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England warmed up for Saturday’s NatWest Series final against Zimbabwe bynarrowly losing a thrilling contest to the West Indies by just 3 runs – AlecStewart remaining not out on exactly 100.Having restricted the visitors to 195-9 from their 50 overs England wereexpecting to pick up their fourth straight win of the competition.Somerset’s Marcus Trescothick began in the same confident manner which hasaccompanied his entry into the international fold, driving Reon King throughthe covers off the first ball of the innings. A second boundary in the overand another in Mervyn Dillon’s first over (courtesy of a Franklyn Rosemisfield) immediately put the West Indies on the back foot but in the thirdover they came close to dismissing Alec Stewart.A legside ball from King was flicked at by Stewart and wicketkeeper RidleyJacobs, diving to his left, claimed the catch. Umpires Kitchen andLeadbeater conferred and referred the decision to the replay booth to see ifthe ball had carried. A lengthy delay occurred before the verdict was givenin favour of the batsman.Runs flow in the sunshineThe next over, the fourth, was bowled by Dillon to Stewart, and provided thegame’s first maiden but the flow of runs wasn’t interrupted for long asEngland reach 38 without loss by the 8th over. The sun-drenched crowd thenkept themselves amused with the ‘Mexican Wave’ whilst Stewart greeted Rose’sintroduction into the attack with pulls for 2 and 4.Trescothick had been kept fairly quiet for a while and when King gave himroom outside the off stump his frustration brought a rash stroke and hisdownfall – Jacobs taking a routine catch behind the stumps. The left handerhad faced 36 balls for his 23 and hit five fours and he and Stewart had puton 46 for the first wicket.As in the last two matches Andrew Flintoff appeared at no. 3 in the Englandorder. Confidently off the mark first ball, he too perished to theJacobs/King combination after playing a loose slash. The West Indies sensedan opening and this intensified when Graeme Hick was dismissed first ball,with an inside edge onto his off stump. Reon King had taken 3-2 in eightballs and reduced England to 49-3 – Graham Thorpe successfully negotiatedthe hat-trick delivery, pushing it to cover.Accuracy of Rose’s throwStewart’s pre-delivery routine of twirling the bat around now involves atouch of the helmet with his right glove but his batting certainly remainedorthodox as he looked to add to the century he hit at Edgbaston on Tuesday.Once the 15 over fielding restrictions had been lifted Jimmy Adams turned tohis leg spinner Nagamootoo and was rewarded in his first over. Thorpehesitated when turning for a second run and the accuracy of Rose’s throwfrom the deep proved fatal.England’s plight worsened when Hussain only made 5 before edging Nagamootooto Jacobs and the West Indies celebrated when they thought they’d got CraigWhite in a similar fashion but umpire Leadbeater was unmoved.Stewart moved on to his half century, coming off 86 balls, with 7x4s and thetotal passed 100 shortly afterwards, coming in the 30th over.Stewart and White put on 63 for the 6th wicket and it looked to havestabilised the England cause but the introduction of Adams resulted inanother run out and the departure of White for 19. Ricardo Powell’s throwfrom deep backward point found him inches short of his crease. England stillneeded 58 with just 4 wickets left.Run a ball rate requiredAdams switched his bowlers around. With the run rate rising to almost a runa ball England were grateful for Stewart’s ability to rotate the strike andto punish bad balls.33 were needed from 36 balls when Ealham pulled Rose for four and thatlooked to have confirmed England’s victory charge but then the Kentall-rounder seemed to throw his wicket away, hoiking across the line andoffering a simple chance to Chris Gayle.Home hero Paul Franks made his way to the wicket with England needed 26 towin from 31 deliveries and he scored his first run for his country bypushing Nagamootoo to long on. Stewart reached 89 to become the firstbatsman in the tournament to reach 300 runs.An on-driven boundary from the bowling of King took the Surrey player to 98,leaving 12 to win from 3 overs. Stewart’s second successive one-day centuryarrived in the 49th over – from the 146th delivery he’d faced, having hiteleven 4’s. This was his 4th one-day hundred.Nevertheless the West Indies took the match into the final over. Englandneeding 5 to win had Franks on strike, to face the spin of Chris Gayle. Asthe two batsmen tried to scamper a leg bye from the first ball Nagamootooshied at the bowlers end and a direct hit ran out Franks for 4. The plus forEngland was that Stewart had regained the strike but he could only muster aleg bye from the next ball. Darren Gough had 4 balls to score 4 runs but heplayed all around a full toss and was bowled first ball.Alan Mullally’s batting pedigree is well known and Chris Gayle was able tosnare him lbw from the penultimate delivery to leave the West Indies victorsby 3 runs. Alec Stewart remained undefeated on exactly 100. Gayle hadfinished with 2-21 but the pick of the bowlers was King with 3-30.Earlier the West Indies’ innings had closed on 195-9 with Chris Gayle topscoring with 37 – Jimmy Adams made 36. Craig White led the wicket-takerswith 3-35, whilst there were 2 wickets apiece for Darren Gough and MarkEalham.

As we hit the business end of the season, things are not looking good for Leeds United, even despite a desperate change in management.

New Whites boss Jesse Marsch was keen to play down today’s encounter against fellow relegation rivals Norwich City as a crucial six-pointer but it’s hard to argue against that after they were thrashed by Aston Villa only a few days ago.

A 15th defeat in their 28th league game of the campaign sees the Yorkshire outfit sit only two points above the drop zone and six points adrift of the rock-bottom Canaries, who can halve the gap with a victory at Elland Road this afternoon.

“Someone said it’s like a final, but no. I understand the vernacular. Every point is valuable. Every moment on the pitch is incredibly valuable. Every point massive. Focusing on those things will only disrupt our ability to achieve those things,” the American told reporters (via LeedsLive).

He ought to get it spot on with team selection today then.

And the 48-year-old could well do so with a key change in attack as Marcelo Bielsa favourite Jack Harrison is in grave danger of losing his place after another poor performance without the Argentine.

The former Manchester City ace lasted only 58 minutes before he was hooked by Marsch in what was Leeds’ sixth straight defeat.

To be quite frank, it was an absolutely shocking showing from Harrison – in less than an hour on the pitch, he made only 55% of his 22 passing attempts, failed to deliver a single accurate cross from two attempts and won just one of five duels (20%), as per SofaScore.

Bielsa was sacked after a 4-0 whitewash by Spurs with Marsch’s first game being a 1-0 defeat to Leicester City, where the 25-year-old failed to inspire once more, managing only 76 minutes.

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The £13.5m-rated lightweight has failed to provide a goal or assist in eight straight league games but without his former manager, his performances are slipping, and evidently, as is his game time.

That American link isn’t working out thus far, so Harrison is one name that shouldn’t be named amongst the starters when Marsch names his lineup in west Yorkshire later today.

AND in other news, Leeds United dealt late setback ahead of Norwich City clash…

	Shivnarine Chanderpaul will add strength to Durham’s top order for the second half of the season © AFP

Durham have confirmed their overseas signings for 2008 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Neil McKenzie and Albie Morkel completing an attractive line-up. Michael Di Venuto also joins on a three-year deal as a Kolpak player as he holds an Italian passport.Chanderpaul returns to Chester-le-Street after a successful stint in 2007, where he helped Durham win the Friends Provident final with 78 at Lord’s. He will arrive for the second half of the summer after West Indies’ home series against Australia is completed in early July.The South African duo, McKenzie and Morkel, will share the overseas spot during the first part of the season. McKenzie, who returned to the South Africa Test side against West Indies before being injured, is set to arrive in time to start the season in April and will then give way to Morkel for the Twenty20 Cup.Morkel enjoyed an impressive ICC World Twenty20 where he showed his powerful striking against England and also produced some useful medium pace. “I really want to make an impact on Durham’s Twenty20 Cup campaign and I’m sure my experience in the World Cup will be really useful,” he said. “There will be some pretty tough opposition but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”Geoff Cook, the head coach, is delighted to have two high-class batsmen coming back. “Diva [Di Venuto] and Shiv have both made invaluable contributions to the team and we’re keen to start where we left off and their involvement will be a great asset,” he said. “They have both had a tremendous influence on the team, both on and off the field, and it will be a great honour to welcome them back to the Riverside.”To have players of Neil and Albie’s calibre committing to the Durham cause is a great achievement. We are determined to improve our performance in the Twenty20 Cup and I think Albie will be a great asset to our set up. I’m sure Neil’s involvement in the early stages of the season will get us off to the best possible start in 2008.”

Michael Holding has said that the World Cup will be devalued by the number of non-Test playing nations taking part.Holding, the former West Indies fast bowler turned TV commentator, explained that only the top-ranked Associate country in the world should be allowed to take part as opposed to the top six as is the case now.”I don’t believe the World Cup should go on for as long as it does (almost two months) and that is partly because there are far too many teams in the competition who are not good enough to be there,” he told Bermuda’s Royal Gazette. “I’ve argued about this with the ICC for some time. I simply do not believe that if you come fourth in the ICC Trophy that you should be entitled to play in the World Cup.”It doesn’t make sense to me. What is gained by a team playing in the World Cup and getting absolutely hammered? In my opinion it is counter-productive. What I believe should happen is that all the non-Test playing nations should continue to play amongst themselves, to have their own competition where only the top-ranked country goes through to the World Cup.”I see nothing wrong with giving the smaller teams the odd tour and a few games against the bigger teams from time to time. And I think the ICC should continue to invest in non-Test playing nations to improve their cricket and their infrastructure and things like that. But it’s a big jump from that to having six non-Test nations all playing against the cream of the crop. It’s not good for cricket.”Holding went on to say that he believed the tournament will be a success despite ongoing problems with stadium construction, soaring hotel prices, visa problems and reports of sluggish ticket sales. “There have been some problems in some aspects of the preparation, but the logistics of organising a World Cup which is spread out over a region made up of many sovereign nations, with different laws, governments and currencies, was always going to be hard.”We tend to do things at the last minute in the Caribbean – it’s part of our culture. Even on the morning of a Test match there’s always people hammering in nails somewhere or somebody painting something. It’s the same with tickets as well. People in the Caribbean don’t buy tickets months in advance, they tend to do it on the day of the game or a couple of days before.”

ScorecardWestern Australia strode to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Tasmania in their Pura Cup encounter at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. Despite beginning the day on a confident note, the Tigers suffered a late-order collapse which ensured the visitors had only 148 to chase.Resuming on 6 for 229, Tasmania had a lead of 100 and George Bailey and Brett Geeves added 69 for the seventh-wicket. Geeves was bowled by Ben Edmondson for 13 and two balls later Bailey was caught by Steve Magoffin off David Bandy for 76. Bandy struck again, dismissing Adam Griffith, and wrapped up the innings in his next over by clean bowling Ben Hilfenhaus for zero.Western Australia lost Justin Langer for 1 in their chase, but Chris Rogers and Shaun Marsh made light work of the target. Rogers was named the Man of the Match for his scores of 135 and 55 while Marsh finished with 63.

AB de Villiers and Makhaya Ntini walk off at Durban© Getty Images

The dark clouds that huddled over Kingsmead and ended the Boxing Day Test match against England provided some sort of silver lining at the end of a difficult year for South Africa in international cricket.At Durban they were 290 for 8, chasing an unlikely 378 to win, when the weather closed in with 15 overs remaining and England enjoying the new ball. There was a minor triumph in the steady stride of the 20-year-old AB de Villiers, buoyed by a defiant maiden half-century, but the South Africans were happy to escape to the dressing-room with a draw.That was a better result for Graeme Smith’s team than the seven-wicket hiding they endured in the first Test, and suddenly 2005 – and the New Year Test at Newlands -loomed significantly less ominously.It brought to an end a forgettable year which, let’s not forget, started with only Australia rated a better team than South Africa, albeit by a country mile.At the start of 2004 South Africa were already two up in a four-Test series against West Indies that they eventually won 3-0. The one-day series that followed threatened to be one-sided when SA won the first two games and the third one was washed out, but West Indies bounced back with a win of their own. And when the Windies piled up 304 in the series decider at the Wanderers, the first signs of cracks seemed to be appearing … only for Jacques Kallis to reel in the target with a masterful 139 in a thriller that South Africa won by four wickets with just two balls to spare. Kallis’s innings took him past a total of 1000 runs in eight international matches.Eight days later South Africa embarked for New Zealand, and all seemed well. But a 5-1 defeat in the one-day series proved otherwise, and they came perilously close to losing a Test series to New Zealand for the first time before rallying to draw it 1-1.

Jacques Kallis’s batting form was one of the few positives for South Africa in 2004© Getty Images

The only highlights for South Africa came from Kallis, who became the first player since Don Bradman to score hundreds in five consecutive Tests, and from Gary Kirsten, who crowned his long career with an emotionally charged 76, his last Test innings, to help square the series.Things went from bad to worse when South Africa went to Sri Lanka in July. A gritty draw in the first Test at Galle was followed by humiliation in Colombo, where Sri Lanka won by 313 runs. Mahela Jayawardene made 237 at Galle, and Kumar Sangakkara piled up 232 in Colombo.And then Sri Lanka cleaned up the one-day series 5-0: two weeks later in England Eric Simons’s tenure as coach ended after South Africa were escorted out of the ICC Champions Trophy by West Indies.Simons’s successor, the combative Ray Jennings, seemed happy with a 1-0 defeat in the Test series in India, especially after one of his protégés, Andrew Hall, scored 163 in the drawn first Test. But South Africans demand winners, and Jennings hadn’t proved himself to be one by the end of 2004. He didn’t start 2005 too badly, though …

South Africa in 2004
	MATCHES	WON	LOST	DRAWN-NR
TESTS	11	2	4	5
ODI	18	5	12	1

Telford Vice is a South African sports-writer who works for the MWP Sport agency.

South Africa are struggling to adjust to the heat and humidity in Pakistan, according to Eric Simons, their coach. Yesterday, they lost the opening ODI against Pakistan at Lahore by eight runs, during which Graeme Smith and batsman Neil McKenzie were hampered by cramps.”The dehydration and cramps suffered by some players in the match played a big role in our defeat,” Simons said. “We need time to settle down to the different conditions and humidity. I have talked about lack of preparation and it showed It’s all about cramps and dehydration. Our team for Sunday’s match will depend on how well the players recover.”South Africa only arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday and had less than four days to acclimatise. Their late arrival was caused by the possible cancellation of the tour which threw the schedule into chaos.Pakistan, meanwhile, were on a high after their sixth straight one-day win under Inzamam-ul-Haq. “The victory has certainly given us a big psychological edge,” Inzamam said. “We didn’t panic despite the fact that South Africa got off to a flying start. I knew once we got the breakthrough we could restrict them."

Sri Lankan Sports Minister Johnston Fernando will appoint a fresh interimcommittee to run the affairs of the cricket board on Monday according to the state sponsored Sunday Observer newspaper.He did not, however, give any indication as to how long an interim committeewould be re-appointed for. The previous committee had been expected to runthe board until the 2003 world cup when it was first appointed in March2001.Fernando, speaking from his Kurunegala residence, said: “We have a fewpeople in mind, but no final decision has been taken and the freshappointments will be made on Monday”.His justification for the decision to call for the resignation of allnon-elected sports bodies in the country was that the original appointmentswere political.”Its not only cricket but I have asked interim committees of the all sportsbodies, which don’t have an elected ex-co, to resign because all thoseappointments are political.”He denied that the surprise decision could jeopardise the smooth managementof the current Zimbabwe Test series starting next Thursday.”The BCCSL has a Chief Executive officer (Anura Tennekoon). He could manthe board until we appoint a fresh interim administration within the nextcouple of days.”Chairman of the outgoing Interim Committee, Vijaja Malalsekera, speaking atthe launch of the Janashakthi National Test series, remained philosophicalafter the minister’s decision.”I am a Buddhist and I have always believed that the only certainty in lifeis its impermanence – everything is subject to change,” Malalsekera said.”We accept the ministry decision because we are, after all, ministryappointees and it is not within our scope to question the decision.”Asked to whether he felt the Interim Committee had done a good job, he said:”It is for others to judge what we have achieved. Everything is down inpaper.””We didn’t come in to sling mud and we have looked to future throughout oureight months in office,” he said. “We have put in place policies anddocuments which we believe can take Sri Lankan cricket forward, includingthe introduction of high class international coaches, for both the nationalteam and district cricketers, a move towards a development pool, a change tothe domestic structure and the development of our cricketinginfrastructure.””We have also drafted a new constitution, after consultation with manyparties, but the fate of this is in the hands of the next board.”Malalsekera confirmed that since the appointment the 36-year-old sportsminister had not yet been formally briefed on activities within the cricketboard by the interim committee..

Bangladesh beat Holland in a rain affected group B match at theMoratuwa De Soysa Stadium in Colombo. In reply to Holland’s 137,Bangladesh were 111 for 5 before rain forced the players off the fieldafter 24.5 overs. When play resumed, Bangladesh were set a revisedtarget of 118 in no more than 39 overs, 11 overs being lost torain. They needed just five balls to complete the win, no furtherwickets being lost. Bangladesh narrowly miss out on qualifying for theSuper League, finshing third in the Group behind India and NewZealand.At the outset there was the very real possibility that Bangladeshcould qualify. They knew what they must do – simply win and win wellin a bid to improve on their run rate. Hopes then rested squarely onthe Indians beating New Zealand in Galle, the second qualifier thenbeing decided on run rate. All then to play for.The game began with a flourish. Roaring in from the Press Box end inbright sunshine, Bangladesh left arm seamer Bikash Ranjan Das met withimmediate success – Postma prodding half forward to the first ball ofthe day, out caught with the faintest of edges to the keeper. Bikashbroke the backbone of Holland’s order. Bakas, Nawaz and Van Ierschotall went cheaply. At 17 for 4, Bangladesh were in total command.The new batsmen, Van Bunge and De Rooy, needed to dig themselves inand consolidate. Some inexperienced cricket ensued by both teams. Assoon as one shot was played over the top, the captain of Bangladeshdecided to spread the field, at one stage employing five fielders onthe boundary, just when the should have been applying thepressure. The batsmen were afforded the freedom to work the ball intothe gaps for one and twos. Instead they chose the more attackingoption, entirely unconvincing in their strokeplay against the legspinners and appearing to play into Bangladesh’s hands.Van Bunge (24)and De Rooy (26) shared in a suicidal fifth wicket standof 47. Hussain eventually removed both, Van Bunge leg before wicket,De Rooy caught in the covers. The final total of 137 in the 47th overowed much to the last wicket partnership of 25 and as many as 42extras. It was an abject display of batting. Bikash Ranjan Dasreturned excellent figures of 4 for 7 in his full quota.The Bangladesh innings got off to a flying start, 14 runs coming in awayward first over by Tewarie. Left hander Haqub proved theirintentions. He dashed to 20 before trying to make room for himself andskying a simple catch to point, the score on 59 for 2, runs beingscored at a healthy five an over on an increasingly unfriendlytrack. Disciplined bowling, particularly from Klaus Kout kept Hollandin the game. Two quick wickets of Sarker and Salim in consecutiveovers, buoyed the fielding side, the Bangladesh middle ordersacrificing their wickets in the search for quick runs. Then the raincame with the score on 111 for 5 in 24.5 overs and with it wentBangladesh’s chances of qualifying for the Super League. Eleven overswere lost according to Duckworth/Lewis and when play resumed,Bangladesh were set a revised total of 118. Four deliveries later thetarget was reached, Bangladesh finshing on 119 for 5.Bangladesh came into this match with a net run rate of 2.44. WithDuckworth/Lewis into effect here, Bangladesh could not improve thatrate. New Zealand were beaten by India in Galle, a 28-run defeat notsignificant enough for Bangladesh to advance. Equal on three pointseach, New Zealand qualify with a superior run rate. The rain Godsreversed the fortunes in the end.Bangladesh, along with Holland, two rapidly developing cricketnations, must now look to making a strong challenge in the Platecompetition. Talking to CricInfo, an upbeat Bangladesh coach Dipu RoyChowdury praised the side’s performance and looked forward to thefuture. “This was a win we very badly needed. We have to mould ourside. We played badly against India in a way that did not describe thetalents we have. Today I can say we do have the talent and I amconfident we can go and win the Plate.”

While Newcastle United might finally be beginning to thrive under a new manager and ownership, there may still be one player who they look at right now with a tinge of what could have been: Adam Armstrong.

The striker came through the academy set-up at St James’ Park, but despite proving to be a prolific goal-scorer at U23s level – he bagged 17 goals in just 26 games – he didn’t get much of a look-in with the first-team.

Armstrong made just 21 senior appearances for the Magpies before finally sealing a permanent move away to Blackburn Rovers for a reported £2m.

Since that switch, the now 25-year-old has come on leaps and bounds, becoming a real goal-scoring sensation at Championship level – last season saw him score a remarkable 28 goals in just 40 league games, despite Rovers finishing mid-table in the division and well off the play-off places.

It was no surprise then that form earned him a high-profile move to Premier League side Southampton, and while his debut campaign with the Saints has been hardly anything to write home about with just two goals and three assists in 19 games, he’s clearly got the quality to become a real success at this level.

Dubbed a “special” talent by former Rovers team-mate Richie Smallwood, his former manager at Ewood Park, Tony Mowbray, gushed: “He’s a goalscorer. He always has been. I took him to Coventry because I saw him score some amazing goals for England Under-19s. He scores off both feet, he’s electrically fast off the mark, he’s got all the attributes.

“As long as you’ve got players who can slide him in, put passes over the top, put the ball in space for him he’ll score goals. His explosive pace at the top end of the pitch allows you to play both ways. it’s a devastating effect for the team.”

Indeed, before his move to Southampton, former Newcastle star Steve Howey threw his weight behind a potential St James’ Park return for Armstrong, even insisting that the striker himself would “relish” the opportunity to play in the black and white of Newcastle again.

He said: “I think he’d relish the chance of coming back and he’d be desperate to score goals because he is a goalscorer and we’ve seen him score some excellent goals from Blackburn.

“I think he’d be desperate for the chance to come back but it’s just whether the club are prepared to make that move.”

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Sadly for the Magpies, they missed the boat on that opportunity, and the striker is now worth a whopping 500% more than what they sold him for at around £12m according to CIES.

Given he’s now featuring regularly for a Premier League side, and was once an exciting academy prospect, Newcastle are facing something of a nightmare in seeing one of their own line up in another colour.

Meanwhile, this Newcastle star has been a dream signing…