Pakistan’s plans to adopt a ground rotation policy for next month’s home series against Zimbabwe suffered a minor setback after Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot was declared dangerous for spectators.A PCB official told that the idea of holding an ODI at Jinnah Stadium was dropped after it was discovered that one of the pavilions at the stadium was in “pretty bad shape”.”It would have been risky to stage a match in Sialkot because of that particular pavilion,” the official said. “Also the road leading to the stadium is in a shambles. We will now host an international match in Sialkot sometime later.”Sialkot hasn’t hosted an international match for over ten years. A Quaid-e-Azam trophy first-round match between National Bank of Pakistan and Sialkot was abandoned due to unplayable pitch conditions in October.Zimbabwe arrive in Pakistan on January 12 for a series of five ODIs and a three-day and four-day game.
Greg Blewett’s fractious relationship with South Australian cricket authorities took another turn for the worse when the batsman was handed a $1000 fine for negative comments he made about the state’s officials. Blewett, who is still contracted by the Redbacks but has been dropped and is looking for the opportunity to transfer to another state, has been scathing in his description of the South Australia hierarchy in the past month.Among other things, he described the state’s selectors as “clowns” after they all but ended his career with the Redbacks by dropping him from the one-day team and promoting younger players. Blewett also told Adelaide’s newspaper that comments by Paul Nobes, the chairman of selectors, that Blewett was in poor form were unfair.”It’s incorrect, not right,” Blewett said. “For Nobes to say that my form is not warranting selection is absolute crap. I’ve had a pretty good year for [my club] Kensington. It doesn’t make sense what he is actually saying.”But that was a far cry from the words attributed to Blewett in an official South Australia statement after he was found guilty of detrimental public comment under the Cricket Australia code of behaviour. “I have always maintained and valued a strong relationship with the SACA and want to ensure that continues to be the case,” Blewett’s statement said.”And I am particularly grateful for the assistance the SACA has given me throughout my career. I sincerely regret if any of my comments have caused the SACA any offence or harm, as this was never my intention.”
Scorecard Bengal marched to a ten-wicket win on the third day of its Elite group encounter against Delhi, after Saurashi Lahiri, the offspinner, shot the hosts out for a paltry 131. Needing just 69 to win with more than a day to spare, Subhomoy Das and Arindam Das, Bengal’s openers, knocked off the runs in 23.3 overs to take Bengal to its first outright win of the season. Delhi’s batsmen failed for the second time in the match, unable to better their first-innings score of 151 and capitulated to Lahiri’s probing spells either side of lunch. It was a poor batting effort from the hosts, with only Shikhar Dhawan, the opener, standing out with his 44 in 167 minutes. After nearly being relegated to the Plate Group last season, this has been a good turnaround for Bengal, with seven points – they claimed a bonus point today – in two matches. Scorecard Karnataka were 158 runs behind Mumbai’s first-innings score of 344 when bad light forced the umpires to call stumps on day three at Bangalore because of bad light. Earlier, Vinit Indulkar’s second first-class hundred and useful contributions from Ramesh Powar and Omkar Khanvilkar had taken Mumbai past Karnataka’s 186. It was a consistent, if not threatening, display from Karnataka’s bowlers, with each of the six bowlers picking up at least one wicket.Scorecard Two quick wickets before stumps gave Tamil Nadu the upper hand against Railways in Delhi, after Subramaniam Badrinath’s hundred and a dogged fifty from Hemanth Kumar took them to an imposing 371. Badrinath, 54 overnight, occupied the crease for 521 minutes and shared in a 113-run partnership with Kumar to wrest the initiative from Railways early in the day. Madan Yadav, the left-arm spinner, was the most successful Railways bowler with 4 for 94. Scorecard Bad light stopped play with 21 overs left on the third day at Anantapur, with Hyderabad 14 for 0, 153 runs ahead of Andhra’s first innings 231. Ganeswara Rao top-scored with 65 but Kaushik Reddy, the opening bowler, claimed career-best figures of 4 for 43 to bowl Andhra out for an inadequate total. Scorecard Jacob Martin led from the front in scoring an unbeaten 224, his 23rd first-class century, and Connor Williams hit a fine 138 to take Baroda to 562 for 7 at stumps at Kanpur, 216 runs ahead of Uttar Pradesh with only a day to go. Martin’s was a stellar effort as Baroda firmly wrapped their fists around a hapless Uttar Pradesh bowling attack to ensure that they could lose the match. Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, had figures of 4 for 177 from 46 overs, but Martin’s stubbornness was the deciding factor on a day in which Baroda walked away with the honors. Scorecard Mahesh Rawat, Haryana’s wicketkeeper, needed one more run to complete his maiden first-class hundred as Haryana finished the third day on 332 for 8, a lead of 341 over Punjab at Mohali. Rawat was aided in a 111-run stand for the eighth wicket by Sachin Rana as Haryana reached a comfortable position and gave themselves a strong case for victory on the final day. Gagandeep Singh, the medium-pace bowler, had the best figures of 5 for 109, but it was the only shining effort from an otherwise insipid bowling display from Punjab. Scorecard Vital contributions from the lower-order batsmen enabled Gujarat to gain the first-innings lead, all but ensuring themselves of two points in what should be a drawn encounter at Valsad. Suyash Burkul, the fast bowler, and Rohit Jadhav, the offspinner, shared six wickets but Maharashtra couldn’t prevent Gujarat reaching 258, with Bhavik Thaker, Hemal Watekar and Salil Yadav adding 80 between them. Dheeraj Jadhav scored an unbeaten 54 as Maharashtra ended the day with a lead of 90, but they will require a minor miracle to pull off a win tomorrow.
John Dyson will be back on March 1 to continue his role as the coach of the Sri Lankan team before their Test tour to New Zealand in April. Mohan de Silva, the president of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), said that Dyson had agreed to return to Sri Lanka and complete his contract which ends on March 31 and prepare the team for the two Tests against New Zealand.Dyson angered a section of the SLC top brass when he back to Sydney straight after the cancellation of the New Zealand tour, following the tsunami disaster, without informing them. The SLC’s ExCo was divided on whether they should retain Dyson and give him a fresh contract or look for someone else to replace him.However the issue appears to have thinned out following Dyson’s talks with de Silva and Duleep Mendis in Australia recently. de Silva said that SLC have offered new terms in the contract which Dyson hopes to discuss with SLC officials when he is here. Depending on the outcome of the discussions Dyson’s contract could be extended to anything from one year to until the 2007 World Cup in West Indies.Dyson, the former Australian opener, had succeeded Dav Whatmore after signing a 19-month contract in September 1, 2003. Within that period of time Sri Lanka improved their rankings in both forms of the game, moving from seventh to fifth in Tests and leaped from seventh to second place in the one-dayers.Sri Lanka are due to play New Zealand in two Tests at Napier and Wellington, apart from a three-day warm-up game from March 26. The national cricket selectors named a pool of 24 players for training from which the final squad will be selected. These players will be involved in SLC’s provincial tournament which gets underway tomorrow and ends with the final at Dambulla on March 6.
Only ten overs of play was possible on a severely truncated first day at Visakhapatnam, as New Zealand’s tour to India got off to a wet and gloomy start. Heavy rains over the last couple of days left the outfield too damp for play to start until after tea, and when the match did finally get underway at 3pm local time, the Board President’s XI could only bat for around 45 minutes before a sharp downpour sent the players scurrying back to the pavilion.In the brief passage of play which did happen, Virender Sehwag – opting to open the innings to get some practice at the top of the order before the Test series – and Akash Chopra put together 23 runs after Sehwag had elected to bat. Both openers were largely untroubled by New Zealand’s new-ball attack of Ian Butler and Michael Mason.Sehwag got off the mark in style, punching the first ball he faced, from Mason, down the ground for four. In Mason’s next over, Sehwag played a flashing cut over gully for four. Chopra was more circumspect, his only boundary coming off an outside edge which went along the ground and through the slip cordon. Apart from that stroke, Chopra was in control, playing close to his body and eschewing any risks.The Board President’s line-up excluded Wasim Jaffer, Amit Uniyal and Tinu Yohannan, while New Zealand left out Jacob Oram and Daryl Tuffey. Both Oram and Tuffey are likely to play in the Tests, and their omissions from this match were probably precautionary measures to ensure against injury on a ground where the run-up areas were still slightly damp.The match has now effectively been reduced to a two-day encounter, and with more rain forecast over the weekend, New Zealand might only be left with one warm-up game before the first Test. Both captains have, however, agreed to start 30 minutes earlier on the two remaining days to squeeze in as much play as possible. Whether the weather actually allows them to is another matter.
Andhra Pradesh registered a tense five-run win over Tamil Nadu in their Ranji one-day match at Visakhapatnam on Saturday.Winning the toss, Andhra Pradesh decided to bat first and a third-wicket partnership of 95 runs between AS Pathak and Y Venugopal Rao formed the backbone of a final total of 260 for six. Pathak made 50 off 81 balls, while Venugopal Rao made 68 off 96 balls.Captain MSK Prasad scored 58 off 60 balls, but the real boost in the scoring rate came from RVC Prasad’s blistering 42 off 26 balls, with four fours and two sixes.Tamil Nadu lost Sridharan Sriram and Hemang Badani early, but Sridharan Sharath’s responsible knock kept his side in the hunt till the very final over. His 82 off 120 balls was well supported by skipper Robin Singh’s 50 off 56 balls.SV Saravanan’s 37 off 34 balls further down the order included some quick running, but Andhra Pradesh bowlers held their nerve to restrict Tamil Nadu to 255/7.
It was a momentous day for Zimbabwe, the minnows of Test cricket, at theHeadquarters of the game, as they embarked on their first ever Test series inEngland.This historical tour has been a long while coming; eight years and 41 Testsafter Zimbabwe were elevated to Test status. It will be remembered thatEngland had opposed their entry to the highest level of cricket until 1992.In view of that, it is of some significance to note that the relative newentrants to the international scene have maintained a parity in the resultsof their previous encounters with England at both levels of cricket.Indeed, at one stage, the sequence of victories, in the shorter version ofthe game, stood at 6-2 in favour of Zimbabwe. This was not merely aflattering margin, but in fact, arose from the dedication and hard work that Zimbabwe had put into their game. They would, no doubt, wish to forge ahead in the outcome of Tests as well.Despite the distraction of the current situation at home and the unwelcomingweather conditions that the tourists have had to endure from the start ofthis tour, the players have remained focused to the task in their endeavourto reverse the result of their 2-0 defeat last month in the Caribbean.However, on the evidence of their performance on the opening day of thisinaugural Test, it appears that it would be quite a toil for them to get thebetter of England, a side which occupies only one position above them at thebottom of the table in the unofficial world Test rankings. They certainly did not rise to the occasion; the first day of the Lord’s Test match has always been regarded as something special.To have lost three wickets in the first six overs before the total had evenreached double figures would indicate, perhaps, a loss of nerves. But it hasto be said their batting has had a look of deficiency, judging from their previous couple of Test series. It has been a major problem through adispiriting recent past.Just how brittle the batting has been was further exemplified in their failing to chase a meagre 93 to win a Test against West Indies only six weeks ago.Zimbabwe’s wretched performance with the bat today arose from a combination of a lack of application and poor shot selection.England’s pace bowlers, on the other hand, took advantage of the favourableovercast conditions on a pitch which had a bit of grass on it. Zimbabwe neverlooked like being able to make a recovery after Andy Caddick had inflicted the early damage to the innings, removing the first three wickets for 2 in a space of nine balls.His figures, however, were not quite as remarkable as Ed Giddins who, playingin only his second Test match, had a haul of 5 for 15 from seven overs.Zimbabwe, through a most inept batting performance, had made the England bowling appear unplayable.
Wolves have started to make a habit of moving some of their key players out of the club over the past few years.
Diogo Jota headed to Liverpool in 2020, followed more recently by Adama Traore’s loan switch to Barcelona during the previous January transfer window.
With the upcoming summer transfer window in mind, it seems as though the Old Gold will look to take some precautions in making sure one of their current key figures doesn’t follow in Jota and Traore’s footsteps with a Molineux exit.
What’s the talk?
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, journalist Pete O’Rourke had this to say about Max Kilman’s immediate future at Molineux and what Wolves could do to keep him at the club amid recent transfer links with fellow Premier League club Chelsea.
He said: “I’m sure there will be contract talks, maybe in the summer, just to improve his terms and bring him more in line with the other top earners at Molineux.
“It would show his reward for the progress that he’s made for the club as well.”
Fans will be buzzing
Since arriving at the Midlands club back in the 2018 summer window on a free transfer from Maidenhead United, the 24-year-old has gone on to make himself a pivotal figure for the Old Gold.
He has amassed 63 senior appearances in a Wolves shirt across all competitions, chipping in with one goal and two assists along the way.
Taking into account how the Englishman has managed to tackle more opposition players (49) this season than any other Wolves centre-back and make more blocks (48) than any player in Bruno Lage’s squad, it’s safe to say that the £8.1m-rated man has played a big part in the Old Gold’s decent defensive record in this campaign.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Additionally, with Kilman being younger than his fellow centre-backs Conor Coady, Romain Saiss and Willy Boly, it would make sense that the club would be desperate to keep hold of him as he has the potential longevity ahead of him to be a long-term feature at Molineux for the foreseeable future.
With all of that in mind, it’s safe to suggest that a lot of fans connected with the Midlands club would be delighted to see the defender put pen to paper on a new deal that would ward off any potential interest from elsewhere.
In other news: 49 tackles won: “Phenomenal” Wolves gem has been Lage’s “standout” player this season – opinion
Leeds United are tracking FC Koln defender Timo Hubers ahead of a possible summer swoop, according to The Daily Mail.
The Lowdown: Hubers profiled
The 25-year-old has established himself as a regular in the Bundesliga over recent months, starting 12 of the last 13 league games for Koln.
[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-41/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-04-02T155252Z_391313781_UP1EI421841M9_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-SOU-REPORT.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]
His contract runs until 2023, and the 6 foot 2 centre-back appears to be at the peak of his powers with a career-high £2.7m Transfermarkt valuation.
He was named as a substitute against Jesse Marsch’s RB Leipzig earlier in the season, and it seems as if the new Leeds manager could be working with the German next season.
The Latest: Leeds interest on Hubers
The Daily Mail shared a transfer story on Hubers on Monday, name-checking Leeds with an interest.
Premier League rivals Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Southampton and West Ham are also tracking the defender, who could be on the move for just £6m over the coming months.
The Verdict: Defensive shake-up?
The Whites have had a season to forget when it comes to goals conceded, shipping 68 in 31 games, so Victor Orta and Marsch could be interested in shaking up the club’s defensive ranks.
Neither Marcelo Bielsa nor Marsch have had a settled centre-back pairing all season, with recent reports suggesting that Robin Koch could be on the way out in the summer.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Should that be the case, Hubers could be viewed as a possible replacement, with the aerially strong Koln brute also capable of covering at full-back and in a holding midfield role.
In other news: ‘Bad news from Elland Road…’ – Big Leeds injury update now emerges on Joe Gelhardt
A resolute display by the Multan batsmen lifted their team’s score considerably against Karachi Whites at the United Bank Limited (UBL) Sports Complex. Facing a Whites total of 391, Multan made a strong reply by reaching 274 for the loss of five wickets by the close of play. They are, however, still 117 behind Whites and will have to continue in the same vein if they intend to save the match or at least gain the three first-innings lead points. Debutant Rameez Alam made a valuable 60, off 166 balls in almost four and a quarter hours with the help of four fours. With Ansar Javed (24), he first added 54 for the third wicket and another 81 for the fourth with Naved Yasin, whose 49 came off 92 balls with seven fours. Sohaib Maqsood and wicketkeeper Gulraiz Sadaf later posted 115 for the unbroken sixth-wicket stand. The 20-year-old Sohaib scored his maiden half-century, making 85 off 98 balls in a little over two hours with seven fours and three sixes. Gulraiz, who has recently represented the Pakistan Under-19 team, was unbeaten at 32 at stumps.Habib Bank Limited (HBL) needed another 283 to win against Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) with seven wickets in hand at the Sheikhupura Stadium. After WAPDA, third placed in the table behind HBL and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), had acquired a crucial 56 runs first-innings lead, they scored 274 in their second innings getting an overall lead of 330. Habib Bank slid to 48 for 3 in their second innings. Althoug slow left-armer Aslam Qureshi took 5 for 57 yesterday to complete a match haul of 10 for 85, the WAPDA batsmen flourished. There were three individual half-centuries, of which Tariq Aziz’s 68 was the highest. From 48 for 5, Tariq and Sarfraz Ahmed (52) lifted WAPDA with a sixth-wicket stand of 95. Nawaz Sardar (42) and Farooq Iqbal (51) added 75 runs for the eighth.At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad required another 118 to win with all ten second innings wickets in hand, after having bowled Hyderabad out for a poor 160 in their second innings. Seamer Asad Zarar took 10 wickets in the match for Faisalabad, with figures of 5 for 67 and 5 for 47.Spurred by a maiden first-class century by opener Hasnain Abbas (117), Pakistan Customs made 382 for 7 in their second innings, setting Sialkot a target of 303 at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. Sialkot were at 19 for 1 at stumps. Hasnain’s first-wicket partnership with offspinner Murtaza Hussain, who came in as the night-watchman, yielded 164 runs. Murtaza scored 56 and later, Rehan Rafiq contributed 55.
Group B
Abbottabad piled on the agony, as they reached a total of 432 for 9 in their first innings against Karachi Blues, here at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Blues had earlier made an impressive 363 in their first innings, to which Abbottabad had replied with 198 for 4 by the close on the second day. Although they made a total in excess of 400, Abbottabad however were actually only 69 ahead of the visitors. Riaz Kail reached his maiden first-class century, his 112 coming off 201 balls with 20 fours. With Mohammad Kashif his fifth-wicket stand was worth 104. Kashif, with 72 off 162 balls with ten fours and later Iftikhar Mahmood, with a splendid 88 not out with ten boundaries, both achieved their highest first-class scores. Iftikhar was involved in several useful partnerships with the tailenders. Blues’ left-arm spinner Azam Hussain sent down as many as 60 overs in the Abbottabad innings and picked up 4 for 128.Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) jumped up to the first spot again as they defeated then table leaders Islamabad by a whopping innings and 169 runs, inside three days at the Diamond Cricket Club Ground in Islamabad. Facing a PIA first-innings total of 404 for 8 declared, Islamabad crashed to poor scores of 126 and 109 in reply after being forced to follow-on. PIA’s seamer Aizaz Cheema was at his devastating best, taking 7 for 24 in the first and 4 for 48 in the second innings to attain a match haul of 11 wickets for a mere 77 runs. Former Pakistan Under-19 star Anwar Ali, after having made his career-best score of 74 on the second day, helped Aizaz bundle out Islamabad with figures of 5 for 25 runs in just eight overs with his right-arm fast-medium.At the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar, Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (SNGPL) also gained the same number of points as PIA and Islamabad – 36 each – as they comfortably defeated Peshawar by ten wickets with a day to spare. Facing a first-innings deficit of 140, Peshawar were bowled out for 154 and that gave SNGPL a target of just 15 to win. Seamer Imran Ali excelled for the winners with 5 for 78.Although they lost eight second innings wickets for 175 runs at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi enhanced their overall lead against Lahore Shalimar to 312 with a full day to go.The Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) openers had a field day against an ineffective Quetta bowling attack, at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) Stadium in Rawalpindi, as they compiled 265 runs. Quetta had earlier piled up a massive score of 460 for 9 declared. ZTBL opener Afaq Rahim from Mirpur scored his sixth hundred and his highest, as he made an unbeaten 151 off 288 balls in 353 minutes with 20 fours. Umar Javed, with an unbeaten 101 off 246 balls that included six fours and a six, incidentally scored his maiden century in first-class cricket. ZTBL, however, are still 195 behind Quetta.