Sourav Ganguly has said the matter of rescheduling the Ranji games was only put forward to the technical committee, but they did not make the decision

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2016

Sourav Ganguly, the chairman of BCCI’s technical committee, has said his committee didn’t make the decision to reschedule the two postponed Delhi fixtures. Ganguly’s claims contradict those of the BCCI, which had suggested the technical committee had taken the decision.”The Technical Committee of the BCCI recognised the extraordinary circumstances prevailing in Delhi and decided to reschedule the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 fifth round matches between Hyderabad-Tripura and Gujarat-Bengal after the first two days of play were lost due to smog conditions in New Delhi,” the BCCI had stated in its press release dated November 6.Ganguly, however, maintained the technical committee had little to do with the decision. “This was not decided by technical committee. This was put forward to the technical committee by BCCI,” he told ESPNcricinfo. However, when pointed out the BCCI couldn’t have made the decision had his committee not agreed to it, Ganguly said: “yes, true.”While ESPNcricinfo’s attempts to contact BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke didn’t yield a response, a board source said it was a collective decision to reschedule the matches and that due process was followed.The decision to reschedule the fixtures meant the Group A clash between Gujarat and Bengal and the Group C game between Hyderabad and Tripura would now be played four days after the completion of the final round, from December 15 to 18, in Visakhapatnam and Kolkata respectively. This move led to protests from the Mumbai Cricket Association and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association against the “unfair advantage” extended to the teams playing in the rescheduled games.TNCA secretary Kasi Viswanathan had said the matches in question shouldn’t be rescheduled, and that the points should be shared retrospectively. “In a league stage you cannot do this; it will be a disadvantage to the other teams. It is an act of God, and you should have only shared points,” he told ESPNcricinfo.Ganguly, however, defended the decision and said it was made before the permutations for the knockouts came into the picture. “The decision was done then only, at the start of the season, which was two or three matches old,” he said. “If you look at the start of the Ranji season there are some teams who started early, some teams who started late. I don’t know how it gives them unfair advantage; you still have to win a cricket match. Gujarat, in any case, will qualify because they have beaten everyone.”Mumbai currently lead the standings in Group A with 26 points, while Gujarat, with 21 points, are two points behind second-placed Tamil Nadu. In Group C, the top-three teams are separated by only three points. While table-topper Andhra and third-placed Haryana have two more matches remaining, Hyderabad has an extra game against Tripura, who are in the bottom half.The rescheduling of games has also forced BCCI to push back the knockout matches. The quarter-finals, initially scheduled to begin on December 17, will now be held from December 24 to 28. The semi-finals were moved from December 27 to January 3, while the final, originally set to be played from January 7, will now take place from January 12 to 16.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made a rare appearance from the bench in Chelsea's 2-0 defeat against Brentford on Wednesday night and failed to win over the fans with his performance, heading over from the Blues' best chance of the game.

How has Aubameyang performed at Chelsea?

The Gabon international has been completely ostracised since his £12m move from Barcelona last summer, with attitude and performance issues seeing him dropped by Graham Potter, and completely left out of the Champions League squad for the knockout stages.

However, Todd Boehly could still recoup some of his money on the former Arsenal man, as despite a record of three goals in 20 appearances for the west London outfit, Barcelona are said to be interested in bringing him back to the Nou Camp this summer.

Chelsea have struggled desperately in front of goal this season, with just 30 goals in 32 Premier League games, and while the 33-year-old was signed for his experience and goalscoring record, the blame cannot be solely put on him.

He has featured in one of the worst Chelsea sides in recent memory whereas the failed strikers of old, notably Andriy Shevchenko and Romelu Lukaku, have struggled to succeed in a time of relative success.

However, in terms of value for money, it is arguably Fernando Torres who must be considered the worst striker of the Roman Abramovich era at Stamford Bridge.

Why did Chelsea sign Torres?

Torres was one of the biggest names in the Premier League, having performed superbly for Liverpool following his arrival from Atletico Madrid in 2007.

He would go on to contribute 81 goals and 20 assists in just 142 appearances for the club, with a memorable performance in a 3-0 thrashing of Real Madrid seeing him earn "world-class" praise from teammate Steven Gerrard.

Spain won the World Cup in 2010, but it was a 'dreadful, scoreless tournament' – as per journalist Ian Ladyman – for the attacker. Sadly, his form post-South Africa wasn't great either, managing just nine goals in the first half of the 2010/11 campaign, with Jamie Redknapp less than impressed with his form at the time.

He said: "Fans will suffer to a certain extent when you give the ball away, but they won't suffer a lack of effort. Out there for 45 minutes today, he (Torres) has been terrible. He hasn't got hold of the ball, he hasn't chased, he's got frustrated, he could have been booked, he's been diabolical."

It was perhaps made it even more surprising that Chelsea were so keen to sign him in January 2011, as the Blues shelled out a British record transfer fee of £50m to sign the clinical forward, with chairman Bruce Buck, who worked alongside Roman Abramovich during his time as owner, singing the striker's praises upon his arrival.

He said: "This is a very significant day for Chelsea, capturing one of the best players in the world with his peak years ahead of him.

"We have long admired the talents of a player who is a proven goalscorer in English football and Fernando's arrival is a sign of our continuing high ambitions. I hope every Chelsea fan is as excited as I am with this news."

While £50m seems like a drop in the ocean for Boehly given the money he has spent since taking over at Chelsea, in today's money that would equate to around £70m due to inflation.

How did Torres perform at Chelsea?

Unfortunately, Torres was never able to replicate the form he showed at Liverpool and endured some awful moments in a Chelsea shirt, with his notable open-goal miss against Manchester United perhaps symbolic of the low-confidence player that he had become at Stamford Bridge.

In total, the Atletico Madrid academy graduate would manage just 45 goals in 172 appearances for Chelsea, never reaching double figures in the Premier League again.

Although he did enjoy some success with the Blues, winning the Champions League, FA Cup and Europa League, contributing the famous breakaway goal against Barcelona, he certainly wasn't able to justify his price tag or eye-watering £175k-per-week wages in his time at the club.

Eventually, Chelsea would lose faith in Torres and he was sent on loan to AC Milan, before his move there was made permanent without the Serie A side having to pay a fee in January 2015.

The Spaniard was contracted at Stamford Bridge for 205 weeks, meaning that the club paid him £35m in wages in his four-year stay, well and truly rinsing the club of around £85m, before eventually leaving for nothing.

Therefore, while Aubameyang has been the scapegoat in a poor season for Chelsea, he cannot even be compared to Torres when it comes to value for money at Stamford Bridge. His move was the very definition of a financial disaster.

Allrounder Jimmy Neesham has been ruled out of the first Test against India in Kanpur due to a rib injury

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2016New Zealand allrounder Jimmy Neesham has been ruled out of the first Test against India in Kanpur due to a rib injury. But since he is expected to be fit for the second Test, which begins on September 30, New Zealand Cricket have opted not to name any replacements.Neesham picked up the injury during training last Thursday, and it had affected his participation in the warm-up fixture against Mumbai in Delhi. He didn’t bat in either innings and bowled just five overs.Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, expected Neesham to return to full fitness ahead of the second Test in Kolkata. “Jimmy was struck in the nets and has been in discomfort the last few days,” he said. “It will take a few days for the bruising to go away, but it’s very much a short-term injury.”This comes as yet another setback for Neesham, who hasn’t played international cricket since the recurrence of a back injury last November. He is the second player from the squad in India to have fitness issues after Tim Southee had to return home with a ligament strain on his left ankle. Matt Henry was brought in. Squad for first Test: Kane Williamson (capt), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling.

Faf du Plessis’ appeal against the conviction of ball-tampering has been rejected by judicial commissioner Michael Beloff

Firdose Moonda21-Dec-20164:31

‘I wasn’t trying to cheat, I was shining the ball’ – du Plessis

Faf du Plessis’ appeal against his ICC conviction of ball-tampering has been rejected by judicial commissioner Michael Beloff. The newly confirmed South African Test captain remained guilty of breaching Law 42.3 and the sanction initially imposed on him by match referee Andy Pycroft – 100% of his match fee from the Hobart Test and three demerit points – stood. Du Plessis escaped the more serious sanction of a match ban.Du Plessis was originally found guilty of altering the condition of the ball on November 22, during South Africa’s tour of Australia, after video footage revealed he used his saliva to shine it while also sucking on a mint. He announced his intention to appeal immediately.The hearing was held on Monday in Dubai, with du Plessis participating via video link. It lasted two-and-a-half hours and Beloff, chair of the ICC’s Code of Conduct commission, reserved judgement until Wednesday afternoon.In a 14-page judgement, which outlined the arguments made by du Plessis’s legal counsel and the ICC, Beloff found that du Plessis had “applied the substance to the match ball and did so intentionally” and he “endorsed” the guilty verdict. Beloff found no need to alter the sanction. He took into consideration du Plessis’ 14 years of experience as a first-class cricketer, that he was a role model and that he had already suffered damage to his reputation when considering whether to amend the punishment.Beloff did not buy the argument that there was uncertainty over the ball-tampering law itself. CSA had asked the ICC to clarify the words “artificial substance” and several South African players pointed out that they take the field with various things – from energy drinks to biltong – in their mouths and would therefore be applying residue from that to the ball throughout the match.Although Beloff acknowledged that the law itself does not define the word artificial, he cited a dictionary definition of it, which du Plessis accepted. “As to what is an artificial substance, neither Code, Law nor Guidance define it. The adjective ‘artificial’ is ordinarily used as the opposite of natural. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as ‘made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally’ which the Appellant was prepared to accept. There is nothing in the regulatory context to require, in my view, any alternative or different definition.”Beloff concluded du Plessis had applied an artificial substance to the ball because his saliva had come into contact with a mint. “The saliva/mint or the combination thereof was an ‘artificial substance’ (although the saliva per se is not). If the drinking of gin is prohibited it is not a defence to say that it was mixed with tonic.”Beloff also did not distinguish between ball-shining and ball-tampering, as du Plessis had suggested, and ruled any artificial substance applied to the ball changed its condition. Since du Plessis did so “intentionally”, he was found guilty.”The consequence of his [du Plessis’s] action was to alter the condition of the ball (or was likely to do) in the relevant sense, that is to say, it altered the status quo ante of the match ball (i.e. its condition prior to the polishing). Whether that can be described as maintenance (i.e. restoring the ball to its pristine condition) or enhancement, (i.e. improving its condition from what it was prior to shining), matters not,” Beloff wrote.The ICC welcomed the decision after CEO David Richardson earlier expressed his “disappointment” that du Plessis had decided to appeal. Richardson laid the initial charge against du Plessis when video evidence emerged after the window for the umpires to report any wrongdoing had passed.”It is the duty of the ICC to ensure fair play on the cricket field,” Richardson said. “Although it was not picked up by the umpires at the time, when the incident came to our attention subsequently, we felt it was our responsibility to lay a charge in this case because the ICC can’t let such an obvious breach of this Law pass without taking any action. We are pleased that both the Match Referee and Mr Beloff QC have agreed with our interpretation of the Laws and hope that this serves as a deterrent to all players not to engage in this sort of unfair practice in the future.”Richardson was open to a discussion on whether more guidelines were necessary to define ball-tampering but stressed the law was clear in its current form. “It goes without saying that we will be reviewing the outcome to determine if any additional guidelines are needed to provide further clarity to the players and umpires around this type of offence. However we are satisfied that the Law is clear and is implemented consistently.”The outcome has left Du Plessis one demerit point away from missing a match. Any Level 2 offence – ranging from dissent to public criticism of a match-related incident – could lead to him facing suspension.Despite CSA’s vocal backing of du Plessis, they accepted Beloff’s ruling even as they continued to call for a review of the laws.”We are satisfied with the matter being given due consideration by a person independent of the ICC. Both CSA and Faf believed that this appeal was imperative considering the important principles at stake. In our view, the fact that Mr Beloff deliberated for some time after hearing complex legal arguments from both sides demonstrates that this matter does indeed require further consideration and clarification from the ICC and the MCC,” Haroon Lorgat, CSA chief executive said.”Notwithstanding the outcome of the appeal and Mr Beloff’s helpful rulings on the matter, we hope that further reviews of the Code of Conduct and the laws of the game takes place as players will no doubt continue to seek clarification as to what is or is not permissible in the light of this case.”

Arsenal have enjoyed a year of vast progression, with Mikel Arteta having overseen the development of many of his assets into some of the top players in their field.

The Spaniard is owed massive credit for how his project has blossomed, from the stuttered start he faced to the 2021/22 failure to secure top four. Nothing has slowed down his steady improvement, and he and his club profited massively last term.

Having now secured Champions League football and announced themselves as the closest competitor to Manchester City by far, the task is now to bridge that gap, with this summer a key opportunity to do so.

Arguably the biggest weakness that was outlined last campaign came at the heart of defence, as William Saliba's mid-March injury saw their form drop and the title charge derailed. Whilst this is largely owed to the immense presence of the Frenchman, a lack of adequate backup truly exacerbated his absence.

Therefore, bolstering their backline should be high on their priority list.

Fortunately, a fine opportunity has already presented itself for this transfer window, as it was reported last month that the Gunners were one of many clubs monitoring Bayern Munich's Benjamin Pavard.

Reports in Italy have stated that due to a dwindling £84k-per-week contract, an offer of just €20m (£17m) could be enough to tempt him out of Germany as reported by Tuttosport, via FCInternews.

Could Benjamin Pavard replicate Ben White?

Given his ability to play at both centre-back and right-back, it is hard not to immediately draw comparisons between the France international and Ben White.

After all, the former Brighton and Hove Albion stalwart moved to north London having enjoyed the bulk of his career through the centre, only for Arteta to employ him at full-back in their most successful year yet. This is no coincidence.

The presence of such a defensive machine offers that foundation for their free-flowing attack to thrive, and as such Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard have all enjoyed their best goalscoring seasons in the league.

This is owed to the 1.6 tackles and two clearances per game of the 25-year-old whose mere positional awareness makes them a stronger defensive unit.

So, to add another player who has seen similar positional progression to the squad, they would immediately have valid cover for Saliba and whoever is selected as the starting right-back.

After all, during a term in which the Bavarian giants narrowly claimed the Bundesliga title, the 27-year-old has lived up to Uli Hoenes' praise that he would be an "outstanding signing".

His 7.35 average Sofascore rating was actually the second-highest of anyone on his team, only behind Joshua Kimmich, and is upheld through his five goal contributions, 2.3 tackles, 1.5 interceptions and 2.5 clearances per game.

His mindset has also been praised too, with his former boss Julian Nagelsmann claiming back in March: "Benji had a good performance. He always wants to win. He scored goals too today. He did very well against Paris (first leg). He's playing more often in his favourite position and is doing a good job. I know that he feels comfortable here."

With an additional offensive impetus but sharing a broader physique that differentiates themselves from the midfielder-style modern-day full-back, these two could offer huge benefits to the squad depth, not to mention adding another serial winner into their ranks.

Darren Sammy struck an unbeaten 27-ball 55 to complete a heist and lead Rajshahi Kings to the second qualifier by beating Chittagong Vikings by three wickets in the eliminator

The Report by Mohammad Isam06-Dec-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren Sammy hammered an unbeaten 55 to complete Rajshahi’s come-from-behind win•Raton Gomes/BCB

Darren Sammy blitzed a 27-ball 55 to lead Rajshahi Kings to the second qualifier after they beat Chittagong Vikings by three wickets in Mirpur. Rajshahi recovered from 57 for 6 to chase down 143 in 18.3 overs after Sammy put on 37 and 49 with Mehedi Hasan and Farhad Reza respectively. Chittagong were knocked out of the competition.Sammy cracked Mohammad Nabi for three fours in the 12th over to get the chase rolling again. Mehedi’s needless run-out in the 15th over dented their progress, but Sammy smashed three fours past point in the next over, bowled by Subhasis Roy. Sammy reached his second fifty of the tournament with a straight six off Nabi, before Farhad struck two fours to seal the chase.Sammy was unbeaten on 55 with seven fours and two sixes, while Farhad struck three fours in his 11-ball 19. As soon as he struck the winning runs, the Rajshahi players celebrated in their unique style of pretending to take group photos and selfies.Chittagong, though, lost their way towards the end of their innings where they lost 30 runs in the last 5.1 overs. The top order had set a strong platform and a strengthened batting line-up was unable to capitalise. Chittagong included Dwayne Smith as an opener, pushing Chris Gayle to No. 3, just the sixth time he has not opened a T20 innings.After fast bowler Kesrick Williams had Smith caught at slip in the third over, Gayle launched five sixes, four over the straight boundary. However, Gayle chipped a full toss off James Franklin to long-on, which began Rajshahi’s comeback. His 44 came off 30 balls.Shoaib Malik and Tamim Iqbal, who made a record equalling sixth fifty in the BPL, lofted catches into the cover region before Mohammad Nabi was brilliantly run out by a Sabbir Rahman throw from the deep midwicket boundary in the penultimate over.In the same over, Williams removed Abdur Razzak and Taskin Ahmed to complete his second four-wicket haul in T20s.