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Dhoni and Chris Gayle gave credit to Yuvraj for India’s victory. Dhoni said Yuvraj had matured as a batsman over the last two years

Cricinfo staff27-Jun-2009MS Dhoni, the Indian captain, has said the first ODI against West Indies was closer than it looked despite the visitors’ 20-run win.”Most of the guys thought that we have won the game when they were seven wickets down but it was a mistake and hopefully we won’t repeat that,” Dhoni said. “It was more close than thought.”India scored 339, largely owing to Yuvraj Singh’s 102-ball 131.West Indies lost their seventh wicket in the 40th over and needed 88 off the final ten. They scored 43 in the next five overs but lost David Bernard. Denesh Ramdin and Sulieman Benn scored 20 off two overs, which meant West Indies needed 25 off 18 balls to take the series lead. It was when the two batsmen fell within four balls of each other that a win looked highly unlikely. Ashish Nehra, playing his comeback game, took the crucial wickets of Bernard and Ramdin. “It was a gamble. We were thinking of giving that over to an offspinner or a pacer. Finally we chose a pacer as the ball was getting reverse-swing,” Dhoni said.West Indies captain Chris Gayle said his team should have capitalised on the good start. “We came close and the effort can’t be faulted for the way we went about it,” Gayle said. “We batted well. Darren [Bravo] who was making debut was also impressive. Shiv [Chanderpaul] played a top innings at the top. I think if we had won the toss we would have batted first because it is a flat track and the wicket seemed a bit dry.”Both Dhoni and Gayle gave credit to Yuvraj for India’s victory. Dhoni said Yuvraj had matured as a batsman over the last two years. “We rely a lot on him. He gets big runs for us in the middle order,” Dhoni said. “Once he sets in, you hope for a big score. That’s what he’s doing. Once he’s set in, he always gives us a good score with a very good strike rate.”Gayle said once Yuvraj could be very dangerous once he was settled. “[Yuvraj] batted really well and set up a good innings for his team – on a small outfield and flat track it was difficult to contain him out there when he was on the go,” Gayle said. “You have to give credit to the way Yuvraj batted. He started really slow but that goes to show the power of Yuvraj.”The second ODI is on Sunday at the same venue.

Leeds United captain Liam Cooper has revealed the mood at Thorp Arch has been damaged by the FA’s decision to reject Pascal Struijk’s red card appeal.

The Lowdown: Controversial

Centre-back Struijk will be unavailable for selection for the next three games after his red card against Liverpool was confirmed by the FA.

The 22-year-old defender replaced Diego Llorente, who limped off injured, but was then shown his marching orders after a challenge on Harvey Elliott resulted in the Liverpool midfielder sustaining a serious ankle injury.

Struijk will miss Friday’s trip to Newcastle United, as well as Tuesday’s Carabao Cup tie with Fulham and the home game with West Ham United.

The Latest: Cooper feels ‘let down’

Club captain Cooper played the full 90 minutes at Elland Road on Sunday and has spoken to BBC Radio Leeds (via Leeds All Over) about the verdict by the FA.

The defender said: “It’s a tough one, I spoke to Pasc (Struijk) after the game. In my eyes, it’s a freak accident.

“Losing Pascal for three games is a big loss for us. He’s started the season unbelievably, he’s taken to the role unbelievably and he’s been great for us this season.

“To lose him for three games is disappointing. The authorities have maybe let Pascal down a little bit. I don’t see how, after seeing that, he hasn’t gone to hurt anyone, it’s not malicious, and knowing Pascal as I do personally, he would never do that.

“I think we have been let down a little bit.”

The Latest: Major hit

Leeds will be hoping that being without Struijk will not mean their winless start to the season continues. Coming up against Steve Bruce’s Newcastle United is a great chance to earn their first win – the Magpies are yet to grab a three-point haul of their own too.

Struijk’s performances last season were impressive though and former United star Dominic Matteo even claimed the defender ‘has it all’, so he will certainly be missed.

With Llorente and Robin Koch also out, a winnable fixture for the Whites suddenly looks troublesome, so it is no surprise to hear Cooper admit to a feeling around Thorp Arch of being ‘let down’ by the FA.

In other news, this Sky Sports pundit believes this FA ban should have been overturned. Find out more here.

Carlton Palmer has offered his thoughts on speculation over Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa’s future.

What’s the talk?

Former Leeds midfielder, Palmer, has allayed fears that the club could lose manager Bielsa to Barcelona.

The Lillywhites head coach has been linked with the top job in Catalonia recently, but Palmer believes that he will stay at Elland Road for at least another season.

He told This is Futbol:

“Well, like I say, you can never say never, but there’s always going to be rumours. If you’re a manager that’s done well or if you’re a player that’s doing well, there’ll be rumours about you.

“I think Bielsa is one of those people. He seems a pretty straight up, straight down type of guy. He’s committed to Leeds for another season and he works from season to season.

“I think unless something drastically happens in terms of his arrangements with the hierarchy at Leeds in terms of recruitment and bringing players in and being able to do the job the way he wants to, I see Bielsa staying at Leeds for another season at least.”

Fans will be buzzing

Leeds fans will surely be buzzing to read this claim from Palmer following speculation over Bielsa’s future at the club. Losing the ex-Marseille manager would be a gigantic blow for the Whites and one that could leave fans feeling devastated, given what he has achieved in his time in Yorkshire.

He has taken the club from years of wallowing in the Championship to playing fast-paced, exciting, football and thriving in the Premier League.

Instead of turgid, boring, football in the second tier playing the likes of – with all due respect to them – Barnsley, Rotherham and Wigan each week, Leeds are going toe to toe with Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea as they compete in the top tier week-in-week-out and that is largely down to Bielsa’s work.

The head coach led Leeds to a third-placed finish – averaging 1.80 points per game – in his first campaign at the club in the Championship, losing in the play-offs to Derby. He was then able to build on that and secure the title the following year, averaging 2.02 points per game as Leeds won the league ahead of the likes of West Brom, Fulham and Brentford – highlighting his influence over the years.

The Argentine was then able to take the next step at Premier League level by keeping Leeds in the top-flight following their promotion. Leeds finished ninth in the 2020/21 season, averaging 1.55 points per game across the campaign.

This is why fans will be buzzing at the prospect of Bielsa staying at Leeds for the rest of this term and then potentially for another year, at least.

He has shown that he is an influential figure at the club as he has achieved relative success in both the Championship and Premier League, which is why supporters will surely want him to stay at Elland Road and would be gutted if he left to join Barcelona.

AND in other news, Fresh development emerges on “unlimited energy” beast that’ll leave Leeds fans excited…

Kevin Phillips has offered his thoughts on James Ward-Prowse’s decision to stay at Southampton.

What’s the talk?

Former Premier League striker Kevin Phillips has praised James Ward-Prowse for deciding to reject Aston Villa and stay with Southampton.

The Saints reportedly rejected a £25m offer for the midfielder before he put pen to paper on a long-term contract extension, with Phillips believing that Ward-Prowse’s decision shows how much he loves the club.

He told Football Insider:

“You have to give credit to the player. We aren’t privy to what goes on in the background in terms of agents and whatever but there will have been conversations.

“He’s committed to Southampton and that’s brilliant, he clearly loves the club.

“He’s highly thought of and they will have made it known how much he’s valued at St Mary’s.

“Turning down Villa is still a big call. With the signings Villa have made, he might have thought he could go and replace Grealish.”

Delight

Southampton fans will surely be delighted with these comments from Phillips. They what Ward-Prowse’s decision to extend his contract at St. Mary’s meant, as he proved his loyalty to the club by putting pen to paper and rejecting the chance to sign for Dean Smith’s side.

Instead of pursuing a big-money move and handing in a transfer request, Ward-Prowse got his head down and ignored the speculation. He then agreed a contract extension to secure his future at Southampton, suggesting that he is happy to stay for the long-term, which will leave supporters buzzing as he is a crucial player for Ralph Hasenhuttl.

The 26-year-old produced eight goals and seven assists from midfield last season as he played every single minute in the Premier League. He has started the current campaign with one goal in four games and an average WhoScored rating of 6.98 – third overall in the squad.

At the end of last season, Saints head coach Hasenhuttl lauded the midfield as “outstanding”. The Austrian told the Daily Echo: “It’s not surprising for me, a player who played every minute this season is unbelievable.

“His physicality and his performances are outstanding. That’s our captain on the pitch and he is on the way that he is a very important player for this club for the long-term, I think.”

These quotes from Hasenhuttl and his statistics last term and at the start of this season highlight the £75k-per-week gem’s importance to Southampton.

AND in other news, Fewer touches than McCarthy: Saints dud who lost 85% of his duels let Ralph down badly…

Former Premier League star Dean Windass insists that Cristiano Ronaldo will play as a number nine at Manchester United.

The Portugal international has returned to the club from Juventus in one of the most sensational transfers of the summer window.

He has yet to make his debut, of course, because of his international commitments with Portugal, and he could make his second debut against Newcastle United.

Ronaldo has a formidable scoring record, of course, after his spells at United, Real Madrid, and Juventus.

During his first spell in Manchester, the attacker scored 118 goals in 292 games, before netting an astonishing 450 goals in 438 games at Real. At Juve, Ronaldo scored 101 times in 134 games, while he has also netted 111 times in 180 caps for Portugal.

And Windass believes he will be instructed to get into the penalty area as often as possible under United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Windass said: “He’ll be a number nine. He can get himself in the box, you don’t have to do the tracking back as much, because the Premier League is different to foreign football, where you have to track back in a 4-3-3, then it becomes a 4-5-1.

“I’d play him down the middle, get goals in the box, he can come short, he can go long, save your energy going the other way instead of tracking back in the wide areas.

“If he has to play in the wide areas he’ll do that but I’m 100% certain that he will play down the middle.”

An update has emerged on Fulham midfielder Fabio Carvalho, regarding Leeds’ interest in his services.

What’s the talk?

According to the Daily Mail, Leeds are one of the clubs interested in signing Fulham midfielder Fabio Carvalho this month.

Carvalho has failed to agree a contract extension with the Championship club, with just r12 months remaining on his current deal. The report claims that West Ham, Porto and Norwich are also tracking the teenager, along with Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds.

Bielsa could work his magic

Victor Orta must secure a deal for Carvalho as the youngster could be an excellent addition to the club in the long term. He may not be a player who will be able to come in and immediately improve Bielsa’s starting XI in the Premier League, but he has shown signs in his fledging career to suggest that he could have the potential to become a top player in the future under the Argentine’s stewardship.

His former boss Scott Parker made that point himself last season. The ex-Spurs midfielder claimed that Carvalho’s “future’s bright” earlier this year after he scored his first Premier League goal for the Cottagers. He said:  “(Carvalho is a) big positive.

“Massive positive for us because he’s the one who’s going to be here, he’s a player that is really bright and can bring something to this team and you saw that today. We’ve seen his quality today, we’ve seen him scoring and assisting at an under-23 level but now he’s been around first-team players, he’s pushed on and done that as well.“I don’t want to heap too much on Fabio because he’s still a young boy but the future’s bright for him and he’s someone that I really like and someone that I look forward to working with really.”Some of his performances in the Premier League for Fulham backed these claims up. He recorded an excellent WhoScored rating of 7.76 against Southampton whilst starting as a right-back, winning four tackles and completing an eye-catching five dribbles.Not only that, but he scored a goal in the match and provided a key pass, which shows that he has the quality to produce a class performance in the top-tier.Fulham also handed him two other starts following that game, with both coming in his more favoured central midfield role. In those two games, he made five tackles, completed three dribbles and created one chance. These are some very promising signs for a player who does not turn 19 until later this year, both in terms of the ability on display and the versatility positionally.This means that Bielsa could work his magic on the teenager on the training pitch to help aid his development as a player. There will be no unrealistic expectations for him to arrive and set the Premier League alight, which will allow the Leeds boss to take his time with the midfielder to ensure that he is ready before then coming into the team to take his opportunity.AND in other news, Leeds receive transfer boost in chase for “wholehearted” beast, fans will be buzzing…

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!

The opener Phil Jaques is hopeful of being fit for Australia’s tour of South Africa in February

Cricinfo staff03-Dec-2008
Phil Jaques carried the injury since 2006 and is looking forward to regaining his full range of strokes © Getty Images
The opener Phil Jaques is hopeful of being fit for Australia’s tour of South Africa in February and winning a spot as the reserve batsman after undergoing back surgery in October. Jaques left the trip to India early after being dropped for Simon Katich, but he has revealed he was suffering with the injury for years.At its worst, the bulging disc meant Jaques had to get up at 5am to prepare for warm-ups and could not sit in a chair for more than 10 seconds. “It got to the point where I couldn’t get up until about lunchtime with my back,” he told the . “It stopped me from everything I like doing, all the hobbies.”Jaques is not a chance of being considered for any of Australia’s home Tests over the next two months, but he is looking to play two Sheffield Shield games to push for a spot in the South Africa tour party. “I want to try and get some cricket in before then and prove I’m right to go and then hopefully the selectors’ policies on injured players will count for me as well and I’ll come back into that side as a reserve batter,” he said.”There’s still a really big slab of cricket coming up and I’m only going to miss two series really and I’ll be back in the fray for South Africa. I’m seeing it as a half-time break in my career and I’m looking to come back stronger and better than ever.”Jaques became Justin Langer’s permanent replacement in 2007 but the injury affected him during a run of nine Tests against Sri Lanka, India and West Indies. “It was something that I was able to live with but not perform as well I could have or would have,” he said. “I wasn’t able to hit through the covers as well as I had in the past.”Jaques, who scored a century in the last of his 11 Tests, was forced to cut out some of his attacking shots. “I was pretty well resigned to playing off my pads or down the ground and playing off the back foot,” he said. “I was struggling with my stride. I wasn’t able to get the ground that I wanted to. It’s going to be great to go back and be able to be attacking and aggressive like I’d built a reputation for being in the past.”He said he was suffering from the same problem in 2006, when Trevor Hohns, the then chairman of selectors, told him to improve his fielding. “It goes back that far and I think I definitely had an issue and I’m sure I’m going to move a whole lot better when I come back,” he said. “There were times during that time when I would have liked to have put my hand up and say I’ve got a bad back and can’t quite move as well as I would like.”

After falling to a dismal opening day defeat to Watford last weekend, Aston Villa will be hoping to bounce back to winning ways when they take on Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon.

Dean Smith’s side will welcome back their home fans for their first full capacity game at Villa Park for a long time, and should be confident of picking up their first points of the new Premier League season against the Magpies.

One man who the Villa boss must surely consider starting against the Tyneside club is summer signing Leon Bailey.

Speaking before Villa officially confirmed that they had reached an agreement with Leverkusen over his transfer, the club’s former defender Alan Hutton threw his backing behind a move for the Jamaican speedster.

He said: “I’m so excited to see this one. I’ve heard a lot about him over the past two or three seasons. He’s obviously still very young but he’s electric, he gets people off their seats. That’s what you want in a player.

“But what’s more impressive, 15 goals and 11 assists from wide areas in the German league. That’s unbelievable. It’s the kind of consistency you want from your wingers.”

That speed and directness could give Buendia the perfect player to try and find with his intricate passing, as well as offering Villa an added threat in behind to supplement Danny Ings’ movement off the ball.

The £31.5m-rated star came off the bench to great effect against Watford last weekend, marking his Premier League debut for the club by setting up John McGinn’s goal and almost sparking a late comeback.

This time around, in front of the Villa Park faithful, Bailey will be hoping to put on a show and lead his team to victory, and Smith must surely let him off the leash from the start.

He could well be the team’s game-changer against Newcastle today.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa have been handed a major transfer boost over this star…

New South Wales have called on the fast bowlers Aaron Bird and Burt Cockley after their attack took a couple of injury hits ahead of the FR Cup game against Queensland in Cairns on Saturday

Cricinfo staff16-Oct-2008
New South Wales have lost the fast bowler Mark Cameron for their upcoming one-day game © Getty Images
New South Wales have called on the fast bowlers Aaron Bird and Burt Cockley after their attack took a couple of injury hits ahead of the FR Cup game against Queensland in Cairns on Saturday. The Blues have named a 12-man squad that does not feature Moises Henriques or Mark Cameron, both of whom had been expected to play.The destructive Cameron, who was part of the Australia A tour of India last month, has struggled to get over an ankle injury he picked up during the Blues’ recent Sheffield Shield game in Perth. Henriques, the promising allrounder who spent time with Australia’s squad in Darwin in September, has battled a side injury in the past few weeks and remains unable to bowl.It could mean a possible one-day debut for Cockley, the right-arm fast-medium bowler who played his sole first-class match late last summer. Bird had been chosen in the squad for the opening FR Cup match of the season but was left out of the starting line-up.The Blues began their campaign with a tight victory against Western Australia last week. They will be taking on a Queensland outfit that features the Australia one-day players Andrew Symonds and James Hopes, but lost to Tasmania at the Gabba on Wednesday.FR Cup squad Phillip Hughes, Peter Forrest, Daniel Smith (wk), Dominic Thornely (capt), Steven Smith, David Warner, Steve O’Keefe, Grant Lambert, Nathan Hauritz, Nathan Bracken, Aaron Bird, Burt Cockley.