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Sunderland fans have showered Will Harris in praise after he scored a hat-trick for their U23 side against Wolves on Monday.

The Black Cats’ senior side have enjoyed a fantastic start to the 2021/22 campaign. They are currently second in the League One table, level on points with leaders Wigan Athletic, and have won six of their opening eight league matches (BBC). They have also safely navigated a passage through to the fourth round of the League Cup.

Their development squad have not enjoyed as much success, winning just two of their opening six Premier League 2 matches. However, they put in an impressive display to beat Wolves 3-1, and Harris was in top form as he bagged three times to give his side the win.

Sunderland’s official Twitter account provided regular updates on the match, and they attracted plenty of attention from the supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about Harris below

“MY GOAT”

Credit: @chleclerc_

“Better than Wyke and Grigg”

Credit: @AdamPelech

“Whatta boy”

Credit: @Shay44566595

“Get him in the squad for next Tuesday night”

Credit: @JackOughton95

“What a player”

Credit: @safc28

“what can I say he’s a goal machine”

Credit: @safcreportt

In other news, Super Kev has dropped a verdict on this man.

Johan Botha, the South African vice-captain, has been given the green light to play in the World Twenty20 on the proviso he does not bowl his controversial doosra

Alex Brown12-May-2009Johan Botha, the South African vice-captain, has been given the green light to play in the World Twenty20 despite his doosra testing almost twice the legal elbow flexion limit. Botha’s doosra was measured at 26.7 degrees by the ICC’s appointed biomechanist, Bruce Elliott, and will be banned until the bowler can prove he can deliver “the other one” at a flexion limit of less than 15 degrees.But the offspinner will be able to continue bowling at domestic and internatioinal level, after his offbreak (12.2 degrees) and arm-ball (11.1 degrees) measured within the ICC’s parameters.”I have been through the same thing before, where after a while (the doosra) was retested and then allowed to carry on with it,” Botha told Cricinfo. “But for me it is just a great relief to be cleared at last and able to play for South Africa at the World Twenty20.”With this kind of situation, you’re 90% sure that you’ll get through, but there is always that little bit of doubt until you finally receive the answer. I have not yet heard about the final results and the measurements, but I know they have said that I am not allowed to bowl the doosra at the moment.”Botha was reported by umpires Rudi Koertzen, Brian Jerling and Asoka de Silva after the fourth one-day international between South Africa and Australia for a suspect quicker ball and doosra. The spinner was subsequently tested at the University of Western Australia by Elliott; the same biomechanist who examined Botha’s action when he was last cited in 2006.Elliott has since submitted his report on Botha to the ICC, and recommended the bowler “review his own … action on a regular basis to ensure his elbow flexion levels are minimized and kept within legal limits.” Botha can submit himself for a re-assessment of the doosra after he has modified it in accordance with ICC guidelines.Though happy to abide by the decision preventing him from bowling the doosra, Botha said he was still unsure as to the circumstances in which he was reported in the first place. He insisted he did not bowl the doosra in the Port Elizabeth match against Australia, and only once in the previous ODI in Cape Town.”It has worked out like this now, so I have to carry on with what I have,” he said. “That’s fine. I haven’t really used it much in the last year. I didn’t bowl it at all in the game they called me.”Mickey Arthur, the South African coach, was enthused by Botha’s availability for the World Twenty20. “He’s made such great strides and become a vital cog in our one-day and T20 sides,” Arthur told Cricinfo. “I think it’s amazing. Him being back for us is great. The strides he’s taken in terms of his one-day cricket has been fantastic and we want to see him going up and up all the time.”Johan plays a vital role for us. Not only does he bowl and get through his overs fantastically well, he’s also a crack fielder and he can bat. He’s ideal for what we want.”Elliott, meanwhile, confirmed he would test the action of Pakistan spinner, Saeed Ajmal, at the UWA facilities on Thursday. Ajmal was reported by officials Asad Rauf, Billy Bowden, Zameer Haider and Nadeem Ghauri after the second ODI against Australia in Dubai last month. Like Botha, Ajmal also possesses a doosra in his bowling arsenal.”I expect the test will be similar to that of Botha,” Elliott said. “They have similar issues.”

Several of Pakistan’s international players will take part in the Pentangular Cup which kicks off the first-class season on Saturday

25-Oct-2008
Shoaib Akhtar will lead the Federal Areas pace attack in the Pentangular Cup © Getty Images
Several of Pakistan’s international players will take part in the Pentangular Cup which kicks off the first-class season on Saturday.Defending champions Sind, captained by Shahid Afridi, will be meeting last season’s runners-up Federal Areas in their four-day tournament opener, at the National Stadium. The other match starting simultaneously today is between Baluchistan and North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Quetta.The five teams in the competition includes 75 of Pakistan’s leading players, with the exception of Younis Khan, who is playing for South Australia.The players from Sind, chosen from the Karachi and Hyderabad regions, includes upcoming batsmen Khalid Latif and Khurram Manzoor, allrounder Fawad Alam, wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed and pace bowlers Sohail Khan and Anwar Ali, who earned national call-ups earlier this year.Also in the line-up are Test batsman Faisal Iqbal, Naumanullah, Faisal Ather, Rizwan Ahmed and legspinner Danish Kaneria.Federal Areas, including players from Islamabad and Rawalpindi, will have fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar as their star attraction. Rao Iftikhar, the captain, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat and Yasir Ali will back him up in the fast-bowling department.Ashar Zaidi, recently hospitalised suffering from serious heart and kidney problems, has been replaced in the team by allrounder Fayyaz Ahmed. Batsmen Raheel Majeed, Afaq Rahim, Umair Khan, experienced hands Bazid Khan and Naved Ashraf, and youngsters Usman Saeed and Umar Amin complete a very potent squad. Wicketkeeper Naeem Anjum and slow left-armer Imad Wasim, the Pakistan Under-19 captain until recently, will hope to catch the selectors’ eye during the tournament.In Younis’ absence, NWFP will be led by fast bowler Umar Gul. Also in the team are batsman Yasir Hameed, legspinner Yasir Shah and emerging left-arm fast bowler Junaid Khan.Like last season, Baluchistan includes only a handful of local players. Misbah-ul-Haq, the Test middle-order batsman, borrowed from Faisalabad, will captain the side.Punjab team, who were placed fourth last season, will play their first game on October 31, led by Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik. Mohammad Yousuf, Nasir Jamshed, Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Mansoor Amjad, Abdul Rehman, Saeed Ajmal and Wahab Riaz make up Punjab’s star line-up.When the Pentangular was introduced in to Pakistan’s domestic first-class circuit back in 1973-74, it was a five-team competition. When six teams competed in 1974-75 and a total of eight in 1976-77, it still continued to be known as the Pentangular.It was played off and on through the years and following a ten-year gap since 1995, it was revived in 2005-06 and the new season will be its fourth consecutive one.While Baluchistan, NWFP and the Federal Areas appeared as separate entities in a Pentangular Cup competition for the first time in 2007-08, Punjab and Sind had played a few seasons in the past.In the 2007-08 Pentangular Cup championship, which was played only in February-March earlier this year, the PCB had included what they believed were the 75 top players of the country in the five teams. Then, added to that roster, were names of 25 further players who were considered ‘promising young’ cricketers. This time round, for the time being at least, each team comprises 15 players only, in addition to two standbys.

Celtic had endured a topsy-turvy start to the new season before the international break kicked in.

Ange Postecoglou had repaired some of the rubble that was still lingering over Parkhead from last term but an Old Firm defeat brought back distasteful memories.

However, buoyed by three new signings that walked through the door on transfer deadline day, the Hoops were back with a bang on Saturday afternoon.

The Bhoys dismissed Ross County in routine fashion as they claimed all three points and won 3-0.

Their match was played just an hour after one of their former strikers, Odsonne Edouard, bagged twice for his new club Crystal Palace.

Yet, the man who for so long had played second fiddle under him last season, Albian Ajeti, took advantage of a slice of rare good fortune.

He has been behind Kyogo Furuhashi in the pecking order since the Japanese striker’s arrival but after his injury, Ajeti scored two of his own goals to carry Celtic to victory.

That said, the Swiss forward wasn’t their true hero from the win this weekend. Instead, that honour has to go to new arrival, Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Celtic found it difficult to bring the defender to Paradise on deadline day and at one stage, it looked as though a move wouldn’t go through. Tottenham wanted a permanent deal for the defender so Postecoglou walked away.

Yet, in the final hour of the window, Spurs couldn’t find a buyer so they contacted the Hoops again and agreed to send him on loan.

That decision is already paying dividends. Carter-Vickers scored a heavily deflected attempt to open the scoring but was a rock at the back and in possession of the ball.

It has taken his defensive colleague Carl Starfelt a while to adjust to Scottish football but it took no such adaptation period for the United States international.

He took more touches (126) than everyone on the pitch barring Starfelt while his 102 passes were again only second to the man next to him at centre-back.

Nine of Carter-Vickers’ 14 long balls were successful while he even produced a key pass from the middle of defence.

Furthermore, he succeeded in four ground duels – a team-high – and also won three aerial duels throughout the encounter.

Topped off with a goal in the second half, this was as close to a complete performance from a central defender that you could ask for.

AND in other news, Forget Soro: Celtic must unleash rarely-seen 20 y/o with a “wand of a left foot”…

A key development has emerged on Madger Gomes, following his trial with Charlton earlier this summer.

What’s the talk?

Former Charlton trialist Madger Gomes has officially completed a move to League One outfit Crewe Alexandra, having been a free agent since leaving Doncaster at the end of last season, signing a two-year deal.

The Addicks gave him the opportunity to earn a contract earlier this summer as he played in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace in a pre-season friendly, before ultimately opting against signing him.

They were right

This development on Gomes’ future shows that Charlton boss Nigel Adkins was right not to sign Gomes on a permanent contract following the end of his trial with the club earlier this year.

Had the Spaniard gone on to sign for a team like Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland or Portsmouth, who are all vying for promotion, then fans may have questioned why a deal was not done, but he has gone to join a club battling against the drop.

Crewe are currently sat 23rd in the table after five games and have accrued one measly point, with Gomes’ former side Doncaster the only team below them. This shows that Gomes has only been able to attract serious interest from a team struggling at the foot of League One, which means that no other sides competing at the top end of the table believed that he would be an asset for them.

His performances for Doncaster last season were disappointing. He averaged a poor WhoScored rating of 6.49 across 22 appearances in League One, starting 11 of those matches. The midfielder averaged more losses of possession through poor control per game than he did dribbles and chances created combined, suggesting that he was a liability in the final third of the pitch as he gave the ball away more frequently than he made an impact going forward.

Defensively, he was fairly average. He managed 2.3 tackles and interceptions combined per game for Doncaster, which would place him 6th overall in the Charlton squad in the current campaign. He was also exposed aerially when defending his goal, as he lost a whopping 73% of his aerial battles in League One last season.

This could indicate why clubs higher up in the division refused to offer him a contract and he ended up joining struggling Crewe this week.

Therefore, Charlton made the right decision not to bring him into their squad for the campaign.

AND in other news, Possession lost 52x: Charlton dud with only 13 duels won endured disastrous August…

England captain Andrew Strauss has said his team will take the field this summer and go “blow for blow” against Australia

Cricinfo staff05-Jul-2009England captain Andrew Strauss has said his team will take the field this summer and go “blow for blow” against Australia. Strauss, whose first Ashes series was in 2005 when England regained the urn, chose not too delve too far back into that epic summer when chalking up the home side’s chances.”It’s unhelpful to look back too much to 2005,” said Strauss at Edgbaston. “This is going to be a very different series and it would be wrong to expect things to go in a similar manner. What I take from 2005 is how close those games were and how hard it was to finish them off. There were times we were right on top and maybe we didn’t have enough belief to do that. One of the things we have been trying to work on is to be very clinical so that when we get on top of teams we finish them off once and for all. That’s going to be important in the coming days.”Strauss said to seriously compete with Australia, England would have to be prepared to scrap. “Anybody who goes in there and just thinks ‘Oh no, we’ll just stick to our own game’ is going to come unstuck. Our players are absolutely certain that they will go out there and go blow for blow.”He was, however, wary of overdoing that competitiveness. “There’s a fine line between aggression and being over the top so we have to check that line carefully,” said Strauss. “I think we know the type of cricket we need to play to beat the Aussies, we just need to go out and play it.”Strauss was eager to point out that England will not be overly dependent on Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen. “You don’t win Ashes series unless all 11 play a big part”, he said. “If Fred bowls with aggression no player in the world is going to enjoy that. I still think there are some scars in their side. Maybe some of their batsman haven’t faced him very much before but they will have watched that series four years ago and know that when he’s good he’s very, very good.”Pietersen’s failures in the warm-up against Warwickshire at Edgbaston didn’t deter Strauss. “KP hasn’t changed his style of batting in four years. I don’t expect him to this time. KP is a man for the big occasion,” he said. “I wasn’t overly surprised he didn’t get many runs in the Warwickshire game, but come that first Test match you know that’s he’s going to be switched on and keen to make his mark on the series right from ball one. He backs himself against any bowler, he backed himself against [Shane] Warne and [Glenn] McGrath and he will do that against these bowlers. His number-one asset is his confidence”.Strauss was pleased with England’s build-up to the Ashes, even though their main competition in recent Tests has been West Indies. “I like where we’re at. I thought there were some really encouraging signs against the West Indies, there was good, controlled aggression and we were clinical,” he said. “We’re not going to know for certain until we go out there against the Australians, but the signs are good, and I like the characters we have got in the side. I don’t see any that are going to be open to exploitation and that’s vital.”While there has been plenty of understandable anticipation leading up to Glamorgan’s big day, Strauss said his players “will be walking into the unknown” when they take the field in Cardiff. “We are not entirely sure what to expect. Both teams will go there not knowing what to expect, and we can only judge when the Test match is over,” he said. “In world cricket home advantage counts for a huge amount.”

New Zealand will increase security at the grounds for the rest of India’s tour after a bottle-throwing incident during the second Twenty20 international in Wellington

Cricinfo staff28-Feb-2009
The Indians complain about crowd trouble during the second Twenty20 international © Getty Images
New Zealand will increase security at the grounds for the rest of India’s tour after a bottle-throwing incident during the second Twenty20 international in Wellington.Play was interrupted briefly twice during the final over of New Zealand’s chase when a plastic bottle thrown from the crowd landed near a fielder.”New Zealand Cricket [NZC] is fully committed to providing a high level of security, and I have given my assurance to the Indian team that increased security will be in place for the upcoming [ODI] series,” NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan told AFP. “This type of incident is unfortunate, especially in such an exciting and close game as we saw last night. Fortunately it does not occur often.”The measures to step up security will include more staff, higher visibility of personnel in potential problem areas and closer monitoring of the crowd. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain, said he hoped such incidents would not happen in the one-dayers.”When you’re playing at the top level you don’t really want bottles to be thrown at you,” Dhoni told the . “A cricket ball is hard enough to hit you and hurt you so you don’t want bottles flying all over. It happens – it’s like a disease and it spreads. That’s one area where they need to put in more of an effort, especially from the security point of view.”The New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori played down the incident. “Noisy crowds are part of the Twenty20 game and add to the excitement of the occasion. They don’t usually distract the players, we’re pretty focused on what’s happening in the middle. Incidents like last night are disappointing but they do happen in grounds all around the world.”New Zealand won the second Twenty20 international off the final ball to win the series 2-0. The five-ODI series kicks off on March 3 in Napier.

Phillip Hughes’ brilliant season continued as his 114 was responsible for New South Wales’ strong position of 4 for 278

Cricinfo staff18-Dec-2008
Scorecard

Phillip Hughes, who put on 170 with Ben Rohrer, collected his third hundred of the season © Getty Images
Phillip Hughes’ brilliant season continued as his 114 was responsible for New South Wales’ strong position of 4 for 278 at the end of the first day against South Australia. While Ben Rohrer also produced a century with 109, Hughes has become a major weapon for the Blues and has 635 runs at 63.5 in a campaign that has led to the 20-year-old being talked about as Australia’s next Test opener.Hughes’ third hundred of the summer was timely for New South Wales after they lost Greg Mail (4) and Peter Forrest (1) despite lengthy stays. Rohrer arrived to help out in his return to the side and the pair put on 170 for the third wicket to justify Dominic Thornely’s decision to bat.Daniel Christian picked up Hughes, who hit 16 fours during his 224-ball innings, when he pulled to Cameron Borgas at midwicket while Rohrer departed when he was caught by the wicketkeeper Graham Manou off Mark Cleary. Thornely was 29 not out when bad light stopped play while Usman Khawaja was 10.

Liam Dawson, the Hampshire left-arm spinner, has been added to the England Lions squad for their tour of New Zealand next month

Cricinfo staff21-Jan-2009Liam Dawson, the Hampshire left-arm spinner, has been added to the England Lions squad for their tour of New Zealand next month.Dawson is currently captaining the England Under-19 squad in South Africa and he is continuing his fast-track progress through the ranks after an impressive 2008 in county cricket. In the final game of season, against Nottinghamshire, he became Hampshire’s youngest first-class century-maker when he made his maiden hundred.Dawson becomes the third spin option in the squad, which already includes Worcestershire’s Gareth Batty and Nottinghamshire’s Samit Patel.The tour includes two Tests, two one-dayers and a Twenty20 against New Zealand A.

Southampton have been heavily linked with Joakim Maehle in recent years and the Denmark star would be available this summer should the Saints submit an acceptable bid, with the Atalanta man reportedly up for sale.

What’s the word?

Southampton were initially linked with the full-back during his time at Genk and reportedly submitted a bid to the Belgian Pro League side in January 2019.

However, that bid was rejected and he joined Atalanta in January, despite more reported interest from Southampton in the months beforehand.

After an impressive Euro 2020 with Denmark, with the versatile defender helping Kasper Hjulmand’s side to the semi-finals, it was perhaps always likely that links to Southampton would resurface, and according to Serie A football expert Conor Clancy, the 24-year-old will be up for sale by Atalanta this summer.

He told Football FanCast: “Everyone at Atalanta is for sale. That’s just how they work every summer.

“Maehle is not a starter on the left or the right at Atalanta. He showed some flashes of the player we saw at Euro 2020 early on at Atalanta, but then it didn’t quite happen for him.

“If a club wants Maehle, they can sign him. Everyone who saw the Euros knows Southampton would be getting a very good player if they can sign him.”

Should Southampton bid for Maehle?

Although Southampton have already brought in Romain Perraud and Tino Livramento as full-back options this summer, Maehle’s versatility suggests that he could be a great option for Hasenhuttl to have next season, as both Perraud and Livramento are young and inexperienced.

Maehle was one of the stars of Euro 2020, contributing two goals and one assist in six appearances for Denmark, which earned him a fantastic 7.38 rating from WhoScored for his performances. Ian Wright also labelled him “fantastic” after his performance against the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals.

He ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to a typical Hasenhuttl signing, as he is 24 years old, versatile and extremely athletic, whilst his current Transfermarkt value of £17.1m suggests that he could be affordable, especially with the money raised from Danny Ings and Jannik Vestergaard’s departures.

[freshpress-quiz id=“594431”]

Therefore, if Clancy’s claim is true and Atalanta are willing to sell this summer, that is a huge boost to Southampton’s reported hopes of signing Maehle, and Martin Semmens should definitely try and bring him to St Mary’s.

In other news… Semmens heading for Saints transfer disaster with £10.8m-rated “machine”