ntnews.com.au lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll SPORT Pakistan’s Hafeez shines to crush Sri Lanka New Zealand on alert in wake of Gayle forecast MOHAMMAD Hafeez dem- Pakistan to 5-326 before he Prasanna (22) in an incisive WEST Indies superstar Chris Auckland on Boxing Day, suf- and he should be available for onstrated his all-round skills took 2-35 to help dismiss Sri spell to thwart any hopes Sri Gayle may face New Zealand fering hamstring problems, the two Twenty20s,’’ said Gib- to guide Pakistan to a con- Lanka for 213 in 44.4 overs at Lanka had harboured. in two Twenty20 internat- but national coach Ottis Gib- son after the tourists slumped vincing 113-run win over Sri Sharjah stadium. The win Pakistan paceman Umar ionals in the new year after son on Sunday gave him a to an eight-wicket third Test Lanka in the third day-night gives Pakistan a 2-1 lead in Gul, playing his first match undergoing treatment in Syd- chance of playing in the Janu- defeat in Hamilton to lose the international on Sunday. the five-match series. since March this year after a ney for an injury. ary fixtures. three-match series 2-0. The 33-year-old right- Hafeez accounted for the knee operation, took 3-19. The explosive 34-year-old ‘‘We’re in communication Gayle has been undergoing hander smashed a career dangerous Dinesh Chandi- Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne opener was ruled out of the with him and the people he’s rehabilitation and has com- best unbeaten 140 to steer mal (36) and Seekkugge Dilshan hit 59 of 62 balls. one-day series starting in working with in Australia pleted net sessions in Sydney. We have to take Bottom line is they’re it on the chin: Gooch up themselves: Swann CRICKET already a disaster . Now it’s were among those convinced Swannyg66 .. I make plenty ... Panesar is also adamant By MARK HAYES a bloody joke,’’ former Eng- that Swann was referring to I am afraid on this occasion that the English take pride in THE furore surrounding lish captain Michael Vaugh- current members of the side. you have made one,’’ Vaugh- representing their country. GRAHAM Gooch says Graeme Swann’s comments an tweeted yesterday. That prompted several ex- an tweeted. ‘‘When you’re playing for England has to weather about players being up their Speaking to English media changes on Twitter. Pringle added: ‘‘Swann England, it is the pinnacle for the abuse and ridicule backsides shows how badly on Sunday after his retire- ‘‘Don’t jump to conclusions could have made it clear that every sportsman,’’ he said. coming its way in its bro- the bottom has dropped out of ment announcement, Swann Vaughney. I wasn’t talking he was not talking about eng- ‘‘In no way (do we) take it ken Ashes campaign. the English Ashes tour. spoke strongly about fellow about the England dressing land but didn’t.’’ for granted, absolutely not.’’ The former captain The fresh controversy cricketers who do not ap- room or anyone in it. You too Spinner Monty Panesar, Panesar said the timing of turned England batting comes a day after the English preciate what they have. bbc,’’ Swann tweeted. who will take Swann’s place the retirement was Swann’s coach said there was no off-spinner stunned the crick- ‘‘Some people playing the In another post, Swann in the team for the Boxing right. He paid rich tribute, lack of effort by the tour- et world by announcing his game at the minute have no took aim at Pringle with: Day Test, played a straight noting Swann took 255 ists who had just been out- retirement with two Tests left idea how far up their own ‘‘just because Derek Pringle bat about the controversy. Test wickets compared to pointed by a ‘‘totally domi- in the series. backsides they are,’’ Swann writes something I find it as- ‘‘He’s probably, I don’t Australian legend Richie nant’’ Australia. A tour that seemed full of said. ‘‘It will bite them on the tonishing that people buy into know, referring to a local foot- Benaud, who snared 248 with ‘‘I think there has been a promise for England is now in arse one day and, when it it?! Making stuff up sells pa- ball team back home maybe,’’ his leg-spin. lot of fight over the last 3-4 disarray. The Ashes are gone does, I hope they look back pers I suppose.’’ the left-armer said. ‘‘That’s the elite class . years,’’ Gooch said. and Australia are on track for and are embarrassed.’’ But Vaughan and Pringle ‘‘We know Swanny, we he’s obviously an icon crick- ‘‘If you look at our re- a 5-0 whitewash. Vaughan and fellow former were not about to back down. know where his heart is — eter, (he’s) been a match win- cord in the past year (Eng- ‘‘This tour for England was English player Derek Pringle ‘‘We all make mistakes he’s right behind us.’’ ner for England.’’ land had been unbeaten in Tests since November last year before this tour), this has been a good team. ‘‘But this series, it’s not working out. We’ve not played good cricket; not been allowed to play good cricket by Australia and they’ve got a settled team.’’ England may have al- ready surrendered the As- hes but there is still plenty to play for, with emerging all-rounder Ben Stokes keen to continue to make his mark. ‘‘You can’t say we haven’t worked in the practice and training area, but it’s not happened on the field,’’ said Gooch. ‘‘Everyone’s got to look at their role and see how they can improve. Our per- formance is not acceptable to English cricket.’’ Gooch said it had been a ‘‘shock to everyone’’ that Graeme Swann had re- tired and that he’d leave ‘‘a big hole’’ in the line-up. ‘‘It’s always disruptive when people go. You come out with a plan, with what you think your team is go- ing to be and how it will play and it clearly hasn’t worked out,’’ Gooch said. Graeme Swann’s mid- Ashes series retirement announcement has shock- ed many people in the cricket community, not Indian bowler Zaheer Khan celebrates after the run out of Faf du Plessis Picture: AFP least Australia coach Dar- ren Lehmann. ‘‘You have to take that on the chin,’’ said Gooch. South Africa skipper backs ‘boys in the middle’ on draw ‘‘When you’re 3-0 down, there’s always going to be SOUTH Africa skipper But when top-scorer Faf du ed by a chorus of boos from and Vernon made in the mid- made good decisions over the a lot of noise around in the Graeme Smith defended the Plessis was run out off the the home crowd. dle,’’ said Smith after his side last period of time and have media and people (look- controversial decision to fifth ball of the 133rd over, Smith said it was the best reached 450 for seven. won cricket games for South PUB: ing) for off-the-ball stories abandon his team’s epic pur- having hit a majestic 134, the option with only the injured ‘‘With two overs to go, and Africa. That is how we got to NTNE-WS-24-D35KGE:MDA-TE: Y-C-CO-LO-R: and anything to harp on. suit of a world record score batsmen in the middle — Morne Morkel and No.11 Im- one Test match to go with an No.1 in the world, by trusting ‘‘But the simple fact is and settle for a tense first Test Vernon Philander and Dale ran Tahir left to bat. opportunity to win the series each other and trusting our we’ve been outplayed.’’ draw against India. Steyn — opted to bat out for ‘‘With Morne struggling to in Durban, we have to be decision-making.’’ ‘‘We’ve just got to look at South Africa needed just 16 the draw. stand and with no ability to 100 percent committed to The world record for a suc- ourselves — the coaching runs off the final three overs ‘‘Ultimately the guys out in run between the wickets and the decision. cessful run chase remains the staff, players, everyone — with three wickets remaining the middle made the decision with Imran you’re not too ‘‘The strength of this team 7-418 by West Indies against and say our performance as they chased down 458 to that they thought was in the sure what you are going to is that there are good Australia in 2002/03. has not been acceptable win the opening match at best interests of the team,’’ get. We as a team have to sup- decision-makers. The second Test starts in and we’ve got to improve.’’ the Wanderers. said Smith of a decision greet- port the decision that Dale ‘‘Each guy is mature, have Durban on Thursday. www.ntnews.com.au Tuesday, December 24, 2013. NT NEWS. 35.