All posts by h716a5.icu

Shane Watson has conceded that Australia’s failure to find a Test centurion this summer has started to creep into the minds of the players

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG26-Dec-2009Shane Watson has conceded that Australia’s failure to find a Test centurion this summer has started to creep into the minds of the players as they approach triple-figures. Watson, Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting all scored half-centuries on Boxing Day without going on to post hundreds, and after a similar problem in the West Indies series it took Australia’s tally to 18 fifties and no centuries for the season.Watson said his own dismissal in Melbourne – a terrible mix-up brought about his run-out – was not an example of the mental barrier but he had no doubt that the closer players came to a century the tougher it was becoming. The prime example was Katich, who on 98 got a leading edge that lobbed just out of the bowler Saeed Ajmal’s reach, before he cut to point without adding another run. Over the past month Katich had posted scores of 92, 80 and 99.”It definitely is a mental thing, I’ve got no doubt about that,” Watson said of the team’s failure to register a century. “I know that it’s something that we talked about before Perth and I think even at times the more you talk about it the more it does come into your head when you get closer to that milestone.”It’s just something that we’ve got to continue to work through as a group. Of course in the perfect world hundreds would be very nice and I’d be the first one to take one, but it’s just something I think we’ve got to continue to work together to try and not let it come into our mind as much as it might be at the moment.”Watson knows well the way the brain can stifle the body’s natural reflexes, all because of a silly number. In Adelaide he let his overnight score of 96 affect the way he played the next morning. He has made 89, 93 and 96 during this summer’s Tests, while Brad Haddin and Michael Hussey have both been out in the 80s, and Marcus North and Michael Clarke have fallen in the 70s.”I think it really comes down to you as an individual,” Watson said of the way to overcome the mental challenge. “The things I’ve learnt over the last couple of weeks about trying to clear your mind, I definitely got caught up in Adelaide and I played a false shot because I let my score dictate my thoughts. That’s something that I’ve worked on over the last couple of games.”You’ve got to do everything you possibly can to clear your mind and try and keep doing exactly what you’re doing before. It definitely can make it difficult at times because hundreds mean so much to everyone. At times it can be difficult but that’s the way you keep challenging yourself mentally.”

Chris Gayle raised some eyebrows when he tipped a West Indian thrashing of Australia in the one-day series

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG06-Feb-2010It wasn’t quite a Glenn McGrath 5-0 Ashes whitewash prediction but Chris Gayle still raised some eyebrows when he tipped a West Indian thrashing of Australia in the one-day series starting in Melbourne on Sunday. Australia have not lost a match in any format all summer but Gayle dismissed the notion that it would be intimidating to take on Ricky Ponting’s men in a five-game series.”It’s not, to be honest,” Gayle said. “We’re going to beat them 4-1. Not to worry.”Little does worry Gayle. Not the fact that Australia have won 20 of their past 24 one-day internationals, nor that West Indies lost 5-0 at home to Australia 18 months ago and haven’t beaten them in an ODI since 2006, nor even that the visitors are missing eight players including several who would be in their best XI.The loss of key men like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo to injuries will increase the reliance on Gayle. But it will also provide a chance for the next rung of players such as Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith, who have starred in domestic Twenty20 competitions without yet showing their best for West Indies, to lock in their long-term futures.”They definitely can put pressure on us [senior players],” Gayle said. “They are the future. It couldn’t be a better opportunity for them, the likes of Pollard, Dwayne Smith coming back and [Lendl] Simmons and those guys. Those guys can actually step up. We expect things from these guys to play a big part to win the series.”Australia are playing some good cricket. They will be difficult to beat. It’s an inexperienced team at this point in time but at the same time it’s a lovely opportunity for the guys to step up against Australia and make a name for themself and then look forward to their career.”He said Smith and Pollard, who enjoyed productive stints in the Big Bash over the past month, appeared to be in impressive form in the nets leading in to the series. However, he warned them against over-confidence – an ironic choice of words after his series prediction – flowing from their Twenty20 successes.Gayle himself deserves to be full of belief considering his Player-of-the-Series effort in the Tests before Christmas and his wonderful 146 within 29 overs in the tour match against the Prime Minister’s XI. The Australians know the importance of removing Gayle early after he plundered 346 at 69.20 in the Test series.”He’s a dynamic player at the top of the order and generally if your openers get you off to a good start it makes things a fair bit easier for the middle order in all forms of the game,” the captain Ricky Ponting said. “He started the tour pretty well down in Canberra.”He’s a very dangerous one-day player. He had a good Test series against us here as well and scored quickly. One thing we did just touch on then with our team meeting was making sure that our plans to him are spot on. They’ve got him and probably Pollard in the middle order that are very, very dangerous, and the other guys will try and work in around those guys.”But while Ponting was wary of Gayle, he refused to take the bait on making a series prediction of his own. With a squad that hasn’t been beaten all summer, he hopes to simply let his men do the talking on the field.”I don’t really care what he’s got to say as far as results go,” Ponting said. “All I can say is that I’m pretty confident this group can keep improving.”

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has dropped a claim concerning the future of Tyler Roberts.

What’s been said?

In recent comments cited by Leeds Live, the 66-year-old suggested that he would not stand in the way of a player’s departure if it was evident that they did not want to remain at the club, although went on to claim that, despite Roberts having fallen down the pecking order in recent weeks, he is keen to keep the 22-year-old at Elland Road ahead of the transfer window.

Concerning the 19-time capped Wales international’s future, Bielsa offered the following hint: “Tyler is also someone who I have accompanied with, with his efforts to get into the team and whilst he continues to have that desire to fight for a place in the team then I will still want him to be here. It is different when a player has the desire to leave. When a player has a desire to leave, there is no point in trying to keep him.”

Time to go

While Bielsa’s comments regarding Roberts’ commitment to the cause are all well and good, whether or not the attacker is good enough to play a regular role in a team of Leeds’ current standing is another matter altogether.

Indeed, over his 13 Premier League appearances so far this season – only one of which has come as a start – the £5.4m-rated man has failed to score a goal, register an assist and has created just one big chance for his side, as well as taking an average of 0.9 shots and making a mere 0.6 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the £3.5k-per-week forward average a SofaScore match rating of 6.75, ranking him as Bielsa’s 10th-worst performer in the top flight.

It was a similar story for the player who Gabriel Agbonlahor dubbed “frustrating” last season, with the 22-year-old scoring one goal, providing two assists and earning a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.76 over his 27 Premier League appearances – ranking him as the club’s eighth-worst player in the league.

As such, while it would appear that Roberts’ application is not in question, whether or not the attacker is a top-flight standard player is much more debatable, something that would appear to support the argument of Victor Orta looking to ship the Welshman out in January.

In other news: Radz could be set for colossal LUFC disaster as swoop for “massive” gem is “discussed”

Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side head into Thursday evening’s Europa League clash against Real Betis knowing that they cannot finish any higher or lower than third place in the Group G standings – a fixture many would deem a dead rubber.

However, while it is true that the three points available in the match ultimately do not matter, the contest will undoubtedly still prove to be an extremely important one for the 56-year-old manager.

This is not only because a win against a team who sit third in the LaLiga table would provide his side with a substantial boost in confidence, but it is also an opportunity for Celtic to afford a number of their peripheral squad members some much-needed first-team minutes.

Indeed, youngsters such as Liam Shaw, Osaze Urhoghide, Liam Scales, Dane Murray and Mikey Johnston have seen their game time extremely limited so far this season, with the fixture against Betis being the perfect time to unleash at least a few of Celtic’s most exciting up and coming talents.

As such, some of the players who started the 3-0 win over Dundee United last weekend will have to make way, with James Forrest appearing to be a prime candidate for the chop on Thursday night.

Postecoglou must axe Forrest

While it is true the winger is still in the process of regaining full fitness in his recovery from injury, it is unavoidable that Forrest was by far and away Celtic’s most disappointing performer at Tannadice.

Indeed, over his 45 minutes on the pitch, the £5.4m-rated winger struggled to make any real impact on the game, failing to complete any of his three attempted crosses, losing three of his five duels and completing just 16 passes – six fewer than Joe Hart.

These returns saw the £19k-per-week forward earn a SofaScore match rating of 6.9 – the second-lowest of any Celtic player to start the fixture – before he was hooked at halftime after appearing to struggle with the pace of the match.

As such, while Forrest is undoubtedly a talented player – with Kieran Tierney dubbing the 30-year-old’s ability as “scary,” as well as claiming he is “one of the best” players he has featured alongside – in order to provide the likes of Johnston with a much-needed start, Postecoglou simply must axe the Scotland international from his starting XI against Real Betis.

In other news: Ange could unearth Celtic’s new Robbie Keane with swoop for “bright” 18 G/A machine

Waqar Younis has been offered a contract by the PCB to coach the Pakistan side until December 2011

Osman Samiuddin27-Feb-2010Waqar Younis has been offered a contract by the PCB to coach the Pakistan side until December 2011. The former fast bowler, in Sydney currently, received the contract yesterday and is expected to sign it and send it back over the next few days, in the process becoming Pakistan’s fourth coach in three years.The PCB finally confirmed that they had made an offer to Waqar to coach the side. “I would like Waqar to join the Pakistan team,” Ijaz Butt, chairman PCB, said at a press conference. “We are awaiting a reply as we have offered him to take over as our head coach.”It is believed that Waqar has some concerns over the contract that has been sent and will raise a couple of points with the board. There is likely to be further negotiation over the financial package and Waqar is also keen to have a clause which allows him to take stock of his role after the 2011 World Cup, a buffer of sorts against what is a generally a period of considerable administrative turbulence.Some of the targets set in the contract, about what the team needs to be achieving in that timescale might also be re-calibrated. None of them, however, are thought to be significant enough to derail his desire to be coach.Waqar will likely be working alongside former team-mate Ijaz Ahmed, who will be, according to Butt, the fielding coach for the side. Ijaz was in charge of the recent Under-19 Pakistan side that finished runners-up at the World Cup in New Zealand; as one of the best Pakistan fielders of his time he is expected to improve the lot of what must be among the world’s poorest fielding sides. Ijaz was with the side in Dubai as a batting and fielding trainer for the two Twenty20 internationals against England.The PCB has also spoken about their plans to engage foreign coaches for consultancy stints as and when needed on Pakistan’s tours, of which there will be a few given that they are not playing at home for some time. The idea sits well with Waqar.”I think that is good thinking and I would be happy with anything that works to better and improve the state of the national side,” Waqar told Cricinfo.Remarkably there is still no official announcement on the fate of Intikhab Alam, the man Waqar is replacing. Intikhab still has time to run on his contract; he was appointed for two years in October 2008. The board initially said that a decision would be taken on the coaching set-up only after an inquiry committee analyzing the Australia tour completed its work and made its recommendations. But they seem to have pre-empted themselves by contacting and now offering the position, without having – publicly at least – decided on the fate of Intikhab.

Wolverhampton Wanderers managed to hold off a nightmare scoreline against Premier League champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon, especially after going down to ten men just before half-time.

Raul Jimenez could’ve opened the floodgates for a thrashing by getting sent off in the last moments of the first half after obstructing play whilst Manchester City attempted to take a free kick as a result of a foul the Mexican had committed only moments earlier, for which the striker was shown a yellow card. The 30-year-old went on to see his second yellow in a matter of seconds after refusing to allow the free kick to take place.

Rio Ferdinand spoke after the game on BT Sport about Jimenez’s reaction that caused the avoidable red card, saying: “It was schoolboy errors and he was playing to the crowd but there must have been a tinge of embarrassment at what he’d done. It was silly, 44 seconds from the yellow card to the red card. Stupid.”

In terms of more positive contributions from Bruno Lage’s side, Conor Coady might have been the man to produce a sensational goal-line clearance to deny Ilkay Gundogan, but another man who made an outstanding defensive contribution today was Jose Sa.

As per SofaScore, the goalkeeper made eight saves, with six of those coming from inside the box, and won 100% of his duels throughout the game, resulting in him earning the highest rating of 8.3 for Wolves, which was fully deserved.

The Athletic journalist Tim Spiers took to Twitter to express his amazement at one of the many saves that the 28-year-old made at the Etihad, commenting: “Jesus looks set to score but Sa is in with another big boy save at the near post.”

Manchester City had 24 shots, with 10 on target, giving Sa a busy shift in goal for Wolves this afternoon. After his performance which saw him concede just one goal, as well as having more touches and completing twice as many passes than Adama Traore throughout the game with only ten men on the pitch for Wolves, it’s safe to say that Sa was an absolute credit to his team today.

Based on this display, City boss Pep Guardiola will be having nightmares about having to face the Portuguese ‘keeper when the champions go to Molineux later in the season.

In other news: One of Sa’s team-mates had a rather different afternoon at the Etihad

The concerns of the foreign players regarding security during the IPL seem to have eased with the league deciding to collaborate with the independent security expert appointed by the player unions from Australia, England and South Africa

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Mar-2010After nearly a month of wrangling, the concerns of the foreign players regarding security during the IPL seem to have eased with Reg Dickason, the independent security expert appointed by the player unions from Australia, England and South Africa, receiving an official update from the league’s security experts.Tim May, the Federation of International Cricketers Association (FICA) chief, called the development a welcome step in the on-going discussions, which came to a standstill after the IPL’s initial refusal to cooperate.”The one outstanding issue (as) per Reg’s report is that while Nicholls-Steyn’s (the agency in charge of IPL security) plan is sound – it is nothing more than a series of recommendations that are made to local security authorities,” May said. “They may or may not be agreed to by the local authorities.”In fact, that was Dickason’s biggest concern, and he advised the player bodies to make a note of that in their meetings with the players. He also requested the IPL for formal confirmation from the local authorities that the recommendations would be implemented. “Despite media comment from IPL officials that such government assurance has been given – Nicholls-Steyn have advised Reg that they can not get such assurances,” May said.To avoid any further clash, it was suggested by FICA that the IPL needed to declare what the local security was willing to help with. “As a compensating measure we recently requested from IPL a status report of what has or hasn’t been confirmed and proposed a system of communication regarding any shortfalls of the required plans,” May said. “Reg received this update and commitment regarding ongoing communication last (Sunday) evening. This is positive in terms of accurate information that we are able to put in front of the players.”Last week, Dickason dismissed the threat from 313 Brigade, the operational arm of Al Qaeda in Pakistan, after having deemed it credible in his initial assessment report. But, simultaneously, he had asked the IPL to specify to him the security implementations at the various venues.The league officials, however, were unwilling to share any such information and Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, was vocal in his resistance over sharing security details with the player unions and even warned the foreign players of losing their lucrative IPL contracts in future. Left with no choice, Dickason prepared his original report after reviewing the security plans the IPL sent to various national cricket boards.May had warned the tournament organisers that such stiff resistance could only worsen the issue and even lead to mass withdrawals. FICA had been entrusted by the Australian Cricketers’ Association, England’s Players Cricketers’ Association and the South African Cricketers’ Association to liaise with the IPL.Modi, though, appears to have softened his stance since. “Already a lot of the players are on planes on their way to India and will arrive in the next few days,” he wrote on his Twitter page. “Security is very important to us. We have not had to change our plans, I think it is more a case of the players now understanding them. I think they are more comfortable with the plans being implemented.”

If one were to summarise Rajasthan Royals’ campaign thus far with a single word, then it would be ‘resurgence’, but their opponents on Wednesday could lay a rightful claim to the same description

The Preview by Nitin Sundar30-Mar-2010Match factsWednesday, March 31
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Can Shane Warne and co. stop a David Warner encore?•Indian Premier LeagueBig pictureIf one were to summarise Rajasthan Royals’ campaign thus far with a single word, then it would be ‘resurgence’. While they prepare for their first return encounter, they will do well to keep in mind that their opponents, Delhi Daredevils, could lay a rightful claim to the same description.A week is a long time in the IPL; a fortnight, an era. On day three of the tournament, Rajasthan were steam-rolled by Delhi in a hopelessly lop-sided encounter. Yusuf Pathan succumbed for a blob before Virender Sehwag hammered Shaun Tait; the match was effectively over even before Shane Warne came on to bowl. Prior to that, Rajasthan had fallen short by the slimmest of margins in their opening game and, later, they were decimated by Royal Challengers Bangalore, leading to early obituaries.All that is history now. Rajasthan’s big guns have found their range in the ensuing period, and they have reeled off four convincing wins to become serious title-contenders. Yusuf has been devastating with bat, and canny with the ball; Warne has got his spin to talk like it did in his heyday, and Tait has been fast and furious. But Rajasthan’s rise can, in large measure, be attributed to their lesser-knowns, and their ability to synergise and present a whole that is far larger than the sum of its parts – a reprisal of their blueprint circa 2008.Delhi’s fortunes have vacillated out of sync with Rajasthan’s, but in an equally extreme fashion. They began with a bang, as they have in previous seasons, running to two comprehensive wins before the injury to their captain Gautam Gambhir heralded a nadir of sorts, leading to defeats against Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers.Rajasthan reignited their campaign by beating the off-colour Kolkata Knight Riders; Delhi found their self-belief by trouncing the form team of the tournament, Bangalore. With David Warner getting into the groove, they had no trouble in putting it past Kolkata on the tricky Kotla surface, where familiarity to the conditions counts for a lot. Both these teams hold winning hands, but on Wednesday only one of them can come up trumps.Form guide (most recent first)Delhi Daredevils WWLLL
Rajasthan Royals WWWWLTeam talkThere are not many teams in the tournament that can afford to bench names like AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan, but such is the class in Delhi’s batting line-up. In both their recent wins, Andrew McDonald was the weakest link with the ball, going at nearly 10-an-over in his eight overs. In his place, Farveez Maharoof might get another look-in, or Ashish Nehra could make his first appearance in the tournament, provided he is fully fit. Will Delhi break with the norm by bringing him in for McDonald, thereby going in with just three overseas players?While Delhi’s batting line-up oozes class, Rajasthan’s is made up of bits-and-pieces players. Michael Lumb, Naman Ojha, Faiz Fazal and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala have all clicked and their top order looks as settled as Delhi’s. Sumit Narwal was taken to the cleaners by Chennai, and could make way for Munaf Patel or Amit Uniyal.Previously…Rajasthan 3 Delhi 3
Gambhir’s team would be ill-advised if it becomes complacent based on the virtual walk-over in Ahmedabad, earlier this month.In the spotlightYusuf Pathan v Amit Mishra: After Anil Kumble and Muttiah Muralitharan, Mishra has by far been the best spinner on view. His googly to castle Jacques Kallis, and his dipping leg-spinner that bamboozled Mandeep Singh are two dismissals that highlight the kind of form he is in. At some point during this match, he is likely to bowl at the man who has happily dismantled most spinners who have come his way. Yusuf will still be smarting from the way he was dismissed by Shadab Jakati in his last innings. Can Mishra deny him two meals on the trot?Umesh Yadav: As any wary Indian cricket fan will tell you, hyping a pace-prospect is fraught with danger – most of them lose pace and fitness once they hit the headlines. These are early days yet, but Yadav has easily been the fastest Indian bowler in the IPL, hitting 145 kph and troubling batsmen with disconcerting lines. He comes off two splendid spells, and though he is yet to get many wickets, the yorker that cleaned up Angelo Mathews in the previous game holds a lot of promise. With Nehra’s recovery, Yadav knows he is one poor outing away from the bench, and that could spur him on to greater deeds.Prime numbersShaun Tait has blasted his way to third position in the race for the Purple Cap, with nine scalps to his name. Mishra has eight wicketsYusuf and Sehwag occupy the third and fifth spots in the quest for the Orange Cap, with 250 and 203 runs respectively. Among batsmen who have made over 150 runs, they have been the fastest scorers, with strike-rates just under 180The chatter”It’s taken a few games to get back to bowling my best but I feel comfortable now, had to work hard though… Royals on a roll, 2008 feeling!”

David Moyes is sweating on the fitness of star left-back Aaron Cresswell ahead of West Ham United’s clash with Burnley in the Premier League this afternoon…

What’s the latest?

The 31-year-old has been absent since picking up a back problem during the defeat to Manchester City several weeks ago and has recently resumed ‘light’ training but according to the manager, it’ll be “touch and go” if he features today.

“Cress is doing much better, it will be touch and go if he makes it or not,” said the Scot (via the Evening Standard).

“We’ve seen him out and about a little bit and he’s doing a bit more, feeling a bit more mobile than he has been. It would be important if we could get him back, it would help us a lot. We’ll give him every opportunity to try and make it.”

Big setback

Cresswell’s continued absence would be a major blow to the Irons, especially as the injuries are mounting up in defence.

Kurt Zouma was withdrawn in last weekend’s victory over Chelsea and is expected to join fellow centre-back Angelo Ogbonna on the long-term injury list, whilst young full-back Ben Johnson also picked up a problem in the game, and he could miss several games over the festive period.

If the Englishman is also out, then it leaves Moyes very short on options right across the backline. Vladimir Coufal, you’d imagine, would be set to claim his place back at right-back but on the left, it’s a little tricky.

It’s becoming increasingly evident that the Hammers boss does not trust Arthur Masuaku that much defensively but in a back five, where he can bomb up and down the wing, he’s more likely to start.

That is something Moyes also alluded to during his pre-game press conference.

“We certainly lose something in midfield but maybe we might have more midfield players than we do defenders at the moment so Declan is certainly a consideration for that and he can play there as well,” he claimed (via the Evening Standard). “He would give us a lot of pluses if we play at the back, we’d build better.”Rice would only drop back into defence if Moyes opted for a back-three, which would then allow the inclusion of Masuaku, but ideally, you’d think that many around the team would want their trusty and reliable left-back involved.Last season, Cresswell led the squad for creativity, managing a whopping eight assists and 1.6 key passes made per game, via WhoScored. That shows his influence to the side, particularly in the final third, where he is a much better option than the Congolese defender.Therefore, it would be a bitter and crushing blow to not have the 31-year-old back involved after returning to training this week.

AND in other news, Moyes must start West Ham’s “creative spark” over Said Benrahma this afternoon… 

So far this season, in Bruno Lage’s first campaign in charge of Wolves, the Old Gold have picked up an incredibly mixed bag of results with seven wins, seven defeats and four draws.

One figure that has played a big part for Lage in the team, particularly since mid-October is 20-year-old full-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, who has made nine appearances in the Premier League this season for the Midlands club and has previously been labelled as “phenomenal” by Wolves journalist Tim Spiers.

Despite only signing the Frenchman on a permanent basis back in July after spending the previous season on loan from SCO Angers, Wolves could be heading for a potential disaster with a number of clubs across Europe such as Paris Saint Germain and Barcelona interested in Ait-Nouri as well as fellow Premier League clubs Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham reportedly monitoring his progress at Molineux.

With WhoScored listing the Frenchman as Wolves’ highest-rated player based on his performances in the Premier League this season, this shows not only why these clubs reportedly have their eyes on him but also why it would be a big blow for Wolves and Lage if they let him leave.

Having racked up an average of 3.9 tackles per game, more than any other Wolves player in the league this season, as well as 1.1 clearances per game and one interception per game, it’s safe to say that he has been a big part of why Lage’s side have only conceded 14 goals so far in the campaign, leaving only Manchester City (9) and Chelsea (12) having conceded fewer.

Looking ahead to the future, with Ait-Nouri’s current contract at Wolves not set to expire until the summer of 2026, this could work in Wolves’ favour with the defender not expected to be going anywhere anytime soon. At least if a club does come in to sign him, it would take a substantial transfer fee to take the £33k-per-week earner away from Molineux.

Moving forward, if Wolves can secure a European place in the Premier League table by the end of the season, this would be a good step in getting Ait-Nouri to stay at the club and convince him to see out his contract there.

In other news: Lage must axe Trincao after poor performances