Bruce Reid, the former Australian fast bowler, has been appointed as the bowling coach of the Indian cricket team for the current tour of Australia. The BCCI decided to appoint Reid after a Working Committee meeting in New Delhi on Sunday.The team management had sought the services of Reid for the two-and-half-month series after the tour match against Victoria. It was felt that Reid could be of considerable help to the inexperienced Indian attack, which comprises Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar and first-timers Lakshmipathy Balaji and Irfan Pathan.Reid, who’s now 40, was a tall left-armer known for his nagging accuracy and the ability to generate sharp bounce, took 113 wickets in 27 Tests at an average of 24.63. He was tipped by many to be an alltime great, but his career was cut short by injury and his potential was never fully realised. He recently coached Zimbabwe’s bowlers on their recent tour of Australia.
Mathew Sinclair drummed out a reminder to the national selectors that he still wants to be considered for the Test series with an unbeaten century for Central Districts against Otago at Alexandra in their State Championship match today.CD had built themselves into a powerful position by the end of the day when ending at 234/3, a lead of 296 with seven wickets remaining.Otago did not help their cause by being dismissed for 123 early this morning.The day began with Otago reasonably confident of securing a first innings lead. At 48/2 chasing 185 they had every reason to be so but in the event they batted poorly to be all out 62 runs short of CD.Brent Hefford made the first breakthrough of the day when getting the overnight batsmen Simon Beare (17) and Chris Gaffaney (25). Andrew Hore added 20 and Nathan Morland was 18 not out.It was one of their most miserable batting performances in recent times. Too often they played at deliveries outside the off stump and they seemed to lack application to play in a manner which would have seen them through to the promised sunshine and much better batting conditions. Only Morland played with any discipline which was what was needed from all the other Otago batsmen. The Otago innings lasted only 47.3 overs.Andrew Schwass headed the assault and continued his excellent summer with four wickets for 29 runs from 12 overs, while Michael Mason’s economic approach was well rewarded as he took three for 30 from 15 overs and he made the Otago batsmen play at most deliveries. Lance Hamilton and Hefford bowled economically and could have easily captured more wickets than their combined total of three.Central Districts began their second innings much the same way as their first by losing early wickets and at 32/2 Otago perhaps had a glimmer of hope in rolling them cheaply.But both Sinclair and Ben Smith decided enough was enough and put on 129 for the third wicket with Smith finally going for an attractive 57, his 50 coming off 99 balls.Sinclair went on to get a good century, off 154 balls, and by stumps was 118 not out. CD captain Glen Sulzberger provided a fine anchor with 28 not out. The overall lead of 296 would seem to be far too many for Otago to chase even although two days play remain and, of course, with CD having only lost three wickets the prospect of a much bigger run chase.None of the Otago bowlers was been really caned but improved batting conditions and two classy batsmen in Sinclair and Smith had given CD quite an advantage.
June 7th has been the date on the lips of every politician in this country.In the years to come, Darren Thomas will have other reasons forremembering June 7th, 2001.In the morning session of the Championship match at Chelmsford, Darren Thomascreated a piece of cricketing history for himself by making the highest everscore by a Glamorgan number eight.Yesterday, Thomas scored his maiden first-class century, hitting 119*and shared in a 7th wicket stand of 163 with fellow centurion AdrianDale. This morning, he subsequently extended his overnight score to 138,and past the previous best by a Glamorgan number eight – Malcolm Nash`s 130,scored in the opening match of the 1976 season against Surrey at The Oval.There were certain parallels between both of these innings. Thomas came tothe crease yesterday with Glamorgan lurching at 128-6, whilst Nash started hisinnings in 1976 with The Oval scoreboard reading 65-6. Nash then shared ina stand of 171 for the 7th wicket with Mike Llewellyn, with Nash mauling theSurrey attack by hitting two sixes and seventeen fours.Thomas was equally aggressive, with nineteen fours and a six in his career best score. But there the comparisons end, as the 1976 match finished in a draw,with Glamorgan`s last pair stoutly defending the last 21 balls on the finalafternoon to draw the game.Thomas` career best 138 may prove to be a match winning innings, asGlamorgan made 370 in their first innings. By tea on the second day,Essex were already following on after being dismissed for 193 withDarren Thomas taking four wickets.This is the third year running that a Glamorgan player has established a recordscore for a batting position, and as the table below shows, in the past two years it has been Steve James who has rewritten the record books, with the highest scores at number one and two in the order:
HIGHEST SCORES FOR EACH POSITION IN THE BATTING ORDER BY GLAMORGAN1 259 S.P.James v Nottinghamshire Colwyn Bay, 19992 309* S.P.James v Sussex Colwyn Bay, 20003 223 A.R.Lewis v Kent Gravesend, 19664 243 M.P.Maynard v Hampshire Southampton, 19915 280* R.G.Duckfield v Surrey The Oval, 19366 165* D.Davies v Sussex Eastbourne, 19287 151* C.C.Smart v Sussex Hastings, 19358 138 S.D.Thomas v Essex Chelmsford, 20019 124* M.A.Nash v Leicestershire Swansea, 197810 101* J.C.Clay v Worcestershire Swansea, 192911 73 S.A.B.Daniels v Gloucestershire Swansea, 1982
A major update has emerged on Sunderland striker Ross Stewart and his future at the Stadium of Light…
What’s the talk?
According to the Daily Record, the Black Cats are preparing to pin him down to an extended contract with the club to avoid losing him in the summer.
The report claims that they are aware of growing interest in his services after his call-up to the Scotland national team and Kristjaan Speakman is now eyeing up an imminent offer in an attempt to keep him on Wearside.
Buzzing
This update will surely leave the Stadium of Light faithful buzzing as they will be keen to see Stewart commit his future to the club.
He has been phenomenal in League One and allowing him to leave in the summer would be a major blow to the squad. His average SofaScore rating of 7.29 is unrivalled within the Sunderland squad and this suggests that he has been the club’s most consistent performer throughout the campaign as he has maintained a high standard all throughout 2021/22.
The Scot’s goalscoring numbers reflect his performances as he has found the back of the net a whopping 22 times in 39 outings for the Black Cats. He has been able to consistently bang in the goals in the third tier, whilst he has also shown off his link-up play with six ‘big chances’ created and 1.4 key passes per game.
This shows that he has been a major force at the top end of the pitch for Lee Johnson and Alex Neil this season. He can score and create goals as the number nine and his contributions have been key to the club’s promotion challenge as they sit in the top-six as it stands.
Therefore, his exit would leave Neil with a huge gap to fill in his starting XI. This would be particularly painful should the club achieve promotion to the Championship as it would, naturally, be harder to find a replacement whilst playing at a higher level in the football pyramid.
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This is why fans will be delighted to read that Speakman is set to offer Stewart a new contract. They will surely want to see him scoring goals for Sunderland for as long as possible and it would be intriguing to see how he would fare in the second tier if the Black Cats end up being promoted.
AND in other news, Left for £0, now worth £6.3m: SAFC had huge howler over “Champions League” quality gem…
Fulham midfielder Moussa Dembele has confirmed that Real Madrid have made an enquiry about him.
The Spanish champions are in the market for a creative midfielder this summer, with Tottenham playmaker Luka Modric the number one choice.
However, with the north London club standing firm on their valuation of the Croatia international, negotiations have been ongoing but a deal is yet to be agreed.
As such Jose Mourinho is thought to be weighing up other options, with rumours that Dembele could well be an alternative.
The Belgium international has blossomed at Craven Cottage and is being monitored by a number of leading Premier League clubs, but Dembele has revealed that Los Blancos have been in touch.
“I do not know if I will leave,” he told the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, translated to English by The Guardian.
“Actually I can say nothing about it.
“There was contact between Real and my agent. They wanted information, but that was it. Everything is still.”
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Liverpool have been granted an extension in deciding whether or not to build a new stadium at Stanley Park by the local City Council.
The Reds have already been given planning permission for a new home, but are yet to fully commit to the venture, as the proposed costs are higher than first expected.
The Fenway Sports Group, who own the club, are still tossing up whether or not to move their side to a new ground, or stay at Anfield and look to increase capacity.
The deadline for the decision was initially the end of September, but The Daily Mail reports that Liverpool City Council have granted them more time to make their mind up, as negotiations continue.
Due to the sky high cost of building a new arena, an investment partner is needed to harbour some of the costs of building the stadium, with the naming rights granted in exchange.
Kenny Dalglish’s team would have to sign a 999-year lease on the proposed site in Stanley Park, but have stated that they will not rush the important decision.
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NEC Nijmegen won just their second league match in 10 appearances after recording a 2-0 victory over Excelsior in the Eredivisie on Sunday.
NEC entered the fixture on the back of five consecutive draws in all competitions but put relegation-threatened Excelsior to the sword courtesy of a second-half Niki Zimling brace.
NAC Breda slumped to their third consecutive loss when they were beaten 2-0 by mid-table rivals Heerenveen at Rat Verlegh Stadion, with Luciano Narsingh and Ousama Assaidi the goalscorers.
Roda JC came from behind to steal a point off Ajax in their 2-2 draw at Parkstad Limburg Stadion.
Goals from Miralem Sulejmani and Siem de Jong had third-placed Ajax ahead 2-0 after 35 minutes, but Mads Junker pulled a goal back before the interval and Anouar Hadouir netted the equaliser in the 82nd minute.
De Graafschap held Groningen to a 1-1 draw at the Stadion Se Vijverberg.
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Fourth-placed Groningen could have jumped into third with a victory on Sunday following Ajax’s slip-up, and took the lead after 32 minutes through Danny Holla.
But Rydell Poepon restored parity for the home side to ensure a share of the spoils.
Team GB opened their Olympics campaign on Thursday with an unconvincing 1-1 draw against African side Senegal.
Craig Bellamy gave Stuart Pearce’s men a perfect start when he opened the scoring on 20 minutes, but Moussa Konate denied the hosts all three points with a strike eight minutes from time.
Pearce admitted that not seeing the game out was a cause for frustration.
“The fact we got our noses in front and didn’t nail the game – and if we had moved the ball quicker we might have done – is a frustration,” Pearce told reporters after the game.
“It would have been nice to win and now we have to deal with the disappointment of conceding a late goal.
“As I know from my own experience as a player, the first game is always a nervous affair. There were a few nervous faces in the dressing room beforehand.
“There are big expectations on the host nation but it was fantastic to be applauded out by all the staff,” he concluded.
Team GB take on UAE on Sunday in their next game.
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With two games of the season played, it already looks like it will be another exciting and competitive season at the top and bottom of the Premier League. In terms of entertainment there is no doubt that the Premier League is the best in the Europe but with some poor quality games to start the season, has the standard of quality really dropped in recent years or is it just more competitive than ever?
Evidence of this decline can be seen as no Premier League players were selected in the FIFA team of the year when it was announced in January 2011 and it was dominated by Spanish players. With the recent departures of Ronaldo, Alonso, Mascherano and now Fabregas to Spain, the English league seems to be losing its world class players and English clubs are struggling to replace them. The only side that are recruiting superstars is Man City and they can only do this by offering extortionate salaries. Man United and Chelsea may sign one big name each summer but nowhere close to what Barcelona and Real Madrid do.
One of the reasons for this decline is that the English 50% tax system does not help attractive the top players and along with the credit crunch, which has made the Pound weak against the Euro, all English clubs have had to cut back on spending in recent years. Even big clubs like Man United and Arsenal have had to sell their top players in order to remain at the top of the game, with the exception of Manchester City.
There is now a smaller gulf between the teams at the top and bottom of the league but I think the standard of quality of the top teams has decreased rather than a huge improvement in the smaller teams. Premier League teams are being extra cautious in the transfer market these days and would rather recruit young English players than expensive European talent which although reducing the quality, has to be a positive thing for the national game.
Last season the Premier League was one of the tightest for years and this was probably due to the fact that the bigger teams have stagnated with less coming in money over recent years and also because of the improvement of the promoted teams from the Championship which I believe is not far off the Premier League in terms of quality.
Because of this increased competitiveness, it is difficult for even the best players in the league to really stand out. The ever increasing tactical side of the game has made it harder for even the best players to conquer organised defences who normally have a defensive midfielder protecting them. So players who leave England know they won’t be getting kicked every two minutes in the foreign leagues like they do in the Premier League.
There is no doubt that the Premier League is still graced with some of the finest players in the game and with players like Kun Aguero, Juan Mata and Sneijder likely to join Manchester United, there is obviously still an attraction to play in England.
Although the league may have declined in quality, this seems to have made the league even more exhilarating and is it hard to find a better league in the rest of the world. The standard of football may have dropped due to the lack of investment at the top of the game but instead of harming the league, it has actually brought the teams closer together and made it even more entertaining to watch.
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The Spanish League may have the world class players but the Premier League still has the passion, entertainment and excitement and for that reason it is still the best league in Europe, I for one would much rather watch a game involving Spurs v Liverpool than Seville v Athletic Bilbao. Obviously 600 million people worldwide agree.
After all the rumours, obituaries and tales of back-stabbing, Avram Grant has somehow kept his job at West Ham. The precarious nature of his position has not changed, the Hammers remain bottom and have played a game more than everyone else around them, however the Israeli will hope that he is now given some space to help save the football club.
With a Carling Cup semi-final second leg to come, this fixture hardly represents a chance to rest players, and Grant would take three points at Goodison Park at the expense of the cup dream.
Everton were excellent in patches during the Merseyside derby- the attacking impetus of Tim Cahill was most certainly a big miss, however with the Australian again missing out, David Moyes may feel that the decision to allow Nigerian, Yakubu away on loan was a premature one.
The Hammers need something here. Last weekend’s thrashing at the hands of Arsenal was dispiriting, and with a string of season defining fixtures on the horizon, a decent showing on Saturday is a pre-requisite.
Prediction: 1-1
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