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At the end of a batsman’s career, history rates them by how many hundreds they have scored for their country, but for Paul Collingwood there should be an extra column. How many Tests he has saved for England

Andrew McGlashan in Johannesburg12-Jan-2010At the end of a batsman’s career, history rates them by how many hundreds they have scored for their country, but for Paul Collingwood there should be an extra column. How many Tests he has saved for England. In the last eight months he has played a major role in three great escapes with backs-to-the-wall efforts at Cardiff, Centurion and most recently Cape Town.In the first Test against South Africa he made 26 off 99 balls to ensure England’s late jitters didn’t cost them the match, but his 188-ball 40 at Cape Town was on a whole new level. The team were five down before the second ball was taken and the result looked a foregone conclusion.But somehow Collingwood survived a withering new-ball burst from Dale Steyn and defied South Africa until into the final hour. There was another late wobble – it really wouldn’t be England without one – but his five-hour partnership with Ian Bell meant the visitors hold a 1-0 lead heading into the final Test at the Wanderers. Collingwood has nine Test centuries, and made 91 at Durban in this series, but his match-saving efforts are what he savours.”They are right up there if I’m honest,” he said. “Centurion was a very satisfying innings but for some reason last week at Cape Town – we were five down pretty early and backs against the wall – I always had the belief we could do it. It was such an important game for us.”It’s very hard to measure those kinds of innings because it’s not about runs. It’s about the time you spend in the middle, the attitude you show to the other players that we can do it. In many ways I always think they are worth a hundred, but because you haven’t got the runs it doesn’t come across that way. To get across the line like we have done in this series it’s a big achievement.”Right from the beginning of his Test career Collingwood has shown the ability to fight it out when the going is at its toughest. When he was recalled to face Australia, at The Oval, in 2005 he played a vital role on the final afternoon alongside Kevin Pietersen’s thrilling 158. Collingwood only made 10, but used up 51 balls in a stand of 60 that extended England’s precious lead.”Those are the situations I do really, really enjoy,” he said. “I like – not upsetting the opposition – but just going out there and doing things that are not easy to do. I know I must bore people at times. But it’s a job I enjoy doing, and I hope there are more of those kind of innings in the future.”I am a fighter. I always have been, since growing up with my brother, from my early teens. I’m sure I’ll keep that kind of fighting spirit all the way through my career.”Given Collingwood’s history of rescuing his country, the Cape Town effort didn’t come as a huge surprise, unlike that of his main partner, Bell, who set a new benchmark for his career with a 213-ball 78. Collingwood believes it can be a turning point for Bell, who has often been criticised for making easy runs when the going is good.”At Durban he played a fantastic innings, he timed the ball well, he scored elegantly, but I’m sure he’s come off the other day and thought that’s probably worth more runs than he scored at Durban,” Collingwood said. “That was a fantastic knock from him. From being under pressure a couple of games ago to turn that around and to show he as the mental strength to see out a day will certainly give him a lot for the future.”The South Africans acknowledge the role Collingwood has played in this series. “He has shown the quality player he is and his experience has come into play,” Jacques Kallis said. “Perhaps he’s not the prettiest player in the world, but you’d rather take the guys who are ugly and get the runs than pretty players who don’t always produce the goods.”Those fighting qualities could well come the fore again this week as England aim to secure a memorable series triumph. With South Africa having no option but to attack for victory all the talk is of a lively pitch although that doesn’t concern Collingwood.”Let’s be honest they’re not going to produce a flat, flat wicket where it’s going to turn out to be a draw,” he said. “South Africa are in a position where they need a win and to do that, they’ve got to gamble a little bit.”This wicket does tend to go through a lot more anyway and you get a bit more bounce here. Then if they leave a bit more grass on, it will obviously seam around a bit. It could be a difficult week for the batsmen. But it’s all about adjusting to conditions. Whatever we come up against, it’s the same for both sides. The team that adapts best will win.”So far in this series it is England who have adapted best to the challenges that have faced them and in no small part that has been down to Collingwood. For England’s born fighter there’s one round to go.

The IPL will include two more teams from the 2011 season and will auction the franchise rights at a base price of $225 million, the league’s commissioner Lalit Modi announced

Nagraj Gollapudi17-Dec-2009The IPL will include two more teams from the 2011 season and will auction the franchise rights at a base price of $225 million, the league’s commissioner Lalit Modi announced on Thursday. That figure – double of what the most expensive franchise was sold for in 2008 and more than four times the base price in that first auction – is, in an uncertain market, a sign of the league’s confidence in itself and the Twenty20 format.That valuation is all the more surprising given that the franchises will almost certainly be based in relatively small markets – the metros and bigger cities already have teams. The favourites to be host cities for the two teams are Ahmedabad and Lucknow.However, signs of the IPL’s growing net worth were evident in February when Rajasthan Royals, the then IPL champions, sold a 11.7% stake in their franchise for approximately US$15.4 million. That put the valuation of the franchise at around $140m, more than double the $67m paid for it a year previously.The league’s expansion will see a much longer fixture list – 94 games as opposed to 59 in the first two seasons if the format remains the same – and accommodating it in the 45-day window without compromising players’ fitness, and keeping the international calendar in mind, will be a challenge.Modi’s announcement followed a meeting of the IPL’s governing council at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai that was also attended by board president Shashank Manohar and secretary N Srinivasan.He announced details of next season’s league, which will begin on March 12 in Hyderabad – home to the current champions, the Deccan Chargers – with the final and the third place play-off on April 25 at the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The semi-finals will be held in Bangalore.Another important decision taken today was to remove the two-player cap on centrally contracted Australian players in each IPL team. The cap had been in response to Cricket Australia’s concern of an exodus from its pool of contracted players when the league started.Modi also said he had received requests from 12 Pakistan players to be part of the auction for the third IPL on January 19. Each team has been allotted $750,000 to make new signings at that auction.The player auction for the fourth IPL will take place after the Champions League in the third or fourth quarter of 2010. The process for the players would be on the same lines as during the inaugural edition but said only “certain” players would be bid without going into much details. “The current franchises would be allowed to keep a certain number of players, the modalities are being worked out.”

Shane Watson has justified his exuberant celebration of Chris Gayle’s dismissal in Perth by saying he was baited by the captain

Cricinfo staff22-Dec-2009Shane Watson has justified his exuberant celebration of Chris Gayle’s dismissal in Perth by saying he was baited by the captain. Watson was fined 15% of his match fee for his roaring celebration in the second-innings on Saturday and has been criticised for his behaviour, with Geoff Lawson likening it to a four-year-old’s tantrum.”There was a bit of build up to it, so it’s always nice to get Chris Gayle out, he’s obviously one of the most devastating batsmen in the world at the moment,” Watson told AAP. “He definitely let me know that he was keen for me to come on to bowl leading up to that, so it was very nice to get him out first ball.”That was the catalyst for me celebrating the way I did … I know there’s a line and I was extremely happy to get him out, I normally don’t celebrate to that extent when I get someone out. But when he baits me, talking about wanting me to come on to bowl to be able to take me down, it’s always very nice to get the upper hand.”Gayle said Watson over-reacted but was happy “to move on and let bygones be bygones”. “Watson didn’t actually say anything to me,” Gayle wrote in his Daily Telegraph column. “He just kept screaming in my direction.”He has a bit of a temper and is pretty emotional so he was probably just letting it all out. Each player is different and getting me out came at a crucial time in an important Test match. There is no doubt he over-reacted but I am prepared to move on and let bygones be bygones.”Watson did admit his antics were over the top and they added to a busy Test for the match referee Chris Broad. Sulieman Benn, the left-arm spinner, was banned for two ODIs for his exchanges with the fined Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin during Australia’s first innings.

Liverpool suffered their first real setback in their chase for the Premier League title after picking up their first league defeat of the season in their recent match against West Ham United that saw Jurgen Klopp’s side lose 3-2 thanks to goals from Kurt Zouma, Pablo Fornals and an own goal from goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

One player that featured in the match that managed to get on the scoresheet to give the Reds some hope of grabbing a positive result off the substitutes bench was striker Divock Origi who replaced Diogo Jota after 76 minutes.

Opportunity knocks

The fact that Jota failed to register a shot on target against David Moyes’ side and the fact that fellow Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino is out for the next few weeks with a hamstring injury,  means it could be a great time for Klopp to give Origi a run in the team from the start rather than bringing him off the bench to get their season back on track after the current international break.

Liverpool signed Origi, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £60k-per-week according to Spotrac, back in the 2014 summer transfer window from French club LOSC Lille in a deal worth a reported fee of £10m before he eventually moved to the Merseyside club in 2015.

[snack-amp-story url = “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/check-out-the-latest-liverpool-news” title=”Check out the latest Liverpool news!”]

Since then, the 26-year-old, who is currently valued at £10.8m according to Transfermarkt, has made a total of 164 appearances for the Reds across all competitions in which he has managed to score 38 goals and provide 16 assists in the process, showing that he does have a knack for scoring goals in him.

So far this season, the Belgian has managed to score three goals and provide two assists in seven appearances across all competitions but has had very little chance to shine in the Premier League, playing just two minutes of action prior to the West Ham clash.

Origi, who has been described as “unreal” by fellow Reds teammate Caoimhin Kelleher in the past, has also shown that he has the ability to pop up and score at critical moments for Liverpool such as the brace he bagged in their famous 4-0 win over Barcelona back in May 2019 and their last-gasp 1-0 win over Merseyside rivals Everton in December 2018.

Taking all of this into account, if Origi was given the chance to play consistently in the Premier League moving forward and start scoring regularly, we feel that he has the potential to push Liverpool closer to the title with his knack for scoring goals alongside the likes of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.

It’s time for Klopp to forget about Jota and the injury-stricken Firmino and unleash his devastating Belgian dynamo instead. It could well solve the severe blow that the Brazilian suffered last week.

In other news: Forget Salah: £67.5m-rated beast making 3.3 key passes P/G has been “fabulous” for LFC – opinion

Many Everton fans have been left fuming as an update emerged involving the U21 team.

As per the official Twitter page of the Goodison Park faithful, the U21’s lost 1-0 to Hartlepool United at Victoria Park on Tuesday night, meaning that they are now out of the Papa John’s Trophy.

They sit in third place in their group having played all three games, winning just once and losing the other two matches, yielding a -2 goal difference (Sky Sports).

The starting eleven was filled with promising young players, such as Lewis Dobbin who has already made two appearances for the senior side this season, while Harry Tyrer and Reece Welch have been with the squad (Transfermarkt).

Nonetheless, supporters of the Merseyside cub would have not expected the youngsters to go out with such a whimper, and some have blamed coaches David Unsworth and Jose Baxter for their exit.

This is not the first time Unsworth has taken criticism from Blues fans, and it seems the exit from the cup is being seen as a last straw for some.

Everton fans on Papa John’s Trophy exit

These Toffees fumed as the update was shared on Twitter:

“When it rains, it pours”

Credit: @gary2monty

“The dream team of Unsworth and Jose Baxter does it again”

Credit: @robr7373

“Sack Unsworth”

Credit: @scouseboy27

“Everton losing at Hartlepool. A glimpse of the future”

Credit: @e_tosis

“Safest job in football!!! #noaccountability”

Credit: @GladwysBlue

“Jose Baxter’s fault”

Credit: @Efc_Frankie1878

In other news, find out which Partey-like ace EFC are eyeing here!

Scott Newman, Ed Joyce and Kyle Hogg have received reprimands under the ECB’s discipline code

Cricinfo staff27-Aug-2009Scott Newman, Ed Joyce and Kyle Hogg have received reprimands under the ECB’s discipline code.Newman, currently on loan with Nottinghamshire, was reported by umpires Richard Illingworth and Peter Hartley for a level one breach which covers abuse of cricket ground, equipment or fixtures and fittings when he swiped at his stumps following his dismissal against Sussex. From the same match Joyce was also reported for showing dissent.Hogg’s reprimand comes following an incident in Lancashire’s Pro40 match against Leicestershire on August 23 when he was reported by Peter Willey and Mark Benson for a level one breach of the code.The reprimands remain on the players’ record for two years and any further level one breach during that period will result in an automatic imposition of three penalty points.

Rangers reclaimed their place at the top of the Scottish Premiership table on Sunday as they came from behind to beat St Mirren 2-1.

Connor Ronan handed the hosts the lead with a sensational effort from distance, giving Jon McLaughlin no chance with a thumping shot into the top corner.

The Gers then piled on the pressure throughout the first-half before scoring twice inside two minutes at the end of the half, with Kemar Roofe dispatching a penalty before Alfredo Morelos nodded a James Tavernier cross in at the back post.

Although Roofe and Morelos scored the goals to seal the win, another player stole the show for Steven Gerrard’s side – Connor Goldson.

The centre-back was immense throughout the game as he helped Rangers to win the match with his stoic defending alongside Leon Balogun to prevent Jon McLaughlin from being tested too much in the Gers net. Whilst he did not keep a clean sheet, there was nothing he could have done to stop Ronan from scoring a world-class goal from distance after John Lundstram was found wanting in midfield.

Defensively, he was almost perfect. Per SofaScore, he won nine of his 11 (82%) duels on the pitch. He also made four clearances and one tackle, whilst no St Mirren players were able to dribble past him in the entire match.

This means that his two duels lost were the only times in the 90 minutes where he could have been faulted, which is an impressive feat by the central defender as their opponents fought to equalise throughout the second-half.

On the ball, he was composed. Per SofaScore, he completed 72% of his attempted passes and had 75 touches of the ball. The defender found a teammate with six long passes, which helped to bypass the St Mirren press and get Rangers up the pitch when they needed an out ball – stretching the opposition defence in the process and creating space in the middle of the park.

Therefore, he played a huge role in Rangers ultimately winning the match.

Whilst the goalscorers will, deservingly, take the credit for the result, Goldson was just as important at the back to ensure that their two goals were rewarded with the three points. Gerrard will surely be delighted with the defender’s display and will be hoping that he can maintain this level of performance throughout the rest of the campaign as they attempt to win a second title in succession ahead of Celtic.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Kamara: Rangers could seal dream midfield with “exciting talent”…

West Bromwich Albion have been handed a significant boost regarding the fitness of Grady Diangana.

What’s the latest?

In recent comments cited by Birmingham Live, Valerien Ismael revealed that, after being left out of the Baggies squad for the 1-0 win over Birmingham City on Friday evening, the winger had suffered a slight hamstring strain.

However, the Frenchman went on to state that he expects the 23-year-old to be available for Albion’s trip to Swansea City on Wednesday evening.

Speaking about the condition of Diangana, Ismael said: “Grady has a hamstring issue, not too bad. It’s a small issue, we didn’t want to take any risks for this game. My expectation is that he will come back for the next game against Swansea.”

Ismael will be buzzing

While Diangana has not exactly been in the best form of his career this season, being yet to score a goal and providing just one assist over his 11 Championship appearances, the winger nevertheless proved during West Brom’s last promotion-winning campaign that he is a player who possesses the ability to fire the Baggies back to the Premier League.

Indeed, over his 30 Championship appearances in 2019/20, the £9m-rated man scored eight goals, registered six assists and created eight big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.6 shots and making 1.4 key passes per game.

These returns saw the player who Lee Hendrie dubbed a “magnificent” talent earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.06, ranking the £36k-per-week winger as West Brom’s third-best performer in the league that season.

As such, Diangana is clearly a player with the ability to win any particular match in an instant, and, with the former England U21 international looking to be available for Wednesday’s clash with Swansea, Ismael will certainly be hoping for the winger to do so at the Liberty Stadium – an outcome that would leave both the 46-year-old manager and fans of the club buzzing.

In other news: Signed for £750k, now worth £1.8m: West Brom struck gold on “amazing” £14k-p/w dynamo

James Foster struck Durham legspinner Scott Borthwick for five consecutive sixes off the first five balls of an over as Essex surged to Pro40 victory at Chester-le-Street

Cricinfo staff05-Sep-2009
ScorecardJames Foster sent a message to the England selectors about his hitting power when he struck Durham legspinner Scott Borthwick for five consecutive sixes off the first five balls of an over as Essex surged to a seven-wicket Pro40 victory at Chester-le-Street. He missed out on the chance to finish the match in grand style with a full house of sixes when the sixth ball was fired down the leg side for five wides.Foster, who was discarded from England’s Twenty20 line-up despite impressing with the gloves in the World Twenty20, cut loose when Essex required 33 to win from four overs. All five sixes came over the leg side, with the first two swept before Foster latched onto three pulls as Borthwick, who had bowled well previously, dropped short. Foster ended with a career-best 83 from 38 balls as Essex won with a comfortable 19 balls to spare.Foster’s pyrotechnics overshadowed a second consecutive hundred for Alastair Cook, another player trying to prove his one-day credentials, as he hit an unbeaten 104 from 108 balls to follow his ton against Hampshire earlier in the week. Cook, not a renowned six-hitter, managed two himself but that was nothing compared to his team-mates. Graham Napier didn’t hold back, either, as his 63 came from 49 balls during which he added 117 in 16 overs with Cook to set-up Essex’s chase.It was a thoroughly entertaining, high-scoring contest as boundaries flowed for both sides. If the ECB’s new 40-over competition reproduces these types of matches next season there will be some good entertainment.Phil Mustard began a productive day for discarded England one-day players as he and Ian Blackwell added 100 in 12 overs to propel Durham’s innings. Mustard’s hundred came from 98 balls, but that had faded from the memory by the time the match came to its explosive conclusion.

Andrew Hilditch could be forced into a difficult decision between selection duties and his legal career if recommendations from the Player Pathway Review Committee are adopted

Alex Brown28-May-2009Andrew Hilditch could be forced into a difficult decision between selection duties and his legal career if recommendations from the Player Pathway Review Committee are adopted. A major overhaul of Australia’s selection framework, including the appointment of a full-time chairman to the national panel, was one of the proposals included in a memorandum circulated among state and national officials after the most recent Cricket Australia board meeting.Hilditch, Australia’s chairman of selectors, currently balances his duties with his role as an Adelaide solicitor. The dual jobs became a point of contention during the recent Australian summer, when sections of the local media criticised him for not attending parts of the Test series defeat to South Africa.James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive, offered Hilditch his unequivocal backing at the time. But just whether Hilditch will be able to retain both posts in future is now in doubt following the release of the review committee’s recommendations.The five-point plan, which has been seen by Cricinfo, recommends a full-time chairman of selectors as part of a broader initiative to “professionalise the NSP (National Selection Panel)”. There were also proposals to expand the role of the head of the Centre of Excellence to oversee a youth selection panel, and for a “talent manager/selector” to be employed by each state and report back to both state and national boards.The memorandum stated that the Cricket Australia directors had endorsed the suggestions “subject to the CA Board approving the 2009-10 budget”, and requested CA’s management to provide the June board meeting with “a timeline for the implementation of these recommendations.” But Michael Brown, the Cricket Australia operations manager, was hesitant to discuss the pathway review, describing it as “a work in progress with many elements and no certainty on (the) outcome.”The pathway review, an initiative of Cricket Australia’s High Performance Unit, also recommended a refocussing of “state cricket to produce Australian players” and a restructuring of both men’s and women’s pathway programmes.