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Trent Johnston enjoys part of his breezy cameo © Getty Images

Grand Old Duke of York
There was more than a frisson of worry in the England camp when Trent Johnston and Andrew White started to find the boundaries late in the innings. Michael Vaughan turned to Andrew Flintoff, and he settled it, spearing the ball into the blockhole to devastating effect. One-day tactics have evolved constantly down the years, but there’s still no match for the yorker at the death.One for the auld enemy
The wicket of Flintoff – chopping one on – and two sixes in a breezy cameo would have been satisfying for most allrounders, but perhaps Johnston relished it a little bit more because of his New South Wales roots. He tries to play it down now that he’s Irish captain, but some old rivalries linger.Look who’s clucking now
Johnston had unveiled the chicken-dance celebration when he dismissed Mohammad Yousuf in the famous victory against Pakistan, and there was a reprise as Flintoff became another prized victim. Chickens don’t fly though, and England plucked his feathers ruthlessly, with 47 coming from the last five overs he bowled.SuperColly
The ICC rankings may have Kevin Pietersen at the top, but Paul Collingwood’s the man in prime form. A soaring six over midwicket was one of three that he hit as 56 came from the last 31 balls that he faced.Palm Pilot
No, we’re not agents for Johnston, but he had a hand, literally, in the day’s exceptional fielding moment as well. Collingwood was on course for a century when Andrew White’s throw from mid-on came arrowing in. Stationed in front of the stumps, Johnston palmed it on with his left hand.I’m an Irishman, get me out of here
For Ed Joyce, this was a day to forget. Boyd Rankin got him shouldering arms to one that nipped back, and Ireland’s top scorer in the 2005 ICC Trophy trudged off with just one to his name. Later, with Niall O’Brien on 9, Joyce appeared half-asleep when he grassed a high chance at midwicket off Sajid Mahmood. O’Brien cashed in to the tune of 54 more runs. Joyce’s two matches against his old mates have now fetched him 11 runs. Ouch.Seen and heard
During a slow phase of play, the roaming cameras zoomed in on a little fella in an orange vest. Perhaps aware that millions of eyes were on him, he took guard and executed a textbook loft over midwicket. Not content, he took guard again and bent low for a sweep shot, holding the pose for about five seconds. The gloves were a size too big, but he certainly looked the part.

Herschelle Gibbs, for all his absurd talent, has endured a poor run of form this summer © Getty Images

Herschelle Gibbs, the South Africa batsman and Garnett Kruger have been dropped for the remaining two Tests against New Zealand. South Africa won the first Test at Centurion by 128 runs last week, but Gibbs put in another disappointing performance with a match aggregate of eight runs.In his last ten Tests, he has made just 437 runs at an average of 25.70. His last hundred was made against England over a year ago.”Herschelle and I had a meeting yesterday (Friday), and we agreed that a break and a fresh start next season will do him a world of good”, Haroon Lorgat, South Africa’s convenor of selectors, said. “Garnett is most unfortunate to have picked up a shoulder strain when he was set to play in the first Test at Centurion.”With the outstanding performances of Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn in this match, and with Andre Nel in reserve, we have decided to release him.”Lorgan confirmed that South Africa will not be replacing Gibbs or Kruger.”At the start of the series we had carried an unusually large squad of 16 players. This was designed to take into account the fact that there was no domestic cricket being played,” he said. “With one Test completed, we are now able to reduce the squad to 14 players and will reduce it further to 13 for the last Test at Liberty Life Wanderers.”South Africa team (from):Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Kallis, Boeta Dippenaar, Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Nicky Boje, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Andrew Hall, Jacques Rudolph, Hashim Amla

Barry Richards: forward looking © Getty Images

Barry Richards, the former South African batsman, has said that Twenty20 should become a global competition featuring teams from a number of cities.”If you had 16 or 20 sides you could float it around the world and you could sell it into America and Canada,” Richards told BBC Sport. “You could have a team from Toronto, a team from Miami, teams from Cape Town and London. You could have the best players, not representing a country but a town.”It would be the 200 or 300 best players in the world and it’s up to the franchise-holders to decide who are the best players. You always associate Test cricket with the best players but it’s not the case anymore. If you’ve got 15 in each side then we can see all the Australians that are not playing that are good enough to play Test cricket.”Richards comments are hardly likely to be warmly received by the authorities in some countries, but the rapid growth and remarkable popularity of the format where it has been tried means that his ideas are not as far-fetched as they might have been even a year ago.Richards has been at the forefront in recognising the need for the game to appeal to new markets and audiences if it is to prosper. At the Cowdrey Lecture in 2003, he urged the authorties to consider where cricket would be in 20 years, and said that it had to revise traditional thinking in favour of new concepts that stimulated the young.

Darren Gough’s international career could yet be revived in the West Indies, despite his scathing criticism of the England selectors in a Sunday newspaper.In an interview in the Sunday Telegraph, Gough had made it known in no uncertain terms how disappointed he was not to be selected for the winter tours to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies. “I feel like I’ve been sh*t on, to be honest,” was his frank admission. But David Graveney, England’s chairman of selectors, has revealed that Gough remains very much in England’s thoughts.”Darren can blame us as much as he likes,” Graveney told the Daily Mail. “But we have had a perfectly legitimate concern about what has been a very serious knee injury. I would rather players get angry when they’re dropped, than take it lying down. What he has to do is show he’s fit.”Gough has taken 188 wickets at 24.96 in 121 one-day internationals, and was Man of the Match in his most recent outing, the NatWest Series final against South Africa at Lord’s last summer. That fact has not been lost on Graveney, who intends to add two fasting-bowling options to the 13 men already selected for the one-dayers in the Caribbean.”You look at fitness and who might be available,” added Graveney, “and you don’t have to go too far before you come to the name of Darren Gough.”

HOBART, Dec 19 AAP – An assault on one of cricket’s most dismal records was the lowlight of a slow day as Queensland grafted to a solid position in the Pura Cup match against Tasmania in Hobart today.Opener Brendan Nash’s morning snail impersonation, plus a continuing Martin Love affair with Bellerive Oval, ensured the Bulls survived a difficult wicket and reached 4-249 at stumps on the first day after opting to bat.Love was 127 not out and Lee Carseldine 19.Chief culprit was Nash, the 25-year-old lefthanded opener, who was at the wicket for 88 minutes before he opened his account with an inside edge that squirted to square leg.That was only nine minutes less than the world record 97 minutes it took England’s Godfrey Evans to break his duck in the 1946-47 Test in Adelaide.It took Nash another 33 minutes to get his second, just after lunch. Then he accelerated modestly before being bowled for 34 shortly before tea. He was there for 223 minutes, faced 174 balls and hit four boundaries late in his innings.Nash said it was hard to score on the two-paced wicket.He said the record was “not something you’d really want”, but he’d not felt too bad about not scoring and Love had helped him get through the period.In fairness to Nash, the wicket was tough. The bowlers, moreover, sprayed a lot that had to be left, especially before lunch.This led to some extraordinary figures, notably for Shane Jurgensen, who at tea had conceded only one run off the bat from 15 overs — but had also produced four wides and three no balls.The morbid interest in Nash overshadowed Love’s performance, yet it was a good indicator of the difficulties.Love is a class act who loves Bellerive and only last month hit a double century for Australia A against England in less time that it took him to reach three figures today.In the morning, the Love affair was rocky. His timing was astray and he regularly played and missed. But survival gradually became assurance and his innings was the critical one.He has batted for 367 minutes, hit 20 fours and given one tough chance, on 103.Queensland progressed by increments — a mere 35 in the first session, 78 in the session and a healthy 136 in a long third.Stuart Law (21) and Andrew Symonds (29) provided a little late zing, but couldn’t capitalise on their starts.Damien Wright (2-59) was the only multiple wicket taker in an attack that didn’t fully capitalise on its opportunities, but also had little luck with edges — many either just missing or just falling short of the slips.

There were times during the second day of this Test match that illustrated exactly why cricket at this level is known as Test cricket.This was a day played hard and tough, by 22 men trying desperately to effect some advantages for their respective team.Mark Waugh, with his elegance and true grit, changed things fully to ensure Australia had the advantage. What a comeback after the pressure he was under recently. Perhaps, only perhaps, Brian Lara could follow suit, since he too was under the same pressure.At least no-one, not even me, could complain about the efforts and the cricket overall, even if the West Indies, as they did at Brisbane, lost the plot somewhat after tea, the fast bowlers tiring badly and being punished for it by Brett Lee.With the Australians starting at 72-2 in reply to the West Indies 196, both teams would have been looking for the immediate advantage. While Australia managed to go to lunch at 151-4, the West Indies looked to have made every effort to take quick, necessary wickets.Jimmy Adams however showed a lack of imagination when it looked as if he could just get that break through. Someone will have to wake him up sometime this series. His field placings were strange, and the situation with the 2nd new ball, not taking it immediately after tea, confused all.Australia scored a daunting 396-8 before captain, Steve Waugh, surprisingly, declared late in the afternoon, giving his bowlers seven overs at the West Indies late in the evening.Darren Ganga is not out nine, just surviving to the end, while losing opening partner Sherwin Campbell, easily caught by the first of two gullies, Jason Gillespie, from the bowling of Brett Lee. When Campbell went for four, the West Indies were 7-1. Night-watchman Merve Dillon was also out, caught at the wicket by wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist, for three, the final act of the day.Sunday could be a very long day for the West Indies batsmen.Earlier, Mark Waugh, with his 18th Test hundred; was eventually dismissedfor 119, including 12 boundaries. It was his first Test century sincemaking exactly 100 against Pakistan in the 1999/2000 series 19 innings ago, and represented a perfect psychological comeback. He also helped put his team in a very strong position to effect that record-breaking 12th win.Waugh Junior came to the crease when his team was in some bother at 111-3, after overnight batsman Matthew Hayden had been bowled, from an inside edge, by Marlon Black, for a very well-made 69. He had survived a chance on 58, in the 11th over of the day, when he top edged a Dillon delivery to fine-leg, but Marlon Black spilled a dolly catch, the score 100-2.Courtney Walsh, in the meantime, was soon presented with a straight but fiercely hit caught and bowled chance from Hayden. The return catch was missed, but Walsh had to quickly go for an x-ray, as the ring finger of his bowling finger was dislocated. The x-ray suggested only severe bruising.At 104-2, Gillespie, then on 12, received another poor decision, this time by Umpire Peter Parker. There was a clear deviation from the glove of the Black delivery on its way to wicket-keeper Jacobs which was confirmed by television replays. The dismay and disappointment of the West Indies was evident.But nightwatchman Gillespie did not last for much longer. He was caught by Brian Lara at 1st slip, from the bowling of Nixon McLean, for a bothersome 23.Waugh Junior was also dropped at cover point by Darren Ganga, when he had madeonly 21 and the score 159-4. That miss cost the West Indies dearly. He also survived a fearful hit from a delivery from Courtney Walsh, using the second new ball, directly on the helmet, when he was 93, and Australia 296-6.After that, he blossomed, playing some imperious shots in his innings, driving, glancing and guiding the fast bowlers everywhere in the outfield. The straight drives, especially off Dillon and Nixon McLean, then a pull and a cover drive, after he had made his century, from Courtney Walsh’s bowling, were sights to behold. Incidentally, when he had gotten to his century, after only 151 balls, he had hit ten four’s.He established useful partnerships with his brother Steve, putting on 65 for the fifth wicket, in 107 balls and then with Adam Gilchrist, who also played well for his sixth Test half century; including seven boundaries; Waugh added a quick-fire 95 runs in 134 balls for the seventh wicket. Both partners fell to Walsh to edge him close to the 500 landmark.Said Mark Waugh afterwards: “To make runs on a bouncy Perth pitch, against the West Indies, was very satisfying. I was very pleased with the way I played. No, I was not under any real pressure except that this is a Test match. Simply, I wanted to enjoy the day, hopefully make a few runs, as this is a very important game for us. I was obviously pretty focussed out there and was happy with the way my form went.””Perth could be a difficult place to bat, as obviously there are pace and bounce there. It takes a bit of adjusting to. If you happen to meet a couple of good fast bowlers, it can be pretty awkward, but once you get in, the pace of the wicket allows you to score quickly. At least it’s a nice and even surface out there. You can get yourself in trouble if you are not diligent and watch the ball constantly.””Perth is a lot harder, with much more pace and bounce than Brisbane. Brisbane was a little bit slower and a bit more uneven. While Perth was much more even, if you wanted to bend the back, the bowlers could get some help too”The third day is shaping up to be a truly great day. Either Australia will win the game, and secure that record of 12 consecutive Test wins in a row, or the West Indies could flash themselves to glory, slashing and bashing the Australians to a full stop.Somehow, the former seems more likely than the latter, but you never know.

On-loan Aston Villa star Philippe Coutinho has expressed a willingness to take a major pay cut to facilitate a move away from Barcelona. 

The lowdown

The Brazilian moved from Camp Nou to Villa Park on a short-term deal in January, and 90min last week reported that Steven Gerrard’s side have already opened talks over a permanent deal.

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However, they also revealed that the 29-year-old earns ‘just shy’ of £500,000 per week with the inclusion of bonuses. That far outstrips Villa’s current wage ceiling, the £120,000 that they pay to Danny Ings, who earns 50% more than the next-best reimbursed players on the list.

Coutinho’s £142m move to Spain in 2018 remains one of the biggest in football history, but he has struggled so much for Barcelona that he has occasionally been booed by his own fans.

The latest

Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo reported (via Birmingham Mail) that both Barcelona and Coutinho hope to negotiate a permanent exit from the Nou Camp this summer.

The La Liga club want €40m (£33.5m) for the Brazilian, which is pretty much in line with the £33m purchase option that Villa have been granted.

The report stated that ‘the main obstacle’ to a permanent move is Coutinho’s salary, but ‘club sources consulted by MD’ insist that the player ‘always does his part to overcome’ this barrier. The 29-year-old will seemingly do what he can to ensure that an agreement can be reached with a new club.

The verdict

Coutinho is enjoying his football at Aston Villa. He said at the end of February that he is ‘very happy’ in the Midlands, having fulfilled his ambition to return to the Premier League.

That sense of contentment has been evident on the pitch, with the playmaker bagging four goals and laying on three assists in his first 10 appearances in claret and blue.

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Significantly, his Brazil prospects have also improved following the move away from Camp Nou. Having missed out on the Selecao squad altogether in September and October and watched on from the bench in November, he has featured in each of the country’s three games under Tite so far in 2022.

Coutinho knows that leaving Barcelona for good could be crucial to his World Cup ambitions, and that is yet another reason to make sacrifices in terms of his pay packet. It could be a major hurdle cleared if Villa are hopeful of sealing him on a permanent move.

In other news, could this throw a spanner in the works for Villa?

ScorecardDoug Bollinger was the matchwinner for New South Wales with his second five-wicket haul destroying Western Australia and keeping the home side well placed heading into the final exchanges. Phillip Hughes’ unbeaten fifty helped the Blues knock off the 75 required for the nine-wicket victory, ending Tasmania’s hopes of defending their title.Aaron Heal fell early – he was Bollinger’s first wicket of the day when caught by Beau Casson – but Marcus North (37) and Luke Pomersbach (81) held them up with a 70-run stand. Dominic Thornely finally broke through, holding a return catch to send North back, but Pomersbach lingered on. Finally Nathan Bracken bowled him and Bracken’s only wicket for the innings was an important one.Pomersbach’s efforts at least forced the Blues into bat again after it had seemed likely they wouldn’t have to when the Warriors resumed in the morning at 4 for 45. Before and after Pomersbach’s dismissal, Bollinger found Steve Magoffin’s edge and then Ben Edmondson’s pad to close them out and set up a straightforward chase. Hughes duly made 54 from 67 balls with six fours and a six while Greg Mail was unseated by Magoffin.Bollinger’s purple patch is so violet (or, as the batsmen may see it, violent) that his 10 for 126 is not even his best match analysis of the season – it came with 12 for 131 against Tasmania on the same ground. His 44 first-class victims bring him level with Ashley Noffke for the leading Australian wicket-taker, although Bollinger’s have come from six games rather than eight. Notwithstanding Mark Cameron’s one-match five-wicket showing, Bollinger has the best first-class average of any Australian at 14.02 and the national selectors must be keeping a close eye on him.

Zimbabwe’s Independent newspaper has revealed that the state broadcaster ZBC failed to secure right to cover the World Cup as it was unable to pay for the services of a local satellite engineer who had asked for Zim$1 million (US$50).ZBC, which is known to have no funds, had been bailed out by Zimbabwe Cricket who, so the report claims, had done a deal with the South African Broadcasting Corporation. All that ZBC had to do was to locate the signal, which it failed to do. As a result, only those with access to overseas satellite channels have been able to follow the action.”We had put together a package for ZBC-TV to screen the World Cup matches, but we understand they had local technical difficulties accessing the signal from SABC,” Zimbabwe Cricket spokesman Lovemore Banda told the Independent. No representative from ZBC was available for comment.What is uncertain is whether Zimbabwe Cricket, who may have paid out up to US$1 million for the rights, will be able to reclaim the money.

Guyana 211 and 22 for 0 trail Barbados 246 (Bradshaw 81, Hinds 52) by 13 runs
Scorecard

Ian Bradshaw hits out on his way to 81 © The Nation

Ian Bradshaw, the Mr Level-Headed of Barbados’ cricket, saved his country from a near embarrassment yesterday. Showing the value of a sound, calm approach, and more significantly, choosing the right ball to despatch, the reliable allrounder put up his hand to bail Barbados out of troubled waters on the second day of their Carib Beer Challenge semi-final against Guyana.When he strode onto the Carlton Club immediately after lunch, Barbados, responding to Guyana’s 211, were in tatters on 101 for 6 and seemingly intent on duplicating the horrors of the embarrassing collapses they went through at the same venue two months ago.When he returned to the dressing room just after 4 pm to a deserving ovation from a fair-sized Saturday evening crowd in which the support for either team was about the same, his skilful innings of 81 had carried Barbados to an insignificant, but handy first-innings advantage of 35.The fact that Barbados were able to make 246 was largely a measure of Bradshaw’s ability to counter the spin of Mahenadra Nagamotoo and Neil McGarrell that posed such a big threat in the pre-lunch session. It was also due to a wonderful support effort from Ryan Austin. He might have made only 14, but it was very important that he was able to solidly defend for an hour-and-three-quarters in a face-saving eighth-wicket partnership of 66 with Bradshaw that was finally broken when Barbados were one run shy of Guyana’s total.While most of those before Bradshaw were unable to cope with the experienced spin twins, the slimly-built left-hander made Nagamootoo and McGarell pay dearly for the leg-stump line on which they opted to concentrate. Bradshaw carted them for four sixes, two against each, with three landing on the roof of the club pavilion and the other just to the left of the Guyana dressing-room.It was only the lack of partners that induced Bradshaw into attempting anything rash. Left with No. 11 Pedro Collins, he chased at a wide ball from pacer Reon King and was well caught low by the diving wicketkeeper Derwin Christian. By then, Tino Best’s breezy 21 had assisted Barbados’ cause, and a few of those who went before him should take a leaf out of his book when it comes to batting responsibly.While wickets were falling, captain Ryan Hinds batted impressively for 52 off 98 balls, stroking eight attractive boundaries before King trapped him lbw.For the first two hours, Barbados were thoroughly outplayed, mainly against fast-medium Esaun Crandon and leggie Nagamootoo, but some of it was caused by their own undoing. While the runs flowed, the rate of wickets and the mode of some dismissals were alarming.Spectators were still filing into the ground when an uncertain Wayne Blackman padded up to his fourth ball and was lbw to Crandon. The noise that reverberated 15 minutes later seemed to suggest there were ten times more people than were present at the time. The uproar was over a horrific, cross-batted non-descript stroke Dwayne Smith attempted to a ball that didn’t have the length for such a stroke. As he missed and the ball uprooted his stumps, Smith walked off the ground to a host of uncomplimentary remarks from those in the pavilion.Things returned to a sense of normalcy as captain Ryan Hinds and Dale Richards batted with all the assurance in the world. Richards stroked five fours in his 29 before he paid the price for moving back to Neil McGarrell’s left-arm spin, and was lbw. Floyd Reifer arrived to replace Richards, hit a confident boundary before gifting his hand with a casual return catch to Nagamootoo. It was the first of three wickets for regional first-class cricket’s highest wicket-taker who dealt Barbados a cruel blow with a double-strike on the stroke of lunch.Alcindo Holder, short of runs since the first three matches, made 16 before falling to a bat/pad catch at forward short-leg, and next ball, Patrick Browne edged a tentative defensive prod. It made way for Bradshaw, and the rest was history.His heroics has set the stage for a second innings contest in which the winner will earn a place in the next weekend’s final, to which it appears that Cup champions Trinidad and Tobago are certain to advance.