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It has been reported that Serie A giants AC Milan are going to try to recruit Arsenal centre-back Jakub Kiwior during the January transfer window.

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AC Milan want to sign Kiwior Arsenal signed centre-back last January Milan suffering from defensive injuriesWHAT HAPPENED?

The gifted 23-year-old was acquired by the Gunners for £20 million from Spezia in January of last year, but he has only made intermittent appearances for the North London team thus far. This season, Kiwior has made ten appearances across all competitions; however, most of them have been cameos off the bench. Italian publication Calciomercato claims that AC Milan have been closely monitoring the defender for the past few weeks and are keen on bringing Kiwior back to Serie A. Due to multiple injuries, AC Milan are presently missing Simon Kjaer, Pierre Kalulu, Mattia Caldara, Malick Thiaw, and Marco Pellegrino in defence.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Calciomercato also reports that Antonio D'Ottavio, the sporting director of Milan, and Geoffrey Moncada, the technical director, have been "working intensely for a few days" to attempt to recruit him "on a loan deal with an option to buy." At the moment, Arsenal are hesitant to let Kiwior go, however, "discussions will continue" over a possible agreement over the upcoming weeks.

DID YOU KNOW?

Kiwior's career peaked while playing for Spezia in Serie A, so perhaps a loan return to Italy can help him regain his form. In light of this, it will be intriguing to watch if AC Milan can entice the defender away from the Emirates during the next winter.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR KIWIOR?

Arsenal have games coming up thick and fast and with the season-ending injury suffered by Jurrien Timber, Kiwior may well be in the running to start one of those games with the Champions League group stage game against PSV being one of the key opportunities considering the game is a dead rubber for both sides having secured their places in the next round.

There may be nothing riding on it, but Saturday's match means so much more to the U.S. team

For the last several years, the new generation of U.S. men's national team stars has been united by two separate, but similar, rallying cries. The first defined their road to the 2022 World Cup. It called on the players involved to change the way the world views American soccer, not just for one tournament, but forever.

That one is still a work in progress. Their efforts in Qatar were definitely admirable and players' progress on the club level has definitely made the rest of the world take notice, but Rome wasn't built in a day. It will take sustained, consistent improvement to accomplish that goal.

Since the summer, though, the U.S. has been discussing a new goal: to change the way that America views soccer forever.

Assistant coach B.J. Callaghan says the team won't be satisfied until there are loads of Christians, Westons, Gios and Matts born and named for the country's soccer idols. The team, as a whole, has said they won't have achieved anything until they've proven they can be more than what they showed in Qatar.

But how can they do that? How does a team approach goals so lofty and so vague? Well, it starts by winning big games against big opponents, making statement after statement until everyone takes notice.

The U.S. won't demand the respect of the world if they are to beat Germany in a friendly on Saturday. Still, for many in this USMNT camp, Saturday's friendly is the perfect time to show how far they've come, and how far they have left to go.

GettyA big chance that won't come to often

The fact is that there won't be many games like this on the road to the 2026 World Cup.

As hosts of the tournament, competitive games will be few and far between for the USMNT. Of course, there will be CONCACAF games, and the U.S. will be very, very thankful for next summer's Copa America but, by and large, there will only be a handful of opportunities to take on marquee opponents.

Germany are one of those opponents, as are Ghana, the USMNT's second match of the window. Germany's national team may be in a state of flux right now but, make no mistake, this is one of the biggest teams in the world. And, because of that, it's one of the USMNT's biggest opportunities to show where they stand.

Wins against the likes of Oman and Uzbekistan are nice, sure. Wins over Canada and Mexico will always taste just a bit sweeter because of all that goes with it. But this USMNT's goals are bigger than that.

If this team wants to change perceptions, it has to regularly prove that it can win games like this, a challenge that will be made all the more difficult by the schedule leading up to 2026.

AdvertisementGettyUnderstanding the opportunity

Because of everything said above, the USMNT is moving just a bit differently this camp. Everyone on the team knows what's at stake. Yes this is a friendly, but, for the U.S., it's also something more.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for us,” Weston McKennie said Wednesday. “I think for us, we want to show that [we can] win games against these top-level teams, that we expect ourselves to win these games now, instead of just competing with them."

He continued: “I think it’s a great opportunity to kind of see where we’re at, and try and make that [vision] come true and win these type of games, because they’re the type of games that we have to win to advance the program forward, to advance ourselves forward, and to be successful in the coming years."

USMNT boss Gregg Berhalter, meanwhile, will be using this game to get a closer look at what several players are made of. The team is littered with World Cup stars like McKennie, Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah, all of whom will be desperate to prove themselves once again after falling short against another giant, the Netherlands, in Qatar.

But it also features some newcomers. Folarin Balogun will undoubtedly face the toughest test of his USMNT career. One of Kristoffer Lund or DeJuan Jones will as well with starting full-back Antonee Robinson out of action. Newcomers like Kevin Paredes, Lennard Maloney and Alejandro Zendejas will hope to get a chance in this game.

And then there's Gio Reyna, who will be playing his first game under Berhalter since the infamous World Cup controversy. That's in the past, Berhalter says. This team isn't dwelling on anything that has to do with 2022; they're now focusing on how they can prepare for 2026.

“Any opportunity we get to play teams like this, we want to do it, and it’s not about being afraid of the result, being afraid of competing,” Berhalter said Friday. “It’s about embracing these moments, and from now until the 2026 World Cup, if we could play Germany five times, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, we would do it because that’s what’s going to really strengthen this group.”

GettyWhat the USMNT wants

The USMNT has found success against Germany before.

The team has a 4-7-0 record against the Germans. There was that infamous 2002 World Cup defeat, one shrouded in a Torsten Frings-led controversy that will still rile up the older generation of USMNT fans. There was the 2014 World Cup group stage clash that saw both teams make it to the knockouts despite Germany's narrow win, and there were a pair of friendlies in the mid-2010s, both USMNT wins led by then-head coach, Germany legend Jurgen Klinsmann.

Throughout the program's history, the USMNT has had a habit of overachieving against big teams. For years, the USMNT's grit and heart helped them upset some of the world's best, most famously Spain at the Confederations Cup.

However, the team doesn't want to keep getting by as underdogs. They don't want to win by gutting out a gritty performance. This group wants to be able to play with Germany, to go at them and make them uncomfortable in some way.

“It’s time where we want to start going into these games with confidence and not just trying to compete,” Pulisic said, “but trying to take control of these games and win these games and feel confident that we can do that.”

At the World Cup, the USMNT learned that there are different forms of that. There's controlling the ball, which was a focus of last cycle. After years of being a counterattacking team, the U.S. is evolving into one comfortable with the ball, one that can play soccer.

However, against the Netherlands, the U.S. learned the hard way that having the ball doesn't always mean controlling the game. They fell right into several Dutch traps, as Louis van Gaal prepared his team to counter and strike hard when the chances came.

So what will the USMNT's version of dictating play look like this cycle, and what will it look like when they face a team like Germany? The U.S. will hope to provide an answer on Saturday.

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Getty ImagesClub connections

What makes this game even more intriguing is that, for many of the USMNT's stars, this one will feel personal.

Five players in the USMNT squad currently play for Bundesliga clubs. Four more have played in the league at one point or another. There's a connection there. Many of the USMNT's top stars will be playing against domestic team-mates and opponents, and they'll also be playing against friends.

"It's definitely a good opportunity for us to be able to play against guys that, at the club level, we've played against and played with," McKennie said, who began his career at Schalke. "Leon Goretzka, for instance, was like a big brother to me when I was coming through the ranks at Schalke, so it's going to be nice to be able to see him and play against him as well and maybe be able to say some bad words to him in German, just to refresh my memory of how it used to be."

Borussia Monchengladbach's Joe Scally added: “It definitely gives you a better feeling in the locker room with a bunch of German guys where you can brag."

Dale Steyn has said some of the Indian batsmen were frightened in the first ODI, and that their bowling needs an injection of pace if they are to bother South Africa

Sidharth Monga in Durban07-Dec-20130:00

‘India have a weakness in the middle order’ – Steyn

Dale Steyn has carried on from where he left off in Johannesburg. This time, though, with words. After bowling a sensational spell of seam and swing against India in the series opener, Steyn has said some of the Indian batsmen were frightened, and that their bowling needs an injection of pace if they are to bother South Africa. India were thrashed by 141 runs at the Wanderers on Thursday, a spicy pitch awaits them at Kingsmead, and Steyn feels there might already be scars that will go beyond the first ODI.”I would say so,” Steyn said when asked if South Africa’s bowlers might have frightened the Indian batsmen enough to last them through the remainder of the tour. “I would definitely say so. I didn’t see many of our guys walking off the field with bloody fingers or ice packs on ribs, so it definitely was a wake-up call for the Indians. It’s not Mumbai where the ball doesn’t get higher than the stumps. It’s going to be hard to play here.”But they are not the No. 1 ODI side in the world for no reason. As MS [Dhoni] said in his pre-match [press conference], they have toured the world and have come to South Africa a couple of times, so maybe give them a week or two, one or two more games and they will start getting used to it before the Test matches. But [it was] definitely an eye-opener for them. Because it didn’t look like that when they were bowling to us.”While Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli toughed it out against Steyn and the new balls, Steyn was not quite impressed with what followed in the middle order. “I think our intensity the other night really blew them away,” Steyn said after the mandatory disclaimer that he expected the visiting batsmen to come back hard. “I think we also showed them that they have a weakness in the middle order. [Suresh] Raina, [R] Ashwin, Yuvraj [Singh], other batters in the end, they didn’t really look like they wanted to get in line. So hopefully we can exploit that a little bit more. But they have batters who can play and score. Shikhar’s [Dhawan] another guy who can really bat. So we are prepared for that too. Everyone is a target, to be honest with you.”Steyn’s summation of Indian bowling wasn’t flattering either. When asked what advice he would give to the Indians, he said, “I am really not going to give them any advice, you know. I think they are doing fine.”If you really want to look at it though, with the ball they lack someone who can really bowl with pace up there. They need that one guy there bowling so. They have got Ishant [Sharma] sitting on the sides, he is the one guy that can bowl over 140kmph. And we have got really good batters like [Jacques] Kallis, [Hashim] Amla, [Quinton] de Kock, [AB] de Villiers in some good space now. I think you need guys who can spin the ball a mile or can bowl quickly.”Wanderers didn’t offer the turn the other night that Ashwin and [Ravindra] Jadeja could have got, but it did offer something off the deck and pace, and they didn’t have that the other night. We did have it so we kind of blew them away with that. Morne [Morkel] bowled really quickly, [Ryan] McLaren bowled with good pace, and in good areas, backed up by Wayne [Parnell], myself and Lonwabo [Tsotsobe]. So if you don’t have that then you will be struggling in South Africa.”Conditions underfoot promise much of the same. Steyn said he couldn’t tell the pitch from the outfield when he had a look at it from the balcony. However, there might be some respite for India because Kingsmead has lost a bit of its pace over the years. “Conditions are always different here in Durban,” Steyn said. “Especially different from Johannesburg. Bit more bounce in Jo’burg. This wicket has seemed to have got a little bit flatter, a bit slower over the years.”Steyn, though, was a little circumspect about what lay overhead – it has been overcast in Durban since the teams arrived on Friday. “Hopefully we can get a game because there is a lot of rain around here in Durban,” Steyn said. “We discussed it in the morning. We could go out there for 20 overs each, which is a bare minimum and still constitutes as a one-day international. So if there is a bit of rain around, we have to be prepared to face whatever comes.”

A round-up of Friday’s matches in the MiWAY T20 Challenge

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2012Knights survived an early onslaught by Impi opener Luke Wright to grab a vital four points with a five-wicket win in a rain-affected game at the De Beers Diamond Oval in Kimberley. Still chasing their first win in the competition, Impi chose to bat and Wright (75 off 39 balls) showed the way by taking 20 runs off Ryan McLaren’s sixth over. Along with Ryan Canning (36), he brought up a century opening stand in the ninth over. However, the introduction of left-arm medium-pacer Jander Coetzee (4-34) slowed the proceedings and the Paul Collingwood-led Impi side finished with 178 runs. For Knights, Rilee Rossouw (42) and Morne van Wyk (34) led the response to take the home side to within 22 runs of the target in 17 overs, when the rain came. Knights were ahead of the D/L target at that stage. With no further play possible, Knights won the game and are comfortably placed to qualify for the semi-finals.Pre-tournament favourites Cape Cobras disappointed in their crucial match against Warriors, losing by 43 runs at Newlands, Cape Town, a day after their allrounder Rory Kleinveldt was withdrawn from the squad for testing positive for a banned substance. Cobras chose to bowl and restricted Warriors to 149 with Brad Hogg taking 4 for 33. In reply, Warriors’ bowlers shared the spoils to dismiss Cobras for 106 runs in 18.5 overs.The game between table-toppers Lions and fifth-placed Dolphins at the New Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg was abandoned after 6 overs, as the pitch was not fit for play due to the adverse weather conditions in the past few days. Both teams were awarded two points each.

England will name their Test squad to face Pakistan in UAE on Friday as they embark on the challenge of maintaining the No. 1 spot in Test cricket

Andrew McGlashan08-Dec-2011England will name their Test squad to face Pakistan in UAE on Friday as they embark on the challenge of maintaining the No. 1 ranking. In 2011 they played eight Tests, winning six and drawing two, but in 2012 that number swells to 15 so the much-vaunted depth of England’s resources will be tested again.A mark of England’s success in climbing the rankings has been how seamlessly players have slotted in when changes have been made through form or injury, Chris Tremlett and Tim Bresnan being the stand-out examples. The players who are currently outside a likely first-choice eleven are vital to the make-up of the squad. If the selectors follow the same pattern as for Australia they will favour those players ready to step up to Test level at a moment’s notice rather than those with potential in the future. The England Lions trips of the subcontinent will allow those players on the fringe to play regular cricket in case reinforcements are required.The key position is which spinner (or even spinners) accompanies Graeme Swann in the squad. There needs to be at least one option who, if the worst case scenario struck and Swann was ruled out of a match, could be the frontline spinner in a Test. Currently that man remains Monty Panesar who toured Australia as Swann’s understudy but wasn’t required. Last season he was the highest wicket-taker in Division One of the County Championship in 2011 with 69 victims at 27.24.Scott Borthwick, the Durham legspinner, Hampshire’s Danny Briggs and Simon Kerrigan from Lancashire, who took 9 for 51 against Hampshire last year, are the rising stars so it is shaping as now or never for Panesar, who has spent the last couple of months playing club cricket in Sydney, to resume his Test career.Yet, whether Panesar makes the first eleven will depend on if Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower are willing to move away from the current balance of six batsmen, the keeper and four bowlers – albeit in conditions that haven’t demanded a second spinner, or specialist fifth bowler – unless they opt for the risky strategy of two quicks and two spinners.The prolific form of England’s top five, Matt Prior’s consistency in Test cricket, plus the developing allround skills of Bresnan and Stuart Broad, suggest England could cope with the shift in strategy but don’t be surprised to see the balance remain the same. However, there is no doubt that at some point next year – whether in UAE, Sri Lanka or India – England will need two spinners in the same attack.England’s previous Test team, against India at The Oval in August, was without Jonathan Trott due to injury and Ravi Bopara was in the middle order. Trott, the ICC International Cricketer of the Year, will be back at No. 3 against Pakistan and Eoin Morgan will expect to retain his spot if he completes a successful recovery from the shoulder surgery that ruled him out of the one-day tour of India.At the end of England’s home season Bopara’s stock had risen considerably after a successful one-day series against India, but the return contest on the subcontinent didn’t see further development as he became one of a number of England batsmen to struggle against spin. The other options include promoting James Taylor or even taking Samit Patel to cover a number of bases with his spin bowling.In the pace-bowling department there are plentiful options to choose from. The depth available is highlighted by Tremlett’s situation. He began the year by helping seal the Ashes series then starred in the dramatic victory against Sri Lanka, at Cardiff, before bagging career-best figures of 6 for 48 at The Rose Bowl. Yet, so seamlessly did Bresnan replace him against India after injury struck that he was hardly missed.Now, having lost his place to injury he will need someone to break down – or Bresnan to not recover from his elbow surgery – for a spot to open up. Then there’s Steven Finn who was England’s one bright spot during the one-day series in India. He bowled with pace and hostility having developed his game away from Test cricket and looked primed for another opportunity.The final spot will be a reserve keeper and Steven Davies could fill the same role he did during the Ashes. That would mean only one change – Bopara for Paul Collingwood – from the original 16 that travelled to Australia last year. Davies hasn’t featured for England since the one-day series in Australia, at the start of which he was omitted from the World Cup squad in favour of Prior. He scored 1035 runs at 39.80 in the County Championship for Surrey although another option could be Jonny Bairstow if the selectors want to have a look to the future.Possible squad Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett, Steven Finn, Ravi Bopara, Monty Panesar, Steven Davies

The next edition of South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 competition will include a seventh franchise, and will feature ten foreign players

Firdose Moonda13-Feb-2012It’s not quite the same as the IPL, BBL, BPL or any other cricketing premier league, but South Africa’s domestic MiWAY T20 challenge has ensured it will have an added edge in its next season. The competition will include a seventh franchise, and the glamour factor will come from ten foreign players who will be spread around the squads. The new franchise is called Impi, a Zulu-word which means an armed body of men.The new team was unveiled at a low-profile launch at a hotel next to OR Tambo International Airport, a far cry from the usually lavish affairs associated with Twenty20 competitions. It probably fit the occasion, though, because Impi will be based at the equally unspectacular Willowmoore Park in Benoni.Former England Twenty20 captain Paul Collingwood will lead Impi and they have so far signed one other international: Ryan ten Doeschate, the South-African born Netherlands allrounder. The team has been allowed to contract four overseas players and are in advanced negotiations with another two. The idea behind the additional franchise is to give opportunities to players who just miss out on franchise selection and compete in the semi-professional leagues.”There are too many players we are missing,” Vincent Barnes, coach of Impi, told ESPNcricinfo. “I’ve been travelling around the country to watch players and strategise the compilation of this team and I had about 30 names in the end of players I thought could play. We could only contract 11 but we definitely have enough players in South Africa.”The 11 players include eight from major unions – four hail from the Johannesburg-based Gauteng union, three from Western Province and one from Kwa-Zulu Natal – and three from lesser-known areas. Adrian McLaren and Charl Pietersen from Griqualand West in Kimberley and Cobus Pienaar from the Benoni-based Easterns are in the squad.”It’s a big stage for them and I want to make it clear that we are here to compete and to win,” Barnes said. Should Impi make it to the final, they will qualify for the Champions League T20, an even bigger stage.Some of the other foreign players that will feature in the T20 tournament are not really foreigners at all. Alfonso Thomas and Martin van Jaarsveld, both of whom started their careers at what is now the Titans franchise but now play in England, will play as overseas players for TitansCobras have retained the services of Owais Shah and have added Brad Hogg to their squad. Lions have signed Dirk Nannes and will welcome Sohail Tanvir in time for their third match while the biggest drawcard of the event belongs to Dolphins, who have snagged Chris Gayle. Warriors and Knights were both unable to afford any internationals and will play with their regular domestic squads.The competition was at risk of going unsponsored as CSA’s much-talked about bonus scandal battles through its second year. However, short-term insurance company MiWAY came on board at the last minute to back the event. Impi have also managed to secure funding from the newspaper, which recently completed its first year.Their first match will be on February 17, against Lions, while the competition itself kicks off on February 15, with the first match featuring Warriors and Cobras in Port Elizabeth.Impi squad: Paul Collingwood, Ryan ten Doeschate, Adrian McLaren, Dominic Hendricks, Richard Cameron, Cobus Pienaar, Charl Pietersen, Khaya Zondo, Siya Simetu, Beuran Hendricks, Craig Alexander, Pumelela Matshikwe, Ryan Canning

By this stage of an English summer, Marcus Trescothick customarily has scored around 1500 runs at a rather superior average than any other batsman in the country

Ivo Tennant at Taunton21-Aug-2012
ScorecardBy this stage of an English summer, Marcus Trescothick customarily has scored around 1500 runs at a rather superior average than any other batsman in the country and hence there is highly optimistic talk of a call-up for the final international match. It is axiomatic that he remains the best opener in the County Championship. For no fault of his own, the scenario has been altogether different this year.If Trescothick was going to be severely injured, as he was at Trent Bridge in May, it was best that this should happen this sodden summer. He was out of action for three months. In seven championship innings, which has been all he has managed owing to his ankle problem, he had not made a half century. He had not looked especially out of touch, but his had been a long lay-off and there was an instantaneous requirement to pick up his game, however late in the season and however bowler-friendly the conditions.Such encumbrance fell away now. In making an unbeaten 89, Trescothick rocked backwards and forwards and propelled the ball through to the cover boundary. There were the customary flicks off his legs, dabs to third man, which was not always tenanted, and, since he has managed to keep pretty fit, some good running between the wickets. A couple of winters ago he was offered £1m by his then bat sponsor if he cleared the pavilion at Lord’s. You would not have bet against him in this touch.Statistics can appear skewed and none more so than when the realisation dawned that Trescothick was approaching the 50th first-class century of his career. Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash are more or less contemporaries, are not nearly such successful international batsmen, and yet each has more than double that tally.Anyway, he will be pleased with this innings, for not only did it signal a return to form, but it was not scored on the kind of flat Taunton surface of old.There was appreciable turn before lunch for Monty Panesar, who thought he had had Trescothick caught at short leg on 60, following through as if he was a fast bowler. Umpire Nick Cook had a word with him at the end of the over. That was the one discordant note on a day when the ball constantly seemed to be hitting the sweet spot of his bat and go pinging off towards the boundary.The other Somerset batsmen did not fare so well. Arul Suppiah was soon bowled by Steve Magoffin, playing an indeterminate pushed drive; Chris Jones was caught at cover, not to the pitch of a rare ball that Panesar did not push through; and James Hildreth, going back to the same bowler and trying to square cut, was taken by Ben Brown. That was131 for 3.Just before 3pm torrential rain began, preventing any further play. Sussex had not looked like dismissing Trescothick, surely still the best opening batsman in England, but they are in need of wickets, lying as they are 11 points behind Warwickshire, the Division One leaders. Last season Trescothick scored 1,673 first-class runs at an average of 79.66. Before his eighth innings of this season, he had mustered just 94 at 13.42. This innings will have brought about a significant improvement on those figures. He has hit 16 fours thus far.

A round-up of the third day’s play of Group B’s second round matches from the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-2013
ScorecardFile photo: Aniket Choudhary took a maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket against Bengal•ESPNcricinfo LtdBengal started the third day on 172 for 3 needing to surpass Rajasthan’s first innings total of 224. Wriddhiman Saha, the captain, and Subhomoy Das added 50 for the fourth wicket before Das was trapped in front by Aniket Choudhary. Laxmi Shukla followed soon after as Saha and Sandipan Das had to consolidate with a 56-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Sandipan’s vigil ended on 43, while Saha was bowled by Pankaj Singh on 78. Bengal crept to 326, with Choudhary’s maiden five-wicket haul, along with Pankaj’s four, being the stand out performances for Rajasthan.Facing a deficit of 82 runs, it was important Rajasthan’s openers saw the side to a good start. This didn’t go to plan though as Sourabh Chouhan was bowled by Manojit Ghosh with the score on 13. Vineet Saxena and Robin Bist then held on for the long haul as 49 runs were added over the course of 28 overs, with Bengal’s bowlers keeping a tight lid on proceedings. Rajasthan finished the day on 62 for 1, still trailing by 20 runs as they looked to the fourth day.
ScorecardAfter finishing yesterday on 532 for 8, Tamil Nadu declared their innings straightaway as Madhya Pradesh’s openers faced the music early on the third day morning. Jalaj Saxena was first to go with the score on 28, followed by his partner, Satyam Choudhary, in the 19th over. Despite Naman Ojha (41) and Devendra Bundela, who remained not out on 64, the rest of the batsmen failed to put up a significant fight as the efforts of R Aushik Srinivas and L Balaji kept MP humble. In a day where 85 overs were bowled, MP could only get to 221 for 7 when stumps was called. R Aushik Srinivas finished the day with figures of 3 for 38.
ScorecardResuming overnight on 61 for 4, Nitin Bhille and captain Mahesh Rawat waged on till the score was on 84, when Bhille was bowled by Abhishek Bhatt. Wickets continued to fall regularly as Railways failed to sustain meaningful partnerships. Aside from Rawat (62) and Murali Kartik (43), the rest of the batsmen failed to offer any resistance, as Railways slumped to 175, with Jaidev Unadkat leading the way for Saurashtra’s bowlers with 5 for 53, while Bhatt chipped in with 3 for 77.With a slender lead of just 10 runs, the Saurashtra openers got past the point without any inherent difficulty. However, opener Chirag Pathak would fall with the score on 20. This brought wicketkeeper Sagar Jogiyani to the crease, and together with opener Bhushan Chauhan, the pair resisted for close to 24 overs before Jogiyani fell to seamer Anureet Singh with the score on 51 after 31 overs. Only three runs were added in the next eight overs as Saurashtra finished the day on 54 for 2.
ScorecardIndia Test discards Suresh Raina and RP Singh struck telling blows with bat and ball respectively for the second time in the match as Uttar Pradesh took control against Baroda in Moti Bagh. On a deteriorating pitch, UP built on their first-innings lead of 74 to extend it to 368 before declaring. Raina scored 65 but the innings was built around the opener Tanmay Srivastava who finished unbeaten on 125.Read the full report here.

Suresh Raina smashed his first IPL century as Chennai Super Kings stretched their winning streak to a record-equalling seven

The Report by Siddhartha Talya02-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Suresh Raina smashed his first IPL century•BCCIWith 92 IPL games to his name, Suresh Raina, even more than MS Dhoni, is the tournament’s most experienced campaigner. A vital part of the Chennai Super Kings line-up, retained by his franchise after the first three seasons, he’s been key to several of his team’s successes and, on Thursday, he smashed his first IPL century in another victory – the seventh straight one for Super Kings this year. Shaun Marsh and David Miller middled the ball superbly in the chase and brought the equation down to 19 off the final over, but Dwayne Bravo didn’t let his team down.Raina’s yellow jersey had a brownish shade by the time he reached the landmark, his aggression not only confined to targeting the bowlers. If there’s an Indian batsman after the Mohammad Kaif of almost a decade ago who inflicts as much damage on his clothing while running between the wickets as he does while fielding, it’s Raina.Raina’s innings had its sedate phase, when it kept pace with Super Kings’ start, with a run-rate of just a little over six in the first nine overs. In the unforgiving Chennai heat, with not a speck of cloud in the sky, nor any breeze in the air, there was a back-massage for Raina from one of his team-mates, his head was wrapped up in a wet towel, his partner Michael Hussey was on his knees, and both were gulping down fluids during the time-out. Albie Morkel even tweeted: “Maybe they must reconsider 4pm games in chennai. My word someone will die soon.!” The massage certainly helped re-energize Raina, as he transformed his game after having moved to 14 off 15 balls at that point.The first ball he faced after the break, he drove David Hussey beautifully through deep cover and long-off before launching him over long-on for six. At the other end, Michael Hussey went past Chris Gayle to become the highest run-getter this season but was stumped 55 runs into the partnership. Raina lost Dhoni, run-out brilliantly by R Sathish in the 13th over, but he had made up his mind to be on the attack. He slog-swept Chawla with the turn, clipped Sathish past fine leg, and stepped up another notch after the second time-out, which was taken at the end of the 15th over.Six seasons into the IPL, death bowling has continued to be a worry for most teams, whose Indian bowlers, especially, have struggled to contain the batsmen. Attempted yorkers, almost inevitably, end up being length balls; Raina struck Manpreet Gony imperiously over the straight boundary off two such deliveries.Sathish was then cut and swept, Praveen Kumar was dispatched over long-on twice, the second six coming in the final over during which Raina reached his century. Through his assault, he ran superbly, though was fortunate to have just made his ground as he attempted a dive to complete a run very early in his innings, the bat popping up as he tried to slide it in. The last five overs yielded 70 runs, also thanks to Albie Morkel’s cameo of 23.Kings XI Punjab had a similar start to their chase, reaching the halfway mark at 65 for 2. But Marsh and Miller gave Super Kings a serious scare, their combined acceleration beginning, incidentally, in the 12th over from Raina that went for 19. Both cleared the boundaries comfortably during their half-centuries – they put on 95 in 52 balls – and still had an outside chance with 19 needed off six. Marsh, however, was bowled off the first ball by Bravo while trying to dispatch a full ball, and the task was beyond even Miller from there on as he faced just two more deliveries.

Andy Pick has resigned as USACA High Performance Manager after just two months on the job

Peter Della Penna29-Oct-2013Andy Pick has resigned as USACA High Performance Manager after just two months on the job. The abrupt end to Pick’s tenure comes in the wake of a USA men’s national team training camp in Florida from October 18-20, during which a series of incidents occurred that Pick says were not in line with how a professional organisation should operate.At the top of the list of his reasons for stepping down was the unhappiness with the squad selection process for the USA team that will be traveling to the UAE next month for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. This included a petition from the USACA to the ICC to change two players in the squad after the final list of 15 players had already been submitted by the original tournament deadline of October 15.”Following the camp and a number of other issues before and after, culminating with the changing of the final squad after its submission, I felt unable to continue working for USACA,” Pick wrote in the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by ESPNcricinfo. “In my brief time there, it became obvious that certain people are not ready for change and structure and are determined to maintain control even if it holds back cricket in the USA and I was not prepared to sacrifice my personal and professional reputation working for these people.”Prior to his role with the USACA, Pick had been working full-time as the ICC Americas Regional High Performance Manager out of Toronto. In taking on the role with the USACA, Pick was to split his duties part-time working out of USACA’s Florida headquarters and part-time working for the ICC Americas but he will now resume full-time duties back in Toronto with the ICC Americas office. When contacted by ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday, Pick said he had accepted the position with the USACA because he believed the organisation was ready to become professional but that his brief experiences after being hired indicated otherwise.”I think earlier on in the summer, there was a feeling around USA Cricket that people were ready for the change,” Pick told ESPNcricinfo. “This external review was going on and I think people thought that with its recommendations they hoped things would move forward and that this would be agreed or voted on at the AGM, and it still might be. Who knows, I don’t know how the vote is going to go.””One thing is for certain. There was more confidence earlier in the year when this project was started. There was an air of confidence that things were going to move forward and with the right support Darren [Beazley, USACA chief executive] would be able to get things moving and that’s not been the case. There are still people holding things back and affecting the way that things need to be done.”The tipping point for Pick were the events that took place in Fort Lauderdale just over a week ago at a USA player preparation camp ahead of the tour to the UAE. The USACA had submitted its final 15-man roster for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier to the ICC and had already informed those players who were going on tour. After the weekend camp though, a request was made to make two changes to the squad.According to team sources, those changes were to take Fahad Babar and Ritesh Kadu out of the team in favour of Imran Awan and Barrington Bartley, neither of whom were originally invited to the camp. However, Awan paid for his own plane ticket to come down to the camp. Despite not playing in any of the three trial games against Bermuda, he impressed USA coach Robin Singh enough with his bowling in the nets that Singh, according to team sources, requested for the changes to be made. USACA applied to the ICC for a special exemption to make the two changes, which were accepted.”After having decided on 15 and having brought them down to Fort Lauderdale, to then decide on the Sunday night after the camp that they wanted to make two changes and leave two people out, that was it,” Pick said. “That’s just no way of going and you can’t treat players like that ultimately, not players who you want to go out and give their all, take time off work, leave their families behind. You treat them like that but then expect them to be fully committed to the cause. That’s just not right.”I’ve worked with some of the best players in the world. I know how you go and how you treat players and how selection is done. There has to be some sort of a process. I feel I failed because I was hoping we could get some sort of a process in place and things would be better and it’s not happened ultimately. That was probably the final straw really, when they wanted to tell people who were going [to the UAE] and had been told they were going and had kits ordered that now they weren’t going.”Awan was not the only player to show up to the camp without his travel being arranged and paid for by the USACA. According to sources, as many as six other players, mostly from the Washington, D.C., area where USA team manager Shoaib Ahmed and USACA president Gladstone Dainty reside, were encouraged to come to the camp despite not being part of the official 15-man USA roster that was submitted to the ICC for next month’s tour to the UAE. Pick was never informed that these players would be showing up in Florida and does not know who invited them.”Your guess is as good as mine,” Pick said. “That was another one of the issues. When people come and introduce themselves to me in the hotel and I’m not expecting them to be here…. There’s no process. There’s people off on their own doing their own thing. I’m trying to organise food and transport and all these different things for certain numbers. USACA doesn’t have a lot of money. If we’ve paid for 17 meals, then I want 17 meals, I don’t want 20 people sitting down and eating because that’s another $50 a day that we’ve got to find from somewhere. There has to be some sort of structure and there isn’t.”