Kevin Curran has been confirmed as Phil Simmon’s replacement as Zimbabwe coach, hours after he leaked the fact to reporters. If the on-field performances of Zimbabwe of late have bordered on the farcical, the off-field dealings of Zimbabwe Cricket in the last day or so over the position of national coach has come close to matching it.For several hours the board refused to answer media enquiries, but after the conclusion of the Bulawayo Test, Ozias Bvute, ZC’s managing director, finally confirmed the news. “We asked everyone involved with the team to be critical of their part. We expected a sea-change in the second match,” he said. “As custodians of cricket in Zimbabwe we have to be accountable.”The handling of Simmons’s dismissal was dreadful. Rumours had been circulating for several days that he was being lined up for the sack, and these escalated yesterday when Curran was spotted at Queens Club. Curran then told reporters that he would take over before next week’s one-day series. All the while, Simmons was still officially in tenure.To add insult to insult, the press release that ZC finally issued was dated Monday, August 15. That is likely to have been the date the decision was taken, as Peter Chingoka, the board chairman, and Bvute were both at the ground for the first day’s play, and both subsequently left. Chingoka is now in South Africa for the Afro-Asian Cup.Curran, who played 11 ODIs for Zimbabwe, was their assistant coach before taking charge of the Namibian national side for a spell, returning home in September last year to take over as director of coaching at the CFX Cricket Academy in Harare, as well as looking after the Zimbabwe A and Under-19 sides.
Nottinghamshire 189 for 4 (Read 77*, Warren 45*, Franks 3-27) beat Wiltshire 186 for 7 (Rizvi 47, Adams 43) by six wickets ScorecardThere was no upset in the delayed C&G Trophy match between Nottinghamshire and Wiltshire, but the minor county did enough to cause more than a few jitters among the Trent Bridge faithful.Wiltshire’s score of 186 for 7 was not enough on a pitch where 220+ looked to be par. Baqar Rizvi (47) and the former West Indies captain Jimmy Adams (43) had guided them to 152 for 2 before Adams was stumped giving Kevin Pieterson the charge in the search for quick runs. But the middle order failed to capitalise on the sound foundation.Nottinghamshire wobbled when they chased, slumping to 69 for 4 as Michael Coles took two wickets in four balls. But as he showed in Guyana, Chris Read is warming to the one-day game, and his unbeaten 67-ball 77 averted any disasters, and he added 120 with Russell Warren (45*) to see Nottinghamshire home.”We were struggling a little bit but Warren anchored the innings well and gave me room to free my arms and hit boundaries,” Read said. “It was a good wicket to bat on and the ball was coming on nicely. I made sure I got myself set before I cut loose.”
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* Tendulkar, Kumble invited to BCCI panel meetingLeg spinner Anil Kumble and batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, alongwith two other former Test stars, have been invited to attend theBoard of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) technical committeemeeting at Baroda on August 11.The meeting, to be chaired by former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar,who wants to involve past and present cricketers while discussing thenew format of the Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy tournaments will alsohave his former opening partner K Srikkanth and former player turnedcommentator Arun Lal, according to a BCCI official on Friday.The meeting will also be attended by its members Raj Singh Dungarpur,who is also the chairman of the National Cricket Academy, MP Pandove(Punjab), Dr Bharghava (Madhya Pradesh), Prof Rathod (Rajasthan) andformer India stumper Kiran More (Baroda), the official added.* Shewag gets Rs one lakh from his employersVirender Shewag, for obvious reasons, is currently the most talkedabout cricketer in the land. His 100 off 69 balls, the seventh fastestcentury in One Day Internationals and the second fastest by an Indianhas elevated his status to almost that of a super star. Messages ofcongratulations have poured in and the one that he cherishes most isone from Sachin Tendulkar.And that is not all. The 22-year-old Delhi batsman has been awarded Rsone lakh by his employers the Oil and Natural Gas Corporatioon (ONGC).Shewag, who is an administrative officer with ONGC in the capital,plays regularly for them in various tournaments around the country.* Kenyan Association invites Mumbai teamThe Mumbai cricket team has been invited by the Kenyan CricketAssociation (KCA) to participate in a triangular tournament betweenMumbai, Baroda and Kenya from September 10 to 25, according to a pressrelease from Mayank Khandwala, joint secretary, Mumbai CricketAssociation.In the tournament, the Mumbai team will play three one day matchesagainst the two other teams. The top two teams will meet in the final.Mumbai will also play a three day match after the completion of thetriangular tournament against the Kenyan team. The tour is on areciprocal arrangement with the KCA which sent a team to play a fewmatches in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra last year.
Newcastle United enter the Christmas period as an inconsistent outfit, with their recent Premier League draw against Chelsea keeping them in the bottom half of the standings.
A two-goal lead after Nick Woltemade’s quick brace was not enough to seal three points at St. James’ Park, and with away form still leaving so much to be desired, there are real problems for Eddie Howe to solve.
These are more than just a few wrinkles across the Magpies’ fabric. There are systematic issues to overcome.
While defensive issues abound, with injuries piling up and United now without a clean sheet in ten top-flight fixtures, there’s a sense that attacking additions might be needed too, especially on the right flank.
Why Newcastle need a right winger
Newcastle solved their interminable right-sided problem this summer when they signed Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest for £55m, but the Sweden international has been anything but effective this season.
Elanga’s Last Two Premier League Seasons
Stats (* per game)
24/25
25/26
Matches (starts)
38 (31)
17 (7)
Goals
6
0
Assists
11
1
Shots (on target)*
1.1 (0.6)
0.5 (0.2)
Pass completion
78%
79%
Key passes*
1.3
0.5
Big chances created
9
1
Succ. dribbles*
0.7 (39%)
0.2 (17%)
Ball recoveries
2.3
0.9
Tackles + interceptions*
0.7
0.5
Duels (won)*
3.0 (45%)
1.5 (33%)
Data via Sofascore
He’s regressed. Big time. Luckily, Jacob Murphy continues to play an industrious role, but his potency has been severed along with the link to Alexander Isak, and it’s looking more and more likely that Howe will need to convince PIF to dig into their pockets once again.
According to TEAMtalk, Newcastle are long-term admirers of Jarrod Bowen and would be ready to bid for the West Ham United talisman if he were to become available in 2026.
Irons owner David Sullivan is desperate to keep his club’s captain and has made it clear that he is not for sale this January, though it’s felt a £100m fee would be enough to get the deal done.
That, of course, is a huge sum, and one that suitors would not be happy to pay.
Why Newcastle should sign Jarrod Bowen
Howe and Newcastle have had Bowen on their radar for several years, and with relegation-threatened West Ham potentially skipping from the Premier League this season, there might just be a chance to secure the 29-year-old’s signature.
Bowen is no spring chicken, but he’s one of the most experienced wingers in the Premier League and has been a shining light in an otherwise dim Hammers system, their top scorer with five goals from 17 matches this season. It’s pertinent to note that he has only missed two big chances, as per Sofascore, and given his positional skill and ability to arc inward and into the danger area.
His kind of clinical quality would see him slot right into Newcastle’s starting line-up, shoving Elanga to the sidelines. The 23-year-old is only firing on goal once every two matches this season, and he’s hitting the target even less.
As per FBref, the £150k-per-week star ranks among the top 9% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for non-penalty goals scored per 90, and that tells a convincing tale of Bowen’s expertise and how he might thrive in a Newcastle set-up with a greater capacity to fire on all cylinders.
Subscribe for in-depth Newcastle transfer and tactics Curious how Newcastle could reshape their squad? Subscribing to the newsletter offers expert analysis on right-wing options, potential Bowen interest, data-driven player profiles, transfer rumours and broader Premier League insights to deepen your understanding. Subscribe for in-depth Newcastle transfer and tactics Curious how Newcastle could reshape their squad? Subscribing to the newsletter offers expert analysis on right-wing options, potential Bowen interest, data-driven player profiles, transfer rumours and broader Premier League insights to deepen your understanding.
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But Bowen isn’t only a sharpshooter. He’s a “superstar”, as has been noted by writer Paddy Keogh. The Three Lions man has averaged 1.5 dribbles and 4.6 duels per league game this year, and he has long been well regarded for his ability as a playmaker, capable of whipping in mean crosses and using his intelligence to link up with strikers in the box.
There’s no question that Bowen is a cut above Elanga, who simply hasn’t been at the races since joining during the summer. And considering the inconsistent form the Tyneside club find themselves embroiled in this year, this could be a statement signing to propel Howe’s project back into the ascendancy.
Better signing than Woltemade: Newcastle struck gold on star who is "back"
Newcastle United continue to strike gold with this star, who is arguably an even better signing than Nick Woltemade.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Thisara Perera picked up his maiden T20 five-for•AFP
An inspired Comilla Victorians crushed Rangpur Riders in a 72-run win to qualify to the BPL final. They not only withstood Thisara Perera’s five-wicket burst and a threatening start from the Rangpur openers, but also shrugged off their own injury-ravaged roster. Rangpur will now have a second shot in the second Qualifier on Sunday, facing the winner of the Eliminator.Comilla missed the services of Shoaib Malik due to a finger injury and used Nuwan Kulasekara, who bowled with a shoulder injury. The most heart-warming sight was to of the captain Mashrafe Mortaza, carrying a Grade-1 right hamstring tear, sending down four overs for only 13 runs, taking one wicket.Comilla batted well in two patches either side of Perera’s wickets. Imrul Kayes cracked 67 at the start and Ashar Zaidi slugged two sixes in a 15-ball 40 to power them to a total of 163.Rangpur began the chase in perfect manner. In the third over, Soumya Sarkar struck Shuvagata Hom for a reverse-swept four before Lendl Simmons added three more boundaries through the leg-side. Andre Russell then dropped Soumya, pedalling back from mid-off in the fifth over. But Rangpur’s fall began the very next ball.Running from deep midwicket, Shuvagata made up for his 17-run over with a superb catch at the square-leg boundary to get rid of Soumya, who made just nine. Abu Hider then made it two wickets off two balls when he removed Simmons with a stunning yorker, the batsman falling over and the ball ricocheting off his pads and into the stumps.Zaidi bowled a maiden in the sixth over, and Mortaza gave away just a single off the next over, his first in the tournament since December 8. The pressure told, as Zaidi had Mohammad Mithun stumped and Shakib Al Hasan caught at deep midwicket off the next ball. Mohammad Nabi struck a six and a four but fell to Mashrafe in the 11th over before Hider came into the picture again, this time with a running catch to get rid of Jahurul Islam. At 62 for 6, Rangpur were well past gone in the chase.Hider came back to bowl his second over and saw Ahmed Shehzad drop a simple chance at long-on off Perera’s bat before clean bowling him a ball later. Zaidi’s fourth wicket was of Darren Sammy in the 16th over, the arm ball capping a stunning all-round display. Hider then picked up another to bag his second four-for in the tournament and become its highest wicket-taker with 21 scalps.Put in to bat, Comilla waited till the end of the third over to find the boundary, Kayes swatting Arafat Sunny through square-leg. Liton Das struck one four in a labored 37-ball 28 but Kayes kept the run rate up with two fours each off Shakib and Mohammad Nabi in the fifth and sixth over. A Kayes blast over cover, off Al-Amin Hossain, then brought up Comilla’s highest opening stand in the tournament as well as the longest opening partnership from a team batting first this season.Liton fell to a beautiful delivery from Saqlain Sajib in the eleventh over before Kayes reached his first fifty of the season, and his second overall in the tournament.Mashrafe’s promotion of himself and Andre Russell to No 3 and No. 4 didn’t work, and the captain’s wicket began the Perera show. The Sri Lankan seamer then dismissed Russell and had Kayes caught and bowled, ending a 48-ball knock that included seven fours and two sixes. Both those sixes came off Shakib, who also had a stumping missed by Mithun when Kayes was on 58.When Shehzad was trapped leg-before for a golden duck at the end of the 16th over, Perera had picked up his first T20 four-for and although he didn’t complete the hat-trick in the next over, he finished with 5 for 26 from his four overs with the wicket of Alok Kapali. Courtesy of Zaidi’s 15-ball 40 in the last 4.3 overs, Comilla took their score to 163 for 7. He struck four fours and two sixes, one a straight blast off Sunny and the next a hit over midwicket off Nabi who gave away 18 runs in the last over.
Durham have loaned medium-pacer Mark Davies to Nottinghamshire for one month. Davies will make his Notts debut in the Pro40 match against Essex on Wednesday.Davies played six County Championship matches this season and has taken 16 wickets. “I’m looking forward to getting involved in Nottinghamshire’s campaigns, both in one-day and Championship cricket,” Davies told Sportinglife.co.uk. “It will be good to get some more competitive one-day games under my belt, especially if Durham need me later on in the season.”Notts were hit by injuries to several of their bowlers and had already loaned Nadeem Malik, from Worcestershire, and Kyle Hogg from Lancashire this season.Durham chief executive David Harker said: “We appreciate that Mark is keen to play competitive first-team cricket in both forms of the game and due to the current strength of our bowling attack Mark’s appearances have been limited to Championship matches. We are able to recall Mark at any time should we need him, so this gives him a great opportunity to play at first-team level.”
In another rejoinder to Sourav Ganguly’s scathing email, Jagmohan Dalmiya has claimed it was a witch-hunt devised by his detractors in the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA). Dalmiya has accused Inderjit Singh Bindra, the PCA president and a friend-turned-rival, of attempting to alienate and neutralise him.Speaking to , Dalmiya highlighted his far-from-amicable relationship with Bindra. “Isn’t it an open secret? This is nothing but a witch-hunt,” he said. “I know who is behind all this. Mohali is the epicentre of all my troubles. He [Bindra] tried to implicate me in a false case, accusing me of financial irregularities. We are witnessing a blatant misuse of power.”Since last year’s BCCI election, where Dalmiya’s candidate for the president’s post was defeated, Dalmiya has found the going tough even in his home city of Kolkata. With the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) set to hold elections soon, Dalmiya has labeled Ganguly’s attack as “pitiable”.”I can’t believe it’s genuine…if it is then it’s very sad,” he said. “When I was in power I tried to help him as much as I could. The Board appointed top lawyers to hear his appeals against match referees. I don’t know much about this e-mail, but if he [Ganguly] indeed feels I have ruined his career, it’s pitiable. In my entire career as cricket administrator, I have never harmed anyone knowingly, nor have I resorted to any witch-hunt something that is going on against me. I will surely bounce back.”Dalmiya even questioned Bindra and Lalit Modi, the BCCI vice-president’s, ascendancy to power. “Let us not get into the ways used by them to grab power,” he said. “Everyone [in the Board] knows what ethical and unethical ways they used to woo voters.”Bindra, in response to the accusations, said: “If Dalmiya feels Mohali is the epicentre of his troubles, he should not forget that he was the epicentre of our troubles. After having gone through so much, I will be the last person to get vindictive. It was Dalmiya who claimed that he can never lose a BCCI election as he knew all about manipulating the voters. I don’t think he should be talking about this.””It is surprising that of all people Dalmiya is talking about ethics. I just want to tell him one thing – he must understand that if he has any sympathiser left in the BCCI, it is Inderjit Singh Bindra,” he added. “At any stage, if he wants my help, I shall readily do so for the sake of an old friendship.”In regards to the legal action taken against Dalmiya earlier this year, Bindra was cutthroat: “Where have the Board accounts disappeared? Why is he not submitting them? It was he who threw me out of the BCCI because I spoke in my personal capacity about match-fixing – among others things – something that was later proved by the Central Bureau of Investigation. He stopped the Board money that was due to PCA. Was that not witch-hunting?”
Australia’s two-run Ashes defeat brought back awful memories for Jeff Thomson, the No. 11 dismissed in another heart-breaking loss to England at the MCG in 1982-83. Michael Kasprowicz expects to see the ball that ended Australia’s spectacular victory push forever, and the moment Thomson edged to Geoff Miller via Chris Tavare with his side four short of victory left him speechless.”It took me years to be able to talk about it I was so upset,” Thomson told . “I took that very badly. If anyone mentioned it to me I’d become ropeable.” Thomson said he couldn’t believe they lost then, and he expected Kasprowicz to be “absolutely shattered” now.While Kasprowicz and Brett Lee were aware of the target dropping rapidly during their 59-run stand, Thomson, who was batting with Allan Border, didn’t bother about the scoreboard. “It was only when I looked up and realised we had got so close that I thought I’d push a single and let AB hit the winning runs,” he said. “Ian Botham bowled a half-tracker which swung away a little bit and I tried to just sort of glide it. I should have played a baseball shot and hit it for four to win the game.”
Abhijit Kale will face a disciplinary committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India for his final hearing on April 29. Kiran More and Pranab Roy, two national selectors, alleged that Kale offered them bribes in order to be selected in the Indian team.The panel that will hear Kale’s case is headed by Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI president, and includes Kamal Morarka and Ranbir Singh Mahendra, two vice-presidents of the board. Kale had earlier replied to the board’s show cause notice with a 17-page letter.The Press Trust of India reports that SK Nair, the secretary of the BCCI, said, “It’s going to be an in-camera meeting and no details can be divulged at this juncture.” The same report adds that Kale has confirmed receiving the notice.