Australia thrashed New Zealand by 57 runs at the MCG today to take a clean sweep of the home leg of the women’s one day cricket international series.The Kiwis never got their run rate above three an over and lost 6-21 halfway through the innings to finish with 8-137 from 50 overs.The Australian bowlers, led by medium-pacer Julie Hayes who took a career best 3-17 off 10 overs, made the most of an inconsistent pitch.Today’s match was only the second women’s one day international played at the MCG and the first since 1988 when Australia defeated England in the World Cupfinal.While few were on hand to watch today’s match, Australian captain Belinda Clark told her team to try not to be distracted by the setting.”I tried to tell them not to think about it with all the atmosphere of the ground, but I did see a few minds wandering and people looking around the place,” she said.It was Australia’s third straight win over the 2000 World Cup winners but Clark said her team was committed to looking ahead rather than dwell on that narrow loss 15 months ago.”Although I still remember aspects of the `93 World Cup where we didn’t make the final I am sure the scars will be there for quite a while, but that’s not a bad thing because it keeps you focused on what you are doing,” she said.Clark and opening partner Lisa Keightley put on 63 before vice captain Karen Rolton lifted the tempo, top scoring with 44 off 59 balls.Haidee Tiffen was the pick of New Zealand’s bowlers with 4-43.Despite losing late wickets, Australia’s total was always a tough ask for the Kiwis especially after Cathryn Fitzpatrick conceded just eight runs in her first seven overs.Both teams will fly to New Zealand tomorrow with the remaining three matches in the Rose Bowl series to be played in Lincoln, just outside Christchurch, early next month.
Mal Loye underlined his liking for Lancashire’s bowlers with a brilliant 177 as Northamptonshire made the most of winning an important toss in their Division One contest at Wantage Road.It was Loye’s third century in four seasons off the Lancashire attack, and boosted the home side to 365-6 from 116 overs at the close after John Crawley called incorrectly to give the home side first use of ideal batting conditions.Loye cracked two sixes – both off Muthiah Muralitharan before lunch – and 22 fours in his six-hour stay, and provided the perfect platform in partnership with Australian Mike Hussey (70). The pair posted 159 for the first wicket in 38 overs until Hussey edged Murali behind with lunch beckoning.Lancashire’s seamers were disappointing in the first session but Peter Martin turned in an outstanding post-lunch spell of 2-24 from 13 overs to bring the visitors back into contention.He dismissed Jeff Cook (23) and Russell Warren (0), while Murali accounted for Alec Swann cheaply as 248-1 became 257-4 in the space of nine overs.But Loye and vice-captain Tony Penberthy (31) steadied the innings by adding 57 either side of tea, and Loye’s 318-ball knock lasted until half-an-hour before the close when a tired-looking stroke saw him play on to the persevering Martin.Graeme Swann and skipper Ripley batted out the day, and Northants’ first target will be scoring another 35 in 14 overs to secure the maximum five batting points.
Karun Nair, who top-scored in India A’s meagre 135 on the first day in Chennai, has conceded that a total of 200 would have given his team a chance with something for the bowlers to work with. On Wednesday, Varun Aaron looked rusty after missing the first unofficial Test, bowling four no-balls and a wide, and the other bowlers did not fare much better either.Karun, though, believed that the India A bowlers would tighten things up on the second day.”Since the batsmen haven’t got too many runs, I think 200 would have been a good score for the bowlers.” Karun said. “Since the pressure of getting wickets was there, the odd loose delivery was there today. I think we will come back strong tomorrow. We will be more disciplined and bowl better tomorrow.”Karun and Naman Ojha ground 56 in 32.5 overs for the fifth wicket on a pitch that became slower as the day progressed. Karun, however, displayed more assurance, pressing forward to smother the spin and often skipping back to play late-cuts and deft dabs before a lapse in concentration resulted in his dismissal. The last five wickets tumbled for just 21 runs after Karun chipped a full delivery from Andrew Fekete to square leg for a 153-ball 50.Karun was left ruing the opportunity. “I thought I played well but I shouldn’t have got out the time I got out. I should have put my head down. Once I got a fifty, I should have gone on to get a bigger score.”No, nothing of such happened [the ball did not stop on me]. I lost a bit of concentration. I think the wicket in whole was slow, it was turning a bit.”Karun also attributed the regular fall of wickets to the relentless pressure built up by the Australia A bowlers. “We were losing wickets quite regularly,” Karun said. “What they did well was they were very disciplined and patient. They did not give any easy balls. So, it was difficult to take chances against them.”
Ten defeats now from 22 Championship games this season doesn’t make for pretty reading for Ryan Mason’s West Bromwich Albion.
With no away victories since the 1st of October, too, when the Baggies collected a slim 1-0 win at Norwich City, it does feel as if the 34-year-old is a head coach under significant pressure, as the games come thick and fast in the second tier.
Football Insider have recently revealed that the powers that be at the Hawthorns will reconsider Mason’s position if they get dragged into a relegation battle, with the dismal away form alone screaming of a basement battle to come.
It remains to be seen whether the ex-Tottenham Hotspur coach remains in the Baggies dug-out, with a fresh manager perhaps what is needed to get the very best out of Alex Mowatt again, who has struggled as of late in Mason’s starting XI.
Why Mowatt is struggling at West Brom
The former Leeds United midfielder has been missing from his under-fire manager’s lineups through injury recently, but his general form across the campaign to date means he isn’t exactly banging down the door to be the Baggies’ dependable star centrally at the moment, when he is fit.
Indeed, the 30-year-old talent only has one goal and two assists to shout about from 20 unremarkable appearances in the Championship, which is a far cry from Mowatt at his “sensational” peak in the EFL, as he was once labelled by former boss Steve Evans.
Just last campaign, Mowatt would collect a standout seven goals and two assists, while winning an energetic four duels per league contest.
This time around, his average has fallen to 3.3 per match, as Mason is yet to inspire the experienced midfielder to return to the heights he is capable of.
Mason will pray he can turn around his own fortunes, and Mowatt’s, in the process. But he might not be afforded that luxury if the losses continue to pile up, as West Brom potentially looks towards a Championship-experienced manager as his replacement, who could get even more out of the Baggies’ number 27.
Elite manager could revive Mowatt
Mason should be commended for taking on the pressures of the West Brom gig as his first proper role as a first-team manager, with the 34-year-old unfortunately now struggling in the deep end of the second tier.
Michael Carrick – who has been linked with the job recently – wouldn’t flounder under the same strain, arguably, with the former Middlesbrough boss going down as a transformative force when stepping into the Riverside Stadium dug-out in 2022. He turned the Teesside giants into promotion challengers when they once loitered in the mid-table spots and below.
It’s clear that Carrick is a big upgrade on what West Brom currently have in charge, with 56 wins in the Championship as manager of Boro, taking them to one playoff finish, and a couple of promotion near-misses. This sharp turnaround in fortunes on Teesside would even lead to one analyst hailing the 44-year-old as a future “elite” manager.
Subscribe for in-depth Championship and West Brom coverage Get clearer context on West Brom’s managerial debate and Mowatt’s struggles by subscribing to our newsletter. Expect focused Championship coverage and thoughtful analysis of candidates like Carrick, midfield performance trends, and how they shape the club’s outlook. Subscribe for in-depth Championship and West Brom coverage Get clearer context on West Brom’s managerial debate and Mowatt’s struggles by subscribing to our newsletter. Expect focused Championship coverage and thoughtful analysis of candidates like Carrick, midfield performance trends, and how they shape the club’s outlook.
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It’s not just his calmness under pressure that makes him stick out as a fantastic replacement for Mason, though, with his standout track record working alongside some top midfield talents in the EFL, also standing him in good stead to get the very best out of Mowatt once more.
Notable CMs Carrick worked with at Boro
Player
Games
Goals + Assists
Hayden Hackney
104
9 + 9
Jonathan Howson
94
4 + 6
Riley McGree
73
11 + 11
Finn Azaz
66
16 + 16
Matt Crooks
57
10 + 10
Sourced by Transfermarkt
The table above shows off a handful of the midfielders Carrick had the pleasure of working alongside at the Riverside, with Hayden Hackney even heralded as “outstanding” by one of Carrick’s back-room coaches, Jonathan Woodgate, when being tipped for a Premier League switch under his tenure.
Additionally, Carrick managed to get goals and assists galore out of the likes of Riley McGree and Matt Crooks during his celebrated stint, with McGree sticking out as a well-rounded individual – like Mowatt – when winning 4.2 duels per 90 during the 2021/22 season.
The ex-Manchester United legend turned competent EFL operator would hope he could be a confidence-boosting figure for Mowatt; therefore, after his notable flat performances in the second tier under Mason, with West Brom going after Carrick, also having the potential to turn around their season from a mid-table slump, to a promotion challenge.
Corberan 2.0: West Brom could hire "elite" manager who's better than O'Neil
West Bromwich Albion must now consider replacing Ryan Mason with this standout manager target, who could be their next Carlos Corberan.
A new-look Pakistan, without a handful of senior players, drove Zimbabwe into the ground with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory in the final one-dayer in Sheikhupura to clean sweep the Mobilink Cup 5-0. The overcast and bitterly cold conditions didn’t faze debutant Khurram Manzoor and Younis Khan as they chased down a meagre target of 182 with 19 overs to spare.The win was set up by Pakistan’s sprightly young bunch – which included four debutants – who showed exemplary commitment in the field to keep Zimbabwe in check for much of their innings. The overcast conditions were tailor-made, it seemed, even for Pakistan’s untested seam-bowling attack, and Hamilton Masakadza’s decision to bat first was perplexing. After a top order wobble, Zimbabwe were lifted by a rearguard from Elton Chigumbura and Brendan Taylor, but couldn’t sustain the momentum as Pakistan quickly clawed back to shoot them out for a woefully inadequate score.Sharp reflexes – a refreshing change from earlier games – handed Pakistan their early wickets as Abdur Rauf managed to hang on to a low return catch, literally off his toes. Debutant Rizwan Ahmed’s athleticism contributed to the next two wickets, first running out Vusi Sibanda with a fiery throw to the wicketkeeper from deep backward square-leg, and then holding onto a stunner to his left at cover to send back Tatenda Taibu. Wahab Riaz, one among an assembly line of left-arm quicks in this series, was the beneficiary for the second, a wicket in his first international over.As the sun disappeared behind the clouds and the mercury dipped in Sheikhupura’s first international match for nearly a decade, the situation got worse as Zimbabwe lost half their side before the halfway stage. Chigumbura and Taylor, however, buckled down and produced a stand of 85, against the run of play. Pakistan allowed the game to drift a little as bowlers were made to pay each time they erred. The boundaries were interspersed with intelligent running and before anyone knew it, the pair had added fifty.Taylor, who’s had an inconsistent series with the bat, punished anything on full while Chigumbura, a proven allrounder, took on Fawad Alam’s left-arm spin and punished anything full and wide outside off stump, unfurling forceful drives. Rizwan, the legspinner, excelled in the field but had a forgettable debut with the ball as the pair feasted on his half-trackers.
But just when a lower-order revival threatened to push the score over 200, the spinners struck back, breaking up the stand. Thereafter Rauf returned to clean up the last two wickets with inswinging yorkers to end the innings with over four overs to spare.Zimbabwe’s attack lacked the sting and pace to cause Pakistan any trouble. Nasir Jamshed threw his wicket away early when the going was good, but Younis and Manzoor were determined not to miss out.Manzoor was impressive, the bridge between domestic and international cricket seemingly invisible as he sized up his first ball with a firm backfoot punch to the cover point boundary. Busy at the crease, he was particularly strong with his bottom hand, unfurling another punch on the hop, this time beating the covers.But Manzoor soon took a backseat as Younis arrived and the chase progressed at pace. Chigumbura suffered as Younis announced himself with a punchy square drive and then blazed three consecutive boundaries in his next over, immediately after the second Powerplay began. Each was classic improvisation, beginning with a scorching square drive, following it up with a straight six after exposing all stumps on the walk, and then ending with a biff over midwicket.Younis didn’t slow down once the spinners came on. Ray Price was welcomed with a reverse sweep and Keith Dabengwa’s long hops were bludgeoned to the on side. He soon brought up his fifty with a sweep to fine leg. Manzoor, meanwhile, was providing solid support.Both looked set to see Pakistan through, before recklessness set in. Younis fell slogging, while Manzoor was cleaned up sweeping across the line, just after reaching his half-century. By that stage, however, the deal had been sealed as Pakistan, after four unconvincing victories, ended on a high before taking on the Australians.
Security has been stepped up at the Hilton Hotel in Port-of-Spain hotel following the today which led to the evacuation of the Pakistan and South Africa teams.Although there will be more police on duty at the hotel, tournament organisers insist that even though Wednesday’s incident was under investigation, there had been no direct threat to either South Africa, Pakistan or Canada and Ireland who are also based here.”The law enforcement agencies in Trinidad and Tobago have indicated that the incident was not directed towards any of the teams,” a tournament spokesman said, “and additional policing has been put in place on the property.”Representatives from all four teams have met with the acting police commissioner Glen Roach and been assured of their safety. The safety and security of the players and officials for the tournament is of paramount importance and we continue to work with the appropriate authorities to this end. We thank the local security directorate and police force for their swift and decisive action.”At first it was thought that a fire had broken out inside the hotel but the hotel later insisted the problem had been a gas leak.
Ahead of England’s tour to India, the England coach Duncan Fletcher has expressed concerns over the amount of cricket his players are faced with in the coming 18 months.Fletcher was instrumental in introducing central contracts to the England set-up, after widespread calls that the amount of county cricket played was burdening England’s Test players. Since their inception, senior England players have been protected from back-to-back county games; indeed, counties are fortunate if their Test stars turn out for them five times in a season.Fletcher now feels international cricket might lead some of his players to exhaustion: England have just 50 days off international duty in the 12 months.”Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. Once it’s happened it’s too late,” Fletcher told the News of the World. By the end of the 2007 World Cup we are going to have some very tired players then we go into home series against West Indies and India.”England leave for India on Sunday 12 for the second leg of their subcontinent winter before hosting Sri Lanka and Pakistan in another packed summer. And, before defending the Ashes in Australia in November, they head to India for the ICC Champions Trophy. Then there’s the small matter of a World Cup, which is just 13 months away from starting.England have already expressed concern about the workload of Andrew Flintoff, the team’s cog and talisman.”Michael Vaughan’s job is to win games. I can’t say to him I only want Flintoff to bowl 12 overs in a day,” he added. If we can’t get a wicket, who’s he going to throw the ball to?”England’s performances in the last three World Cups have been dismal, but despite the tournament being the game’s biggest showcase, Fletcher hinted that England’s retaining of the Ashes is more important.”Ultimately we set out to beat Australia in an Ashes series at home last year,” he said. “For this England side there will be no better achievement – other than beating them away, which we’ll try to do at the end of this year.”
Almost all of Zimbabwe’s remaining rebel players have signed new contracts with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, effectively bringing to an end a year-long dispute which at one time threatened the future of the game in the country.Stuart Carlisle, Trevor Gripper and Craig Wishart met with Richard Kaschula, one of the selectors, and were reportedly given a number of assurances before coming to their decisions. It is widely believed that foremost among these is that Max Ebrahim, currently the head of the selection panel, will be replaced in the coming months.All the rebels have been in discussions with an ad-hoc committee formed to try to resolve the dispute – that committee’s report is due to be published at the end of this week. The rebels were handed new contracts a fortnight ago and have been discussing these among themselves and also with their lawyers.”I want to go back and play some cricket, and leave it to other people to fight for things," Carlisle explained. “We’ve been assured that things will change over the next few weeks and months. It’s reached a point where we all need to get on with cricket."The return of Heath Streak last month signaled the beginning of the end. The strike started with his dismissal, and his unilateral decision to sign a new contract, which reportedly left some of his colleagues unimpressed, made their position untenable. Zimbabwe’s shocking performances in the two Tests in South Africa gave the board a further incentive to reach a deal.With the ICC due to meet today to discuss, among many other things, Zimbabwe, the timing of this announcement has given the ZCU a boost as it looks to counter mounting criticism of on-field performances.Gripper’s return creates an interesting situation. Reports last week indicated that the ZCU had dropped hints that it believed Ray Gripper, Trevor’s father, was one of the leading figures behind the dispute. The Zimbabwe Independent published a quote from a source close to the board who said: “The rebels decided to return to national duty because they said they could not let Ray Gripper decide their cricket future.”Grant Flower and Ray Price have not signed new contracts but both are committed to playing county cricket in England.
Craig McMillan, Lou Vincent, Scott Styris and Ian Butler are to miss New Zealand’s five-match one-day international tour of Pakistan which starts next week. They have opted out of the tour with the backing of New Zealand Cricket.It was revealed today that NZC have received a threat concerning the safety of the New Zealand players on the tour. Martin Snedden, the chief executive of NZC said today: “The threat is being discussed with the (NZ) Ministry of Foreign Affairs andTrade and investigations are proceeding to determine its validity.”We have notified the ICC and the Pakistan Cricket Board of the threatand have entered into a consultation process with them. That process isexpected to be completed over the next three or four days. We will continue to keep the Cricket Players’ Association and theplayers fully informed throughout the process.”NZC decided to proceed with the tour last week after a comprehensive security review was completed by independent security adviser Reg Dickason. As a result of his findings NZC decided they would make the tour.They also decided that all members of the team and its management, and players in contention for selection, would have the right to make an individual choice about whether to tour. NZC would continue to monitor the safety and security situation in Pakistan before and during the tour and would react as required to any information received.The New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association, and the players, were fully briefed on the process and Snedden said, “Following the traumatic experience in Karachi when the Black Caps last toured Pakistan we agreed that individual team members could make themselves unavailable if they were seriously concerned about safety.The side for the tour will not be named until the process of discussion on the threat received is completed. New Zealand has at least one more match to play in India, and should it win, it would be required to play a final against Australia in Kolkata on Tuesday. The first match in Pakistan is at Faisalabad on November 22.
Western Australia’s Ryan Campbell hammered an unbeaten century to leave the Warriors firmly in control at stumps on day one of their Pura Cup cricket match against NSW at the WACA.The wicketkeeper-batsman was in superb touch, smashing 16 fours in his 108 not out to leave the Warriors at 4-333 after being sent in by Blues captain Shane Lee on a green-tinged wicket.NSW was on the back foot all day against the resolute Warriors batting lineup spearheaded by opener Michael Hussey (86) before Campbell steadied the inningsafter it wobbled a little at 4-196.Left hander Chris Rogers (31no) had to take a backseat as Campbell smashed the Blues bowling attack in then pair’s unbeaten 137-run fifth-wicket partnership.The Blues have lost four of their last five matches outright in the West and their wretched record looks set to continue.The match is crucial for the Warriors with an outright victory keeping them on track for a berth in the Pura Cup final while NSW is just looking to get off the bottom of the table.The Blues were unable to make an early breakthrough despite opening bowlers Stuart Clark (0-57) and Nathan Bracken (0-52) beating the bat on severaloccasions.Hussey should have been back in the pavilion a lot earlier but Michael Bevan dropped him on 17 in slips off the bowling of Don Nash with the score at 0-45.But after weathering the early storm, Scott Meuleman (35) was trapped in front by debutant Grant Lambert (1-64) before Hussey and WA skipper Simon Katichcombined for a 101-run partnership for the second wicket.Hussey was just 14 runs short of a century when he hit a full toss back to spinner Mark Higgs (1-69).The Warriors then handed back some of the advantage just before tea when Marcus North (7) was run out by Michael Clarke.North was caught mid-pitch after Katich squeezed a ball to square leg where Clarke reacted sharply with a direct hit.Katich (52) looked dumbfounded when he was given out caught behind off Nash’s (1-49) bowling with the Blues given a sniff at 4-196.But Campbell then came out and quickly changed the course of the game with his century coming off just 106 deliveries.