Associate Cricket's big talent drain

For a country like Bermuda, losing a young player of Rawlins' calibre is nothing short of a disaster  © ICC

In recent times, we have seen a good number of players from South Africa sign on to play as Kolpak players in English county cricket, either for financial security or due to uncertainty over their roles in the national side as a result of South Africa's transformation policy which requires a minimum of six colored players in a playing XI. Among those that have signed such deals in the recent past include Kyle Abbott, Simon Harmer, Colin Ingram, Rilee Rossouw, Dane Vilas, David Wiese, Stiaan van Zyl and Hardus Viljoen. This move has effectively ended their international careers for South Africa, or risked a lengthy delay between their previous international appearance and their next if they were to have a change of heart in the future.

However, despite their losses, South Africa remain a very powerful unit in all formats of the international game as a result of having many talented players to pick from among those that have chosen to stay behind and represent their country. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for associate nations such as Bermuda or Namibia, who only have a handful of talented players to pick from, which makes losing such players to another country nothing short of a disaster.

Alastair Cook quits as England captain

Cook led England in 59 Test matches © Getty Images 

Australia's key to success in India

As published on Cricket World

Australia just lost their seventh consecutive ODI match away from home but there is something to be worrying them more than that. When you look at the next fixture for Australia, one cannot blame them. Australia are scheduled to play four test matches in India between Feb 23-Mar 29 It was one thing to play India away and another to lock horns with them in their own homeground.

A lot of talk has been done well before the start of the big series and even the mind games have began. Australia's recent record in the subcontinent has been underwhelming as well.Just three victories from 20 Tests played since 2005(including two of those in Bangladesh more than a decade ago) and only two batsmen in the current squad with a Test average above 40 in Asian conditions [Skipper Steve Smith (41.57 from 7 matches) and Shaun Marsh (78.6 from 3 matches)]. While captain Smith has made himself sound positive and asked his in form David Warner to attack the Indian bowlers, the latter's record in Asia is not so encouraging with just one century in 9 Test matches averaging 33.17. 

Is it time for Wenger at Arsenal?

When you think of Arsenal, you think of Arsene Wenger. The 67-year old frenchman has been the manager of Gunners for 20 seasons now, making it a club record. Sir Alex Ferguson still holds the record of  9704 days as a manager for Manchester united from 1986-2013, still 2000 days longer than Wenger's reign in Arsenal so far.

Before signing with Arsenal, Wenger had coached in the French Ligue-1 leading AS. Monaco to victory in the Coupe de France, and two seasons in Japan as manager for the J.league team Nagoya Grampus Eight. When Wenger first arrived in London 22 September 1996 he wasn´t well known to the English football world and many supporters and even players were asking "Arsene who?". Wenger's first major move after joining the club was to make dietary changes for the players such as forbidding them to drink beer on their days off, preferring white meat over red meat, and suggesting that pasta would be the new pre-match dish. Wenger was also given control over the clubs players contracts, training sessions and transfers for the club, unlike any of his predecessors.

NZ thumps Australia to win Chappell-Hadlee Trophy

On the back of Ross Taylor's record equaling 16th ODI hundred for NZ followed by Trent Boult's career best figures of 6/33 saw a depleted Australia lost the three match series and with that the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy 2-0 after NZ batted first like the first match of the series. The difference though was that this time the home team had won the toss.

They showed that it was the correct decision as the veteran Ross Taylor scored a century equaling the record for most centuries ODIs by a New Zealand player along side Nathan Astle to help the hosts post a challenging score of 281. Taylor also equaled AB de Villiers' record for most ODI centuries (14) batting at #4.