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Send us your feedback … what do you think?”Cricket Kenya (CK) has suspended its Central province ahead of next month’s board elections.”The province has not promoted any form of the game in their area of jurisdiction,” Samir Inamdar, CK’s chairman, told Cricinfo. “They have less than the prescribed three active clubs as required for the formation of branches. The decision to suspend their membership of CK was unanimously reached in a special council meeting. “The province was set up by the old Kenyan Cricket Association, and at the time Cricinfo reported that it appeared to have been created to give the existing board extra votes as there was little evidence of any meaningful cricket being played there.When the old KCA executive was ousted in May 2005, the new board decided to embrace Centrals (and Rift Valley, another disputed new province) and try to promote the game there. To safeguard the possibility that a province could not simply be guaranteed its place as a member with representation rights without ensuring that it had a minimal level of cricket being played within it, it was decided, in keeping with past practice, that a province had to have a minimum of three cricket-playing clubs to remain as a provincial affiliate.While in Rift Valley that faith has been justified – there are now 12 active clubs in the region – in Centrals there has been almost no activity Inamdar said: “the province is at present, from a cricketing perspective, totally moribund”.S Bindal, Centrals’ provincial representative, never attended any board or council meeting and, as a result, lost his seat under CK rules.Joshua Kiragu, the Centrals chairman, was appointed as CK’s development convenor. “He was given the task of co-ordinating the Cricket Without Boundaries project in Western Province,” Inamdar said. “The board had raised queries about the application of certain funding given to him for this project and despite repeated requests he failed to report to the CEO and/or the treasurer on this issue.” The CK executive has resolved to remove him from his seat on the ground that he too has failed to attend any board or council meetings for over a year. The executive voted to suspend Central, citing the fact that “it had no active cricket being played, no real structure, no constitution and no recognised officials”.CK officials believe that cricket has a future in the region and they will attempt to relaunch the game when new and more reliable people can be found. “There is great potential there particularly among schools,” Inamdar said, “and a good possible source of funding from the many high profile businesses and industries in the vicinity.”

Hauritz: ‘I still want to play for Australia and I see this as my best chance’ © Getty Images

Nathan Hauritz, the Queensland offspinner, has decided to leave Queensland and move to New South Wales (NSW) to try and revive his fledgling Test career.Hauritz, 24, who made a solitary Test appearance against India in November 2004, on a dustbowl at Mumbai where he took five wickets, was moving to NSW without any club or state contract. “I still want to play for Australia and I see this as my best chance,” Hauritz told AAP. “I’ll head down there, get a job, play grade cricket and see what happens.”Hauritz debuted for Queensland in 2000-01, taking a total of 59 first-class wickets at 47.8 with a best of 4 for 95. In 73 one-day games for the state, he has taken 90 wickets at 29.95. However, since his Test debut he has played just seven games for Queensland, going wicketless in his only first-class match last season. In February 2005, he was dropped from the squad to make way for Mitchell Johnson, the left-arm fast bowler. “Queensland has a fast bowling culture and I see this as a fantastic opportunity to go down there [NSW] and work within a spin bowling culture,” said Hauritz of bowling in the Sydney Cricket Ground, traditionally Australia’s most spin-friendly venue. “I want to move to the next level and the opportunity to work with guys like Greg Matthews and Stuart McGill is too good to pass up.”His domestic one-day record this season in the ING Cup shows better figures with seven wickets in 10 matches at an average of 61.42. “I could have stayed here and probably been a good one-day spinner for Queensland for the next 10 years but I want to play both forms of the game – one-day and four-day cricket – and I want to give myself a chance to play Test cricket again.”It’s exciting but at the same time it was also a really hard decision to leave all the guys I’ve played junior cricket with,” says Hauritz of his plan to move. “I’ve got to back myself and do what I think is best for me right now. I can’t wait to get down there and get into it.”Terry Oliver, the Queensland coach, said that the door was always open for Hauritz to come back. “It’s a gutsy move and if he’s going to do it then now is the right time,” he said. “Horrie has been a tremendous asset to Queensland Cricket and has been one of our form one- day players over the last couple of years.”

Adam Gilchrist: confident as he takes on the mantle of captaincy© Getty Images

Is it a sign of Australia’s willingness to evolve, or proof of their impending demise? As one of the most hyped series of recent times prepared to get underway at Bangalore, Adam Gilchrist, Australia’s stand-in captain, indicated that his team’s era of unabashed aggression was about to draw to a close.With the scars of 2001 very much to the fore during a chaotic press conference at the Chinnaswamy stadium, Gilchrist hinted that a patient approach might be called upon, on a dry and cracked pitch that the coach, John Buchanan, recently described as “terrible”.”By nature, we are an aggressive team,” admitted Gilchrist. “But to a huge extent, that aggression left the door open to India on our last tour. Back then, we were a very confident team riding a wave of momentum, but we’ve had a lot of time to ponder that defeat, and we’ve picked up a great deal of experience in subcontinent as well.”At Kolkata in 2001, India famously brought Australia’s all-conquering run of 16 consecutive victories to an end, after VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid compiled a stand of 376 to turn the follow-on on its head. Australia, set an all-but-impossible final-day target of 384, crumbled to 212 as Harbhajan Singh ripped through the innings.”We are wise to those experiences,” added Gilchrist, who made a king pair in that match. “This time, we have planned much better, and we are ready to adopt what we think would be the right approach. Whether that means we’ll have to be more patient, remains to be seen.”Any attempt by the captains to play down the hype was emphatically outmanoeuvred by the series sponsors, who first attempted to rouse the assembled press hoards with a continuous loop of “I vow to thee my country”, before unveiling the series trophy – which emerged out of the backdrop on a revolving plinth – amid a deafening blast of the Star Wars theme tune.Star Trek might have been more appropriate, given all the talk of Australia’s “final frontier”, but Gilchrist refused to be drawn into such talk, placing those words straight back into Steve Waugh’s mouth, from where they had first emerged.”It was maybe the final frontier for Stephen,” said Gilchrist. “It was towards the end of his career, and he hadn’t had success here, despite achieving so much in various places around the world. We prefer to see it as a fantastic opportunity to create a bit of history, although that’s not to say we’re putting any more emphasis on this than an Ashes series or the last India series. It’s great that the Australia-India rivalry is so high-profile, and on worldwide scale, but that’s as far as it goes.”The series begins without two of the most brilliant batsmen of the modern era, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar, although Gilchrist was wary not to get carried away by Tendulkar’s absence, and the effect it might have on the Indian team.”I regard Sachin as one of the best players I’ve ever seen,” he said. “He provides a wonderful foundation for the rest of the order to work from, but in all honesty, he’s not been the one who’s really done the damage to us in the past series. He’s played one or two remarkable innings, but over the course of the series it’s been the Dravids and Laxmans who’ve really done it.”I can tell you, we’re well aware of the talent in the Indian team,” concluded Gilchrist. “We won’t be taking it easy at all.”

Russel Arnold will be playing for his international future when he leads SriLanka A during their tough tour of South Africa and Kenya starting onMonday.

© AFP

Dropped from the national squad after a disappointing World Cup, he returnedfor the start of the Bank Alfalah Cup, but was jettisoned again after asingle match.With his confidence at rock bottom it was unwise to recall him so soon forthat tri-series. Now though, after a long break and with domestic runs underhis belt, he claims to have a "new spring in his step" and is lookingforward to the chance of reclaiming his space in the side."The South African tour will be a stepping stone for me to make a comebackto the national team," Arnold, now 29 years old, told reporters before theSri Lanka A team’s departure to South Africa."I think if I can focus all my energies on this tour, England should takecare of itself. I will be disappointed if I don’t make it to the teamagainst England."Signs that he was coming out of the bad patch were evident during theQuadrangular series two weeks ago where he made two big hundreds (160 and147) for Old Peterites and then followed it up with a brilliant unbeaten 93in the J.R. Jayawardene trophy one-day fixture against traditional rivalsSSC."The way things have gone for me in the last couple of weekends I amconfident. When I go out to bat there is that little bit of extra spring inmy step. I feel fresh and I know where I stand," said Arnold.

© CricInfo

"I did spend a lot of time in the nets and worked a lot on my fitness. Butmy main focus was to clear my mind. The feeling of failure sometimes tellsvery heavily on you. Sometimes you burden yourself with unwanted things inyour mind. I should be stronger and more focused on what I have to do now,"Arnold continued."I have experienced drops in form during my career but this is the firsttime a thing like this has happened. It also came at a very important timefor Sri Lanka cricket. If I was in slightly better nick I think things mighthave been a little bit different for the team."In the World Cup semi-final against Australia we were 60-6 when I walkedin. If I was my normal self and on top of my game, there was a slight chancewe could have turned things around," he said.Sri Lanka A will play seven games in South Africa followed by five one-dayinternationals in Kenya. With England due in Sri Lanka in November Arnold -and his teammates – have a perfect opportunity to press their claims.The selectors will focus most on the batting, which has been inconsistentthroughout the past year. Apart from Arnold, Michael Vandort, Naveed Nawaz,Jehan Mubarak, Ian Daniel and Avishka Gunawardena will all be vying forplaces in the national squad.The fast bowlers will also be looked at closely too though, especially withPrabath Nissanka certain to miss the England tour because of his troublesomeknees. Currently recovering from surgery, Nissanka is targeting theAustralia tour in February for a comeback.

"From Sri Lanka’s point of view this `A’ tour is a great opportunity for theplayers. It comes at a time when there is a not much cricket being playedand a lot of people will be following it closely. It is also coming at atime when our cricket is not at the top and just before an England tour,"said Arnold."The team is talented and they are very keen to do well. They believe in meand I am enjoying the captaincy with them at the moment. It’s helped thatthe selectors named the squad so early as we have got to know each otherwell," he said.Captaincy is nothing new to Arnold, who has led his school St. Peter’sCollege and then his club NCC (where he is the present captain), his firmHatton National Bank and also Board XI and A teams against touring sides."Captaincy is keeping me a bit sharper and given me more responsibilities tocontribute with the bat," added Arnold.

The West Indies upcoming Tests and limited-overs international away series with Pakistan will go ahead after all, following the acceptance of the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB), offer to play in a neutral venue.Earlier today, the WICB confirmed that the series will now take place on the heels of this agreement. The series, now reduced to two Tests and three one-day internationals, will be played in the United Arab Emirates at the Sharjah Stadium.The tour has been in limbo following the intensification of military activity on the India/Pakistan border. The fact that there was also action on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border did not help the PCB’s case in convincing the WICB to send their team to tour in Pakistan.”We were always committed to playing the series and we are happy with the arrangements, so we are now looking forward to an exciting contest between the two teams,” said Michael Hall, chief operations officer of the WICB.The PCB has indicated that the revised itinerary of this series will now comprise two Tests and three limited-overs internationals to be played between the last week of January and the third week of February.This would be the first time that a Test series is played on a neutral venue. In October, the International Cricket Council approved the use of neutral venues for Test and one-day series if the host country was unable to do so for whatever reason.The tour will now run from the last week of January to the third week of February. The revised schedule will be issued later.

Tottenham captain Ledley King has rejected claims that his side are in crisis, and is determined to have a strong end to the season.

Spurs were sitting pretty in third place with a ten-point advantage earlier in the year, but defeats to Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton and Norwich over the last two months has seen the Gunners overtake them in the top four.

Despite an unexpected defeat to the Canaries on Monday, King believes that Harry Redknapp’s men can end the season well.

“We will have to look at a few things and have a few words and try to move on from there,” he told The Guardian.

“I think that the earlier we kind of have a speak together about it, the better it will be. The only thing that needs to be said is that we need to stick together at this time, keep going until the end of the season and keep working hard for each other. There is not a crisis in any way.

“It’s up to the senior lads to lift the spirits of the rest of the lads and keep them there. It has been a long season and there are some tired legs but we have to keep pushing.

“We have top players. We have lost to Norwich but we have another big game that we have to get up for,” he concluded.

Spurs face London rivals Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final this Sunday.

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By Gareth McKnight

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The Newcastle United fans are hoping to see the arrival of a new striker to the club over the summer and I would expect to see that happen, but is the future of Newcastle’s attack already at the club? In the penultimate Premier League game of the season at Stamford Bridge Newcastle finished the game with Sammy Ameobi, Nile Ranger and Kazenga Lua Lua all on the pitch. These youngsters are all clambering to prove themselves in the first team and while they will have to bide their time, could next season be their opportunity to shine?

Nile Ranger is further ahead in his progression than Lua Lua and Ameobi, having featured throughout this season’s campaign and he is more likely to be the one who pushes for a regular place on the bench next season. Lua Lua had an impressive loan spell at Brighton last season where he scored four goals in eleven games, but it was unfortunately cut short as he broke his leg. It may be that Ameobi and Lua Lua are still not ready in their development to push for the first team and would be better suited going out on loan next season. These are decisions Alan Pardew will have to make in an attempt to blend recognised first teamers and promising young players into the first team squad.

Pardew seems willing to give his young players a chance and he is clearly well aware of what they are capable of, as this quote from Pardew about his young players on NUFC blog shows, “They have been in the right environment and they are ready to step in if needed. They are coming up from a development pool that is well looked after with people like Peter Beardsley, Steve Stone, Willie Donachie and of course John Carver and myself having an input into that.” It’s too premature to say whether these young guns are going to be the future of Newcastle’s attack as they have only dipped their toes into the Premiership waters so far but there are promising signs.

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What I have seen of Nile Ranger this season is encouraging in terms of his work rate, pace and movement, but he doesn’t seem to have that natural finisher’s instinct in front of goal. If he is to be a Newcastle striker of the future I think it’s something he needs to work on, but it’s not unattainable and he could have a promising future ahead at the club. I have seen very little of Ameobi and Lua Lua, other than their cameos against Chelsea, to really cast judgement on the players. However, if they continue to excel for the reserves, they will get more chances like they did at Stamford Bridge to prove themselves.

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It will be interesting to see how these three attack-minded players develop over the course of next season, the activity in the summer transfer window will play a major part in whether or not they are given the opportunity to make the step up. While all Newcastle fans will be expecting and hoping to see new attackers come in to St James’ over the summer, I imagine Ranger, Lua Lua and Ameobi won’t be as keen to see new forwards joining the club as it will inevitably stunt their chances of making the first team. If they have what it takes, their time will come though and there would be nothing better than to see academy developed players making the grade.

Could one of the most turbulent weeks in recent history at Manchester United actually turn the club around in a very positive way. After convincing Wayne Rooney to say, the Glazer family have pledged to give Sir Alex Ferguson a reported £100 million to spend on new players. Top class players being back on the radar of Sir Alex Ferguson is exactly what Manchester United fans want to be seeing. In the next couple of transfer windows, Manchester United are going to be under the microscope, to see what players they can attract with the cash released by the Glazers.

Here, we table where Manchester United would be wise to spend the cash, and who are the best alternatives. These are the players that Sir Alex Ferguson should be looking to sign.

Without a doubt Sir Alex Ferguson has to seriously consider the successor to Edwin van der Sar. The obvious choice is Igor Akinfeev. The 24 year old goalkeeper is a phenomenal shot stopper and has been on Ferguson’s radar for some time. Akinfeev has impressed Ferguson first hand, after an exceptional display during CSKA Moscow’s 3-3 draw at Old Trafford in November 2009. Ferguson has publicly stated his admiration for the keeper and with Edwin van der Sar due to retire at the end of the season, it seems now is the time for Ferguson to make his long awaited move for the goalkeeper.

With the imminent retirement of Paul Scholes and injury to Owen Hargreaves, Manchester United need a dynamic midfielder – Sneijder fits the bill perfectly. Sneijder has yet to sign a new deal with Inter Milan and has two and a half years remaining on his contract. Sneijder will be seen as a long term replacement for Paul Scholes and will offer United a great deal in the middle of the park. The Inter Milan midfielder would suit the English game with his dynamic approach, as well as a great eye for a pass. His performance in last seasons Champions League tie at Stamford Bridge was as close to perfection as a midfielder will get. The Dutchman would bring a new dimension to United’s midfield and would add goals from that position.

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Even with Wayne Rooney signing a new deal, United need to invest in another top quality striker. At present they have Berbatov and Rooney, and behind them rising stars. United need strong alternatives and another top class striker would alleviate the goal scoring pressures from Wayne Rooney. Luiz Suarez is hot on Manchester United’s radar. What Luiz Suarez will offer Manchester United is goals. Suarez has an incredible goal scoring record for Ajax netting 81 goals in 104 appearances. Suarez proved his abilities at this summer World Cup Finals – scoring three goals in six World Cup matches, and was a star for Uruguay as they reached the semi finals. As well as goals, the Uruguayan has a very decent assist record and would fit into the Manchester United ethos. Suarez has continued his form this season, scoring 11 times in 14 appearances. Suarez should be on the top of Ferguson’s shopping list.

Manchester United need to enter the transfer market as soon as possible. With the golden generation at Old Trafford coming to an end, its time for Sir Alex Ferguson to create a new team once again. The squad as it stands has a lot of potential but it needs a couple of key signings to push the club forward. If Manchester United can alleviate the pressures of loosing such key individuals by buying well, the future looks very bright for Manchester United.

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Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill has admitted that he feared the side would be relegated as he took the job on earlier this season.

The Northern Irishman replaced the sacked Steve Bruce back in December with the Black Cats in big trouble, but he has steered them away from relegation and towards the safety of mid-table.

However, O’Neill looks back on the earlier part of the season and admits that it could have been different for the Wearside club.

“It’s a completely different outlook from my first game. We should now start to look up the table a wee bit,” he told Mirror Football.

“I was genuinely fearful for our position back then.

“I’d been at Wolves and watched the game [when Sunderland lost 2-1 to two late goals after Steve Bruce’s sacking], and watched us take the lead, but I knew from the minute we missed the penalty that we might lose the game. You just felt it.

“And of course they lost that match, and Wolves went on to 14 points and we were stuck on 11.

“They [Wolves] have not moved on greatly since then and if we’d had another loss, particularly at home to Blackburn, they would have shot up the table and that would have really concerned us.

“I’ll go in a lot less nervous than I did at the time – though I’ll still be nervous, knowing me. It was such a big game for us, which obviously we wanted to win.

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“With 37 points on the board, I’d love to have 40 just to be safe – 37 might keep teams up. With 10 games to go, if you’d said to me with 11 points on the board before Blackburn, if you’d given me 37 I’d probably have rushed out and taken it,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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As a nation we are very quick to pass judgement on players who don’t instantly deliver, have a blip in form or have a few bad games. Andy Carroll is the latest recipient of unjust criticism after the striker’s display against Tottenham at the weekend earned him bad press from some quarters. Are one or two bad games enough to justify criticism of a player just starting out at a new club, or should fans be more patient to see the best from players? It was only month ago in the game with Manchester City that Carroll was rattling two goals in and was being highly acclaimed as a Liverpool star in the making. Now after inexplicably missing a guilt edge header in a Liverpool loss he is all of a sudden condemned as the wrong man for Liverpool! It’s quite baffling how quick some people are to judge and to demand instant fruition from players.

Fernando Torres is a fine example of a player who twelve months ago many people rated as a contender for the best striker in the world. A poor World Cup campaign and a disappointing Premiership season and now Torres is suddenly a bad player, well not in my book, I think football fans and the press are too quick to write players off. I’m not defending Torres, as I agree he has looked lacklustre since joining Chelsea and he hasn’t even shown glimpses of the sort of form he produced at Anfield. This leads to people constantly looking for answers as to why and the easiest way seems to be by handing out criticism, whereas a little faith and patience in players will often prove to be the best formula to success. On the other hand it could be questioned when clubs are paying out the sort of money that was spent on Carroll and Torres should they be delivering instantly?

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I seem to remember Thierry Henry being written off in his early days at Arsenal after he didn’t make a flying start to his career with the Gunners and look what he went on to achieve at the club. It’s not a new phenomenon in football and it will always go on, but as to pinpointing why we are so quick to judge is not easy to depict. I think it’s mainly as a result of the high expectations fans and the media place on players, which leads to an expectance for continual top draw performances from players. If these performances aren’t instant or consistent then you can be sure a barrage of criticism is waiting around the corner, along with premature claims of players not being good enough, or not being what the club needs.

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It’s funny because in the same way we are quick to write players off who are under performing, we are just as quick to hype players up when they are performing, then once the inevitable dip in form comes around the cycle starts again. I’m sure there are many opinions as to why we are so quick to write players off who aren’t instant successes or have a bad patch and all I would say is, the key is to have a little more patience.