Loose bowling on day one, and cautious batting on days two and three paved Sri Lanka’s path to defeat, said Angelo Mathews, after the Test in Dunedin. Sri Lanka had let New Zealand advance at 4.48 runs and over in the first innings, before batting at 2.50 themselves. Overall, Sri Lanka batted for 50.4 overs more than New Zealand, yet lost by 122 runs.All three frontline seamers had gone at more than four runs an over in the first innings, where only Rangana Herath maintained an economy rate of less than three. “I was really disappointed the way we bowled and batted in the first innings,” Mathews said. “On that wicket, if there was anything it, it in was in the first couple of sessions. After winning the toss on a green wicket, I expected a lot more from the bowlers.

Was trying to avoid leg-side trap – Mathews

Angelo Mathews’ dismissal was one of the more bizarre ones during Sri Lanka’s innings, as he had his middle stump uprooted attempting to pad away a full Neil Wagner delivery. The ball passed through his legs en route to the stumps. He explained that he was trying to avoid New Zealand’s leg-side trap.
“It was a trap set on the leg side, and I didn’t want to play anything on the leg side to be honest,” Mathews said. “In the first innings as well, I nicked it to the wicketkeeper on the leg side. They had a leg gully and a short leg as well. I wanted to just pad it away because I knew that even if it hits my pad it’s not going to be out because it’s pitching outside leg stump. Unfortunately it hit the inside part of my pad and rolled to the stumps.”

“We bowled a lot of loose stuff. To a batting line up like New Zealand, you can’t really bowl loose stuff because they are going to capitalise. We lost our way in the first couple of sessions and we let them off the hook. We had to bowl really well to get them on the back foot. We had to take a few wickets early, which we didn’t.”While each of New Zealand’s batsmen who crossed 25 batted at a strike rate of at least 66, Sri Lanka’s half-centurions struck at less than 45. New Zealand hit 64 boundaries in the 96.1 overs they faced. Sri Lanka struck half that amount from 117.1 overs.”We were also way to cautious in our first-innings batting,” Mathews said. “We couldn’t really do much batting in the second innings, but in the first innings we respected them a lot more than expected, which was very disappointing from the batters. As I always say – and not to take away from the New Zealand – but the bowlers they are also human, and we have to capitalise.”Sri Lanka batted through until the second new ball in both innings, but scored fewer than 300 on either occasion. Three half centuries were hit from them in all – two of those coming from Dinesh Chandimal.”We definitely could have done better as a batting unit,” Mathews said. “We need to score runs to give our bowlers a chance. Scoring 290-300 is not enough on these tracks. Once the seam movement goes off in the first couple of sessions it gets really good for batting. The batters have to score big to keep us in the game.”Mathews and Chandimal had been together overnight, with Sri Lanka resuming at three wickets down on the final morning. Both batsmen were dismissed offering no shot, after a 56-run stand.”Last evening, I thought me and Dinesh had to dig in deep to save or win the game,” Mathews said. “Either way we had to stay on the wicket till lunch. Unfortunately we lost both our wickets within two or three overs of each other. That really had a big impact on the game.”Mathews said the tailenders’ defiance was among the positives Sri Lanka will take out of the match, and also lauded the bowling of Dushmantha Chameera. Playing his first overseas Test, Chameera was comfortably the quickest bowler across both teams in Dunedin, but having had an economy rate of 5.6 in the first innings and 4.35 in the second, he was also the most expensive.”He’s very raw but he runs in on any deck and he bowls fast,” Mathews said. “That’s all he knows, and what we expect from him. That’s what I told him to do as well. Not think about line and length too much – just try and bowl fast. He’s a tremendous weapon in the bowling line-up because he can upset the rhythm of a batsman. We are trying to use him in a wise way. He’s very young still, he’ll definitely learn more as time goes by.”

Gujarat and Mumbai Indians pacer Jasprit Bumrah has earned his maiden India call-up after being named as the injured Mohammed Shami’s replacement for the three T20Is in Australia.Bumrah, 22, will leave for Australia on January 22 along with other T20I squad members – Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina and Hardik Pandya.With 14 scalps in nine matches, Bumrah is the joint-highest wicket taker for defending champions Gujarat in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the domestic T20 competition.Bumrah, who has been a regular India A player over the last two seasons, also impressed during Gujarat’s victorious Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign in December, where he picked up 21 scalps in nine matches, including that of MS Dhoni with a yorker. He finished the tournament as the highest wicket-taker.When Bumrah first burst on to the scene, in the 2013 IPL, it was feared that he was a one-dimensional bowler, who bowled from wide on the crease and just sent the ball in with the angle. However, he showed during the Vijay Hazare Trophy that he had added to his arsenal the delivery that held its line if not moved away from the right-hand batsman.RP Singh, who played for Gujarat this season, said after the Vijay Hazare final that Bumrah was ready to play for India. RP said it was his unorthodox action that made him seem quicker than he was, and that the straighter delivery now made him more dangerous.”He has got a bit of pace. He has got a superb yorker, he got even MS out with a yorker,” said RP. “The other thing is that his action gives him a bit of an advantage, it takes people a little bit of time to pick him.”Bumrah has so far picked up 52 wickets in 47 T20 fixtures since making his debut in 2013. He has also played 18 first-class matches and 20 List A fixtures over the last three seasons.Shami, who returned from Australia last week after picking up a Grade II hamstring injury which could keep him out for four to six weeks, will continue with his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

Glenn Maxwell has compared the Indian batsmen’s approach unfavourably to the Australians’ when nearing a milestone, but Cricket Australia have been quick to do damage control.It began after the third ODI in Melbourne with a question quoting Matthew Hayden from 10 years ago. Maxwell, who had scored a match-winning 96 in that match, was noncommittal in response but before the Sydney ODI, he eliminated the doubts around what he said.”They were probably just making sure they got to a milestone,” Maxwell had said in Melbourne. “Some people are milestone-driven, some people aren’t. If it means that much to you, you go for it. But it’s not something that drives me too much. Each to their own.”In Sydney though, Maxwell went from generic to specific. He told : “I knew it [the comment] was going to blow up. It didn’t really bother me. I was sent a photo the other day, it said Virat was 84 off 63, and then 100 off 89 or something like that. He got his last 11 runs off 22 balls to get his hundred. I thought about that and I was like, ‘Jeez, he did it so easily all the way up until then, and then you just lose a bit of momentum.’ I have been thinking about that.”Then you look on the other hand, when you watch David Warner get into the 90s and he tries to hit Ishant Sharma for a slog sweep for six. It’s just, to me, that’s two complete different ends of the spectrum. And then you look at the scoreline and you see 4-0. And to me, I’d much rather be 4-0 basically.”Maxwell said his side didn’t care about milestones. “The way Boof [Darren Lehmann, the coach] has talked to us always has been: ‘Take the game on, take the game on, take the game on. I don’t care if you’re on 90, I don’t care if you’re on zero, take the game on.'”Cricket Australia and BCCI enjoy a fruitful relationship under the new Big Three arrangement. CA’s website was quick to do an interview with Maxwell to clarify his statements, but he didn’t quite take them back.Maxwell would, however, tweet that they were “taken out of context” and said he was in awe of how Kohli almost single-handedly chased down 349 in Canberra.”I was asked to give a bit of an assessment of who was dominating with the bat in this series, and I said, ‘I don’t think anyone in the world is hitting the ball better than Virat at the moment,'” Maxwell told .”The point that I was making, and it related more to when India were setting totals and had plenty of wickets in hand, is that the scoring rate seemed to slow as milestones got close, which can sometimes be the case, especially when teams are batting first.”Maintaining a constant scoring rate can be less straightforward batting first than when you’re chasing and you know what the required rate has to be, and there have been times when batters just seem to have slowed a bit to make sure they reach those milestones. Sometimes that wins you games, and sometimes it doesn’t but that was the only point I was trying to make. I’ve got a really good relationship with Virat off the field, and I’ve already had a chat with him.”The clarification doesn’t make it disappear that he compared the Indian batsmen’s efforts with that of Warner, who too, was setting a total and got out in the 90s trying to play a big shot.Steven Smith, Australia’s captain, said the slowing down near a milestone was natural. “I think that can be natural for anyone around the world,” Smith said. “When you see that sort of milestone coming, in the back of your mind you might slow down a little bit. I think Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are quality players and they’re batting beautifully, and I don’t see any problem with any selfishness there.”Aaron Finch distanced himself from Maxwell’s comments. “The talk of Indian players being selfish was obviously Glenn’s view; that’s not my personal view,” Finch said. “Virat Kohli got a 100 off 80-odd balls the other day. There was nothing selfish about that innings. That was an extraordinary, extraordinary innings. Shikhar Dhawan got it off about 95 balls, I think. He took the game on at the start for India along with Rohit, and got them off to an absolute flyer. Gee, there are some seriously good players in India. Virat… 25 ODI hundreds now. That’s an unbelievable achievement.”In the three ODIs that India batted first, they scored 67, 67 and 60 from overs 31 to 40. These have been the overs when their set batsmen have approached their hundreds. In Perth, Rohit took 24 balls from 83 at the start of the 31st over to reach his century. Similarly in Brisbane, between the 30th and the 40th overs, Rohit took 21 balls to move from 86 to 100. Virat Kohli took 15 balls to score the last 16 runs to his century between the 38th and 43rd overs in Melbourne.Team director Ravi Shastri, though, had defended his men before the Canberra ODI. “If they were focusing on milestones, Virat Kohli wouldn’t have been the fastest to 7000 runs; he would have taken another 100 games,” Shastri said. “If that was the case, Rohit Sharma would not be having two double hundreds, and a score of 264.”

A scintillating unbeaten century by Test discard Younis Khan (146) enabled Peshawar amass 352 for four wickets against Lahore Whites on the first day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match at the LCCA Ground on Monday.At close of play, Younis and Taimur Khan (50) were at the creae having piled up 168 runs in their 149-minute unbroken fifth wicket stand.Younis Khan came at the crease 10 minutes before the lunch interval when Wajahatullah Wasti (34) and Rifattulah (31) were back in the pavilion after Peshawar were put into bat by Lahore Whites’ captain Aamir Sohail.Younis batted with authority and belted 22 boundaries and one six during a stay of 234 minutes. He consumed 190 balls. Taimur’s 50 contained six boundaries.

The Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) decision to name a home umpire and not staging the final starting tomorrow on a netural territory has caused controversy here.The ACC named Athar Zaidi along with Australian Daryl Harper for the title match between Sri Lanka with Justice Ebraheem as the match referee. Interestingly, both the league matches in the competition were supervised by third country umpires. Peter Manual and Darrell Hair stood at Multan while Riazuddin and Rudi Kuertzen were incharge at Colombo.Similarly, the inaugural championship was also played under third country umpires. The sudden change in the rules has surprised the Sri Lankan management. But they have not lodged any protest claiming they were on a goodwill tour. The PCB were quick to place the responsibility on the ACC saying it was not the organizing board.”The ICC named one third country umpire and a match referee on the request of the ACC. I think the ACC is the competent authority to clarify the matter.” a PCB spokesman said.The visitors also played down why the match was not staged on a netural venue. “I am not sure exactly what the rules are, to be honest. But in this case, the team is very happy to be in Pakistan,” Lankan coach Dave Whatmore said. “A request was made and we accepted.”

ScorecardJake Ball took four wickets before Nottinghamshire chased down their target•Getty Images

Chris Read enjoyed a day to remember as Nottinghamshire Outlaws maintained their unbeaten start in the Royal London Cup with a four-wicket win over Sussex Sharks at Hove.Having earlier become the first Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper to take six catches in a one-day innings, the 36-year-old calmed his side’s nerves when they lost their sixth wicket with 53 runs still needed, contributing an unbeaten 22 to a stand of 56 with Steven Mullaney, who won the game with a six as he finished on 42 not out, Nottinghamshire securing their second Group B victory with 22 balls to spare.Sussex had earlier squandered the advantage of winning the toss on a flat pitch. Openers Luke Wright and Chris Nash put on 96 in 12 overs but after they fell in successive overs to Jake Ball they struggled for momentum and their total of 282 for 9 never looked like being enough, even though Thomas trapped Rikki Wessels leg before with the first ball of the reply and Alex Hales (23) spliced a pull at Tymal Mills in the sixth over.James Taylor, who made a career-best 291 in Nottinghamshire’s Championship win over Sussex last week, appeared in the mood to hand out further punishment to his favourite bowling attack, flaying eight fours and a six in a 41-ball half-century.Taylor paid the penalty for over-confidence when he lost two stumps trying to work Chris Liddle through leg but his namesake Brendan and Samit Patel put on 71 with few alarms to get the target to under 100 halfway through their reply.Brendan Taylor gave Liddle a return catch after making 62 from 60 balls (8 fours, 2 sixes), Patel (38) was yorked by Mills’ slower ball and Dan Christian holed out to long off to give Sussex a glimmer of hope but Read and Mullaney ensured there were no further alarms.Earlier, the Outlaws pulled things back well after Nash and Wright plundered 14 boundaries between them in the power play on an easy-paced pitch before Ball pegged Sussex back with a spell of 3 for 8 in his first three overs.Wright (40) and Nash (49) both gloved mis-timed pulls while Matt Machan was caught on the crease to give Read his third success.From 108 for 3 in the 16th over Sussex were forced to rebuild and although all of their middle order batsmen got starts no one played with any sort of authority until Will Beer, coming in at No.8, hit 42 from 55 balls.Craig Cachopa briefly hinted that he could when he twice deposited Patel over long on for six but Australian Christian, whose first over went for 14, conceded 16 from his next five and picked up both Cachopa (18) and skipper Ed Joyce (21).Ball finished with 4 for 49, his figures slightly spoiled when Thomas, who has joined Sussex on loan for the competition from Somerset, hit ten runs off his last two balls in an unbeaten 32.

With apparent interest looming from Liverpool, you have to wonder why Tottenham haven’t  attempted to tie down manager Harry Redknapp with a new deal yet?

Redknapp only has a year left to run on his current deal and has yet to have the opportunity of managing a big club, so the thought of taking over at Liverpool could be very appealing to him. However he has the potential to further enhance Spurs and at least make them an established top four side.

The Spurs boss is happy at the club and wants to stay, saying:

“I have one year left on my contract at Tottenham and I am not thinking about anything other than being at White Hart Lane next season. I can tell you that I have not been offered a new contract, but that doesn’t mean I am looking to move on – far from it.”

He continued: “I am loyal to Spurs, I want to stay at Spurs and I have a contract with Spurs, and I’d be happy to sign a new contract at Spurs if I was offered one, but in any case I have one year on my contract.”

Surely for his achievements Redknapp deserves a new contract. In just a year and a half he took the club from battling relegation to qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history. When he was appointed as Spurs manager in October 2008 the team were bereft of confidence and lying in the relegation zone. But his arrival had an immediate impact after just two weeks in charge got them out of the drop zone by securing 10 points out of 12 available. By the end of the season Spurs finished in eighth place, narrowly missing out on a Europa League spot.

This season the side were tipped to do well but the fourth Champions League spot was seen to be contested by Liverpool and Manchester City. However after dismal results put Liverpool out of the running it became a head-to-head battle between Tottenham and City. Eventually Spurs sealed their qualification by beating Manchester City at Eastlands in their penultimate game of the season. Redknapp’s team became the first side to break the top four of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool since Everton in 2005.

Having never previously managed in the Champions League, Harry Redknapp will be relishing the opportunity to proudly lead Tottenham into the competition. However he will want to have guarantees about his future in place and the board should fulfil his request. Harry seems to perform miracles at nearly every club he’s been at and Spurs do not want to see their magician walk away.

 

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Everton boss David Moyes is close to confirming Strasbourg teenager Magaye Gueye as his latest signing.

The France Under-21 international can play in midfield or attack and scored nine goals in 17 league starts for the Ligue 2 outfit last season.

The Toffees are believed to be readying a £1million offer for the 19-year-old after previously snapping up Jermaine Beckford, Jan Mucha and Joao Silva this summer.

Meanwhile, Jack Rodwell hopes he will be given the chance to establish himself in the England team so that he can shine at Euro 2012.

With several established players set to be moved into the international wilderness after the debacle in South Africa, Rodwell is keen to show his England credentials.

He told the Liverpool Echo:"I'd be honoured to make the next step to the senior side. I've got some experience at Under-21 level now, which was much different to the youth system.

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"I think I'd definitely be ready. I've always believed in my ability and it's my dream to play for England. I'm going to keep working towards it. Whether it's one or four years, I'll keep doing my best to get there.

"But, yes, I definitely believe I've got the ability to do it."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Dave Jones, who has been linked with the managerial vacancy at Fulham, insists he is committed to Cardiff City.

The Cottagers are continuing to seek a successor for Roy Hodgson, who left Fulham to take up the managerial post at Liverpool almost four weeks ago.

They had been keen to appoint Martin Jol, but he has decided to remain at Ajax, while Jones continues to be one of the favourites to take the Craven Cottage post.

However, Jones said:"I'm fully committed here, I'm fully behind this football club. I can assure our fans that I am – as always – 100 per cent working at this football club to try and get things right, as I have done every season and during the season.

"It's nice to have things written about you, of course. I'm not going to lie and say that it isn't. But this football club for the last five years has got everything I've got, my family and me.

"You never say never in football because you don't know what's round the corner.

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"People might think that you haven't done well so they get rid of you or somebody comes in, but there's nothing to talk about, it's all speculation and I'm just getting on with my job as I always have done."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Interest in Nice striker Loic Remy is certainly heating up this summer with Arsenal and West Ham currently believed to be doing battle over his signature along with a number of European clubs.

Remy came to prominence in France last year after his exploits with Nice and was rewarded by receiving his debut for the national team in June, despite not making their World Cup squad and he is definitely a player for the future and has been likened to Thierry Henry, his blistering pace and technical ability is very reminiscent of the former Arsenal star and based on what he has shown so far he could have as a big a career in the game as Henry. He looks like a player that could come in and play well right from the off and as both Arsenal and West Ham are lacking quality attacking options, he would be of tremendous benefit to both sides.

The 23-year-old started his career with French giants Lyon but after finding it too difficult to break into the team, making just 12 league appearances in three years during this time he headed out to Lens on loan where he enjoyed a fairly productive loan spell. Nice then agreed to pay Lyon €8m for his services in 2008, making him Nice’s most expensive ever player, he had a decent first season at the club before he went on to further his reputation last season. Despite not scoring loads of goals, its been his movement and technique that have caught the eye with many believing that he can go on to become a deadly striker in the coming years.

Now a whole host of clubs outside of France want to sign the youngster and along with Arsenal and West Ham, Sevilla, AC Milan and Fiorentina are all believed to have been taking an interest in him. He has interest in his home land from the three biggest clubs as Marseille, his former club Lyon and Bordeaux are all said to be keen. However Bordeaux have declared themselves out of the race to sign him with their chairman Jean-Louis Triaud saying:

“They (Nice) refused to accept €13.5m from West Ham, I do not see how we could make a proposal that pleases them.”

It is strange to hear of a chairman from another club commenting on the Hammers transfer dealings, however if the fee that has been mentioned is true then it’s clear that West Ham are prepared to spend big this summer to get themselves a top striker. It will be interesting to see if Arsenal now come in with a bid for the player who has declared that he will be leaving his future in the hands of his club. Remy has said:

“I am returning back to training this week, I am still a Nice player. If they decide to sell me I will listen to offers and see what we can do, but I am relaxed and if nothing happens I will be happy to stay here.”

Based on what he has shown already, wherever he ends up he is going to be a valuable asset for that side. Remy already looks the part and could go on to be a great striker.

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