All posts by h716a5.icu

Daniel Vettori will miss the Christchurch ODI, as he has left for Auckland to be with his wife Mary. The Vettoris are expecting the birth of their first child later today. Brendon McCullum will lead the side in Vettori’s absence, and offspinner Jeetan Pat

Cricinfo staff08-Mar-2009Daniel Vettori will miss the Christchurch ODI, as he has left for Auckland to be with his wife Mary. The Vettoris are expecting the birth of their first child later today. Brendon McCullum will lead the side in Vettori’s absence, and offspinner Jeetan Patel will replace Vettori.It has been anticipated for some time now that Vettori could miss one or two games. But he travelled to Christchurch with the team before getting the news that the birth was expected today.New Zealand go into the Christchurch ODI needing to win, to make sure they go to Hamilton with a chance to still win the series. They lost the first game, and the second was rained out.

Glen Kamara has refused to commit his future to Glasgow Rangers while on international duty with Finland, saying he will wait and see what happens in regards to a new deal.

The Lowdown: Kamara future unsure

£5.4m-valued Kamara (Transfermarkt) was the subject of plenty of interest from the Premier League during the summer transfer window, including from former club Arsenal (Football Insider).

However, he remained at Ibrox in the end, although he has now provided an insight into his thinking.

The Latest: Kamara refuses to commit future

Speaking while away with Finland, Kamara did not close any doors in regards to what could happen. He said (via Ibrox News):

“From what I know, there has been some interest from different teams in different leagues.

“If something had happened, then it would have happened. But it didn’t happen, and the focus is on Rangers, which is something I look forward to.

“There have been, talks and they have been ongoing. We will see what happens. I can’t really tell you much, and I can’t really say more about that.

“Let’s see what happens.”

The Verdict: Worrying for Gers

We are approaching an important moment in the career of Kamara at Rangers. At the end of this campaign, he will have just one year left on his contract with the 55-time Scottish champions (Transfermarkt) – it is time to decide whether to sign a new deal or seek pastures new.

After impressing both with the Gers last term as they won the Premiership for the first time in ten years and with Finland during Euro 2020, Kamara has made himself an attractive proposition for a number of clubs. There is only so much he can achieve north of the border, and he may well be weighing his options as he deliberates a new deal.

In other news, Rangers fans reacted to this latest Heart and Hand twist.

Plays of the Day from the first day of the Wellington Test between New Zealand and India

Sidharth Monga in Wellington03-Apr-2009Their first fifty
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have looked threatening every time they have come out to bat this series. But before today they hadn’t put together 50 runs even once. So when Sehwag flicked Tim Southee for India’s 50th run in the tenth over, the batsmen were punching each other’s gloves in the middle of the pitch, even before having finished the single.The costly over-step
Three Tests, three no-balls, three wickets denied. In the Hamilton Test, Kyle Mills had Gautam Gambhir plumb lbw on the first ball of the second day, but it was a no-ball. In Napier, Daniel Vettori had Rahul Dravid caught by Brendon McCullum off an official no-ball, but replays suggested Vettori had not over-stepped. Today, though, James Franklin over-stepped, and induced an edge from Dravid, which nestled in McCullum’s gloves. Simon Taufel did not miss it.Jesse Warne – Shane Ryder
How popular is Jesse Ryder in Wellington? Just go out and listen the crowd go “Jesse, Jesse” in the same tone as Aussie crowds used to cry “Warnie, Warnie”. Ryder had just got Yuvraj Singh’s wicket and, by the response from the crowd, it could very well have been Warne bowling in the evening session at the MCG, with one wicket to go for a five-for.Well left … almost
In the third over of the Indian innings, Gambhir tried to leave a Chris Martin delivery, and was clearly late in making his mind up whether to do so. As he was shouldering arms, the ball hit the face off his bat, and rolled towards the gully. It would have been an interesting way to get out.

Vikram Solanki’s defiance spared Worcestershire from the humiliation of launching their Division One campaign with an innings defeat inside two days at the Rose Bowl

David Lloyd at The Rose Bowl16-Apr-2009Worcestershire 132 (Cork 4-10) and 150 for 8 (Solanki 64*) lead Hampshire 216 (Dawson 66, Arif 4-42) by 66 runs
ScorecardLiam Dawson made a potentially matchwinning 66•Getty ImagesVikram Solanki’s defiance spared Worcestershire from the humiliation of launching their Division One campaign with an innings defeat inside two days at the Rose Bowl. But the writing still appears to be on the wall for last year’s Second Division runners-up.Thanks to captain Solanki (64) and No 9 Chris Whelan (47), Hampshire were kept waiting. Together they added 97 for the eighth wicket, almost tripling the total from a grisly 53 for 7 and giving the visitors a lead of 66 in the process. But with Whelan falling to the first ball of the second day’s final over – edging a big cut against Chris Tremlett – surely only a lot of bad weather can deny the hosts.Still, 150 for 8 represented positive riches for Worcestershire. Dismissed for 132 first up, they were subsiding even more meekly second time around on a pitch passed fit for purpose by inspector Tony Pigott. Apart from Solanki, who survived an appeal for caught behind off Tremlett before scoring, only Ben Smith of the top eight reached double figures as too many batsmen fell in cheap fashion.Stephen Moore played on to one from Tremlett that kept a little low, Daryl Mitchell edged Dominic Cork – rewarded with the new ball after his first-innings heroics – into the slips and then the collapse really gathered pace.Michael Carberry, one of the game’s best fielders, dived forward in the covers to hold a skimming catch off Smith’s bat. But Moeen Ali could not have turned James Tomlinson more gently to square leg before Steve Davies snicked routinely. And with Gareth Batty edging an optimistic drive and Kabir Ali falling lbw, the end looked night with 24 overs remaining.Solanki, who came in at No 3, had barely played a shot in anger up to that point. But the class that earned him a half-century of England ODI caps came to the fore as he suddenly decided that the long handle was his only hope – and a crashing six over cover off seamer David Balcombe swiftly followed.At first, Solanki tried to protect Whelan, even running a bye off a bouncer which went straight through to the keeper in order to pinch the strike. But his partner soon showed himself more than capable of surviving and supplied 47 to the stand before a moment of hot-headedness gave Hampshire the breakthrough they had been striving to achieve.While Solanki’s heroics saved the day (if probably not the match) for Worcestershire, the best batting so far has come from the 18-year-old Hampshire allrounder Liam Dawson. At 116 for 7, the home team were making heavy weather of forging a first-innings lead. But Dawson, backed by the irrepressible Cork (25) during a stand of 91, made sure they gained a decent advantage.The pair came together following a flurry of wickets in the morning – nightwatchman Balcombe was yorked by Kabir and then both James Adams and Nic Pothas were undone by Imran Arif, a Pakistan-born paceman who had tried his luck with both Hampshire and Sussex before Worcestershire took him out of the Bradford League last season and made him their overseas player.Arif has since become a British passport-holder, meaning he can play in the same side as Ashley Noffke when the Australian fast bowler arrives later this week, and the quickie will clearly fight hard to keep his place.No-one could shift Dawson, however, until he was last out – swinging the bat at paceman Matt Mason – for a wonderfully composed 66. The England Under 19 captain (and England Lion during a Twenty20 ‘international’ against New Zealand A earlier this year) ended last season by making his maiden championship century at Trent Bridge. Here, he timed the ball beautifully while stroking eight fours and looking a class act.

Buying and selling players in football always comes with a risk attached to it. What if they struggle to adapt or they go on to greater things after leaving? There are always concerns but that comes with the territory of the transfer window and Rangers are no strangers to that.

One player who the Gers brought in before selling on at a later date was American holding midfielder Matt Polster.

Polster joined Rangers on a free transfer from Chicago Fire but failed to make his mark in Scotland. He ended up playing 10 senior matches for the club before his departure, six of which came in the Scottish Premiership – failing to score a goal and providing one assist. SofaScore rated four of his appearances in the 2019/20 campaign, with Polster achieving a score of 7.0 or higher in three of his four matches.

He then joined MLS side New England Revolution for a fee of £297k in the summer of 2020. So, how has he fared since departing from Ibrox?

In 2021, he has played 23 games in the MLS and averaged an excellent SofaScore rating of 7.03. He has averaged 3.2 tackles and interceptions per game for Revolution and won 59% of his duels, showing defensive steel in the middle of the park.

This has seen his market value on Transfermarkt soar to £900k. This is a 203% increase on the fee Rangers sold him to Revolution for and the highest his value has been in his career – with his market valuation rising steadily ever since he joined the MLS side.

At the age of 28, it could continue to rise as he plays out his peak years as a footballer, with his experience and growth helping him to develop his game and improve his performances. This does beg the question ‘why Rangers did not give him more time?’

His quality performances in the MLS and his soaring market value suggest that Rangers may have sold him at the wrong time and that he deserved more of a chance to show what he could do. It can take time to adapt to a new league and he was only given six attempts to crack the Scottish Premiership.

Perhaps he could have fulfilled his potential if Steven Gerrard gave him a few more opportunities to showcase his qualities, although that is all hypothetical now. We will never know how it would have gone, with Polster now making the most of his chance in the MLS.

AND in other news, Rangers transfer claim made on “perfect” £6.2k-p/w beast, it’ll leave fans delighted…

Tottenham Hotspur star Steven Bergwijn posted a worrying hint over his latest injury problem to social media this week…

What’s the word?

The Dutch winger returned from international duty nursing a knock after being pictured with his ankle wrapped with ice during the Netherlands’ 6-1 World Cup qualifying win over Turkey.

Bergwijn made his comeback last week for Spurs’ opening group match against Rennes in the UEFA Europa Conference League, only for him to last just 30 minutes before being withdrawn for an injury to the very same ankle.

He did not feature in Sunday’s defeat to Chelsea and he has since posted an update, as relayed by fan account The Spurs Web on Twitter.

Terrible setback

Speaking after their 2-2 draw in France, Lilywhites boss Nuno Santo made his frustrations known.

“It’s been terrible. I must be honest. Let’s not hide behind nothing,” he told reporters (via the Evening Standard). After the Watford game, everything that has happened has not been very good for us. But this is football.”

The 23-year-old, valued at £34m by CIES Football Observatory, has hardly set the ground alight since moving to north London but he was slowly becoming a key cog of the Portuguese’s system, having started all three of their opening matches.

In his absence, Spurs have lost back-to-back league games 3-0 and have struggled immensely in front of goal.

Indeed, across 54 appearances, Bergwijn has only scored four goals and provided nine assists, via Transfermarkt, but he does so much more for the side.

Currently, the former PSV Eindhoven dynamo is the most creative option at Nuno’s disposal, having averaged 1.3 key passes per game. That’s ahead of Heung-min Son (1), Harry Kane (1), Tanguy Ndombele (1), Sergio Reguilon (0.8) and Dele Alli (0), per WhoScored.

His work rate to get back and help out defensively is also a massive plus – as described by The Athletic last season, he sometimes appears to be an additional full-back and after their north London derby win over Arsenal, it led to Jose Mourinho describing his efforts as “incredible.”

Therefore, seeing the Dutchman in a protective boot is certainly a major cause for concern as Nuno will want to see a reaction this week as they face his former club Wolves in the Carabao Cup before heading to the Emirates Stadium for their first battle of the 2021/22 season on Sunday.

It seems as if Bergwijn will be out for the foreseeable future and considering all the issues around Spurs right now, it’s a cruel and massive blow.

AND in other news, Watch out Winks: Nuno has a rising star in unseen 19 y/o “fantastic talent” at Spurs…

Haroon Lorgat has conceded that players may reduce or end their involvement in international cricket to participate in lucrative domestic Twenty20 leagues

Alex Brown31-May-2009Haroon Lorgat, the ICC’s chief executive, has conceded that players could be tempted to reduce or end their involvement in international cricket to participate in lucrative domestic Twenty20 leagues. In an interview with Cricinfo, Lorgat also revealed that an IPL window would be considered for the new Future Tours Programme (FTP), and stated his opposition to calls for an expansion of Twenty20 cricket at international level.While expressing confidence that the majority of international cricketers were still driven to represent their countries in Test and limited-overs fixtures, Lorgat admitted that the riches on offer in the IPL would prove the stronger motivation for some players. The ICC, he said, was investigating a number of measures to safeguard international cricket from the proliferating Twenty20 leagues, but feared other players could subscribe to the sentiments of Chris Gayle, the West Indian captain, who recently suggested cricketers could shun international matches for large Twenty20 paydays.”I have no doubt that there will be some players who will believe that, who would see that,” Lorgat said. “But I know there are equally a lot of players who will want to keep their avenues open to playing and competing at an international level. There would be some who would prefer or enjoy making the best financial rewards, and there are others who will want a balance between what they make in terms of a good reward and representing their countries.”We would be foolish not to recognise that the environment is changing. It was unfortunate that Chris Gayle’s comments were portrayed in that fashion. I’m sure on reflection he must be thinking twice about what he said, because if you speak to many, many players – and I do engage with the players – they still recognise Test cricket as the ultimate form of the game. They want to be tested and rated on that form of the game. Maybe Chris Gayle is appearing in a phase of his life where it is less important to him, but I can promise you that the younger generation of players that I speak to are far from the sentiment that Chris Gayle expresses.”Lorgat said a number of measures were being considered to ensure the primacy of international cricket, including efforts to better promote and market the Test and one-day formats. But Lorgat was cautious about the possibility of creating an IPL window in the cricketing calendar – a move that has the strong backing of players and their unions – questioning whether such a development would create precedents for other domestic Twenty20 leagues around the world.”We will explore that,” Lorgat said. “We will look at all things. We are busy discussing the FTP post-2012, and we will have to look logically at what is right. But it’s very difficult for us to create a window for a domestic event, because that’s not what the FTP is.”The FTP is an international basket of fixtures. That’s what it is. The rest of the domestic seasons for every member country sorts themselves out. You could feasibly (create an IPL window), but why would you do it? It’s a domestic event. If you do it in one domestic season, what about all the other domestic seasons? There could be many others that arise. The FTP is done by the members for international fixtures.”Despite criticism of the scheduling of cricket, Lorgat insisted he was satisfied with the balance of the cricketing calendar. The new FTP, he believes, will be similar to the current model which expires in 2012, albeit with a greater emphasis on marquee series.A number of players and officials have insisted in recent months that cricket’s current scheduling is not sustainable, and could push fatigued players into the seductive embrace of domestic Twenty20 leagues. The recent series between England and the West Indies – scheduled outside the FTP – attracted particularly fierce criticism with some, including the West Indies Players Association, accusing boards of greed by cramming too many matches into the cricketing calendar.”If I have got some serious influence on the Twenty20 competition, it should be not much different to what we see today,” Lorgat said. “That’s simply because we are very fortunate they we have three viable formats. We know Twenty20 is hugely attractive. We’ve got to be careful how much of that dosage we pass onto the audience. We have to balance in some respect between Test, 50-over and Twenty20. I think at the moment we’ve got it right. It’s attraction is unequalled, and here we are on the eve of a world tournament (World Twenty20).”Lorgat also maintained that Twenty20 cricket should not be expanded at international level.”What I do believe is that it should be more a domestic form of the game rather than international,” he said. “We’ve got great forms in Test cricket, being the pinnacle of the game, and the 50-over game I still believe is alive and well. We will see that in due course. I agree with the current balance that we’ve got with internationals being limited in terms of the 20-over form.”

The former England captain has admitted it is natural to assume that the ICL is winding down after 79 Indian cricketers accepted BCCI’s amnesty offer

Ranjit Shinde02-Jun-2009Though the ICL has received a major setback with the mass exodus of 79 of its Indian cricketers, Tony Greig, a senior member of the ICL board, has said though the time is not right for the league to fight the situation, it did not mean that the battle is over for them.”If the players are seeking reinstatement in order to play first-class cricket in India and are also trying to break into the IPL then it’s natural that there will be a view that the ICL is winding down,” Greig told Cricinfo. “(But) I don’t think Subhash Chandra (who owns the ICL) sees it that way. He is being realistic, the financial crisis has hit the media industry hard and cash is tight. He has obligations to the ICL players which he is working through. This is not the time to be fighting but that does not mean the battle is over.”Greig, who played a key role in setting up the league in 2007, also said that the players’ decision to leave was “perfectly understandable” and added that the league will now have to recruit replacements if it plans to hold a “meaningful” event in the near future.”This all seemed to me to be perfectly understandable but the ICL will now have to face the prospect of recruiting other players or there is no prospect in the short term of a meaningful tournament,” he said. “There is however one other important point that needs to be made and that is the issue of the ‘restraint of trade’ and ‘inducement to breach contract’ court actions being brought by the ICL against the BCCI and the ICC. These actions need to run their course and until they have its not appropriate to speculate on what will happen to the ICL.”The ICL plans to restart its international schedule in October after cancelling its March tournament due to the global financial crisis that left the players with little cricket, leading to the mass exodus.”The ICL has encouraged the players to go down this path,” he said. “When the financial crises hit it was decided to cancel the planned March tournament and as a result the short term prospect of cricket for many of the ICL players diminished. At this point it became difficult for the ICL to insist that players stayed. This particularly applied to the ICL Indian players. As a result the ICL have encouraged its players to take advantage of the situation and try and get themselves back into the establishment game.”Greig also claimed that the Indian board’s amnesty scheme was a bit of a compromise, considering that they had originally banned the ICL players “forever”. “The BCCI has been pushed by the ICC to resolve the ICL issue,” he said. “There have been meetings between the BCCI, the ICC and the ICL but they didn’t resolve the issue. In fact, it got to a point where someone had to do something and so the BCCI set a date. This move was a bit of compromise, as there was a time when they were saying that the ICL players would be banned forever.”He pointed out that the BCCI was missing an opportunity by not arriving at an understanding with Zee, the media group that owns the ICL, and hoped that the situation will change “in the best interests of all cricketers”.”I always thought that a compromise would resolve the issues and I am still of the view that the BCCI are missing an opportunity with Zee,” he said. “There is always a chance that there will be a change in attitude because one should always remember that cricket administrators move on far more quickly than those who run big businesses. Who knows what will happen in the next year or two. Hopefully, whatever it is in the best interests of all cricketers.”

Kalvin Phillips knows he will leave Leeds United for another club in the near future, according to former West Ham striker Frank McAvennie.

The Lowdown: Phillips continues to shine

The Whites may have made a poor start to the season, but Phillips has again been a key performer, shining in the middle of the park.

His status as a player has grown so much since his performances at Euro 2020 for England and he possesses an aura and respect in midfield now that only comes when you perform on a big stage like that.

[freshpress-quiz id=“359346″]

The Latest: Midfielder tipped to leave

Leeds could find it extremely difficult to keep hold of the £36m-rated (Transfermarkt) Phillips in the long-term, and speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie, 61, claimed he would leave soon, with the offer of a new deal a way of Leeds protecting themselves:

“It’s a very sensible move. He could always run his contract down and no one wants that. He’s a Leeds boy and he knows he’s going to move.

“It’s a great idea. He had a cracking Euros and we all know how good he is. We know there is interest and when the time comes Leeds are protected a bit more now.”

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The Verdict: Inevitable?

In an ideal world, Phillips would spend the rest of his career at Leeds, going on to potentially become one of the greatest servants in the club’s history.

The brutal truth is that the 25-year-old will be eyeing up playing Champions League football and winning big trophies, though – something the Whites may not be able to offer him.

Whether it’s next summer or beyond, Leeds may have to accept that life without Phillips isn’t too far away, and penning him to a new deal is certainly the best way to ensure the club wins a big profit if he does depart.

In other news, one Leeds player has signed a new deal. Find out who it is here.

Noel Whelan has dubbed Leeds United defender Diego Llorente ‘fantastic’ after his return from injury against Watford. 

The lowdown

Llorente returned to the starting line-up against the Hornets after missing three matches through a hamstring problem which he sustained against Liverpool (via BBC Sport).

And the Spaniard’s first-half goal proved to be enough to secure Leeds’ first victory of the season and lift them out of the bottom three.

Llorente was also SofaScore’s man of the match with a rating of 7.6/10, having completed 60 of his 67 passes and won two of his three ground duels.

The 28-year-old earned a place in Garth Crooks’ BBC Sport Team of the Week, featuring alongside Chelsea duo Cesar Azpilicueta and Trevoh Chalobah in defence.

The latest

Whelan was effusive in his praise for Llorente, pointing out just how many attributes he possesses.

And he also feels that the Spaniard elevates the rest of the backline.

“He was brilliant,” the former Leeds man told Football Insider. “In my opinion, he’s a fantastic centre half.

“He’s very dominant in the air, great on the ball, drives into space when it’s available. His ball distribution is fantastic.”

He later added: “He makes other players better. Everyone steps up to the mark when he’s in the side, and we’re a little bit more settled.”

The verdict

Llorente is an impressive player, but it is just a matter of keeping him fit. Suffering an injury so early into this season after last year’s troubles doesn’t bode particularly well.

You feel that Leeds’ chances of repeating last season’s top-half finish will improve no-end if the Spaniard can avoid any further setbacks.

He’s probably the best centre-half they have at their disposal based on Whelan praise, so a push into the top half and towards the European places could perhaps depend on his availability.

In other news, this Leeds loanee is having a torrid time.