All posts by h716a5.icu

The Hampshire-based Southern Electric ECB Premier League is poised to launch its 128-page fully illustrated handbook for the coming season

Mike Vimpany29-Apr-2001The Hampshire-based Southern Electric ECB Premier League is poised to launch its 128-page fully illustrated handbook for the coming season.The book, recognised as one of the top publications of its type in the country, is crammed full of facts, figures and photographs of the top tier of recreational cricket in Hampshire.It tells of the inaugural season of ECB-accredited Premier League cricket in Hampshire, and includes a week-by-week account of how Havant became the first league champions.Read too how Channel 4 television plans to revolutionise coverage of this summer’s Ashes Series using an `umpire’s aid’ idea devised by Burridge batsman Paul Hawkins on `leg before wicket’ decisions.Copies of the yearbook, priced £3 inc postage and packing, can be obtained by writing to Mike Vimpany, 16 Radclyffe Road, Fareham, PO16 8SH.Some copies of last year’s Premier League yearbook are available at a reduced price of £2.

A fresh development emerged in Tottenham Hotspur’s managerial hunt over the Bank Holiday weekend…

What’s the word?

According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, Belgium coach Roberto Martinez is believed to be on Spurs’ shortlist, with the 47-year-old also reportedly keen to manage in the Premier League again.

It is claimed that, despite his involvement in this summer’s European Championships, where the Red Devils are among the favourites to go all the way, Martinez’s trusted backroom staff could, if he was hired, undertake pre-season training before he linked up with Spurs after the conclusion of the summer tournament.

However, there is also a belief that chairman Daniel Levy is not in a major rush to find Jose Mourinho’s successor.

Miserable appointment

Spurs have endured a woeful campaign both on and off the pitch. They were knocked out of both the FA Cup and Europa League prematurely, lost the Carabao Cup final, have seen fans protest against the club’s ownership following shocking European Super League plans, and they face a very tall order to make the top four in the Premier League.

Levy has also witnessed his reported top managerial targets fall like dominoes, with Julian Nagelsmann opting for Bayern Munich, Brendan Rodgers wanting to remain at Leicester and Erik ten Hag signing a new contract extension at Ajax.

Whilst those developments perhaps leave the Spurs chairman short on suitable options, he mustn’t settle for a miserable appointment like Martinez.

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Yes, he’s in charge of the highest-ranked international side in the world, but his players are developed by their club managers. He can’t take much credit for Pep Guardiola’s work with Kevin De Bruyne or Romelu Lukaku’s prolific form at Serie A champions Inter Milan, for example.

Also, his record in the Premier League is nothing short of embarrassing, even despite managing a club as big as Everton. Across his spells with the Toffees and Wigan Athletic, the Spaniard has managed to win only 81 of his 265 matches in the Premier League – a win percentage of just 30% –  suggesting that he could well be a little out of his depth in the big time.

Of course, he would have better players at his disposal at Spurs than he did at those clubs, especially at Wigan, but there are still some valid concerns about his methods and if they can produce long term success at the top level in England.

Eurosport underlined the reason for his downfall at Goodison Park, with Jonathan Wilson claiming: “The problems seem systemic: what went wrong at Wigan is going wrong at Everton and there’s no evidence Martinez is able to fix it.”

Martinez did help Everton to secure a fifth-place finish in 2013/14 but the Blues fell away spectacularly the next season, and the Spaniard was sacked less than a year later, which only further highlights that he might not be cut out to bring long-term success to a top-end Premier League side.

Even on the international stage, he has caused some controversy. After snubbing an in-form Radja Nainggolan from one of his squads, the former AS Roma powerhouse dubbed the Belgium boss “pathetic” in a scathing interview with ESPN.

Given that fans are already in an uproar about the club’s recent decisions and are severely downbeat following another cup final mishap, Levy would surely only pile on further misery if he were to appoint Martinez as their next manager.

AND in other news, Forget ten Hag: 62 y/o “architect” could completely transform Spurs…

England captain Nasser Hussain has revealed that he is considering a move down the batting order prior to the First Test against Pakistan later this week

CricInfo14-May-2001England captain Nasser Hussain has revealed that he is considering a move down the batting order prior to the First Test against Pakistan later this week.
Nasser Hussain
Photo © PA Sport
“I’m constantly reviewing what’s best for the team and one of the options is for Michael Vaughan to move up to number three as he looks such a natural player up the order,” said Hussain.But Hussain is keen not to move too far down the batting line-up, having established himself as an international class batsman in the top four.Hussain came back into the England team in 1996, making two centuries against India and claiming the number three place as his own, solving what had been a problem position historically.Runs continued to flow for him including a magnificent double-century against Australia at Edgbaston, and another century at Leeds, both times coming in at number four. Back at number three he scored further centuries against South Africa, and though he subsequently endured a much publicised barren run, a return to form in Kandy.It would be something of a surprise then, if he were to drop down the order any lower than number four, leaving the possibility that Ian Ward will make his debut at number seven, with White and Cork following him in a strong line-up.Hussain insists that any move would be to improve the team’s balance, not an attempt to shy away from a problem.”I’ve batted all my career at three and four and I’ve been batting well this summer and don’t want to do something alien like bat at five and six. We won’t be making any changes for negative reasons, just to get the best out of every player in the right position.”Meanwhile Ryan Sidebottom has stressed that he hopes to play on Thursday. Many followers of the game have been expecting him to be one of the players left out of the starting XI but the young Yorkshireman is keen to make the most of his call-up.”I’m upbeat about my chances of playing,” said Sidebottom. “I’m going down there (Lord’s) determined to enjoy the experience. It will be a great experience for me and a good opportunity to learn from established England Test players, which should help me improve my game.”

Liverpool have potentially been handed a boost in their pursuit of Sheffield United’s Sander Berge this summer.

Having previously been linked with a move for the Norwegian as recently as two months ago by EuroSport, the Reds will now be buoyed to know that a move could now be even easier.

With his current employers now destined for the Championship, he is now even more affordable with his release clause dropping from £45m to £35mm according to Sky Sports.

Whilst Berge has not been as eye-catching this season due to a combination of poor form and persistent injury issues, he still has time to reach his considerable potential.

The 23-year old earned plenty of admirers in his time with former club Genk, making 31 appearances in all competitions in his final season in Belgium and scoring four goals.

He continued that upward trajectory following his move to Bramall Lane, making 16 appearances and playing a huge role as the Blades secured ninth place in their first campaign back in the Premier League.

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Berge earned considerable praise for his performances too.

Blades icon Tony Currie described the £16.2m-rated midfielder as “massive” whilst current Reds boss Jurgen Klopp labelled him as a “very interesting player”.

If he can get back to those performances levels then Berge would certainly be a very accomplished midfield player.

That is exactly what Liverpool need heading into next season.

As it stands, the Reds are set to lose Dutchman Georginio Wijnaldum upon the expiry of his contract with Berge representing an extremely viable replacement for him at Anfield.

So with his asking price having taken a significant drop in recent weeks, Liverpool and Michael Edwards really have been handed considerable encouragement in their pursuit. Time will tell if they choose to make a move.

AND in more news, read more about the considerable injury blow that Liverpool were handed ahead of taking on Southampton…

Dean Windass has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that Jesse Lingard is too good for Aston Villa.

The 28-year-old is currently enjoying an impressive spell on loan at West Ham but will return to Manchester United following the conclusion of the 2020-2021 campaign.

Lingard has managed nine goals and four assists in 14 appearances for the Hammers, with his exceptional form catching the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

And with United already looking to adding Jadon Sancho to their squad this summer, Lingard is expected to be surplus to requirements at Old Trafford, which means he’ll be available for a transfer.

A host of clubs have already been linked with Lingard, who’s Manchester United future is in serious doubt, and whilst West Ham would appear to hold a slight advantage, Aston Villa have entered the race for his signature, with Dean Smith keen on bolstering his wide department following Trezeguet’s injury blow.

But whilst Villa have been on the cusp of European football for much of this season, although their hopes were ended at Crystal Palace on Sunday, Windass believes that Lingard should be aiming higher than a move to Villa Park this summer.

He told The Transfer Tavern:

“I can’t see Villa and those teams. No disrespect to Aston Villa, no disrespect whatsoever, but I think he can do better than that.”

In his latest exclusive diary entry for CricInfo, the England captain assesses England’s performance in their first three games of the NatWest Triangular Series against Pakistan and Australia

Alec Stewart13-Jun-2001In his latest exclusive diary entry for CricInfo, the England captain assesses England’s performance in their first three games of the NatWest Triangular Series against Pakistan and Australia.Bristol and Lord’s were two very good games with two disappointing results. We were outplayed at Edgbaston, but at Bristol we took on the World Champions with a very inexperienced side, and came within three balls of winning. Having said that, Australia showed all their experience and qualities in passing the England total.At Lord’s against Pakistan we should have won. We lacked the know-how and experience that Australia had just shown us on Sunday. On Tuesday we were losing at 26 for 3, and then Trescothick and Shah were quite outstanding.Marcus has grown in stature in each international he’s played. At Lord’s he played one of the best one-day innings I’ve seen, and Owais Shah, in just his second game, showed maturity and composure. It needed just one other player to bat with Trescothick to see us to victory. We’d reduced the required rate from seven an over to just over four, and we couldn’t do it from there – that’s what was so disappointing.Shah has mirrored the Trescothick scenario last year – he came in because of an injury to Nasser, and looked at home straight away. Shah’s also come in because of injury and hasn’t looked out of his depth – he’s taken his opportunities. In his first game he came in at a difficult time, but his scoring rate was good and he was undefeated at the end. At Lord’s he came in at 26 for 3, and did everything with Marcus bar winning the game. That bodes well for the future – he’s impressed me and everyone else who’s been watching.England are a young, inexperienced team. At Lord’s on Tuesday, without Wasim Akram, Pakistan had 770 more caps than we did. That gives you an idea of the difference between the two sides. The more we play, the more experienced we’ll become, and the more likely we’ll be to take the kind of chances we had on Sunday and Tuesday.Pakistan had three direct-hit run outs. We had four run-out opportunities, and we didn’t hit the stumps. All we can do is keep practicing, which we’re doing. Run-outs are crucial in any situation, but especially the tight ones. Overall I’ve been happy with our fielding, but our strike rate for hitting the stumps needs to improve.Before this tournament I said that if we’re going to compete in the 2003 World Cup, we need as much one-day international cricket as possible. If we get to tour Zimbabwe in September, it’ll give more experience to those selected.Whatever happens in the rest of this series, we still want to compete. At the start we had six people out injured, and we’re playing the two best one-day sides in the world. As for me, it would be nice to get a hundred before the end of the tournament – this time last year I was player of the series! But the main thing is that as a team we’re moving in the right direction. We may have lost eight games on the trot, but in the last two we’ve learned a lot.

Although Northants are currently without a win and are at the bottom of Division One of the CricInfo Championship, Somerset coach Kevin Shine is not underestimating their capability – particularly at Wantage Road

Richard Walsh19-Jun-2001Although Northants are currently without a win and are at the bottom of Division One of the CricInfo Championship, Somerset coach Kevin Shine is not underestimating their capability – particularly at Wantage Road.The Northampton wicket has a reputation for turning and the home side regularly features two spinners, Graeme Swann and Jason Brown in their line up.With this in mind the coach has named both Blackwell and Dutch in the squad of 12 which also includes Matthew Wood who made such an impression on his debut at Bath last week.The full squad for the trip to Northampton is: Holloway, Bowler, Burns, Lathwell, Wood, Trego, Turner, Blackwell, Dutch, Kerr, Johnson, and Steffan Jones.

Celtic look set to lose striker Odsonne Edouard this summer, with Leicester City thought to be closing in on the French forward.

The Lowdown: Edouard wants out

Reports last month suggested that the 23-year-old, who will have 12 months remaining on his deal in the summer, has his sights set on a Parkhead exit and won’t change his mind in regards to a new Hoops boss.

The Foxes are thought to be confident of landing Edouard this summer, beating Liverpool and West Ham in the race for his services.

Celtic reportedly want to receive around £20m for the striker, and just how much the Hoops will need to hand over to Paris Saint-Germain has now been revealed.

The Latest: Sell-on clause update

Reports over the last 12 months have suggested Celtic would need to give 40% or 50% of any deal to the French giants after they signed Edouard for over £9m in 2018.

However, according to the Daily Record, Parkhead chiefs need to give PSG 50% of any profit they make on the striker.

So, should a £20m deal go through for Edouard, Celtic would need to give PSG half of the £11m profit – £5.5m.

The Verdict: Bittersweet news for McKay

In our opinion, this isn’t the worst news for new Celtic CEO Dominic McKay.

It would’ve been better if it was 40% on any profit, but at least it isn’t a percentage on the whole fee. If it was, Celtic could have had to write a cheque for £10m to PSG, and that would put a huge dent in the kitty McKay and a new Director of Football would have to rebuild the squad.

Edouard’s representatives believed that an £8-10m exit from Celtic Park was achievable just last month, so really, if the Hoops can bank £14.5m after the sell-on clause, that could turn out to be great news given the circumstances.

In other news: Intriguing Patryk Klimala update emerges, find out more here. 

The 2001-02 West Indies tour to Pakistan was shifted to Sharjah and during the second ODI played on 15 February 2002, Shoaib Malik at the age of 20 years and 14 days became the fifth youngest centurian in ODI’s

Mohammad Ramis Shah26-Mar-2002The 2001-02 West Indies tour to Pakistan was shifted to Sharjah and during the second ODI played on 15 February 2002, Shoaib Malik at the age of 20 years and 14 days became the fifth youngest centurian in ODI’s. It was Malik’s first and overall, the 89th ton by any Pakistani player in limited over international cricket.Just for the record, Shahid Afridi, for his fastest 37-ball ton at the age of 16 years and 217 days, still remains the youngest, followed by Imran Nazir and Saleem Elahi. Afridi is also the only player to score two ODI tons before his 19th birthday. India’s Sachin Tendulkar is the only one with four hundreds before his 22nd birthday.All ODI centuries before a player’s 22nd birthday (29)

Players

Score

Age (yrs & days)

Vs

Venue

Date

Shahid Afridi (Pak)

102

16 y & 217 d

SL

Nairobi (Gym)

Oct 04, 1996

Imran Nazir (Pak)

105*

18 y & 120 d

Zim

St. George’s

Apr 15, 2000

Shahid Afridi (Pak)

109

18 y & 201 d

Ind

Toronto

Sep 19, 1998

Saleem Elahi (Pak)

102*

18 y & 311 d

SL

Sialkot

Sep 29, 1995

Shoaib Malik (Pak)

111*

20 y & 14 d

WI

Sharjah

Feb 15, 2002

Ijaz Ahmed (Pak)

124*

20 y & 39 d

BD

Chittagong

Oct 29, 1988

Mehrab Hossain (BD)

101

20 y & 215 d

Zim

Dhaka

Mar 25, 1999

RL Powell (WI)

124

20 y & 266 d

Ind

Singapore (Kall)

Sep 08, 1999

VG Kambli (Ind)

100*

Exactly 21 y

Eng

Jaipur

Jan 18, 1993

RT Ponting (Aus)

123

21 y & 20 d

SL

Melbourne

Jan 09, 1996

CL Hooper (WI)

113*

21 y & 37 d

Ind

Gawalior

Jan 22, 1988

DI Gower (Eng)

114*

21 y & 54 d

Pak

The Oval

May 26, 1978

DL Haynes (WI)

148

21 y & 68 d

Aus

Antigua

Feb 22, 1978

RT Ponting (Aus)

102

21 y & 75 d

WI

Jaipur

Mar 04, 1996

DPM Jayawardene (SL)

120

21 y & 87 d

Eng

Adelaide

Jan 23, 1999

DD Ebrahim (Zim)

121

21 y & 109 d

BD

Dhaka

Nov 25, 2001

SB Smith (Aus)

117

21 y & 117 d

NZ

Melbourne

Feb 13, 1983

SR Tendulkar (Ind)

110

21 y & 137 d

Aus

Colombo (RPS)

Sep 09, 1994

Ijaz Ahmed (Pak)

102*

21 y & 142 d

SL

Brisbane

Feb 10, 1990

DPM Jayawardene (SL)

101

21 y & 150 d

Pak

Vishakapatnum

Mar 27, 1999

MD Crowe (NZ)

105*

21 y & 155 d

Eng

Auckland

Feb 25, 1984

Saeed Anwar (Pak)

126

21 y & 163 d

SL

Adelaide

Feb 17, 1990

SR Tendulkar (Ind)

115

21 y & 186 d

NZ

Baroda

Oct 28, 1994

SR Tendulkar (Ind)

105

21 y & 200 d

WI

Jaipur

Nov 11, 1994

DI Gower (Eng)

101*

21 y & 308 d

Aus

Melbourne

Feb 04, 1979

Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak)

101

21 y & 319 d

SL

Multan

Jan 17, 1992

Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak)

117

21 y & 321 d

SL

Rawalpindi

Jan 19, 1992

CH Gayle (WI)

152

21 y & 328 d

Ken

Simba Ground

Aug 15, 2001

SR Tendulkar (Ind)

112*

21 y & 349 d

SL

Sharjah

Apr 09, 1995

– All data updated to 28.02.2002

According to Alasdair Gold, Tottenham could sell Lucas Moura this summer as they look to rebuild the squad.

The Lowdown: Big summer ahead

This transfer window promises to be a big one for Spurs. Harry Kane has revealed he wants to leave the club (Sky Sports), while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Football Insider), Davinson Sanchez and Dele Alli have all been linked with the exit door.

It appears an unexpected name could also be in line to depart, too.

The Latest: Gold suggests Moura could go

Writing for football.london, Gold has indicated Spurs could unexpectedly move to let the Brazil international leave north London.

They turned down big bids for him last summer, so it is somewhat surprising they are now allegedly eager to sell as they look to bring in a key starter in his place.

The Verdict: Right time

Lucas has had a solid career to date – he has managed 100 goals, with 32 of them coming at Tottenham (Transfermarkt), and he has played an important role for his current side. During the 2018/19 Champions League, for example, his hat-trick against Ajax in the semi-final second leg took Tottenham to the final in Madrid.

However, while he continues to receive regular playing time, he has been unable to contribute enough in terms of goals and assists – he managed just seven combined in the league this season. Tottenham may have already got the best out of him and could be looking to move him on at the perfect time.

In other news, David Ornstein has made this Harry Kane claim.