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Leicestershire crashed to their seventh home defeat after losing by eight runs to Warwickshire in the final Friends Provident t20 North Group match at Grace Road

Cricinfo staff18-Jul-2010
Scorecard
Leicestershire crashed to their seventh home defeat after losing by eight runs to Warwickshire in the final Friends Provident t20 North Group match at Grace Road. Having restricted the Bears to 137 for 7 with a fine bowling and fielding performance, the Foxes were unable to match that with their batting, failing to chase down what looked a comfortable victory target and closing on 129 for 6.Former Foxes player Darren Maddy top scored for the Bears with a blistering 41 off 29 balls, hitting three sixes, while Chris Woakes and Keith Barker each claimed two wickets to help clinch victory.On a slow pitch, the home side were never up with the rate needed after the early loss of opener Jacques Du Toit, who was trapped lbw by Woakes. Brad Hodge tried in vain to keep the chase afloat, cracking four boundaries in a belligerent 22 before becoming Woakes’ second victim with the total on 31.The innings then crawled along with no boundary for 10 overs. That finally arrived when James Taylor produced a reverse sweep for a four off the bowling of Stef Piolet. Taylor went on to top score with 29, but by then it was all too little too late for the Foxes, with the asking rate having climbed to more than 11 an over.Barker ended their slim hopes of reaching the target by taking two wickets in an over, dismissing first Taylor and then clean bowling Wayne White. Despite Claude Henderson hitting Barker for the only six of the innings, the Foxes were still left needing 17 off the last over, and Neil Carter bowled well enough to ensure that did not happen.In the field the Foxes fared much better, with Hodge taking the early wicket of England batsman Jonathan Trott who was trapped lbw, and the big-hitting Carter bowled by Matthew Hoggard for 21.But Barker, Jim Troughton and then Maddy kept the scoreboard moving, with the latter in impressive form. After a slow start, he found his timing despite the slowness of the surface, smashing superb sixes off Henderson, James Benning and Nadeem Malik.A brisk innings from Woakes took the Bears to 137 and although the total hardly seemed enough, it proved more than adequate as the Foxes once again disappointed in front of their home fans.The only point gained they gained at home in the competition was because of a no-result for a washed-out game against Durham. Away from home the Foxes won six out of eight. As it turned out, even had they won for the first time at Grace Road, it would not have been enough, with Northamptonshire clinching a quarter-final place with a victory at Durham.

David Warner says Australia are fully focussed on ending their poor record in Twenty20 cricket, and believes they have the strength in depth to cope with all conditions they will face in the coming fortnight in the Caribbean

Andrew Miller30-Apr-2010David Warner says Australia are fully focused on ending their poor record in Twenty20 cricket, and believes they have the strength in depth to cope with all conditions they will face in the coming fortnight in the Caribbean.Despite ruling the roost in 50-over cricket for the past decade, with three consecutive World Cup victories – including the last tournament in the West Indies in 2007 – Australia’s fortunes have not been so great in the shortest format. They were knocked out in the group stages in England last summer, and although they reached the semi-finals in the inaugural tournament in South Africa, they suffered an embarrassment along the way when they were defeated by minnows Zimbabwe.That result was revisited earlier this week, when Zimbabwe inched to a thrilling one-run victory in the teams’ opening warm-up match in St Lucia, but Warner demonstrated the extent of his own form with a rollicking 72 from 49 balls, including five sixes. He followed that up with 51 from 41 balls in a 101-run win against the Windward Islands on Thursday, and is ready to carry that momentum into their first fixture of the tournament, against Pakistan on Sunday.”It’s been a good lead-up for myself with a couple of half-centuries in the games just gone,” Warner told Cricinfo. “I don’t want to waste my runs in the warm-ups, but it’s always good to get them under the belt, and I hope to put in a good performance on Sunday. As a team, we are aware of our shortcomings in Twenty20 cricket, but we’ve played a lot in Australian cricket in the last couple of years, and we know we’ve got the resources to take it on this year and win.”Despite the setback against Zimbabwe, Warner believed that the experience would serve as a timely wake-up call, and felt that Australia would be better prepared for future contests now that they had had a chance to gauge the West Indian conditions. “Twenty20 is a funny game,” he said. “Anyone on their day can come out on song and roll a few teams over, or be a superstar with the bat. We’re looking forward to the contest, we’ve got the depth in bowling and batting to take on any side in this tournament, and we hope to do that.”We didn’t bowl too well that day and they got away from us, but we played positive cricket right up to the end,” he added. “The pitches so far have been pretty slow and low, and we’ve been playing on big grounds with a lot of wind around, so we’ve been running a lot of twos and threes which is a bit different for Twenty20 cricket. But the boundaries will come in a bit on Sunday, so our hopes are high and we’re a positive bunch. We’re looking to put the disappointments of last year behind us, and have a good tournament.”Warner had little opportunity to show what he can do in England last summer, scoring 63 and 0 in his two innings before Australia’s elimination, but since then he has expanded his Twenty20 experience with successful stints in the IPL, where he opened the batting for Delhi Daredevils, and with New South Wales, whom he helped to win the inaugural Champions League in India last year.”Personally, I’ve learned that time at the crease is vital,” he said. “With wickets in hand at the end, you can have an onslaught for the last five or six overs. My game is not just to bat in the top six overs, it’s to bat through and maintain my momentum through the innings. If there’s a batsman in, we can keep firing and keep wickets in hand, to post a good total or chase a big total. If I can keep up the onslaught, it stands us in good stead.”

Personally, I’ve learned that time at the crease is vital. With wickets in hand at the end, you can have an onslaught for the last five or six overs. My game is not just to bat in the top six overs

One slight disappointment for Warner is the lack of recognition from Cricket Australia, who left him off their list of centrally contracted players for 2010-11, despite his integral presence in the shortest form of the game. Earlier this week, Michael Clarke voiced his concerns on the subject, pointing out that playing Twenty20 cricket was the ultimate for players such as Warner who haven’t cemented their places in the more established forms of the game.”You go away on all these trips playing Twenty20 cricket, but the only way to get a contract is by being upgraded to Test or ODIs,” Warner said. “I believe that if you play one form of the game for Australia, you should be rewarded with one of those central contracts, but I reckon that’s going to come in the next year or so. Meanwhile, any opportunity I get to play for Australia, I’m going to grab with all I can and try to do my best.”Once the World Twenty20 is out of the way, Warner’s next international ambition is to earn a place in the Australian 50-over squad for the tour of England in July, and to that end, his forthcoming stint with Middlesex in the Friends Provident T20 could prove invaluable. When he arrives at Lord’s next month, he will team up at the top of the order with Adam Gilchrist, and the prospect already has him extremely excited.”I can’t wait,” he said. “My aim is to win this tournament, then get over to England to open with an idol of mine, who I’ve looked up to for many years. In the IPL, I had Virender Sehwag at the other end, another guy who I looked up to, but Gilchrist was my childhood hero so it’s going to be amazing and surreal for me. It might feel like a dream at first, but we’re both going to be there for business so our aim is to get Middlesex to the final, and win it.”Before that, however, there’s the serious business of international cricket to contend with, and Warner can already feel an upsurge of intensity as the competition draws closer. “The word round the camp is we really want to win this,” he said. “We’re not here for a holiday, we’re here to actually win and we’re not going home until we’ve achieved that. Everyone is 100% focused on winning this tournament and hopefully we can this time.”To see Warner and Gilchrist in action this summer, call 0207 432 1000 or visit www.lords.org for Lord’s match tickets, or for matches at Richmond & Uxbridge visit www.middlesexccc.com.

According to ESPN, Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte is eyeing a major overhaul behind the scenes as he holds private meetings with club chiefs and makes a decision on midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.

The Lowdown: Conte ‘evaluations’ made…

The Lilywhites manager, as he candidly admitted to the press, has been making ‘evaluations’ on his Tottenham squad as he decides who stays and who goes this January and beyond.

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Spurs’ head coach recently finished his assessment of the Hotspur Way squad with many players currently linked with a possible move away from north London.

The likes of Matt Doherty, Giovani Lo Celso and Dele Alli are mentioned as possible departures with yet more news emerging on who could leave Spurs.

The Latest: Conte makes Ndombele call…

According to ESPN, club record signing Ndombele is one of six players Conte is now ‘willing’ to part with as he holds ‘private meetings’ with Spurs chiefs.

Chairman Daniel Levy is ‘expected to back’ the Italian’s exit decisions but club hierarchy recognise the difficulty in facilitating these deals mid-season.

As well as Ndombele, other players at risk of being sold are indeed Alli, Doherty, Lo Celso, Steven Bergwijn and even Japhet Tanganga.

The Verdict: Right call?

Given his arguable lack of application at N17 despite his obvious ability, with Conte publicly questioning it, perhaps may be the right time to entertain offers for the Frenchman.

As ever in January, the difficulty lies in finding a suitable offer for Ndombele but given the player’s pedigree, you would believe it is a possible a big club could register interest.

Described as ‘unbelievable’ by insider John Wenham, the midfield ace completed more dribbles per 90 last campaign than any Spurs player in the Premier League (WhoScored), with former boss Jose Mourinho hailing his turnaround at one point.

Alas, his bright flashes have come at an inconsistent rate and Conte will want players who can perform at a high level more regularly in his side.

In other news: Tottenham ‘working strongly’ for ‘phenomenal signing’ as reporter drops Twitter claim, find out more here.

Aston Villa and Leicester City have approached Rangers over midfielder Joe Aribo, according to Fichajes.net, with the clubs hoping to complete a deal before he plays another game at Ibrox.

The lowdown

25-year-old Aribo is in the final 18 months of his £14,000-per-week contract at Ibrox.

The midfield maestro, who can also play on the right, joined Rangers on a free transfer from Charlton Athletic in 2019 and has gone to make 123 appearances for the club.

He’s now valued at £5.85million by Transfermarkt, a figure that’s soared since the summer of 2020.

The latest

The report claims Steven Gerrard has ‘expressly requested’ the signing of Aribo as he looks to reunite with the player in the Midlands.

Leicester are at a ‘disadvantage’, but their midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is a ‘great friend’ of Aribo and will try and convince his countryman to pick The Foxes.

Both clubs have ‘already contacted’ Rangers but if they’re to do a deal in January, it’ll most likely have to be before Aribo ‘concentrates’ on the Africa Cup of Nations.

UK-based players are expected to link up with the Nigeria squad on Monday, January 3, meaning Aribo has played his last game for the Light Blues if one of the buyers get their wish.

The verdict

Could Aribo have played his last game for Rangers? Well, if Villa and Leicester are wary of losing out to each other, they may well try to fast-track the deal in the next week.

While they would be furnished with the funds to replace him, losing Aribo would undoubtedly be a big blow to Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

He’s started 19 out of a possible 20 Premiership matches and ranks as their second-highest performer according to WhoScored metrics, behind only James Tavernier.

Aribo, who’s scored six goals and provided three assists in the SPFL, has been hailed as a ‘gem’ and the ‘best player in the league’ by sports journalist Josh Bunting, so the club must ensure they bank a huge profit if they opt to cash in.

In other news, Rangers have been linked with this Spanish sensation.

The Bangladesh captain said the team had been playing good cricket in the past seven to eight months

Cricinfo staff24-Jul-2009Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said his side’s Test series win in the West Indies will lead to more consistency in their performance. The team, he said, had been knocking on the doors of a big win for some time and were confident it was round the corner.Mortaza was speaking on his return to Bangladesh, his tour cut short by a knee injury that ruled him out of the second Test and the ODI series.”We did something which never happened to Bangladesh cricket,” he said. “I thoroughly enjoyed it even though I was not playing for the most part. Our cricket can only go forward from here. We are not going to win every game from now on but I believe you will see more consistency because the boys have confidence and belief in their abilities.”He said the team put the loss to Ireland in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup behind them. “We have been playing good cricket for seven-eight months. We pushed teams like New Zealand and Sri Lanka really close and the players were confident that a result was just around the corner. One Twenty20 loss to Ireland doesn’t wipe out the good cricket we played before that.”Bangladesh’s win came against a severely weakened West Indies side, the hosts ravaged by an internal contracts dispute, but Mortaza wasn’t about to let it take the gloss off the result. “We had planned for Gayle and the rest but then their line-up changed. We couldn’t do anything about that and decided to stick to the same plan against players we didn’t know much about. We executed our plan really well and it worked.”Mortaza praised the effort of the top-order batsmen in the series, an area of worry for Bangladesh recently. “That had been one of our areas of concern in the past but Tamim (Iqbal) was excellent in the opening slot. Imrul (Kayes), Zunaed and some others may not have made big runs to show but balanced that by staying at the crease for long periods. Spending time at the wicket is decisive in Test cricket.”Mortaza was unsure about the details of his injury, and said he would travel to Australia to receive treatment. “I’m still not sure about the extent of the damage. I’ve heard that there could be a bit of internal bleeding probably. I will have to travel abroad and get it checked and we’ll see whether a surgery is required or not. But I’m confident that I would return to cricket pretty soon.”Fast bowler Shahadat Hossain, who also returned to Bangladesh after being omitted from the ODI team, admitted it was not a memorable Test series for him. “I am disappointed with my bowling. We played on wickets where you had to bowl long spells to get wickets. I didn’t do that and that’s probably the reason why I wasn’t successful. The pitches are slow in the Caribbean and we have Shakib who is super and then (Abdur) Razzak, Riyad (Mahmud Ullah) and Naeem (Islam). I expect the spinners to do well in the ODIs.”Newcomer Sahgir Hossain did not get to play in any of the Tests, but was happy to be part of the winning national team. “Obviously I would have been happier if I had played but the feeling of winning a Test series on my first trip with the National team is still a most memorable experience,” he said.

Everton are on a dire run of form and Rafa Benitez has been not been dealt any favours when it comes to injuries at Goodison Park.

According to The Athletic, Richarlison is set to be out for a number of weeks with a calf tear after he was substituted in the second half of the defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday.

The Toffees have lost seven of their last nine Premier League matches, having won just five of their 16 matches in the division this season.

Revival

They are in desperate need of something to kickstart their revival under the Spaniard and Richarlison’s injury could open up the door for the spark they need to come in. Ellis Simms could be called up from the academy to come in and make his senior bow.

The 20-year-old is yet to make his first-team debut for Everton but his record in the youth teams and out on loan suggests that he has the potential to be a difference-maker for the Blues.

He scored 10 goals and provided two assists in 24 League One games for Blackpool last term and has scored 55 goals for the Toffees across the U18’s and U23’s, meaning he has 65 career strikes to his name at senior and youth level combined.

In the 2018/19 campaign, he scored a sensational 32 goals in 21 under-18 Premier League matches – scoring 41 times in 44 games at that age bracket overall. Since moving up to the 23’s, he has scored 17 in 37 outings – with his loan spell with the Tangerines coming last season.

Everton U23s Assistant John Ebbrell previously heaped praise on the young attacker, saying:

“What I do know with Ellis, if he ends up one-vs-one with the goalkeeper, he’s scoring.

“From experience, I know if you have time to think for that finish it can be difficult but Ellis is really calm and composed in those situations. He very rarely misses.”

His goalscoring statistics and Ebbrell’s comments on his finishing suggest that he could be able to make the grade in the first-team if he is given a chance by Benitez in the coming weeks. Richarlison’s injury could be the perfect opportunity to throw him in at the deep end to see if he is able to swim or not.

If Simms is able to come in and score goals at Premier League level then it could kickstart Everton’s revival and see them begin to move up to the part of the table where they want to be, rather than struggling in the bottom half.

AND in other news, “What I’m hearing…”: Greg O’Keeffe drops big Everton update, fans surely buzzing…

James Hopes and Lee Carseldine will return for Queensland to provide a much-needed dose of experience for the Sheffield Shield final

Cricinfo staff14-Mar-2010James Hopes and Lee Carseldine will return for Queensland to provide a much-needed dose of experience for the Sheffield Shield final against Victoria starting on Wednesday. Hopes is back after playing in Australia’s 3-2 win over New Zealand while Carseldine has been passed fit following a broken toe that ruled him out of the Bulls’ last regular-season game.While Western Australia won that match by three wickets, the Bulls were outplayed for most of the contest and their batting was a major worry as they were dismissed for 106 and 285. Craig Philipson, Nathan Reardon and Nathan Rimmington have been dropped from the 13-man outfit while the uncapped duo of Ben Dunk and Jason Floros have been selected.Dunk, a wicketkeeper-batsman, was outstanding in the Twenty20 competition and the allrounder Floros was part of Australia’s Under-19 World Cup win. “We’ll have a good look at the conditions and make our decision [on the XI] from there,” Queensland’s chairman of selectors Ray Phillips said.”There are a few things we’re considering so we’ll take our time to finalise things.” The squad will arrive in Melbourne on Monday and some of the players will attend the state cricket media awards.Queensland squad Ryan Broad, Wade Townsend, Lee Carseldine, James Hopes, Chris Lynn, Chris Hartley (wk), Ben Dunk, Jason Floros, Chris Simpson (capt), Cameron Boyce, Ben Cutting, Luke Feldman, Chris Swan.

Bayern Munich are reportedly considering potential options to replace Thomas Tuchel and are thinking about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Zinedine Zidane.

Bayern on three-game losing streakThomas Tuchel under pressureClub considering potential replacementsGettyWHAT HAPPENED?

Tuchel has come under pressure at Bayern after a series of poor results that have left the team eight points behind Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the table. Tuchel will remain in charge for now, but the Bavarian giants are looking at potential replacements, according to Sky Germany. Solskjaer has emerged as a potential candidate on an interim basis should Tuchel not see out the season. Zidane is another manager the club are said to be thinking about currently.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Tuchel has opted to give his players some time off ahead of some key fixtures in a bid to freshen things up after defeats to Leverkusen, Lazio and Bochum which have damaged their hopes of securing silverware this season. Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen has said the club will not sack Tuchel in the wake of their shock defeat to Bochum but has stopped short of offering the coach the club's full support.

GettyImageDID YOU KNOW?

Zidane won 11 trophies as manager of Real Madrid, including three Champions League titles.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR BAYERN

Bayern take on RB Leipzig next and anything other than a win will pile more pressure on Tuchel. The Bavarians then face SC Freiburg before hosting Lazio in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie. Tuchel's side trail 1-0 from the first leg in Italy.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Glasgow Rangers head into Thursday evening’s Europa League tie safe in the knowledge that they have already secured a place for the Ibrox side in the knockout stages of the competition.

As such, with nothing at stake aside from pride, the fixture against Olympique Lyonnais presents the 46-year-old Gers manager with a perfect opportunity to heavily rotate his side, allowing a number of his peripheral squad members some much-needed game time.

Subsequently, this means that a plethora of Rangers’ regular starters must make way, with centre-forward Alfredo Morelos appearing to be a prime candidate for the chop on Thursday evening.

Van Bronckhorst must axe Morelos

Since making the move to Ibrox back in 2017, Morelos has gone on to become an incredibly important part of the Rangers first-team setup, scoring a highly impressive 104 goals and registering 46 assists over his 207 appearances for the club.

This season has been no different, with the £10.8m-rated striker having already bagged five goals, provided three assists and created two big chances over his 14 Premiership appearances, as well as taking an average of 4.1 shots – the highest number of any player in the top flight – and making 1.6 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the 25-year-old who Willy Irwin dubbed an “incredible” talent average a SofaScore match rating of 7.14, ranking him as Gers’ sixth-best performer in the league.

It has been a similar case over the Colombia international’s five outings in the Europa League this term, with the £33k-per-week hitman notching two goals and averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.16, ranking him as his side’s second-best player in Europe.

However, it is exactly because of Morelos’ fine form that Van Bronckhorst must ruthlessly axe the centre-forward against Lyon.

With the striker being just one yellow card away from suspension in the Europa League, it is not worth running the risk of fielding the player who the Dutch manager claimed can always “create danger” in the dead rubber on Thursday, as he could subsequently miss the much more important first-leg of Rangers’ knockout tie next February.

In other news: GVB must unleash Rangers’ “powerful” £17k-p/w “big talent” v Lyon, he’s a game-changer

With the likes of Sam Hutchinson, Dominic Iorfa and Lewis Gibson out injured, it seems as though this has forced Sheffield Wednesday into bringing in a new face to the club that could help boost their defensive strength and ease their injury crisis.

What’s the news?

It has recently been reported by Examiner Live that Wednesday have “offered a deal” to former Watford defender Adrian Mariappa, who is currently a free agent after leaving Bristol City during the previous summer transfer window.

As a product of Watford’s youth academy, the 35-year-old centre-back made a total of 340 appearances for the Hornets across all competitions which includes 100 Premier League appearances and 197 Championship appearances, highlighting how experienced he is and why Owls manager Darren Moore would seemingly want to add him to his squad.

Can he save their season?

During his time in the Championship with Bristol City last season, the defender managed to rack up an average of 3.6 clearances per game, 1.1 interceptions per game and one tackle per game which showed how capable he is at the back and why he could be a solid figure for Wednesday in League One for the rest of the season.

Given how former Watford manager Javi Gracia has praised Mariappa in the past for always being an “example for the rest of the players,” this demonstrates what a positive impact and influence he could have on the players at Wednesday if he joins them in the coming days.

In addition to this, Mariappa has been labelled as a “fantastic communicator” on the pitch by Dean Holden during his time at Bristol, which could make him a very useful figure for the Owls between now and the climax of the campaign.

If Wednesday have offered the defender, who is currently valued at £270k according to Transfermarkt, a deal, this could be an excellent piece of business from the Yorkshire club if he manages to improve the side from a defensive point of view. With Hutchinson, Iorfa and Gibson currently out injured, bringing in another body could potentially save their season.

However, it is crucial to keep in mind that Mariappa hasn’t played any football since he left Bristol City, meaning it could take him a while to get up to speed with the Owls if he does join them.

In other news: Big blow: Moore dealt injury setback at SWFC that’ll surely leave fans worried – opinion