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The BCCI fears some of its day-to-day operations will be at a standstill if the Lodha Committee does not reply soon to an email sent by its secretary Ajay Shirke last week, seeking directions from the committee

Nagraj Gollapudi31-Oct-2016The BCCI fears its daily operations might come to a standstill if the Lodha Committee does not respond immediately to an email sent by board secretary Ajay Shirke last week seeking directions from the committee on how to proceed in the wake of the October 21 Supreme Court order.Without the committee’s consent, the BCCI cannot take important decisions that include: signing of the memorandum of understanding with the ECB for the bilateral series starting on November 9, setting a new date for the IPL media rights tender which was postponed last Tuesday, and determining the threshold value for any financial transaction of the board relating to future contracts (the Lodha Committee was asked by the Supreme Court to set the threshold value, and all contracts in excess of that amount would need the committee’s approval).In its interim orders, passed on October 17 and then 21, the court had categorically put clamps on the BCCI releasing any funds to the states unless they submitted an affidavit saying they would adopt all the recommendations of the Lodha Committee. The court had also asked the committee to appoint an auditor, who would oversee all the contracts the BCCI had got into since the July 18 order which made it mandatory for both BCCI and the state associations to subscribe to the committee’s recommendations.Despite the BCCI raising this matter of the email now, it should be aware that the committee had already made it clear last week that the ball is in fact in the board’s court. The committee had written to Shirke on October 24 saying that BCCI president Anurag Thakur needs to give an undertaking “on behalf of the BCCI to unreservedly comply” with the court’s October 21 order. The BCCI had also asked both Shrike and Thakur to meet to the committee within two weeks from the date of the order. The board has been quiet on that front, as to whether Thakur would submit the affidavit and whether he and Shirke will be meeting the committee this week.”We sent the letter detailing a lot of day-to-day stuff we need to do. If you don’t get a clarification quickly the operations can come to a standstill,” a senior BCCI official said. “Since the court has appointed the committee as the custodian, we have asked it to advise us or take the decisions [itself].”The committee had not responded till Monday evening, the official said. No one from the committee was available for a comment. An explanation offered by RM Lodha, the chairman of the committee, in the past was that the court’s orders have never come in the way of all the existing contracts the BCCI has entered into, neither have they disrupted the various match schedules of the board.The BCCI official did not agree with that viewpoint in this instance. He said despite the longstanding courtroom battles, the BCCI’s daily operations were never disrupted till the October 21 court order. “Now when you stop all contracts, then our day-to-day commercial contracts comes to a halt. For everything we have to take reference from them.”According to the official, a pressing concern was the releasing of funds to all the state associations that will be hosting the England series as well as the ongoing the Ranji Trophy and age-group tournaments. England begin their five-Test series in Rajkot on November 9. They will then return post-Christmas for a limited-overs series. In the new year, India play a one-off Test against Bangladesh and a four-Test series against Australian in February-March.”The order says every contract has to be monitored and there has to be an auditor. It also does not allow us to give any hosting fee to any of the states. Now with the England and Australia series coming up, we don’t know what to do. We need the permission for that,” the board official said.The official said another immediate priority for the board is preparing for next year’s IPL. “There are numerous nuts and bolts that need to be kept ready: grounds, taking over stadiums, merchandising, team hotels, airlines, hospitality. These all need contracts. In the absence of an auditor, how do we proceed? And we don’t know what amount we can enter or not.”The BCCI is anxious not just about the present, but also about the future. A handful of important contracts need to be signed in the next year, the board official pointed out.The first is the IPL media rights tender. After that the BCCI has to sort the India title shirt contract, which currently with Star till next March. The official said that contract needs to be finalised by end of December as it would take few months for the new designs and logos, if any, to be printed on the new jerseys. On March 31, the IPL title rights, owned by Vivo currently, will be up for renewal.The official said two other important tenders the BCCI will need to negotiate by mid-next year are the IPL management contract with IMG and the bilateral media rights for international series for the new cycle commencing from 2018. “Each tender takes minimum of three months. So we have five major tenders one after the other. So we need clarification now.”The official said Shirke had listed all these details in the email to the committee. He said without a timetable in place, things could slide. “Doing things last-minute gives BCCI a bad name. The BCCI has very large operations. There are many domestic tournaments taking place simultaneously. Big international series are coming up. IPL is coming up. Your business has to go on, right?”Despite BCCI’s apprehensions, some of the state associations like Saurashtra Cricket Association, Andhra Pradesh Cricket Association and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association have stated they have enough funds to host the Test matches assigned to them by the board. Rajkot and Visakhapatnam will host the first and second Tests of the England series, which will end at Chepauk in Chennai in December.The whole episode concerning the Indian board and the Lodha Committee stems from the IPL 2013 fixing scandal. The court had initially appointed the Lodha Committee to determine appropriate punishments for those involved, and propose changes to the BCCI’s functioning to ensure best practices. In July the court accepted the majority of the committee’s recommendations, covering wide-ranging aspects of Indian cricket at the central and state level, making it binding on the BCCI to implement them. The BCCI has since questioned the benefits of some of these reforms – particularly the “one state, one vote” policy, the age cap on board officials, and the cap and cooling off periods on their terms in office – and missed some deadlines for their implementation, prompting the committee and the court to pursue the matter further.

Chelsea have submitted an enquiry regarding a summer deal to sign AC Milan star Mike Maignan, according to reports.

Who is Mike Maignan?

Maignan is a goalkeeper who first arrived at the San Siro Stadium from Lille back in 2021, and despite not initially being Stefano Pioli’s official number one, was a regular feature throughout the 2022/23 season.

In the Serie A, the 27-year-old started 22 matches even though he spent a significant period of time on the sidelines due to sustaining a serious calf injury, and his impressive performances between the sticks when available have caught the eye of Mauricio Pochettino in the Premier League.

Todd Boehly is reportedly entering the market to find a new first-choice shot-stopper with both Edouard Mendy and Kepa Arrizabalaga facing uncertain futures, and if the following update is to be believed, the businessman has used ongoing negotiations to try and secure a deal of his own.

Are Chelsea signing Maignan?

According to 90min, Chelsea have used their conversations with AC Milan over an exit for Ruben Loftus-Cheek to “enquire” about a switch for Maignan. Blues officials are believed to have used the "opportunity” to mention the goalkeeper in discussions, but their “approach” was turned down with “fierce resistance” by the Italian giants, who are “not keen” to part ways with their prized asset.

Stamford Bridge chiefs are “big fans” of their target, but it sounds like he won’t be moving to SW6 anytime soon.

Should Boehly make another move for Maignan?

AC Milan might be adamant in their stance of not wanting to let Maignan leave now, but money talks in football and a sizable offer being tabled could change everything, so Chelsea should definitely consider making a second attempt in the weeks ahead.

The 6 foot 3 “giant”, as lauded by talent scout Jacek Kulig, kept eight clean sheets from 22 Serie A games last season and was recognised for his high standard of performances in the net by receiving one man-of-the-match award.

The Champions League semi-finalist, who pockets £59k-per-week, also made 40 saves from 62 shots on target against so isn’t afraid to come out and prevent the danger and is even strong when it comes to spot kicks, ranking in the 92nd percentile for most penalty saves.

Finally, Maignan has an extremely strong range of dispatching balls with a 99.3% success rate on short length passes and a 98.3% success rate on medium length passes, as per FBRef, so he’s a well-rounded goalkeeper and one that would be a great fit for Pochettino at the Bridge.

With batting getting tougher as the surface wears on, in India, Kane Williamson has said that the first-innings total will be a key area, on the eve of the Indore Test

Sidharth Monga in Indore07-Oct-20163:38

‘We are yet to play our best cricket’ – Williamson

There was good news for New Zealand when Kane Williamson came to address the pre-Test press conference. He still didn’t confirm whether he will play in Indore after missing the Kolkata Test because of illness, but he will be key to one area New Zealand look to set right: first-innings total. In India, you do all your peaceful scoring in the first innings. The second is havoc. You don’t want yourself to be making up ground.”It has shown in the first innings of each Test match that the first innings has been the most vital as batting has got harder as the game has gone on,” Williamson said. “We’ll still need to have another look at the surface here but were are still expecting first innings to be important again.”Apart from preferably winning the toss on a surface that he described as “bare at the ends” and ‘soft”, Williamson will be expected to push that first innings a little further after they had shown a bit of promise at different times.”It is one of those fine lines where there have been some good bits but the good bits haven’t happened for long enough,” Williamson said. “Those 240-250 scores need to be 300-350. In saying that we are still to see this wicket, it might be more or it might be less, we don’t know just yet. But certainly the last two games if we could have pushed up our first-innings total that little bit further, it would have helped us out a huge amount.”This is where India can draw satisfaction. They haven’t let New Zealand run away even when they have had partnerships. India’s captain Virat Kohli said it was crucial to deal well with such periods. “One thing that stands out for me as a learning is how to control a session that’s not going your way,” Kohli said. “When you are taking wickets, you can afford to attack. But when you are not taking wickets, how to stop runs and still maintain enough pressure for you to come in the session and make breakthroughs.”The session when the other team is batting well, you should know how to control runs and at the same time not go negative. There is very thin line, which I think if you maintain more often than not you will come back in the next session and pull things back. That is the biggest learning. Not to go one-dimensional when runs are scored and the other team is batting well.”One of the reasons why India have been able to keep New Zealand in check with just four bowlers is Mohammed Shami’s performance: eight wickets at an average of 21.12. Kohli paid tribute to Shami’s return to fitness. “Shami is someone who’s come back very well,” Kohli said. “He has worked very hard on his fitness as well. You can see he’s able to bowl those five-six over spells now, and he can run in… Bigger momentum and then he can pick up two wickets on any surface. That’s the kind of skill he has, so as captain I feel that he’s a very important bowler for us in this full season and in future as well. But looking at the near future, his fitness and rhythm is very, very important. As you said, he’s a strike bowler and whenever he comes in he makes something regardless of the surface that we’re playing on.”

Crystal Palace are keen on making Graham Potter their next manager this summer, according to a rumour that has emerged from abroad.

Has Potter had a good season?

The 47-year-old's stock was extremely high early on in the season, as he continued to do a superb job in charge of Brighton, having guided them to a ninth-place finish last term.

Potter's performances at the Amex Stadium eventually earned him a move to Chelsea, with the Englishman taking over from Thomas Tuchel in west London. His time at Stamford Bridge largely ended up being a disaster, however, with a string of bad results and limp displays ultimately leading to his demise later in the campaign.

Since being sacked by the Blues, he has been on the lookout for a new club, with various teams believed to be eyeing him, including Leicester City, whose relegation from the Premier League may have damaged their chances.

With Roy Hodgson potentially on the way out of Selhurst Park after a short and successful stint back at Palace, a vacancy will also appear in south London. It looks as though Potter is the primary managerial target, according to a fresh claim.

Could Palace make move for Potter?

According to Foot Mercato [via Sport Witness], Palace, and by extension chairman Steve Parish, "absolutely" want to bring in Potter during the summer, as they "discuss" his potential appointment. There is no great depth regarding the negotiations in the report, however, so it remains to be seen how clsoe a deal is to being agreed.

The former Brighton and Chelsea boss, who shares the same agency as Jordan Ayew, could be a really exciting new manager for the Eagles next season, even though his recent struggles have damaged his reputation a little.

It is important to remember that the Blues have struggled throughout the season, however, getting through three managers and undergoing new ownership, so it would be unfair to judge Potter too harshly over what went on during his time in charge.

Instead, the success he enjoyed at Palace's bitter rivals Brighton should be focused on more, considering the eye-catching attacking football he played, how much he got out of his players and the tactical acumen that he often displayed.

Called a 'superb manager' by journalist Melissa Reddy, the 3-4-2-1 coach is somebody who could get the best out of the Eagles' talented attacking players, from Eberechi Eze to Michael Olise, and ensure that more entertaining days lie ahead at Selhurst Park after some poor performances during Patrick Vieira's final few months as manager.

Influential Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa is reportedly a summer transfer target for Aston Villa, according to a fresh rumour regarding his future.

Is Sa a key man for Wolves?

The 30-year-old joined Wanderers from Olympiakos in the summer of 2021, and ever since that point, he has been one of the most important players at the club. He has performed with great consistency and class between the sticks, winning the Supporters Player of the Season award in 2021/22 and shining in all facets of his game.

Sa has made 72 Premier League appearances since arriving, meaning he has almost been an ever-present, and he has proven to be an inspired signing overall. The hope is that he remains at Molineux for the foreseeable future, but there is always a chance that interest in his signature could emerge once any transfer window arrives.

The Portuguese's current Wolves contract expires in the summer of 2026, which does at least put them in a strong bargaining position, but he could feel that a fresh challenge makes sense at this point in his career. A new update suggests that one Premier League rival is already circling, ahead of potential exits of other key players, such as Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho.

Could Wolves lose Sa to Villa?

According to TuttoMercatoWeb [via Sport Witness], Villa are eyeing up Sa as a direct replacement for Emiliano Martinez this summer, with the Argentine set to "say goodbye". Wolves are believed to value their stopper at €20m (£17.3m), but it remains to be seen if the Villans are willing to spend that amount.

In truth, that sounds like a bargain for Villa, considering what a standout player Sa has been for Wanderers since joining, being hailed as "outstanding" by former defender Andy Thompson. Given his contract situation, Wolves would surely want more money for him, with his performances justifying a higher price tag.

Losing the Portugal international would be a major blow for Wanderers, considering he has arguably been one of the Premier League's most consistent players in his position over the past two seasons, and it wouldn't be easy to find a tailor-made replacement who is at his level.

Unfortunately, the idea of joining Villa could appeal to Sa, though, with Unai Emery coming in and potentially guiding them into Europe, depending on the outcome of Sunday's final-day action in the league. He could see Wolves' Midlands rivals as a step up, in terms of quality, and a chance to find another gear in his career.

Fast bowler Sean Abbott, captain of the National Performance Squad, has been ruled out of the ongoing Quadrangular A-team one day series after fracturing his left ankle, Cricket Australia said on Thursday

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Aug-2016Fast bowler Sean Abbott, captain of the National Performance Squad, has been ruled out of the ongoing Quadrangular A-team one day series after fracturing his left ankle, Cricket Australia said on Thursday.Abbott suffered the injury during the rain-affected match against Australia A on Tuesday. A release from the board stated that the bowler was struck on the ankle off the final ball of the match, and will undergo scans in Sydney to assess the injury. Batsman Matthew Short will captain NPS in the remaining matches of the series.”Sean was struck during Tuesday’s match and suffered some damage to the ankle bone,” Stephen Timms, a Bupa Support Team Physiothrapist, said. “Sean will undergo further scans in Sydney to assess the full extent of the damage and treatment required.”Abbott took two wickets after NPS’ first two matches in the series. Victories in both matches put NPS on top of the table, ahead of Australia A, India A and South Africa A. Their next match is against India A on August 21.

Arsenal are expected to have a busy summer as the Gunners look to strengthen their squad following an agonising end to the 2022/23 season.

There have been many positives for Mikel Arteta’s side to enjoy this campaign, however, a disappointing run of form in the final two months consequently ended hopes of their first Premier League title since 2004.

Lack of squad depth is the main culprit for Arsenal’s downfall, as key injuries in defence made the latter stages of the term increasingly difficult, with no clear match in ability to fall back on in absent areas.

With just one game remaining and attention turning to the summer transfer window, Arsenal have been linked with a host of talent, including a valuable name in the capital city.

What’s the latest on Mason Mount to Arsenal?

As reported by Charles Watts at GOAL last month, the Gunners are reportedly one of the clubs interested in Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount.

The report states that Arsenal were to “hold talks” with the 24-year-old over his uncertain future at Stamford Bridge.

It’s since been claimed by SunSport that the Englishman is expected to leave Chelsea this summer, with both Arsenal and Liverpool tracking his movements with a fee expected to be around the £60m mark.

What could Mason Mount bring to Arsenal?

Squad depth is what the Emirates is crying out for, whether that be to increase numbers or to enhance competition between players, having a squad bustling with talent is essential for a team involved in the Champions League.

At just 24-years-old, Mount could be crucial to the Gunners having won the ultimate prize in European football, as well as having gold medals in the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.

The Portsmouth-born midfielder was even lauded by Premier League legend Rio Ferdinand who illuminated his talent when describing the attacking midfielder as a “mad player”, when speaking on Vibe with FIVE.

Mount is a particularly competent player on the ball, showcasing his finishing and passing attributes during his time in the Premier League so far, which is echoed by his numbers.

As per FBref, the Englishman ranks in the top 9% of players in his position within Europe’s top five leagues for most progressive passes, averaging 6.04 per 90, showing his desire to move the ball forward to advanced areas.

In an opposing strength, the Chelsea "superstar" – as dubbed by Kalvin Phillips – ranks highly for his exploits off the ball, averaging 2.07 tackles per 90 to highlight his versatility in attacking midfield – as per FBref.

While Martin Odegaard has been formidable for Arsenal this season – scoring 15 league goals – competition is healthy in a squad that wishes to challenge at the top, and the introduction of Mount could gift the Norwegian the essential competition to increase performance.

The two are similar in positional terms, but bring contrasting attributes to the table, as communicated by the Chelsea-man’s ability to track back, with the Arsenal skipper only averaging 1.06 tackles per 90 – as per FBref.

Despite not frequently featuring for Chelsea in their horrendous campaign this term, the Englishman is a player praised by the best in the sport, with Kylian Mbappe heralding him as “superb” in an interview with France Football.

A player that is low on minutes and confidence can break back to their top form in an area that accommodates their style, there is little to doubt that Mount would be a strong fit for Arteta’s plans.

With a new contract not yet accepted in west London, time will tell if the creative player heads northbound to seek a new challenge.