All posts by h716a5.icu

Pitches like that on which India and New Zealand played out a frustrating three-wicket win to the home team did nothing for cricket

Lynn McConnell26-Dec-2002Pitches like that on which India and New Zealand played out a frustrating three-wicket win to the home team did nothing for cricket.That was Indian captain Sourav Ganguly’s of the game which saw New Zealand take 37.4 overs to score the 109 runs it required to claim the first victory in the seven-game National Bank Series.For the Indians it was just a continuation of the frustrating surfaces that have been dished up to them in New Zealand on the tour.Ganguly did admit, like New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming before him, that the pitch looked as if it would play a lot better than it did.”This sort of thing doesn’t help anybody. People come to watch cricket,” he said.And with only 100 runs to each side, people would be coming to watch the games in the future.The conditions also gave false confidence to the bowlers in the sides.The pitch, played on one of Eden Park’s portable pitches proved to be two-paced, to have variable bounce and shot-making was not easy.India did have a chance in the game and Jacob Oram, who was 27 not out at the end, had gone very close to getting out leg before wicket to Anil Kumble but India just couldn’t pull off the win.”Due credit to him [Oram] he hung in well in both innings, in Hamilton and here but a few decisions this way, that way could have changed the game,” he said.Javagal Srinath’s presence had been good for the side and he had proven again he was a class act while taking four wickets for 23 runs in his 10 overs.Ganguly said it wasn’t only the confidence of his players that was down, the New Zealanders were also struggling, this despite the fact they had grown up in these conditions.The winning of the series would be done by the side which best responded to the task of batting better in the remaining game, he said.

Leeds United have confirmed an exciting boost after news emerged from Thorp Arch that Stuart Dallas has signed a new contract at the club.

What’s the story?

The Northern Ireland international played all 38 games in the Premier League last season for Marcelo Bielsa’s side – in fact, the versatile ace only missed nine minutes of action in the top-flight when he came off against Leicester back in early November.

And now, via the club’s official website, the Whites have confirmed that Dallas has put pen to paper on a new three-year contract to extend his stay at Elland Road.

Bielsa will be buzzing

Given just how consistent Dallas was all season, news that he’s been rewarded with a new contract will be music to the ears of both Bielsa and the Leeds fans.

He completed a sweep of the club awards for his performances, winning Goal of the Season, Players’ Player of the Year and the Player of the Year – a real indication of the kind of impressive displays he put in, and the high esteem with which his teammates hold him.

The Athletic’s Phil Hay made it clear just how good he has been, saying: “I went for Dallas as Player of the Year last season as well. I’ve almost run out of things to say about him. He’s like the T-1000 from Terminator. Tell him to be a goalkeeper and he turns himself into one (without indiscriminately killing people at the same time).”

With his ability to play virtually anywhere across the pitch, Dallas is an absolute manager’s dream, and it’s no surprise that Bielsa himself has made it clear just how much he rates him.

He said: “I had a player like Dallas before in Javier Zanetti, and Julio Saldana when I had my first experience of management at Newell’s Old Boys. Those two players are very like Dallas in terms of their versatility.

“Dallas is a very potent, powerful player and can play with either foot. In the majority of the games that the team has played, he has been one of our best players.”

And, former Newcastle man, Rob Lee, added to the list of admirers, saying exclusively to FFC: “He’s been brilliant and he’s not one of their big-name players so he goes under the radar but every time I watch him play, he’s either Man of the Match or not far off it. He’s been different class and he has been scoring goals as well, so a new contract is the least he deserves.”

News of his contract taking him through to the summer of 2024 will have Bielsa absolutely buzzing.

Meanwhile, Leeds could sign a massive Helder Costa upgrade in this man…

The Queensland selectors today chose long-term gain over short-term painwhen they omitted fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz from tomorrow’s ING Cupone-day match against the Western Warriors at the Gabba.

Queensland Cricket28-Nov-2002The Queensland selectors today chose long-term gain over short-term painwhen they omitted fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz from tomorrow’s ING Cupone-day match against the Western Warriors at the Gabba.Kasprowicz was ruled out of the XXXX Queensland Bulls team today afteragain being bothered by a tightness in his hamstring that had preventedhim from bowling on the final day of the Bulls outright win over theWarriors in the Pura Cup on Tuesday.”I felt it grab a bit in my first few balls off a short run-up attraining this morning so it made sense not to risk it any further,”Kasprowicz said.”I’m disappointed that I won’t play tomorrow but we felt it was best tofocus on being 100 percent for the Pura Cup match against the Tigers inHobart in three weeks," he said.The selectors have recalled right-arm paceman Damien MacKenzie for thematch, which will be the Bulls first day/night game of the season.Queensland coach Terry Oliver has given the squad a week off fromtraining next week, aside from those players who are in action with theQueensland Academy Sport in the ACB Cup match against NSW starting onMonday in Sydney.Tomorrow’s match is tipped to attract a crowd in excess of 10,000 withVolunteering Queensland, the Brisbane City Council and QueenslandCricket combining to promote Volunteers’ Day as a “thank-you” gesturefor volunteer workers.Volunteers from sporting and community organisations were able to accesstwo free tickets each through Volunteering Queensland, the peak body forvolunteers in the State, and enjoy free public transport to and from thematch.XXXX Queensand Bulls ING Cup team v Western Warriors: Jimmy Maher (c),Martin Love, Lee Carseldine, Andrew Symonds, Clinton Perren, BrendanNash, James Hopes, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, Nathan Hauritz, DamienMacKenzie, Scott Brant.

Essex County Cricket Club has decided to reduce the number of festivals it stages from 3 to 2

Essex CCC Media Release29-Aug-2002Essex County Cricket Club has decided to reduce the number of festivals it stages from 3 to 2. The decision was taken by the Club Executive Committee at a meeting held last night. Colchester will retain its festival, and a decision on whether Southend or Ilford will be staged in 2003 will need to be taken after further discussion with the Councils and Clubs in those areas.Chief Executive David East explained the background to the decision.East continued

FAISALABAD, Sept 18: Rain curtailed play on the second day just as Pakistan ‘A’ were batting themselves into a position of strength against Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the first Test at Iqbal Stadium here Wednesday

By Our Staff Correspondent19-Sep-2002FAISALABAD, Sept 18: Rain curtailed play on the second day just as Pakistan ‘A’ were batting themselves into a position of strength against Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the first Test at Iqbal Stadium here Wednesday.Shortly before tea Pakistan ‘A’ had reached 149 for two in reply to the visitors’ first innings score of 183 when play was halted as soon as Faisal Iqbal was out for 54.Umpires Aleem Dar and Nadeem Ghauri finally decided to end play for the day at 4.05pm as the rain got heavier.Imran Farhat was an early casualty after the home team had resumed at 32 for no loss. He was caught at the wicket, by Charith Fernando off medium-pacer Chamila Gamage, after adding just six to his overnight 13.Fellow left-hander Taufiq Umar, however, prospered in the company of skipper Faisal Iqbal. The pair shared a stand of 101 in almost 40 overs before Faisal was caught by Michael Vandort off pacer Sujeeva de Silva. His 133-ball innings was laced with four fours and one six.Taufiq, who has so far faced 150 deliveries, struck eight boundaries.Scoreboard SRI LANKA ‘A’ (1st Innings) 183 (D.A. Gunawardena 60; Danish Kaneria 5-42, Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan 4-49).PAKISTAN ‘A’ (1st Innings, overnight 32-0):Imran Farhat c Fernando b Gamage 19Taufiq Umar not out 68Faisal Iqbal c Vandort b de Silva 54EXTRAS: (B-2, W-1, NB-5) 8TOTAL: (for two wkts, 55.2 overs) 149TO BAT: Hasan Raza, Asim Kamal, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan, Irfanuddin, Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul.BOWLING (to-date): De Silva 13.2-1-37-1 (5nb); Mirando 10-4-22-0 (1w); Samaraweera 14-3-31-0; Lokuarachchi 6-1-36-0; Gamage 12-3-21-1.

West Ham United have been handed yet another devastating transfer blow this week…

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, mooted Irons transfer target Patson Daka has rejected a move to the London Stadium as interest in his signature hots up across Europe.

It’s thought that West Ham have been among the many sides to register their interest in the prolific RB Salzburg striker but his representatives have let the East London outfit know that he seeks a move to a higher-level club this summer and as such, he has no interest in joining them.

Since then, it has been revealed that the 22-year-old is said to be ‘very keen’ on joining Premier League rivals Liverpool, who qualified for the Champions League, one year after winning the league.

Yet another blow

This is another cruel and bitter blow to David Moyes, not at least because he’ll be desperate for a new forward.

The 58-year-old cannot afford to go into the new campaign with just one senior option to lead his line – an injury-prone Michail Antonio, who has been converted into a centre-forward.

With a likely 50-plus game season on the horizon, he needs numbers across the pitch but up top is perhaps the most glaring of problems to fill right now.

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Daka would’ve been an intriguing and worthwhile option, considering he’s just scored 34 goals from 42 appearances in all competitions this season, whilst also providing 12 assists as he looks to follow in Erling Haaland’s footsteps, via Transfermarkt.

He would’ve been a far cheaper option than reported no.1 target Tammy Abraham, who Chelsea are commanding a whopping £40m for. Football Insider claim the 22-cap Zambia international is available for just £17m.

The Salzburg sensation, who has been compared to Premier League legend Thierry Henry, is also someone that the fans have been desperate for – back in May, one supporter claimed it would be the “perfect signing” whilst another called him the “dream,” as per the Transfer Tavern, where more reaction can be found.

They will now be immensely gutted to not stand a chance at signing the 22-year-old goal machine, even more so after suffering a major blow to their chances of bringing Jesse Lingard back to the London Stadium.

The Sun believe the 28-year-old maestro, who enjoyed a successful half-season spell under Moyes –  scoring nine and assisting five, has told parent club Manchester United that he’d like to stay.

This news is just another devastating setback to the Irons and their transfer plans.

AND in other news, Forget Tammy: Hammers must secure £22.5m-rated “huge talent” amid ExWHUemployee claim…

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Atalanta defender Cristian Romero ahead of the upcoming transfer window.

What’s the story?

According to Italian outlet Calciomercato (as reported by The Mirror), Jurgen Klopp’s charges are making progress in their pursuit of the 23-year-old as the German manager looks to strengthen his defensive options.

The report claims that the Serie A outfit value Romero at around £43m following an impressive 2020/21 campaign, but they must first turn his loan move from Juventus into a permanent one.

Klopp needs him

Liverpool’s current centre-back options struggled with serious injury issues last season, significantly hindering their progress as youngsters Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams were forced to fill in on many occasions.

Klopp has already moved to address that issue, bringing in Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig for £34 million, although his suspect injury record means the former Borussia Dortmund boss may want to add further reinforcements – the Frenchman has suffered four significant injuries in the past two seasons alone, missing 45 games.

The Anfield outfit finished a whopping 17 points behind Premier League champions Manchester City in the recently concluded campaign, largely down to their leaky defence.

While the Citizens conceded just 32 goals in 38 games, Liverpool let in 42. Building a solid foundation is key to any success in football, and adding Romero would ensure Klopp can construct exactly that over the coming months.

The Argentina international played a pivotal part as Gian Piero Gasperini’s men finished third in the Italian top-flight, making 31 league appearances, scoring two goals and assisting a further three.

Despite his telling contribution in the attacking third, Romero was also crucial to Atalanta’s defensive solidity, making 2.2 clearances per league game, 3.1 interceptions and two tackles, placing him in the top two amongst his teammates for each metric.

His physical style, love for a tackle and ability in the air would make the South American an ideal centre-back in the Premier League, and the possibility of the 6 ft powerhouse lining up alongside Van Dijk is a daunting prospect for any top-flight striker.

The pair have the potential to form a formidable partnership at the heart of the defence, with Romero also excelling with the ball at his feet and building from the back – he averaged the sixth-most passes of any Atalanta player, and with the fourth-best accuracy of any player to have started more than one game.

With Liverpool aiming to regain their Premier League crown next season, Klopp needs an extra centre-back to avoid a repeat scenario that killed off their title tilt in 2020/21, and bringing Romero would be a significant coup.

And, in other news…Gini 2.0: Liverpool must revisit swoop for 19 y/o prodigy, he’s a “complete player” 

The day began with Surrey pressing on, losing nightwatchman Ian Salisbury almost immediately for four and Ward, Brown, Stewart and Tudor then each lost his wicket assaulting the Somerset attack, who, Bulbeck aside, were less threatening than in the

Ed Green29-May-2002The day began with Surrey pressing on, losing nightwatchman Ian Salisbury almost immediately for four and Ward, Brown, Stewart and Tudor then each lost his wicket assaulting the Somerset attack, who, Bulbeck aside, were less threatening than in the first innings. Sadly for the sake of the game wickets came in the wrong numbers and at the wrong times for either side to force the issue. When Martin Bicknell began his innings in defensive mode it became clear that the home side had given up on persuit of a victory. Blackwell bowled tidily for his wickets and Parsons last spell of the game was his best – good news for Somerset who will be without their main strike bowler for most of the Summer.For Somerset Caddick was warned for running on the wicket (something Salisbury and Saqlain would presumably have applauded more than his own batsmen) and consistantly overstepped when delivering his effort ball. The wickets of Salisbury, Ward, Stewart, Brown and Tudor were due at least in part to forcing shots, but they were taken nonetheless, had a couple more awkward catching chances been held onto then a target might have been on for the visitors, however the field was never overly attacking and it was clear that after the first hour’s play a draw was the visitor’s preferred result.Surrey could, and perhaps should have tried to make more of the game, especially since, as both Dutch and Blackwell enjoyed some success, their own spinners would probably have presented Somerset with troubles aplenty, had the upper order managed to generate another thirty or forty runs in their early attack – or indeed been bowled out cheaply, an exciting finish would have been the result. In the end the loss of four sessions and two sides more eager to preserve their unbeaten status than charge after an improbable victory killed the game.Somerset’s brief innings saw James Ormond handed the new ball, and unfortunately use it to produce the two worst overs I have seen him deliver, the no-ball and three easy four balls that were capitalised on by the Somerset openers could easily have been accompanied by two or three wides given and a couple more boundaries, before he found his length and line and began to trouble the batsmen. At the other end a classic confrontation between Alex Tudor and Marcus Trescothick in particular who struck him for two fine boundaries before being undone by a magnificent ball across him from the tall londoner. After that though both Cox and Burns failed to connect with the edge for the balls that beat them and middle those that didn’t so the game petered out.

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club has announced that Clive Rice is leavingthe Club with immediate effect

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club21-Jun-2002Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club has announced that Clive Rice is leavingthe Club with immediate effect.Michael Newell and Jason Gallian will take charge of first team affairs forthe remainder of the 2002 season.The Club wishes to thank Clive for his service to the Club both as a playerand as Cricket Manager and wishes him and his family every success andhappiness in the future.

Alan Nixon has dropped a major update on what Leeds United’s big transfer priority is going to be in the upcoming summer transfer window.

What’s the story?

Marcelo Bielsa’s side enjoyed a superb end to the Premier League season, winning four games on the bounce, and breaking into the top ten in their first campaign back in English football’s top-flight.

Now, in a Q&A session on Twitter, Nixon has claimed that signing a new left-back in the summer is the Whites’ “big priority”, while a couple of extra additions could be made to reinforce the midfield too.

Bielsa will be buzzing

Make no mistake about it, getting a new first-team left-back through the door this summer would be a major step to completing the kind of back-line that Bielsa wants at Elland Road.

With Luke Ayling already established as the club’s main option at right-back, and both Diego Llorente and Robin Koch brought in last summer to reinforce the middle, left-back was the only real concern in defence.

While Gjanni Alioski enjoyed an impressive end to the Premier League season, there are still some big question marks over his ability to be a consistent presence for Leeds over the course of a whole campaign – former Whites ace Noel Whelan has even dubbed him a “liability” and has urged the club to make the move for a new left-back.

Reports in recent days and weeks have suggested that the likes of Huesca’s Javi Galan and Stade Brest’s Romain Perraud are among those who are in the sights of the Yorkshire club, so Nixon’s transfer claim does tally up.

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The fact he revealed it is Leeds’ “big priority” should have Bielsa buzzing as he looks to tighten up the back-line ahead of the new campaign – their tally of 54 goals conceded last season was actually the seventh-worst record in the entire Premier League.

The Leeds boss will be very excited to add the final piece of his defensive jigsaw this summer.

Meanwhile, Marcelo Bielsa is eyeing a record-breaking swoop for this Brazilian star…