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A round-up of the second day’s play of the third round of the RBS Pentangular Cup

Cricinfo staff14-Jan-2010
Scorecard
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited are in an excellent position to win their second game of the competition, against Sialkot in Hyderabad. SNGPL began the day 109 ahead, after having dismissed Sialkot for just 78 on the opening day. They extended that lead to 191, thanks to Usman Arshad’s 96 and Yasir Shah’s 48. Left-arm spinner Nayer Abbas grabbed four wickets, but the lead, as it emerged, proved a major challenge for Sialkot. In their second innings, despite a much-improved performance, they are only six ahead of their opponents with just three wickets left. Sialkot’s batsmen will regret not making best use of their starts – there were three scores of above 30, but none reached a half-century. Yasir played the chief spoilsport, finishing the day with four wickets.
Scorecard
The Rest compensated for their poor first day with an admirable display on the second to even things out in their fixture against Habib Bank Limited in Karachi. Seamer Mohammad Rameez grabbed five wickets to limit HBL’s lead to 96, but not before a lower-order resistance had given HBL the advantage. Wicketkeeper Farhan Iqbal fought it out with the tail, scoring a half-century – the ninth and tenth-wicket pairs added 58 and 37 respectively to take their team to 238. But the Rest replied strongly in their second innings, with opener Umair Khan stroking a patient 62 and captain Saeed Anwar jnr finishing the day unbeaten on 32. At stumps, the Rest led by 49 with eight wickets still in hand.

Pakistan police have arrested a man suspected of being involved in the attack on Sri Lankan cricketers

Cricinfo staff17-Jun-2009Pakistan police have arrested a man suspected of being involved in the attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore on March 3 earlier this year. Five cricketers, including Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, were injured in the attack which killed six security men and two civilians.Pervez Rathor, Lahore’s police chief, said seven attackers had been identified and one had been arrested. “We have broken up a Punjabi Taliban network and we have arrested an attacker who shot dead a policeman,” Rathor told reporters. The suspect, who police identified as Zubair, also known as Naik Mohammad, appeared at the news conference in Lahore, the capital of the Punjab province in Pakistan, with a blanket over his head to hide his identity.The Sri Lankan team was in Pakistan for a two-Test tour which, as a result of the attack, was terminated abruptly. The attack had immediate repercussions for cricket in Pakistan, as its status as an international sporting venue came under doubt. The ICC subsequently decided to strip the country of its right to host the 2011 World Cup.

The England Under-19s tour of Bangladesh got off on the wrong foot as they lost their opening match against Bangladesh Cricket XI by four wickets

Cricinfo staff13-Oct-2009
ScorecardThe England Under-19 tour of Bangladesh got off on the wrong foot as they lost their opening match against Bangladesh Cricket Board XI by four wickets. A half-century from Mominul Haque ensured victory with four overs to spare, after Sabbir Rahman’s 3 for 51 had kept England to a below-par 213.England chose to bat in the replayed 50-over match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, after the two-day match scheduled to start yesterday was abandoned due to unplayable ground conditions in Fatullah.The visitors made a terrible start after Joe Root was run out at the beginning of the fourth over. Arman Badshah then sent back Ateeq Javid and Chris Dent as England slipped to 46 for 3. However, they were propped up by twin fifties from Ben Stokes and captain Azeem Rafiq, the two putting on 33 for the fifth wicket. But just when Sabbir looked to have England in trouble with two quick wickets, Paul Best, in at No. 8, lifted them past the 200-mark. He hit a breezy 57 off 55 balls, which included three fours and two sixes, before becoming Sabbir’s third victim.With the top three batsmen dismissed cheaply, largely due to Nathan Buck’s splendid efforts with the ball, Bangladesh were feeling the jitters during the chase. But Mominul took on the responsibility of resurrecting the innings and strung together some key partnerships to wrest the initiative back.He put on 41 with captain Mahmudul Hasan and the fifth-wicket stand with Imamul Hossain yielded 61. But it was the sixth-wicket partnership of 65 with Sabbir that effectively ended England’s hopes. Mominul remained unbeaten on 93 off 111 balls, an innings which included 10 boundaries and a six.

Bad news struck Wolves back in August when it was reported that Pedro Neto suffered an unfortunate setback in his recovery from injury.

Consequently, it will now see him potentially return to action in February after fracturing his knee cap back in April during Wolves’ 1-0 win at Fulham in the Premier League.

Given how Wolves have only managed to score five goals in their opening seven Premier League games of the season, winning three and losing four, it’s safe to say Bruno Lage’s side could do with Neto’s attacking prowess in their squad at the moment.

Since joining the Midlands club back in the 2019 summer transfer window from Italian club Lazio for a fee of £16.11m, the winger has managed to score ten goals and provide 11 assists in 79 appearances across all competitions. Five of his goals and six of his assists came last season, demonstrating just how important he was for the team.

This has also been proved by the rise in his overall market value.

In December 2019, only a few months after joining the club, Neto’s market value according to Transfermarkt was listed at just £6.3m. Whereas now it’s taken a massive jump to £31.5m, showing an increase in total of £25.2m in under two years, which is mightily impressive.

This shows just how much of an impressive signing he’s been for Wolves and what a great fit he’s been in their squad alongside other attacking players like Adama Traore and Raul Jimenez.

Moving forward, everyone at Wolves will undoubtedly be hoping that the 21-year-old winger, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £50k-per-week according to Spotrac, will not suffer any further setbacks in his recovery. After an inconsistent start to the campaign, they need him back out on the pitch as soon as he can with no possibility of any further damage to his knee as a result.

In our view, given his relatively young age, if Neto can full recover from his injury and regain the attacking power he showed last season, we see no reason why his market value couldn’t go up even further. He is a simply wonderful player.

In other news: 0 goals, 0 assists: Lage must wield the axe on £8.1m-rated Wolves nightmare – opinion

Everton have been linked with a move for Inter forward Ivan Perisic as manager Rafael Benitez looks to add further reinforcements to his threadbare frontline.

What’s the story?

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, the Toffees are among several clubs interested in securing the highly-rated 32-year-old’s services, with fellow Premier League outfit West Ham United also credited with an interest.

Perisic has entered the final year of his current contract at San Siro, and his impressive performances of late have reportedly attracted the attention of several potential suitors, although signing a new deal with Inter has not been ruled out.

Marcel Brands must sanction Everton swoop

Despite Perisic’s age, there is little doubt that the Croatia international would still be a valuable addition to Benitez’s ranks should he make the move to Merseyside over the winter transfer window.

Throughout his career, the hard-working winger has scored 131 goals and provided a further 100 assists in 512 appearances for various clubs, winning one Champions League crown, two Bundesligas, one Serie A title and three DFB-Pokals along the way.

He was lauded as a “top-quality player” by compatriot Dejan Lovren prior to playing a pivotal part in Croatia’s run to the World Cup final in 2018, before then joining Bayern Munich on loan a year later.

Perisic enjoyed a fabulous 2019/20 at the Allianz Arena, with the £9m-rated beast featuring 35 times in all competitions as Hansi Flick’s charges pulled off an incredible treble-winning campaign.

The attacker’s impressive performances for the Bundesliga giants caught the eye of Bayern chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who lauded Perisic’s efforts.

“Ivan has had a good season and is very reliable. He doesn’t necessarily do something spectacular, but statistically, he does show up with goals and assists. Flick is really counting on him,” Rummenigge gushed.

“We really appreciated that when we qualified for the Final Eight of the Champions League, he, Philippe Coutinho, and the others on loan agreed to remain even with a pay cut. We haven’t decided yet if he’s staying, but the coach and I really like him.”

Bayern eventually chose not to make Perisic’s stay in Bavaria permanent, but that didn’t stop him from continuing his good form on the pitch. He helped Inter claim their first Scudetto in 10 years last season and has already bagged two goals and laid on an assist in 11 outings for the Nerazzurri in the current campaign.

Therefore, Everton’s director of football Marcel Brands must sanction a swoop for the experienced forward, providing Benitez with the strength in depth he desperately needs in order to challenge for a top-six place.

In other news… Bye-bye Mina: Everton step up interest in “blessed” 22y/o starlet, fans would love him 

Taking into account how Southampton currently have three players in their squad that predominantly play in the right-back position with Kyle Walker-Peters, Valentino Livramento and Yan Valery who are all relatively young, it would seem as though Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has enough options in that area for the time being.

However, it looks as though the club have another individual that could potentially give Hasenhuttl a big headache as to who he plays in that position for the foreseeable future.

21-year-old right-back Kayne Ramsay is currently on a season-long loan deal at League One side Crewe Alexandra.

During his time at the club, Ramsay has managed to make 14 appearances for Crewe across all competitions so far this season, predominantly playing as a right-back but also as a centre-back and right-midfielder on the odd occasion.

That shows that not only is he a versatile player that has been very useful for Crewe, but also that he’s getting a lot of minutes under his belt, which should be pleasing for everyone at Southampton.

Specifically, Ramsay has managed to rack up an average of 2.2 clearances and tackles per game in League One so far this season, which is similar to Livramento who has managed to make 2.4 tackles per game in the Premier League this season.

After joining Southampton’s U18 side back in 2017 from Chelsea’s youth academy on a free transfer, the defender, who is currently valued at £225k according to Transfermarkt, has made 27 appearances for Southampton’s U18 side, scoring three goals and providing four assists in the process.

Ramsay has also made 42 appearances for Southampton’s B team and four for the senior side as well as spending a previous loan spell with Shrewsbury Town.

Moving forward, if Ramsay, who has been described as an “athletic” player by former Shrewsbury manager Sam Ricketts, continues to impress for Crewe, he could well find himself in the running to be a regular figure for the Saints when he returns, giving Hasenhuttl a big choice to make over who plays in the right-back position.

In our view, with Southampton signing Livramento last summer and having had him play in all of their league games so far this season, it seems that he could possibly be Ramsay’s biggest competition for the right-back spot at St. Mary’s in the future.

In other news: Ralph masterclass: Saints struck dream deal over “very special” £10.8m-rated gem – opinion

Michael Hussey does not believe Australia’s “working class” cricketers can be considered the best one-day side in the world

Alex Brown at Trent Bridge14-Sep-2009Michael Hussey does not believe Australia’s “working class” cricketers can be considered the best one-day side in the world, despite moving within two ratings points of the top-ranked South Africans in the ICC standings. Having won eight of their last nine matches against Pakistan, Scotland and England, the Australians could reclaim the No. 1 ODI ranking with victories in the double-header at Trent Bridge and the series finale at Chester-le-Street; results that would seal an unprecedented 7-0 series sweep over Andrew Strauss’s men.Hussey, though, insists that only a strong showing at the Champions Trophy will determine whether this reconfigured and recalibrated Australian side is truly worthy of recognition as the world’s pre-eminent ODI force. Further obstacles lie ahead in the form of a seven-match one-day series in India, and home series against West Indies and Pakistan, prompting Hussey to reserve judgement on Australia’s place in the international pecking order.”We have got a lot of new faces around the squad but realistically I think we’ve got a lot of work to do before we can honestly claim that we’re the best one-day team in the world,” Hussey said. “It’s definitely a motivating factor for the team to try and be the best team in the world, but I don’t think that’s where we see ourselves at the moment. We’re building a new team, a new environment, a new culture and trying to take bits and pieces from the past regimes and trying to improve on those as well.”We’ll probably get a better idea after the Champions Trophy where we probably sit. Similarly, with where we sit in the Test match rankings, we had a pretty good idea after playing South Africa home and away and obviously playing England in England. We probably have a fair idea of where we sit in the Test match arena.”Australia and England began the current ODI series ranked third and fourth respectively on the ICC table, but four consecutive victories to the tourists have changed the landscape dramatically. Ricky Ponting’s side moved into a tie for second-place with India as of Sunday, while England plummeted to seventh behind Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Short of a dramatic turnaround in the final three matches in Nottingham and Durham, it is difficult to see England figuring at the Champions Trophy.For Australia, reclamation of the No. 1 ODI ranking will not erase the bitter memories of a tour that has witnessed a calamitous World Twenty20 campaign and an Ashes series defeat, but it will imbue a sense of confidence in the younger members of the squad. Hussey considers himself a generational bridge between those players and the that won the past three consecutive World Cups, and is hopeful Australia’s current side can continue the winning ways, if not the sheer dominance, of their forebears.”I think we’re more of a working class team now,” he said. “When I first started playing it was an unbelievable team to be involved with. There was so much confidence, there was so much presence about the team. Basically, you did expect to win every single game and win it well. We had so many match winners, that if Hayden didn’t come off, it’d be Gilchrist or it’d be Ponting, or McGrath would get the wickets. It was expected and it’s generally what happened.”Being part of this team, everyone has a specific job they’ve got to do and we all have to be doing our jobs if we’re going to win and win well. We don’t rely just on one player to make all the runs or to be the match-winner. We’ve all got to chip in and do our bit.”I actually get on well with the younger generation. They are different, but it’s good because I can learn a bit off them as well. I am available for anyone who wants to chat at any time. And it goes both ways. I like to chat to them about computer games and stuff – which I know absolutely know nothing about – which hopefully can help my kids.”Never before has an Australian side whitewashed a bilateral seven-game one-day international series, and Ponting is making strides to ensure complacency does not take hold in the final week of the tour. With the limited overs series sealed at Lord’s on Saturday, the Australian captain impressed upon his players the need to drive home their advantage and rediscover their ruthless edge ahead of the Champions Trophy.”Ricky’s been on our hammer already basically about trying to maintain our momentum,” Hussey said. “We’ve also identified some areas we need to improve. We want to finish this summer well here in England and it’s a really good lead-up to the Champions Trophy as well.”I’m sure [a whitewash of England] is a motivating thing for us but we’ve just got to worry about this game really. If we don’t win this one then that’s out the window. It’s been great to win this series but we want to keep the momentum going forward leading into the Champions Trophy. We still think we can improve a lot and we’re going to have to improve a lot more to be right up there in this Champions Trophy.”

Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Vivian Richards have defended the primacy of Test cricket in the wake of the withering critique launched by Chris Gayle

Alex Brown13-May-2009Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Vivian Richards have defended the primacy of Test cricket in the wake of the withering critique launched by Chris Gayle. Richards said Gayle’s comments regarding the death of Test cricket were tantamount to a “total betrayal of the game that raised him” and hoped they were not reflective of the West Indian captain’s true feelings.In an interview with The Guardian on Wednesday, Gayle suggested he would not be saddened if Test cricket were to perish at the hands of the Twenty20 format. The West Indian skipper softened his stance slightly in a pre-Test press conference at Chester-le-Street, suggesting his comments were made in reference to his own Test career, which he said was nearing an end.Richards, though, was not convinced Gayle’s statements were truly indicative of his feelings towards Test cricket “based on what he has said before.” Still, the former West Indian captain was critical of his latter-day counterpart’s statements on the eve of the second Test against England.”I think individuals should be a little careful with some of the things they say,” Richards told Cricinfo. “I believe Chris still loves Test match cricket, and maybe he wouldn’t have made these comments if he had been thinking clearly. I honestly feel that this is not what he genuinely believes, and if it is, it is a total betrayal of the game that raised him.”Everyone has their opinion and Chris has expressed his. I believe that Test cricket is the pinnacle. He must remember that he made the West Indies team not because he was a good Twenty20 player, but because of his ability as a Test cricketer. He seems to have forgotten that the one-day games came out of Test cricket, and it was Test cricket which brought him to the world’s attention.”Sobers, perhaps the greatest allrounder the game has known, said he could not relate to the cash-versus-country considerations faced by many of cricket’s modern elite, but hoped Test cricket would remain the game’s most revered format in the years to come.”As far as I am concerned, Test cricket is number one,” Sobers told Cricinfo. “I have not been in this position. If I was in that situation, I would try to combine both forms of the game of cricket. And if I could not do that, then I would feel that Test cricket would remain the top priority. It would not be an easy decision to make. But I was never in a position like Chris Gayle where I had to choose between something like the IPL and international cricket. I suppose he will make the decision he feels is best for him.”Richards, meanwhile, reiterated the concerns of Clive Lloyd, the former West Indian captain and current chairman of the ICC’s cricket committee, regarding Gayle’s decision to extend his stint in the IPL and arrive in England just two days before the Lord’s Test.”Chris coming over two days before the Test was obviously his choice, but I was a little bit worried by it,” he said. “You need more preparation time than that. That is a long flight and you need time to acclimatise and prepare. It’s pretty tough to go all that way and expect to be OK to play straight away.”

Edgar Schiferli prompted a dramatic Canada collapse as Netherlands romped to a 50-run win in the first ODI at Amstelveen, despite a brilliant 94 from Rizwan Cheema

Cricinfo staff11-Jul-2009
ScorecardEdgar Schiferli prompted a dramatic Canada collapse as Netherlands romped to a 50-run win in the first ODI at Amstelveen, despite a brilliant 94 from Rizwan Cheema.Chasing 238 Canada lost the early wicket of Geoff Barnett for 16, but Cheema powered their response with a thrilling innings. He and Sandeep Jyoti were out of the blocks quickly, Cheema pulling Schiferli for two consecutive fours and going to his fifty with a magnificent blow over the top off Pieter Seelaar. Jyoti was less explosive, relying on rotating the strike with ones and twos, and he fell for 14 trying to loft over long-on.Cheema continued to put Canada in a strong position with fours square of the wicket off Seelaar, and two more crunching blows off Peter Borren, but six short of his hundred he mistimed a pull off Mudassar Bukhari and his wicket prompted a dramatic collapse, in which Canada lost 7 for 50. Bowling full and straight, Schiferli – named Man of the Tournament in this year’s ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa – trapped Zubin Surkari and Ashish Bagai leg-before, while bowling Shaheed Keshvani and Khurram Chohan cheaply, before Borren and Seelar returned to mop up the tail and record a thrilling win for Netherlands.Borren was one of the stars with the bat for Netherlands, too, with 50 from 45 while Alexei Kervezee top-scored with 75 from 111. Ryan ten Doeschate chipped in with 35.

Many Everton fans have been left raging over a transfer revelation on Luuk Kluiters.

Writing on his Instagram story (via The Toffee Blues), the central defender revealed that he made a deal with the Goodison Park faithful a couple of weeks ago, but was not able to get a work permit.

That meant that the deal was abandoned, and he has now signed for LOSC Lille in Ligue 1 instead.

Supporters never like to hear that their club was close to a signing before it collapsed, and it certainly seems like the Merseyside outfit have missed out on a target Rafael Benitez wanted.

Kluiters has played in a total of eight games over all competitions for AZ Alkmaar’s U17’s (Transfermarkt), and at just 18 years of age, the Dutchman has a lot of potential.

Everton fans on Kluiters transfer revelation

These Toffees raged as the transfer revelation was shared on Twitter, with one Blue even going as far as to claim that they were ‘fuming’:

“Fuming”

Credit: @gormzyy_

“What a joy Brexit is.”

Credit: @JMoran1982

“Watch this lad turn into the next Van Dijk”

Credit: @Adam95H

“Well done Brexiters..”

Credit: @the_staveros

“I swear we’re the only club this stuff happens too”

Credit: @ScottParker_efc

“10000% guaranteed to turn out to be a world class player now him”

Credit: @shaun00012

In other news, find out which Premier League ace EFC made a late enquiry to sign here!