14 SPORTS
Tuesday, 26 May, 2015
MisBah hopEs to captain in hoME tEst SPORTS DESK
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Gillespie backs Bayliss for England job Jason Gillespie took the news that he has apparently been snubbed for the vacant England head coach’s job with typically jocular sangfroid and said that if it had been up to him to choose from the candidates on England cricket director Andrew Strauss’s shortlist then he would also have picked Trevor Bayliss. He said that in his final telephone conversation with Strauss before play began on the second morning of Yorkshire’s match at Taunton he had been told only that there was a “preferred candidate” and had been given to understand that his fellow Australian Bayliss was the ECB’s choice to succeed Peter Moores. But he exonerated Strauss from any blame in what appears to have been another embarrassing leak, with news that Bayliss had accepted the job gathering pace even with no official announcement. “I knew before the news came out,” Gillespie said. “That’s one thing the ECB may need to work on because things do seem to be coming out but I spoke to Straussy early this morning and one thing I was impressed with is that Andrew was able to contact me and let me know. So I’ve absolutely no problem with that.” He fully endorsed Bayliss as the best man for the position following his successes in Australia with New South Wales and the Sydney Sixers, with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL and with Sri Lanka, whom he took to the 2011 World Cup final. “England wanted a coach with a proven track record, and if it is Trevor, as it appears likely, his track record’s absolutely unbelievable,” Gillespie said. “I’ve got absolutely no qualms about that. If I put myself in Andrew’s shoes, I’d probably make the same decision if I’m honest. “He is a very good operator and I’ve only heard good things about him. Farby [England’s interim head coach Paul Farbrace] speaks very highly of him from the time he worked with him in Sri Lanka so I can’t say anything negative. I wish him well.” Gillespie, the 40-year-old former Australia bowler, admitted he would have almost certainly taken the job had it been offered but found plenty of positives to balance his disappointment. “I have always seen it as a win-win from my end,” he said. “I have got two great jobs - here with Yorkshire and with Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash. If I had have got offered an international job I would have had to have seriously considered it, that’s for sure. Either way, I don’t see any negatives. BAYLISS SET TO BE NAMED ENGLAND COACH Trevor Bayliss has been offered the role of England coach ahead of fellow Australian Jason Gillespie. Bayliss, 52, a former Sri Lanka coach who led them to the World Cup final in 2011, has also been a successful coach with New South Wales, Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash and Kolkata Knight Riders. The initial reports emerged in the UK and Australia Daily Telegraph newspapers and have since been confirmed. It is believed that he is the ECB’s first choice for the role after an interview process led by Andrew Strauss. Bayliss would not fill the criteria of international playing experience, but his considerable coaching pedigree around the world has seemingly held sway. He briefly coached Australia last year during a Twenty20 series against South Africa. SPORTS DESK
ISBAH-ULHAq, who turns 41 on Thursday, expressed his wish to be able to lead Pakistan in a home Test before retiring. International cricket returned to Pakistan after a six-year hiatus, but Misbah, who retired from ODIs following Pakistan’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to Australia in March, regretted not being a part of the current squad. He praised Zimbabwe’s decision to tour Pakistan and hoped that it would open the gates for other Test nations to make the trip in the near future. “I would love to captain Pakistan in Tests at home
before I retire,” Misbah told cricket.com.au. “I hope soon some team will visit Pakistan and we will play a Test series here. Even during the matches against Zimbabwe I regretted not being part of the team. “People have proved that cricket is still alive in Pakistan,” he said. “The way fans have turned out to watch matches, despite searing heat and extraordinary security measures, it has strengthened the view that international cricket should be played here.”The people of Pakistan have shown to world that they can’t be kept away from cricket. We have given a very strong message to the world,” he said. “Zimbabwe is not much popular as compared to other crick-
eting countries, (and) still the fans have come out in large numbers to support them. It shows how badly we were missing cricket.” “The government should take more steps to bring cricket in Pakistan.” Misbah said the home advantage could do wonders in nurturing the new upcoming talent in Pakistan cricket. The series was received with extraordinary fervour and excitement in Pakistan. Fans with placards and posters that read “thank you Zimbabwe” were a common sight at the Gaddafi Stadium during the two T20Is. Though the talks for a Test series against India are under way, it is expected that they will play in the UAE, a neutral venue.
Loye named BCB High Performance head coach
no decision yet on playing pakistan: ipL chairman Rajiv shukla
SPORTS DESK Former England batsman Mal Loye has been appointed head coach of the BCB’s High Performance (HP) for two years. The first programme for 22 players will begin in June and will run till the end of September of this year. Loye, who played seven ODIs for England in 2007, ended his first-class career in 2011. Having previously coached at the Wellingborough School in Northamptonshire, Loye is likely to arrive in Bangladesh in the next few days. He will work under the National Cricket Academy’s new director of coaching Paul Terry, who was appointed earlier this month by the BCB. The HP chief Mahbubul Anam, also a BCB vice-president, made the announcement during the programme’s launch in Mirpur on Monday. He also announced the 22-member High Performance squad, which includes four international players Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Mithun, Jubair Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman.
The HP was in function between 2003 and 2007 but faded away in the subsequent years due to change of leadership in the BCB. The programme has been touted to be a bridge between the national team and emerging cricketers. The main aim is to ensure the best prepared players in international cricket, which Stuart Karpinnen, the HP’s general manager, said was a realistic goal. Mahbubul said that the board will set aside US$1 million as operational budget for the HP programme and also informed that there will be a number of consultants from home and abroad who will work at the HP in the near future. He added that the HP will coordinate constantly with the national team’s coaching staff. “The HP committee will include the cricket operations committee chairman and game development committee chairman. The programme will go hand in hand with the national team because it will be important for players falling back in the national team and for players who are looking to graduate into the national team,” Mahbubul said.
He assured that the uncertain nature of Bangladesh’s domestic cricket will not affect the HP’s main function. “This is unfortunate that we have an unfixed domestic structure. We definitely need to fix it, and that is one of the top priorities of the board, to have a definitive schedule of tournaments so that we can plan everything better. “The HP programme runs in the offseason. It starts from June and ends in September. During these four months, the HP runs uninterrupted,” he said. They have also planned to keep the specialisation programmes flexible in tune with the domestic competitions, he said. “The elite programme for the fast bowlers, which has to run beyond the programme for eight months, is flexible and will be slotted in when there is no domestic cricket. Karpinnen said they hoped that a majority of national players would have worked with the HP programme in 6-12 months while within two years, the programme is likely to prepare at least two cricketers vying for positions in the national team.
Amid speculation over the fate of IndiaPakistan cricket series, IPL Chairman Rajiv Shukla today said no final decision on it has been taken as there are certain issues that need to be resolved. “Pakistan(PCB) is willing to play with us and we(BCCI) also want to play with them and we are very positive about it. We feel that cricket must be resumed between the two countries. The bilateral series should take place. But there are certain issues that need to be resolved,” Shukla told reporters here. PCB chairman Shahryar Khan had recently met BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya in Kolkata and also held meetings with other BCCI functionaries, including Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. “No final decision has been taken as far as playing Pakistan is concerned. The dialogues are going on. We will soon take a decision,” Shukla said. Elaborating on the issues that have come up in holding Indo-Pak series, he said playing on Pakistan soil has security implications. “The situation in Pakistan is not feasible for playing there due to security reasons. They (Pakistan) want us to play in a neutral venue. But we feel its better to play on each other’s soil rather than a neutral venue. Then there is a issue of revenue sharing. The permission of the government is also a concern,” he added. SPORTS DESK
Sepp Blatter is scared of life after Fifa, says Uefa’s Michel Platini SPORTS DESK Michel Platini has accused Sepp Blatter of clinging on to power at all costs, claiming the Fifa president is standing for a fifth term on the basis of “a lie”. Blatter, who will stand against the Jordanian Prince Ali bin al-Hussein in Friday’s election, told Uefa’s Congress in 2011 he would step down at the end of his current term. He has since changed his mind, saying his mission remains unfinished despite a barrage of criticism over corruption allegations. Platini, the Uefa president, claimed the 79-year-old was standing because he feared for his future outside Fifa and it was “not credible” to claim otherwise. “He is simply scared of the future because he has given his life to
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the institution to the point where he now identifies himself fully with Fifa,” Platini told L’Equipe. “I understand the fear of that emptiness he must have – it’s natural – but if he really loves Fifa, he should have put its interests ahead of his own.’’ Platini helped Blatter win his first term as president in 1998 and was once seen as his heir apparent, also backing him in subsequent campaigns. After Blatter made clear he planned to stand for a fifth term the pair have become increasingly estranged and the Frenchman has repeatedly called for change. “Above all, I am disappointed for the European associations I asked to support Sepp in 2011, on the basis of a promise Sepp had made in person. It was more than a promise; it was a real commitment,” Platini said.