All posts by h716a5.icu

A number of IPL franchises have questioned whether the BCCI respects the rights of all the league’s stakeholders after the board ejected Punjab and Rajasthan from the IPL

Tariq Engineer10-Oct-2010A number of IPL franchises have questioned whether the BCCI respects the rights of all the league’s stakeholders, with Vijay Mallya asking if the teams are merely slaves, following the board’s decision to suddenly terminate two of the teams – Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab – on Sunday.”I wonder if the franchisees are serious stakeholders whose investments and participation are respected, or are they slaves who only come and play.” Mallya, who owns the Royals Challengers Bangalore, asked on Twitter.Raj Kundra, part-owner of Rajasthan Royals, questioned whether there the IPL will even be played next year if the board continues to treat the teams so callously. “I am still not sure why our contract has been terminated,” he told news channel . “I am mulling legal options but I am not sure whether we can have IPL 4 if teams are treated like this.”If a case is filed, it could force the league to postpone the player auction, currently scheduled to be held in November, something that worries a number of the remaining teams. “This will affect all the franchises,” another team official told ESPNcricinfo. “It adds to the uncertainty, which is bad for business.”An official with the Punjab franchise, however, said they were not considering legal options at the moment and expressed hope of resolving the situation with the BCCI. “We are in shock. It came out of the blue, it was absolutely unexpected.”Sidhartha Mallya endorsed his father’s comments, saying that the teams are the main shareholders in the league. He said that just like the UB group, India’s largest alcoholic beverages company which is owned by his family, has obligations to its shareholders, the league has certain obligations to the franchises that have been ‘terminated.’ Sidhartha Mallya said Sunday’s decision had led him to “question whether we are being looked after at the level we should be.”Shane Warne, who led Rajasthan to victory in the augural IPL, called the decision a big shock on Twitter, and hoped that the BCCI would come to its senses. Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi, who is fighting his own battle with the board, said that the teams are what makes the league and what has happened “is something that will only harm the image of the IPL and BCCI.”Abhijit Sarkar, spokesperson for the Sahara Warriors, one of the two new teams in the league along with Kochi, said that the franchise had no comment to make on the legal issues. Sarkar said, “We are newcomers in IPL and have been busy with getting our team ready. Our primary concerns are the player auction and the player retention.”Franchises are now anxious about the legal ramifications of scrapping two out of the IPL’s eight original franchises. An IPL team official said, “The legal domain is a very tricky one. What happens if the auction is stayed by the court? This could jeopardise the IPL itself.” The BCCI’s statement about the termination said the decision had been arrived it based on “legal opinions obtained” about Rajasthan and Punjab. The ‘legal opinion’, IPL frachise believed was not necessarily a switft conclusion to the controversy. He said, “Legal opinion also advised the BCCI to file charges against Jagmohan Dalmiya and how did that go?”The IPL governing council ejected Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab from the league on charges of transgression of shareholding and ownership norms at its emergency meeting earlier today.

RB Salzburg midfielder Brenden Aaronson is a player that Leeds United remain ‘very keen’ on signing, according to reporter Tim Thornton.

The Lowdown: Various bids for Aaronson

The Whites have seen the 21-year-old as a primary transfer target throughout the January transfer window, with various bids tabled for him.

His current club have continued to dig their heels in, though, seeing him as an important player during their current Champions League run. Aaronson has scored 10 goals and registered 12 assists in 51 appearances for the Austrian club.

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The Latest: Leeds still want move

Speaking live on Sky Sports News on deadline day, Thornton claimed that a January move is out of the question, although Leeds ‘still remain very keen’ on signing him in the summer:

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The Verdict: Strong summer addition

It is a shame not to see Aaronson arrive at Elland Road this month, but if a summer switch is the next best thing, it will be worth the wait given his quality.

The USA international has been compared to Chelsea’s Champions League final hero Kai Havertz in terms of his style and he could add plenty of much-needed guile to Leeds’ attacking play. No Whites player has more than two assists in the Premier League this season.

At 21, he is also a young and maturing player, so he could grow into something formidable at Elland Road in the coming years if the Whites can finally get their man, either today or during the summer.

In other news, a positive update regarding one huge Leeds player has emerged. Find out who it is 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.

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”…

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.

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.

With no goals scored in their previous two Premier League games, the upcoming January transfer window could provide West Ham United with the perfect opportunity to strengthen their squad and set themselves up to push for a top-four finish by the end of the campaign.

Taking this into account, it seems as though the east London club have their eye on securing a new attacking talent who could be just what they need to end the season on a high.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from Football Insider, West Ham have their eye on making a move to sign Rubin Kazan attacker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia alongside fellow Premier League clubs Everton and Southampton.

Since joining Rubin on a free transfer from FC Rustavi back in the 2019 summer transfer window, the 20-year-old winger – who is currently valued at £16.2m by Transfermarkt – has made 68 appearances for his club across all competitions, scoring eight goals and providing 16 assists.

Having been likened to former Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery – who scored 124 goals and provided 182 assists in 425 appearances for the Bavarian giants – by Denis Bushuev, Kvaratskhelia could be an exciting prospect for West Ham to add to their squad in January.

In his 15 league games so far this season for Rubin, Kvaratskhelia has shown how talented an attacking player he is by averaging 2.2 shots and 1.4 key passes per game.

To put these numbers into perspective, current Irons attacker Said Benrahma has racked up similar averages of 2.1 shots and 1.1 key passes per game in 17 Premier League appearances this term, showing that the Georgian has what it takes to mix it with West Ham’s senior attackers.

Moving forward, taking into account Kvaratskhelia’s attacking talents and West Ham’s lack of recent goals, they should be doing all they can to beat Everton and Southampton to his signature to add an extra spark to their attacking ranks as they look to finish in the top four.

In other news: “I could see” – Journalist drops exciting claim at West Ham which will have fans buzzing

England have scored two major victories against Australia and Shane Warne believes they now have the mindset necessary to try and accomplish the hardest challenge in cricket – winning a Test series in Australia

Cricinfo staff18-May-2010England have scored two major victories against Australia in less than a year – the ICC World Twenty20 final and the Ashes in 2009 – and Shane Warne believes they now have the mindset and the team necessary to try and accomplish the hardest challenge in cricket – winning a Test series in Australia. In his column for the , Warne wrote that England took “a small psychological advantage” from beating Australia in Sunday’s final in Barbados and sent a message that “they [Australia] have to play very well to beat them [England] now in any form of the game”.”In the past, they [England] thought that if they played at their best they might nick a win. Now they think, “We can beat this lot”. That feeling of being scared of playing Australia has disappeared,” Warne wrote. “Australia were just starting to build a bit of momentum and find some consistency in the aftermath of losing last year’s Ashes. But the first time they came up against England in a final, they lost.”Warne, however, said the Ashes in Australia was the hardest series to win and England were whitewashed 5-0 on their last trip there in 2006-07. But this squad, Warne felt, had the “right tools” to succeed in Australia later this year. “In Graeme Swann they have a spinner who, when you examine every format of the game, is the best in the world right now,” Warne said. “In Kevin Pietersen, England also have, not the best, but the most destructive batsman.”Pietersen was the Player of the Tournament in the West Indies, having scored 248 runs at an average of 62. Warne said the IPL and the World Twenty20 helped Pietersen rediscover his touch which was vital because, apart from his contributions, Pietersen’s team-mates also fed off his form.”He [Pietersen] was struggling in the Test arena. When he gets into trouble he gets technical and reads too much into things. He is best when he plays on instinct and in Twenty20 there is not much time to think. You just have to go out there and hit the ball. For the last couple of months he has not had to worry about technique and building innings. He has just had to smack the ball and impose himself. To be the Player of the Tournament will be great for his ego.”It is also great for England because all the other players seem to walk a bit taller when KP is playing well. They feed off him. Also the opposition concentrates on getting KP out so much that it allows others to play with freedom.”Warne also called Swann the “most improved cricketer in the world.” “What has struck me most is that as an offspinner there are only certain ways you can get people out. But he [Swann] has more than that, he really changes his pace well. Normally when spinners bowl faster they lose their spin. But he can bowl quicker deliveries and still turn it. It is a very good gift and he can adapt it to all forms of the game. He is always trying to work out in his mind how to get wickets. That is what I like about him – he attacks.”

Cricinfo previews the Pro20 final between Warriors and Lions in Port Elizabeth

Firdose Moonda12-Mar-2010If the Warriors had been told five weeks ago that they would face the Lions in the final of the Pro20, they probably would have taken it. The Lions go into the final as definite underdogs. They have just two South African players in their ranks – Neil McKenzie and Alviro Petersen – compared with the Warriors’ seven. The names Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini, Nicky Boje, Johan Botha and Wayne Parnell are enough to intimidate most international opposition, let alone a domestic franchise, particularly one that has been reduced to whipping boys of late.Since winning the 2006-07 Pro20 crown, the Lions have been on a dizzying, downward spiral. They languished at or near the bottom of the log in both the SuperSport Series and the MTN40 and fared equally poorly in the twenty-over competition. The season after winning the title, they did not manage to beat a single South African franchise in the next edition of the competition. The Lions did, however, earn a victory over Zimbabwe and tied a match with the Eagles. The next season was much of the same, with the Lions losing to every franchise except the Cobras, where the match was tied.This season, the Gauteng-based franchise has been plagued by more administrative infighting and yet again, they’ve suffered on the field. A poor four-day campaign and missing out on the final four in the 40-over competition led to many a headline about the Lions meowing like kittens. Their achievement in the Pro20 may be just the remedy to heal a fractured union.Richard Cameron, one of the Lions’ young stars who picked up career-best figures of 4 for 23 against the Titans in the second leg of their semi-final, said the team enjoyed the tag of underdogs. “I think our spirit and togetherness as a team was one of the things that helped us win the semi-final,” Cameron said. The Lions are certainly going to need more than just that, if they hope to overcome a talented Warriors side.History doesn’t provide much indication of who the favourites are though. In the three seasons since the Champions Twenty20 League presented itself as an incentive for the domestic Pro20, all six franchises have reached the final. In the first season, when the inaugural Champions League was postponed, the Dolphins (who ended at the bottom of the log this time) and the Titans reached the final. Last season, the Cobras and the Eagles made the trip to India and this year it will be the Lions and the Warriors.The men from the Eastern Cape are labelled favourites because they have been the in-form side since winning their maiden franchise trophy in the MTN40 just over a month ago. One thing the Lions can hope for is that the likes of Boucher, Kallis, and Ntini will be preoccupied with the impending Indian Premier League. Kallis and Boucher will join up with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who play the first match on Sunday, so the pair is unlikely to feature in that encounter.Ntini is representing Chennai this season, and their first match is also on Sunday. He spent a fair amount of time warming their bench last season but has been in sublime form for the Warriors. Ntini is the Warriors’ highest wicket-taker in the competition, with 10 wickets at an average of 18.90. Wayne Parnell and Rusty Theron are also IPL players, although this will be their first season in the glamourous competition. Parnell was bought for US $610000 by the Delhi Daredevils while Theron was only just picked up by Kings XI Punjab after a successful season as the best death bowler in the tournament.While the dollars in their eyes may cloud some of the Warriors’ players’ views, captain Davy Jacobs has been known to impress upon his troops on the importance of adding to their trophy cabinet. Before the MTN40 he said the team’s sponsors, Chevrolet, said they “expected a trophy after three seasons of sponsoring the team.” That prediction was spot on. Should the men from the Eastern Cape collect two cups this season, that should keep the men with the money very pleased indeed.