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Surrey once again departed Lord’s glum-faced after another defeat. Their record is miserable over the Thames – one win in their last 18 visits

Alex Winter at Lord's15-Apr-2012
ScorecardToby Roland-Jones took four wickets in the second innings•Getty ImagesSurrey once again departed Lord’s glum-faced after another defeat. Their record is miserable over the Thames – one win in their last 18 visits. They turned on the wicket as the primary cause of this loss: a soft pitch, perhaps underprepared after poor weather in the days before the match, which created havoc for the 76 overs the final two innings lasted.Chris Adams, Surrey’s team director, described it as the worst pitch he had ever seen at Lord’s. Surrey, in pursuit of 141, lost 6 for 36 to fail by three runs – Surrey’s narrowest margin of defeat to their neighbours.Victory here was envisaged as part of their early-season run to confirm them as many people’s outside tip for the title. Sussex, Middlesex and Worcestershire – with two of those games at The Oval – are the three opponents many would pick out for early-season points. But they were left stunned by their final morning collapse.”It was one of the worst wickets I’ve played on,” Surrey’s captain Rory Hamilton-Brown said. “It went up and down, the seam movement was so exaggerated, people were getting hit and two first-class sides scored not many more than a hundred. It made for a battle out there.”Hamilton-Brown is grateful for a quick return to The Oval next week where Surrey should bounce back against Worcestershire. But his victorious Middlesex counterpart did not see the surface as a hindrance to playing good cricket.”It was one of those wickets you knew there was something in it all game,” Neil Dexter said. “The pitch lasted almost the four days so to be playing on that wicket early season I don’t think was too bad. The way they got out this morning had nothing to do with the wicket, it was the shots and some good bowling.”The victory song in the home dressing room wasn’t quite by Dexy’s Midnight Runners but Middlesex’s “Dexy” – of no pop music fame – was certainly declaring: “I’m in heaven, I’m in heaven” after a miraculous victory.The celebrations probably sent the MCC secretary straight to his inkwell. Tim Murtagh has a history of wild abandon after sealing big wins – once whipping off his shirt to acclaim his success in a T20 quarter-final bowlout for Surrey against Warwickshire at The Oval. Here his fourth wicket sparked a 50-yard sprint towards the Tavern, creating a heap of elated Middlesex bodies on the Lord’s turf.”I think I’ve been watching too much football recently, but that’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever had on a cricket field,” said Murtagh, a Liverpool supporter, of what he described as his best win for Middlesex. “It would have been a great shame to lose two games having played decent cricket in both. We have had two collapses in both games but we’ve showed unbelievable fighting spirit.”Middlesex would have begun to move a little uneasily with consecutive defeats and a powerful Durham side arriving next week. This victory is an early fillip for their survival hopes. And they have Andrew Strauss and Steven Finn against Durham, causing a selection headache. Dexter said he will feel bad leaving out players who have done little wrong.None of the bowlers deserved to be dropped. On the final morning, Gareth Berg took two wickets; Tim Murtagh bowled Chris Jordan and took the final wicket; Toby Roland-Jones removed Tim Linley caught at slip and had Hamilton-Brown caught behind.Hamilton-Brown sought to blast his way through the dangers of a seaming ball and varying bounce. His 49-ball half-century was the most aggressive innings of the match. But he watched Tom Maynard, for the addition of three, and Gareth Batty, for a duck, depart as the task of 46 more runs lurched from the formality it was proving the previous evening to a stern examination of technique and guts. Had bad light not intervened on Saturday evening, Surrey may well have claimed the extra half hour that would have allowed Hamilton-Brown and Maynard, both free scoring, to knock off the runs.The small chase was created by Jon Lewis’ five wickets the previous afternoon – the spell of the match. His 17-ball 21 looked to be the late-order innings Surrey needed but he could only look to the heavens as Hamilton-Brown edged Roland-Jones, who was excellent from the Pavilion End, to the wicketkeeper John Simpson. Lewis was then too trusting of Nos. 10 and 11; leaving Linley the entire 38th over to face from Roland-Jones. He nicked the fifth ball to slip. Lewis then offered Jade Dernbach the chance of five balls from Tim Murtagh. A straight-drive gone wrong skied the winning catch to Sam Robson at cover.

At England Under-19’s match against Australia in Townsville, the Overton twins, allrounder Craig and fast bowler Jamie, performed creditably in defeat

George Binoy in Townsville11-Aug-2012Caught C Overton bowled J Overton. A fielder-bowler combination that is almost certain to appear in many Somerset scorecards of the future. It appeared twice today, in England Under-19’s match against Australia in Townsville, where the twins, allrounder Craig and fast bowler Jamie, both tall and strong, performed creditably in defeat.Craig top scored for England, making 35 in tough conditions, and bowled 8.1 overs for 31 runs without a wicket. Batting at No. 4, he was in as early as the ninth delivery of the morning, after his team had slumped to 8 for 2. Under attack from Australia’s three quick bowlers, Craig watched the situation steadily get worse.”It did a bit early on,” he said. “So we had to battle through it and unfortunately today we didn’t do it. Not ideal losing the toss, but you’re never going to win a game batting like that. A disappointing performance really.”Craig battled 81 deliveries for his runs, playing the quicks with care and attacking when he could. “They bowled really well, made it a struggle for us to score runs. They never let us get away. I just tried to stay there, just to battle through it, bat as long as possible.”His resistance ended in the 27th over, by which time England were 96 for 7. Jamie managed 14 off 15 deliveries and England were eventually bowled out for 143 in the 39th over.Australia had a short period to bat before the lunch break and during that time Jamie did his thing, bowling at speeds approaching 150kph. With the equally impressive Reece Topley troubling the batsmen from his end, Jamie hustled and harried the Australians with his pace.”Even with [about] 140 we felt comfortable, we have a really good bowling attack and we felt we could have bowled them out,” Jamie said. “We probably would have liked to stay out there [at lunch], the way the situation was.”England had Australia at 54 for 4 but the next breakthrough never came. For his part, Jamie may have got carried away because of the pace and bounce in the pitch. In his first over, he had dug in a bouncer that soared over the keeper’s head. Later on, he began to pitch on the shorter side, as England’s desperation for wickets grew. He’ll be wiser for the experience.Jamie did find two edges, though, on either side of lunch, and Craig caught both at slip. “I rely on him quite often,” said Jamie. “He’s been in the slips often and I normally get quite a few edges [while bowling]. He doesn’t drop that many and has a good pair of hands.”After the backyard cricket when they were toddlers, where Jamie would bowl “little medium pacers at Craig”, the broken windows and the shattered vases, the twins started playing together in teams from the age of eight. They played together in Devon’s age-group sides, working their way up towards the Somerset Second XIs. Their progress has not always been simultaneous, but the twin behind never took long to catch up. The competition helped their growth.”Say I’ve gone ahead,” said Jamie. “He [Craig] has always tried to catch up with me. When he’s gone ahead, I’ve always caught up with him. We’ve always been really competitive with each other.””I did,” said Craig, when asked who made their first-class debut for Somerset first. “We were told that one of us wasn’t going to play. So we just knew that if one didn’t play, we’d support him as much as possible. That’s what we do, try and get each other going, try and get our performances going.”Craig made his Somerset debut against Lancashire in April this year. Less than a month later, Jamie was alongside him. “It made me want to get it more,” said Jamie. “Hopefully we’ll get a few more chances together with them [Somerset].”In the years to come, Craig and Jamie Overton may get chances with England’s Emerging Players and Lions. They probably won’t get it together, but the twin behind will strive to get there too, with the twin ahead hoping he does.

Martin Guptill, the New Zealand opener, has said he expects the pitch at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo to deteriorate as the Test progresses

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2011Martin Guptill, the New Zealand opener, has said he expects the pitch at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo to deteriorate as the Test progresses and that a large first-innings total would put Zimbabwe out of the contest. Guptill scored a century to lead New Zealand to 275 for 3 on a surface that had no assistance for either the fast bowlers or the spinners. The pace was slow, the ball did not come on to the bat, there was little turn and the bounce was low.”It’s already starting to show some wear and tear,” Guptill told APNZ. “There are already a few balls bouncing through to the keeper after day one. We are definitely looking at 450-500. If we can get that, it’s going to be very difficult for them [Zimbabwe] to put pressure on us to bat again.”Guptill scored his second century in 16 Tests after New Zealand had won the toss, his 109 off 236 balls anchoring the innings and giving his team the advantage. The effort continued his terrific form in Zimbabwe, where he scored 107 in the two Twenty20s and 179 in two ODIs.”I’m just riding the wave as it goes,” Guptill said. “They bowled really well to us today. It was a bit of a relief, really. It’s been a year-and-a-half since my last Test hundred. It’s nice to be in the middle and scoring runs. It doesn’t happen every day so when you are out there you have to try and make the most of it.”Guptill, however, said it was “pretty disappointing” to get out the way he did – pulling a long hop from part-time medium-pacer Hamilton Masakadza straight to midwicket late in the day.New Zealand’s solid position was based on the 75-run partnership between Guptill and Kane Williamson after Brendon McCullum had fallen early. Williamson was in good form before a freakish run-out in the second session ended his innings on 49. “He’s a freakish talent,” Guptill said about Williamson. “He knows what he’s doing with the bat. He’s in a great place at the moment to be one of New Zealand’s greatest batsmen ever.”

Injured Everton centre-back Yerry Mina will be a ‘huge’ miss against Watford, according to Premier League pundit Paul Robinson. 

The lowdown: Mina becomes latest Blues casualty

Mina lasted only 18 minutes in Sunday’s 2-1 victory against Leicester City before sustaining an injury, with Michael Keane coming on in his place.

It’s the sixth separate problem the Colombian has encountered this season, limiting him to just 11 Premier League starts.

Left-back Vitalii Mykolenko, who scored the opener, also left the action midway through the second half after suffering from cramp.

Frank Lampard has now confirmed that the calf issue will sideline Mina for Wednesday’s trip to Watford, but Mykolenko is fine.

Everton head to Vicarage Road gunning for what could be three decisive points in the battle for survival. Victory would take them four points above Leeds United with just three games to play.

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The latest: Huge…

Robinson, speaking before the Ukraine star was passed fit, says both Mina and Mykolenko have been in excellent form recently, and thinks Everton could suffer from the former’s absence.

However, he’s confident that the Toffees have still done enough to survive.

“They really have been outstanding,” he told Football Insider.

“I don’t think their injuries will matter though. I think Everton are safe. The last two wins have done wonders for them.

“I truly believe it’s between Burnley and Leeds now. Everton have momentum after those two performances. They will take care of themselves now.

“Mina and Mykolenko will be huge misses but I think they’ve done enough. I’m sure they’ll be safe come the end of the season.”

The verdict: Another one?

Everton have been hit extremely hard by injuries this season, and that’s part of the reason why they’ve struggled.

As of 5 April, they had picked up more injuries than any other team in the Premier League (via Ben Dinnery).

For Mina in particular, it’s been a stop-start campaign, and he could leave the club with a decision to make.

Might it be wise to cash in on the £18million-rated 27-year-old if he’s so rarely available, and replace him with someone who’s comparatively bulletproof?

In other news, Robinson also reacted to links with this defender.

It took Darren Sammy and Andre Russell 5.4 overs of mayhem to undo an afternoon of impressive work from India, and plot their first defeat in 12 home ODIs

The Report by Nitin Sundar05-Dec-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe irrepressible Ravi Rampaul ensured West Indies pulled one back•AFPIt took Darren Sammy and Andre Russell 5.4 overs of mayhem to undo India’s impressive afternoon, and plot their first defeat in 12 home games. They came together after Ravindra Jadeja pulled off an outfield catch for the ages to remove Kieron Pollard, West Indies’ most dangerous batsman on paper. Sammy and Russell proceeded to test that assumption with an unbroken partnership of delightful ferocity that yielded 79, propelling West Indies to 260. The bowlers, led by the irrepressible Ravi Rampaul, then sliced through India’s top order and set up West Indies’ first win on tour.Two things have been constant in this series – Rohit Sharma’s pristine form, and the game-changing capabilities of the last wicket pair. Under lights, West Indies did enough to overcome both and finish on top. Rohit stroked a pleasing 95 as India crumbled around him, but ran himself out in a desperate effort to manipulate the strike to be the ninth man dismissed. Abhimanyu Mithun and Umesh Yadav then lashed 28 for the final wicket to keep West Indies on edge, before Rampaul yorked Mithun to close the game.Barring Rohit’s stunner, which puts him firmly in the frame for a Test debut in Australia, almost nothing went India’s way. Yadav and Vinay Kumar impressed with the new balls before being pounded at the death. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir bagged first-ball ducks to extend their worrying runs of poor form, with Australia looming. To make matters worse, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina perished to umpiring errors that could have been reversed if the DRS had been in place.It was a stunning turnaround for India, who could scarcely put a foot wrong earlier after winning the toss. Seam and swing weren’t supposed to be part of the agenda on a sweltering afternoon, but Vinay produced away seamers, Yadav pace and swing, and Mithun a raft of indippers. India’s spinners backed them up well to ensure they kept winning the big moments. The half-centurion Marlon Samuels exited just as he was primed for assault. The man most likely to assist him, Darren Bravo, was forced to retire hurt with a hamstring strain. And then Pollard was caught spectacularly to leave the innings faltering. The Sammy-Russell show was only getting started, though.Smart stats

India’s 11-match winning streak in home ODIs came to an end with the 16-run defeat. Their previous loss at home came against South Africa in Nagpur during the World Cup.

West Indies’ win is their fifth in seven ODIs at the venue. It is their most successful venue in India followed by Guwahati and Jaipur where they have won three matches each.

The stand of 79 between Darren Sammy and Andre Russell came off just 34 balls and is the fourth-highest sixth-wicket stand for West Indies against India. The partnership run-rate of 13.94 is the highest for a fifty-plus stand for West Indies against India.

The 73 runs scored by West Indies between overs 46 and 50 is third on the list of most runs scored by them in the last five overs of ODIs played since 2000. The highest is 79 against Canada in 2008.

Ravi Rampaul’s 4 for 57 is his sixth haul of four wickets or more in ODIs. It is also his third-best bowling performance against India after the 5 for 51 in Chennai in the World Cup and the 4 for 37 in Kingston in 2009.

Rohit Sharma scored his third consecutive half-century of the series and his fourth in four ODIs against West Indies. He now averages 75.57 in 12 ODIs against West Indies with six half-centuries.

The 91-run stand between Rohit and R Ashwin is the highest seventh-wicket stand for India against West Indies. It surpasses the previous best of 88 between Rohit and Harbhajan Singh in North Sound in 2011.

West Indies’ score of 44 is the second-lowest aggregate in the first 15 overs in Ahmedabad in ODIs since 2000. Sri Lanka had scored the fewest (37) against South Africa in 2006.

West Indies’ cause was aided by India’s inexperience, as Yadav and Mithun delivered despicable lengths in the slog. Sammy wound up for the fun by redirecting Vinay for two fours, before Russell carted Yadav for a monster six. Next, Sammy turned his attention towards Mithun, scything a wide ball, and hammering a length delivery for fours. He then unfurled two sixes dripping with typical Caribbean audacity on either side of the wicket – a slash over cover and a merry whiplash over midwicket. Russell then went ballistic in Yadav’s last over, drilling a near yorker down the ground and fore-handing a length ball for fours, before teeing off towards the press box.India seemed hung-over from the onslaught when they began their chase. Sehwag was yet to make a significant score since the World Cup, but still chased a short and wide first delivery from Rampaul without moving his feet. Gambhir followed immediately, shouldering arms after misreading an inswinger that straightened to catch him plumb on the crease. Parthiv Patel and Kohli responded with a slew of boundaries, but West Indies’ spinners, and a couple of umpiring errors were about to derail India.Kohli was struck in front as he looked to work the debutant offspinner Sunil Narine to leg, but the ball was sliding further down the leg side. The umpire Sudhir Asnani was convinced, though, and Kohli left the pitch spewing a litany of invective in his wake. Samuels then slipped a ripping offspinner past Parthiv’s forward prod to disturb his stumps. Suresh Raina exited soon after, when umpire Tony Hill wrongly ruled him caught behind as he hopped across to glance Rampaul. India were tottering at 105 for 6 when Jadeja was run out, but Rohit carried on with a sense of remarkable calm.He opened his account with a stunning inside-out lofted drive for six, and his shot-making through the covers and down the ground remained sublime all evening. But his rotation of strike, with an uncertain tail to shepherd, was equally exemplary. R Ashwin bottled up one end, West Indies backed away to allow the singles, and a 91-run stand was raised just like that. Sammy dropped both batsmen to aid India’s progress, and West Indies were sweating by the time the batting Powerplay came on. Rohit plundered boundaries at will, and India were back in the chase, but it was time for another twist.Narine, who displayed an ice-cool temperament for a debutant in front of a raucous crowd, gave Ashwin a taste of his own carrom ball to end the partnership, with India 65 runs away. Rohit stretched his luck decisively in the 44th over after pushing the ball to mid-on, and Sammy blasted the stumps out with a laser-sharp throw. The captain celebrated like a man relieved to finally pull a win back. Mithun slugged a couple of monster sixes to keep West Indies waiting, but they weren’t enough to extend India’s streak.

England Lions pair James Taylor and James Harris were the stars of the third day of Glamorgan’s County Championship Division Two clash against Leicestershire at Colwyn Bay

19-Aug-2011
Scorecard
England Lions pair James Taylor and James Harris were the stars of the third day of Glamorgan’s County Championship Division Two clash against Leicestershire at Colwyn Bay.Taylor scored 127 not out, his first Championship century of the season, while Harris claimed 5 wickets for 45 runs from 27 overs – this third five-wicket haul of the summer. Leicestershire declared their first innings on 309 for 7 in a bid to force a positive result. And with an 83-run first innings advantage Glamorgan finished their second innings on 146 for 4 – an overall lead of 229.Glamorgan will probably leave Leicestershire a chase of something in the region of 320-330 runs from 60-70 overs. Leicestershire had resumed the third morning on 140 for 4 requiring a further 103 to avoid the follow-on.In a morning session relatively free of incident, Glamorgan managed to take just the one wicket when Harris claimed his fourth wicket accounting for Wayne White – who had reached his 50 from 80 balls. When Paul Dixey joined Taylor the east Midlands county still wanted 82 to save the the follow-on.Taylor had been very watchful throughout his innings until on 72 he played his first shot in anger -driving Robert Croft for six over long-on, a shot which should have been caught by Will Owen on the boundary but it went through his hands. Dixey went to his 50 from 95 balls, but in the next over he edged Harris into Wallace’s gloves to give the seamer his fifth victim – his third five-wicket haul of the summer.Taylor went to his first Championship century of the season. It was a marathon effort taking six hours 21 minutes. He faced 255 balls. Just before the declaration Nick James took his first Championship scalp with his second ball, bowling Jigar Naik.After Taylor saw Leicestershire to their third batting point Hoggard declared. Either side of tea Glamorgan lost a wicket – Petersen edged an attempted cut behind off Buck. From 25 for one the home side slumped to 29 for two when Rees was caught down the leg-side in the first over after tea off White.Will Bragg and Stewart Walters steadied the Glamorgan ship in a third wicket partnership of 76 to take the overall lead to 159 before Walters chipped off spinner Naik to midwicket. James became Naik’s second wicket, trapped lbw, before Bragg reached his half-century from 98 balls just before the close.

Sri Lanka will have to adjust to the Test format and the English conditions if they are to challenge England this summer, Marvan Atapattu, their batting coach has said

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2011Sri Lanka’s batting coach Marvan Atapattu has said that the side will have to adjust to the Test format and the English conditions if they are to challenge England this summer.”The biggest challenge is to adjust to English conditions,” he said prior to the team’s departure for the two-month tour. “We are playing a Test series after a gap of a few months [Sri Lanka’s last Test was in the rain-affected series against West Indies in November-December 2010]. Winning the Test series in England is our aim.”A [Test] win will make it easier for our preparation work for the one-day and T20 games [that follow].”The squad left without newly appointed captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, and former captains Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, as the players are on IPL duty. While Dilshan will join the squad ahead of their first practice game – against Middlesex between May 14 and 16 – the other two seniors will join the squad along with Dilhara Fernando, Thisara Perera and Suraj Randiv, in time for the second practice game on May 18.Another notable absence in the squad leaving for England was Muttiah Muralitharan, who retired from international cricket at the end of the World Cup. While Sri Lanka are yet to win a Test series in England, Muralitharan has featured in some of their better performances there, picking up 16 wickets to help them win a one-off Test at The Oval in 1998, and eight wickets to win a Test at Trent Bridge in 2006 to draw a series.Downplaying Muralitharan’s absence, Atapattu said the tour provided a chance for fringe players like Farveez Maharoof and Kaushal Silva – who have been brought in for the first practice game as cover for the absent players – to prove their credentials.

New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has said his side should be proud of the fact that they managed to put pressure on India, despite losing an evenly matched Bangalore Test by five wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2012New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has said his side should be proud of the fact that they managed to put pressure on India, despite losing an evenly matched Bangalore Test by five wickets. After losing the first Test in Hyderabad by an innings, they fancied their chances of squaring the series in Bangalore by setting a target of 261. India stuttered, but got over the line on the fourth day after being reduced to 166 for 5.”I think we have made huge progress in this Test. The score we operated with in the first innings (365) was more than competitive,” Hesson said. “To get a first-innings lead against a quality Indian side showed that we’d made some improvements there. In the second innings the conditions were a bit tougher, we made a couple of errors at crucial times, we also could have fallen over but we didn’t. We took on some players with fearful records.”In the end, we set them a challenging a total that gave our bowlers a real chance. Sure we would have wanted more (runs). We still have to keep that positive mindset.”The defeat was New Zealand’s fourth in as many Tests since the tour of the West Indies in July-August. New Zealand are at No.8 in the ICC Test rankings, above Bangladesh. Hesson admitted, thoughk that the players were disappointed they couldn’t close out the game.”We are ranked where we are for a reason, but I thought there were good signs in all areas of the game in Bangalore,” Hesson said. “No one likes to lose and the dressing room was quite gutted because we put a top side under pressure, which many sides haven’t been able to do in India in a long time. To put ourselves into that position and not get over the line was frustrating.”The players are extremely hard on themselves, individually and collectively. Some talk about the inadequacies in other players to try and help them. We’ve got a good leadership group that’s learning to lead. We’re trying to get the guys to evolve so they can challenge each other and start to ask tough questions.”New Zealand left out their most experienced seamer, Chris Martin, for Tim Southee, whose 7 for 64 were the best figures for a New Zealand bowler in India. Southee’s efforts helped New Zealand gain a slender first-innings lead of 12. Hesson said leaving out Martin was a “tough call” but insisted that he was definitely in the mix for future selection.”We thought Chris bowled well in Hyderabad but we thought Tim was ready to go. He had been bowling beautifully and someone had to miss out. Chris has a lot of experience and helps pull the whole bowling group together.”Hesson said the side had a lot to learn in terms of decision making out in the middle, especially in Hyderabad, where New Zealand failed to pass 200 in both innings.”We lost a number of wickets in the first Test because we were indecisive, whether it be to play, or leave, to push for a single or to attack. If you make the wrong decision and commit to it sometimes you can get out of trouble. We tried to ensure we didn’t make those mistakes from Hyderabad in this Test.”Hesson said the players had done their best to simulate match conditions at the nets. “We have competitive nets. We create an environment in our net situation where the guys are under pressure. Very difficult of course to replicate 40,000 screaming Indians.”

Frank Lampard could be heading for his first big Everton disaster in the coming months, and we’re not talking about the immediate threat of relegation.

It’s no secret that the Toffees have had a horrendous season, and even remaining in the Premier League for next year surely won’t appease the fans as urgent change is needed on the pitch to get them back to where they belong.

With Lampard looking to strengthen, the onus might be on him to focus more on the players whose contracts are due to expire, with Yerry Mina being the obvious choice to tie down to a long-term deal.

The £18m-rated centre back has only played 12 times in the league this season, but Everton have lost just four of those matches, compared to the other 15 defeats without his presence in the team.

The Colombian has had his injury problems, but whenever he has featured, he has largely been excellent, with former Toffees player Don Hutchison describing him as a “rock” against Chelsea in the 1-0 victory last weekend.

Over his 12 league matches this season, Mina is in the 90th percentile for both blocks (2.20 per 90) and aerials won (3.95) among positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues, showing just how much of an asset he has been during his limited game-time in the current campaign.

His performance against Chelsea gathered further praise from journalist Patrick Boyland, who claimed that Mina was “a joy to behold”, and Lampard should be putting plans in motion to keep the Colombian at the club on a long-term deal.

This could, of course, depend on Everton’s Premier League status next season. Mina should be playing at a higher level, and relegation to the Championship could mean the end for the 27-year-old as an Everton player.

AND in other news, Lampard must brutally axe “clumsy” £120k-p/w Everton dud, he’s bleeding them dry

New Zealand have, in consultation with the Bangladesh Cricket Board, postponed their two-Test tour of Bangladesh scheduled for May-June this year to 2012, citing extremely hot and humid weather

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-2011New Zealand have, in consultation with the Bangladesh Cricket Board, postponed their two-Test tour of Bangladesh scheduled for May-June this year to 2012, citing extremely hot and humid weather.The Test series had initially been planned for late 2010 and was meant to be part of a tour also comprising three ODIs. But, in preparation for the World Cup, the teams agreed to play five ODIs (which New Zealand lost 0-4) and push the Tests to May-June this year. Now, those Tests have again been rescheduled.”We welcome the decision and believe it is a sensible outcome,” Justin Vaughan, the CEO of New Zealand Cricket, said after the BCB had accept the request for postponement. “Bangladesh is extremely hot and humid in May and June with cricket rarely played during that time of year.”The option to postpone until 2012, where the cricket calendar is less cluttered, also gives our top players the option to freshen up after a long and intensive period of cricket.”