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News that world-class all-rounder Chris Cairns may not be available for New Zealand’s seven match one-day series with India until halfway through, at best, was disappointing for the home side

Lynn McConnell18-Dec-2002News that world-class all-rounder Chris Cairns may not be available for New Zealand’s seven match one-day series with India until halfway through, at best, was disappointing for the home side.There is a worst case scenario that could see Cairns miss all the side’s games and that he could go to the World Cup in South Africa without any international matchplay behind him.Cairns had to undergo surgery to remove floating cartilage from his troublesome knee last week.New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, in Hamilton to prepare for his side’s second Test of their National Bank series with India said it was very disappointing that Cairns might not be available until so late in the series.It was a great shame, Fleming said, that Cairns was making every effort to get right but was having these sorts of setbacks.”The team would love to get him back and to have some preparation before the World Cup,” he said.Equally, however, it was just as important that he had everything right before coming back.”It’s a matter of time and how the rehabilitation goes day by day.”As his fellow players, we just want to see him involved with the team.”But we hope he’ll be there in his full capacity but we will just have to wait day by day and see how he progresses,” he said.Fleming said it was also disappointing that New Zealand Cricket were being forced to name their World Cup side by December 31, after only two games in the National Bank One-Day International series with India.The benefits were there for all to see if New Zealand were able to have another week in which players could make their claims for selection, both in the international series and in the domestic State Shield competition.

Many West Ham United fans have been left very confused and angry as news emerged involving Declan Rice.

As shared by West Ham Central on their Twitter page, the Hammers midfielder was given a mere 5/10 rating for his display by The Liverpool Echo for his display against Denmark while on Euro 2020 duty with England.

An excerpt from the piece read that he was ‘poor again’, and ‘struggled’ to protect England’s defence, and is ‘fortunate’ to be keeping his place ahead of Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson.

A number of West Ham fans flocked to the tweet to voice their complete disagreement, with some citing the bias towards Henderson, and others claiming that the 22-year-old had a good game against the Danes.

Rice intercepted the ball on three separate occasions, the second-most out of his teammates behind Harry Maguire (five), and also made one clearance and tackle, achieving a 95% pass accuracy throughout the match, the highest out of any Three Lions player to have started (Sofascore).

The 22-year-old has played a big part in Gareth Southgate’s team getting to the final, starting each of their six games along the way, and so the criticism does seem very harsh.

West Ham fans on Rice rating

These Irons supporters flocked to news of Rice’s player rating as it was shared on Twitter, with one claiming that they were ‘baffled’ while a couple of others called it ’embarrassing’:

“Genuinely baffled by this. Bizarre”

Credit: @stephenlott

“Poor?! You’re kidding?! Rice has been superb with Phillips!”

Credit: @geordiehammer77

“Hahahaha embarrassing”

Credit: @Sambrooks90

“Wooooooooow”

Credit: @TAC_Dominator

“Jokers…embarrassing”

Credit: @StuShep77

“One word, BIASED”

Credit: @diltondiltond1

In other news, find out what recent development has left these West Ham fans ecstatic

In what was his last innings of the series, a rearguard 71 from Brendon McCullum almost gave New Zealand the belief of producing the unthinkable against England, on the third day of the final Test at Trent Bridge

Will Luke at Trent Bridge07-Jun-2008
‘If we can manufacturer a 150 to 180 lead – out of somewhere – then who knows what can happen’ © Getty Images
In what was his last innings of the series, a rearguard 71 from Brendon McCullum almost gave New Zealand the belief of producing the unthinkable against England, on the third day of the final Test at Trent Bridge. Dominating a partnership of 94 with Daniel Flynn, who showed tremendous courage in his 49, the pair nearly saw New Zealand through to stumps before James Anderson bowled McCullum off an inside edge. Now, though, with just five second-innings wickets remaining, still trailing by 64 runs, Flynn and McCullum’s stand appears to have just delayed the inevitable.Flynn has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the last two weeks. An horrific blow to his mouth from an Anderson bouncer at Old Trafford displaced two teeth, requiring visits to hospital and three separate treatments by a dentist. Lesser mortals would have been placed straight on a plane home but, remarkably for such a severe injury, Flynn was desperate to return to the middle. In addition to the obvious bravery he showed, there was no shortage of ability either. Anderson and Stuart Broad repeatedly teased him outside his off stump, but Flynn’s resolve was unwavering, and he drew praise from his senior partner at the end of the day’s play.”Flynny is a tough character and desperately wants to play cricket for New Zealand,” McCullum said. “He’s come back from a horrific injury in a very short space of time, but was very, very keen to get out there right from the word go. So it’s great from his perspective and development that he was able to get out there and contribute like he was able to, in tough conditions like they were.”It was McCullum who dominated the partnership however, giving New Zealand hope – however faint – that, just possibly, they might be able to set England a challenging total. “We put a pretty good partnership [together] which gave us a bit of belief within the team. We’re obviously desperately disappointed to lose both Daniel and myself at the end, but saying that, we’re closer than where we were at the start of the day.”We’re obviously behind the eight-ball, but you’ve always got to have hope. If we can manufacturer a 150 to 180 lead – out of somewhere – then who knows what can happen. We’re definitely still hopeful.”Such confidence is to be expected of New Zealand’s master batsman. Realistically, however, only he – and possibly Ross Taylor had he not fallen for a disappointing 14 – could have turned the match New Zealand’s way today, and McCullum remained philosophical of his 71, despite his obvious disappointment.”I couldn’t keep wicket this game, so had the opportunity to play as just a batsman. I was disappointed not to get runs in the first innings, and also not to still be out there in the second innings today, but it was nice to make some kind of contribution.”As soon as you get that cloud cover, it’s pretty tough out there. I don’t think the wicket has played too much of a part – maybe [in] the first hour of the first day. It’s probably more what the ball’s doing in the air – and with inswing and outswing, it’s pretty tough. They bowled very well in the conditions they have had.”It was disappointing to get out; I’d hoped there might be a bit more reward for the application I was trying to show, but I’ll learn from what went on out there, how I faced with the conditions and changed my game, and hopefully that’ll make me a better player in the future.”

Four youngsters are expected to leave Leeds United in the summer transfer window as they look to push on elsewhere in their careers.

The Lowdown: Leeds look to go up a gear

Marcelo Bielsa’s side secured an impressive ninth-place finish back in the Premier League in 2020/21, standing out as a hugely entertaining team in scoring 62 goals and conceding 54.

Leeds must now push on and look to do even better next season, which may require top-quality new signings being brought into Elland Road.

For the young players at the club, their chances of playing time could become more unlikely if there is a summer influx, and a fresh update has emerged regarding four academy talents.

[freshpress-quiz id=“359346″]

The Latest: Quartet on the move?

According to Football Insider, Robbie Gotts, Niall Huggins, Jordan Stevens and Bryce Hosannah could all move on this summer.

Leeds are thought to be ‘keen’ on sealing permanent exits for the quartet prior to the September 1 cutoff at the end of the transfer window.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-8/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Makes perfect sense

Football at the top level is ruthless, and while it is sad to see talented youngsters being moved on, it may be best for all parties at Leeds.

The Whites have reached a stage where they need readymade top-level players in order to compete in the Premier League, and it is hard to see academy prospects making a real difference to Bielsa’s first team.

If they do leave, Gotts, Huggins, Stevens and Hosannah will all hopefully flourish elsewhere and ultimately prove to Leeds that they were wrong to sell them.

In other news, one club have demanded €35m for a rumoured Leeds target’s services. Find out who it is here.

Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis launched South Africa’s tour of England in ominous fashion, as a depleted Somerset attack was put to the sword in front of a packed Sunday crowd at Taunton

Andrew Miller at Taunton29-Jun-2008
Andrew Caddick: not happy with the state of Taunton’s wicket © Getty Images
At the age of 39, Andrew Caddick has finally admitted that his England days are over, but that hasn’t stopped him having a go at the ECB for a flat-pitch policy that, in his opinion, is damaging the Test side’s prospects against a strong South African batting line-up this summer.On the first day of South Africa’s tour match against Somerset, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis both made big hundreds in a total of 455 for 3, while Caddick – in only his third first-class outing of an injury-plagued season – was the pick of a beleaguered attack with 2 for 105 in 23 overs. But afterwards his pleasure at getting through an arduous day was tempered by frustration at the lifeless wicket on which he and his team had been asked to bowl.”I’m pleased personally, but again it was hard work at Taunton which disappointed me,” he said. “I know there’s an ECB directive that says we must produce flat wickets for the opposition, but in my opinion that’s a load of rubbish. These guys want to come here and prepare for Test cricket and they should be playing on the best wickets in England, on wickets that are bowler-friendly to make sure they don’t get any advantages prior to Test match cricket.””It dumbfounds me what the ECB is talking about concerning these wickets,” said Caddick. “South Africa are a damn good side, but if England can get on top of them, not only in the Test matches but with the county sides against them, that can be of benefit to the English cricket team. We should be working them over hard, because if we went back to South Africa there’d be green seaming wickets to make sure our English batters never got a run.”That was most definitely the case on England’s last tour of South Africa, in 2004-05, when Charl Langeveldt and Somerset’s own Charl Willoughby combined in swinging conditions at Potchefstroom, as South Africa A beat England by seven wickets in their solitary warm-up before the first Test. Willoughby, however, was one of six regular first-team players missing from Somerset’s line-up, which somewhat undermined the force of Caddick’s argument.Caddick, however, didn’t see it that way, especially with Somerset in hot pursuit of their maiden County Championship title. “We’ve got a hectic summer, and we’ve just come back from the Twenty20s,” he said. “I’d love to have a situation where we played ten matches a year and could put out a strong side against the tourists, but it’s non-stop and players need resting. If I’d started a full season I wouldn’t be playing either. But if you produce friendly wickets, your youngsters go in with a bit of help, and they can step up to the plate against international sides.”Instead, Somerset’s youngsters were put to the sword, not least by Amla, whose 172 broke Tip Snooke’s 101-year-old record for South Africa against Somerset. Even so, he was jokingly disappointed not to have gone on to reach a double-century, which demonstrated just how easy the conditions for batting had been. “It was a very good toss to win, on a flat wicket that was much slower than I expected. When you first come in it takes a bit of time to adjust and get used to it, but it was pretty favourable for the batsmen. I think before any Test you want to be playing against quality opposition, but I thought they bowled pretty well, even though the scoreboard doesn’t suggest it.”Somerset struck only two notable blows all day, and Caddick was the instigator of both – first when Neil McKenzie was trapped lbw by the first ball of the match, and then in the closing overs, when Kallis was pinned on the elbow by the new ball and forced to retire hurt. “The day started well then all went bad from there,” said Caddick, who was typically unrepentant about the injury afterwards.”My attitude always is, if you can’t bowl them out, get them out by hurting them,” he said. “It’s as simple as that – get them out of the way. I’m sure he’ll be alright, he’s a strong lad, but as far as I was concerned, I was quite happy he left the field. To be leaving the field he’ll be in pain, and if he’s in pain, that’s good for me. [In these conditions], you’ve got to work your arse off to get the best out of yourself, and the wicket.”Caddick intends doing that for a long while yet. After finishing the 2007 season as the leading English wicket-taker, he underwent a back operation over the winter and has barely featured since. Today’s two-wicket haul was the most he’s managed in any first-class innings in 2008.”My England days are over, but I’m happy with what I’m doing,” he said. “I was virtually pain-free which is nice, but I didn’t have much rhythm today, which is a little annoying. These things will come, but now I’m definitely looking forward to starting my season. It’s been a long time coming.”

Football.London’s Sam Inkersole reckons that West ham will “cave in” and pay Vladimir Coufal what he wants to extend his deal at the London Stadium.

The right-back made the £5m switch from Slavia Prague last September and went from strength to strength for the Hammers – producing several outstanding performances to help David Moyes’ side qualify for the Europa League.

Coufal registered an impressive seven assists in 34 Premier League appearances, establishing himself as one of the most consistent full-backs in the division.

According to Sky Sports, West Ham have offered Coufal, who enjoyed an impressive Euro 2020 with Czech Republic, an improved contract, although the defender’s representatives have been left unhappy with the financial package being presented by GSB.

However, despite their difference in Coufal’s worth, Inkersole knows the importance of getting the impressive right-back tied down to long-terms.

He exclusively told The Transfer Tavern:

“He’s been brilliant. He had a good Euro’s as well – and was an utter bargain at £5m. I’m not surprised West Ham are trying to tie him down, but he needs to get paid and he utterly deserves that.

“He was one of the best right-back’s in the division. I’m surprised that West Ham tried to low ball him a little bit, I think they will cave in and give him what he’s worth.”

Coufal has more than earned a contract extension and a pay rise, and whilst the two parties are still in disagreement, you fully expect a player of that importance to be signed up sooner rather than later.

West Ham’s chances of bringing Jesse Lingard back to the London Stadium have been rated as “unlikely” by a very reliable source…

What’s the word?

According to ExWHUemployee, the Irons have little hope in securing the Manchester United star on a permanent deal following a successful loan spell last season.

In response to supporters on Twitter, he said:

“Although at this point I still feel he is unlikely to sign.”

Devastating news

It’s no secret that Lingard is amongst David Moyes’ top targets in this transfer window. He made that much clear after the final game of the 2020/21 season, in which the Hammers secured their place in the Europa League.

“I hope Jesse’s here [next season], we’d like to keep him, he’s done an exceptional job for us but there’s no guarantees, he’s not our player,” the 58-year-old told reporters, via the Evening Standard. “But I hope Jesse realises we’ve been good for him as well, and that he joined a club on the up.”The 28-year-old is now back at Old Trafford after a short-term spell in the capital saw him provide nine goals and five assists, whilst he also finished as their second-highest rated player, as per WhoScored figures.[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-west-ham-news-transfer-rumours-the-latest-gossip-and-much-more-2” title= “Read the latest West Ham news, transfer rumours, gossip and much more!”]His future very much remains unclear with the season less than a month away.United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hinted that the England international is part of his plans this season.”He’s a Manchester United player and he wants to fight for his place,” he claimed before later adding: “He’s still in my plans. I expect him at Man Utd at the start of the season.”However, this seems hard to believe considering he’s already perhaps behind two players for the no.10 role in Bruno Fernandes and last summer’s signing Donny van de Beek, whilst the Manchester giants are close to landing Jadon Sancho, too.United’s asking price of around £30m seems a little far-fetched for a player who has not started in the Premier League for the Red Devils since January 2020.A combination of the above must certainly contribute to Ex’s thinking and this will come as devastating news to the Hammers faithful, who are just as keen as Moyes to see the star playmaker back at the London Stadium.

AND in other news, Moyes risks West Ham nightmare as ExWHUemployee drops big update on 30-goal “machine”…

The England board has expressed “disappointment” with the proposed itinerary for the tour of India at the end of the year

Cricinfo staff14-Jul-2008
Test cricket returns to Brabourne Stadium after 35 years © Cricinfo Ltd
The England board has expressed “disappointment” with the proposed itinerary for the tour of India at the end of the year.A statement from the board said that “despite representations, the itinerary doesn’t offer the thousands of supporters who follow the England team abroad, the opportunity to experience more of the great cricket grounds of India.”The main concern surrounds the grounds nominated to host the seven-match one-day series. Instead of a tour that takes in such stadia as Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, England will reprise their 2005-06 experience with trips to venues such as Jamshedpur and Guwahati in the far east of the country, where their one-day international had to be abandoned due to rioting in the stands.The highlight of the short Test series is that Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium will host its first Test for 35 years.England were the last visiting team to play a Test there back in 1972-73. A dispute over tickets between the local board and the Cricket Club of India, which owns the ground, led to the birth of the Wankhede Stadium nearby, which staged its first Test in 1975.The Brabourne hosted three one-day internationals between 1989 and 1995, before playing host to five ICC Champions Trophy games 11 years later. The last international match played there was a one-off Twenty20 international between India and Australia last year.Proposed itineraryNovember 6, 2008 England arrive in Mumbai
November 9 One-day warm-up match, Mumbai
November 11 One-day warm-up match, Mumbai
November 14 1st ODI v India, Rajkot
November 17 2nd ODI v India, Indore
November 20 3rd ODI v India, Kanpur
November 23 4th ODI v India, Jamshedpur
November 26 5th ODI v India, Cuttack
November 29 6th ODI v India, Guwahati
December 2 7th ODI v India, Delhi
December 5-7 Three-day warm-up match, Baroda
December 11-15 1st Test v India, Ahmedabad
December 19-23 2nd Test v India, CCI Mumbai

The former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has not been given a first-class contract with Canterbury

Cricinfo staff07-Aug-2008
Shane Bond was stripped of his New Zealand contract last season after signing for the Delhi Giants in the ICL © Getty Images
The former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has not been given a first-class contract with Canterbury due to his commitments with the Indian Cricket League. Bond, who is already committed to play in a tournament organised by the unofficial league in India at the time the Canterbury contracts take effect, said it was not yet clear how much more time he would be required to spend in India.The New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan said on Wednesday that Bond had to be available for Canterbury throughout the length of the deal from October to mid-April. “If he is unable to commit to that then I would think that precludes him from taking up a full-time contract. Of course, he can still play when he is available as a free agent for match fees as he did last season,” he told the , a Christchurch-based daily .Lee Germon, the former New Zealand captain, who is also chief executive of the Canterbury Cricket Association, echoed a similar sentiment. “He wants to play for Canterbury, which is great. The question mark was around how much of it would he be available for,” he told .Bond was stripped of his New Zealand contract last season after signing for the ICL, despite having initially been told by NZC he could still play for the national side after joining the unofficial league.He was also unhappy that other New Zealand players had been allowed to miss matches for the national side while playing for the officially-sanctioned Indian Premier League and still be offered NZC contracts.Bond said it was unfortunate that the Indian cricket board was trying to tell other countries how to run their game. “I think there has been too much bending over backwards to not upset India.”He played an ICL tournament in March and later signed with English county side Hampshire.

Sheffield United have been handed a huge boost in their bid to keep George Baldock at Bramall Lane this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Yorkshire Live, who claim that Celtic have made the signing of a right-back, and Baldock in particular, their top priority ahead of the start of the new Scottish Premiership season.

However, the report goes on to state that Ange Postecoglou’s side value the 28-year-old at a figure of around £5m, with an offer of this amount believed to be something Slavisa Jokanovic’s side would not even begin to consider.

As such, it is claimed that, unless the Hoops firm up their interest with an offer significantly higher than the fee mooted – with it being reported the Blades value Baldock closer to £8m – it appears very unlikely that the defender will be leaving Bramall Lane for Celtic Park this summer.

Huge boost

With Baldock having become an increasingly important part of the Sheffield United first team in recent years, the fact that, at present, it looks as if Jokanovic will have the defender at his disposal next season is certainly a huge boost for the club.

Indeed, while last term was largely disappointing for a vast number of the Blades side, the right-back demonstrated the true capacity of his talent in the season before last.

Over his 38 Premier League appearances in the club’s 2019/20 campaign, the £4.5m-rated man made an average of 0.9 interceptions, 1.6 tackles, 1.8 clearances and won 4.9 duels per game.

He also impressed for his side going forwards, scoring two goals, registering three assists and creating two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 0.6 key passes per match.

These returns saw the man Garth Crooks dubbed a “superb” player earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.83, ranking him as Chris Wilder’s joint 11th-best performer in the top flight of English football that year.

As such, with Jokanovic undoubtedly hoping his side can secure an immediate return to the Premier League next season, retaining the services of a player with the ability of Baldock would certainly appear to provide the Serbian manager with a huge boost to his chances of going on to achieve this feat.

In other news: Transfer development emerges on “incredible” £43k-p/w gem, it’s bad news for Sheff Utd