Handing someone an identity based on that of a predecessor is unfair, but Jacob Oram could easily belong to the Cairns clan. A rugged physique, wavy on top and an ability to muscle sixes were characteristics of both Lance and Chris Cairns, and Oram showed off the same qualities as he rescued New Zealand with a mature century.Chris Cairns walked out of Test cricket in England during the winter after 62 matches, leaving large openings with bat and ball. Oram is a gigantic 26-year-old allrounder with a still-growing reputation. Chosen to captain the touring side against New South Wales, he is someone to get excited about.Three sixes iced his innings as he celebrated his second hundred in his 16th Test. Two came off consecutive Michael Kasprowicz deliveries, while his pull over midwicket from Jason Gillespie was pure power. While they were blows that either Cairns could have claimed, Oram’s innings was more important for its poise than its power. “Circumstances dictated [the hitting],” he said. “Chris Cairns would have hit from ball one. Cairns is just an explosive player and can blow a game open in a session: as you saw with me it took about three sessions. I don’t see myself as a natural hitter.”Like his first century against South Africa last summer, Oram arrived at 5 for 138 with New Zealand in need of a push. Although they fulfilled their promise to take time over their runs, the batsmen’s inability to convert starts threatened to result in a small total. With Oram in charge he started steadily and steered them to a dreamy position with the help of an obliging tail.Twice before he had been stuck in the nineties, and the same was expected as the rabbit Chris Martin strolled out. “I’ve got to be honest, I got a little bit nervous then,” he said. Touch and placement were responsible for him moving to three figures as Ricky Ponting scattered his fielders around the boundary.”This century means a lot more to me that my first,” he said. “Today there were a lot of factors: Australia are the best team in the world, it was the first Test of the series, the first innings of the series for me, and when I went in we were in a spot of bother.” Oram’s parents were in the stands, and he celebrated with a look to the sky to remember his grandfather, who died of cancer three months ago.As his innings progressed, Oram was unmoved by numerous disruptive tactics, including two short balls from Shane Warne. It was easy to see why he has been mooted as an eventual replacement for Stephen Fleming. “I have seen Warne on TV bowling bouncers so I knew it was in his repertoire,” said Oram, “but I didn’t see the first one and it nearly hit me on the head.”One aspect where Oram is unlikely to match Cairns is with his bowling, which is more stock than strike. A batsman who added medium-pace to his resume four years ago, he took at least one wicket in his first 12 Test innings, and claimed Sachin Tendulkar on debut in 2002. He will do hours of unfashionable work at around 130kph, but he can make the ball rise sharply, and surprised both Ponting and Damien Martyn.Oram doesn’t like or believe the comparisons with Cairns, but they are inevitable. More performances like today’s will help forge an identity away from the father and son.Peter English is Australasian editor of Wisden Cricinfo.
Darren Gough will have to prove his fitness in first-class cricket before he has any chance of an England Test recall, according to Duncan Fletcher, the England coach. Gough excelled for England with 4 for 26 in their demolition of Zimbabwe at Bristol in the NatWest Series on Sunday.But Gough, 32, has been troubled by a succession of knee injuries which sidelined him from international cricket for the best part of a year. Fletcher explained he was not willing to take any chances with Gough in the npower Test series against South Africa, starting on July 24. “The only guy who knows whether he is fit enough for Test cricket is Darren,” he said. “To bowl 25 overs one day and maybe 15 the next, and stand in the field is a hell of a lot different to one-day cricket.”Maybe he will need the test of another four-day game for Yorkshire to see if he can do it,” he continued. “We need the experience of a fit Darren Gough in the Test side. We’ve just got to make sure he is fit enough to be out there for five or six sessions.”Michael Vaughan, the captain, echoed Fletcher when he said: “It is up to Darren [to decide] how his knee is and whether he wants to put himself up for Test matches. He got his four-for in this match and throughout the tournament he has bowled well and been an invaluable member of the squad. He has been a lynchpin in the team.”Gough himself also admitted that he needed more time to prove his fitness. “I have proved my fitness for the one-day game,” he said. “Now before I even think about playing Test cricket it is vital I get some four-day games under my belt with Yorkshire.”
Bob Woolmer, ICC High Performance Consultant will be visiting Canada, Holland, Kenya and Namibia in short order to start work with these countries on their World Cup preparation.Bob is currently scheduled to hold meetings in Canada with senior and junior team officials and team captains and to discuss a programme of activities including proposed tours, academy visits and training regimens.The U-19 World Cup takes place in New Zealand in January 2002. A squad will be finalized shortly.The Senior World Cup will be held in South Africa starting in February 2003.Proposed preparation includes Academy visits, tours to the West Indies including the Red Stripe 2002, and Emerging Nations Tournaments including a visit to Namibia in April 2002. Discussion at the CCA and the ICC Development and High Performance will also include other possible tours to Kenya in December 2001.Canada, as defending Americas cricket champions, is also scheduled to participate in the Americas Championships in Argentina in March/April 2001.CCA General Secretary has requested applications and professional resumes of those interested and experienced as Managers and Coaches for Canadian junior and senior teams. Deadline for those applications is October 18th, 2001. Knowledge of and adherence to CCA and ICC guidelines and procedures will be of paramount importance.Qualified and interested applicants should immediately contact Mr. Clarke. He can be contacted by e-mail on [email protected] or by fax on +416 496 9786.
Fast bowler Rusty Theron has retired from South African domestic cricket following continual knee problems, but he remains available to play in T20 leagues.* Theron played four ODIs and nine T20s for South Africa between October 2010 and March 2012 and was a senior member of the Warriors franchise. He played his last game for them in February.”After the CPL this year and a bothersome knee, I decided to focus on my studies for now. I will still be looking to forward to the CPL, IPL and some cricket in the UK as of next year when I have had some time to work on and settle the niggles that have bugged me for the last while,” Theron told ESPNcricinfo.Theron’s hand was forced during the Caribbean Premier League this year when he suffered a knee injury from which he did not think he would recover in time to honour his deal with the Warriors. Theron was only due to turn our for them in the twenty-over competition but withdrew to concentrate on his studied in the USA and allow his knee to settle.Theron had a reputation for being a skillful death bowler, and earned a national contract before he even played a game for South Africa. He was contracted in February 2010, after a season in which he played a major role in the Warriors winning their first, and to date, only trophies in the franchise era. They lifted both the forty-over and twenty-over cups and Theron was their leading wicket-taker in both competitions. In the forty-over tournament, he was the leading bowler overall with 21 wickets from nine matches at 18.80 and in the twenty-over event, he was third overall with 11 wickets from eight matches at 19.27.Theron took 12 wickets in 50-over cricket at 14.41 and 12 again in T20 cricket at an average of 21.75, which included series against India and Australia. However, he struggled to establish a regular place for himself in a career that was plagued by injury.A stress fracture kept him out of cricket for almost a full season in the 2012-13 summer. Trouble with his knee meant he did not play any first-class cricket last season too. Theron has relocated to the USA where he is studying English and hopes to go into teaching on his return home.Theron’s retirement has left the Warriors without an international seamer after Wayne Parnell moved to the Cobras over the winter. They have some experience in the form of Basheeru-Deen Walters and will bank on the likes of Simon Harmer, who is part of South Africa’s Test squad, to mentor a young attack.*14.00GMT, October 8: This article was updated after Rusty Theron spoke to ESPNcricinfo.
Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman may have a job on his hand to get the fans back on his side in the coming months.
A section of the support blasted the Stadium of Light supremo for how he handled the club’s search for a new manager last month, whilst some fans questioned some of his business in the January transfer window.
Speakman opted to sack Lee Johnson after the 6-0 defeat to Bolton and he failed to get a replacement in for their matches against Doncaster and Cheltenham as Sunderland lost both games with an interim managerial set-up in place.
Masterclass
The ex-Birmingham academy manager now has the opportunity to resurrect his image at the Stadium of Light by sealing a masterclass with young striker Josh Stones.
TEAMtalk recently reported that they are one of a number of clubs in the race to land the Guiseley centre-forward, with Wolves, Burnley, Watford, Huddersfield, Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Newcastle also said to be keen on him.
This shows that there is a huge amount of interest in the striker from teams in the divisions above Sunderland, which is why winning the race for his signature would be a masterclass by the club. The fans would surely be impressed if Speakman can convince Stones to turn down several Premier League sides, including their fierce rivals, to join the Black Cats.
After all, this is a team that has so often seen their academy gems taken away from them by the rich and the elite in English football.
He has scored against Palace at youth level for England’s schoolboys and has been playing regularly in the National League North this season despite being in his teens. That suggests he has the potential to go far in his career as he has been able to break into a senior set-up at such a young age, showing that he has the ability and physicality to play at first-team level.
When you consider what is a freakish record at academy level this term, it only makes a move even more exciting with Stones bagging 21 times in 14 outings throughout 2021/22.
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Therefore, the youngster would be a shrewd addition to Sunderland’s academy side this year. If he is then able to make the step up to League One, or potentially the Championship, then he would be saving the club millions as they’d be able to avoid dropping a big transfer fee on a new, already established, striker to bolster the side.
Speakman must now work hard to ensure that he can get a deal over the line for Stones to restore his reputation and make sure that Alex Neil has a talented player in the pipeline for the future.
AND in other news, 75% duels won: SAFC could find a saviour in “quick learner” who’s a “massive asset”…
Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann remains marooned in Sydney awaiting medical clearance to fly after his deep vein thrombosis scare, and is no certainty to travel to New Zealand for the Test series that could give his side the world No. 1 ranking.While Lehmann, his players and Cricket Australia are all equally eager for him to return to the team, longer-term considerations will play a part in their thinking. Following New Zealand are the longer trips to South Africa and then India for the World T20. One factor in favour of Lehmann going to New Zealand for the Tests are a pair of longer stays in Wellington and Christchurch, with the option of driving between the two venues.Having faced his second bout of DVT following an earlier instance in 2007, Lehmann said he would be taking greater precautions when travelling in future, whether that meant wearing skins on flights, moving around the cabin more often or no longer making a habit of falling asleep whenever the plane left the tarmac.”Still recovering from the DVT but for me it’s just about hopefully get medical clearance later on in the week and see where we go from there and join the New Zealand crew,” Lehmann said. “But until medical clearance comes through that I can fly, I’ll have to wait and see. But feeling a lot better.”I’ve had it before, so I knew straightaway what was going to happen, it was straight to hospital and then in overnight and straight onto the thinning tablets now. It’s a case of getting the blood right. Having been through it before you know what’s happening.”Now the specialists are pretty comfortable they’ll get it under control. End of the day I sleep on the plane, I probably shouldn’t be sleeping too much and moving around [more], but it’s one of those things, in our job you fly a lot. You’ve just got to be careful.”Watching Australia’s T20 travails from a distance has been difficult for Lehmann, who said his television was still working “just” after successive defeats in the first two matches of the India series. He agreed that Australia’s short-form team needed more continuity to perform at a higher level, but was unsure of how that might be achieved.”They don’t play that often together, scheduling’s a tough one for us, we’re getting prepared for New Zealand which is an important one for us as well,” he said. “The World T20 is just around the corner, so you’ve got to find the best solution somewhere so we’re got some guys in New Zealand, some guys here, we’re rewarding good performances in the BBL and having a look at some young guys. It’s a tough one, but we’re really confident going into the World T20.”Where do you fit it in? One-dayers are just as important, we just had a World Cup last year. Test matches are equally important. So it’s trying to find the right balance and that’s always a hard thing for scheduling. You’d love to have a big lead-in, we haven’t, can’t do much about that. With the three games in South Africa with our squad and then the World Cup, it is what it is.”As for news that the former Michael Clarke is making his return to cricket after a five-month sabbatical, Lehmann said he was happy whenever one of the “greats of the game” showed a desire to get back involved. “I spoke to him this morning,” Lehmann said. “He’ll play this grade game in February and see where it takes him from there.”It’s great to have one of the greats back. He’s obviously missed the game, loves the game, pleased for him to be starting back in club cricket and see where it goes from there. That’s what we want from the older guys, staying in the game. Let him get back and play some cricket and see where it takes him.”
Tim Nielsen, the Australia coach, says his team was surprised by the intensity of the ICC World Twenty20, which left Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Michael Hussey suffering hamstring injuries. Despite Australia’s fitness problems leading into a limited-overs tour of India, Nielsen said the tournament in South Africa had been beneficial ahead of a busy 18 months.”It’s probably been a really good physical workout for us,” Nielsen told . “It’s been nice that the bowlers can get through four overs and they don’t have to flog themselves early in the year, so hopefully there is a lot of benefit to get out of it.”Nielsen said the seven-match ODI series in India would now seem like “a lazy old day in the sun playing Test cricket” in comparison to the Twenty20 competition. “It’s so fast,” he said. “We’ve only played one-off games in the past, so playing in a tournament where every game counts really means the pressure stacks up a bit, and then you factor in all the travelling and training and it’s quite an intense few weeks.”Although Ponting is expected to take part in some of the India games, Hussey and Watson have been sent home to recuperate ahead of the opening matches of Australia’s domestic season, which starts in just over a fortnight. Australia are already without Shaun Tait, whose recovery from elbow surgery has taken longer than expected. James Hopes, Brad Haddin and Adam Voges have been added to the squad to tour India.Adam Gilchrist said the players entered the World Twenty20 under-prepared so they would not tire too quickly as their international schedule becomes more hectic. “We knew we were underdone,” Gilchrist said in the . “We realised that very quickly.”However, he was pleased with the way Australia’s attack handled the pressure in South Africa and he said Mitchell Johnson’s form – he claimed eight wickets at 19.12 and went for 6.37 an over – was promising. “I really like the way the ball is coming out for him at the moment,” Gilchrist said. “Our bowlers have been pretty spot-on every game.”After the India series, which ends with a Twenty20 match, Australia’s players will have two and a half weeks without international cricket before their two-Test home series against Sri Lanka. The calendar eases slightly through December, with three ODIs and a Twenty20 against New Zealand, followed by India’s visit that begins with the Boxing Day Test.
The good news was that England cruised through their first, and only,practice game against an unheralded side; the bad news is that AndrewFlintoff, who smashed a breezy 59 with the bat, revealed that he will notbe bowling in the opening game of the Champions Trophy, a crucial clashagainst India on Sunday.”I won’t be bowling this Sunday,” Flintoff told reporters at the end of atiring day in the field. “As for the series, I’m bowling in the nets,trying to build it [the ankle] up. As for an exact date as to when I’ll be bowling again,I’m not sure. I’ve bowled two or three times in the nets and it’s feelingstrong but that’s something that we’re assessing day by day.”Speculation has been rife about Flintoff opening the batting in thetournament and his entry at No.3 today lent more weight to that theory.Flintoff, though, played his cards close to his chest. “Today, we had theorder we had,” he dead-batted. “Going into Sunday, we’d need to discusswith the coach and decide. We have quite a few options we can take butit’s something we’ll finalise before Sunday.”Flintoff was visibly sapped at the end of a demanding day under the Jaipursun but he brushed aside suggestions that the weather might affect histeam’s chances. “I thought we coped quite well with the heat last time,”he reasoned, talking about England’s visit to India earlier in the year,when they encountered temperatures so oppressive that a few players neededsaline drips. “We have experience in playing in extreme heat. It’ssomething we’re aware of. We’re getting accustomed to it in the last fewdays.”Just as they’d done against Pakistan, England played both their spinners -Jamie Dalrymple and Michael Yardy – in the warm-up game as well. “Weplayed two spinners today and they’re obviously vital members of our sideas are the pace bowlers. We’re quite fortunate to have three allroundersin the side – Collingwood, Yardy and Dalrymple. They all bat well and bowltheir overs. We also have Rikki Clarke. It gives us a lot of depth.”
Andrew Strauss and Shane Warne were the star performers on the opening day of the deciding Ashes Test at The Oval. It was only right that the start of such an important match produced another see-saw day, which left the destination of the Ashes as delicately poised as when play began. Strauss’s seventh Test century was the mainstay of England’s stop-start innings and Warne’s 5 for 118 meant Australia were always in contention as he again manfully carried the attack.Everyone at The Oval, and the millions watching the action around the world, hoped for a day that would stand the test of this amazing series and begin a fitting finale – they were not disappointed. There was something for all; from the watchful accumulation of Strauss, the stunning strokeplay of Andrew Flintoff, the mastery of Shane Warne and the sheer determination of Australia not to let go of their little urn.Each of the sessions was its own mini-drama. Following a rollicking start by Strauss and Marcus Trescothick, Warne began yet another master class of legspin. Then Strauss and Flintoff built their brilliant fourth-wicket stand of 143 as England took control in the afternoon. But, Australia weren’t finished and with three late wickets they claimed the final-session honours.Following the opening stand of 82 the major contribution to England’s innings was the partnership between Strauss and Flintoff, which produced two contrasting knocks from two contrasting players. Strauss has not always been at his most fluent during this series but had his game in top working order from the start of play.His judgment of what to play and what to leave was excellent, as was his shot selection. He played carefully against Warne and was content to pick his runs off the quicker bowlers as England consolidated following their mini-collapse against Warne where they lost 4 for 49. Flintoff played well within himself – aware of the importance of his wicket to both teams – but still timed the ball with effortless ease.
Ricky Ponting was faced with a familiar problem of who to bowl in place of McGrath and Warne. Brett Lee was not at the top of his game – firing too many balls down the leg side – and for every impressive delivery Shaun Tait produced there was another four-ball just around the corner. Strauss and Flintoff waited for these looser deliveries and generally found the boundary despite the now-obligatory defensive fields. Even when England were four wickets down, following their midday wobble, Ponting often resorted to one slip and only had the confidence to attack the batsmen while Warne was bowling.Confidence is something that exudes from Flintoff and he opened his shoulders after playing himself in, taking three consecutive fours off Warne to reach his fifty before launching him into the stands for a majestic straight six. Strauss moved along in more measured fashion and reached his second Ashes century off 150 balls.But then another shift in momentum took place. McGrath removed Flintoff, with Warne again in the thick of the action – but this time with his catching. Flintoff prodded at a ball outside off stump and Warne took a sharp, low catch stood at the solitary slip. Paul Collingwood, England’s only replacement player throughout this Ashes series, did not last too long as he attracted one of the few balls from Tait that would have threatened the stumps. Collingwood was beaten for pace by a yorker, although replays showed the ball struck him just outside off stump. The Australians won’t care about that – they will think they are owed a couple of decisions in their favour.Warne claimed his fifth wicket when he removed Strauss half an hour before the close thanks to a brilliant piece of anticipation from Simon Katich at silly point, holding on to the pad-bat chance inches from the ground. It was fitting that Warne claimed the final wicket of the day as he was the man who ignited Australia during the morning session.Although it had all been plain sailing in the opening hour for Trescothick and Strauss, Warne said, before this match, how determined he is to make a mark in his final Test in this country and again he let his actions to the talking.
With the seamers being taken at over four-an-over Ponting was again forced to throw the ball to Warne inside the first hour. The outcome – certainly on the form of this series – was predictable. There has hardly been a moment when Warne hasn’t been having an influence on the situation. On almost every occasion when Australia have needed a wicket Warne has put his hand up. He came to the fore again as he removed Trescothick – courtesy of a stunning catch by Matthew Hayden at slip.He struck again to remove Michael Vaughan, who clipped a catch to Michael Clarke at midwicket before capping a great morning fightback when Ian Bell was trapped lbw for a duck by the slider. Warne was producing all his variations, including the rarely seen googly and Australia had suddenly grabbed the advantage out of nowhere. Their position was further enhanced when Kevin Pietersen fell shortly after lunch to a poorly judged and executed whip across the line. It was not the consolidation that England required.But any thoughts that England may start to think about playing for draw were rapidly banished by Strauss and Flintoff, and any thoughts that Australia were going to lose their grip on the Ashes without the toughest of struggles was dispelled by their subsequent surge of wickets. The series deserves a fittingly thrilling and gripping finish and on the evidence of today that is what it will get.
EnglandMarcus Trescothick c Hayden b Warne 43 (82 for 1) Michael Vaughan c Clarke b Warne 11 (102 for 2) Ian Bell lbw Warne 0 (104 for 3) Kevin Pietersen b Warne 14 (131 for 4) Andrew Flintoff c Warne b McGrath 72 (274 for 5) Paul Collingwood lbw b Tait 7 (289 for 6) Andrew Strauss c Katich b Warne 129 (297 for 7)
In our globalised world we are not divided by international boundaries, but we are separated by language, which leads you to wonder just how Bob Woolmer and Inzamam-ul-Haq manage? At press conferences Woolmer fields the questions in English, followed by Inzamam who tackles the ones in Urdu.After Pakistan’s defeat of India I asked Woolmer why Pakistan were now more focused than a few months earlier against India. Woolmer diplomatically replied that he hadn’t been involved with the India series, so was unable to specify what had changed, but was satisfied with the commitment of his team. My attempts to subvert the process by asking Inzamam the same question in Urdu met a rather grumpy response. I was wrong, he suggested, to imply that Pakistan had found it hard to beat India in the home series and his team was as focused as ever.Inzamam, I’ve come to learn, is a man who defends his decisions and his behaviour as stoutly as he defends his wicket. This is an admirable trait in a captain – but so is a touch of contrition, and after the incredible decision to bat first at the Rose Bowl perhaps a spoonful of contrition would not have gone amiss.First, let’s be clear, there are certain signs that the team of Bob and Inzy is heading on an upward trajectory. Pakistan’s bowlers perform with a dash of discipline, the fielders have a swagger of professionalism, and the batsmen appear to have a plan. These developments are a miracle. But Pakistan cricket, and Bob and Inzy in particular, have much to consider, and the main points are these:
All teams make mistakes, and take silly decisions, but this seems to happen to Pakistan at an alarming rate. With due respect to the acumen of Pakistan’s think-tank, batting first on a cloudy morning, before 11am at the end of September in England, on a difficult track, is hard to explain. The explanation that the pitch might have favoured the spinners later on might have made sense if the spinners in question were not Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik, and the fast bowlers were not Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, backed up by two reasonable seamers — and if the match were being played at Karachi.
Woolmer has done a great job of talking up Inzamam as captain, and certainly he is a better captain and a more responsible batsman now than a year ago, but you still have to worry about him as a tactician. The decision to bat first is one thing, but the subsequent decision not to use Afridi, after claiming that the track would suit spinners, was bordering on the ridiculous. This is not to say that Afridi would have won Pakistan the game, but in a desperate situation a sentient captain would try anything and gamble on success. Inzamam can certainly lead in the middle, bat in hand, yet a question-mark remains over the rest of the time.
A more fundamental problem still is the inability of Pakistan’s players to play the moving ball. At home against India they were undone by the gentle swing of Lakshmipathi Balaji and the more extravagant movement of Irfan Pathan. At the Rose Bowl, West Indies’ gentle swingers did for Pakistan’s top order. Correcting this immense deficiency against the moving ball must be a real worry for Woolmer, and has to be a priority. Top-order batsmen at the highest level should not be surrendering so easily. There is a deeper problem here, one that questions the way Pakistan’s cricketers develop in their early years: much talent but little technique.
A final worry is that Woolmer has promised consistency in selection — and delivered, which is commendable, yet this has been coupled with a surprising rigidity in batting order and approach. Might a little unpredictability help here? Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, or even Shoaib Akhtar thrown up the order for a quick fling is a tactic not to be forgotten.Pakistan’s approach has changed in many ways since Woolmer became coach — in many ways that inspire confidence for the future — but one aspect that remains bewildering is the extreme variability in performance. Unless Woolmer finds a solution for this unpredictability his time with Pakistan will remain bitter-sweet.Kamran Abbasi is a London-based cricket writer and acting editor of the British Medical Journal.