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West Ham United are set to complete the signing of Kurt Zouma, according to Evening Standard journalist Jack Rosser.

The Chelsea defender is thought to be undergoing a medical in the French capital of Paris after agreeing personal terms on a £25million switch across London.

It comes after Zouma initially turned down a move to London Stadium earlier this month when the Hammers refused to meet the 26-year-old’s wage demands.

Although Zouma was included in Chelsea’s starting line-up for the Super Cup win over Villarreal, the centre-half has been an unused substitute in both of the Blues’ Premier League fixtures so far.

West Ham boss David Moyes has been keen to bolster his defensive options ahead of the transfer window slamming shut and, but for any last minute hitches, Zouma would become the Hammers’ highest earner after agreeing to a deal worth £125,000-per-week.

Rosser is expecting Zouma to be unveiled as a West Ham player imminently.

He told Football FanCast: “Barring any last minute changes, which is always possible, that should happen.

“His medical is happening now in Paris so that should go through.”

Rahul Dravid has said the strategic field placements Ricky Ponting used were not a surprise – the Australians had adopted a similar “semi-defensive” approach in 2004

Cricinfo staff11-Oct-2008
Sachin Tendulkar was susceptible to Mitchell Johnson’s subtle changes in pace © Getty Images
Rahul Dravid has said the strategic field placements Ricky Ponting used were not a surprise – the Australians had adopted a similar “semi-defensive” approach in 2004. If India were expecting a choking strategy, though, they didn’t seem to have planned a counter to it and, Dravid apart, the middle-order batsmen were stifled by fielders who cut off their comfort zones.Sachin Tendulkar seemed to have seen the trap set for him, yet got caught in it. VVS Laxman remained on zero for 11 balls, after his areas of choice were blocked off, and was dismissed off the 12th. Ponting said they had plans for the Indian batsmen but even he might have been surprised at the speed with which they worked.The Indian openers had scored at a brisk pace on the second evening but, with the bounce getting more unpredictable on the third morning, that passage of play was the exception rather than the norm while the middle order was batting.Out of the corners of his eyes Sachin Tendulkar could see fielders at short cover, short midwicket and square leg while facing Brett Lee. Against Mitchell Johnson, whose initial plan was to slant the ball across the right-handers to make the batsmen drive, Tendulkar had a packed off side – two slips, a gully, point and short cover. He beat that field twice – once with a glorious cover drive, then with an edgy push which flew wide of gully – but was susceptible to Johnson’s subtle changes of pace. The first spooned drive against the slower ball fell tantalizingly short of Cameron White at short cover. A few balls later Tendulkar hit it straight into his hands.Dravid, Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni found their leg-side options cut off. Two fielders stood a few feet apart at silly mid-on and short midwicket and they were backed up by a conventional mid-on. The close men prevented singles that would result from driving the ball either side of mid-on; the deeper fielder stopped shots which were driven firmly between the two close fielders. There was a man at square leg as well.”On wickets like this, with the kind of attack they have, we expected them to set fields like that,” Dravid said. “Semi-defensive fields with sweepers and more men on the leg side, looking to bowl wicket to wicket. Some days, on wickets like this, it might work. On other days you might have to look at other fields.”But Ponting didn’t have to look at other fields for most of today. Laxman fended feebly and nicked Johnson to Haddin, while Dhoni tried to force a straight ball from Michael Clarke and lost his off stump. They were unable to force the Australians into changing their plans and failed to take heed from the vigilant approach which brought Ponting, Michael Hussey and Simon Katich their runs on the second day.
Rahul Dravid: “They [Australia’s bowlers] tended to bowl a lot straighter so obviously the tendency is to drift down leg side” © AFP
Only Dravid found a method to beat the suffocation. He called upon his ample supply of patience and countered the low bounce by moving decisively on to the front foot. He did not necessarily force Ponting to change his field; instead, he worked around it. Gaps in the infield were hard to pierce so Dravid waited for the ball that was too straight and played it towards long leg, and when it was wide, he scored in the region behind point. Dravid scored 43 out of his 51 runs behind square.”They [Australia’s bowlers] tended to bowl a lot straighter so obviously the tendency is to drift down leg side,” Dravid said. “The opportunities to score runs are on that side.”Unlike several of his team-mates, his dismissal was not a result of a rash shot. Dravid later said the pitch was the kind on which “you couldn’t trust the bounce” and because of the reverse-swing “you never felt like you were in even if after batting for a long period of time”. Moments after reaching his half-century, he was beaten by Shane Watson’s inswing and got struck on the pad with the bat extremely close to ball. The decision might have gone his way on another day.The most refreshing innings of the day, however, came from the carefree bat of Australia’s nemesis – Harbhajan Singh. Not shackled by the burden of playing responsible shots – a weight carried by top-order batsmen – Harbhajan opened out in the company of Zaheer Khan. It was not all slogging though for he played several deliveries with caution. However, his determination to hit hard and over the top when he could, forced the Australians to do something they hadn’t needed to all day – change their field. It only needed a little spunk.

Barbados, Leeward Islands and hosts Guyana managed wins in the opening round of matches in the WICB Cup

Cricinfo staff14-Nov-2008A century from Austin Richards set up an emphatic 184-run victory for Leeward Islands over Canada at the Everest Cricket Club Ground in Guyana. Leewards were put in by Canada and Richards joined with his captain Runako Morton in a 174-run second-wicket partnership before combing with Omari Banks later on. Banks finished unbeaten on 75 and hit eight fours and three sixes, while Richards was bowled by Karun Jethi for a whirlwind 141 from 113 balls, comprising 14 fours and five sixes. Canada never looked in control during the chase and apart from Qaiser Ali (52) and captain Sunil Dhaniram (44) there were no other innings of note. Canada were restricted to 183 for 7 off 50 overs – falling one run short of denying the Leewards an extra bonus point.Ryan Hinds’ all-round show helped Barbados beat defending champions Jamaica by 21 runs at the Bourda. Dwayne Smith top scored with 64 from 47 balls and together with Hinds (56) took Barbados to 249 in the 50 overs. Pedro Collins and Hinds then picked up three wickets apiece to hand Barbados four points. Barbados captain Jason Haynes, electing to bat, put on 70 runs with Hinds for the first wicket before Lorenzo Ingram dismissed him for 30. Hinds struck seven fours and one six in his 88-ball innings, but it was Smith’s lusty hitting, which included five fours and three sixes, that took Barbados near 250 after they were wobbling at 189 for 5. Jamaica suffered an early blow during the reply, when Brenton Parchment was adjudged lbw to Collins for a duck in the third over, but Horace Miller and David Bernard put on 66 for the second wicket to put them back on track. But Hinds removed them both and Danza Hyatt was run out soon after. Captain Tamar Lambert looked to resurrect the innings but the steady fall of wickets meant an uphill struggle as Jamaica were bowled out for 228.A superb century from Romel Currency was not enough to hand Combined Campuses and Colleges a win over Guyana at the Providence Stadium, as the hosts won by four wickets. After his captain chose to bat, Currency put on 55 with Ramnarine Chattergoon for the opening wicket. But Combined Campuses and Colleges were soon reduced to 58 for 3 as captain Simon Jackson and Floyd Reifer fell in quick succession. But Currency’s 133-run fourth-wicket stand with Kurt Wilkinson, who contributed a solid 76 from 98 balls, took the score to 250. Currency hit six fours and a six as he finished on 102. The early fall of Rajindra Chandrika’s wicket during the chase did not deter Chris Barnwell and Narsingh Deonarine as they put on 112 runs for the second wicket. Deonarine made full use of the friendly batting pitch to hit an attractive 67, bringing up his fifty off 46 balls. Barnwell provided able support with 51. But even after he was caught by Chattergoon off Kavesh Kantasingh, Assad Fudadin stroked an unbeaten 57 to seal the win for Guyana with nine deliveries to spare.

حرص تيسير الجاسم، قائد الفريق الأول لكرة القدم السابق بالنادي الأهلي، على توجيه رسالة للاعبين، قبل المباراة المصيرية أمام الشباب في الدوري السعودي.

ويلتقي الأهلي مع نظيره الشباب مساء اليوم الإثنين على ملعب الأمير فيصل بن فهد بالملز، ضمن منافسات الجولة الثلاثون والأخيرة، من مسابقة دوري كأس الأمير محمد بن سلمان للمحترفين.

طالع أيضًا.. موعد والقناة الناقلة ومعلق مباراة الأهلي والشباب اليوم في الدوري السعودي

ونشر الجاسم عبر حسابه بموقع الصور الشهير “إنستجرا”: “إخواني اللاعبين أمامكم 90 دقيقة لفرحة الملايين من جمهور عشق هذا النادي الذي قارب الـ90 عامًا، ولم يمر بظرف كهذا”.

وتابع: “ومن نعم الله لا تزال الفرصة بايديكم، انسوا كل شي واجعلوه خلفكم وضعوا نصب أعينكم أهاليكم وأصدقائكم وجمهوركم الذي لم يتخل عنكم أبدا وينتظرون الفرحة منكم، لا يوجد مستحيل وانتم قادرون على الفوز”.

جدير بالذكر أن الأهلي يحتاج إلى الفوز في مباراة اليوم أمام الشباب، من أجل البقاء في الدوري، للموسم المقبل.

Chris Martin has been ruled out of New Zealand’s upcoming Test series against Bangladesh and will be replaced by Mark Gillespie. Martin was already left out of the ODI squad due to niggling hamstring and lower back injuries

Cricinfo staff07-Oct-2008
New Zealand will have to face Bangladesh without Chris Martin © Getty Images
Chris Martin has been ruled out of New Zealand’s upcoming Test series against Bangladesh and will be replaced by Mark Gillespie. Martin was already a late withdrawal from the ODI squad due to niggling hamstring and lower back injuries.He picked up the problems during his spell in county cricket with Warwickshire this year. Dion Nash, one of New Zealand’s selectors, said although Martin was pain free and making good progress, he had lost some condition in recent weeks.”With such a big season ahead it would have been foolish to rush Chris back too early,” Nash said. “He is better at home working on his fitness and strength and preparing himself for the two-Test series against Australia next month.”Martin was originally named in the group to take on Bangladesh in three one-dayers until his place was taken by Michael Mason. Gillespie is already with the squad for the limited-overs series, which begins in Dhaka on Thursday.

وصل اللاعب البلجيكي ديفوك أوريجي إلى إيطاليا، مساء اليوم الإثنين، لإكمال انتقاله المجاني إلى ميلان بعد مغادرة ليفربول.

أمضى اللاعب البالغ من العمر 27 عامًا 7 سنوات في أنفيلد، لكن اقتصرت مشاركاته في الدوري الإنجليزي الموسم الماضي على 7 مباريات فقط.

مع انتهاء عقده مع ليفربول رسميًا يوم الخميس، يقترب أوريجي من الانتقال إلى ميلان بطل دوري الدرجة الأولى الإيطالي.

ومساء اليوم الإثنين، تم تصويره وهو يغادر مطار مالبينسا قبل أن يخضع للكشف الطبي في ميلانو، والذي من المقرر أن يتم صباح الثلاثاء.

أعطى أوريجي إشارة إبهام ولوح للجماهير خارج المطار، وبدا أنه في حالة مزاجية جيدة.

اقرأ أيضًا.. جدول مباريات ميلان في الدوري الإيطالي 2022/2023

في حالة خضوعه للكشف الطبي دون أي مشاكل، فمن المحتمل أن يتم الإعلان عنه كلاعب جديد في ميلان في الأيام المقبلة.

كافح أوريجي ليثبت نفسه كلاعب أساسي في التشكيلة الأساسية خلال الفترة التي قضاها في ليفربول، حيث كان يورجن كلوب غالبًا ما يلجأ إلى محمد صلاح وساديو ماني وروبرتو فيرمينو.

Sourav Ganguly has denied making the comments about his team-mates attributed to him in a Bengali daily, Russell Radhakrishnan, an official with the Indian team, said on his behalf

Cricinfo staff11-Oct-2008
Sourav Ganguly’s denial has added a twist to an ongoing controversy © AFP
Sourav Ganguly has denied comments attributed to him in a Bengali daily. While several Bengali papers have carried interviews with Ganguly, some controversial comments attributed to him in the Kolkata daily deal with his omission from the Indian team and the inclusion of several team-mates.”The reports of an interview from a Bengali daily published in other newspapers are false,” Ganguly’s statement, read out in the press box by an Indian team official, said. “I have not given such an interview to anyone. I request you to clarify with me before publishing views from other sources.””I have played badly in only one series (in Sri Lanka),” the interview said. “Yet every Tom, Dick and Harry is playing in the team. There are players who haven’t scored in the last three series for India, even for the last one year. There are some who have changed their hairstyle more than they have scored for India.”He was reported to have said that being dropped for the Irani Cup prompted him to call it a day, and that he was tired of constantly being made the scapegoat in India’s failures. “If there is a gun to your head all the time, how long can you bear this? After all, I have played 400 matches for India,” the interview quoted him as saying.The “interview” has evoked some sharp criticism. Dilip Vengsarkar, the former chairman of the selection committee, which dropped Ganguly for the recent Irani Cup, said Ganguly would get “more than what he asked for”, after the series is over. Sunil Gavaskar said Ganguly should not have made these comments ahead of a crucial Test series.

Many Wolves fans have been left reacting to some comments made by Patrick Cutrone.

Speaking to Sky Italy (via Talking Wolves), the striker commented on his imminent loan move to Empoli in the Serie A:

“Happy to be back in Italy. I chose Empoli because it’s a great club and a great place to play football. I tell the fans that I am really fired up: I can’t wait to get to know you all, get on the pitch & tear things up.”

Some members of the Molineux faithful were left confused by him claiming that he will ‘tear things up’, given his troubled time at the Midlands club, in which he has only managed to score just a mere three goals in 28 games in total over all competitions across the last two seasons (Transfermarkt), and he has been shipped out on loan to both Fiorentina and Valencia respectively.

Nonetheless, Cutrone does not seem too enthusiastic to stay at the Wanderers judging by his latest comments, and so it may be a wise idea for them to move him on permanently after his loan spell ends.

Wolves fans on Cutrone comments

These WWFC supporters gave their reactions as the comments were shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that Cutrone is a ‘joker’:

“For a starters mate. Tear up your Wolves contract and everything will be sweet”

Credit: @charliewwfc_

“Couldn’t tear a piece of paper dafty”

Credit: @wwfcrhys

“Who does this guy think he is?”

Credit: @kyewazza

“When has he ever torn things up?”

Credit: @danielcmila

“Tear things up … Behave”

Credit: @trev291

“How many years has this joker got left on his contract?”

Credit: @silentbob1957

In other news, find out what transfer update has Wanderers fuming here!

Crystal Palace have been name-checked with an interest in Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard, according to The Scottish Sun.

The Lowdown: Palace set to miss out on Armstrong

Patrick Vieira seemingly wants to bring a forward to Selhurst Park before the transfer window shuts but looks set to miss out on Blackburn Rovers’ Adam Armstrong.

Palace were thought to be leading the way for the 24-year-old just last week, but Southampton have now agreed a fee with Rovers and are finalising personal terms with Armstrong over becoming Danny Ings’ replacement at St Mary’s.

The Latest: Edouard interest

The Scottish Sun shared a transfer story on Monday evening, sharing the Hoops’ interest in Thomas Henry.

The report, which came hours after Sky Sports’ story on Southampton’s hunt for Armstrong, stated that Celtic view the OH Leuven marksman as an ideal replacement for Edouard, with Palace name-checked as one of the clubs who are keen on the latter.

Palace were briefly linked with Edouard last month, and it seems as if they are still tracking the 23-year-old.

The Verdict: Time for Palace to swoop?

Edouard has netted 85 senior goals during his club career so far and was hailed as a ‘special talent’ by former Hoops manager Neil Lennon last year.

He is into the final 12 months of his Celtic Park deal, so Palace could possibly land the striker for a relatively cut-price fee.

However, if the Eagles are serious about Edouard, they may have to act fast, with arch-rivals Brighton the favourites for the Celtic man’s services at this moment in time.

In other news: Many CPFC fans react to transfer update on this winger

كشف الإسباني، فلورنتينو بيريز، رئيس نادي ريال مدريد، أنه كان يؤمن بقدرة فريقه على التتويج بلقب دوري أبطال أوروبا هذا الموسم، خاصة بعد ريمونتادا النادي في أكثر من مباراة خلال مشواره بالبطولة القارية.

ريال مدريد توج باللقب الرابع عشر في تاريخه، بعد الفوز على ليفربول في نهائي دوري الأبطال، وخلال مشواره بالبطولة القارية، انتصر على باريس سان جيرمان، وتشيلسي إلى جانب مانشستر سيتي، وفي المباريات الثلاث، الفريق كان يعوض خسارته في مواجهات الذهاب أو في نتيجة مجموع المباراتين بشكل عام.

اقرأ أيضًا.. بنزيما يكشف عن وظيفته بعد الاعتزال ويتحدث عن موقفه من ترك ريال مدريد

بيريز حل ضيفًا على برنامج “شيرينجيتو” الإسباني الشهير، وقال: “أنا هادئ، ليس من الصعب علي أن أكون كذلك، قلت إنني إذا حققت دوري الأبطال فسوف آتي إلى هُنا”.

وأضاف: “لقب دوري أبطال أوروبا هذا سوف نتذكره طوال حياتنا، لقد كانت لدينا بيئة وأجواء جيدة للاعبين، بالإضافة إلى كونهم محترفين، هم مدريديون للغاية أيضًا”.

وردًا على “متى شعرت أن ريال مدريد سيخرج من دوري الأبطال؟” قال: أبدًا حتى أمام باريس سان جيرمان كان لدينا 20 دقيقة متبقية، وهم ليسوا أعداء لنا، ولا حتى مانشستر سيتي أو تشيلسي، نحن جميعًا أصدقاء”.