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Did you find that match a bit tougher than you expected?
No, we always knew it was going to be tough in these conditions, and against an ever-improving Bangladesh team. We’ve got a pretty inexperienced team ourselves, but full credit to Bangladesh on days three and four – they were excellent and put us under a lot of pressure. But Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard did us proud. In that heat and humidity, and on a placid wicket, to pick up that many wickets [16 in all] was a true testament to the hard work they’ve put in over the last three weeks.Will there be changes to the bowling attack at Chittagong?
In any game of cricket, you have to take 20 wickets, so there are bound to be one or two guys who miss out and others who cash in. It’s the same with the batters. In this game the pace bowlers were outstanding, while Bangladesh played our spinners pretty well. We’ll go along to Chittagong, take a look at the wicket and come up with the best formula for success.Did the prospect of defeat play on your minds?
Not at all. You always have to give the opposition the utmost respect, and full credit to Bangladesh – they were outstanding. They were particularly good yesterday, when they dug in and withstood everything that we could throw at them. But we knew that the hard work that we put in then would pay dividends today, and so it proved. We expected to win today, and set out to do so in a positive manner.How did you feel when they reached 120 for 1 just before lunch yesterday?
Obviously we could have bowled a little better, but their batters stuck to their task, played in an aggressive manner and got on top of us at times. But we got the wicket [of Habibul Bashar] at a crucial time, just before dinner, although they still stuck around afterwards and made life difficult for us. Days like yesterday are a true test of the team’s character, and I thought we came through pretty well.Were you ever worried in that time?
There’s always a slight worry, but we were playing to win and if you take that mentality, you’ll come out on top more often than not.Was the first-innings batting the biggest disappointment?
Me and Tres played the new ball pretty well – it flies off the bat a little better over here – but their spinners and the quick bowler [Mashrafe Mortaza] played exceptionally well and shook a few of our guys up. From six down, we are very inexperienced, and you have to give them a little bit of leeway, as they are learning all the time and gaining valuable experience with every session.Were you happy to be back in the runs?
Of course I am. Whether I’m captain or not, as I’ve said before, I’m an opening bat first and foremost, and my job is to score runs. Thankfully I’ve done that. The first ten runs in my first innings were among the hardest I’ve ever had to get. The bowlers and the wicket made life tough, and it was quite hard to split the ring of fielders. I was just trying to find my rhythm, but thankfully I got a few rewards for all the hard work I put in then.What did you make of the Rikki Clarke incident?
I haven’t seen any replays, so I can’t comment. But these conditions will test an inexperienced team, especially when you are not getting many wickets. As I’ve said before, we always play in an aggressive manner, but if anyone steps over the line, we will have something to say about that.Are you in favour of the ICC’s bid to clean up cricket?
It’s important that we as players portray the right image to everyone involved. A lot of kids watch the game, and it’s not good if the players that they idolise are doing untoward things on the field. We do look after ourselves out in the middle though – it is important to have that little bit of aggression and banter, otherwise the game would be a little bit boring.Are Bangladesh worthy of their Test status?
On their home soil in Dhaka, they are a tough team to beat. The wicket suits their style of play, and we’ve got a few inexperienced players who’ve never been to the subcontinent. After their performances in Pakistan, we knew they’d be a tough nut to crack, and it took a lot of hard work. On days three and four, they were excellent. They have a Test win just around the corner, I’m sure, but hopefully not next week!We didn’t expect to finish them off so quickly this morning, but today was reward day for all our efforts on the previous four. Hoggy got a couple to nip away from the right-handers, Steve put it in the right areas once again, and we knocked off the runs nice and quickly. But there’s no such thing as a perfect performance, and we’ve got lots of things to mull over before the second Test on Wednesday. But I’m delighted with the result – it’s a great Test win.

Amitabh Velaskar and Narayan Kambli combined to give Goa the upper hand during their Ranji Trophy league match against Hyderabad at Panaji on Wednesday.Batting overnight on 37, Velaskar went on to make 87 before falling as the ninth wicket. In the process, he took Goa past the 300-run mark. He was given little support from the tail, but managed to farm the strike enough to face 179 balls and hit 12 fours in his knock.Replying to Goa’s total of 306, Hyderabad received early setbacks when openers Daniel Manohar and A Nand Kishore were out with 32 runs on the board. When Anirudh Singh was dismissed, four wickets had fall for 41, and Kambli had taken three of them.It took resolute fifties from D Vinay Kumar and Arjun Yadav to see Hyderabad through to the close of play. Vinay Kumar was unbeaten on 52 off 130 balls, while Yadav had made 53 off 132 balls at stumps. Hyderabad ended the day on 154/4.

ScorecardFile photo – Abhishek Nayar added 120 runs for the last two wickets in the company of Shardul Thakur and Vishal Dabholkar•BCCI

Mumbai overcame a collapse early on the second morning to amass a big total after Abhishek Nayar made a counterpunching half-century in the company of the lower order.Nayar, coming in at No.8, added 50 runs in 9.3 overs for the ninth wicket with Shardul Thakur, who made a 31-ball 24. After Thakur was run out, Nayar and Vishal Dabholkar, who contributed five runs, put on 70 runs for the last wicket to push the score past 400.Resuming on 317 for 3, Mumbai had lost five wickets for 10 runs inside 11 overs. After Shreyas Iyer was run-out adding six runs to his overnight score of 167 in the eighth ball of the day, seamer Ajitesh Argal picked up three of the four wickets to fall to reduce Mumbai to 327 for 8.In their reply, Baroda, despite losing Monil Patel early on, remained steady with Kedar Devdhar and captain Aditya Waghmode sharing an unbroken 113-run stand for the second wicket.Nayar admitted later that the collapse was “freakish”, and that he couldn’t really explain how it happened. “I think in the morning the ball was pretty new and they were bowling quite well, but there were no demons in the pitch,” Nayar told ESPNcricinfo.”Then Shreyas got run out and after that and I don’t know how to explain what happened. The ball was moving a bit, so initially I took my time. Once we played off that first spell after that we took our chances pretty well.”Nayar said he communicated his plans to the lower order and farmed the strike. “After Shardul got out, I was taking a chance every over. I was trying to face four to five balls every over and Vishal was doing a good job fending away the one or two balls. [Playing strokes] was the only way to get some runs,” he said.
ScorecardAndhra gained ascendancy over Uttar Pradesh in Ongole by securing a first-innings lead of 127 runs and then reducing the visitors to 39 for three in their second innings.Starting the day on 77 for no loss, Andhra lost opener Srikar Bharat, who was caught behind by Eklavya Dwivedi off Praveen Kumar. Andhra, however, didn’t lose momentum and kept stringing together handy partnerships with their middle-order batsmen contributing 20s and 30s. Praveen finished with four for 86.Uttar Pradesh, in their second innings, made slow progress, scoring at less than two runs an over and losing three wickets inside 16 overs.
ScorecardLate strikes helped Gujarat gain a slight edge over Railways in the race for the first-innings point in Delhi, after the visitors’ lower-order rallied around Rush Kalaria’s unbeaten fifty to take the team total close to 400.After Anureet Singh had overnight batsman Manpreet Juneja lbw off the third ball of the day, and then bowled RP Singh five overs later, Gujarat were reduced to 296 for 8. But, Kalaria, who came in at the fall of the sixth wicket, raised stands of 51 and 40 with Mehul Patel and Jasprit Bumrah for the ninth and tenth wickets respectively. Gujarat’s innings came to an end when Anureet trapped Bumrah lbw to claim his fourth wicket.Railways’ reply, led by Saurabh Wakaskar’s half-century, seemed headed in the right direction before RP Singh had Wakaskar lbw in the 50th over. From 168 for 1, the hosts slumped to 168 for four as they lost Faiz Ahmed and nightwatchman Anureet in the space of two overs.
ScorecardHalf-centuries from Jiwanjot Singh and Uday Kaul guided Punjab’s strong reply after Madhya Pradesh posted a sizeable total in Patiala. Madhya Pradesh’s bowlers had the going tough as the hosts build steady partnerships throughout their innings.Manan Vohra and Jiwanjot were separated after 58 runs were added for the opening wicket when Vohra was bowled by offspinner Jalaj Saxena. The visitors managed a breakthrough only after 25 overs when Jiwanjot was trapped lbw by Ankit Sharma. Jiwanjot and Uday Kaul had added 94 runs by then.In the morning, resuming on 251 for 5, Aditya Shrivastava and Rameez Khan kept the runs coming. While Shrivastava was dismissed by legspinner Sarabjit Ladda, Rameez went on to bring up his fifth first-class fifty. Madhya Pradesh’s lower-order, however, didn’t fire, as after Rameez’s dismissal they lost their last three wickets for 25 runs. Ladda finished with a five-for.

Some big Everton transfer news has emerged before Boreham Wood, as the Blues will ‘have to pay heavily’ to sign Aster Vranckx from Wolfsburg, according to Voetbal Primeur (via Sport Witness).

The lowdown

A report from Calciomercato last month revealed that Frank Lampard and Everton had ‘set their sights’ on teenager Vranckx, who can also count AC Milan among his admirers.

The 19-year-old only joined Wolfsburg from Belgian outfit KV Mechelen last summer for a fee of £7.2million.

Predominantly a central midfielder (he’s played that position nine times this season), Vranckx is also capable of occupying a deeper role in front of the defence (five times).

The latest

The report (via SW) states that Vranckx has ‘already attracted a lot of attention’ from potential suitors, with Everton ‘closely following’ his progress.

He could secure ‘a nice transfer’ off the back of his performances this season.

But Wolfsburg know they a valuable asset on their hands and interested clubs, like the Toffees, can expect to be met with some pretty hefty demands.

The verdict

So, how much could Vranckx cost The Toffees?

Well, Transfermarkt rate him as a £9million player, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if Wolfsburg are asking for more than that.

After all, that would only represent a very small profit on the fee they paid 12 months ago, and this is a player with a great deal of potential.

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He managed to establish himself in the first team fairly quickly at The Volkswagen Arena, making his first league start against Freiburg in October and keeping his place for 10 of the 15 matches since.

Football talent scout Jacek Kulig says he’s part of a ‘very exciting’ crop of emerging Belgian midfielders, while European football expert Alex Barker said Wolfsburg were recruiting so many promising talents, like Vranckx, that it was as if they were playing ‘FIFA career mode’.

In other news, Patrick Boyland reveals a serious concern at Goodison Park.

The eight squads for the women’s World Cup qualifiers have been finalised. The qualifiers take place in Lahore from November 17, with two spots up for grabs at the World Cup which will be held in Australia in 2009.The teams will compete in two groups initially – South Africa are in a pool with Bermuda, Netherlands and Papua New Guinea, leaving the other pool with PNG, Scotland, Zimbabwe and Ireland.Ireland, South Africa and Pakistan had already announced their squads.Bermuda Wendy Woodley, Reuna Richardson, Rhoda Jones, Stacey Simmons, Brittney Marshall, Maryellen Jackson, Rickelle Smith, Sinshea Paynter, Terry-Lynn Paynter, Suzette Albouy, Arkeita Smith, Stacy Babb, Chevonne Furbert.Netherlands Marloes Braat, Lotte Egging, Margaretha de Fouw, Jolet Hartenhof, Mandy Kornet, Maartje Koster, Marijn Nijman, Cheraldine Oudolf, Jacqueline Pashley, Helmien Rambaldo (capt), Annemarie Tanke, Violet Wattenberg, Denise Prins.PNG Konio Heagi, Henao Sam, Fari Mea, Karo Lumis, Pauke Siaka, Lucy Ovia, Vavine Amini, Ura Rigana, Norma Ovasuru, Mebo Ipi, Boni David, Bede Morea, Moa Kamea.Scotland Kari Anderson, Kathryn White, Charlotte Bascombe, Abbi Aitken, Caroline Heron, Catherine Smaill, Fiona Campbell, Fiona Urquhart (capt), Caroline Sweetman, Leigh Kasperek, Sehar Aslam, Charlotte Farr, Diane Pedgrift, Vari Maxwell.Zimbabwe Julia Chibhabha (capt), Yvonne Rainsford, Tina Kamchetsa, Susan Kudzibatira, Nonhlanhla Nyathi, Precious Marange, Hazvinei Saili, Thandakwenkosi Mlilo, Sinikiwe Mpofu, Emily Jinjika, Sharne Mayers, Christabel Chatonzwa, Ruvarashe Chinyemba, Chipo Mugeri.

ScorecardMumbai piled on the runs and the pressure on Rajasthan as they ended the second day 309 ahead at the Wankhede Stadium. Amol Muzumdar played a captain’s knock of 117, while Rohit Sharma and Abhishek Nair chipped in with valuable half-centuries to extend Mumbai’s lead. Nair played an aggressive knock of 86 and shared a 234-run stand with Muzumdar. After both were dismissed, Sharma and the lower order strengthened Mumbai’s position, with Vinayak Samanth helping himself to an unbeaten 41 at stumps. Mohammad Aslam, the left-arm spinner, was the pick of the bowlers, taking five wickets.
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Delhi took a firm grip on the game after reducing Andhra to 92 for 4 after posting 355 in their first innings. Ishant Sharma prised out two wickets, including the vital wicket of Venugopal Rao, to leave Andhra struggling at 45 for 4 but the hosts attempted to stabilise through an unbroken 47-run stand between Prasad Reddy and Chandramouli Prasad. Earlier, Aditya Jain guided the lower-order, after his overnight-partner Mayank Tehlan fell after reaching his hundred, to take Delhi to a healthy total. Mohammad Faiq grabbed two more wickets to end up with a five-wicket haul and prevent Delhi from running away to a massive total but the visitors held the advantage by the end of the day.
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Hyderabad were sitting pretty after an allround bowling performance left Bengal limping at 172 for 7. Ranadeb Bose struck three blows to restrict Hyderabad, overnight on 258 for 6, to 309. Bengal lost wickets at regular intervals and slipped to 104 or 6 before they tried to rally through a 60-run partnership between Rohan Gavaskar and Saurasish Lahiri.But Pragyan Ojha dismissed Gavaskar to put the hosts on top. Bengal and Hyderabad are tied at 8 points apiece.
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Karnataka, who amassed 426, were eyeing a first-innings lead after reducing Tamil Nadu to 119 for 4 at the end of the second day’s play in Bangalore. Balachandra Akhil blasted a quick 73 to lift Karnataka, overnight on 309 for 6, to a huge total. Tamil Nadu started their reply in a disastrous fashion when Srikkanth Anirudha was run out in the first over but recovered through a 78-run partnership between Ramaswamy Prasanna and Murali Vijay. But Appanna, the young left-arm spinner, removed Vijay to regain the initiative. Three wickets fell in the space of 41 runs as Tamil Nadu found themselves in trouble.
ScorecardA five-wicket haul by seamer Anupam Sanclecha restricted Gujarat to 369, blotching their sound start, on the second day at Nasik. Shortly after Niraj Patel – overnight on 92 – reached his century, Gujarat lost their way. Sanclecha struck twice, sending back Parthiv Patel and Niraj Patel, and Gujarat lost four wickets for just 35 runs. Kirat Damani then salvaged the situation with a half-century, and was well supported by the lower order. Damani’s 52 came off 81 balls with eight fours and a six. Maharashtra began their reply in a cautious manner, ending the day at 72 for 1 after Dheeraj Jadhav lost his wicket to Damani’s off breaks.
ScorecardSaurashtra were in a spot of bother against Haryana at Rajkot as they lost their top five for 134, still trailing by 174 runs. Resuming on 238 for 7, Amit Mishra and Sandeep Singh continued their resistance, adding 27 before Sandip Maniar sent back Singh for 58. Mishra looked set for his maiden first-class century before falling to Rakesh Dhruv, who picked up his fifth wicket. Saurashtra stumbled in their reply, as Shitanshu Kotak and Jaydev Shah failed to convert their starts, both falling in the 30s. Mishra picked up two quick wickets by the close of play.

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Six wickets from Chetanya Nanda, the legspinner, helped Delhi dismiss Bengal for 211 – a lead of 63 – in the final session of day two, before Shikhar Dhawan and Aakash Chopra ensured that Delhi built on the advantage. Bengal managed to stretch its first-innings lead thanks primarily to a dogged fifty from Rohan Gavaskar and a useful contribution from Manoj Tiwari down the order. Earlier, Bengal had bowled the hosts out for a paltry 148, and Delhi will definitely need to make amends in the second innings if they wish to register their first points in the season.
ScorecardA fine hundred from Vinit Indulkar, his second in first-class cricket, helped Mumbai consolidate their position on the second day of the Ranji Trophy clash against Karnataka at Bangalore. After bowling out Karnataka for a modest 186 yesterday, Mumbai rode on a solid 62 from Wasim Jaffer before Indulkar, 21, dominated proceedings. He crashed 18 fours in his 209-ball unbeaten effort and his 119-run stand with Omkar Khanvilkar, who made a patient 23, strengthened their position at the end of the day.
ScorecardUseful contributions from the middle order enabled Tamil Nadu to gain the edge on the second day of the Ranji Trophy game against Railways in Delhi. Sridharan Sriram, Subramanium Badrinath and Hemang Badani ground out half-centuries as Tamil Nadu overcame an early slump, reduced to 32 for 2, to recover to 211 for 4 at stumps. Madan Yadav, the left-arm spinner, ended as the most successful bowler for Railways, the defending champions, and ended with 2 for 58.
ScorecardIt was a tense battle at Valsad as Gujarat and Maharashtra jostled for supremacy on the second day of the Ranji Trophy clash. The Maharashtra lower order managed to add just 40 more runs this morning as Siddharth Trivedi, the medium-pacer who finished with a five-wicket haul, led a Gujarat fightback. Their top-order batsmen then stole the initiative by laying a solid platform – with Nilesh Modi, Akash Christian and Niraj Patel crossing 30 – but a triple strike from Rohit Jadhav, the offspinner, enabled Maharashtra to claw back into the see-saw contest.
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Andhra were 50 for 1 at the close of the second day’s play at Anantapur, after Ibrahim Khaleel’s maiden first-class hundred took Hyderabad to an imposing 370. Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, dismissed MSK Prasad for just 9 to get the early breakthough, but Tirumal Suman, who shifted from Hyderabad this season, clubbed consecutive sixes off his – and the day’s – final over to signal Andhra’s intent. Hyderabad had began the day on 211 for 5 and lost two wickets before lunch, but staunch resistance from Khaleel, the wicketkeeper, and Inder Shekar Reddy turned a precarious situation into one of dominance.
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Centuries from Connor Williams and Jacob Martin took Baroda to a comfortable 268 for 2 on day two of the Elite group match-up against Uttar Pradesh at Kanpur, just 78 runs behind UP’s first-innings total. It was a day of struggle for UP as both Williams and Martin found the boundaries with ease and staved off any attempts of a fightback from the bowlers. Earlier, UP had extended its overnight of 303 for 6 to 346 thanks to some lower-order hitting.
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Joginder Sharma’s second consecutive five-wicket haul helped Haryana bowl out Punjab for 224, with only Ravneet Ricky’s 58 standing out amid the rubble, but two late wickets helped Punjab fight back at Mohali. Joginder’s decisive strikes with the new ball left Punjab reeling, before Ricky stemmed the rot with a gritty 161-ball knock. Dinesh Mongia, who fell for a golden duck, will hope for a much better showing from himself and his middle order as Punjab aim to push for victory in the game.

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Graeme Hick led the revival – a brief one – for the World XI with his 44© Getty Images

Brilliant hitting by Stephen Fleming took New Zealand to a resounding victory by nine wickets over the FICA World XI at Jade Stadium in Christchurch with nearly 34 overs to spare. Fleming went on a one-man wrecking mission as he raced to a century off 54 balls, with his last 50 runs coming in ust 19 deliveries. He struck seven sixes off Muttiah Muralitharan to bring up New Zealand’s 100 in only the 12th over.Fleming saw plenty of Muralitharan during his innings of 274 in the last Test series played between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in 2003. He showed Murali no mercy here , playing a large part in his sorry figures of 0 for 57 in only 3.1 overs.Fleming’s batting reached the heights it did during his innings of 134 against South Africa in the 2003 World Cup. He reached his century with nine sixes and nine fours, and hit one more four before holing out to Craig Spearman for 106. Such was his dominance that Nathan Astle seemed a passenger with his unbeaten 36, which came at almost a run a ball.The damage was done earlier, when Daryl Tuffey and Kyle Mills scythed through the World XI’s top order after Shane Warne had chosen to bat first. Both Tuffey and Mills took two wickets apiece as the World XI slumped to 20 for 4. But Jonty Rhodes, out of cricket since September 2003, and Graeme Hick, who hadn’t played since the end of the last English season, effected a mini-recovery. They added 79, with Rhodes scoring 36 and Hick 44. Warne hit out for 26 as well, but after the fast bowlers did the damage at the top, Daniel Vettori swept through the lower order to take 3 for 33 to dismiss the World XI for 158 in 39.3 overs.Tuffey took 2 for 25 and Mills 2 for 30. There was a special cheer when Jeff Wilson, a double international, took Hick’s wicket to end with 1 for 27 off seven overs, his first wicket at this level since 1993.Off the field, much of the attention centred around the good cause which the match was supporting – to raise funds for the tsunami victims in South East Asia. The takings from the game came to $NZ506,233, and it supplemented a sum of $NZ700,000 that had already been pledged.The only sour note was provided by the arrest of five people for drunk and disorderly behaviour, and another spectator – also inebriated – trying to run off with a collection bucket. Those around him caught him and handed him over to the police.The second match will be played in Wellington on Monday, with the final game to follow in Hamilton two days later.

The South African board has announced it will meet in Johannesburg tomorrow to discuss reviving the cancelled tour to Pakistan. Gerald Majola, the chief executive, said he had received a letter from Pakistan offering alternative fixtures.A statement read: “Gerald Majola is to convene a meeting of the management committee of Cricket South Africa in Johannesburg on Tuesday to discuss the PCB proposal and to receive a full briefing from security consultants.”The South Africans originally called off the tour after a bomb blast in an empty Karachi office building on Friday night. They said the security in Pakistan had deteriorated to an unacceptable level, and offered to either play the series outside Pakistan or delay the tour until security improved. The Pakistan board, however, refused to play the series away from home.The revised fixtures miss out Karachi all together and have the option of excluding Peshawar. The South African committee will consult with their government, Eric Simons, the coach, and Graeme Smith, the captain, before making a final decision.”We made a decision on Saturday, based on information from our security consultants who had also been in contact with intelligence agencies,” Majola added. “That information was that the situation in Pakistan, particularly following a bomb blast in Karachi on Friday evening, meant that sending our team to Karachi on Sunday as planned would have constituted an unacceptable risk.”Majola said the his board would continue to assess the security situation and continue to look at it in relation to the proposed alternative fixtures: “We will continue to make every effort to find alternatives that do not pose an unacceptable level of risk to our national team.”Meanwhile, Rameez Raja, chief executive of the Pakistan board, said he was confident that the tour would still go ahead. “I talked to Gerald Majola and he has conveyed to me that they would find a positive way before Tuesday evening to reschedule the tour.”He added: “I am confident that the tour will go ahead with three Tests and as many one-day games as originally planned. They had misconceptions about Fridays blast that it was a car bomb and after talking to our security officials, they got the clear picture that the blast was not linked to terrorism.”

Skipper Tushar Arothe hit a fine century to give Baroda the upper hand in their Ranji Trophy league match against Saurashtra at Rajkot on Thursday.Baroda started their first innings well, putting on 70 runs for the first wicket. Nayan Mongia, batting at number three, hit an unbeaten 74, made off 149 balls with seven fours. He held the fort as a mini-collapse occurred with him at the other end.Arothe’s presence stabilised the innings, and the pair took Baroda through to the close of play. At stumps, Baroda were 283/4, with Arothe not out on 105 off 202 balls. Mongia and Arothe had added 149 runs for the fifth wicket.