James Ormond has signed a one-year contract with Surrey after proving his fitness to the county.Ormond, who has been dogged by injuries and questions over his general fitness, was out of contract at the end of 2007 but the county agreed he could return for pre-season on the understanding that if he proved his fitness in the early matches, he would be offered a new deal.”I am very pleased that Jimmy has worked so hard to turn his career around,” said Alan Butcher, the Surrey coach. “He is looking like the bowler he was three years ago before his injury problems, which is great news for the club.””I am obviously really pleased to get a contract after putting in a lot of hard work during the winter,” Ormond said. “I’d also like to thank our backroom staff for their efforts in getting me fit and ready for another season.”Ormond, 31, played twice for England in 2001 but he looked far from fit when he reported for duty at the start of the 2001-02 tour of New Zealand and that in effect seemed to finish his international chances. His county career appeared to be heading the same way after he played only 11 first-class games in 2006 and 2007, taking 18 wickets,His fitness problems were well documented but when he is on form he can still be one of the most penetrative bowlers on the county circuit.
Gerald Majola, the chief executive of Cricket South Africa, entered into the revolutionary spirit of 20/20 cricket on Tuesday when he announced low-cost ticket prices for the World Twenty20 in South Africa in September and sniped at the ICC’s handling of previous tournaments.”We have to ensure every person is able to enjoy the event and that the stadia are full,” Majola said on Tuesday at the unveiling of the tournament logo and the cheap ticket prices, even by South African standards. We looked at the previous two ICC tournaments and, in my opinion, they were not successful. So we have looked at those pitfalls and will take care of those in South Africa,” he added.And Majola and tournament director Steve Elworthy are being true to their word.The cheapest tickets for the 14-day championship starting on September 11 cost just R20 [£1.40] for those happy to sit on the grass banks during the group stage of matches. Grandstand seats cost R40 [£2.80], while the prices go up to R40 [£2.80] and R80 [£5.60] respectively for the Super Eights stage.The tariffs for the opening game (SA v WI) and ceremony, semifinals and final are R100 [£7] and R160 [£11.20] respectively.And if fans want to attend one of the five double-header days – two matches in one day at the same stadium – they won’t pay through the nose either. For group stage double-headers the ticket prices are R40 [£2.80] and R80 [£5.60] and R60 [£4.20] and R120 [£8.40].”The pricing of tickets will be fundamental to our success,” Elworthy said. “So it was a major challenge getting the blend of pricing right to ensure we filled each stadium nine times in 14 days, because there are 27 games split amongst three venues. So the tickets are very competitively priced to ensure there is no barrier to entry.”The tournament logo, designed by Minardi Brice, features a de-constructed graphic of crashing wickets and a ball rebounding from them and, according to Elworthy, “directly targets the youth, but also captures the format’s vibrant energy and the strength in diversity South Africa is known to stand for globally”.”We believe 20/20 was born in South Africa so it is only fair that the first world championship is held here,” Majola said. “We pride ourselves in South Africa that we host the best events here and we have to make sure we keep that tradition,” he said, referring to the 2003 World Cup and the Women’s World Cup held in 2005.”We understand what Pro20 has done for cricket in South Africa. We wanted to make cricket a truly national game, accessible to all. Pro20 has been the vehicle we’ve used to take cricket to the masses,” Majola said.Elworthy announced that ODI champions Australia would be the first team to arrive in South Africa, on September 3. All the competing nations, barring India and England, have requested warm-up games, which would be held in Benoni, Centurion and Potchefstroom on September 8 and 9. India and England will be busy finishing up their series in England that weekend.”It’s going to be non-stop cricket action,” Elworthy promised.
Gloucestershire 245 for 6 (Taylor 93, Adshead 69*, Khan 3-27) beat Worcesterhsire 233 for 9 (Vincent 56, Ball 4-47) by 12 runs ScorecardThe Pro 40 competition continued its staggered start as Gloucestershire pipped Worcestershire by 12 runs under the lights at a sultry New Road. Chris Taylor’s excellent 93 laid the foundation for the win, while Stephen Adshead’s late assault put the tie just beyond the home side.After choosing to bat, Gloucestershire slid to 33 for 3 before Taylor and Alex Gidman restored order with a fourth-wicket stand of 71, but it was the sixth-wicket partnership of 106 between Taylor and Adshead which tipped the scales. Taylor’s 93 included nine fours, but as he began to tire, Adshead cut loose with six fours and two sixes in his 48-ball 69 not out.Worcestershire began brightly, cruising to 81 for 0 in 13 overs, but Ian Harvey removed Lou Vincent and Vikram Solanki with successive balls, and then Taylor ran out Stephen Moore to reduce them to 93 for 3.Any chance of a home win seemed to end when Martyn Ball dismissed Graeme Hick and Steven Davies within three balls to reduce Worcestershire to 113 for 5, and although the tail put up a fight, they were always behind the clock
Michael Vaughan admitted England were well below their best as they slumped to a crushing eight-wicket defeat at The Oval, to hand Australia the NatWest Challenge. England’s top order crumbled again and, despite Kevin Pietersen’s 74, they were never in the game once Adam Gilchrist cut loose en route to a destructive century.”We were under par with the bat but it nibbled about in the morning and we were about 60 short,” Vaughan said. “[A score of] 280-290 was about par on that sort of wicket and against a team like Australia you’re probably looking at beyond 300 to be really competitive. We were below standard, no excuses, it nibbled but we didn’t bat as well as we can do. Once you don’t get the total to put them under pressure you are always going to struggle, but Gilchrist came out and played fantastically.”Vaughan was adamant that the last two one-day defeats wouldn’t have any long-term effect on England heading in to the Ashes series. He believed the recent matches swung so much that it was hard to draw conclusions.”On Thursday, when we won at Headingley, everyone was saying the momentum was with England and I certainly didn’t believe that either,” he said. “I certainly don’t believe that the momentum has swung in Australia’s favour. One-day cricket is a totally different concept and the history suggests that these games don’t have any impact on the five-day game.”It’s just important that over the next week or so that we hit July 21 hard and make sure that we get our games and minds in order. That’s the biggest challenge of all for the summer and we’ve all been looking forward to it, and everyone’s been talking about it, so lets move our minds to that.”However, he has yet to be convinced by the new rule changes, despite Vikram Solanki’s half-century when he came in as a Supersub in place of Simon Jones. “The Powerplays work well, I’m a fan of them, but I’m a bit sceptical of the substitutions,” he said. “You get the advantage of winning the toss and then you have an extra batter to chase down the runs.”Ricky Ponting was understandably elated by Australia’s performance, especially after the tough start they have experienced to the tour. “That was very satisfying,” he said, “It’s the result of a lot of hard work, a lot of talking about our games, where we were going wrong and the finer aspects of things. We did that before the Lord’s game, we had a really good meeting and a really good training session and we’ve managed to bring all of that into these two games.”They were a couple of pretty comprehensive wins for us. Today was as close as it gets to perfect one-day cricket for us. The way we restricted them and then to peel the runs of with 16 overs left is a comprehensive win.”Like Vaughan, Ponting said he wouldn’t look too much into these results, but he clearly thought that the margin of victories gave his side an advantage. “I said before this series that I don’t read too much into the one-day game, but having said that a couple of weeks ago it didn’t look that bright for us,” he said. “But the pleasing thing for me and the team is how the players have really lifted in the big games when it has really mattered for us. I couldn’t be happier with what we’ve done in last couple of games after a very disappointing game at Headingley.”Adam Gilchrist, who had not scored an ODI hundred since January 2004, was just happy to see Australia home with his 121 from 101 balls. “It was very special for a lot a reasons, most importantly getting the job done for the team,” he said. “I haven’t often been there at the end of a run chase, haven’t often been there after 15 overs, so to be there at the end was uncharted waters. More importantly, the result showed great character.”
The pension scheme announced by the Indian board last month for retired Test players and umpires will be launched across the country simultaneously on May 21.Announcing this, the BCCI said in a statement: “Functions will be organised across the country to hand over cheques for the first month’s pension to retired Test cricketers and umpires on the same day and same time.”The functions will be held at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Jaipur, Indore, Baroda, Chandigarh and Pune. The statement also clarified that in case the player was unable to attend the function at any of the venues, a representative of the board would deliver the cheque to the his residence the same day.Under this scheme, 174 former players and officials will receive a monthly amount of Rs 5000 (approx UD$ 113). Currently, only those who have played or officiated in Tests are eligible for the benefit.
Sunday 25th May will be another day to remember for Austrian cricket. Having held a joint festival with Pakistan Falken CC last year, Pakistan CC will be holding a six team one day festival on Seebarn’s two grounds, with the participants already confirmed at Salzburg CC, Lords CC, Five Continents CC, Pakistan United CC, Zarapak CC and hosts Pakistan CC. After a group stage there will be semi-finals and a final, with the event being rounded off with a prizegiving in the evening.On 12th and 13th July, CC Velden 91 will also be holding an international sixes competition, with participants coming from all over Europe, to play at one of the most scenic grounds in Europe. Velden has added appeal for touring teams from England now that Ryanair has started flights to Klagenfurt, and hopefully there will soon be frequent visits from England for what must be a unique cricketing opportunity.For further information please see the club events page of this site.
Boland swing bowler Charl Langeveldt and Western Province captain and batsman HD Ackerman have been called up to tour Zimbabwe as South Africa’s early-season preparations were thrown into disarray on Monday.Ackerman owes his call-up to a stiff neck worrying Gary Kirsten while Langeveldt was brought into the squad after the withdrawal of Allan Donald with a particularly severe dose of flu.Ackerman will cover for Kirsten in the event of the left-hander failing a fitness test ahead of Friday’s first Test match in Harare.The situation regarding Donald, however, is rather more complicated. He attended the recent bowling camp in Johannesburg as well as the South African training camp last week, but on Sunday he was feeling so ill that he was sent home to Bloemfontein to recover.According to a press statement issued by the United Cricket Board, Donald "will definitely not take part in the two Test matches or the first One Day International on September 23 in Bulawayo. However, the convenor of national selectors, Rushdi Magiet, said today that if Donald had recovered he could be considered for the squad for the last two ODIs. The selection panel meets on September 24 to choose the squad for the second and third ODIs which take place on September 29 and 30 in Harare".Magiet told CricInfo on Monday that: "Allan’s very keen to play in the Test matches this summer, and we’re very keen to have him in the Test side. So we think it would be best for him to stay behind and get himself fully fit."All of which begs the question of how fit was Donald when he reported for the two camps staged in Johannesburg? Certainly, a convalescent period for flu which stretches over three weeks seems extraordinarily generous.Although he was perfectly entitled to spend the winter putting his feet up, he was expected, in terms of his UCB contract, to maintain a level of fitness. Given that Donald has been aware for some time of his selection for the Zimbabwe, it is disturbing that a single dose of flu should have ruled him out of the greater part of a month-long tour.Donald’s absence, nevertheless, should open the way for Andre Nel to win his first Test cap. As the extra fast bowler in the 13-man squad originally chosen to go to Zimbabwe, Nel should have good reason to believe that his patience throughout the West Indies tour is about to be rewarded.Certainly, it would come as a major surprise should the 26-year-old Langeveldt be drafted into the Test team. If he is believed good enough to play cricket now, after the winter break, then surely he should have been taken to the West Indies.
Surindra Shinde’s sedate 97 helped the Karnataka Under-25 team toscore a 4 wicket win on the third and final day’s play over Andhra inthe KSCA Coca Cola Under-25 Tournament at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium inBangalore on Saturday.Set to score 238 for a win, Karnataka lost opener Shyam Ponnappa (6)in the fourth over of the innings when he was caught behind by TSPrasad off Anil Kumar. Then the new batsman AR Mahesh (12) in thecompany of the other opener V Pramod (23) took the score onto 39 whenMahesh found himself struggling to reach his crease in the ninth over.Then nine balls later Pramod departed, giving a catch to BB Krishnaoff the bowling of Anil Kumar.Surindra Shinde (97) and S Rajashekar (40) put the Karnataka inningsback in the right track with a 95-run fourth wicket stand in 24.5overs. Rajashekar departed after offering a catch to Arjun Kumar offVVB Reddy. Amith Kumar (51) now joined Shinde to forge a 82-run fifthwicket partnership to ensure Karnataka of sealing a well deserved win.Shinde lost his defences to K Laxman and the very next ball M Vinod(0) was caught behind. But Amith Kumar and Sunil Kumar (5) sawKarnataka through.Earlier, play started late due to rain and resuming at the overnightscore of 169 for 9, Andhra added just 15 runs before their secondinnings folded up. Top scorer S Arun Kumar (65) was the last man to bedismissed when he offered a catch to S Rajashekar off Sunil Kumar.
Back in the summer, Charlton boss Chris Powell set down a huge statement of intent for the coming season by signing 21 new faces.
This large recruitment drive made some people question his ambition with many feeling that it may take some time for the team to gel. A rather average pre-season cemented this overall opinion.
However they were quickly proven wrong and instead the Addicks hit the ground running, never looking back after their victory on the opening day of the season against Bournemouth.
A strong start meant they found themselves in the top three after the first month and on the 17th September they moved to the top of league after a 3-2 victory over Rochdale. This was a position where they have remained for the rest of the season and after last week’s 1-0 win over Carlisle United, Charlton will be officially be playing in a higher league from next season. It has been a real domination of the league by Powell’s men and to be promoted with a few games remaining demonstrates this.
So what has made this Charlton team so strong this season? Well you definitely cannot look beyond the amazing defence, which for most the season has been the strongest defence in England and with just 31 goals conceded in 43 games, is there any wonder they lead Sheffield United by six points? Along with an impressive 20 clean sheets. They always say the best teams start from the back and if you get those fundamentals right you’re going to go a long way.
Chris Powell has successfully managed the loan market this season. Just when there appeared a panic as we suffered back to back defeats at home he ventured in to the market to bring in Dany N’Guessan and Lee Cook. N’Guessan has helped scoring three goals in six appearances, whilst Lee Cook got a vital assist in a 2-0 win over Orient.
So not only has he brought in the right players over the summer but even when they are getting exhausted with the long campaign, he has been able to recruit to give us the extra boost when we most needed it. He certainly has the eye for talent and only quality managers see this talent throughout the whole season.
In the summer I would have settled for a top six place with us giving the top two a run for their money. But never in a million years, after the last two seasons, would I have predicted seeing my Charlton remain top of the league from September to April. It’s been a season to be a proud Addick and there is no doubt this team, with Powell in charge, can go a long way.
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So come on Charlton lets get the four points needed to see us crowned as Champions and then see us build a team next season that can compete in the top half of the Championship. Up the Addicks.
So last night, I renewed my season ticket for next year’s Premier League campaign.
It hurts to see your side crash and burn in such a devastating manner, but it’s even more difficult to accept that the club have decided to boost ticket prices, again, despite such another disappointing season, in terms of silverware and league position.
Despite being such a dedicated supporter of The Arsenal, it’s always hard paying such a big chunk of cash right here, right now. Unfortunately, it’s a drug and I’m addicted to it. And is there a cure? Definitely not for me!
Anyway, it’s done. It’s paid for. I would moan, but my complaints would only be echoes of what every Gooner on the planet is saying at the moment. Certainly, it’s a topic that doesn’t need any explanation or opinion from me.
Moans and groans aside, we can now turn our heads to next season and begin to start looking forward to “an active transfer window” – those are the words of Arsene Wenger.
A few of my Arsenal friends have suggested to me that we could drop towards mid-table, IF we don’t have a successful transfer window.
I agree with this, to an extent.
I understand that we need to buy a number of quality players that will deliver for us when we need them to, at both ends of the pitch.
Alternatively, I also appreciate that we need to flog a few of our under-achieving individuals. Players who we’ve held onto for a number of years now, should be encouraged to find a new club.
There’s no doubt that they are still very good footballers. I’m confident that we’ll recieve multiple offers from clubs from all around the world. But we have got to understand that the players just aren’t good enough, if we are going to bring back the glory days.
I’ll admit that I am probably a little too generous when it comes to giving players chances. But even I will state that it’s clear to pick out the players in our side, who should be nudged towards a move away from North London – unless Denilson wants to make the short trip up the Seven Sisters to Tottenham?
Jokes aside (and hatred…. oh, and bias too!), every one of them has had a decent moment somewhere down the line. Although it’s obvious to see that the time is up for some of them, we’ll always remember them for their commitment to the cause.
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Naturally, I’ll wish them all good luck for the future. There’s no doubt about that. But I’ll always remain adamant that these kind of players moving away from Arsenal is an obvious step forward for the club.
I’ll pray that we all have an enjoyable transfer window, with many new faces coming in that will strengthen our side, in our bid to become a dominant force in world football once again.
Read more of Mike Harvey’s articles at Arsenal Insider