The international career of Kennedy Otieno, the Kenya wicketkeeper, appears to be over after Cricket Kenya failed to offer him a new contract. Otieno, 35, announced on Tuesday that he would return to Australia to play for Caboolture, a club in Queensland which he represented for six months last year.”If I was offered a contract I would not have gone to Australia,” Otieno said. “It is a polite way of telling me that I am not needed. I would have loved to continue playing for Kenya but I have to look elsewhere for a livelihood.”Otieno first headed to Australia last year, but his unavailability for Kenya’s training camp ruled him out of the World Cup in the Caribbean. Now he has been overlooked for Kenya’s series against India A and Sri Lanka A next week.After two three-day matches between Kenya and India A, the teams will play a triangular one-day series from August 14-20.
The Indian squad which went to Sri Lanka for the ill-fated tri-series last month is likely to be retained for the triangular tournament in Malaysia, which also features Australia and West Indies. However, Anil Kumble could be in contention for a place in the 14-member Champions Trophy squad, which will also be named later on Sunday.Kumble has been named among the 30 probables for the Champions Trophy, and was considered a strong candidate for a berth in the final squad. However, he might be left out if the selectors feel he needs more time to recover from tendonitis – Kumble was detected with the injury when he was playing for Surrey last month. Also, the ICC stipulations state that after the Champions Trophy squad has been named, no replacements will be allowed if the concerned player already had the injury when the squad was announced.The 30-member probables list also included Sourav Ganguly, but it is highly unlikely that he will make the cut.The squad that went to Sri Lanka Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Mongia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, RP Singh, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth.
While the rest of the world focuses on The Oval and the final day of a riveting Ashes contest in South London, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will begin a two-Test series that promises to be one-sided, swift and unmemorable. Bangladesh – battling injuries to key bowlers, internal discord within their ranks and bruised confidence after the 3-0 ODI whitewash – should be brushed aside easily by a full-strength Sri Lanka team.Sri Lanka, for the second Test series in a row, fear complacency more than the potency of their opponents. Once again, they have everything to lose and very little to gain. Their preparation has focused on their own game, particularly their top-order batting which faltered during a two-Test series against West Indies in July.”We cannot afford to take Bangladesh lightly,” said Mahela Jayawardene. “We are concentrating on the basics and improving our game. We want to build big partnerships and ensure that we put together a large first-innings score in both games.”Sri Lanka’s batsman should be licking their lips. The West Indies brought with them a fiery trio of pacemen and ruffled the Sri Lankans on occasions, but Bangladesh have been shorn of their two most experienced fast bowlers – Mashrafe Mortaza (back injury) and Tapash Baisya (ankle injury) – and will now be forced to blood two youngsters.Dav Whatmore, Bangladesh’s ever-optimistic coach, refuses to be downbeat ahead of the game. “The loss of Mashrafe and Tapash is a blow and we will now have a very inexperienced pace attack, but the youngsters now have a chance to shine.”Syed Rasel, a steady left-arm medium-pacer, is likely to make his debut with either Shahdat Hossain, a pace bowler who was plundered for 101 runs in 12 overs on debut against England earlier this year, or Talha Jubair, who has been whisked over from Dhaka to bolster the bowling attack.The responsibility for taking wickets will therefore fall on the shoulders of the two left-arm spinners – bad boy Mohammad Rafique, who has been wrapped on the knuckles this week after an outburst on the training field, and Emanul Haque jnr. On a Premadasa International pitch that traditionally favours the slower bowlers, they can look forward to a heavy workload.But even greater responsibility falls upon the shoulders of their batsmen, who have overcome the twin-threat posed by Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan, both of whom are at the top of their form and will be eager to reap cheap wickets. At least Habibul Bashar, the skipper, has returned from a quick trip home to see his ailing mother.”We know their attack revolves around Vaasy and Murali and will have to play them well because its vital that we put good runs on the board,” said Whatmore. “I was, though, encouraged by the way we played them at times during the ODI series. We are being honest, as it is going to be tough, but we’ll be taking it session by session and will be trying to make life as hard as possible for the Sri Lankans.”Sri Lanka must decide whether to play six batsmen and an allrounder or a fifth specialist bowler. Both Russel Arnold and Shantha Kalavitigoda are in the squad and could bat at No.7. But with Sanath Jayasuriya, who will become the first Sri Lankan to pay 100 Tests in the second game, possibly not available for a full stint with the ball they may be inclined to opt for Gayan Wijekoon, the left-arm seamer, or even the added firepower of Dilhara Fernando.Teams Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Marvan Atapattu (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Chaminda Vaas, 8 Rangana Herath, 9 Muttiah Muralitharan, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11 Lasith MalingaBangladesh (probable) 1 Javed Omar, 2 Nafees Iqbal, 3 Habibul Bashar (capt), 4 Mohammad Ashraful, 5 Aftab Ahmed, 6 Shariar Nafees, 7 Khaled Mashud (wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Enamul Haque jnr, 10 Syed Rasel, 11 Shahadat Hossain
The Indian cricket board has finally announced the itinerary for this winter’s home Test series against Australia and South Africa. A four-Test series is scheduled to begin against Australia at Bangalore on October 6, with further matches scheduled for Chennai, Nagpur and Mumbai. Kanpur and Kolkata will host the two Tests against South Africa in late November.India’s Test series against Australia is widely being billed as one of the showcase match-ups of the past decade. On their previous visit in 2000-01, Australia led 1-0 in the three-match series and had forced India to follow-on at Kolkata, when VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid turned the game – and the series – on its head with a wonderful 376-run partnership. Australia went on to lose 2-1, and have not won a series in India since 1969.The current evenness of the two teams was emphasised when they met again in Australia last winter for an eventful four-Test series that was drawn 1-1. The finale came at Sydney, where Steve Waugh bowed out as Australia’s captain, even though it had been his long-stated aim to be victorious on Indian soil.South Africa had been pencilled in for just a one-day series, because it had been feared there would be no time to complete a full tour. But in the end, they have opted for a two-Test stopover, with the one-day games deferred until next year.Australia tour 30 Sep – 2 Oct v Indian board president’s team, Hyderabad 6-10 Oct First Test, Bangalore 14-17 Oct Second Test, Madras 26-30 Oct Third Test, Nagpur 3-7 Nov Fourth Test, Bombay South Africa tour 14-16 Nov v India A, Jaipur 20-24 Nov First Test, Kanpur 28 Nov – 2 Dec Second Test, Calcutta
Thursday, March 6, 2003::: “I was able to get hold of a copy of the Duckworth-Lewis printout and, having seen them so often, I knew we had to better the par score printed on that. So we were all shouting at Mark Boucher to take a single off the last ball, but to no avail. I have no idea why the team didn’t realise they needed to do better than 229, except that the pressure of the situation maybe went to their heads.” Former South African coach Graham Ford Source: The Natal Witness, South Africa”We committed schoolboy errors and the team’s management has to take a hard look at itself. What happened out there was unacceptable.” Former South African off-spinner and current national selector Pat Symcox Source: The Independent, South Africa”I think a strong character like Hollioake in the middle order would be very good and they need a captain who has been successful. Neither Vaughan nor Trescothick have County Championship captaincy experience although Trescothick has captained a bit for England. Vaughan is the favourite but personally, I would like to see Adam Hollioake.” Former England spinner John Emburey, on Nasser Hussain’s successor as English one-day captain Source: This is Cornwall, UK”A (banned) athlete can go and practise running around an oval if he is a sprinter or a hurdler or a shot-put thrower, so why shouldn’t Shane Warne be able to practise his craft against the best players?” Victoria coach David Hookes, on Warne practising during his ban against first-class opposition Source: The Sunday Times, AustraliaMonday, March 3, 2003::: “A game against Australia requires some special performances, but we don’t need that against Sri Lanka. We don’t need anything special, just the basics. We mustn’t drop catches, mustn’t get run out and need to keep things tight. We just need simple, percentage cricket.” Former South African fast-bowler Fanie de Villiers Source: The Star, South Africa”I know he would be disappointed because he felt we stood a chance, as everyone else felt we stood a chance. But these things happen in sport and I think it’s important having dialogue with him to see where we go from here.” Former West Indian skipper Viv Richards, on captain Carl Hooper’s World Cup Source: CaribbeanCricket.com”There’s probably one or two players who have hung on a bit too long. I know Australia has over the last four years pretty much been moving guys out and bringing new guys in. So far it’s proving to be a good decision for them. But I’m not quite sure that South Africa is blessed with the riches of talent that they (Australia) are, so it’s a little bit more difficult.” Former South African cricketer Kepler Wessels, on South Africa’s current team Source: The Age, Australia
The 16 members of the Bangladesh National Squad were awarded with Test Caps in a flamboyant ceremony in the Winter Garden of the Hotel Sheraton, Dhaka last night. The President of Bangladesh Cricket Board, Mr. Saber Hossain Chowdhury, formally handed over the green caps with the BCB’s logo on top.The event started with a documentary on Bangladesh Cricket named “Sabash Bangladesh”. After that the President distributed the caps among the 16 tigers of Bangladesh who are representing the country. Statistics of the players were shown on a large screen.Cash awards were given to Aminul Islam, Habibul Bashar, Al-Sahariar, Naimur Rahman and Mohammed Rafique who displayed outstanding performance in the inaugural Test against India. Centurion Aminul Islam and Naimur Rahman (six wickets in that Test) received cheques of Taka. 200,000 each. Habubul Bashar and Rafique were awarded Taka. 100,000 each and Al-Sahariar collected Taka. 80,000. The Partex Group and the BCB distributed the cash awards jointly.About 500 guests were present, and a cultural program was arranged. Renowned singer Tapan Chowdhury and Baby Naznin took part in the entertainment.Mehrab Hossain’s wife won a Grameen cell phone, and coach Imran’s wife won a Dhaka-Hong Kong-Dhaka Air Ticket in a raffle. The presentation was followed by a buffet dinner.Former state minister for Youth and Sports, Obaidul Quadir Chowdhury, was present as the special guest. He was honoured for his contribution to cricket over the last five years. Guests were shown a nostalgic film of the matchwinning shots of the sixth ICC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is being considered by Man City as Pep Guardiola’s potential heir next year, with the Blues making contingency plans.
Enzo Maresca tipped to replace Pep Guardiola at Man City
BlueCo are now bracing themselves for potential interest from City in Maresca, with the Italian emerging as a prime candidate to succeed Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium.
The 44-year-old’s impressive stint at Stamford Bridge has not gone unnoticed by his former employers, where he served as Guardiola’s assistant during City’s historic treble-winning campaign in 22/23.
Media sources suggest the Premier League title contenders view Maresca as ideally positioned to maintain their footballing identity when Guardiola eventually departs.
City’s interest carries particular weight given Guardiola’s contract expires in 2026, meaning that an approach could materialise very soon.
Chelsea would demand enormous compensation for Maresca’s services, though City’s financial muscle makes any negotiation feasible if they prioritise his appointment.
Maresca guided the west Londoners to two major trophies last season — the Conference League and Club World Cup — whilst steering Chelsea to Champions League qualification on the final day of 2024/2025.
Chelsea submit bid to sign 'one of the most promising players of his generation'
He’s very highly rated.
ByEmilio Galantini
Some reports suggest that Maresca doesn’t see eye-to-eye with some members of the Chelsea hierarchy and there’s been tension behind-the-scenes at times, but the tactician himself is adamant that his head isn’t being turned.
While Maresca publicly denies any interest in a return to Eastlands, things can change very quickly in football, and we’ve seen high-profile figures go back on their word before.
Taking this into account, as any elite club does, Chelsea have contingency plans in mind for when/if Maresca departs Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea identify Zinedine Zidane as 'dream' Enzo Maresca replacement
According to CaughtOffside, alongside the usual suspects like Strasbourg’s Liam Rosenior and Frank Lampard, former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is seen as a top target.
They report that Zidane is their ‘perennial dream’ candidate for the hot seat, and he ‘tops Chelsea’s wishlist’ almost every time a managerial conversation is held.
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The 53-year-old footballing icon is best known for his very productive stint at the Bernabeu, where he led Real to 11 major trophies — including three consecutive Champions League titles, two La Ligas, two UEFA Super Cups and two Copa del Reys.
Zidane has been a managerial free agent since leaving Real in 2021, despite interest from a host of top sides since then, including links to Man United.
His style of play would excite Chelsea supporters too, according to former Los Blancos defender Raphael Varane.
Provided Zidane doesn’t take up another job in the meantime, he could be a fine candidate to succeed Maresca in the event he does leave.
Chelsea earmark 23-year-old as a future player as scouts watch all of his games
AB de Villiers has dropped a hint that he might be willing after all to lead South Africa’s Test team in the longer term, after stating that it was pressure, not personnel, that led to the side’s downfall on a catastrophic third day at Johannesburg.De Villiers, who had been rumoured to be on the verge of retirement from Test cricket amid concerns about his workload, quashed any such rumours in the wake of South Africa’s seven-wicket defeat at The Wanderers.Faced with an inspired spell of bowling from Stuart Broad, who claimed 5 for 1 in ten overs after lunch, South Africa crumbled to 83 all out in their second innings. The result confirmed the end of South Africa’s reign as the No.1 Test team, and may just have galvanised South Africa’s new Test captain to stick to his guns and lead a side in transition out of their current malaise.”I was never thinking of leaving Test cricket at all. I was just to find a way to rest a little bit throughout the year,” de Villiers said after the match. “Lots of thoughts have been crossing my mind but this [defeat] has got absolutely no influence on that.””Playing on the cricket pitch has never been an issue for me, it’s just a matter of keeping myself fresh. It’s really tough to stay on top of your game if you play up to 12 months a year. I just have to try and find a balance to keep my fight going and keep that skill level up.”South Africa’s skills may have been lacking in the decisive third Test, and the absence of several key members of their team – Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, JP Duminy and Quinton de Kock, not to mention a specialist opening batsman – cannot have helped. However, de Villiers believes the team still has plenty raw materials with which to rebuild their fortunes.”The players we have are not really the issue, there’s still something to work with there,” he said. “The talent is there, it’s just a matter of finding consistency and applying pressure more often”They [England] kept applying the pressure. Every time we looked like starting a good partnership, they took a good catch or bowled a good delivery, and it just kept going like that. I guess when momentum is on your side, things tend to happen that way. Credit to them for creating that kind of pressure.”It was a tough day for AB de Villiers but he wants to carry on•Getty Images
Facing up to the loss of the series, and their No.1 Test ranking, de Villiers conceded, somewhat dramatically, “I almost feel like all hope is gone”. However, throwing ahead to the final dead-rubber Test in Centurion, he struck a more upbeat note.”I’m still the kind of guy that will get myself going for that last Test match, and get the team going,” he said. “I felt we were in the game lots of times throughout the Test match and just didn’t grab those opportunities.”South Africa’s chances came in the first innings when they were 117 for 1 against an England attack struggling with a stomach bug and with a big total on the cards. Instead, they squandered that chance and threw their wickets away, with every batsman reaching double figures but none going past Dean Elgar’s 46, to put themselves under unnecessary pressure.”There were quite a few opportunities that we had throughout the match and one was in the first innings,” de Villiers said. “We were getting a lot of partnerships going, a lot of guys got in. There was a great opportunity to get 400-plus and we didn’t take that. 400-plus on this wicket is very tough to play against. Unfortunately we missed that trick.”Then, South Africa had England 91 for 4 in reply and “let it slip.” De Villiers struggled to use his four quicks effectively, primarily because they all did the same job. Among them, there was no designated holding bowler and, without a spinner, there was no way to slow the game down. However, de Villiers did not blame team selection or player unavailability for the leaked runs.”We miss Dale, there’s no excuse with that. We miss Vern, we miss Kallis as well. But this is the team we have and the team I believe in,” he said. “It’s up to the 11 here and the 11 that get picked at Centurion to do something special. That’s the way past players like a Kallis and a Smith did it. They had some tough times and they found a way to get through it to get to the top of the rankings. We’ve now got to find a way with what we have to become the best.”De Villiers does not know how to find that way at the moment, but he knows the fundamental reason why. “We’re not the same side anymore,” he said. “There are lots of different players. We’re still up there in the rankings, but that means absolutely nothing. I believe our form of late has been really poor and it will take something really special to turn it around. It’s important for us to try and find that mould of cricket we’re looking to play. We’re a little bit offbeat at the moment, that’s for sure.””The youngsters will learn a lot. Not long ago I was that youngster in the team, going through ups and downs at Test level, personally and as a team a while back. You learn a lot from that. It’s important just to survive and for a youngster to get through this and not to give up and gain a lot of experience. If guys like Kagiso [Rabada] and Hardus [Viljoen] and a few others get through this patch, they’ll become much better cricketers.”De Villiers hopes to be the man to guide them through that, even if his captaincy stint is clipped at the end of these two Tests.”It’s a big responsibility for me, and a great opportunity to have an influence on younger players. I would love to walk away from the game knowing I’ve had an influence on the young guys turning into senior players in the team,” de Villiers said. “There’s a group of about four or five players that have the responsibility on their shoulders, and it’s important for us to keep things intact. And to keep the hope going. I’d love to be captain, I’m hopefully still captain in the next game, we’ll see.”In this match, de Villiers could not inspire his players, even though he said he gave it his all. “The message in the change-room was to keep fighting, there’s no doubt in my mind all 11 kept fighting but we just got a good hammering from the opposition,” he said. “I tried everything I could personally, I believe my fellow team-mates also did. It’s difficult to explain how these kind of things happen, we have to give credit to the England bowlers and the team.”That was where de Villiers had to concede South Africa were simply outgunned by a man with a trained eye. Broad dealt them a blow they will take a long time to recover from and for which, at the moment, they have no explanation for.”That’s some of the best bowling I’ve faced from their whole unit. Conditions suited them really well and they made full use of that,” he said. “They asked a lot of questions, right throughout our innings. They didn’t ask as many questions in the first innings and that’s where I thought we missed a trick.”This time around they were spot on, they were a little bit fuller in their lengths and they asked questions all the time. The ball was moving around a lot, but they showed some good skill and you have to give them credit for that, especially Broady for getting the results.”
Nepal’s success at the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) women’s tournament has prompted the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) to consider organising an inter-school Under-11 combined (boys and girls) tournament in their bid to develop women’s cricket.Nepal reached the final of the week-long tournament at Johor in Malaysia where they lost to Bangladesh by eight wickets. Mohan Singh Rathaur, Nepal’s State Minister for Education and Sports, gave NPR 10,000 (US$ 153) to each of the 14 players and the coach Jung Bahadur Thapa for their achievements in Malaysia.Nary Thapa, the Nepal captain who won the bowler of the tournament award for her 12 wickets, said her side hadn’t imagined reaching so far in the tournament.Binay Raj Pandey, the CAN president shared her sentiments. “I would have been more than happy even if they had reached the last four but returning with runner-up trophy is simply an exceptional achievement,” Pandey told the . Thapa, the Nepal coach, was also pleased with the team’s performance. “We were an improved team in every other match,” he said.The matches at the ACC tournament were Nepal’s first-ever international fixtures. The tournament is expected to be played around the same time again next year.
Having won the presidential race for the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) against heavy odds, Jagmohan Dalmiya today threw the gauntlet at the Indian board (BCCI), asserting that its efforts to malign him would not go ‘unchallenged’.”I don’t believe in witch-hunting, but a lot of wrong has been done to me [by the BCCI]. This is not cricket. I can only say that whatever they do will not go unchallenged,” Dalmiya told a media meet after defeating challenger Prasun Mukherjee, the Kolkata Police Commissioner.”I will prove the truth. I needed a platform to bring truth to the fore. That is why I chose to fight the elections despite the chief minister’s [Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee] advice not to contest.”Pointing out that the board had suspended him from attending its meetings, slapped two show cause notices and even filed an FIR against him, Dalmiya said “I won’t be vindictive. But it has to come out who is the real culprit.”Asked how he proposed to utilise the CAB platform to fight the BCCI, Dalmiya said, “I myself don’t know. How we deal will not be in my hand. It is so confidential that I would like to keep it with me.”Dalmiya evaded a question whether he would appear before the BCCI Disciplinary Committee in the near future. “Leave the matter to me and my legal advisers. I was contemplating retirement from the cricket administration, but the peculiar way things turned out, I was forced to fight the CAB elections as I needed a platform.”On receiving cooperation from the Kolkata Police, “Why won’t I? Such apprehension should not be there. It is a democratic election and it is now over.”Questioned if he had anything to say against West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who had publicly asked him not to contest the CAB election, Dalmiya said “I respect the chief minister. We need the support of the government to run the game and I have no apprehension.”