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Will the rancour be settled before the home series againt South Africa?© Getty Images

The ongoing sponsorship row between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the Players Association has moved closer to a resolution with the board setting a deadline of February 28 to sort out the contracts issue. The two parties, who have been at loggerheads since last December, had suffered a setback with the leaked memo prepared by the team sponsor Digicel. The representative of the sponsor accused the players of focussing more on off-field activities rather than on it, an allegation denied by the players. However, Digicel has assured its continual support to the team.”The WICB, after examination of the respective positions, reiterated its desire that everything should be done to conclude the negotiations by February 28 well in advance of the beginning of the 2005 home series on March 29,” remarked Leonard Robertson, WICB’s corporate communications manager, following a directors’ meeting in Barbodos last weekend.”The chief executive officer provided an update on the negotiations between the WICB and the WIPA which are aimed at securing Retainer Contracts, a Collective Labour Agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, a Players’ Code of Conduct, and a Match/Tour Contract.”The crux of the problem is the clash between players’ obligations with the new sponsor, Digicel, and the players’ individual endorsements with their rival, Cable and Wireless.Robertson said: “The CEO indicated that priority was being given to concluding agreements on Clause 5 of the Match/Tour Contract, which deals with Sponsorships and Endorsements, and on the level of sponsorship fees.”The WICB has revealed that the source of the leak of the memo to the media was not someone within the Board. Robertson said that the directors of the WICB considered the tour reports on the recently concluded VB Series in Australia from the manager Tony Howard, coach Bennett King, and media liaison officer Imran Khan and have committed the reports and their recommendations to its follow-up process.”As part of the follow-up process,” Robertson said, “the directors expressed an intention to seek a meeting with Digicel to have the substantive issues arising out of the publication of the document resolved. The process will be conducted in a manner that ensures fairness to the players, the sponsor and the WICB.”

Darren Gough has taken a swipe at England’s selectors, claiming that they have overlooked his claims for a place in the one-day squad because he missed last winter’s tours.Initially, Gough, 36, withdrew in order to spend more time with his family, but he subsequently appeared on – and won – the BBC’s celebrity talent show Strictly Come Dancing.”I never give up and I’m determined to get back in but the only reason I’m not selected was the fact I did Strictly Come Dancing,” Gough told the BBC. “The reason I took the winter off was to spend some time with my children and it was the best winter I’ve had.””A lot of people on commentary are saying, ‘England’s best bowler is playing for Essex.’ It’s up to me to keep performing and let people push for me to get back in.”But Gough admitted that unless the call comes for the end-of-summer ODIs against Pakistan, that will be it for him. “If I don’t get a recall for the Pakistan series, I’m not going to get the recall … but I can only put in my performances on the field.”

West Indian selectors are set to overlook batsman Chris Gayle and name alittle-known off-spinner from the tiny island of Anguilla for the secondTest against Australia in Trinidad on Saturday.Omari Banks, who played against the Australians in a tour match inGeorgetown last week, will become the first Test player from thenorthern-most Leeward Island if he makes the cut from an expected 15-manWindies squad.Anguilla measures just 25km in length and five kilometres at its widestpoint and has a population of about 10,000.Vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan will be selected after recovering from afinger injury but Gayle may not be forgiven for missing Jamaica’sdomestic final against Barbados two weeks ago.Gayle opted to play in a lucrative double wicket competition in StLucia, claiming he had received permission from Jamaican cricketofficials when the final was scheduled for the previous week.But the final was moved back and Gayle stuck with the double wicketcompetition, ruining his chances of playing in the Windies’ nine-wicketloss in the first Test in Georgetown.Windies officials have since claimed he is eligible for Test selectionbut the left-hander is expected to miss out on the second Test, whileSarwan will almost certainly replace Marlon Samuels.Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs is expected to miss the Test because of agroin injury, enabling Carlton Baugh to make his debut.The 20-year-old Banks impressed the Australians during the tour match,dismissing Steve Waugh and Justin Langer for single figures, and theWindies need his spin to add some variety to an attack which was tooplain in the first Test loss in Georgetown.The four pace bowlers were ineffective against the Australians and Bankshas a strong chance of making his Test debut after playing 20first-class matches.Likely West Indies squad: Brian Lara (capt), Wavell Hinds, Devon Smith,Daren Ganga, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Carlton Baugh,Omari Banks, Vasbert Drakes, Merv Dillon, Jermaine Lawson, PedroCollins, Marlon Samuels, David Bernard Jr, Ridley Jacobs (three to beomitted, 12th man to be named).

Ricky Ponting contemplates his bank account© Getty Images

The rise of Ricky Ponting and the decline of Glenn McGrath have receivedofficial confirmation, with Ponting supplanting McGrath as Australia’stop-ranked and highest-paid player.Australia’s selectors have for the first time rated Ponting at No. 1 amongthe country’s 25 contracted cricketers, News Ltd has revealed.McGrath had held the position for at least the previous three years but haslittle cause for complaint. Hobbled by lingering ankle ailments, he lookedflat in two Tests against Bangladesh last winter and hasn’t been sightedsince under the baggy green.Ponting, meanwhile, has racked up 1232 runs at 72.47 in Tests over the past12 months and 1159 runs at 44.57 in one-dayers. He has also, temporarily atleast, eradicated the Australian dead-rubber syndrome, leading the team to anunprecedented 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in his first foray as Test captain.The full list is kept secret, with the players told only of their ownindividual ranking, so it is unclear how far McGrath has slipped down thepecking order. But steady at No. 2 is Adam Gilchrist, ensuring – along withhis $2m lifetime deal with Puma announced last week – that he won’t be shortof a quid anytime soon.The surprise mover is Michael Kasprowicz, who after starting last summerwithout a contract has reportedly leapfrogged to No. 8 with a bullet. After 14 summers of domestic anonymity interrupted by sporadic Test cameos, Kasprowicz bowled with plenty of guile and considerable grunt throughout the entire series in Sri Lanka. He took a wicket every time he bowled, finishing with 12 at 25.17.Ponting will earn a $400,000-plus base fee and is expected to pocket a totalsalary of more than $1m from Cricket Australia, News Ltd reported. The selectors compile individual player ratings for Test and one-day matches, with extra weighting given for Tests, in assembling the top 25.

The dreams and aspirations of the chief host nation lie in shambles after the shocking exit from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003. The South African team has not only disgraced themselves by turning up such a dismal performance but also slapped the faces of millions of supporters of the national team.World Cup 2003 has turned out to be a cup of misery for this rainbow nation. The promises made by the South African team have gone with the wind and rain. Not to mention the few who wanted to dedicate the World Cup to a fallen hero. Let alone winning the World Cup, South Africa now have been left with the ignominy of watching the minnows Kenya in the Super Sixes.Let us face the truth boldly, this World Cup campaign was not lost due to rain and Duckworth/Lewis method. South Africa are victims of their own mediocre cricket. It seems the early warnings were ignored. The appalling performance against India in the ICCCT semi-final at Colombo failed to open the eyes. Maybe some found comfort in having the dreadful tag of being eternal chokers of world cricket.There will be a million questions asked across this country – which was gripped by cricket fever, even before the World Cup started. A post mortem of South African cricket will reveal a lot of answers. It will take a very sincere endeavour from the part of the South African board to set things right for South Africa to have a realistic chance in the next World Cup in four years time.A closer examination of the strategy and the planning for this World Cup exposes a few myths about this South African team. For starters, let us look at the slow over rate. They were docked one over in the opening encounter of this World Cup, which was instrumental in them losing to West Indies.Arriving in Durban for an even more crucial game, after telling all, “We will have to look at our over rate” the South Africans were once again guilty of the same offence. At the end of the innings the bowlers had to run off shortened run-ups, and others, who had been bowling seamers, had to resort to off-cutters.Thanks to the leniency of match referee Clive Lloyd they somehow escaped punishment for finishing nine minutes outside the time limit.It is easy to pass comment in retrospect, but certain areas of the South African performance lacks professionalism and application. Surely after the first hour the captain should be in a position to asses the over rate. To realise that they are once again in trouble after nearly three hours into the innings speaks volumes for the management.Added to this, that no one in the South African dressing room understands or is capable of reading a Duckworth/Lewis printout is beyond understanding. Earlier during the World Cup, the UCBSA president got away with a public apology for some inappropriate behaviour, surely an apology is not an adequate excuse in this case.Bowling 11 wides and five no balls comes as no surprise. At numerous net sessions, the media in attendance have repeatedly asked why bowlers are allowed to continually overstep the line with no one correcting or commenting on this poor practice.The signs of things to come was evident when the South Africans were unable to defend a total of over 300, reduced by Duckworth/Lewis, against New Zealand who had never before beaten South Africa on home turf. The bowling lacked any discipline and penetration, while the body attitude of the senior players spoke of defeat.The selectors should also face the gauntlet. The promise of Alan Donald’s experience being vital for our bowling attack was once again thrown to the dogs. As it happened in the quarterfinal against West Indies in Karachi in the 1996 World Cup, Donald was once again left out of the team for the crucial final group match against Sri Lanka. To throw youth and inexperience into the deep-end, and expect it to come out swimming was always asking for trouble.The selection of Graeme Smith ahead of Andrew Hall in his first match must be questioned. Hall was in the original squad of 15, but with the injury of Jonty Rhodes, Graeme Smith was called up. Surely if Hall was good enough for the original squad then he should have been selected ahead of Smith in a team that was already top heavy in batsmen. The fact that Smith did well is beside the point; Hall just may have given the team an extra option.The attitude of some of the team members also leaves a lot to be desired. Having already been spoken to by Gerald Majola, the verbal abuse that some of the opposing batsmen had to endure goes beyond sportsmanship. Television has given the game great exposure and with effect microphones close to the action, and the ability of most of us being able to lip-read the South Africans must rate as number one in the area of foul-mouthed cricketers.One would have hoped that things could have only got better after `Cronjegate’. But then, the truth stares straight into our eyes – there has been a steady decline, ever since the departure of a coach, a captain, and once again a coach. Surely, South Africa has enough talent to put a team in the Super Six. Let us not blame it on the rain, or the D/L method, it was just a disgraceful show by the South African team. One only hopes that the rainbow nation will have a cricket team that will put the smile back on those millions who support this wonderful game in South Africa.

South African one-day international player Andrew Hall has been freed to join Easterns this summer following a decision by the Gauteng Cricket Board this week to release him from his contract.Hall, who has been at loggerheads with Gauteng during the off-season, even threatening at one point to take legal action to secure his release, has 18 ODI caps although he is not currently under contract to the United Cricket Board.His desire to Gauteng stems from unhappiness with the state of affairs at the Wanderers during the past few years coupled with a desire to once again link up with Ray Jennings who mentored him during the early part of his career.Hall began life as a medium-pacer able to bat down the order, but his all-round play developed to the point where he opened the batting for the South African ODI side during 2000, at one stage taking on Australia’s Brett Lee with every indication of relish.Given the unpleasantness characterising the run-in to the UCB’s annual meeting on Saturday, it will come as something of a relief to all concerned that the tug-of-war between Gauteng and Easterns for Hall’s services has been resolved without recourse to court action.UCB chief executive Gerald Majola said as much on Wednesday: “Gauteng have acted with maturity and with cricket’s interests at heart. Itis a pleasure to see an issue resolved with the player and the game ofcricket in mind.”Unsurprisingly, Jennings was effusive about the acquisition of Hall.”He’s not always been fully valued as a player,” said Jennings.”Having him come to us is obviously a huge boost. What we’re going to do is get him back to where he’s a national player again. He’ll be good for Easterns and with a bid of luck and some hard work, he’ll be good for South Africa again.”Never one to take the orthodox approach, Jennings intends to work with Hall on his wicketkeeping.”He’s got some talent as a ‘keeper. I’d like to see him as Dylan’s (Dylan Jennings, Ray’s son the Easterns wicketeeper) number two. It would give him another string to his bow and give him something else to offer as a player.”

Liverpool did make hard work of their 2-1 Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur late on Saturday.

Indeed, Arne Slot’s men should have cruised to a win away at Spurs, considering Xavi Simons was dismissed in the first half, but the final scoreline would only read 2-1 in the away side’s favour, as Richarlison made the final exchanges very interesting in North London by powering home a consolation effort.

Still, a win is a win for the Reds, who are now only out of the top four positions in the league on goal difference, as Slot continues to experience a mini-resurgence at the Anfield helm.

Regardless, the January transfer window could be a busy one on Merseyside, as the Dutchman looks towards the future for his starting XI by snapping up some fresh talent.

Liverpool make £66m titan a top target

In the short term, Liverpool will just be focused on collecting more wins, as the fixture list becomes more and more overloaded this winter.

But, in the long term, Slot will already have some targets in mind that can help with the overall overhaul of his ageing squad, with Marc Guehi being constantly talked about as a centre-back target on their shopping list, as Virgil Van Dijk reaches the twilight years of his career now at 34 years of age.

It isn’t just solely the 25-year-old on their radar in this department, however, with TEAMtalk revealing that Alessandro Bastoni has emerged as a main target, as they hunt down a successor for their much-loved Dutchman, and that he is viewed as an alternative to Guehi.

The report further states that the Inter Milan warrior could be swayed to move to England, with a £66m price tag placed above his head, amid interest also set to come for his services from the likes of Manchester, Chelsea and other foreign suitors.

Having stood out in Serie A for some time now as a calm, yet forceful defensive presence, the Premier League might soon await Bastoni, with the towering 26-year-old arguably an upgrade on Guehi, when delving deeper into their numbers.

How Bastoni is an upgrade on Guehi

Guehi does, of course, have the added bonus of knowing the Premier League inside out, away from being chucked into the English top-flight like Bastoni, with the Englishman labelled a “Rolls-Royce” at the back for the Eagles by coach David Matthews earlier in the season.

Yet, despite averaging an assured 85% pass accuracy this season to date in league action, and a commanding 5.6 duels won per clash, he isn’t without his faults, with Guehi only winning 50% of his duels last time out, as Palace were torn to shreds 4-1 by Leeds United.

Bastoni’s numbers over the last year vs Guehi’s

Stat – per 90 mins

Bastoni

Guehi

Passes attempted

78.83

51.63

Pass completion %

86.4%

83.5%

Progressive passes

5.47

4.44

Progressive carries

1.88

1.00

Successful take-ons

0.36

0.24

Shot-creating actions

2.41

1.47

Progressive passes received

2.89

0.41

Tackles

2.05

2.00

Interceptions

0.89

1.09

Blocks

1.18

1.15

Clearances

3.08

4.94

Aerials won

1.59

2.18

Stats by FBref

He was also uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball at his feet towards the start of December, too, when giving away possession ten times during Palace’s 3-0 collapse versus Manchester City, with his numbers – side by side with Bastoni over the last year – also falling flat in many areas, next to the £66m-rated colossus, when staring at the table above.

Amazingly, despite boasting two goals and two assists for the season in league action, his Italian counterpart actually betters him in terms of shot-creating actions, progressive passes, and successful take-ons over the last year, with Bastoni actually coming away from the 2024/25 Serie A season with a mightily impressive six goal contributions under his belt.

On top of that, Bastoni also trumps Guehi in terms of tackles and blocks registered over the last year, despite the Palace defender once being lauded as a “monster” by journalist Bobby Manzi, with the Inter number 95 also coming away from his last Serie A contest versus Genoa with a dominant ten duels won.

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The Liverpool target has even been boldly labelled as being “as good as Van Dijk” by Sky Sports’ pundit and content creator Nieve Petruzziello, which will be music to the ears of Reds supporters, as the 26-year-old would, no doubt, be expected to be a regular starter in the heart of the Anfield defence, long after Van Dijk has hung up his boots.

Of course, there will be slight apprehension to drop £66m on Bastoni’s services, considering how much money was dropped in the summer on hit-and-miss acquisitions from Europe.

But, with the evidence outlined above that Bastoni is an upgrade on Guehi, it could end up being lavish money well spent, as Slot goes about reshaping his starting XI even more.

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Posts ByAngus Sinclair