark Boucher. While this was the first dismissal after lunch, the drama had begun earlier.Mohammed Azharuddin was struck on the gloves by a rising delivery from Hayward and seemed to be struggling. At the end of the over the physio came onto the field and examined Azhar. To the disappointment of the crowd, the former Indian captain walked off the field having made 9 runs.Nayan Mongia replaced Azharuddin and found himself in the company of Murali Kartik after Jadeja was dismissed. Kartik had a couple of wild swishes at Hayward and was gone before he could trouble the scorers. He chased a full, wide delivery from Hayward and only managed to get a thick outside edge. The ball flew to the gap between second slip and gully. Clive Eksteen diving across from gully snatched the ball out of the air and sent Kartik on his way.Allan Donald was brought back into the attack in the 37th over. Mongia struck the ball to wide mid off and set off for a single. Strydom picked up the ball and had a good angle to throw down the stumps with his natural left hand. If he hit the stumps it was always going to be close. As is more often than not the case with the South Africans, Strydom nailed the middle stump and caught Mongia well short of his crease. Umpire Murali was in motion trying to get to a good vantage position and declared the batsman not out. In disbelief, Donald walked across to Strydom and gesticulated that Mongia was at least a yard out of his ground. Television replays seemed to confirm that belief.If the pacemen had done all the damage upto this point, it was Eksteen’s turn to get into the act. He foxed tailender Kumaran off the wicket and had him easily caught by Cullinan in first slip.Debashish Mohanty watched from the non striker’s end as Harbhajan entertained the crowds with some clean hitting. Swing nicely through the line, Harbhajan chanced his arm against the spinners and fast bowlers alike. Using his wrists well, Harbhajan cleared the infield easily. The one time he mishit the ball, it ballooned high into the air above the slip cordon. Running back from first slip, Cullinan threw himself full length and got both hands to the ball. Falling hard on the Brabourne Stadium turf, Cullinan could not hold onto the ball.Mohanty then tried to work Eksteen away and presented him with a tough return catch. Eksteen dived across the catch and plucked the ball out of the air. Having grassed a similar chance earlier on, Eksteen was ready for it the second time around.The gala continued as Amit Bhandari took a page out of the Harbhajan Singh coaching manual and used the long handle to good effect. Having hit a couple of clean strikes, Bhandari’s confidence grew. He came down the wicket and hit Eksteen into the stands over long off. Attempting to repeat the stroke Bhandari skied the ball into the deep. Nantie Hayward running in a couple of paces should have completed the catch with ease but dropped it at the last moment.Bhandari and Harbhajan swatted the Indian Board President’s XI past the follow on mark. Bhandari soon assumed the role of senior batsman and put the attack to the sword. Another huge six off Eksteen followed and Bhandari had made the top score of the Board President’s XI innings. Soon after Harbhajan overtook him. Tea was taken when Harbhajan chopped a ball from Eksteen straight back to his hands. His entertaining innings of 38 included seven fours and came off just 44 balls. Bhandari was unbeaten on 30 off 28 balls. His innings included two fours and two huge sixes. At 172/9 the players left the field and it was learnt that Mohammed Azharuddin who was injured earlier in the day would not come out to bat. Azhar had sustained a bruise on the tip of the thumb of his left hand earlier in the day. X-Rays were taken and it was confirmed that there had been no fracutures. Nantie Hayward who knocked the stuffing out of the Indian batsmen was unlucky not to pick up five wickets and ended with 4/68 off his 17 overs.After tea, in a strange sequence of events, Hansie Cronje walked out to the middle with Herschelle Gibbs. Daryll Cullinan retired hurt without offering any explanation. Sitting at the Press Box it was not possible to ascertain either nature or the seriousness of the injury that caused him to take this course of action. In the end it proved to be irrelevant.Herschelle Gibbs had used the sweep shot to good effect against the spinners but attempted the shot once too many times and ended up being trapped LBW. He missed the line of a straight delivery completely and was struck on the full. The umpire lift his finger without hesitation and sent Gibbs on his way. Gibbs had made 28.Pietr Stryom joined his captain at the crease and saw South Africa through to stumps without further loss. Cronje looked in good touch as he toyed with the spinners and helped himself to 29 runs including five boundaries. Strydom played second fiddle to the captain and for majority of the time just rotated the strike around. He ended the day unbeaten on 12. South Africa closed on 93/3 and from this stage on, it is extremely unlikely that a result is possible in this game.
Sharing Antonio Conte’s team news on Twitter, journalist Dan Kilpatrick has relayed who will be out of action for Tottenham Hotspur against Brighton this evening.
The Lowdown: Conte eyes run of consistency…
Spurs’ fiery head coach again suggested he could leave north London if the club fail to match his ambition, potentially coming as another message to the Lilywhites hierarchy ahead of this summer.
Conte’s managerial record has been slightly stained by Tottenham’s inconsistency over this last month with their recent Premier League record standing at three wins and three losses in their last six matches (Transfermarkt).
They’ve also been knocked out of the FA Cup by Middlesbrough in that time as the Lilywhites boss looks to kickstart a more stable run of form away to Brighton tonight.
Sharing the latest team news, reporter Kilpatrick has shared what Conte has said regarding the latest team news.
The Latest: Spurs injury news and Tanganga setback…
Taking to social media, the Evening Standard reporter relays that Japhet Tanganga is ‘still sidelined for Spurs’ alongside left-wing-back Ryan Sessegnon and midfielder Oliver Skipp.
The right-back hasn’t featured since Tottenham’s 2-0 loss away to Chelsea in late January with his absence arguably going slightly under the radar when compared to Skipp.
The Verdict: Tanganga setback for Conte?
Matt Doherty’s stellar form in the right-wing-back role for Conte should be revered, but with Emerson Royal drawing question marks as a back up, Tottenham may have benefited from the return of their aggressive young defender Tanganga.
Former Premier League striker and Aston Villa legend Gabriel Agbonlahor heaped praise on the 22-year-old for his performances earlier this year after Tanganga’s head-turning start to 2021/2022.
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Speaking to Football Insider, the pundit raved over Spurs’ ‘ferocious’ and ‘vicious’ starlet as a ‘breath of fresh air’ – coming after ex-Spurs boss Nuno Espirito Santo called him ‘huge’ for his opening day outing against Man City.
His continued spell on the sidelines will come as a setback for both the player himself and Spurs.
In other news: Spurs make contact to sign ‘one of the best players in the world’ with £50m release clause, find out more here.
Matthew Hayden says beating India, especially in front of their own crowds, ranks high among his favourite cricketing moments. In an interview with , Hayden said defeating India almost matched the experience of defeating old rivals England.”I think India is close on being my favourite side to beat,” he said. “They’ve almost taken the No. 1 seed off England in a lot of ways. It’s a side that within its psyche has amazing highs and amazing lows. So it doesn’t take long to realise they’re at a low when you’re standing in front of 70,000 people at a stadium and you can hear a pin drop. It’s a great position to be in and you know you’ve got them beat.”Hayden and the Australian team had plenty of those moments on their tour earlier this month. Though they lost the last two games, including the one-off Twenty20 game in Mumbai, the Australians dominated the first six ODIs and eventually sealed the series 4-2. Hayden had a good time too, scoring 290 runs in five innings, including three successive half-centuries.Hayden said he had nothing personal against the Indians. “Our ambition is to keep their crowd as quiet as we possibly can and just play good cricket. It’s not a personal thing.”The series in India was also highlighted by plenty of verbals from players of both sides, and Hayden said India’s aggressive approach had fired him up for their return visit to Australia, which includes four Tests and a triangular one-day tournament also featuring Sri Lanka.Denying the criticism of aggression directed at the Australian team, Hayden said: “I think it’s one of the greatest misconceptions of this side ever, that it’s aggressive. I think what we are, it extends from our culture, is just having a great mateship and camaraderie within any kind of team.”You put any 12 blokes together and you’ll get a job done. Whether it’s getting a bogged four-wheel-drive off the beach or standing in front of a cricket wicket and making sure we’re in a dominant position. It’s the same dog, different leg action, so to speak. I think it shows an insecurity to do anything else other than that. All it really does is just amp up the intensity of the way we play our cricket. It’s a good thing for us.”You never want an Australian with his back up against the wall. We saw that last summer against England, you’re seeing that now with this verbal jousting that’s happening between India and Australia. And that’s exactly where we want to be. We’re very comfortable in that position. We want to get into that position because that’s when we play our best cricket.”Looking ahead at his own career, Hayden, who will turn 36 on October 29, said: “I almost feel like it’s an undying passion at this stage. And until that starts to waver, I can’t see myself finishing. And I know that’s a ridiculous thing to say but at this stage I’m not going anywhere.”
VVS Laxman was delighted with the efforts of his pace bowlers, who set up the 96-run victory over Rest of South Africa with an inspired showing on the second morning, but admitted that the batting continued to be a worry as India head into the first Test of the series at Johannesburg in less than a week’s time. With Rahul Dravid almost certain to return for that game, Laxman could look back with immense satisfaction on a job well done as captain.”All of them bowled well, according to the plans we had discussed at the team meetings,” he said, when asked to assess the pace trio. “They bowled the length we needed to bowl and they hit the right areas. It will give them a lot of confidence heading into the first Test.”He said that the weather had played its part in the declaration on the second morning. “We were looking to bat on after the first day,” he said. “But with the overnight rain and the moisture on the pitch, we decided to make use of that.”All the bowlers impressed, but there was a special mention for VRV Singh, who returned figures of 5 for 76 in his first game in South Africa. “He bowled amazingly well,” said Laxman. “He was the quickest of the lot, and showed lots of energy and enthusiasm.”Irfan Pathan was man of the match for his first-innings century, but Laxman insisted that he would primarily be picked as a bowler. And on that front, the news wasn’t quite so heartening, with the Rest of South Africa batsmen singling him out for heavy punishment in both innings. “He’s going through a lean patch as a bowler, but the way he batted was just amazing,” he said. “You have to give credit to him. The hard work is beginning to pay off. The partnership between him and Sourav [Ganguly] put us in a position of strength.”The batting woes were glossed over – “No doubt it’s a big issue, but having achieved a 96-run victory gives the team a lot of confidence” – and he expressed his disappointment at not having made a big score himself. “I was playing well in both innings,” he said. “I was middling the ball, and I’m happy that I was able to occupy the crease for quite some time. Unfortunately, I didn’t carry on. When you play in Australia and South Africa, it’s very important that once you get in, you go on to get a big score.”Both Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag had poor outings, but Laxman said that it was too early to press the panic button when it came to the opening slots. “Both are world-class players, and we’re confident that they’ll come good in the first Test,” he said. “So far, we haven’t thought about tweaking the batting order.”Jacques Rudolph, who led Rest of South Africa, was downcast at the manner of the defeat, especially after Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Justin Kemp had rattled the Indians with a rollicking century partnership. “We had them on the rails at one stage,” he said, “but a silly run-out stopped our momentum.”
Morne Morkel rocked the Indian top order in the first innings, and it was Alfonso Thomas’s turn in the second, and Rudolph said that pre-match plans on the bowling front had been satisfactorily implemented. “Before the game, I told the guys that the way we bowl will send a message through to the Test matches. In both innings, we had them 90 for 5 or so, and had we not dropped a catch [van Jaarsveld dropped Ganguly] in the first innings, it could have been 100 for 6. I think the South African side will be looking forward to bowling to them.”When asked about Zaheer Khan, who carried his excellent one-day form into this game, Rudolph said: “You can clearly see that he’s leading the attack. He has the experience and the skill, and he gets it in good areas. He’ll be a man to watch.” He wasn’t quite so kind though when asked about the various on-field incidents, which had seen parts of the game played in a heated atmosphere not usually found at tour matches.”Sometimes it’s a bit of stupidity,” he said. “The inexperience of Sreesanth showed at times. Hopefully, he can back it up in the Test matches with the ball in hand, and not necessarily his mouth.” As far as India are concerned though, they won’t care what their bowlers mouth off, as long as they bowl as they did here. A few runs from the batsmen would help too.
A `Cullen’ special on the final day at the Adelaide Oval saw South Australia authoritatively dismiss Western Australia for 271, giving them a 129-run win. Bowling in tandem, the finger-wrist spin combo of Dan Cullen (5 for 93) and Cullen Bailey (1 for 46) in the morning session never let WA get into a groove, despite fighting fifties from Adam Voges (76) and Ryan Campbell (64).Cullen’s dismissals were a combination of suffocating bowling and impetuosity from the batsmen. After resuming play at two for 26, Chris Rogers and Voges, the overnight batsmen, survived the first hour, Voges striking a series of authoritative strokes. Rogers, however, was not as comfortable and soon after drinks he miscued a hit off a fizzing Cullen off-break, where Jason Gillespie at mid-on juggled the catch. Darren Lehman, the SA captain, returned to the field on the final day after recuperating from his marathon 488-minute innings of 301 and positioned himself at a very short mid-on after conferring with Cullen. Whatever was said between bowler and captain worked, for Voges soon flicked Cullen straight to a delighted Lehmann. Voges’s was an untimely dismissal, as a hundred looked there for the taking.Bailey, though only scalping a solitary wicket, provided the perfect foil to Cullen’s offbreaks. Impressive from the get-go, he was able to gain sharp bounce and turn from a fourth day Adelaide Oval wicket, and beat the bat on numerous occasions. His dismissal of David Bandy (1) at the stroke of lunch was classical legspinner’s craft: after beating Bandy with a series of enticing, flighted leg breaks, Bailey forced the batsman to play back to a flatter, straighter ball and had him plumb in front of the stumps.From a position of five for 118, Shaun Marsh (49) and Ryan Campbell, the wicketkeeper, put on 104 runs, but both fell in relative succession to Cullen (4 for 83) and WA were back in the drums. Marsh was caught at slip after an attempted sweep resulted in a tangle of pad, arm and possibly glove, while Campbell provided a catch to Lehmann in identical fashion to Voges. This was Campbell’s second rescue attempt of the match, his counterattacking 122 off just 129 balls taking WA to 281 in its first innings. In the end, it was not enough to sustain a successful chase, with Cullen and Gillespie (3 for 32) running through the tail.
Andrew Hall On when he was told he would open I was told on Thursday, so I had visualised myself as an opener and was determined to do well. Hopefully, I can get some more big knocks in the series. I had played my last Test in January, so I wanted to make it count here. I didn’t want to put myself under pressure by negative thoughts.Whether this innings made up for Leeds, 2003 Yeah, at Leeds I was left on 99 not out. I was very happy the way I batted in the end – and more than being relieved it was an achievement and I was excited. But my job is half done, as I want to make a contribution with the ball as well.Whether he was surprised by his form You’re always going to believe in your own batting and get runs, and the last two days I stuck down and just really worked on a lot of the things we had spoken about in the past. In the past I might have been guilty of wasting [a start] after getting into similar positions. Obviously today there was a lot of help from the guys. And credit should also go to previous guys who had been here, and spoke to us about various things which helped us work through the tough periods.On disciplining himself It’s a mindset. It’s something you actually tell yourself – it’s self-motivation. It’s the look on your team-mates’ faces which says that you have worked hard, and the respect and cheers you get from them make you feel better and push yourself forward.On the second-day pitch The conditions made it difficult to score, as the ball was not really coming on to the bat, but I decided to occupy the crease for as long as possible. I have really worked hard for this tour and the support of the seniors has been of real help. It was difficult initially to play on this pitch, but once you got used to it, things became easier.On batting for a draw Nobody plays for a draw. Our focus is to win the match.On Zander de Bruyn’s innings I have played with Zander since my schooldays – we have played together for 15 years. He is a good friend and I feel happy for him. He is a tough guy, and he showed a lot of patience and maturity. It’s great to have the partnership with him.
Murali Kartik On the difference between the pitches at Mumbai and Kanpur Honestly, I never looked at the wicket, like many others in the side. The few who saw it felt that it was a very good batting wicket and probably by the third day it might turn. It has turn, but very slow, and the most important thing is that even the bat-pads are just landing within the area of the wicket. So from that you can gauge the bounce and the carry. It’s not a question of just the ball turning, it’s a question of the ball carrying after it pitches.How the South African batsmen played I heard someone saying that patience is the key. I don’t know what kind of mental set-up they have come up with, probably just to draw or not to make a match of it. That’s what it looks like.When was he told he would play On the morning yesterday, as lots of things had to be taken into consideration.Whether the batsmen’s approach surprised the Indians No, you have a general idea of what they can do after having played against them and having watched them. You can take it as an excuse, but all the four bowlers felt that they did everything but that the pitch didn’t respond. One example could be the two bouncers bowled by Zaheer yesterday, which still could only hit the toe of the bat. With that you can detect the [lack of] life in the pitch, which has been a deterrent.On the negative line adopted by the spinners, bowling into the rough Most of the time yesterday we were having three close-in fielders – we had a short leg, a silly point and a slip, even when we were bowling from over the wicket. I don’t know why people say it was negative, because on a first-day wicket when there was nothing happening we had to try something. Just change the angle, hope that something would happen after bowling in the rough – a couple of balls did something, but not consistently. Today we didn’t do that till late, because we felt that we needed to defend runs and not give anything away. And at one stage both [Andrew] Hall and [Zander] de Bruyn took the attack to us – de Bruyn managed to hit two sixes. So we went to defend then.On what is a good pitch for India’s bowlers It’s a very debatable point. As a bowler, what I expect is some zip of the wicket, some carry for the efforts a bowler puts in. The bowlers are making an effort … it’s just that sometimes, after two days’ play, we know what the wicket is like. They have also applied themselves, so give credit to them that they haven’t given it away.
CloseSouth Africa 412 for 2 (Smith 214*, Dippenaar 11*) lead England 173 by 239 runsScorecard BulletinGary Kirsten On Graeme Smith:People need to take a look at this guy. He’s doing something special. I was around at Western Province with Graeme when he started his career and we all knew he was destined for greatness. He has put himself in the fire and has responded unbelievably well. There’s no doubt he can go the distance and really make a difference.
When he bats, Graeme is a lot like Jacques Kallis. They both have that hunger so that once they get their eye in they really cash in. That’s the mind-set that Smith brings to the game – he gets in the zone and he just wants to bat and bat and bat.On the wicket: To be fair to them (England) we have had the best of the wicket. The pitch settled down. There was some moisture early on, when they batted. But now there are some signs of uneven bounceGraeme Smith On the Anderson incident: “I can’t remember what was said but it was a bit heated at the time. I didn’t think it was right what Anderson did. He said he was throwing at the stumps. But at the time I didn’t think he was near and I had a few words. A few of the England lads got on my back. It was heat-of-the-moment stuff.I was protecting Gary. I think it was wrong and I stuck up for him. I think each time something is said you really want to dig in and make him pay. At times it can work as an advantage to a batter. It made me more hungry. And I’m not finished yet.”Duncan Fletcher On struggling in the field: “The players aren’t very happy after struggling over two days of cricket. But it’s our job to make sure they’re focused on playing some good cricket over the next three days. It’s been tough for everyone out there. Some of the bowlers are inexperienced, and the batsmen too.”On tackling Smith: We’ve been talking about where we want to bowl at Graeme Smith from before the first day of the first Test. But I thought we bowled better from about halfway through the second session today. But there are some youngsters who don’t really appreciate bowling six balls in a row in the same area on a pitch like this. They have been brought up on wickets where they just bowl and something will happen to the ball. We’ve got to make sure that their mindset changes.”
Players arriving at the Basin Reserve today for the first day of the State Championship match between Wellington and Central Districts were surprised to find a number of large gaps, like conspicuous missing teeth, in the ground’s usually pristine picket fence.Several separated sections of palings in front of the terraces on the eastern side of the ground had been driven down during Friday night and lay, alternately, inside and outside the remaining fence which marks the Basin Reserve’s perimeter.Over a space of some 30 yards there remained a few standing sections of fence and between them, a number of wide and surprising openings.During Friday night a group of mischief makers who had been apparently undeterred by rain and cold temperatures had managed to start the Basin Reserve’s heavy roller by connecting the wires of its ignition and had driven it slalom fashion down a long section of the low, white fencing. They had veered first one way then the other through the picket fence, knocking down intermittent sections and leaving palings strewn this way and that.The roller was then left, wedged behind an advertising hoarding, in front of the embankment at the northern end of the ground.The broadcasting box in the RA Vance stand had been broken into, though nothing of value was taken. Storerooms in the old grandstand were broken open and attempts had been made to remove some of the ground’s sound system.