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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday September 6, 2014
Lack of IPL hurting England in shorter formats, says Akram
MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - Not playing the Indian Premier League (IPL) is the reason behind England’s struggles in the shorter formats, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram said, a day after England great Ian Botham called for the rich Twenty20 competition to be scrapped. England were thumped 4-1 in Australia in their oneday international series at the beginning of the year and also lost recent series
at home against Sri Lanka and India. Critics have flayed England’s strategy and selections for the shorter formats, with some suggesting that the team does not care about anything other than Test cricket. “England may pretend as much as they can, but they do get affected by losses in ODI cricket,” the 48-yearold Akram, one of the alltime best pace bowlers of the world, wrote in a column published in yesterday’s
Morkel, Duminy in doubt for ODI series final (REUTERS) - South Africa fast bowler Morne Morkel and all-rounder JP Duminy will undergo late fitness tests ahead of today’s triangular series final against Australia in Harare. South Africa, who have already lost all-rounder Ryan McLaren to injury in the series, will give the players until just before the start of play to prove their fitness. “MRI Scans were done on Morne’s right shoulder and JP’s left knee earlier this week. Morne’s scan confirmed an aggravation of a pre-existing rotator cuff tear which has worsened due to a high workload in Zimbabwe, while JP’s scan confirmed a patella tendinopathy diagnosis,” Proteas team manager Mohammed Moosajee said in a statement. “Both players have been managed through the last few games by physiotherapist Brandon Jackson but due
Morne Morkel to the worsening nature of their injuries recently, their availability for tomorrow’s final will be subject to a late fitness test in the morning. “The side may feel the loss of Duminy more as he performs not just as a top six batsman, but also provides a spin option on the Harare Sports Club wickets that have turned prodigiously in recent matches.
Wasim Akram Times of India newspaper. “They just pretend to be not interested in the 50-over format. The only reason they are not good in
one-day cricket right now is because they have a limited talent pool for the format.” England are currently ranked fifth in the world in ODIs and few would wager on them in next year’s 50over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, a trophy the country has never won. While former England all-rounder Botham believes the franchise-based IPL has become too powerful and could be fuelling corruption in the game, Akram thinks not playing in the tournament is hurting England. While India, Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka - the teams ranked
above England in the ODI ranking - all play the IPL in full, Kevin Pietersen, who was sacked by the country’s cricket board, was the only England international in the tournament earlier this year. Some English players made themselves unavailable to prepare for the summer’s Test matches but others went unsold, being unable to commit for the full duration of the April-May tournament due to the clash with the county season. Former England captain Pietersen recently said that 50-over world champions India had benefited
from the tournament as their younger players were given the opportunity to play with and against the world’s best. Akram, one of Pakistan’s main architects during their World Cup triumph in 1992, agreed. “Australia, India and South Africa play all year around in the shorter formats. Also all these players play IPL,” Akram added. “That has helped their cause. “England used to have a few players in IPL, but even that has stopped. That is the reason why they are struggling big time in the shorter formats.”
One Day Cup …
Warwickshire ease past Kent to reach Lord’s final WA R W I C K S H I R E kept their nerve to ease through to the One-Day Cup final with a six-wicket victory over Kent on Wednesday. Despite a late burst from Sam Billings, who made an unbeaten 40, Kent’s 2158 never looked enough at Edgbaston. England paceman Boyd Rankin again bowled very menacingly to finish with man-of-the-match figures of 3-34. Half-centuries by Jonathan Trott (58), Varun Chopra (50) and Tim Ambrose (51 not out) then all helped the hosts home on 219-4, with 21 balls to spare. The Bears’ victory keeps alive their hopes of doing
Warwickshire’s batsman Jonathan Trott reverse-sweeps the ball on the way to his half-century against Kent. tember 20. the treble - 20 years on from than a fortnight ago, Dougie But they remain outEdgbaston’s class of 1994 Brown’s Bears will now face siders in the County doing the same. the winners of Saturday’s Championship, 33 points Having won the T20 Blast Durham-Nottinghamshire adrift of leaders Yorkshire on their own ground less semi-final at Lord’s on Sep- with two games left.