All posts by h716a5.icu

It’s beginning to look a lot like Hooper and Chanderpaul

Haydn Gill05-May-2002It’s beginning to look a lot like Hooper and Chanderpaul.For the second time in three matches, the two Guyanese featured in a mammoth partnership in which both batsmen completed centuries and other landmarks.At 11:22 a.m. yesterday, Carl Hooper arrived at his 12th Test century and first at Kensington Oval to the delight of his adoring fans.Fifteen minutes later, Shivnarine Chanderpaul reached his fourth hundred in Tests, his second on the ground and his third against India.Their fifth-wicket stand of 215 went a long way in helping the West Indies build an impregnable lead of 292 that has left India under pressure to avoid defeat in the third Cable & Wireless Test.However, neither Hooper nor Chanderpaul want to read too much into the personal landmarks which have continued from the first Test at Bourda where they added a record 293.In the process of this innings, Hooper passed 400 runs for the first time in the series, made two hundreds for the first time in a series and is nicely pushing up his batting average since coming out of retirement a year ago.I am not one for figures. I always say that figures sometimes really do not tell the true tale, the West Indies captain said.I just want to do the best that I possibly can. If it means that the average has jumped, it does. If it means that it remains the same place, so be it.When he reached his first Test century in his native Guyana three weeks ago, he said it was a moment he had waited 15 years for. This one did not carry as much significance, even though thousands of Barbadians have long conferred a knighthood on him.This one is different. Home is home at the end of the day. There is nothing like scoring a hundred in front of your home crowd, he said.I’m not Barbadian, even though I have got a lot of supporters here. It is good to score a hundred in Barbados, but if you ask me if this was just as special as the one in Guyana, [the answer is] no.Chanderpaul, his place in the side seemingly tenuous at the start of the series, has been a new player of late, batting with supreme authority, especially at the start of his innings.When asked what had brought about the recent turnaround, he said: I thank God for that.He never once felt there was a need to worry about his place, in spite of impressive claims staked by Ryan Hinds.I don’t worry about what people say. Whenever the day comes for me to play, I just go out there and do what I have to do, Chanderpaul said.He too, said there was nothing special about Kensington or the Indians.It’s just that I am happy to get runs whenever I can and wherever I can, he said.With India trailing by 123 runs and with six wickets in hand, West Indies are overwhelming favourites to win the match and level the series 1-1, but Hooper does not want to count the chickens before they are hatched.It’s never over until it is over. Obviously, we want to remove them as early as possible, but this is a game of cricket and you’ve got to be prepared for anything. Who knows? They may come out tomorrow [today] and bat the whole day. We’ve got to keep working. We can’t take it for granted that this is already in the bag, Hooper said.

West Brom have either been promoted or relegated 10 times in the previous 20 seasons, and former Premier League manager Lawrie Sanchez has predicted that remarkable run to continue next term.

Half of those have been promotions, but now three of them have been immediately followed by relegation.

The Baggies fate this time was sealed following their 3-1 defeat at Arsenal last month, ending Sam Allardyce’s proud record of never going down as a manager.

West Brom enjoyed a mini revival during April, including one of the shock results of the season at Chelsea, but it only delayed the inevitable, which came at the Emirates on May 9.

Allardyce won’t be in charge this season having announced following the defeat to former side West Ham that he’ll be leaving The Hawthorns.

Chris Wilder, who got Sheffield United out of the Championship in 2018-2019, is the favourite to replace him, but Sanchez believes that regardless of who the Baggies appoint, they’re well equipped to bounce back at the first time of asking.

He exclusively told Football FanCast:

“They’re a yo-yo club, West Brom. They are certainly a better club than Norwich in they’ve had more yo-yo payments and therefore the finances are probably in a better situation.

“They’ve got new owners, who will be wanting to get back to the Premier League, so I think that is set-up for them to come straight back up.”

The XXXX Queensland Bulls will follow a proven formula with the releaseof their contracted player list for the 2002-2003 season.

Queensland Cricket04-Jun-2002The XXXX Queensland Bulls will follow a proven formula with the releaseof their contracted player list for the 2002-2003 season.Queensland Cricket Chief Executive Graham Dixon today announced theBulls’ squad for the coming season that contains six ACB contractedplayers, 17 State contracted players and three Rookie contractedplayers.Dixon said Queensland did not intend to add to the list prior to thestart of the season after reaching agreements with all of the nominatedplayers.”As we saw last season, the option is there to add players during thesummer depending on representative selections and injuries,’ he said.”The selectors are confident the players they have nominated willprovide the Bulls with the depth to enjoy another successful season.’The squad contains the likes of opening batsman Daniel Payne, left-armpace bowler Scott Brant and right-arm pace bowler Damien MacKenzie, eachof whom made their first class debuts last season from outside thesquad. Payne and Brant were both members of the Bulls team that won theState’s third consecutive Pura Cup title.The only player on the State contracted list yet to play first classcricket is former Australian Under-19 wicket-keeper Chris Hartley who isin his second year in the Bulls squad.Former Australian pace bowler Scott Muller and off-spinner Scott O’Learywere not awarded contracts.Muller, who played two Tests in 1999-2000, has experienced a wretchedrun with injury over the past two seasons while O’Leary, who playedseven matches in 2000-2001, saw Australian one-day spinner NathanHauritz and left-armer spinner Matthew Anderson preferred ahead of himlast season.Australian Under-19 batsman Craig Philipson enters his second season ona rookie contract with the other rookie contracts awarded to Wynnum-Manlyopener Chris Simpson, a Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy scholar thisyear, and Wests pace bowler Steve Magoffin.The trio will have an early indication of their future prospects whenthey play for Queensland in this weekend’s series of practice matchesagainst Australia and Pakistan, which are training in Brisbane this weekas part of their build-up to the three-match TOWER Super Challenge IIseries in Melbourne and at the Gabba. Queensland are scheduled to playPakistan on Saturday and Australia on Sunday at Allan Border Field in40-over practice games.All States have until Friday to register their initial playing list forthe 2002-2003 season with the ACB.States must register between 14 and 20 State Player contracts andbetween two and five Rookie contracts. States have the option to addanother two Player contracts and two Rookie contracts to their list bySeptember 28.The XXXX Queensland Bulls 2002-2003 squad is:ACB contracted players: Matthew Hayden, Andy Bichel, Martin Love, JimmyMaher, Nathan Hauritz, Andrew Symonds.State contracted players: Stuart Law, Wade Seccombe, Michael Kasprowicz,Ashley Noffke, Matthew Anderson, Lee Carseldine, Jerry Cassell, AdamDale, Joe Dawes, Chris Hartley, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, BrendanNash, Clinton Perren, Damien MacKenzie, Daniel Payne, Scott Brant.Rookie contracted players: Craig Philipson, Chris Simpson, SteveMagoffin.

If the Wolves players were still embarking on their daily trips to Compton instead of being on holiday, then it would be a strange environment for them in which to train.

For the first time since 2017, there would be no Nuno Espirito Santo to welcome them in for their fitness and ball skills. It’s a strange place for Wolves, with the Old Gold stuck at their first real crossroads in the last four years.

They face losing a number of their key players, including Ruben Neves and Adama Traore, while there is the prospect for a summer of decreased spending.

No pressure then, Bruno Lage. The Portuguese is waiting on a work permit to determine whether he can become the new manager at Molineux but, according to The Athletic’s Tim Spiers, some big names have thrown their hat in the ring.

The reporter was unable to disclose who those coaches could be but Steve Bull was enthralled by the idea of seeing Zinedine Zidane arrive in the Midlands.

The Frenchman has just left Real Madrid for the second time as manager and is available without the added complication of a compensation fee. A move to Molineux would be far-fetched but it’s certainly one which would set the cat amongst the pigeons.

Speaking to Football Transfer Tavern, Bull said: “Zinedine Zidane, he could do a job all day long. He was my favourite player when I was growing up, he’s absolutely top drawer and he’s showed it as a manager at Real Madrid. I think there’s going to be names bandied about left, right and centre now.”

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Zidane’s name is one of the biggest in world football and his record with the Spanish giants dictates that he would be a marvellous appointment for Wolves.

As a manager, he has won the Champions League on three occasions, triumphs which fell in successive years. He has won the Club World Cup twice and he is a league champion with Madrid in 2016/17 and 2019/20. [Transfermarkt]

Real fell short of expectations this season as they lost to Chelsea in the semi-finals of Europe’s elite competition and were beaten to the La Liga title by their city rivals Atletico.

However, Zidane has an aura, one which not only would instantly command the respect of the players in the dressing room but could also attract some eye-catching new signings to the Midlands.

A bullish character, the 48-year-old could be game-changing for the younger players in the squad, too.

They may have grown up idolising players like Zidane, so to have him in on the training pitch passing on guidance and experience could be invaluable. A proven winner both as a player and a manager, to have a head like that in charge is a rarity.

The very least Wolves could do is make an enquiry.

AND in other news, Never mind Lage: Wolves should consider hiring 54 y/o who called Nuno a “great coach”…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Tottenham and Chelsea defender Graham Roberts has heaped praise on Antonio Rudiger.

The 6 ft 3 centre-half has been a revelation for the Blues since Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as manager, helping his side to Champions League glory in Porto.

Rudiger was a target for Tottenham last summer when Jose Mourinho was still in charge, something that the German has publicly spoken about, and is a player the north London club could perhaps move for again.

He has just one year left on his contract, and the Mirror have claimed that Chelsea now face a real fight to keep hold of him.

On the 28-year-old Germany international, Roberts told FFC:

“I’ll tell you the best player in the last six months is Rudiger at Chelsea. He is unbelievable.

“Coming out from the back, attacking, he’s been superb and Frank Lampard wanted to get rid of him. It just shows you that there is things there.”

While Tottenham have quite clearly looked at Rudiger before, it is hard to imagine Chelsea selling him to the north London club given the bad blood between the two sides.

However, there is always the possibility of the former AS Roma man joining on a free transfer next summer if he chooses not to extend his current deal at Stamford Bridge.

Retiring Northern Districts chairman Michael Sandlant fired a few shots in his last comments in the ND annual report today

Lynn McConnell14-Jun-2002Retiring Northern Districts chairman Michael Sandlant fired a few shots in his last comments in the ND annual report today.In a free-ranging report, in which he allowed himself “to roam, reminisce, recount and ramble” he was upset at the non-awarding of a Test match to Hamilton during the England series.That decision had been made on the basis of Hamilton not being able to cater for the Barmy Army which follows the England team.”Here we have; without doubt, the best Test match ground and pitch in the country, according to players, press and all cricket personnel, and yet are awarded the sop of a Test Match against minnows, Bangladesh.”After all the hard work put into the ground by Hamilton City, our grounds persons and our staff led by John Turkington, our Board viewed this decision with dismay and incredulity.”What more can we do to be given these Test matches as of right?”Maybe we should make every endeavour to be represented on the New Zealand board to make sure that we are fully recognised at that level of decision-making,” he said.Reviewing his time on the association Sandlant said the ground that was Seddon Park in 1989 is now unrecognisable and was a magnificent facility.However, it did note that the increasing reliance on New Zealand Cricket to provide the Association’s funding was a concern.”I believe it is inevitable that some time in the future this dependency will increase as we are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain sufficient funding for our activities which are under greater demand than ever before,” he said.

Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa is keen on bringing Brighton and England defender Ben White back to Elland Road in the summer transfer window.

What’s the story?

Reports last summer revealed just how desperate Bielsa’s side were in trying to turn White’s loan deal into a permanent one, but Brighton stuck to their guns and ended up keeping him at the Amex.

Now, journalist Duncan Castles has claimed that Leeds are still one of a number of Premier League sides interested in signing the centre-back this time around, with Arsenal and Leicester also said to be keen on him.

Bielsa loves him

Despite spending just the one season at Elland Road, White left an incredible impression on Bielsa, establishing himself as a cornerstone of a Leeds defence that earned promotion back to the Premier League.

The £25.2m-rated centre-back played 46 times in the Championship, being a virtual ever-present at the back and chipping in with one goal and two assists too.

He’s followed up that reliability by featuring in 36 of Brighton’s 38 Premier League games last season, and was rated as the second-best ball-playing defender under Seagulls boss Graham Potter, having averaged a passing accuracy of 83.2% throughout the 2020/21 campaign.

And, his impressive averages of 1.4 tackles, 1.7 interceptions and 1.4 aerial duels won per game, via WhoScored, show him to be the kind of defender who also relishes getting into the thick of things but having the presence of mind to step in and nip the ball in front of the striker too.

Brighton’s academy coach, John Morling, said: “He’s so calm, nothing fazes Ben. Any hurdles, he just jumps over. He just looks like he’s been there for years. He’s a winner. You’d want him in your team.”

Having also been hailed as a “special talent” and “a warrior” too, White’s success and recent inclusion into the England squad for the EUROs is no real surprise, especially given Bielsa’s own comments about him earlier this year.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/leeds-united-marcelo-bielsa-transfer-gossip-rumours-news-elland-road-rodrigo-de-paul” title=”Read the latest Leeds transfer rumours and news!”]

He said: “Ben White has shown he is a Premier League player. All of us here admire him as a player. We respect him and love him as a human being. He was an excellent professional, as well as a team-mate. I hope his career allows him to grow because he deserves it.”

Given the kind of impact he made previously at Elland Road in helping the Whites to promotion, and the kinds of strides he’s taken since then, a move for the defender seems like an absolute no-brainer, and surely has Bielsa on cloud nine that he could be reunited with him.

Meanwhile, Fabrizio Romano has dropped a major Leeds United update…

With thin sunlight struggling to break through the London cloud the weather forecasters were proven correct, although unhelpful, as the pitch remained sufficiently wet from overnight rain to prevent play before lunch

Ed Green13-Jun-2002With thin sunlight struggling to break through the London cloud the weather forecasters were proven correct, although unhelpful, as the pitch remained sufficiently wet from overnight rain to prevent play before lunch.One cannot, on days like this, help suspecting that Surrey’s recent investment in sprinklers, which helped to guarantee a beautiful, fast, green outfield last season, might have been more usefully directed towards more drainage. It might even be not be out of place to suggest that with ample slow and slow medium bowlers on both teams an unconventional choice of opening attack could have facilitated an earlier start. Still, at Lords the great wealth of the MCC was unable to make any play possible all day.Furthermore as when play did start both sides set off determined to make up for lost time the crowd had limited cause for complaint. Heavy cloud cover at the Oval is often an indication of plentiful swing and the cue for the winner of the toss to insert their opposition, and as in this case it was Surrey they were able to do so without fear of facing their own spinners on days three and four.The decision proved almost immediately to be a wise one when after a couple of looseners Martin Bicknell troubled and then removed Fulton in the first over. This brought Kent’s leading batsmen together and both Smith and Key took advantage of some rare poor overs from Ormond who struggled to control the swinging ball at first except for three deliveries in his second over any of which could easily have brought a wicket. It was Bicknell again though, who with the total on twenty-seven took his his second wicket, removing danger batsman Robert Key for fifteen quick runs, the catch by Batty behind the stumps was a splendid effort.Shortly afterwards Symonds flailed at a swinging ball from Ormond and the thick edge flew straight and hard to Salisbury at gully, he was quickly followed back into the pavilion by Walker, well taken at slip by Ricky Clarke. The penultimate over of Bicknell’s spell saw him secure the wicket of Ed Smith, who failed to control his cover drive and sent a high chance to the hands of Ward at cover point. This left the visitors reeling at 48-5.By now the openers were tiring and both Nixon and Ealham used a judicious mixture of nudges and shots to edge the total upwards. Ormond was unlucky not to break through again before Giddins took over from the pavilion end and Ricky Clarke bowled a tidy four over spell that will hopefully steady his bowling nerves after going for runs in his previous appearances. Giddins repeatedly passed the outside edge but was unable to split the two gritty campaigners before they had nursed the score on to 100 and Ealham was trapped in front. Fleming then joined Nixon at the crease and they pushed on to 129 before Ormond struck again, before Bicknell wrapped things up with his fine control of the swinging ball either side of tea.Nixon’s 54 was, in the conditions an excellent performance as the ball swung and the Surrey bowlers, for the most part bowled with control and accuracy. Martin Bicknell also deserves a special mention for his fine bowling and the fact that his figures of 6-42 complete his full house – he has now taken five wickets in an innings against each of the other seventeen counties, a feat rare for a bowler so frequently overlooked by the national selectors. In this fixture last season Fulton and Key made an opening stand of 198 during a rain and sleet interrupted draw in one of the coldest Aprils I can recall.Taking to the field with only 153 behind them Kent knew that they needed to strike quickly and, with a brace of wickets Denmark’s Amjad Khan did just that having Ward caught at the wicket and Mark Ramprakash LBW to leave Surrey on five for two and their own total looking far less modest that it had fifteen minutes earlier. Unfortunately for the visitors Khan’s control and luck then deserted him and he was knocked out of the attack quickly afterwards by Nadeem’s forthright strokeplay. Surrey were quickly back in trouble though as Nadeem unluckily tickled an edge down the leg side, the umpire took an age to decide, but eventually sent him on his way to leave the weakened Surrey batting line up at 39-3.Saggers had more difficulty getting the swinging ball in the right place than the more experienced seamers in and was replaced by Ealham, but it was from the pavilion end that all of Surrey’s wickets fell, with Fleming having Batty caught at slip and frustrating Ricky Clarke out held by Khan.While Fleming bowled his medium pacers with excellent effect though, Brown, after a watchful start, set about Mark Ealham with his trademark brutality reaching 49 from 43 deliveries, when Saggers returned he too was mauled by this years Surrey beneficiary.

Daren Ganga’s half-century put West Indies A in control on a rain-affected first day of their tour match with Warwickshire

Sean Beynon20-Jul-2002Daren Ganga’s half-century put West Indies A in control on a rain-affectedfirst day of their tour match with Warwickshire. Ganga remained unbeaten on 51 as rain swept in after tea. Devon Smith chipped in with a brisk 46 to leave the visitors well placed on 123/1.Rain wiped out the morning session, though Ganga was keen to bat after winning the toss. Smith immediately set about an average Warwickshire attack, the left-hander latching onto some wayward bowling. Smith’s tour has turned around, and his confident, natural talent is evident. It is difficult to believe that he is the same player who struggled so badly early on in the trip.With Smith crashing the ball around a virtually empty Edgbaston at one end,Ganga allowed himself the opportunity to settle. He is hardly in the form ofhis life, but the 23-year-old soon found the middle of the bat.Dougie Brown, Warwickshire’s most experienced bowler, was also the most wayward. Only Alan Richardson, an impressive seamer, exerted any control over the West Indians.Smith looked set for a big score before he was trapped leg-before by MohamedSheikh. He hit eight fours and a six, facing only 58 balls.The usually aggressive Dwayne Bravo joined Ganga, but was content to play the ball around. Ganga reached his half century with his ninth four, with Bravo not out on 14 when another heavy shower drove the players from the ground.West Indies A will probably look for quick runs tomorrow, and have big-hitting Runako Morton in the side to bolster the run-rate. With only a week of the tour left, the last thing they need is more rain. The forecast points to a full day’s cricket tomorrow, with the week ahead unsettled.

Former Leeds United star Jon Newsome insists that Pablo Hernandez has earned the right to be called a legend at the club.

Hernandez has played his last game for the club, and will leave Elland Road on the expiry of his contract at the end of this month.

That comes after a four-year stint with the Whites, in which he has played a key role in guiding the club from the Championship into the Premier League.

Hernandez has made a total of 175 appearances for Leeds, scoring 36 goals and registering 41 assists, although he only played a bit-part role in the Premier League in 2020/21.

In total, the 36-year-old made 16 league appearances, though just three of those were starts, including the final game of the season, as he gave the fans an emotional farewell.

And Newsome believes he should be regarded as one of the best players to play for the club in their long and storied history.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, he said: “There’s a word that gets bandied about, ‘legends’, quite a lot, when we’re up at the game and they say ‘the Leeds legends’, there’s not, there’s a bunch of ex-players, but there’s only a few I would class as legends at that club.

“And I would put Pablo in that category. I think he’s come into the football club and his commitment, his work, his desire has been there for everybody to see.”