Paul Millman, Kent’s chief executive, has appealed to players’ associations across the world to hold talks with India’s Twenty20 leagues as well as the ECB to avoid a possible legal showdown over the status of players in county cricket.Kent are concerned that Justin Kemp and Azhar Mahmood, currently playing in the unofficial Indian Cricket League, may be unavailable to them if regulations outlined by the ECB last week prevent them from honouring their county contracts. There is also uncertainty over the future of Yasir Arafat, who has yet to receive Pakistan Cricket Board clearance to re-join Kent. “If Pakistan put a stop on Yasir Arafat and the ECB prevented Azhar and Justin from joining us then the consequences would be catastrophic, we would be left in a hole,” Millman said. “But should we be allowed to sign two out of the three, then I think we’d have a fighting chance.”This is moving rapidly, even as we speak, but as we stand we have filed our player registration applications for Kemp and Mahmood – Justin as a Kolpak signing and Azhar as a newly-qualified British citizen, and we await the board’s response.”There are so many different interpretations floating around right now it’s difficult to know which to believe and it’s not my job to pre-empt what the ECB’s stance will be. All I hope is that pragmatism will prevail, otherwise this will end up in the courts.”If these Indian leagues truly want to help cricket, they must find a window to play their games that doesn’t conflict with the international programme or with domestic schedules in other countries.”Millman told the Kent Messenger that Kemp’s “preference was to play IPL, but because that clashed with county cricket, he turned it down”. He continued: “I’ve spoken with Justin extensively. He’s locked in hotel rooms with dozens of other potential county cricketers out there in India who are all left feeling a bit rudderless.”We have lots of documentation going back to 2006 stating Justin’s intent to play county cricket for us long-term. He’s just turned 30 and has said to me on a regular basis his greatest wish now is to play cricket for Kent. All he was looking to do was supplement that with off-season opportunities, as most overseas players look to do. Since then the war has escalated and retribution is being sought against players are about to go out on the pitch over in India.”Millman concluded by asking FICA (The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations) and the PCA (Professional Cricketers Association) to broker a solution.
Seventy-six years after Bill Brown was run-out without facing a ball on his first-class debut at the Gabba, he was given a farewell at the same ground by the cricket community who considered him the grandfather of the game. Brown died on March 16 aged 95 and the memorial service in Brisbane followed a private family funeral last week.Sam Loxton, a fellow Invincible, headed the guest list that also included Allan Border, Matthew Hayden, Ian Healy, Brown’s wife Barbara and his family. “The world was a better place for Bill Brown being in it,” Healy told the gathering of about 150 people who had been touched by Brown’s batting, kindness and gentlemanly demeanour.Loxton, who is 87 on Saturday, is one of four players remaining from the undefeated England trip of 1948 – Ron Hamence, Arthur Morris and Neil Harvey are the others – and he smiled as he spoke of his rise to No. 2 in the rankings. He remembered Brown always carried a book under his arm. “Bill was the only one on the ’48 tour who gave the impression he could read,” he said.During the visit the Australians were playing at Lord’s and Loxton, who felt under-used during the early stages of the visit, was looking for someone to practise with. Brown decided he would have a bowl and Loxton spent an hour in the nets. “I was in for the next game and got a few, then in the third Test they dropped Bill and picked me,” Loxton said. “He was heard to say ‘never give a sucker a break’.” Brown would not add to his 22 Tests.Brown, who grew up in a one-bedroom home in Sydney and had to share a bed with his brother, was a cautious right-handed batsman who represented Australia between 1934 and 1948. Only one of his Tests came at the Gabba – he scored 11 against India in 1946-47 – but he appeared there regularly for Queensland, the state of his birth, after returning from New South Wales for the 1936-37 season.In retirement he would take his grandchildren to the ground, arriving two hours early for a Test to get a good seat. Then the stories about his playing days and big-name team-mates would begin as he answered questions from those around him.Jamie Brown told how his grandfather occasionally played social games and was a great asset during a father-and-son match at high school. Brown was 72 so the schoolboys felt they should ease up on the old man, but they were soon looking in creeks for his boundaries before he purposefully got out on reaching fifty.During his trips to the Gabba in the 1980s Brown spotted the talent in a young Steve Waugh and was pleased when they later became friends. Waugh believed Brown embodied the spirit of the baggy green while Hayden said he respected the modern player and “relished in their success”.”He was always on my side or was there for a quiet word,” Hayden said. “And he could console you about opening.”The cricket writer Mike Coward delivered the eulogy and was played at the end of the service to recognise Brown’s time as a flight lieutenant in the airforce during WWII. Coward described Brown as “a cricketer of the people” and “the grandfather to the cricket community”.
Andre Nel and Danish Kaneria are both returning to Essex for the 2008 season. Nel, the South Africa fast bowler, will play from April 16 to May 18 while Kaneria, Pakistan’s legspinner, will take over from May 21.”Although we had already contracted Danish Kaneria for the 2008 season he asked us if he could delay his arrival in the UK so that he could be with his wife for the birth of their second child,” David East, the Essex chief executive, said. “Naturally we agreed to this request and are delighted that Andre has agreed to play for us for the important opening month of the season. Andre is well known to us and has a fantastic rapport with our players.”Subject to his domestic cricket commitments he ensures that we have a world-class overseas bowler for the whole of our 2008 campaign.”Nel’s signing is subject to obtaining a work permit and permission from Cricket South Africa, but he was nevertheless bristling with enthusiasm at the prospect of returning to the club for the third time.”I am delighted to be returning to Essex for the beginning of the season,” he said. “I enjoyed my time at the club in 2007 immensely and can’t wait to rejoin the boys for the first game. I look forward to giving my all in an early season burst for the club.”
There was a real buzz before the first ball was bowled in the Challenge final between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago yesterday.Fortunately, the Caribbean Media Corporation technicians were able to sort out the problem on the line just in time and “live” television commentary was transmitted from the peace, quiet and desolation of Sabina Park . The same can’t be said for the radio broadcast, but it was in keeping with the anonymity of the alleged showpiece of the regional first-class cricket season that no-one was able to hear what was going on for the first 90 minutes because of a simple matter related to organisational efficiency.When there aren’t enough people around for the Carib girls to wine in front of, even with the additional benefit of regional exposure, you begin to understand what it must be like covering a one-day International in Sharjah between New Zealand and Zimbabwe. A funeral would have had greater atmosphere, while most of the noise floating across the refurbished venue during the first hour actually emanated from the Alpha Girls’ Primary School just across South Camp Road as the students there were making the most of what seemed an exceptionally long morning recess.However the match unfolds, whether or not it produces an absorbing contest and a nail-biting finish on the final day Monday, let us hope this is the last time we see the final as it is presently structured, because it really makes no sense.Should Daren Ganga’s team rally from being routed for 121 and prevail by the most comprehensive of margins to complete a hat-trick of Challenge triumphs, it will not change the fact that Jamaica are officially the first-class champions of the West Indies by virtue of finishing at the top of the standings in the round-robin stage of the season. It was the same situation last year, when Barbados were crowned kings of the Caribbean for a record 21st time and lost handily to Trinidad and Tobago at Guaracara Park .So what is the point of the fixture? If the sponsors are insistent on a final for the purpose of greater brand exposure, surely that objective remains largely unfulfilled when there is almost no local interest in the match, unless of course the television and radio audience around the region is so massive as to justify its regurgitation next year.Let us remember that this idea of a Challenge final following the main league format only became a reality with the introduction of an invited team ( England “A” were the first) and a West Indies “B” side in 2001. To circumnavigate the potentially awkward situation of an outsider being crowed champions of the Caribbean, the amended rules mandated that only the top team among the six traditional territories were eligible for the first-class title, although the other two squads could have advanced to the Challenge phase of the season, which incorporated semi-finals and a final.With the West Indies Cricket Board incurring significant financial losses year after year, the burden of two additional teams in an already draining first-class season eventually proved too much, the elimination of that concept being followed closely by the removal of the semi-finals and leaving just the final to follow after the regional champs had already been determined.In other words, for what is assumed to be the finale of the campaign, only bragging rights are at stake, except that those rights don’t seem to carry too much value given the general disinterest in the fixture.If the argument is that it gives our players more cricket, whether or not the public is attracted to it, surely one more match–involving two of the six regional sides–doesn’t get anywhere near to satisfying the requirement.Now, with the advent of the Indian Premier League, Indian Cricket League, Sir Allen Stanford’s widening ambitions and whoever else wants to cash-in on the marketability of the Twenty20 version of the game, it is quite likely that more of the cream of West Indian talent will be skimmed off to these lucrative competitions.For this encounter in Kingston, West Indies captain Chris Gayle is not around to lead the home side, while mercurial all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is unavailable for the visitors. Had Guyana advanced to the final, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan would not have been playing because, like Gayle and Bravo, they are involved in the inaugural season of the multi-million-dollar IPL.If the intention is to stubbornly continue with this fixture, as is, for the foreseeable future, it will be rendered embarrassingly obsolete by the other developments in the cricketing world. Australia have a final in their domestic first-class competition, but there the real title is very much at stake, not just something as superfluous as bragging rights.Should the people who are putting their money into supporting the competition maintain that there must be a showpiece showdown, then they have to come up with something different to make it worthwhile, and therefore interesting, for an audience that has so much to choose from via television.How about the English county champions of the previous season squaring off against the new West Indies champions? It could also serve as a competitive warm-up fixture for the visitors ahead of the defence of their title.Maybe it’s impractical, maybe it’s too costly, but what we’re doing now doesn’t make much sense and hardly anyone seems to care, as the emptiness of Sabina Park attests.
The ground stage of the MTN Domestic Championship has been completed with the Eagles, Titans, Cape Cobras and Dolphins securing their place in the semi-finalsThe Cape Cobras made heavy weather of what should have been a comfortable run chase against the Warriors at Newlands, but Henry Davids held his nerve with an unbeaten 85 to steer them home with three balls to spare. He added an opening stand of 129 in 32 overs with Andrew Puttick before the Cobras lost their way and slipped to 163 for 5. However, Vernon Philander hit two important boundaries before Davids hit the second ball of the final over for another. The Warriors’ batting had also stumbled from 119 for 1 as they struggled to force the pace against Charl Langeveldt, Rory Kleinveldt and Claude Henderson.Two days later the Cobras had a more comfortable 53-run success against the Lions at Paarl to confirm their progress. Davids was again to the fore with 116 off 140 balls, including nine fours and three sixes to lift the Cobras to 214 for 6. The Lions promoted Andre Nel to No. 3 in the run chase, and with impressive results as he clubbed 58 off 45 balls to push them to 104 for 1 in the 21st over. However, the pursuit fell apart from that point as Philander made two vital breakthroughs and Francois Plaatjies went through the middle order.The Dolphins moved into the semis when their match against the Titans failed to produce a result in Durban. Rain hinder proceedings throughout, cutting the Titans innings to 33 overs where Faf du Plessis’s 47 off 45 balls boosted them to a competitive 153. The Lions were tottering on 97 for 4 in pursuit of an adjusted 172 despite a blazing display from Sanath Jayasuriya. He clattered 58 off 36 balls before three wickets fell for eight runs to even the contest. In the end, though, the rain returned with the chase 3.4 overs short of mandatory 20 for a match.The final group match between the Dolphins and the Warriors at Port Elizabeth had no bearing on the knockout stages, but it still produced a tight encounter. Jon Kent’s 86 marshalled the chase, but the Dolphins had a few nervous moments in the final over. Kent fell to the first ball with scores level, and Morne van Vuuren couldn’t score off three deliveries before being run out meaning one was still needed off the last ball. Daryn Smit, though, managed to steal the winning run.Player of the week – Henry DavidsThe Cape Cobras had gone three matches without a win, and were skittled for 39 last week, to make themselves sweat over a semi-final berth, but Henry Davids ensured they remained in with a chance of silverware with a fine double in the final two games. Davids, 28, has been a hard-working performer for the Cobras without ever quite being able to kick-on with his career. But he has found a happy home opening in the one-day game and scores of 85 and 116 mean his confidence will be high heading in the semi-finals.
After “probably three of the toughest days” he had experienced in his Test career, the usually unflappable Hashim Amla was left frustrated.”The surface was probably the toughest that I have had and the cricket itself was really difficult,” Amla said. “Credit to India, they kind of bowled well. Unfortunately, we ended up on the wrong side of this game.”The result in Nagpur ended South Africa’s nine-year unbeaten streak in 15 away series, the second-longest unbeaten run in the history of Tests. The 124-run loss also ended a golden South African era that was defined by adaptability away from home. Amla, however, said that even the South African teams that adjusted everywhere from Auckland to Abu Dhabi would probably not have been able to display the same adhesion on the Nagpur turner.”One consolation would be that the conditions we played in. We haven’t experienced this type of challenge before,” he said. “I haven’t played on this before in my life anywhere away from home so I suppose it’s a bit of consolation because it was really challenging and you never know if we had come against this before what would have happened.”Amla stated that the pitch at the VCA Stadium was “a lot more challenging” than the ones he had played on during the previous visits to India. In 2008, Amla scored 159 in Chennai, before striking a double-century in Nagpur two years later. Amla countered Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh during those trips but felt that the two bowlers would have been unplayable on the Nagpur pitch, where South Africa were shot out for 79 in 33.1 overs in the first innings.”When I first came to India in 2008 and even in 2010, I was facing Anil Kumble, Harbhajan,” Amla said. “I think if I had to face them on wickets like this I don’t think I would have got any runs either. Facing them here would have been an nightmare.”While Amla acknowledged the current Indian crop as “exceptional in these conditions,” he believed the surfaces were more to blame for the strangle that affected both teams. “The wickets have played their part in making it difficult for all the batters. There hasn’t been a hundred in the series yet and just a handful of fifties, and that’s for both teams. It would be harsh to say this South African team has struggled to score runs. If you look a the Indian team although they are on the winning side, it’s been tough for their batters as well.”South Africa’s technique and temperament, especially against spin, was questioned but Amla and Faf du Plessis combined well in a stoic second-innings effort. The partnership revived memories of Adelaide and Colombo in its determination but was nowhere near as comfortable.”I still think we could have got bowled out for 70 or 100 in the second innings. There were so many plays and misses, edges that could have gone to hand. It’s easy to say that we could have batted in the first innings how we did in the second innings but I think circumstances were a lot different,” Amla explained. “Some balls go to hand, some balls don’t go to hand and we scored slowly. I don’t think we were as positive.”Amla also felt that South Africa may have turned the tables around had the target been closer to 200 besides calling for a better effort from the bowlers and the fielders.”If you look at their first innings, I think they were about 30 runs too much from our bowling perspective,” Amla said. “I don’t think it was a 200 first innings wicket and neither was it a 170. We could have got India out for at least 140 and that would have changed the context of the game.”The South Africa captain, though, may have himself to blame for allowing the hosts get away. On a pitch where spinners thrived, even with the new ball, Amla held back his most attacking option – Imran Tahir. The legspinner bowled only two overs before tea on the first day and was not used until the 25th over of the second innings.”Imran has a tendency of picking up wickets but leaking runs,” Amla said. “That’s the type of bowler he is. I found it difficult to use him in the first innings because of him leaking a bit of runs here and there and felt Simon [Harmer] was somebody who could get us a wicket as well as keep it tight.””And then in the second innings, when you are more than 100 behind you have to find the balance. He picked up five wickets and I know it’s easy to ask why I didn’t bring him on earlier but if I knew he was going to pick up five, I would have opened the bowling with him. I don’t have any regrets because I had a clear idea of what I needed to do. It’s not about lack of trust. It’s about using your players as efficiently as possible.”Essentially, the Tahir conundrum is a microcosm of how South Africa have approached this series. They were aware of the spin challenge but had little clue about the extent of it. Having seen all and succumbed to it, do South Africa think India went too far to secure the home advantage? “You want to lose honourably and you want to win honourably as well,” Amla said. “I can’t comment too much on the wickets. Let’s leave it at that.”
Toby Radford has left his position as head coach of Glamorgan after two seasons in the role. He has departed with a year remaining on his contract as Glamorgan seek to restructure their coaching operation.There have already been calls for Robert Croft, a former England offspinner and a long-time Glamorgan servant, to be given a more central role – with the former England fast bowler Simon Jones among those naming him as a strong favourite.Both Croft and his former team-mate Steve Watkin, who is also on Glamorgan’s coaching staff, applied for the head coach role when Radford was chosen to replace the Australian Matthew Mott.Hugh Morris has been serving as both chief executive and director of cricket, an onerous task, but there are no indications he will step down from one of the roles.Radford will now return to specialist batting coaching, a role he performed both for the ECB at Loughborough and with the West Indies when they were crowned ICC World Twenty20 Champions in Sri Lanka in 2012.Glamorgan finished fourth in Division Two of the Championship last season, their second-highest position in the past decade, but a small squad faded badly in the second half of the season. They were also one of the few counties not to benefit from a general rise in T20 attendances, although they were not helped by a block of early-season matches in unfavourable weather.Radford admitted that he was disappointed with his departure, talking of “big strides” in developing a Welsh flavour in the side that Glamorgan again crave.”I am obviously pleased that the team showed major improvement in the past two seasons and it has been highly competitive across all formats and in all competitions,” he said.”It is disappointing for me not to be able to see the work through to its conclusion but I am confident that the wealth of home-grown young talents like David Lloyd, Aneurin Donald and Andrew Salter, all of whom are now first team regulars, gives the club huge optimism for both the immediate and long-term future. I would like to thank all of those who supported me in taking this club forward. Together we made big strides.”Morris said: “Toby’s hard work and commitment to the role has been evident for all to see and under his leadership we have made an important step forward in championship cricket. The coaching Toby has done with our young batsmen has been particularly important and I believe the players and the club will reap the benefits of this work in years to come. He leaves the club with our best wishes for the next stage of his coaching career.”
Australia’s captain Steven Smith has levelled heavy criticism about how Mitchell Marsh came to be given out at a pivotal moment of the deciding Chappell-Hadlee Trophy match in Hamilton. His opposite number Brendon McCullum, however, disputed the view that there had been no appeal to force an umpires’ referral.Marsh’s squeezed stroke off the bat and boot rebounded to the bowler, Matt Henry, who claimed the catch and raised his hand while turning towards the umpire Ian Gould. After some delay, during which time the big screen at Seddon Park showed a replay that indicated Marsh was likely to be out, Gould and the other on-field umpire, Derek Walker, agreed to refer the decision.Smith, the acting coach, Michael Di Venuto, and the team manager, Gavin Dovey, confronted the match referee Chris Broad after the match, and were told that neither umpire had heard an appeal initially. After that discussion, Smith contended that the episode had been handled “pretty poorly”, even though he admitted the right decision was made.”I don’t think decisions should be made on the big screen, I don’t think that’s right for the game. I think better processes need to be put in place,” Smith said. “We’ve got a review system in place. You have 15 seconds to make your decision and I don’t think that was necessary for that to come up in that point in time.”Neither of the umpires heard an appeal so the game went on. Well it was supposed to go on. It was shown on the big screen that there was a half-appeal so they went upstairs. I was pretty disappointed with the whole process .. it was handled pretty poorly. New Zealand players genuinely believed it wasn’t out and, not until they saw it on the screen, did they change their mind.”The right decision was made – he was out, there’s no doubt about that. But if I get hit on the pad next time and it’s missing leg, do I stand there and wait until it shows that up on the big screen?”For his part, McCullum disagreed that there had been no appeal, but admitted to expressing a further opinion to the umpires that the right decision needed to be made despite the circumstances.”I saw a couple of the guys appeal,” McCullum said. “The right decision was made but the process was far from ideal. It’s disappointing from the Australian point of view. When it did come up on the screen, which is not ideal, I yelled out ‘what the … is going on’. The only thing I said was the right decision has to be made.”It is not the first time Australia and New Zealand have been embroiled in a television umpiring controversy. During the Adelaide Test, Nathan Lyon was given not out after a lengthy review in which the third umpire Nigel Llong misinterpreted the evidence in front of him. The decision turned out to be pivotal to the outcome of the match, and New Zealand sought clarification from the ICC in its aftermath.
India took their series-winning streak to ten as they survived a scare when defending 231. Quinton de Kock and Dewald Brevis were dominant in taking South Africa to 118 for 1 in ten overs in the dew, but with a changed drier ball India took four wickets for 15 to scuttle the chase. Jasprit Bumrah was the main difference between the two sides with figures of 4-0-17-2 on a night that 432 runs were scored.Marco Jansen gave India one final scare on a breakout tour with successive sixes in the 16th over, but the fact that India could be assured of winning only after they had taken their eighth wicket underlines how difficult it is to defend totals in the night in India. Which is what makes the assault from Hardik Pandya – second-quickest T20I fifty for India – and Tilak Varma – 73 off 42 – all the more important as they turned around an innings that had begun to plateau.Four India batters, including Hardik and Tilak, hit a boundary first ball; Hardik was the most dangerous of them all, scoring 31 off his first seven balls and ending up with 63 off 25.Samson, Abhishek give India flying startWith Shubman Gill missing because of a foot injury, Sanju Samson served another reminder of his graceful, effortless hitting when the pace is on and the field is up. Abhishek Sharma was his usual self, charging at Lungi Ngidi first ball he faced and scoring 34 off 21. The two added 63 in 5.3 overs.Sanju Samson made 37 in 22 balls•BCCI
South Africa crawl backThat India got off to this start without South Africa bowling poorly was a sign the pitch was good to bat on. George Linde further emphasised it with three straight overs for 19 runs. He also got Samson out bowled with one that pitched leg and hit off. Samson scored 10 off 9 outside the powerplay, which is why despite all the languid grace he is not the first-choice opener. Suryakumar Yadav’s year ended without an international half-century as Linde shut him up and Corbin Bosch lapped up the consequent wicket.Hardik, Tilak turn the game aroundHardik, though, must have immediately made South Africa regret getting Suryakumar out. Like Abhishek and Tilak before him, he charged at a fast bowler first ball and went one better, hitting a six. He didn’t stop there. In the next over he rearranged Linde’s figures with two sixes and two fours. Not one of those balls was overpitched.Tilak hadn’t exactly been slow before Hardik, but now India went both barrels at the bowling. The two added 105 in 7.2 overs, often managing to hit sixes without getting close to the pitch of the ball, which suggested they would need each of those extra runs when they bowled. Shivam Dube also hit a six first ball to make sure South Africa didn’t escape even when the duo got out.Quinton de Kock gave South Africa a blazing start in the powerplay•BCCI
De Kock, Brevis threaten IndiaIn his 100th T20I, having copped a fair few blows on the fingers when keeping, de Kock stunned the crowd in the densest stadium in the world. First he got the better of Arshdeep Singh, scoring 32 off his first two overs and correcting his match-up against him, which previously read 56 balls, 66 runs and five dismissals.Reeza Hendricks’ ordinary career as a T20I opener continued when he gave Varun his first wicket in the seventh over, which only proved to be beneficial for South Africa. Brevis and de Kock teamed up to make Varun’s next over his joint-worst in T20Is, taking 23 off it. Hardik then got half a taste of his own medicine, which made it 42 runs in the two overs leading up to the drinks break and a ball change.Bumrah starts a never-ending slideBumrah bowled the first of his three remaining overs with the drier ball, and immediately had de Kock hitting an offcutter back to him. Somehow the ball stuck in his arms, and India got some room to breathe. Hardik bowled smartly to deny Brevis a hit into the shorter straight boundaries, getting him caught at deep midwicket with a slower bouncer.Varun Chakravarthy took two wickets in two overs to dent South Africa•BCCI
Varun’s night turned again as he had both Aiden Markram and Donovon Ferreira in successive balls. Markram had just managed the rare feat of successfully charging at Varun when he went down for a lap shot and was given lbw with an umpire’s call on impact. An identical wrong’un bowled Ferreira through the gate.David Miller did his reputation of being just a good frontrunner no harm as he fell for 18 off 14, but India still couldn’t breathe easy. One last time, on a tour that he has been the standout player and has played every match of, Jansen got stuck into Varun, making his the costliest four-for in T20Is.Fifty-five off the last four might have still been entertained had Bumrah not had two overs remaining. He got Jansen with a slower ball to seal the win for India.
Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Konrad Laimer, according to emerging reports…
What’s the word?
German outlet Sport Bild claim the 24-year-old’s performances for RB Leipzig this season have caught the eye of several Premier League teams, including the north Londoners.
It’s thought that the Austria international originally caught the eye of Spurs scouts during their two-legged Champions League clash in 2020 and he has remained on the radar ever since.
Laimer will soon enter the final 12 months of his current contract, though the Bundesliga outfit are keen to tie him down to an extension but that will not happen until the end of the season, and the player himself has left his future open to interpretation.
Bye-bye Winks
You’d imagine that a move for any new midfield option would push Harry Winks even further down the pecking order and it could even lead to his inevitable departure.
He’s currently sat behind winter signing Rodrigo Bentancur, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp under manager Antonio Conte.
Leeds United reportedly rejected the chance to sign the Englishman on loan during the January transfer window, whilst Football Insider pundit Alan Hutton has urged Winks to leave his boyhood club for the benefit of his career.
[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-martinez-dybala-spence-conte-2” title= “Read the latest Spurs news!”]
“If he can’t get into that side, he’s got to move on,” he said.
Despite being lauded as a “reliable” option by the Italian head coach, Laimer would be a considerable upgrade and would offer better suitability to the system in north London.
Aside from his passing ability, Winks offers very little to Spurs, whether that’s defensively or in the attack.
As per FBRef, he’s averaged only 1.61 tackles and 1.43 interceptions per 90 throughout the course of his domestic league career at the Lilywhites, which is fewer than that of Laimer (4.8 tackles and interceptions per 90) during his time in Saxony.
Elsewhere, Winks is lacking in the final third, averaging only 0.73 dribbles, 0.74 penalty box entries and 4.69 pressures per 90, leading to a disappointing xG+A of 0.08.
Thus, the £91k-per-week midfielder is effectively just passing the ball sideways and backwards without really getting involved defensively or in the attack either.
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.
By comparison, the £23.4m-rated Laimer – who bagged his fourth and fifth goals of the season at the weekend – is a world apart, averaging 0.2 xG+A, 1.05 penalty box entries, 1.4 successful dribbles and 9.94 pressures per 90 across the course of his Bundesliga career, also via FBRef.
Once as “incredibly aggressive on the ball” by his former boss Adi Hutter and compared to former Conte star N’Golo Kante, Laimer would appear to suit the Italian’s system down to a tee as he expects that sort of energy and work rate in the engine room at all times, especially when there’s just the two players.
‘Dirty work’ could be his middle name, according to Bundesliga.com, and that’s not something you’d associate with Winks, so perhaps this move could see the Spurs boss finally axe the long-serving, struggling academy graduate.
AND in other news, Alasdair Gold drops Sergio Reguilon update…