All posts by h716a5.icu

Asoka de Silva, whose decision-making has come in for intense criticism during the World Cup, will not officiate in a couple of key games that he was originally scheduled to stand in

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2011Asoka de Silva, whose decision-making has come in for intense criticism during the World Cup, will not officiate in a couple of key group games that he was originally marked for. de Silva is the only umpire among the 18 deployed whose success percentage in reviewed decisions is less than 50%.He was supposed to have been one of the on-field umpires for Thursday’s crucial match between England and West Indies, and he was also the third umpire for the India-West Indies game. Instead, according to ICC’s revised schedule, he will be the fourth umpire in the Ireland-Netherlands match on Friday, and will be an on-field umpire in the Zimbabwe-Kenya game on Sunday. Both those games are inconsequential, with all four teams already out of the World Cup.The ICC has said the move was necessitated by the fact that they did not want their best umpires, like Taufel, standing in matches of lesser importance. “It was part of the re-organising for the last part of the group stage, to ensure the in-form umpires are on the field and in the third umpire’s room for these crucial matches,” Dave Richardson, the ICC general manager said.de Silva’s place in Thursday’s match between England and West Indies will be taken by Bruce Oxenford – originally listed as the fourth umpire in that game – while Simon Taufel will be the third umpire. For the India-West Indies match, Taufel and Steve Davies will be the on-field umpires, with Oxenford the third umpire.de Silva has had a poor World Cup so far, with several of his decisions being overturned by the Decision Review System: of the seven times his decisions have been challenged, only three times has his original call stood. One of those three instances was the lbw decision against Ireland’s Gary Wilson in the match against West Indies. Wilson challenged the call, and replays clearly showed the ball had struck his pad outside the line of off when he was attempting a shot, but de Silva refused to change his decision, a move that was strongly criticised by Ireland captain William Porterfield. Had that decision been changed, as it should have been, de Silva’s score in reviewed decisions would have been two correct calls out of seven.The changes in the umpiring scheduleEngland v West Indies
Originally – Asoka de Silva and Steve Davis, Shahvir Tarapore (third), Bruce Oxenford (fourth)
Revised – Bruce Oxenford and Steve Davis, Simon Taufel (third), Shahvir Tarapore (fourth)Ireland v Netherlands
Originally – Simon Taufel and Ian Gould, Kumar Dharmasena (third), Billy Doctrove (fourth)
Revised – Billy Doctrove and Ian Gould, Kumar Dharmasena (third), Asoka de Silva (fourth)Zimbabwe v Kenya
Originally – Billy Doctrove and Kumar Dharmasena, Ian Gould (third), Simon Taufel (fourth)
Revised – Asoka de Silva and Kumar Dharmasena, Ian Gould (third), Billy Doctrove (fourth)India v West Indies
Originally – Steve Davis and Bruce Oxenford, Asoka de Silva (third), Shahvir Tarapore (fourth)
Revised – Steve Davis and Simon Taufel, Bruce Oxenford (third), Shahvir Tarapore (fourth)

Legspinner Imran Tahir took a hat-trick as Warwickshire bounced back from their championship humbling at Chester-le-Street with a five-wicket Friends Provident t20 win against Durham tonight

02-Jul-2010
ScorecardLegspinner Imran Tahir took a hat-trick as Warwickshire bounced back from their championship humbling at Chester-le-Street with a five-wicket Friends Provident t20 win against Durham tonight. It kept the visitors on course for the quarter-finals, while Durham’s fifth successive defeat in the competition left them next to the bottom of the North Group.At 51 for 7 Durham were on course for their lowest Twenty20 total, but Albie Morkel and Gareth Breese added 66 in the last eight overs to take them to 117 for 8.Warwickshire were unable to call on England Lions pair Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott but cruised home with two overs to spare. They were 68 for 2 after 11 overs but then both Darren Maddy and Ian Westwood were run out.They needed 41 off six overs, but Rikki Clarke eased the pressure by driving Ian Blackwell over long-off for six. After Jim Troughton was stumped for 34, Clarke hit a second six on his way to an unbeaten 29 as Warwickshire took 19 off the 18th over, bowled by Neil Killeen in his first appearance of the season.After being put in on a sunny evening, Durham were already in the mire when Tahir came on for the 12th over. He has already had eight wickets in an innings against them at Edgbaston this season, plus 6 for 69 last Wednesday, and continued to wreak havoc largely with his googlies.He hurried a delivery between bat and pad to bowl Gordon Muchall for 10, then Will Smith drove to mid-on, where Ant Botha held a juggling catch. Left-hander Ben Harmison edged the hat-trick ball to Clarke at first slip.Durham took seven runs off each of the first two overs, with a boundary for both openers, but then totally lost their way. The next six overs produced a total of 11 runs for the loss of four wickets.Ian Blackwell lobbed a simple catch to mid-on off Neil Carter, who also yorked Ben Stokes, while Phil Mustard miscued to midwicket off Boyd Rankin and Dale Benkenstein drove Keith Barker to mid-off.Breese hit half of Durham’s total of eight fours in his unbeaten 30, while Morkel drove the only six, off Tahir. Morkel, who had to send for a runner after suffering a leg injury, reached 48 off 42 balls before holing out off the final ball of the innings.

Pakistan’s continuing scrapes with allegations of spot-fixing has pushed the spotlight onto their next international assignment, a full series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Osman Samiuddin19-Sep-2010Pakistan’s continuing scrapes with allegations of spot-fixing has pushed the spotlight onto their next international assignment, a full series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and Dubai over October and November.A report in the claimed, quoting an unnamed player, that senior South African cricketers are reluctant about playing the series against Pakistan and might make themselves unavailable for selection. CSA’s chief executive Gerald Majola, however, insisted the tour would go on as scheduled.Tony Irish, the South Africa Cricketers Association chief, told the newspaper that “many players” had expressed concerns to him about the tour, though he did not go further. “The fact that there are now further incidents under investigation is not good news,” Irish said. “This all needs to be dealt with urgently in order to ensure that a heavy cloud of suspicion and doubt doesn’t hang over our series against Pakistan.”Irish avoided answering whether he was aware that some senior players were reluctant to tour, sayingonly, “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”Majola was less ambiguous and told ESPNcricinfo that no player had expressed any reservations to the board about participating in the series. When asked what CSA’s stance would be if any players chose to beunavailable, Majola said: “This is an official bilateral tour governed by the ICC FTP agreement, signed by all member countries, therefore it is an ICC-sanctioned match. The ICC has not cancelled the tour and are dealing with the matter through the ACSU. We therefore have no reason to call off the tour.”The ICC had confirmed on Saturday that it was launching an investigation – based on information provided by – into the third ODI between Pakistan and England at The Oval, which the visitors won by 23 runs. The tabloid claimed it had handed over details concerning “certain scoring patterns” during the match.The ECB announced, after a board meeting, that none of its players were under the scanner and the tour would go on as “no substantive evidence” had been passed on to either the ECB or the PCB. The Pakistan board reacted late, and did so with some frustration, claiming unhappiness with the way the ICC handled the matter and that they learned of the investigation only through the media.The investigation came soon after the original spot-fixing scandal during the fourth Test at Lord’s earlier this month, uncovered by another tabloid, , for which three Pakistan players havebeen provisionally suspended by the ICC and are also the subject of a police investigation in the UK.Concern has been raised in the aftermath of both the Lord’s Test and the Oval ODI about whether the tour should continue. Members of the English team were thought to be worried about the limited-overs series and the presence of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir immediately after the Lord’s Test.

Even though Sunderland have the best-attacking record in League One at the moment with 51 goals scored in 26 games, it seems as though the club have their eye on signing a player that could boost their attacking strength even more, which would surely please Lee Johnson.

What’s the news?

In a recent Twitter post from talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook, Johnson is “keen” on signing Peterborough United striker Jonson Clarke-Harris this month.

Crook also added that a potential transfer fee “could be an issue” with the journalist claiming that “it could be more than £6m” to sign the centre-forward.

Johnson would be thrilled

After spending some time at Peterborough earlier in his career, Clarke-Harris returned to the club back in the 2020 summer transfer window from Bristol Rovers.

In 45 League One appearances for Peterborough last season, the 27-year-old managed to score a total of 31 goals, showing that he is more than capable of finding the back of the net on a regular basis and why he could be a vital player for Sunderland as they look to win promotion back to the Championship.

Overall, the striker has racked up a total of 72 goals in 199 appearances in the third division, which could be why Johnson is keen to bring Clarke-Harris to the Stadium of Light and help his side end the season on a high note.

Having played 55 games under Johnson during their time at Oldham Athletic, there is a clear affection there from the Sunderland boss for Clarke-Harris and he’d surely love to work with him again. After all, he previously described the attacker as being a “real threat,” and thus, he could be an instant hit in the northeast if he makes the move there this month and adds some goals to his career tally.

In addition to this, with Nathan Broadhead being recently ruled out for three months after picking up a hamstring injury, this could pave the way for the Posh forward to come into the team straight away if Johnson manages to get his wish of having the player in his squad once again.

Moving forward, if a swoop for the Englishman is financially viable for the Wearside club, they should definitely approach Peterborough this month to see if they would be willing to negotiate a deal for him and see if he would be willing to take the chance of potentially taking Sunderland back to the second tier.

In other news: Johnson must land SAFC deal for “sensational” £450k-rated beast, he’s “some finisher”…

Northamptonshire clinched fourth place in the northern group of the Friends Provident t20 as they eased to a seven-wicket win at the Emirates Durham ICG on Sunday

18-Jul-2010
ScorecardNorthamptonshire clinched fourth place in the northern group of the Friends Provident t20 as they eased to a seven-wicket win at the Emirates Durham ICG on Sunday. They booked a trip to Taunton for the quarter-finals on July 26 or 27 as they won with 13 balls to spare after Durham limped to 129 for 5 from their 20 overs.Northamptonshire had looked like winning by an even bigger margin when they were 121 for one with 5.1 overs left. But they lost Alex Wakely lbw to Steve Harmison for 35 and two balls later Rob White edged Gareth Breese to Phil Mustard.The offspinner enjoyed the rarity of delivering a wicket maiden in a Twenty20 game, but White’s 63 off 49 balls had all but delivered victory. He continued his recent good form by hitting two sixes on his way to 50 off 38 balls and also carved Harmison for two fours when the paceman gave him width outside off stump.Liam Plunkett took the first wicket when left-hander Chaminda Vaas shaped to pull and got a top edge to slip. But with 57 already on the board in the seventh over the visitors were well on their way.Albie Morkel hit Durham’s only six over mid-wicket as 13 came off their final over, bowled by Northamptonshire skipper Andrew Hall. Arriving in the 11th over, South African Morkel seemed content to push the ball around until that final over, when he also hit one of his two fours in finishing unbeaten on 35, made off 27 balls.Mark Stoneman was Durham’s top scorer with 36, but he faced 41 balls and hit only three fours before slicing to backward point in the 16th over. He was also dropped twice at deep midwicket, by Lee Daggett on eight and Rob White on 25.Durham had only 21 on the board after five overs when Stoneman survived a chance thanks to Daggett’s drop before Ben Stokes rubbed salt into Jack Brooks’ wounds by twice driving him through extra cover for four.Stokes made 24 when his weakness against spin was exposed by James Middlebrook’s first ball. It pitched outside the left-hander’s leg stump but as he shaped to play it through midwicket it turned and hurried on to bowl him.At a time when Durham needed to accelerate in mid-innings, Middlebrook conceded only six runs in his first two overs and the batsmen continued to show little sign of urgency until the final over.

Giorgos Giakoumakis is expected to miss Celtic’s Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Rangers through injury, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The Lowdown: Celtic face huge game

The Hoops take on their biggest rivals at lunchtime, with the pair meeting at Hampden Park for a place in next month’s Scottish Cup final.

Ange Postecoglou’s side earned the bragging rights in a Scottish Premiership clash recently, winning 2-1 at Ibrox to move six points clear at the top of the table.

Victory today would keep Celtic’s treble chances alive, but Postecoglou will be well aware that Rangers will be eyeing up revenge.

The Latest: Giakoumakis to miss out

Speaking to GiveMeSport, O’Rourke claimed that Giakoumakis would miss out with a hamstring injury, having picked it up in the 7-0 win at home to St Johnstone last weekend:

“Giakoumakis came off injured against St Johnstone at the weekend with a hamstring injury, which looks like it’s going to rule him out of the Scottish Cup semi-final with Rangers, which is a big blow for Celtic because he’s been in good form.”

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The Verdict: Undoubted blow for Hoops

This is a clear blow for Celtic ahead of one of their biggest games of the season, with Giakoumakis a key figure for the Hoops throughout the campaign.

He played the whole 90 minutes in the aforementioned win at Ibrox and has scored nine goals in just 10 league starts in 2021/22, not to mention four in two Scottish Cup outings.

It means the likes of Jota and Liel Abada will be tasked with providing the firepower in Giakoumakis’s absence, as Celtic look to get one over Rangers once again.

In other news, a key on-air Celtic claim has emerged. Read more here.

Galle will host the first Test between Sri Lanka and India in July, while the next two matches will be held in Colombo, at the SSC and the P Sara Oval

Sa'adi Thawfeeq18-Jun-2010Galle will host the first Test between Sri Lanka and India in July, while the next two matches will be held in Colombo, at the SSC and the P Sara Oval. India will return home following the completion of the Asia Cup but will go back to Sri Lanka on July 9 for the Test series, followed by a triangular tournament also involving New Zealand.The third Test was originally scheduled for Dambulla but Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said the venues had to be switched because the floodlights at the SSC would not be ready in time for the one-day competition. Instead Dambulla will now host the tri-series from August 10 to 29 while SSC will stage a Test.The first Test is between July 18 and 22 at Galle. The second and third are between July 26 and 30, and August 3 and 7 respectively. The tri-series begins on August 10 and each team will play the other twice before the top two play the final. There will be a reserve day for each match of the tri-series including the final.

Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist Dean Jones of Eurosport has dropped a big update on Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger.

The Lowdown: Spurs working on agreement?

As per reports in the media over these last few weeks, Tottenham are very much in contention to sign the Germany international as a free agent despite him plying his trade across London for one of their biggest rivals.

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Rudiger’s current contract at Stamford Bridge expires this year with no extension in sight as things stand, alerting some of Europe’s top clubs alongside Spurs.

The likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Paris-Saint Germain and Barcelona are all in the race to sign Chelsea’s star defender, according to Sky, and the fact that overseas clubs can formally secure him to a pre-contract this month puts Antonio Conte’s side at a disadvantage.

Nevertheless, Spurs transfer chief Fabio Paratici has apparently been in constant contact with Rudiger’s entourage as he attempts to seal an agreement for the player ahead of next summer (Football Insider).

Sharing news on the situation, Jones has dropped a significant update.

The Latest: Jones drops big Rudiger to Spurs update…

According to the reporter’s sources, Tottenham are making a ‘very attractive’ offer which has ‘definitely’ turned the 28-year-old’s head.

Speaking to GiveMeSport, he explained: “From a financial standing, the offer Spurs are making to Rudiger is very attractive. It has definitely turned his head but he has to be convinced of the football side of things.”

The Verdict: Promising…

With half the job seemingly done in terms of convincing Rudiger with their wage package, Spurs fans will be hoping that the player could decide to join Conte and be part of the Lilywhites’ rebuild.

Currently in his prime and playing well, signing the centre-back would come as one of Paratici’s best possible coups if he can manage to convince the 28-year-old to make the move across London.

Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan certainly agrees, going as far as to claim he would be ‘one of the biggest signings ever’ if he joined Tottenham (Football Insider). Ex-Sunderland front man Kevin Phillips is also a big fan, stating that Rudiger has been ‘amazing for a number of years’ and any club would be ‘lucky to have him’ (Football Insider).

Bypassing his £31.5m valuation and signing him for nothing would be nothing short of a Paratici masterstroke, and perhaps Conte’s ‘big-name’ manager status could further tempt Rudiger.

In other news: Bid made: TV broadcaster shares news as Spurs lodge offer to sign ‘extraordinary’ £66.8m man, find out more here.

These two have binged on each other since July 2008, but what promises to be the one for the road went Sri Lanka’s way, ending a run of losses in big home matches for Sri Lanka

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga28-Aug-2010
Scorecard
How they were outSri Lanka never let the intensity dip after piling on a daunting 299•Associated PressThese two have binged on each other since July 2008, but what promises to be the one for the road went Sri Lanka’s way, ending their run of losses in big home matches. On the tournament’s best batting track, though not quite a flat belter, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s risk-free yet urgent century and Kumar Sangakkara’s delightful half-century set a target never reached under Dambulla lights. When Virender Sehwag left his team-mates – who’d scored 288 runs between them before the start of the final – with 262 to get, it was all but over. The flame flickered for longer than expected, but not nearly long enough.Umpiring decisions and manic appealing dominated the chase but couldn’t alter the expected result. Dinesh Karthik was given out caught off the thigh pad. Virender Sehwag’s plumb lbw was not given, but he ran himself out off the same ball. Yuvraj Singh got away with a caught-behind before opening his account but was given out, 26 runs later, off one he didn’t seem to have edged. MS Dhoni survived a close lbw call when on 12 but ran out of partners as the asking rate mounted.The start of the match was much more serene. In fact, off the fourth ball of the game, Praveen Kumar hardly appealed when he had Mahela Jayawardene caught right in front. Jayawardene, promoted because of his technical prowess, put together the best opening stand of the tournament – 121, an association that also set up the highest team total. The way Dilshan and Jayawardene batted, without taking any undue risks, it was easy to see why the previous best of 79 too belonged to them. The ball may not have swung wildly, but the batsmen were tested by the early movement that Praveen and Munaf Patel extracted.Neither batsman tried expansive shots. In his first three overs, Praveen went too far down the leg side, looking for that magic outswinger, and went for fours through midwicket and fine leg. It wasn’t as easy to hit Munaf off his shortish length, around off and with slight seam movement either side. They didn’t try to do that; instead they played out Munaf’s first four overs for 13, yet the score at the end of those overs read 47 for 0.Dilshan targeted Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma. Nehra’s second ball and Ishant’s first were punched away for fours. Both the shots were hit along the ground, and involved more enterprise than risk. By the time Ishant’s second over yielded six, four and four, Dilshan had moved to 43 off 30, and Sri Lanka to 74 after 12 overs.Dilshan had assumed total control by then. The punch shot through the off side, with his front foot out of the way, caused the main damage. One of those, off Nehra, brought up his fifty in the 16th over. Nehra’s figures then read 4-0-31-0.Forget the fifth bowler, Dhoni must have started worrying about how to finish the quotas of specialist bowlers, all quicks. Dilshan’s pace didn’t make the task any easier. Barring one spell near his century, when he spent 38 balls between his 12th and 13th boundaries, the longest Dilshan went without a four was 16 balls.During that quiet period Sri Lanka lost Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga against the run of play, but Kumar Sangakkara made sure the team didn’t fall behind. In the time that Dilshan went from 92 to 100 and Sangakkara hared from 11 to 32, taking Sri Lanka to 194 in the 37th over. Dilshan then threatened more punishment on India, but holed out to long leg.Sangakkara made up for it and, even with wickets falling at the other end, drive followed elegant drive. The superb acceleration – from 19 off 29 to 70 off 59 – was interrupted by a slower ball from Munaf in the 45th over, but Sri Lanka had reached 261 for 6. Munaf’s last three overs went for 14 runs and two wickets, but a target of 300 meant India would need more than just Sehwag.Sehwag hit six scorching boundaries in the first six overs. Off the last ball of the sixth over, Nuwan Kulasekara had him plumb in front, but umpire Asoka de Silva seemed the only one to disagree. Sehwag got greedy and sought a leg-bye that didn’t exist. Chamara Kapugedera was not only alert, he also hit direct.Thisara Perera, now Sri Lanka’s India specialist, and Suraj Randiv, who got nice drift and dip, kept the wicket flow going in the middle.Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Dhoni tried to buck the trend of India’s hopes disappearing with Sehwag, but Sri Lanka were at them all the time. Kohli’s uncharacteristic hoick showed the pressure the required rate exerted, Raina’s cameo involved too many risks and ended prematurely from India’s point of view, and Dhoni’s 67 were too late and too few.

Injury expert and Sky Sports contributor Ben Dinnery has relayed a big injury update out of Wolverhampton Wanderers before their clash with Burnley this afternoon.

The Lowdown: Wolves host Clarets

Bruno Lage’s side are back in Premier League action today, making the trip to Turf Moor as they take on a relegation-threatened Clarets side.

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It is a huge game for Burnley, as they tussle with Everton to remain in the division, but it is also an important match for Wolves, following a positive season at Molineux.

As kick-off approaches, a key Wanderers injury update has emerged in recent days.

The Latest: Key trio ruled out

Taking to Twitter, Dinnery relays that Neves, Podence and Kilman are all out injured for the weekend action:

“Ruben Neves, Daniel Podence and Max Kilman are all out of the trip to Turf Moor. Raul Jimenez returns after completing a two-match ban.”

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The Verdict: Europe still possible

Victory on Sunday could bring Wolves level on points with seventh-place West Ham, depending on how the Hammers fair against Chelsea this afternoon.

Their goal difference is currently inferior by four as David Moyes’ side currently lie in the UEFA Conference League-qualifying spot.

It highlights the importance of Wolves’ showdown at Molineux this afternoon with there being no threat of Lage’s men putting their feet up with nothing to play for in the remaining weeks of the season. Qualifying for Europe would be a wonderful achievement.

Having to make do without Neves, Podence and Kilman is an undoubted blow, however, with the trio all influential in their own right. The former has averaged 2.3 tackles per game in the league this season, while the latter has won 2.2 aerial duels per match.

In other news, Wolves are eyeing up an exciting move for an international player. Read more here.