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Warwickshire closed in on their sixth win in nine County ChampionshipDivision One games after dominating for the third consecutive day against Sussexat Arundel

30-Jun-2011
Scorecard
Warwickshire closed in on their sixth win in nine County ChampionshipDivision One games after dominating for the third consecutive day against Sussexat Arundel.Rikki Clarke scored an unbeaten 81 as the Bears stretched their first-inningslead to 230 before finally being dismissed for 481. Boyd Rankin and Jeetan Patel then took five quick wickets between them to leave hosts Sussex in danger of an innings defeat.However, an unbroken partnership of 87 between Luke Wright (75 not out) andOllie Rayner (29 not out) ensured the game will go to the fourth day with Sussexstill trailing by 29 on 201 for 5 at the close.Warwickshire took full control of the game in the morning as Keith Barker andClarke stretched their seventh-wicket stand to 79. Wright broke the partnership with his fifth ball of the morning when he had Barker caught behind by Andrew Hodd driving at a wide ball for 52.Monty Panesar trapped Chris Metters lbw for six but Patel maintainedWarwickshire’s momentum with a quickfire 21, which included a huge six offPanesar. The England spinner gained revenge when Patel top-edged a slog to midwicket tofinish with figures of 3 for 88 from 44 overs.Clarke launched Rayner for three sixes down the ground on his way to aseason-best score but he was left stranded when Rankin gloved a lifting deliveryfrom Amjad Khan to Hodd. Sussex’s hopes of salvaging the game took a massive hit inside the opening six overs as they lost both openers.Chris Nash (nine) tried to get his bat out of the way of a delivery from Rankinbut only succeeded in getting an inside edge onto his stumps and Joyce (14) wastrapped lbw by the Ireland bowler to leave Sussex wobbling at 35 for 2.Murray Goodwin batted for more than an hour to score 10 but his vigil endedwhen he played no shot to a straight ball from Patel and was lbw. Luke Wells (32) had already survived a run out opportunity going for a suicidal single when he gave his wicket away by charging down the wicket to Patel and was stumped by Tim Ambrose.Patel claimed his third wicket when Hodd tried to sweep a ball which was toofull and was bowled to reduce Sussex to 114 for 5. With Rana Naved-ul-Hasan unlikely to bat after going to hospital for a scan on a shoulder injury, Warwickshire scented victory inside three days only to be held up by Wright and Rayner.

Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan made it a tough day for Pakistan as Sri Lanka reached 245 for 2 by stumps

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran03-Nov-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Kumar Sangakkara made Test century No. 27•AFPOn a painful day for Pakistan off the field with three of their players getting jail terms for their involvement in spot-fixing, Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan made it a tough day for them on the field as well as Sri Lanka reached 245 for 2. On a track where the bowlers had little help, Sri Lanka turned in the sort of performance they needed to stand a chance of leveling this series.The two batsmen who starred were in contrasting form coming into this match: Dilshan had only one half-century in his previous five Tests, while Sangakkara had three half-centuries and a 211 in seven previous innings. Dilshan’s career took off when he became an opener a few years ago, and he rediscovered his touch today on returning to the top of the order after a brief, fruitless dalliance in the middle order.It didn’t seem like such a dominant day was on the cards for Sri Lanka after the first over of the day from Umar Gul. He got the ball to swerve around early on, beating Tharanga Paranavitana with his first delivery, before the batsman was reprieved three balls later at short leg. That didn’t hurt Pakistan, though, as Gul got the next delivery to bend sharply away from Paranavitana, who could only nick it to second slip. Two overs later, Sangakkara was nearly run out after a miscommunication with Dilshan.After those initial jitters though, the Sri Lankan batsmen started to take charge. Sangakkara opened out with a typically graceful cover drive in the fourth over before Dilshan got going with a couple of cracking drives for four when Gul pitched it up in the seventh over.With only two quick bowlers in the side, Pakistan had to resort to long spells of spin, and the slow bowlers had only a little assistance on the first day track. Saeed Ajmal was lofted over his head by Sangakkara in his only over before lunch, while Abdur Rehman was punched in front of point for a boundary by Dilshan.Sangakkara reached the milestone of 9000 Test runs in the morning, and had little trouble during another easy-on-the-eye innings. He had a life when on 68, when he was tricked by Saeed Ajmal after the batsman charged down the track; there was a thick edge which was very difficult for wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal to collect.Smart stats

Kumar Sangakkara became the 11th batsman overall and the second Sri Lankan after Mahela Jayawardene to reach the 9000-run mark in Tests.

Sangakkara reached the 9000-run mark in his 103rd Test making him the second-fastest to the mark in terms of matches after Brian Lara, who reached it in 101 Tests. However, Sangakkara reached the mark in just 172 innings, which is the fastest in terms of innings played.

The 173-run stand between Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan is the third-highest second-wicket stand for Sri Lanka against Pakistan in Tests. All four century stands for the second wicket have come in matches outside Sri Lanka.

Dilshan’s 92 is his second-highest score against Pakistan in Tests. It is also the second time that he has been dismissed in the nineties.

Sangakkara scored his 27th century in Tests taking him past Garry Sobers and level with Allan Border on the list of batsmen with the most Test centuries. His current average of 57.13 is sixth on the list of batsmen with 5000-plus runs.

Akmal did hang on to a similarly difficult chance in the final over before lunch but that too did not result in a wicket as the umpire Shavir Tarapore didn’t realise that the Gul bouncer had flown off Dilshan’s gloves.Both batsmen were more aggressive in the second session. A combination of poor bowling and aggressive intent resulted in a bunch of boundaries soon after the break, the highlight of which was Sangakkara’s slog-swept six off Rehman. Dilshan showed how confident he was by pulling Junaid Khan for six midway through the session, taking on the man at deep square leg.Sitting at a strong 170 for 1 at tea, with 36 more overs remaining in the day and the pitch proving harmless, Sri Lanka were expected to step the run rate up even more in the final session, but the Pakistan spinners choked off the runs allowing only seven runs in six overs. That slowed down Dilshan’s advance towards his first century since his broken-finger epic at Lord’s, and the wait for a triple-figure score was extended as an Ajmal doosra ended up as a catch to first slip.That brought together Sri Lanka’s two greatest run accumulators but even Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene couldn’t force the pace, with an early spell yielding only 11 off nine overs. That stranglehold was ended stylishly as Sangakkara eased three boundaries in a Junaid Khan over to race to 98. The 27th Test century came up soon after as Sangakkara launched Rehman over deep midwicket for a massive six.Jayawardene then survived a close call for lbw off Ajmal – the ball might have gone over the stumps – before Pakistan tested the batsmen with the second new ball, getting it to jag around. Sri Lanka survived those overs, though, which means their most experienced pair will be looking to heap more pain on Pakistan on Friday.

The question of scheduling a Twenty20 domestic tournament directly at odds with Australia’s Test preparations for the Australia-India Tests had Michael Hussey stumped

Alex Malcolm15-Dec-2011Michael Hussey has always been a diplomat. In school-yard terms you would describe him as the teacher’s pet, always sitting at the front of class, answering every question as perfectly as he can, eager to please, keen to say and do the right things. But the question of scheduling a Twenty20 domestic tournament directly at odds with Australia’s Test preparations for the Australia-India Tests had him stumped.”It’s a difficult one. I think . . . I think it’s err . . . I think, I don’t know what I think really.” Hussey said in a confused tone. He knew what he wanted to say. He just had to word it as carefully as he could.”I really want to be a part of the Test team,” Hussey said with clarity. “I love the traditional Test matches like the Boxing Day Test and the New Year’s Test. Obviously playing in my home Test match is really special as well. So, for me, that’s the No.1 priority.”With the amount of injuries that have been around the team in the last few months it does make you a little bit nervous that if you do have injuries to the Australian Test team, that we might be picking players that have only been playing Twenty20 cricket.”It is maybe a small concern. But from a Twenty20 point of view it is the ideal time to be playing the game with school holidays on and trying to get as many new kids down to the ground. And it’s important for us players to really engage with the young kids out there as well. It’s probably not ideal. But we’ve just got to live with it.”That was as controversial a comment as you could get from Hussey. You could tell in his own mind he was wrestling with the concept of promoting the game to a wider audience, whilst protecting the integrity of its traditional form.His Perth Scorcher team-mate Shaun Marsh is an example of an injured player possibly returning to the Test side through Twenty20 cricket.Marsh, still battling a bulging disc in his back, was hopeful he could play in a Big Bash League fixture for Perth, in Melbourne on December 22, in order to prove his fitness for the Boxing Day Test. Whether such an audition will be enough was another question.”I’m not too sure,” Marsh said. “I guess it would give me the confidence if I got through that game, that I could play in a Test match. Obviously Twenty20 is pretty quick and it would be nice to spend a bit of time out in the middle, but like I said, I’m not a selector, I’m not too sure what they’re thinking.”Switching from the shortest format to the longest version without any lead-in is not a new concept for Hussey. His sole preparation for Australia’s two-test Tour of India in 2010 was to participate for Chennai Super Kings in the Champions League in South Africa. Chennai’s success in that tournament forced Hussey into a more awkward situation than the present, which is a one-off outing for the Scorchers, against the Hobart Hurricanes at the WACA on Sunday, followed by the Boxing Day Test on December 26.”For me personally it’s only one game. We’ve had Test matches in Sri Lanka, South Africa, two Test matches against New Zealand so I think we’re still, pretty much, in Test mode. I don’t think one Twenty20 game will affect the preparation too much,” Hussey said.But he admitted it was not an easy task given his previous experiences.”I found it tough playing Test match cricket, a few years ago, and then going straight to a Twenty20 tournament. It took me a good couple of weeks to fully adapt to Twenty20 mode from Test match mode. So I guess I’m not expecting any miracles out here on Sunday. As I said, I’ll just go out there and enjoy it. If things go well, great, if not, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.”

The West Indies Cricket Board has moved to strengthen the roots of the game in the region with a historic US$360,000 grant programme

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2011The West Indies Cricket Board has moved to strengthen the roots of the game in the region with a historic US$360,000 grant programme which is aimed at supporting club cricket across the Caribbean.The Grassroots Cricket Support Facility will make available US$90,000 to clubs in four periods between March 2011 and December 2012. Clubs and local cricket organisations can apply to the WICB for a grant of up to US$5,000 each. The grants will be issued to clubs to aid in one of three areas, namely: infrastructure development, strengthening training programmes and procurement of gear and equipment.”This is one of the most important initiatives the WICB will undertake to help strengthen cricket at the grassroots level,” said WICB chief executive Ernest Hilaire. “We are focussing on the clubs throughout the region who have expressed how difficult it is to organize and sustain cricket and we are lending a hand in a tangible way. West Indies cricket needs club cricket to be strong and we need to assist and give meaningful support.”Veteran cricket administrator and writer Tony Becca has been prominent in lamenting for years that club cricket is in dire need of a shoulder to lean on and this programme is one way in which we believe we can help to build and strengthen West Indies cricket from the ground up.”We want to have partnerships with clubs all across the region because these are where West Indies players come from and we have to not only recognise that but demonstrate to the clubs that the WICB is serious about assisting them as they execute their programmes and activities which benefit all of West Indies cricket.”

Phil Hay has dropped an injury update concerning Leeds United centre-back Liam Cooper.

What’s the latest?

In a recent post on Twitter, The Athletic’s Leeds United correspondent revealed that the 30-year-old, who was ruled out of the 4-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday after sustaining an injury in the warm-up, now requires a scan on his knee to determine the seriousness of his knock.

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In his tweet, Hay said: “On Liam Cooper’s pre-game injury which stopped him playing, Marsch said it was a knee issue which would require a scan.”

Marsch will be devastated

Considering just how important a part of the Leeds backline Cooper is, the news that the defender could be joining the likes of Stuart Dallas and Adam Forshaw in missing out on the remainder of the current campaign is sure to have left Marsch devastated.

Indeed, after finally recovering from a five-month layoff as a result of a hamstring injury, the £6.3m-rated defender had been imperious over the Whites’ last three Premier League fixtures, earning a SofaScore match rating of 7.1 in the 1-1 draw with Southampton, a 7.6 rating in the 3-0 win over Watford and a 7.6 rating in the 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace.

As such, it is clear to see why Roy Keane, speaking on Sky Sports shortly after Leeds confirmed Cooper’s absence from the City fixture, claimed that losing the Scotland international was a disaster for the Whites.

Regarding the centre-back’s injury, Keane said: “That’s a massive blow because he’s been instrumental in the last few weeks in how solid Leeds have been defensively. He’s your captain and leader, so if he’s out of this game now, it could cause a lot of problems for Leeds.”

Indeed, with Everton’s 1-0 win over Chelsea seeing the 18th-placed Toffees move to within two points of Leeds – while Frank Lampard’s side also hold a game in hand on the Whites – the potential loss of Cooper so soon after Dallas’ long-term setback would undoubtedly come as a catastrophic blow to Marsch and his side – with Leeds’ chances of securing Premier League survival this season appearing to be fading by the minute at present.

AND in other news: Orta can finally axe £55k-p/w “schoolboy” as Leeds plot bid for £15.3m-rated “beast”

Wigan Athletic are readying an offer for Leeds United midfielder Owen Bray, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Elland Road departure

Bray, who had his Whites scholarship extended last summer, now looks set to depart over the coming months.

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Journalist Pete O’Rourke revealed earlier in the week that he was ‘set to leave Elland Road’ at the end of the season.

The midfielder, who has played seven times for the club’s U18s and U23s, looks likely to become the first player to seal a permanent exit under new manager Jesse Marsch.

The Latest: Wigan offer

FI shared a story on Saturday morning regarding Bray and Wigan after being informed by a recruitment source.

They claimed that Wigan are in pole position to sign the 19-year-old after he played for their U23s in the week. The Latics are now ready to offer Bray a contract as a result ahead of a cut-price move.

The Verdict: The right decision

Bray has failed to break into the club’s U23 ranks in the last 12 months, so an exit does appear to be best for all involved.

The Whites aren’t short of talented young midfielders, with the likes of Lewis Bate, Sean McGurk and Jack Jenkins all seemingly progressing nicely at Thorp Arch.

Therefore, allowing Bray to move on to Wigan seems sensible, and hopefully, things will go well for the midfielder at the DW Stadium.

In other news: Leeds on alert as Tottenham now willing to sell ‘flawless’ gem who Orta wants at Elland Road. 

A round-up of the matches from the third day of the Faysal Bank T20, 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2011Rameez Aziz and Hasan Raza pulled off a heist as Karachi Zebras beat Abbottabad Falcons off the last ball of the game and claim a six-wicket victory. Karachi had slumped to 28 for 4 in the fifth over and looked unlikely to threaten Abbottabad’s total of 158 that was built around Yasir Hameed’s 73. But Aziz and Raza first steadied the innings and then launched a counter-attack over the closing overs to stun their opponents. Raza was the more aggressive of the two; his 74 came from 50 balls and included 11 fours. Aziz ended the day on 67 from 53 balls, with 10 fours. Their 132-run partnership was memorably capped by Raza as he struck left-arm spinner Khalid Usman for the winning runs.Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar powered Lahore Eagles to their third win in a row at the National Stadium in Karachi. Farhat and Umar both made half-centuries as Lahore cruised past Quetta Bears by nine wickets with 23 balls to spare. Quetta struggled after choosing to bat, as Lahore’s bowlers proved difficult to get away. Umar was in the thick of the action in the field, running out Bismillah Khan and Abid Ali, the latter’s wicket setting off a Quetta collapse. It took a quickfire 26 from Saeed Khan just to push his side to 125. Lahore’s openers made short work of their target. Farhat was the dominant partner, striking six fours and a six in his 50, which came from 33 balls. Umar was a little more circumspect, his 50 taking 49 balls and containing five fours. The win consolidated Lahore’s position at the top of Group A.A collective bowling effort helped Sialkot Stallions win by five balls to spare against Lahore Lions at the National Stadium in Karachi. Seamer Naved-ul-Hasan bagged three wickets and was supported by Sarfraz Ahmed, Raza Hasan and left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman, each of whom took three. Lahore captain Abdul Razzaq made a quickfire 42 but the lower order crumbled and folded for 121. Sialkot lost their openers in quick time in the chase but wicketkeeper Shakeel Ansar (42) and Shahid Yousuf (47) got their team back on track. The pair added 72 and captain Shoaib Malik stayed through to the end with an unbeaten 15.

In a low-scoring final, the new-ball pair of Sandeep Sharma and Rush Kalaria bowled India Under-19 to a thrilling five-run win over Sri Lanka Under-19 in Visakhapatnam

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2011In a low-scoring final, the new-ball pair of Sandeep Sharma and Rush Kalaria bowled India Under-19s to a thrilling five-run win over Sri Lanka Under-19s in Visakhapatnam. Sandeep and Kalaria took seven wickets for 57 runs between them as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 163 chasing India’s 168 despite Lahiru Madushanka following up his 4 for 17 with the ball with 63, the highest score of the game.Sandeep and Kalaria had run through the Sri Lanka top order, reducing the visitors to 27 for 5 in the ninth over. Madushanka came in at No. 7 and revived the chase with a 75-run partnership with Duleeka Thissakuttige. When Thissakuttige fell to the series’ leading wicket-taker B Aparajith for a slow 29, Madushanka found enough support from the lower order to take Sri Lanka within 19 runs of victory with three wickets in hand. Kalaria, however, brought India back, catching Madushanka off his own bowling in the 44th over. Amila Aponso was not giving up though and his patient 21 put Sri Lanka on the verge of a win. Sandeep had Aponso caught before bowling last man Dilshan Dhanushka first ball to end the Sri Lanka innings in the 47th over.India had earlier recovered from a top-order slump as well after being put in, with a 67-run sixth-wicket stand between Akshdeep Nath (55) and wicketkeeper Smit Patel (31) lifting them from 37 for 5. Nath was the eighth wicket to fall – like Madushanka – with the score on 146. What helped India in the end was that they managed to bat out their 50 overs while Sri Lanka were dismissed with 19 balls to spare. India won all their seven games in the tournament.In the third-place play-off, West Indies Under-19s hammered 365 before keeping Australia Under-19s 16 runs short. West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite set up the highest total of the tournament with his second century in seven matches. Brathwaite added 162 for the second wicket with Anthony Alleyne after John Campbell fell for a duck. Alleyne was more aggressive, hitting 12 fours and three sixes in his 90 off 77 deliveries. Brathwaite continued to anchor the innings after Alleyne fell in the 26th over and put on another 87 with Kavem Hodge. Hodge and wicketkeeper Sunil Ambris ensured West Indies would go well past 350 with frenetic fifties. Hodge’s 62 came off 37 balls while Ambris’ 50 took just 24. Though Alex Pyecroft and Shane Cassell took four wickets apiece, no Australia bowler went for less than a run a ball.Derone Davis struck with his first two deliveries in the second over to have Australia in trouble at 11 for 2. Australia were steadied by Cameron Bancroft (63) and Sam Truloff (39). William Bosisto joined Bancroft in the 12th over with the score on 87 and settled in to put Australia on course. Though wickets continued to fall at the other end, No. 9 Cassell joined Bosisto in an 88-run stand off 61 deliveries. Bosisto finally fell for 107 with the score on 297 in the 44th over but Cassell hustled his way to a fifty in 29 balls, keeping Australia in with a chance. His run-out in the 47th over effectively ended Australia’s chances. In a game where no bowler went for less than six an over, Davies finished with 3 for 30.

A round-up of the second day of the opening round of matches in Division 1 of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2010Opener Ahmed Shehzad and Saleem Elahi made merry on the second day to put Habib Bank Limited in complete control against Faisalabad at the Iqbal Stadium. HBL lost an early wicket, that of Taufeeq Umar, but more than made up to build a first-innings lead of 180 with nine wickets still in hand. Shehzad smashed 24 fours and three sixes on his way to his maiden double-century in first-class cricket while Elahi, who, like his partner, has also played for the national team, played a patient hand to finish the day on 110. The pair added an unbeaten 307 for the second wicket and looks good for more as HBL aim to extend the lead to a margin that is large enough to enable them to force an innings win.Babar Ali stormed to his maiden first-class hundred as Multan posted 226 for 5 in reply to Sui Northern Gas Pipelines first innings total of 368 at the Multan Cricket Stadium . Babar struck 17 fours and a six in his 114, which came off 140 balls. He was dismissed by Adil Raza, who was the pick of the bowlers, with 3 for 42 from 14 overs. Kashif Naved on 44 and Ahmed Raza on 30 were at the crease when play ended, having added 42 for the sixth wicket.Adnan Akmal made 79 from 106, with 10 fours, and added 76 with Adil for the ninth wicket, to help push SNPL to 358. Left-arm spinner Ahmad Raza was the most successful bowler, taking 6 for 110 from 39 overs.The contest between Islamabad and National Bank of Pakistan was even at the end of the second day at the Diamond Club Ground. The overnight batsmen Imad Wasim and Rauf Akbar took the Islamabad score past 300 on the second morning, with Imad reaching his maiden first-class century. The 109-run eighth-wicket stand was broken by left-arm spinning allrounder Qaiser Abbas, who finished with four wickets. But NBP’s bowling lacked discipline; they bowled 24-no balls and the extras tally of 46 was the second-highest run-scorer for Islamabad, who were bowled out for 352. NBP looked in good shape in their response with opener Rashid Riaz (66) and Umar Amin, who played for Pakistan on the tour of England, adding 83 for the second wicket. But seamer Shehzad Azam rattled the line-up with three wickets with the score on 148 before Rehman Qadir and allrounder Hammad Azam steered their team to 201 for 5 at stumps, still 151 behind.Left-arm seamer Mohammad Khalil ensured Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited held the edge against Rawalpindi at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. He grabbed 3 for 12 in 8.4 overs to seize the initiative after the Rawalpindi openers had put together a partnership of 92 and seemed good to wipe out the 120-run lead ZTBL had managed to build. Rawalpindi finished the day on 117 for 4, still three runs behind, but have opener Shoaib Nasir still batting on 56. Earlier in the day, fast bowler Sadaf Hussain ran through the ZTBL line-up, finishing with 6 for 69, his best figures to date. ZTBL looked set for a substantial lead with three of their batsmen, led by Shahid Yousuf who top scored with 70, reaching half-centuries. But the last six wickets fell for just 12 runs and ZTBL folded for 235 before fighting back again with the ball.Water and Power Development Authority continued to dominate their contest against Sialkot at the Jinnah Stadium. They had bowled out Sialkot for 126 on the opening day and built a 213-run lead on the second, thanks to an unbeaten 112 from Ali Azmat. Azmat first supported opener Adil Nisar (93) in a 74-run stand for the fifth wicket. When Nisar fell, WAPDA were 180 for 5 and Sialkot had a chance to fight back. But wicketkeeper Ahmed Said, along with Azmat, who notched up his fourth first-class century, put their team firmly on top with an unbeaten 159-run stand and extending WAPDA’s score to 339 for 5 at stumps.

Aston Villa are thought to be in advanced talks over a permanent move for goalkeeper Robin Olsen, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Olsen’s loan move

Olsen was one of four senior signings made by Steven Gerrard in his first transfer window in charge at Villa Park.

The 32-year-old arrived on loan from AS Roma and has been on the bench for every Premier League game since moving to the Midlands.

Olsen has served as back up to Emiliano Martinez, and it looks as if the pair will continue to work closely together at Bodymoor Heath beyond the summer.

The Latest: Source shares update

FI shared a story regarding Villa and Olsen on Thursday afternoon after being informed by a recruitment source.

They revealed that Olsen has impressed Gerrard since joining and talks over a permanent move are now at an advanced stage.

The Verdict: Good news

Although Olsen is yet to turn out in a Villa shirt, it is good news that he looks set to make his Villa stay a full-time one.

Labelled as ‘monstrous’ by the Spanish press following a performance for Sweden, Olsen has plenty of experience across Europe and on the international stage, winning seven trophies during his career.

He appears to be happy as second choice to Martinez, so it looks as if Villa will now have two high-quality shot-stoppers on the books heading into Gerrard’s first full season.

In other news: ‘What a signing he would be’ – Journalist buzzing at ‘fantastic’ Aston Villa transfer ‘reveal’.