The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) has informed the BCCI that it will not be able to host the the second Twenty20 international between India and Sri Lanka. The match, scheduled to be played on February 12, has been shifted to Ranchi, one of the venues on the BCCI shortlist.Last week, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur had sent DDCA a stern email asking them get the requisite clearances from the various civic authorities necessary in order to host the match. Despite getting an extended deadline and approaching the Delhi High Court seeking its intervention, the DDCA struggled to obtain the clearances.The DDCA wanted the court to ask the South Delhi Municipal Corporation to provide the provisional occupancy certificate. However, the court, which had facilitated the conduct of the fourth Test between India and Sri Lanka in the first week of December, refused the relief sought by the DDCA on this occasion.”We have informed the BCCI today that we will not be able to get the clearance from MCD in time after complying to norms,” Chetan Chauhan, DDCA acting president, told . ” We told the BCCI officials that we will have all the compliance certificates ready for World T20, but it will not be possible to get clearance before February 12 and then get clearances from state’s fire and electrical department.”While Chauhan remained confident that the prevailing situation would not hinder the DDCA hosting the World T20 matches in March, Thakur said the Association needed the required clearances before January 31.”As far as the World Cup is concerned, the World Cup management committee has met today and has also discussed the issue of DDCA,” Thakur said. “They have given a deadline of January 31, 5 o clock, to come out with the required NOCs – the required permissions from various departments – so that they can continue as a host of the World Cup matches.”If they are unable to do so by 31st evening, then the BCCI will shift those matches to the seven other remaining venues.”
Andhra captain Hanuma Vihari (302*) slammed his maiden triple-hundred and propelled his team to 584 for 5, before declaring the innings against Odisha in Vizianagaram. Resuming on 278 for 2, Vihari put on a 208-run stand with Ricky Bhui (100) and deflated Odisha, who had to wait 43.3 overs for their first wicket of the day. During the course of his 456-ball knock, Vihari smashed 29 fours and two sixes and added 159 to his overnight score. This was Vihari’s 13th first-class ton and second consecutive score of 150 or more.Bhui, meanwhile, brought up his fourth first-class hundred before Odisha captain Govinda Poddar trapped him lbw in the 134th over. In the next over, seamer Suryakant Pradhan dismissed D Ravi Teja to pick up his second wicket, but nothing was going to stop Vihari’s march. Odisha suffered an early jolt in their first innings when left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt had opener Natraj Behera lbw in the fourth over. Sandeep Pattanaik and Poddar, however, ensured there was no further damage as Odisha went to stumps at 32 for 1.B Indrajith (105*) and Washington Sundar (69) mounted a rescue effort with a fifth-wicket partnership of 157 runs to lift Tamil Nadu from 69 for 4 to 239 for 5 by stumps against Mumbai. Indrajith’s sixth first-class hundred, which included 12 fours, stood out as much for its elegance as its risk-free nature. While he mostly preferred to hit down the ground, he wasn’t averse to playing the horizontal shots on either side. Giving him useful company was Sundar, who drove and cut confidently, and responded swiftly to his partner’s calls for tight singles. Sundar, however, fell with 6.2 overs left in the day, after a half-hearted pull off Dhawal Kulkarni found deep square leg.Mumbai had hit the ground running in the morning with some quick wickets after being bowled out for 374. Seamer Akash Parkar cleaned up captain Abhinav Mukund in the fourth over before M Vijay (11) was caught behind by left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil in the 11th over. Mumbai captain Aditya Tare juggled the ball on a few occasions before snaffling it.After Kaushik Gandhi fell three overs later, Vijay Shankar, who had recovered from an injury scare to pick up his fourth wicket in the morning, looked to have settled down in the company of Indrajith. However, he gave Gohil the charge in the 25th over and was stumped. Indrajith, though, remained steady and took Tamil Nadu to safety in the company of R Ashwin.A 62-run partnership between opener Bishal Ghosh (65) and Gurinder Singh, who smashed a 55-ball 57, helped Tripura finish on 220 against Madhya Pradesh in Agartala after tottering on 88 for 6 at one stage.Tripura’s bowlers then reduced Madhya Pradesh to 200 for 7 to set up an interesting battle for the first-innings lead. Ishwar Pandey and Ankit Sharma finished with three wickets each for Madhya Pradesh. In their reply, Madhya Pradesh got off to a shaky start, as they lost opener Wasim Ahmed and Shubham Sharma inside the first 10 overs. With Naman Ojha (8) and captain Devendra Bundela (3), too, falling cheaply, it was left to opener Rajat Patidar (79) and Harpreet Singh Bhatia (70) to resuscitate the innings with a 104-run alliance for the fifth wicket.However, Gurinder trapped Patidar in front with his left-arm spin in the 52nd over before Ankit Sharma and Bhatia were dismissed in quick succession.
ScorecardManpreet Gony and Harbhajan Singh celebrate taking a wicket•Fotocorp
A brutal new-ball spell from Manpreet Gony reduced Chhattisgarh to 35 for 5 – their run-rate was barely over 1 – but the lower order mounted a fine rearguard to lift the total up to a comparatively respectable 238 in Raipur.Vishal Kushwah, coming in at No. 9 in his third first-class match, top scored with 76 off only 93 deliveries. Equally aggressive was the No. 7 Jatin Saxena, whose 52 came off 59 balls. The No. 8 batsman Sumit Ruikar ensured there was a hat-trick of fifties on the scorecard, and he was the last man dismissed for an even 50.Until their efforts, Punjab looked unstoppable. Gony (4-41) and Sandeep Sharma (2-41) dismissed the Chhattisgarh openers for ducks and ensured none of the top five batsmen got past a score of 15. Left-arm spinner Vinay Chaudhary (3-56) finally broke through the lower-order resistance, dismissing two of the three half-centurions.Perhaps wanting to stamp their dominance, Punjab captain Jiwanjot Singh came out swinging when it was their turn to bat, scoring 40 off only 44 balls and remaining unbeaten when stumps was called. ScorecardA hefty maiden first-class hundred from Abhishek Raman was the highlight of the first day’s play at Eden Gardens, where Bengal made 306 for 5 against Himachal Pradesh. Raman was out in the sixth over before stumps after smashing 176 off 242 balls, with 29 fours peppering his innings.Raman’s dismissal ended a 163-run fourth-wicket stand with Manoj Tiwary, and was followed by that of Wriddhiman Saha in the final over of the day, ensuring Himachal went to stumps not entirely displeased with their day’s work. Tiwary, batting on 78 (132b, 8×4, 1×6), will hold the key to Bengal’s hopes of a big total.Sent in to bat, Bengal lost Abhimanyu Easwaran in the first over of the day. Raman then added 37 for the second wicket with Sudip Chatterjee and 92 for the third with Koushik Ghosh (27) before Tiwary joined him with the score at 136 for 3. ScorecardAn unbeaten hundred from Faiz Fazal led Vidarbha to a solid 259 for 3 against Services at the old VCA Stadium in Nagpur. Fazal batted right through the day’s play, and went to stumps on 128, having faced 256 balls and hit 12 fours and three sixes.Having chosen to bat, Vidarbha didn’t lose a wicket until the 50th over of the day, when Muzzaffaruddin Khalid dismissed Sanjay Ramaswamy for a 146-ball 55. By then, the two openers had added 148. Services would only take two more wickets all day, with Fazal holding fort at one end while adding 43 for the second wicket with Wasim Jaffer, 36 for the third with Siddhesh Wath, and an unbroken 32 for the fourth with Ganesh Satish.
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRohit Sharma and his Mumbai Indians were pumped up as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore•BCCI
There was a lot of work to do for Mumbai Indians, and the sanest way to go about it at the M Chinnaswamy stadium was to chase. ‘Forget about the Sunrisers game’ was the message from their camp but that’s easier said than done after you have been knocked out for 92 and lost by 85 runs. So Rohit Sharma and his bowlers did the next best thing – they drew a rage from it, the rage to win and show they were better. Mumbai allowed Royal Challengers Bangalore to score only 151 and chased it with six wickets to spare.The pitch on Wednesday was the one that had been used in Bangalore’s first IPL game this season, when the hosts had amassed 227 for 4. But it behaved rather unnaturally. It was dry and offered grip even to a brand-new ball, which contributed to Kohli’s first single-digit score in this IPL. Then Chris Gayle, who had been dropped against Rising Pune Supergiants on Saturday and didn’t play against Kings XI Punjab on Monday either, was dismissed for his fourth single-digit score in four innings.Mitchell McClenaghan and Tim Southee were responsible for those blows. Their back-of-a-length barrage, with emphasis on not giving room or leverage, followed by Krunal Pandya’s stingy left-arm spin had Royal Challengers at 25 for 2, their third lowest Powerplay score in Bangalore in all IPLs. It was an effort worthy of the reward – all three put their feet up for the entire second innings.That didn’t mean Mumbai’s chase was clinical. They needed 73 off the final seven overs when Kieron Pollard came to the crease at No. 5. He may not have imagined the finisher’s job to be tough considering the asking rate at the start had been a modest 7.6. But the legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who took 1 for 16 in four overs, and the left-arm seamer S Aravind, who was brought in for Iqbal Abdulla and took a wicket off his first ball, created complications in the first 10 overs.But the back-end bowling specialists for the home team were not quite as good as the back-end batting specialists for Mumbai as Pollard, with 35 off 19, and Jos Buttler, with 29 off 11, hauled them over the line. Shane Watson’s wide yorkers missed their mark by a few inches and he was punished. Pollard struck him for his 400th six in the 17th over and followed it with back-to-back fours to pull the equation down to 26 off 18. Chris Jordan was worse, serving up full tosses and half-volleys, and his England team-mate Buttler cracked him for consecutive sixes in the 18th over to leave Mumbai needing 10 off 12.It isn’t often that the home team is in unfamiliar territory. Before Wednesday’s match, Royal Challengers had posted a total below 155 only six times in their nine years at the Chinnaswamy stadium, and had won on only one of those six occasions.Kohli believed they were 20 runs short, and hadn’t been in the game for the first 15 overs of the match. That is because he was caught at fly slip for 7, Gayle was caught at mid-off for 5, AB de Villiers top-edged Pandya to deep midwicket – the bowler sprinted to the fielder, Ambati Rayudu, with an expression of pure glee on his face and an hour later was holding his first Man-of-the-Match award in T20 cricket for a spell of 4-0-15-1. Watson biffed a six and a four but was run out for 15 by a direct hit from Rohit, who roared in triumph, leapt up, and pumped his fists. It was clear Mumbai wanted to erase the dismal memories of their last match with better ones from this match.The only one who stood in their way was KL Rahul, who constructed his fourth fifty this season. He twisted his left ankle on 23, was struck on the glove by a McClenaghan bouncer on 34, but did not let either incident mar his approach. The pick-up shots flew off his bat. His pulls were authoritative. He hooks on instinct, and that shot needs a bit of sharpening. Nonetheless, 34 of his 68 unbeaten runs came in the Vs between fine leg and square leg and square leg and midwicket. Without his 53-run stand in 27 balls with Sachin Baby, Royal Challengers wouldn’t have crossed 150.Parthiv Patel was caught at slip off Aravind in the second over, but Rohit and Rayudu were fairly solid, even if they couldn’t shut the opposition out. Pollard and Buttler could, and Mumbai sealed their sixth win of the season and broke into the top four again.
“In the tunnel we planned to look them in the eye, to show we were as big as they were. They had the feeling they were invincible – you could see it in their eyes…While we waited I tried but I couldn’t do it. They made us feel small.” –Bernd Holzenbein, West Germany.
It is surprising to think that any member of the German team would articulate such inferiority against an opposition who had a relatively non-existent history in the competition – until the 70s Holland had failed to even qualify for a World Cup since 1938. The Dutch did however boast a talent pool of near dream like capacity. They had also dominated European club competitions in the early 70s (Feyenoord won the 1970 European Cup and the 1974 UEFA Cup and Ajax, of course, were triple European Champions between 1971-1973) meaning their talented stars were proven, winning professionals. And in Johan Cruyff they had a footballing avatar of the Dutch zeitgeist of the time.
Going into the final they were feared. But they would not have even made it to the World Cup had it not been for a wrongly disallowed goal in the deciding qualification game against Belgium. Rinus Michels, former Ajax coach, was appointed as head of the national team after qualification. His desire was to instil the principles of total football, principles that had guided his former club to unprecedented European domination, into all the Dutch players. Two friendlies within a month of the opening group game charted their rapid progression. The first was a 2-0 loss to a German second division team. The second was a 4-1 victory against Argentina. Michels’ only focus was the opening group game and, crucially, after beating Argentina in Amsterdam, his team had belief.
The Dutch footballers arrived last in Germany for the World Cup. In interviews Cruyff had always been articulate, intelligent and calm. There was an understated but palpable confidence in his demeanour that extended onto the pitch (the latter probably shaped the former). He encapsulated much of the rapidly transformed post-war Dutch culture. And like the country’s swift progression on the social front, the Dutch players mirrored it on the pitch with a dominating 2-0 opening game victory against an utterly bemused Uruguay. The game could easily have seen six or seven goals but Johnny Rep’s header and short range finish sufficed. Uruguay looked genuinely baffled and helpless every time the Dutch launched into their intense, high pressing defensive game.
An anticlimactic 0-0 draw with Sweden followed, its defining moment being the debut of the ‘Cruyff turn’; Jan Olsson remains proud to be the first man so completely duped by the movement. Holland’s 4-1 defeat of Bulgaria set the nation alight and caused a usually indifferent population to become encumbered with the need to passionately support their team.
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Knowing they had the full attention of millions back home, the Dutch played their irrepressible best and demolished Argentina 4-0. Despite torrential rain the players were able to impose their passing game with Cruyff scoring two – both assisted by the sublime Van Hanegem – and taking the brunt of every illegal tackle from the Argentineans.
East Germany were then dispatched 2-0, leaving a date with the defending World Champions (Brazil) in what was effectively the semi final. Brazil were not the pretty outfit from the previous competition. Instead they played a very aggressive and physical game and could have scored two in the opening twenty minutes. Despite the pressure in the early stages it was the white shirts of Neeskens and Cruyff who netted the goals in a bruising encounter. The Dutch had beaten the World Champions. The only people seemingly not surprised by the victories – what spellbound the watching public more than the victories themselves was the manner in which the team played – were the Dutch players. After all, many had won back to back European titles at the pinnacle of club football; Cruyff had captained Ajax to a triplet of European Cups and was now playing for Barcelona. They were not unknown quantities. The romanticism surrounding the Dutch leading up to the final – and compounded by their eventual loss – occurs when considering the nation’s development in the decades leading up to it. It seems a patently self referential (and superficial) comment but everything about the team – the players’ demeanours, the principles of football, their style, their captain as an embodiment of all the aforementioned – was so…well, it was just so Dutch.
The final in Munich against West Germany remains etched into the psyche of the Dutch football-watching public (probably more so than the 78’ defeat). The match kicked off and, after two whole minutes of play, the first German to touch the ball was Maier – the goalkeeper – picking it up out of his net. Holland had caressed the ball around the park since kick off and as the German fans booed, Cruyff jinked with pace and accuracy past two defenders, and was brought down in the box by Hoeness. Neeskens scores. What follows is always difficult to explain. The Dutch refused to press for a second. Instead they stubbornly, arrogantly, kept the ball. Johnny Rep tries to explain:
“We wanted to make fun of the Germans. We didn’t think about it but we did it…We forgot to score the second goal…It was our fault.”
1-0 is never enough until the whistle is blown. Despite the entire Dutch aura, the intelligence, the style, the passing, and the praise; 1-0 was not enough on 7th July 1974. Holzenbein cut inside from the left and threw himself to the floor in the penalty box. Breitner scored the resulting spot kick. Germany continued to attack incessantly and in the 43rd minute the portly, and legendary, Gerd Muller scored with a clever snap shot from twelve yards out. The second half saw Holland apply themselves, dominate, and come painfully close to an equaliser. But it never materialised. Holland remains the historic romantics and Germany the serial iconoclasts.
As I said earlier, there is a quixotic attachment to Cruyff and his men of 74’. This sentiment pervades history and holds a tangible, morbid allure for the Lost Final and its Dutch Masters. In retrospect, every hallmark literary device is at work to make this a great tragedy, for all the ages: a culture represented by a group of individuals, turning heads and revolutionising opinions as they progress, only to be conquered by their hamartia – that very Greek notion of the fatalistic flaw. What was their undoing? Hubris? Maybe. I don’t know. But one thing I am sure of is that not winning it, contradictorily, intensifies their romanticism. As Jan Mulder eloquently said, ‘We are still talking about the great team that lost because they lost. If they’d won, it would be less interesting, much less romantic.’
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The Media and its effects on international football
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The Dutch Influence: a history and its affects on football
Sources:
Brilliant Orange, David Winner
Here’s a video of some of their highlights (you may want to watch this on mute)
The Italian Football FanCast is the podcast for fans of Serie A, Calcio and the World Cup.
In the final edition of the Italian Football FanCast of this season, we look back at the Azzurri’s disastrous World Cup campaign.
A floundering performance against Slovakia made sure Italy finished rock bottom of their group with a measly 2 points.
Who is to blame for this mess… the players, the FIGC or the coach, Marcelo Lippi?
To help us discuss the 3-2 defeat to Slovakia, we have the ‘Man in Milan’, Kris Voakes on the line plus a special guest appearance from the one and only Marco Materazzi.
Join the Facebook group – Italian ‘Serie A’ Football FanCast.
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Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is still hoping to add up to three new players to his squad before the start of the new season.
Spurs will play in the Champions League for the first time this season and Redknapp has yet to add to a squad which finished a best-ever fourth place in the Premier League last term.
A host of names have been linked with moves to White Hart Lane but Redknapp is yet to complete any transfer deals.
"We need two or three players who can make the difference," he confirmed.
"We've got a big squad, but I do feel we need just that little bit of quality in one or two areas if we're going to move on from where we were last year.
"Fourth place last year was marvellous, but I think this is the best chance Tottenham have had in how many years to really push on and maintain that and become a regular top four team and maybe push for a championship.
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"We're never going to get a better chance so now's the time to have a go at doing that.
"So I still feel with two or three players it would make the difference and give us the squad we need. And if we get them in I think the sky's the limit for us."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy is confident of keeping midfielder David Jones at Molineux.
Jones, 25, has just one year remaining on his present contract, but has been linked with several moves away following an impressive first season in the Premier League.
The former Manchester United youngster recovered from knee problems to make 20 league appearances last term, but has recently been mentioned as a possible transfer target for Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers.
"I want Dave to stay. He's got a year left of his contract and it's the same situation as where we were in March," explained McCarthy, who offered the midfielder fresh terms towards the end of the last campaign.
"We're trying to sort something out. Hopefully that will get done. I think it will get sorted out fairly quickly.
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"We want him to stay and be part of the squad and I haven't heard anything from anyone."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
While we all await news of a Liverpool takeover and the hope that a deal can be struck before the transfer window closes, Hodgson has to continue to work under constraints at Anfield as he attempts to rebuild the football club. Unfortunately it means Roy has had to look at the lower end of the market in order to secure new signings; hence some of the rather obscure players (Luke Young anyone?) that we are being linked with.
It is the nature of the beast and while we all hope that new ownership will bring the kind of riches to ensure that we can move for high profile signings, we have to live within our means and only target players in our price bracket. Peter Crouch is the latest player being linked with an Anfield return; a move that in my mind we shouldn’t be contemplating.
I know there are a lot of supporters that are still fond of Crouch and believe that he was unfairly treated by Rafa, but would you honestly like to see him return? £10m is a lot of money and I do wonder whether Hodgson would be wise to spend that sort of cash on a player who will arrive as the third choice striker behind Torres and Jovanovic at the football club. I know it is important to have a strong squad, but the reason he left Anfield in the first place was the lack of football; something that won’t necessarily change should he return. Would Crouch be satisfied sitting on the Anfield bench, especially at his age? If Hodgson has £10m to spend on a striker; then shouldn’t he be looking to target a goal poacher like Remy, or move for someone like Huntelaar? Surely would they represent better value for money; I mean if Torres is out for any real amount of time, could Crouch really bag the amount of goals to nullify the loss of Nando? I personally have my doubts.
So should Hodgson look to bring Crouch back to Anfield, or would we be better off looking elsewhere?
Written By Jerome Johnstone
With the PL season nearly upon us, let’s see the WAGS that will be keeping the players on their toes. Click on image to VIEW gallery
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Caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald blamed "silly" goals for Aston Villa's Europa League exit at the hands of Rapid Vienna.
Villa lost 3-2 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate to go out of the tournament at the qualifying stage at the hands of the same opposition for the second successive year.
The Midlands club twice led through Gabriel Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey, but the match turned on a penalty miss by captain Stiliyan Petrov.
"I am very disappointed. We were in total control at 1-0 and gave away a silly equaliser," said MacDonald.
"We also missed a penalty and gave away a silly third goal. We made three silly mistakes and we are out of the tournament.
"You can't legislate for individual mistakes from international players.
"It is a big blow for Aston Villa to go out of Europe again. A lot of the lads were disappointed to go out last season.
"It is a major blow for them. They are professional footballers and proud of what they do."
Meanwhile, MacDonald refused to discuss his own position following suggestions that an early European exit on the back of Sunday's 6-0 thrashing by Newcastle United had harmed his chances of getting the job on a full-time basis.
He took interim charge of first-team affairs following the departure of Martin O'Neill on the eve of the new season.
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"My own position is not uppermost in my thoughts 10 minutes after a game," he added.
"It is not about me but how the players and the football club react on Sunday.
"I have never been told I was first choice and expect nothing to change until after the game on Sunday."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email