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Matthew Hayden feels that Ricky Ponting’s captaincy is facing unfair criticism © Getty Images

Matthew Hayden, the Australian batsman, and Shane Warne, the Australian legspinner, have voiced their support for Ricky Ponting, their captain, who is facing strong criticism for losing the Ashes 2-1 to England, ahead of the ICC Super Series beginning on October 5, 2005.”One billion percent [backing Ponting]. Ricky Ponting is a fantastic little leader. To be quite honest I’m sick and tired of even thinking about even reading anything about it. It’s just ridiculous,” Hayden was quoted as saying by AFP. “He’s won a World Cup; he’s won series away from home in Sri Lanka and India.”Hayden disagreed with former Australian cricketers such as Ian Chappell and Dennis Lillee who wanted Warne to replace Ponting as captain. “I don’t think Shane Warne would be better,” said Hayden. “Four Tests and suddenly now you want change. I don’t think so. I don’t agree with that.”Having been dropped from the one-day team for the Super Series because the Australian selectors wanted to adopt a new approach for the World Cup in the West Indies in 2007, Hayden said that it would be “very unwise for them [the selectors] to shut the door” on him as a one-day player. “A form slump is just how you approach it. It’s nothing to do with your technique. You just don’t slide off the wall with your technique,” added Hayden. “With the analysis of our game it’s the first thing that people go to but in my mind it’s got nothing to do with that.”Warne also said that he fully supported Ponting as captain. “He [Ponting] is his own man and he’s done a pretty good job. I’m sure he will become better and I’m sure we all will.” He added that Australia was still the team to beat in spite of losing the Ashes to England. “There are two ways of looking at it, like a heavyweight title fight if Bangladesh beat Australia in a one-day game they’d be the best side in the world. You can’t really look at it like that. It’s over a period of time in home and away games when you play against most countries, that’s when you become the best in the world. You’ve got to, over a period of time, prove that. You can’t just have one good series. I think everybody will acknowledge that we have been the best team for a long period of time. Hopefully, it’s [the Ashes] just a hiccup.”

A tour of Zimbabwe looms beyond the horizon© Getty Images

Michael Vaughan has insisted that no member of his side has reservations about the decision to tour Zimbabwe for five one-day internationals later this year. All the England players were asked to make themselves available for the tour, which has been scheduled just before England move on to South Africa for a Test series.The players were briefed on the details by the England and Wales Cricket Board, and also by Richard Bevan, the Professional Cricketers’ Association chief. The tour will be keenly followed, if nothing else because of the furore that surrounded England’s decision not to play a World Cup match in Zimbabwe last year.Moral reasons, aside from security worries, were said to be at the bottom of that boycott, but Vaughan refused to be drawn on such issues. “For me to comment on behalf of every player would be wrong,” he said. “They are happy with the way our representatives at the PCA are dealing with the matter.”Bevan was more forthright when discussing the events of March 2003. “The players had moral, security and contractual concerns at the time and these issues are still very real today,” he said. “We are pleased that the ECB has been at pains to stress that any player not wishing to tour Zimbabwe for reasons of personal conscience will not be penalised.”Throughout the past year, the PCA has made ongoing representation to the ECB to ensure that the players’ views and concerns around the Zimbabwe issue are understood fully.”The tour, if it happens, will infuriate those opposed to Robert Mugabe’s regime, and it will also take place with Zimbabwe cricket in turmoil following the sacking of over a dozen white cricketers – including the captain Heath Streak – earlier this year.Two lawyers are currently reviewing the situation, and will present evidence to the International Cricket Council’s executive board in October. When asked about the situation, Vaughan expressed sympathy with Streak and those who had lost out by supporting him. “It is not a nice situation that those guys are in and people like Heath Streak are missing out on a huge tournament this month,” he said. “That is certainly not a nice situation but we are just concentrating on our team.”

The Durham allrounder Paul Collingwood is set to make his return to action after four months out with injury.Collingwood, 27, has played for England in one-day internationals, but missed out on a possible Test place this summer after dislocating his right shoulder while fielding in a pre-season friendly against Lancashire on April 16. But he is now fit enough to play in Durham’s second-team fixture against Warwickshire, which starts tomorrow.Collingwood said today: “I don’t think I’ve ever trained as hard in my life. It’s good to get back playing again and I can’t wait to get cracking.”

The prospects of fitting in 100 overs of cricket at Kingsmead today look bleak, but South African coach Graham Ford said on Thursday that the important thing is that his team is switched on and ready to roll their sleeves up whenever they get on the field for their Standard Bank Summer Spice Series final against India.While groundsman Wilson Ngobese was frantically trying to prepare the ground for Friday’s big match after 38 mm of rain fell on Durban, Thursday was a quiet day for the South Africans; their preparation was limited to the mental side of ensuring that they perform to their consistently high standards on Friday.Ford admitted that the team was frustrated by not being able to practise as much as they normally would, due to the bad weather that has gripped Durban over the last week. “The pitches were still drying after last weekend’s rain, so we haven’t been able to get the ideal preparation. And the wicket for the final may be a bit too soft and slow for our liking. But I’m happy with the progress we’ve shown during the series, and the guys are all in good form,” Ford said. While South Africa’s top-order batsmen have led their charge into the final, the bowlers will be looking forward to a pitch that should give them some assistance, as opposed to some of the terminally flat and low strips theyhave been forced to bowl on so far this season.Captain Shaun Pollock has led from the front with the new ball and will be hoping that the weather does not flush out the pace and bounce, so essential to the South African attack, of the Kingsmead pitch. Pollock’s immaculate control could well be supplemented by the raw pace of Mornantau Hayward, as South Africa will look to make early inroads into the strong Indian top-order. Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly, as watchers of the tri-series already know, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, all have the ability to scatter bowlers all over the field, and wayward bowling will travel far at Kingsmead on Friday. There may have been plenty of carping over the tameness of the South African attack so far this season, but discipline is likely to be their most valuable asset today.Tendulkar, the holder of all the limited-overs international records that really count, and Ganguly, in thunderous form at present, are obviously the biggest dangers, and South Africa will want to get them back in the pavilion early on. Dravid and Laxman apart, the rest of the Indian batting is inexperienced, although Virender Sehwag has shown that he has a big hit in him occasionally.Saturday has been set aside as a reserve day for the final and, with Durban and, lower down the coast, East London, looking very wet on Thursday, the match is unlikely to take place Friday. If and when the match does get underway, however, the important thing for the South Africans is to be totally focused as they strive for their fifth successive one-day international series victory at home. The Indians, for once, look like being tigers away from home, and they will not be soft touches in the final.Squads:South Africa: Shaun Pollock (capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Jonty Rhodes, Mark Boucher, Lance Klusener, Nicky Bojé, Mornantau Hayward, Makhaya Ntini, André Nel, Justin Kemp.India: Saurav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Deep Dasgupta, Venkatesh Prasad, Shiv Sunder Das, Jacob Martin.

Aston Villa could try to sign Georginio Wijnaldum just a year after he joined Paris Saint-Germain, according to a report from Calciomercato. 

The lowdown

The 31-year-old signed for PSG last June following the expiry of his Liverpool contract. His honours at Anfield included the 2019/20 Premier League and the 2018/19 Champions League, among eight trophies he has won throughout the course of his career.

The Dutchman may have made 27 appearances for Mauricio Pochettino’s side in all competitions, but he has been limited to 12 Ligue 1 starts and was an unused substitute for the recent Champions League round of 16 victory over Real Madrid.

Wijnaldum admitted in the autumn that he was ‘not completely happy’ with his situation at PSG, although he did say that he would ‘work hard to turn it around’.

The latest

The report from Calciomercato stated that Wijnaldum ‘could leave’ the French capital in the upcoming transfer window after only one season at the Parc des Princes.

Atletico Madrid are apparently considering him as a ‘possible reinforcement in midfield’, and Villa are one of three sides who could look to bring him back to the Premier League, along with West Ham United and his former club Newcastle United.

The verdict

Signing Wijnaldum would feel like a real coup for Villa. After all, this is a player who featured in the 2018/19 Champions League squad of the season after scoring twice in Liverpool’s fabled semi-final comeback against Barcelona. Indeed, Jurgen Klopp considers him an Anfield ‘legend’ given his contribution to their success.

The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has written of Villa’s intentions to land a defensive midfielder this summer, and while the Dutchman is naturally more of a central midfielder, he has played 38 games in a number 6 role during his career.

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Would the deal be viable from a financial standpoint? Wijnaldum is valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, which looks payable for Villa when you consider their recent spending, but he might have to agree a pay cut as his £180,000-a-week wage could break the existing structure at the Midlands club.

In other news, Ashley Preece has ‘tears’ in his eyes after this club update

Nasim Ashraf: ‘Comments by the players will only reduce the morale of the team’ © Getty Images

The Pakistan Cricket Board has instructed its players not to make any further comments on the row involving Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif and Shahid Afridi. Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, has warned that players speaking out of turn at this stage would only hamper the team’s morale during the ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa.Shoaib was sent home and handed an indefinite ban following a dressing-room scuffle, during which he hit Asif on the thigh with a bat. On arrival in Pakistan, Shoaib blamed Afridi for provoking him, saying that he made offensive comments about his family. Afridi later denied instigating the spat and said he couldn’t understand why Shoaib targeted him.”Shoaib and the others should keep their mouth shut on this issue,” Ashraf told . “It is not helping either the team or the image of Pakistan cricket.”Shoaib is expected to face a three-member disciplinary committee hearing soon where he would get a chance to give his version of the events. “The disciplinary committee will look into every aspect of the unfortunate incident,” Ashraf said, “but only in the presence of all the concerned cricketers in Pakistan after the completion of the World Cup in South Africa.””Until the inquiry begins he should remain quiet,” Ashraf said. “There is a code of conduct in place for the players and they are violating it by speaking on this issue which has already proved damaging for us. Comments by the players will only reduce the morale of the team.”Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB’s chief executive, left for South Africa to start the inquiry. The other members of the disciplinary committee are Naveed Akram and Zakir Khan.

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have been asked to return to Pakistan © AFP

Shoaib Akhtar has protested his innocence, after it was revealed he had tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Nandrolone, during an internal dope test carried out by the Pakistan Cricket Board.”I cannot say much at this time about what has happened but I just want to assure everyone that I am innocent of doing anything I shouldn’t have,” Shoaib told bigstarcricket.com. “The President of Pakistan has asked me not to comment in any detail at this stage and I want to respect his wishes, so I will keep my message short.”All I can say is that I have not knowingly taken any performance-enhancing drugs and would never cheat my team-mates or opponents in this way. I have always played the game fair and I give 100 percent and do not feel that I need to take drugs to help my bowling.”Shoaib, along with his team-mate, Mohammad Asif, has already been sent home from the Champions Trophy, leaving the Pakistan squad in further disarray, following the chaos that surrounded the appointment of Younis Khan as stand-in captain earlier in the month. “I am gutted to be missing the Champions Trophy,” added Shoaib,” and I will return to Pakistan to see what has happened and what needs to be done.”His pleas of innocence were backed up by a statement from his private doctor, Tauseef Razzaq, a reputed physiotherapist and sports medicine specialist, who told AFP that the positive test results probably stemmed from the medicines he had been taking to aid his recovery from injury.”Akhtar is definitely innocent and I can vouch for him,” said Tauseef. “He doesn’t know anything about medicines, and since he recently suffered ankle and knee injuries, he must have taken some medicines which are painkillers but come under the banned substances.”Dr Razzaq was hired by Shoaib in 2004, a move which attracted criticism from the PCB. He added that Shoaib had returned two negative tests, at the Champions Trophy in England two years ago and after the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.”Akhtar is so valuable a cricketer and is conscious of the fact,” said Razzaq, “so I don’t think he would take anything intentionally. Since he bowls at a venomous pace he also knew he would always be a target for a dope test.”

Andrew Flintoff finds a way through Justin Langer at Edgbaston © Getty Images

Justin Langer admits Australia’s batsmen haven’t cracked the troubling reverse-swing puzzle, but Ricky Ponting has confirmed the side has developed strategies to nullify its damaging effects. England’s pace bowlers have mastered the movement of the older ball and have embarrassed Michael Clarke and Simon Katich into leaving deliveries hitting their stumps, and confused the rest.Langer said the movement caused the batsmen to change from instinctive play to using a shorter back-lift as they coped with the restricted scoring options. “We definitely haven’t cracked it,” Langer said in the . “There is a lot of discussion going on. This is like a new little puzzle we have to solve. When we do crack it, it will be a very satisfying feeling. I think we are getting close.”Writing in his column in , Ponting said his players were working hard in the nets to improve. “We’ve already come up with some strategies to make sure we practise against it as much as we can,” he wrote. “If you look at when most of the wickets have fallen, it’s been between overs ten and 30 which is just after the lacquer comes of the ball and it starts reversing.”Ponting said it was important to survive the early stages because after that “it’s not so bad”. “The hardest thing about facing reverse-swing bowling is the pace it’s delivered at because then it tends to swing a lot later,” he said. “When it’s swinging late at 145kph it’s pretty difficult to play and we’ve only got one guy – Brett Lee – who can do that. We have to make sure we’re bowling him at the right times.”

Scorecard

South Africa’s bowlers put in a determined effort, but Marvan Atapattu showed tremendous character to take Sri Lanka through to victory© AFP

Just when it looked as if South Africa might be about to turn around a wretched losing streak, with Sri Lanka showing signs of panic for the first time in the series, Marvan Atapattu produced an inspirational captain’s innings. With hios side chasing 192, Atapattu finished on 97 not out, and guided Sri Lanka to a tense four-wicket victory, and an unassailable 3-0 lead to clinch the series – Sri Lanka’s first against South Africa.South Africa had started brightly. The toss was won and Herschelle Gibbs was given an early reprieve. Chaminda Vaas roared his lbw appeal triumphantly but, contrary to television replays that showed Gibbs to be palpably plumb, Billy Bowden kept his finger down. But after 12 nervy balls without scoring, Gibbs finally found the middle of the bat. A short-arm punch through the covers and an audacious pull-sweep behind square off Vaas set him on his way.Graeme Smith, who never looked convincing, helped add 44 for the first wicket before spooning a chance to mid-on, where Sanath Jayasuriya snaffled a fine diving catch. Lance Klusener, the latest pinch-hitter at No. 3, failed to fire, but Jacques Kallis knuckled down for a hardworking 52 from 108 balls. When South Africa reached the 40-over mark on 142 for 3, a respectable total was on the cards.But when they tried to push down the accelerator, it all went pear-shaped. First, Jacques Rudolph (18) was bowled trying to reverse-sweep a straight one from Tillakaratne Dilshan. Soon after, Kallis was caught behind off Rangana Herath as he tried to pummel a cover-drive. Suddenly, South Africa were 147 for 5, with two new batsmen at the crease.Gradually, the spinners picked their way through the middle order: Mark Boucher drove to short cover, Shaun Pollock top-edged a sweep, J-P Duminy was trapped lbw, again sweeping, Alan Dawson skied into the deep, and Nicky Boje was stumped. South Africa had lost seven wickets for 47 runs.

Jacques Kallis made a half-century, but unlike Atapattu, did not press on far beyond that© AFP

Herath, competing with Kaushal Lokuarachchi for the last place in Sri Lanka’s Champions Trophy squad, played the most crucial part, dismissing Gibbs, Kallis and Boucher. Picked ahead of a third fast bowler, as Sri Lanka read the pitch correctly, Herath finished with 3 for 28. Dilshan, struggling with a swollen ankle that needs frequent ice treatment, chipped in for the second successive game and mopped up the tail to finish with 3 for 25.South Africa’s fast bowlers came out fighting after another lame batting display, and gave their team a glimmer of hope when the two openers were whipped out cheaply. Dawson pinned Avishka Gunawardene (7) lbw with a delivery that pitched in line and would have flattened off stump (7 for 1).At the other end, Pollock was striding in purposefully under the bright lights. Bowling a full length, he was wobbling the new ball a smidgen and hitting the pitch hard. He surprised Sanath Jayasuriya (11) with some extra bounce, and Gibbs swallowed an easy chance in the gully (34 for 2). The breakthrough brought up Pollock’s 300th one-day wicket, in his 217th match. He became the seventh bowler in history to reach the landmark, and continued to threaten throughout an eight-over spell, finishing with 1 for 18.His replacement, Boje, South Africa’s only slow bowler, dampened the spirits of the festival crowd just after the drinks break when Kumar Sangakkara, not for the first time on the tour, got in a pickle with his footwork against Boje and was stumped down the leg side for 14 (65 for 3). Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene (21) settled the dressing-room for a while, adding 46 in 75 balls.But the arrival of Duminy, a part-time offspinner, sparked a late-innings wobble, and revived South African hopes of a dramatic turnaround. First, Jayawardene was bowled through the gate, and then, Dilshan’s stumps were splayed by a grubber from Klusener (126 for 5). A nervy contribution from Upul Chandana, who could have been dismissed twice before he finally chipped a simple catch to midwicket, left Sri Lanka under serious pressure at 145 for 60.However, with Sri Lanka needing 46 from 54 balls, on a slow-paced pitch that was growing increasingly inconsistent in bounce, Atapattu punctured the pressure with a brace of boundaries off Klusener. Vaas, cheered to the crease like a gladiator by the boisterous crowd in the grandstand, also held his nerve and played positively. Had Kallis held a difficult diving catch in the deep off Vaas, Sri Lanka might still have been in trouble, but Atapattu finished the job with 14 balls to spare.

Bangladesh set themselves up for the daunting task of a Test series against Australia with a thrilling victory over the Commonwealth Bank Academy at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane. Set 230 to win, they overcame a mid-innings wobble to eke home with just six minutes, and two wickets, to spare.Mohammad Ashraful anchored the innings with a classy 61, while Alok Kapali chipped in with a pugnacious 44. But it was the two senior men, the Khaleds – Mashud and Mahmud – who did the damage late on with some adventurous shotmaking. Both made 28, and Mahmud – the captain – finished things off with a four over mid-on.The result was set up by the academy declaring their innings at 203 for 4 earlier in the day. Resuming at 99 for 4, Aaron Nye and Callum Ferguson were largely untroubled in the morning session. Nye hit three big sixes and was unbeaten on 89 when the declaration came, with Ferguson not out on 48.Bangladesh started poorly, with Mark Cleary nipping out both Javed Omar and Habibul Bashar early in the innings. Ashraful put the innings back on track, but his dismissal – caught behind off Steven Magoffin – left Bangladesh in dire straits at 134 for 5. But Kapali, Mashud and Mahmud then combined to see it home, upping the run-rate to decisive effect after a period of consolidation. For the Academy, Peter Worthington took 3 for 31.The declarations were pivotal in ensuring a result, but Bangladesh won’t care too much. For a team starved of any sort of success, even against the likes of Canada, this is a massive shot in the arm. Mind you, it’s Australia that await just up the road.