All posts by h716a5.icu

Zimbabwe Cricket has been left looking rather silly after it emerged that Elton Chigumbura was playing club cricket in England

Steven Price05-Jun-2008Zimbabwe Cricket has been left looking rather silly after it emerged that Elton Chigumbura was playing club cricket in England at the same time it was insisting that he was undergoing treatment for an injury in Zimbabwe.Questions were asked when Chigumbura failed to appear for defending champions Northerns in the Faithwear Cup, which started at the end of May. The official reason given was injury, but it subsequently emerged that three days before the competition started, he made his debut for Eppleton CC in the north of England.His absence, and the attempt to hide it, suggests that he did not obtain approval from ZC before leaving the country. Under the central contracts signed by the national players, the board’s permission is required before overseas deals can be signed, and all absences must be agreed in advance.Cricinfo has learned that several players have been refused permission in recent months. Former captain Terry Duffin walked out in April after his request was declined, and Brendan Taylor is reported to have given a deadline of the end of the week for his request to be cleared, otherwise he too might quit.There seems no reason for the board to keep their players in Zimbabwe. The domestic programme has now finished, and the national team has no matches arranged until the end of the year. The hyper inflation inside the country – 160,000% and rising – allied to the deepening civil unrest makes earning and living overseas attractive, certainly in the short term.This, and the risk that by taking a hard line there is a danger of losing even more players, makes it likely that ZC will simply turn a blind eye to those heading to Europe.

The speed of Shoaib Akhtar, on a lifeless pitch, and the guile of Saqlain Mushtaq destroyed Zimbabwe’s batting on the first day of the Second Test match at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo

John Ward16-Nov-2002The speed of Shoaib Akhtar, on a lifeless pitch, and the guile of Saqlain Mushtaq destroyed Zimbabwe’s batting on the first day of the Second Test match at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Zimbabwe wilted under the pressure and subsided with increasing speed for a total of only 178. In 14 overs before the close, Pakistan scored 29 runs without loss.It was a hot, humid day and the pitch appeared very dry, but former Zimbabwe captain Dave Houghton thought, “It probably looks worse than it will play.” He thought it would be slow and take spin on the first day, perhaps crumbling later in the match, but basically quite good for batting, with nothing in it for the seamers.Zimbabwe again won the toss and, as expected, decided to bat first. In a change to their original plans, Zimbabwe decided to send debutant Mark Vermeulen in with Dion Ebrahim to open, dropping Hamilton Masakadza in the order as a result of the shortage of quality practice he has had recently at the University of the Free State.Vermeulen was off the mark first ball, pushing Shoaib through the covers for two. He failed to survive the over, though, adjudged lbw by umpire Orchard to a ball that moved back and would probably have hit leg stump. Ebrahim (5) soon followed, playing inside a ball from Waqar that cut back and also departing lbw. Zimbabwe were 8 for two in the fifth over, a superb start for Pakistan on a slow pitch where they maximized what little help they could extract from the conditions.Things would have worsened had there been a direct hit to remove Grant Flower as he got off the mark. It took 45 minutes before the first boundary came in the eighth over, an off-drive by Alistair Campbell off Shoaib.Despite the lifeless pitch, Pakistan’s pacemen continued the same policy that they had used to good effect in Harare: good line and length, backed by attacking fields. That may have been Zimbabwe’s policy as well, but it wasn’t their practice.The war of attrition continued, with the batsmen restricted to the occasional single off bowling that gave away nothing and the bowlers maintaining a very poor over rate. Waqar rested with figures of 8-4-8-1. Gradually, as the shine left the ball, Campbell began to play a few handsome drives, but his lack of footwork made him vulnerable if there was any movement. The fifty came up on the stroke of lunch, in the 25th over.Grant Flower had two strokes of luck after lunch, as firstly a top-edged slash just cleared second slip, and soon afterwards a difficult chance at short leg off Saqlain went down. But it was Campbell who went, for 46, indecisive when playing Saqlain and dabbing the ball in and out of the keeper’s gloves; Kamran Akmal dived to catch the rebound. Zimbabwe were 94 for three.Shoaib worked up a great pace and almost had Grant lbw with a yorker that thudded into his boot at 160 km/h. But the batsman survived, and reached his fifty with a classic four off the front foot through extra cover. However, he was to depart on 54, sweeping at Saqlain and being given out by umpire Orchard with his front foot well down the pitch; a controversial decision which may well have been correct.Without addition Hamilton Masakadza misread a ball from Saqlain that went the other way and, prodding outside the off stump, was caught at the wicket. At 119 for five, Zimbabwe were in serious trouble, but Andy Flower was still there. Saqlain took all three wickets during the afternoon session and Pakistan, like Zimbabwe, were perhaps already regretting their decision to play only one specialist spinner.Tatenda Taibu carried on from where he left off in Harare, beginning confidently. After tea, though, Shoaib bowled a very accurate, hostile spell, one of the best seen on this ground, hitting both batsmen painfully on the body. It was Saqlain again who broke the stand, though, having Taibu (15) caught at the wicket down the leg side as he tried to turn a ball to leg. Andy Blignaut was Saqlain’s next victim, superbly caught by Taufeeq Umar at short leg without scoring – 159 for seven.Things did not last long after that as Andy Flower (30), once again forced to bat with the tail, unusually fell to a soft dismissal, steering Shoaib to gully one ball after taking another blow on the body. Saqlain bowled Raymond Price (1) all ends up through the gate and, after a brief fight from the last pair, Saqlain bowled Henry Olonga (8) shouldering arms to a sharp spinner, leaving Mluleki Nkala 10 not out.Zimbabwe were all out for 178 on a fine batting pitch. It was Pakistan at their best, but Zimbabwe failed to handle the relentless pressure. Waqar set it up with a fine opening spell, Saqlain bowled with mystery to return figures of seven for 66 off 25.5 overs, while Shoaib’s onslaught after tea finished them off – he had more influence than his figures of two for 39 suggest. Umpire Venkat, after his errors in Harare, appeared to have an excellent day, getting several tricky decisions right.Zimbabwe fought back with some determination with the ball, and it took 16 balls for Pakistan to score their first run, when Taufeeq Umar laced a widish ball from Andy Blignaut through the covers for four. The bowling was more accurate than in Harare, though not dangerous to the survival of the patient batsman, and Pakistan were playing for the close. Taufeeq finished with 16 and Saleem 13.

Tottenham Hotspur’s chances of bringing Mauricio Pochettino back to the club aren’t dead and buried just yet…

What’s the word?

In a stunning new twist, The Sun claim that there is still hope that the North London outfit could secure their former manager but it boils down to one of two likely factors.

Amongst an article suggesting that Brighton and Hove Albion boss Graham Potter has rejected the opportunity to take the vacancy, it’s reported that a return for Pochettino could still happen this summer, weeks after a move seemed to be ruled out due to Paris Saint-Germain’s reluctance to let their manager leave.

The Sun claim that if PSG are able to persuade either Zinedine Zidane, who left Real Madrid at the end of the 2020/21 season, or Didier Deschamps to join after Euro 2020, where France have just been knocked out in the Round of 16 stage, then they could still let Pochettino go back to Spurs.

There’s hope yet…

After suffering blow after blow throughout this long process, this would be some encouraging news for Daniel Levy as well as the Lilywhites faithful.

Names like Julian Naglesmann, Antonio Conte, Paulo Fonseca and now Potter have rejected the chance to take over at the club.

It is thought that the Spurs supremo believes that replacing Pochettino with Jose Mourinho was his biggest-ever mistake since taking charge at the club, the fact he’s reportedly told friends this speaks volumes.

Some of the key criteria set out by the chairman seems to match up with the 49-year-old immensely.

According to the Guardian very early on in the search, he was looking for an attack-minded head coach that could commit to the development of their youth players.

Basically, a Pochettino 2.0.

Therefore, there cannot be a better candidate out there than the man himself.

After all, he did overachieve with such little resources, leading Spurs to three consecutive top-three finishes and even at one stage, he went 18 months without a first-team arrival.

When reports first emerged linking Pochettino with a quite sensational comeback, the Tottenham fanbase was sent into raptures over the prospects of seeing their favourite back.

As relayed by This is Futbol, one fan claimed that it would be “like Christmas Eve” even if there was a “2% chance” of it happening, whilst another added that he was “salivating uncontrollably” over the thought of seeing the Argentine back, with one further member of the Spurs fanbase deeming it a “madness.”

Although this is a small sample size, it really does convey the general feeling in North London. So many would be delighted to see Pochettino back, so this latest claim should have many absolutely buzzing.

This also has to be seen as a big boost for Levy’s chances of rectifying his major blunder, so he must look to try and force PSG’s hand now.

AND in other news, Fresh twist emerges in Spurs’ manager search, it’ll surely leave fans buzzing…

© Reuters Andy Flower is a true hero

Erapalli Prasanna15-Sep-2002
© ReutersAndy Flower is a true hero. There aren’t many cricketers like himin world cricket today. I, for one, cannot help admiring theman’s dedication to the game. No wonder, then, that he is such atowering influence as far as Zimbabwean cricket is concerned.On Saturday, under extremely demanding circumstances, the elderFlower played an innings of great character, single-handedlyensuring that Zimbabwe made a good fist of chasing an imposingIndian total. It must surely have hurt this great player when hissupreme effort in one-day internationals failed to secure aZimbabwean win. Looking back, he must feel that the match wasprobably lost when his brother, Grant, was tragically run outthanks to a superlative effort by Yuvraj Singh, fielding atpoint.When play began in the afternoon, I thought that the Indianbatsmen would be highly positive, coming as they did into thisChampions Trophy after a very successful English summer. To myutter disbelief, all that they displayed, though, was rankcomplacency.Douglas Hondo is a very deceptive bowler; he bowls a good lineand also has the knack of bowling the heavy ball now and then.Batsmen have to be very alert while playing such bowlers but thisfact seemed lost upon the top order Indian batsmen.Hondo bowled the perfect delivery to Ganguly, getting the Indianskipper to nick it into the waiting hands of second slip. He,then, snared Mongia soon after before going on to snaffle theprize wicket of Sachin Tendulkar.Talking of Tendulkar’s dismissal, I am sure that the wilyZimbabwean coach Geoff Marsh had a hand in plotting it. Theydefinitely seemed to have hit upon the fact that Tendulkar hasthe habit of moving into the line of the ball just before it isdelivered. Hondo bowled a beauty on or about the 4th or 5th stumpline, and the extra pace also was a factor in bringing about thedownfall of the master batsman.Fortunately for India, Rahul Dravid is in the form of his life;on Saturday, he carried on from where he left off in England. Thecomposure with which he played, and the sagacity with which heguided Mohammad Kaif, helped India get out of jail. The 117-runpartnership between the duo also witnessed some fine runningbetween the wickets. Ironical, then, that Dravid was dismissedbecause of an error in judging a single.
© ReutersKaif by then was ready to shoulder the responsibility ofshepherding the Indian innings through the final overs; he madethe right moves and played the right shots to ensure that histeam ended up with a formidable total. The young man, who isblessed with the temperament needed to succeed at this level, hasnow blossomed into a very good finisher in one-dayinternationals. Mark me when I say that he will play a definiterole in India’s success in the World Cup 2003.Moving on to the bowling, I must admit that the Indian spinbowlers bowled atrociously. I fail to understand why they haven’tlearnt the lessons that the English tour taught them. On the day,Sachin Tendulkar bowled better spin than the frontline spinners.Despite the poor showing of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh,India were saved by the fact that they had a large total to bankupon. All credit, though, to the Zimbabweans and Andy Flower, forthey fought the good fight before surrendering. I am now lookingforward to Wednesday’s encounter between Zimbabwe and England. IfSaturday’s showing is anything to go by, Zimbabwe might end uppulling the rug from under England’s feet.

Derbyshire’s acting captain Matthew Dowman had a dream day as their match with West Indies A builds towards a fascinating finish

Sean Beynon27-Jun-2002Derbyshire’s acting captain Matthew Dowman had a dream day as their match with West Indies A builds towards a fascinating finish.Dowman, an occasional medium-pacer, picked up career best figures of 4-38 asthe West Indian innings fell apart in spectacular style. He then thrashed aquickfire 71 to compound the tourists’ misery. Two late wickets from MarlonBlack kept West Indies A in the game.West Indies A lost their last five wickets for 32 runs, three batsmen failing to score, as they threw away a potentially advantageous position. Then, after nipping out Derbyshire’s openers, their bowlers lost all accuracy under Dowman’s onslaught.The 28-year-old hit 12 boundaries, taking particular advantage of Black andJermaine Lawson. Andrew Gait made only nine in a 56 run stand with the skipper. It was left to Sulieman Benn’s left-arm spinners to keep a modicum of control.Black returned to get his man, giving Keith Hibbert – the day’s other hero -his fifth catch of the match. He restored some balance with the late wicketof night-watchman Lian Wharton, bowled for a duck. Derbyshire closed the day on 112/4, with Dominic Hewson (24*) and James Pyemont (0*) at the crease. They lead by 130 runs.Hibbert’s belligerent 83 had earlier carried West Indies to 220, givingDerbyshire a first-innings lead of 18. Hibbert crashed 16 boundaries in his 148-ball knock, which was a welcome antidote to stubborn early batting. TheJamaican added 83 for the fifth wicket with teenager Lendl Simmons, (42) asWest Indies looked set for a big lead.After Simmons was bowled by Wharton, Runako Morton (22) joined Hibbert and set about the bowlers with typical zeal. 20 minutes and four boundaries later, Morton was caught close by Dowman, and the wheels began to come off.Black, two places too high at number eight, was clean bowled. Benn and Lawson lasted eight balls between them, bewitched by Dowman’s seamers. Paul Aldred returned to dispatch Reon King as the innings subsided.Debutant pacer Neil Gunter picked up the two early wickets of Donovan Pagon (12) and Dwayne Bravo (0) after the visitors had resumed on 23-1. Dowman’sfirst wicket was vital, terminating Daren Ganga’s two hour vigil. The skipperhad made only 26, again getting himself set before giving his wicket away.With two days to go, the match looks destined for a positive result. A defeat for the touring side would harm an already fragile outfit.

West Indies A found some form with an accomplished victory over Yorkshire in a one-day match at Headingley

Sean Beynon07-Jul-2002West Indies A found some form with an accomplished victory over Yorkshire in a one-day match at Headingley. A sustained effort with the ball and in the field was complemented by assured batting which, for one of the first times all tour, did not look on the verge of collapse.The visitors were boosted by Test players Chris Gayle and Darren Powell. Both made excellent contributions, Gayle hitting an entertaining 49 and Powell picking up two wickets.Captain Daren Ganga hit his first half-century of the tour as the tourists chased down Yorkshire’s 139 with more than 20 overs to spare.Batting first after winning the toss, Yorkshire lost Gary Fellows for nought early on. The dangerous right-hander was well caught by Lendl Simmons as Powell proved why he is considered an international bowler.Matthew Wood, Yorkshire captain for the day, seemed to revel in the role. While Richard Dawson was pushed up the order, it was Wood who was the aggressor. The Academy graduate hit eight fours in his 48, while Dawson laboured for the best part of an hour for just 11.A mix-up which saw the departure of Anthony McGrath put the West Indians well on top, with Scott Richardson nicking behind to Jermaine Lawson soon after. Lawson’s figures of 4 for 24 kept his standards high, and was well supported by Gayle’s 2 for 11 as Yorkshire floundered. Lawson polished off the innings in two balls, inducing a mistake from Simon Guy before clean bowling David Wigley.In reply, West Indies A never looked like struggling. Ganga with 57 not out batted with considerable freedom, confident in the ability of his opening partner. Gayle was typically classy, scoring his runs with a flourish, hitting perfectly through the covers.An opening stand of 90 – by far the best of the tour – was ended by Dawson, who trapped Gayle with a straight one. He hit eight boundaries, six to the fence and two over it, in his 50-ball innings. Gayle is the sort of batsmen who thrives on confidence, and has the ability to dominate any attack.Though Devon Smith went for only four, Yorkshire were patently second-best. Tim Bresnan and Chris Elstub are highly thought of young bowlers, but never managed to exert the sort of control which induces mistakes.Runako Morton (22 not out) joined Ganga, quickly slashing four boundaries to wrap the match up. This was the most competent performance all tour, and will perhaps give the squad – whose body language has frequently suggested that they would rather be elsewhere – heart for the remaining games.

West Bromwich Albion are set to announce Barnsley manager Valerien Ismael as their new boss today [Joseph Masi, Express and Star].

Ending months of speculation, the Baggies are set to bring their hunt for a new head coach to an end after Sam Allardyce departed the Hawthorns last month [Independent].

The West Midlands club are believed to have paid around £2 million in total to buy Ismael out of his contract, whilst the 45-year-old and the Baggies hierarchy are said to have taken the last day to iron out backroom arrangements [Express and Star].

Michael Appleton was also heavily in the frame for the position in recent days, however the former Bayern Munich man has emerged as the preferred candidate [Lincolnshire Live].

In light of this development, no wonder loads of West Bromwich Albion diehards took to Twitter to express their opinion on the latest news.

Baggies fans react:

Replying to the Express and Star Twitter page, here is how some WBA fans summarized their feelings on Ismael:

“Today is Wednesday 23rd June 2021. Also known as Valérien Ismaël day. #WBA”

Credit: @JoshhhWBA

“The longest countdown in history …..99….98….97 #wba”Credit: @StigsWBACousin”That means probably Monday then”Credit: @dbunce74″So hopefully in 14 weeks time we can look at signing players for the season ahead. WBA don’t like to work quickly do they”Credit: @DavidBriscoe9″It will be announced today!”Credit: @BOINGxxBAGGIES”Hurry up”Credit: @leonwba91In other news, a former England international warns a potential West Brom managerial target about a key issue at the club.

Marcus Bent believes Everton should sign Danny Ings to provide competition and back-up to Dominic Calvert-Lewin this summer.

Calvert-Lewin often ploughed a lone furrow up front for the Toffees in the 2020/21 season.

The England international scored 16 goals in 33 league outings and has subsequently been rewarded with a place in Gareth Southgate’s provisional squad for the European Championships this summer.

But there is not much depth when it comes to out-and-out strikers at the club and Bent believes that a deal to sign Ings would improve the options available to boss Carlo Ancelotti.

Ings was first touted as an option by pundit Chris Sutton, when speaking to Radio 5 Live via the Liverpool Echo, and Bent believes he would be a superb, if expensive, acquisition.

The 28-year-old enjoyed a fine season at Southampton this term, scoring 13 goals in 33 outings in all competitions, and he would undoubtedly lighten the load on Calvert-Lewin next season.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, he said: “They definitely need to bring someone in, they’re talking about Ings. He’s 28.

“He’s not going to be a replacement for years, he’s not going to be at the club for years. He’s doing well at the minute.

“But talking to a couple of people at the club, he’d be a good buy, I wouldn’t say a cheap buy, but he’d be someone who would come in and probably play around DCL and he’d get his number of goals too, I think.”

Glasgow Rangers fans are livid after a Gers-supporting policeman was demoted due to a joke he made about the club’s title celebrations.

This past term was a fantastic campaign for the Ibrox outfit. They won their first major trophy in 10 years as they lifted the Premiership title, and they even went the league season unbeaten (BBC).

As they received the trophy at their home stadium after beating Aberdeen on the final day of the season, thousands of Gers supporters took to the streets to celebrate.

There were some ugly scenes in George Square – 20 fans were arrested on the day (firstpost.com) – but the celebrations were generally peaceful. However, the police are continuing to investigate the scenes, and have now demoted a Rangers-supporting policeman after he made a joke on Twitter.

The news was shared on the social media platform by The Scottish Sun, and it attracted plenty of anger from the Rangers supporters. They took to Twitter to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the Rangers fans had to say below

“Sacked, for a joke. Bang out of order”

Credit: @Rangerswin55

“Absolute shambles”

Credit: @DM_RFC

“Dreadful development”

Credit: @AAA85854725

“Absolutely ridiculous.”

Credit: @june_crichton

“It was obviously a joke post. So having a sense of humour is now illegal in Scotland? This is actually disgusting. The reporting of it equally nefarious.”

Credit: @steviesouness

“This is a farce, it was clearly a joke.”

Credit: @AwkwardCharming

In other news, Kieran Maguire has made this Ibrox claim.

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze ahead of the upcoming transfer window.

What’s the story?

According to CaughtOffside, the Reds are interested in acquiring the 22-year-old’s signature over the summer after impressing in the last couple of campaigns.

The report also claims that fellow Premier League giants Manchester United are keen on Chukwueze, who has a £69 million release clause in his contract.

Bye-Bye Shaqiri

Jurgen Klopp’s charges recovered admirably to finish third in the top-flight table after a string of season-ending injuries to several key players decimated their title defence.

However, the German manager is expected to shake up his first-team squad over the coming months as the Anfield outfit shape up for another assault on the Premier League summit.

Many fringe players have been linked with a move away from Merseyside in recent weeks, with the likes of Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri likely to make way for some fresh faces.

Much was expected of Shaqiri after his £13m move from Stoke City back in 2018, but injury issues have kept the former Bayern Munich and Inter ace sidelined for much of his Liverpool career.

Many of Liverpool’s problems throughout 2020/21 were caused by the absence of central defender Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, yet a huge drop-off in form from both Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino was equally to blame for their struggles.

The usually deadly duo scored a combined 20 league goals in the recently concluded campaign, a significant drop off from the 27 they recorded in 2019/20 and the 34 the pair managed in 2018/19.

While Mohamed Salah has continued to put the ball in the back of the net with alarming regularity, his two strike partners have suffered a steady decline.

Without sufficient strength in depth, Klopp was rarely able to change personnel throughout the season in order to try and find a solution to Liverpool’s attacking conundrum but signing a player once lauded by Samuel Eto’o may just solve that particular problem.

“He is an incredible player who is growing in leaps and bounds,” said Eto’o, adding that improving his end product is Chukwueze’s next challenge.

“He is a quality player, and he needs to score more goals, but he has the quality and ability to be more than just a goal-scoring forward. Once he gets all of that he will be top.”

While the £18m-rated (as per Transfermarkt) forward’s goals and assists return may not be overly impressive – bagging just 17 goals and laying on a further 17 assists in 119 appearances for the Yellow Submarine – he’s clearly got bags of talent and potential.

Signing Chukwueze as Shaqiri’s replacement may be the perfect start to Klopp’s rebuild as he looks to restore Liverpool to their scintillating best.

And, in other news…Liverpool tipped as club who could move for £650k-p/w liability, Edwards must avoid