DAVE LANGFORD-SMITH will miss this weekend’s games against Surrey and Sussex in the Friends Provident Trophy after sustaining an intercostal injury while bowling in the InterContinental Cup Final against Canada at Leicester. Eoin Morgan is now ineligible to play for Ireland in the competition, having represented Middlesex.
The pair are replaced by overseas players Jesse Ryder and Nantie Hayward. Ireland coach Phil Simmons said, “We have some huge games coming up, and I will continue to rotate the players. Jeremy Bray benefited from a rest, and looked in imperious form against Canada, when he scored 146.
We have played a lot of cricket this year, and I’m mindful of the toll this has taken on certain individuals. I was delighted by our performance in Leicester, and it’s always nice to collect a trophy. Hopefully we can carry our form into the games with Surrey and Sussex.”
After their stunning two-day win at Leicester on Wednesday, the wheels almost came off for the Irish team. Literally. En route from the east midlands to London, the team bus was pulled over for a routine check by the Metropolitan Police’s Vehicle Unit.
After 20 minutes the Irish management were informed that both the bus and the driver were being placed under a prohibition order for 24 hours. It seemed the driver had been over the limit . . . of hours worked in a certain period, not alcohol consumed . . . while the back wheels of the bus also contravened regulations. While the Irish squad contemplated spending the night in a Little Chef, the bobbies produced two police coaches and drove them the rest of the way to the hotel.
There was another unfortunate brush with officialdom for Eoin Morgan last weekend. While the Irish batsman was doing twelfth man duty for England, he was actually stopped from entering Lord’s by that ground’s legendarily officious gatemen.
A quick call to Middlesex secretary Vinnie Codrington secured Morgan’s admission to what is his normal place of work. No harm done, however, and Eoin had a few runarounds in front of the test crowd. Suitably inspired, he got 100 for Middlesex the next day and a cracking unbeaten 84 for Ireland at Leicester.
According to Tony Greig’s podcast this weekend, the Board of Cricket Control in India has been unable to interest sponsors in the one-day international series against South Africa at Stormont. The former England captain says that five parties bought tender documents for the series, but none of them put in a bid. The BCCI had lowered revenue expectations in the five matches . . . India and South Africa play each other three times, and the test sides also play Ireland once . . . but had still set a base price of $600,000 per game. Tickets for the games are now on sale, details on www. cricketeurope. net or from Heather Johnson at the ICU, (0044) 28-90662310.
Boyd Rankin suffered an early blow to his career with Derbyshire last weekend. He damaged an ankle during the county’s game against Middlesex, when his stunning eight wicket haul drew wide praise. But he now faces a six to eight week lay-off with a stress fracture on his left fibula. The fibula is the smaller of the bones that link the knee and foot but doesn’t support the bodyweight.
Rankin now faces four weeks of complete inactivity and two further weeks of rehab before he can build up his fitness to bowl again. Last weekend Inside Edge reported that former England bowler Mike Hendrick has tipped Rankin for a place on next winter’s England A tour.
The draw for the second round of the Antalis Leinster Senior Cup takes place on Tuesday at 1.30pm on Near 98.1FM.
The north Dublin community station has shown a strong commitment to cricket and its weekend reports and commentaries are proving very popular.
News of a startling piece of hitting in a junior league match earlier this month. North Kildare made 238 visiting Rush 2nds and were most delighted to have four home batsmen back in the pavilion with a handful on the board. In strode Wasim Akhtar, primarily a bowler, to play what was described as “the innings of his life”. Wasim batted for just 48 balls to make 149 . . . a strike rate that would be astonishing in Stick Cricket, let alone the real thing. He hit 16 sixes to give Rush an easy and rapid victory. Let Inside Edge know of any other notable feats at junior level and we’ll highlight them here.
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