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Ronnie Irani was keen to accentuate the positives after England’s six-wicket defeat to a Sir Donald Bradman XI at Bowral today.Needing 280 to win, the home side were led to the target by the former Australia batsman Mark Waugh, who made an unbeaten century as England were beaten with 21 balls to spare.England’s innings was built around a maiden international hundred from Owais Shah and a rapid 53 from Adam Hollioake, which boosted the innings in its latter stages.Irani, who was leading England for the first time, said: “The honour was great and more than anything I believe we have got some talent in the one-day set-up.Adam Hollioake has come in there and I thought he did extremely well, he’snot been with us all winter but it didn’t show.”It’s a small ground but the way he hit the ball cannot be taken away from him, he got the runs on the board. Owais Shah did well and it’s all about character at this level. And if you were picking on character then Adam Hollioake and these guys would be in your side.”That’s how I looked at it today, it was disappointing in that it was anotherEngland loss at this stage but there are a few guys back in Sydney who turnedthe Aussies over in the Test match and you have to look at the positives alittle. But I am not kidding myself, the result is disappointing.”Bradman XI captain Mark Waugh said his team had half an eye on the deteriorating weather in the early stages of the chase.”It looked very dark out the back so we wanted to make sure we had the rightscore at 25 overs,” said Waugh. “After that it was back to normal cricket and some fun.”(Bowral) has got a special feeling about it. Don Bradman played his cricket here and so there is that tradition about it and it’s a great little ground. I would love to see New South Wales play some ING Cup games here. It’s actually got that English village cricket theme about it.”

Matthew Bell might do well over the next few days to stay within earshot of a telephone.When Bell posted his third century in four Shell Trophy games today for Wellington against Central Districts at McLean Park, Napier – as he helped Wellington to 269-5 after they had been asked to bat – he made an application for the attention of the national selectors they might soon be forced to acknowledge.Bell batted 292 minutes today for 117, adding that score to innings of 109 against Central Districts and 134 against Canterbury, both compiled at the Basin Reserve before Christmas, and to his 82 runs (70 and 12) from two knocks against Otago. He now has 442 runs from five Trophy innings this season at an average of 88.4 and he has compiled six first-class centuries, including two double hundreds.The only thing that went wrong today for Matthew Bell – he lost the toss – also ended up favouring the Wellington captain. He would have batted had he won the toss and he was secretly delighted when his opposite Jacob Oram called correctly then invited to do so anyway.Oram had to manage an attack heavily stacked with medium pacers – he has five and only one spinner, Glen Sulzberger – and it may have been that which encouraged him to try to use any life that may have been in the pitch at the start of the first day.There was a little but the Central bowlers – Oram used all six before lunch – often strayed from a good length and that allowed the Wellington openers to first establish themselves then to prosper. Oram can only have cringed when Wellington went to lunch, after a morning session with had twice and briefly been affected by rain, at 78-0. By tea, they had lost only the wicket of Jones for 68 and Bell was poised on 98.Jones batted 206 minutes and hit eight fours and a six in an innings which was a perfect support to Bell. Generally Jones is the more fluent scorer, particularly early in his innings, but today Bell was always ahead of him, reaching his half century in the 37th over from 101 balls (when Wellington was 101) while Jones reached the same mark two overs or 11 minutes later from 125 balls (when the total was 113).Jones’ most lavish scoring shot was a pulled six over square leg from the young medium pacer Taraia Robin but it was Robin who had the last laugh. He returned to claim Jones, caught and bowled, in the 53rd over when Bell was 78 and Wellington was 149.When Bell went to his 100, he had batted 255 minutes, faced 189 balls and hit 12 fours, most abrupt pulls and cuts square of the wicket. He chided himself – tossing his bat in the air – when he was out, bowled by Glen Sulzberger, 33 balls later, after batting eight minutes less than three hours and hitting 13 fours.”It was very pleasing to get another hundred but I’m just disappointed I couldn’t go on and get a really big score,” Bell said. “I wanted to go on and get 150 or 200 and that’s the next barrier for me.”But Bell was pleased that he continued a high conversion rate of 50s to 100s and that his centuries this season have all been made in the first innings, contributing to substantial teams totals which have given Wellington control of their games. Wellington haven’t lost a match this season in which Bell has made 100 and for that reason they lead the Shell Trophy.The only disappointment for Wellington today was that they lost two wickets in the last two overs and finished five down, when they might only have been three down.Bell had added 63 for the second wicket with Selwyn Blackmore before his own dismissal and their followed a brief stand between Blackmore and Grant Donaldson before Blackmore was out for 38. But Chris Nevin was out, lbw to Robin for 15 in the 99th over and Matthew Walker was caught by Martin Sigley from Sulzberger on the last ball of the day. Wellington went from 268-3 to 269-5 while Donaldson stayed not out 25.Most importantly, the pull generated by Bell’s form, which is so consistent it has become irrestible, must now forcibly awaken several principles of national selection.While the national selectors can never be compelled to pick a player on Trophy form alone – they have to weigh his suitability and past record in international cricket, the credentials of others, the balance of their side. But nor can they be seen to ignore the domestic first class competition as a conduit to the international game.No player in New Zealand this season has been in better form with the bat that Bell and a point must be reached when he earns some, even tacit form of acknowledgement.The Wellington captain, who hasn’t heard yet the phone call which may express the selectors’ interest, wasn’t thinking along those lines last night.”I’m happy with my game and what I’m doing for Wellington,” he said. “All I can do is concentrate on my own performance and at the moment I’m happy performing for Wellington. It’s the same only story, if I score the runs they can’t not pick me.”I just have to get on with things. I talk to the players, as captain, about doing this and that and it’s good to be able to go out and do what I’m talking about. You shouldn’t talk the talk if you can’t walk the walk.”

Liverpool are interested in signing RB Leipzig attacking midfielder Christopher Nkunku and the Bundesliga club could listen to summer offers, according to a fresh update.

The Lowdown: Nkunku shining at Leipzig

The 24-year-old has matured into one of the most potent attackers in the German top flight in recent years, catching the eye with his performances for Leipzig, with now Leeds boss Jesse Marsch once saying he ‘has no weaknesses’ as a player.

Nkunku has scored 15 goals and chipped in with nine assists in the league this season, as well as scoring an incredible seven times in just six Champions League outings.

The Frenchman’s current deal expires in 2024 but Leipzig could find it difficult to keep hold of him this summer.

The Latest: Liverpool keen on move

According to ESPN, Liverpool are one of several clubs who are ‘monitoring’ Nkunku’s current situation, with Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Arsenal all mentioned in the report.

It is believed that Leipzig could be willing to sell him if their €75million (£63m) asking price is met.

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The Verdict: Long-term signing

Nkunku’s is a superb player who could be a perfect summer signing by Liverpool, coming in as an immediate key figure but also representing someone who may not peak for another few years.

At 24, he is in and and around the same age that the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz were when they joined the Reds, so he would fit into the transfer model now being carried out by Julian Ward.

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Nkunku’s end product this season speaks for itself, and with midfield sometimes an area lacking guile at Anfield, he could add a sprinkling of stardust in a No.10 role, depending on how Jurgen Klopp chooses to use him.

He has also played as a forward for chunks of this season, so he could even be viewed as a replacement for Mane or Roberto Firmino, should either leave at the end of the season.

In other news, a ‘behind the scenes’ Liverpool claim has emerged regarding one player. Read more here.

The USA Cricket Association will not receive any payments which it was due from the ICC while it was suspended from the organisation.In the normal course of events, USACA would have been entitled the annual Associate grant of US$90,000 as well as other funding relating to participation in ICC events such as the World Cricket League and the Under-19 World Cup.When USACA was suspended for the first time, it received all backdated grants as soon as it was reinstated. However, the ICC explained that as it and not USACA had paid for all the costs associated with the involvement of the WICB and Chris Dehring in drawing up a new constitution and resolving the impasse between squabbling factions, the situation was different.Aside from the lost money, USACA’s suspension means that the USA resumes at the bottom of the pile as far as additional grants and participation in ICC events is concerned, and that will have additional financial implications.

Ravi Rampual, the promising fast bowler, has been named in a 14-man West Indies Under-19 squad for the 2004 Youth World Cup in Bangladesh. Rampual, 19, is currently touring Zimbabwe with the senior team and is expected to be retained for the subsequent tour of South Africa, which starts on December 3. The Youth World Cup is scheduled for February 15 to March 4.Denesh Ramdin, a wicketkeeper-batsman and Rampaul’s fellow Trinidadian, will captain West Indies, while Kirk Edwards is vice-captain. Clyde Butts, the former West Indies offspinner, has been appointed coach and Roland Sampath, the former Trinidad and Tobago allrounder, is manager.The preliminary round of matches in the World Cup will be played on a round-robin basis and involve 16 teams in four groups. West Indies will be in Group D, along with Pakistan, Papau New Guinea and Uganda.
Squad Denesh Ramdin (captain), Kirk Edwards (vice-captain), Jonathan Augustus, Rishi Bachan, Lionel Baker, Assad Fudadin, Zamal Khan, Tishan Maraj, Xavier Marshall, Mervyn Matthew, Ravi Rampaul, Liam Sebastien, Lendl Simmons, Barrington Yearwood.

Hosting the World Cup next year is just what the West Indies board needs © International Cricket Council

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is faced with a severe shortage of funds and its only short-term saviour appears to be the hosting of the 2007 World Cup.According to information made available to CMC Sports, the WICB auditors, an internationally-recognised firm of chartered accountants, in their independent auditors’ report to the shareholders of the WICB Inc, drew particular attention to Note 2 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.Those statements indicated that the WICB and its World Cup subsidiary had incurred a net loss of US$19,513,410 during the year ended September 30, 2005.”And as of that date, it had an accumulated deficit of US$34,920,819, and that the group’s current liability exceeded its current assets,” the report stated. It added that the group had placed significant reliance on the financial success of the hosting of the World Cup in contributing to its longer-term financial viability.”The extent of the financial success of this event is not guaranteed. The group’s continued existence is dependent upon the net cash inflow which is expected from hosting the World Cup in 2007, its ability to find new sources of finance, and to identify and implement additional or alternative revenue, generating and cost-reduction programmes, which will contribute to the group achieving and maintaining profitable operations.”

Sachin Tendulkar: missing out on cricket because of a tennis elbow© Getty Images

Sachin Tendulkar has been ruled out of the first Test between India and Australia at Bangalore, beginning on Wednesday. Sourav Ganguly confirmed this in his pre-match press conference, where he also said that the pitch was “very, very dry with a lot of cracks” and added that he had never seen a pitch like this in Bangalore before.Tendulkar’s omission was on the cards after he preferred not to have a bat at the nets and instead concentrated on bowling for about an hour to his team-mates. Ganguly confessed that in these conditions, the team would miss Tendulkar’s bowling ability as well. Tendulkar’s crucial wickets at Kolkata, in the 2001 series, as well as the dismissals of Damien Martyn and Steve Waugh at Adelaide, would surely have been on Ganguly’s mind.Ganguly spoke about how intense the rivalry between Australia and India has been and said: “Except for the Mumbai Test, the last six Tests that we have played have lasted for all five days. It will be a hard-fought series but I hope it’s not as competitive as the last two because it’ll become really tough for both sides.”Sunil Gavaskar, who was recently appointed as a consultant for the Indian side, oversaw the team’s practice for nearly an hour. Ganguly spoke about how the team had sought the assistance of Bruce Reid in the recent past, as a bowling coach, and said that Gavaskar would help out John Wright when required. Gavaskar added that Tendulkar’s injury may not be entirely due to the weight of the bat. “You tend to grip the bat harder when you play a long innings and are more prone to such injuries. I’ve experienced similar situations myself.”Tendulkar¹s absence clears one issue for the Indian team. Barring drastic measures, it is now almost certain that Aakash Chopra, whose stolidresistance laid the foundation for many huge Indian totals in Australia,will open with Virender Sehwag, and Yuvraj Singh, who scored an electrifyingcentury against Pakistan at Lahore, will bat at No. 6. VVS Laxman, who the Australians fear even more than Tendulkar, is likely to take the No. 4 position.

Thilanga Sumathipala: is his dream about to die? © AFP

Thilanga Sumathipala, the president of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), faces an anxious week. A long and complicated legal battle is drawing to a close, and on Thursday (January 8) Sumathipala will appear before a Sri Lankan court.Sumathipala, who is also the chairman of the state-owned Sri Lanka Telecom, has been caught up in passport scandal after allegations that Dammika Amarasinghe, an alleged underworld figure, traveled to England to watch the 1999 World Cup as a guest of the cricket board, apparently on a false passport.Sumathipala is also alleged to have authorised the release of £1500 in travellers’ cheques to Amarasinghe from the cricket board’s coffers. Last week, a Criminal Investigations Department (CID) team obtained a court warrant and raided the SLC headquarters in Colombo in search of accounting documents.Should Sumathipala be charged on Thursday it may shatter his dream of heading the International Cricket Council (ICC) when it is Sri Lanka’s turn for the rotated presidency. That has been a personal and oft-stated ambition, which he had looked certain to achieve thanks to a formidable power-base of support in neighbouring Asian countries, especially India.Wisden Comment by Charlie Austin:<BRThilanga Sumathipala's power-base in Sri Lanka, among the clubs and associations that vote in cricket-board elections, is rock solid. Although his two previous administrations were cut short by the government, he won a landslide victory to claim a third term in June 2003. The clubs respect the dynamism and business acumen that has transformed the way cricket is run in Sri Lanka.No-one, whether friend or foe, can deny that it was Sumathipala that sent board revenues soaring in the late 1990s. On the cricket side he has also presided over several notable achievements: the construction of the Dambulla International Stadium, a frenzy of developmental activity in country areas, the launch of a new provincial tournament, and a new intensive international programme for the Sri Lankan A team.Sumathipala's fate is not clear. If you believed every word printed by the Sunday Leader, the newspaper that broke the story, then his future is bleak. They claim that CID sleuths have uncovered a mountain of incriminatory evidence in the last month: travellers-cheque stubs, memos and letters, and visa documentation, to add to the original explosive testimony from a former crony of Amarasinghe that first linked Sumathipala to Colombo’s mafia.However, the newspaper’s claims have to be treated with caution. The manner in which they have pursued Sumathipala is more akin to a witch-hunt than balanced investigative journalism. News articles have been clouded with comment, and you cannot entirely rule out Sumathipala’s claim that he is the unfortunate victim of a malicious political conspiracy.Nevertheless, Sumathipala is clearly facing the biggest fight of his career. Those who have followed his meteoric rise closely, as a self-made and highly successful businessman and cricket administrator, will still back him to emerge from scandal for his canniness and determination is legendary but the next few days will be crucial to his future.

New Zealand gave it a go, but without a steady top order contribution it was always going to struggle to score the 223 needed to beat England and prevent the National Bank Series being tied up 2-2 going in Tuesday’s last match.Two rain showers, one of which halted play for an hour and a quarter, denied New Zealand the chance to repeat the shutdown of England’s batting they managed in the first match in Christchurch and, it has to be said, denied England the chance to have a late-order fling with wickets in hand.As a result, New Zealand may be forced to rejuvenate their squad for the last game. They need a bowler who can contribute for 10 overs of accurate bowling and while Ian Butler offered speed, that is not likely to be a significant factor on the outstanding pitch that will be on offer at Carisbrook on Tuesday.It could be that James Franklin will be the man New Zealand look to in place of Butler while Brendon McCullum, who allowed the situation to get the better of him in Auckland tonight may just hold on as 12th man.It was a mixed up day in a lot of ways, the rain interruptions cut short a highly-productive England innings. They recovered well after losing Marcus Trescothick for a duck off the third ball but what might have been the crucial moment in the innings was the senseless run out of Nick Knight for 40.The situation was entirely of his own doing as Graham Thorpe had played a shot square to Daryl Tuffey and always seemed to be aware that it was only worth a single, but when he turned at the bowler’s end, he found Knight almost back at the same end, and Tuffey’s through to Daniel Vettori was thrown on to Chris Nevin with Knight already taking off his gloves and heading for the pavilion.However, the incident was not as costly as it might have been because Michael Vaughan did take great advantage of his first chance for a bat in the series and he played a priceless inings of 59 before he too was run out. Apparently something of a bad luck merchant, Vaughan was out when he played a ball back to Vettori, advanced a little down the pitch only to see Vettori rifle a return back to the stumps.Vaughan turned and looked to make his ground, but as he did the ball broke the wickets at about the same time as he dropped his bat and he was out for 59 off 53 balls. He and Thorpe put on 89 off 87 balls in a highly-effective partnership.His misfortune with the bat was compounded after he took two catches in the field and then, when looking for a third, but eventually realising he could only field the ball, he fell on the turf and in the process he injured his shoulder and had to leave the field. He will have a scan tomorrow and is doubtful for the Tuesday match, but not for the rest of the tour.The second rain shower meant Thorpe was denied 10 overs in which to cart the bowling with wickets in hand.The score of 193/6 was more than enough for England to apply the screws as under the Duckworth/Lewis system, New Zealand were required to score 223 in the 40 overs.Drop-in wickets are proving great for New Zealand’s opponents. Firstly Pakistan in last summer’s Test match at Eden Park, and now England here. Perhaps ignorance really is bliss and New Zealand players are reading too much into the pitches.The New Zealanders had to contend with a fine opening spell from both Darren Gough and Matthew Hoggard. The brace of maidens they bowled at the start of the innings seemed to put the pressure on New Zealand even more, and they did not respond well.Nevin edged a ball moving across him to Trescothick on eight while McCullum showed bad judgment in attempting to hit out and was easily caught by Vaughan off a skied chance for five.Stephen Fleming hit straight to Vaughan at point for eight while Craig McMillan was caught by Knight off Andrew Flintoff for 10. When Lou Vincent went for seven, the batting had been decimated, the chance for victory gone and 38 runs being the contribution of five of the top six batsmen in the side.Nathan Astle scored 23 but at nowhere near his usual pace and it was left to Chris Cairns (58 off 56 balls), Chris Harris (23 off 28) and Andre Adams (26 off 14) to keep fans from walking out the gate.As it was Flintoff came back with Gough and they finished off the innings, Flintoff taking four for 17 from seven overs, his best One-Day International figures, and Gough two for 33. Hoggard had earlier taken two for 27.Hoggard applied the pressure well to the top order while Flintoff did a fine mopping up job.The stage has been set for a tremendous finale to the series. The crowd of 36,278 had plenty of entertainment. England are on a roll, New Zealand have to do what they do best, scrap all the way back from the position they are now in, and Dunedin awaits with the perfect finale on their back door step.For all concerned it is now a case of Carisbrook or bust.

Gujarat, batting cautiously, scored 209 for five wickets off 90 overs at stumpson the first day of their West Zone Ranji Trophy match against Baroda at theSardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad on Friday.Opting to bat, Gujarat lost Vivek Gandhi for a duck in the second over. Theother opener Nilesh Modi (43) and Niraj Patel (40) steadied the innings byadding 80 runs for the second wicket off 39.5 overs. Modi symbolised the Gujaratapproach by taking 201 minutes to compile his runs. He faced 111 balls and hitfive fours. Patel too took his time to get his runs (156 minutes). He faced 133balls and hit only three boundaries. After the fall of both these batsmen,Mukund Parmar (54) and Kirat Damani (37 not out) continued the recovery processby adding 68 runs off 23 overs for the fourth wicket. Parmar batted in a ratheraggressive manner, his runs being scored off just 97 balls with eleven hits tothe fence. But Damani was more circumspect taking 174 minutes over his unbeaten37. He faced 117 balls and hit two fours. Among the bowlers, medium pacersZaheer Khan (2 for 47) and Rakesh Patel (3 for 57) were the pick and deservedlyshared the wickets.