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Sussex batsman Richard Montgomerie is being recommended for an England call-up – by his opening partner Murray Goodwin.The pair both hit centuries yesterday in the Vodaphone Challenge match against the Australians at Hove to put on an opening stand of 202.Though it may not have been the Australians’ first-choice attack, Brett Lee was playing and had 117 runs taken off his 23 overs. Montgomerie’s 157 was his seventh first-class hundred of the season and when he hit his 102nd run he reached the 2,000-mark for all cricket this summer.Zimbabwe Test player Goodwin, who himself made 105 yesterday, said: “I’m absolutely amazed he has not been mentioned [for an England place], or even Kent’s David Fulton. Richard has batted superbly well this whole year against all sorts of bowling – first division bowlers, second division bowlers.”His strength is his concentration, and he has a lot of guts too. He’s notone that when he’s under a bit of pressure to throw it away. He’ll work throughit and no matter how long it takes he’ll be there.”I think they should give him a go, there’s nothing to lose. No other battersare performing better than him and he’s shown it against Australia.”I think he needs the rewards for having a good year, any cricketer does,even though it is not on his mind and he’s not talked about it at all. He’ll never know if he doesn’t get a go. Let’s go for broke and pick guys like that who have been performing.”He’s got a lot of strengths. He complements me because bowlers don’t want todeliver wide to me, that’s my strength. So they try to bowl straighter to me. Wefeed off that and they bowl a bit wider to him.”As regards the game yesterday, Goodwin said: “The wicket was slow, and it would nullify any real pace the bowlers have, so it was a little bit easier for us. Brett Lee was putting it in, but the pitch suited us batters and not him.”With Steve Waugh out of the Headingley Test because of injury, Justin Langer will have been disappointed to have missed the opportunity to bat himself into the side, having been dismissed for just two by Billy Taylor.If Simon Katich can impress with the bat today, he could get the nod for Headingley.Meanwhile seamer Ashley Noffke suffered a ligament problem in his right ankle after treading on the ball trying to run out Montgomerie. His ainjury will be assessed over the next 24 hours.

Dayle Hadlee and Ross Taylor at naming of New Zealand Under-19 World Cup preliminary squad Photograph © CricInfo

Next year’s International Cricket Council Under-19 World Cup will be attended by more than 400 players and officials and will be a bigger event than last year’s CricInfo Women’s World Cup.Fifty-four games will be played during the month of action which involves 16 teams, compared to 31 games for eight teams in the women’s event.New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Martin Snedden said: “It is a privilege and honour for New Zealand Cricket to host this event.”New Zealand yesterday named a preliminary trial squad of 19 who will attend the High Performance Centre on December 12-13.”They will be under the tutelage of (coach) Mark Greatbatch who will work with them to develop their one-day skills and they will play two matches. Hopefully they will go away with a better appreciation of how to play one-day cricket,” team manager Dayle Hadlee said.Only four players – captain Ross Taylor, Rob Nicol, Iain Robertson and Jesse Ryder – who played for New Zealand Under-19 in their series victory over South Africa are eligible for selection.Those selected will be attempting to follow in the footsteps of previous Under-19 World Cup players like Chris Cairns, Brian Lara, Mike Atherton, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Andrew Caddick, Sanath Jayasuriya, who all played in the inaugural event in 1988, while more recent New Zealand internationals at later World Cups have been Lou Vincent and James Franklin.The squad was chosed by youth team selectors Bruce Morrison, John Howell and Dayle Hadlee.A thorough selection process has been undertaken to search for talent in New Zealand with talent identification clinics held at each of the major associations.The selectors will also be attending the Gillette Cup finals to keep an eye out for any players who may have been missed.The final team selection will be on January 2 and the team will assemble at Lincoln on January 9 before playing three pre-tournament warm-up games. These will be against Canterbury ‘A’ on January 11, the England side on January 15 and Pakistan on January 17.Hadlee said he believed that along with the National Under-19 Tournament the playing programme will have the team pretty much on track and match-hardened going into the event.Greatbatch said he wasn’t going to tell anyone how far he thought the New Zealand team could get in the tournament.”It will be a very unique experience to play on home soil (for the selected players),” he said.The trialists are (five to be added): Ross Taylor (captain, Central Districts), Scott Baldwin (Central Districts), Geoff Barnett (Central Districts), Michael Bates (Auckland), James Bullick (Auckland), Greg Cates (Auckland), Craig Clare (Central Districts), Brooke Hatwell (Northern Districts), Fraser Hawes (Canterbury), Greg Hay (Central Districts), Stephen Murdoch (Wellington), Rob Nicol (Auckland), Iain Robertson (Canterbury), Jessie Ryder (Central Districts), Ian Sandbrook (Central Districts), Robbie Schaw (Central Districts), Lance Shaw (Auckland), Jordan Sheed (Otago), Richard Sherlock (Central Districts).

Yet another goal from Demba Cissé,

Two from Cabaye adds to Newcastle’s day,

They stay in fourth thanks to Adel Taarabt,

Whilst Spurs’ strength has been all but sapped,

Down at the bottom Bolton grab a draw,

Whilst Aston Villa fail to score,

Super curler by Blackburn’s Hoilett,

As Norwich City are unable to foil it,

Wolves condemned by Manchester City,

Not a surprise, they haven’t been pretty,

But the door is open to those in light blue,

After their victory at Molineux,

As at Old Trafford, United let it slip,

Terrible time for their form to dip,

Credit to the Toffees for putting up a fight,

As many have crumbled at Fergie’s might,

So now we move to the match in a week,

But who will flourish and who will creek?

 

 

Player of the Weekend

Whilst Alan Pardew has received great praise for his signings since he’s been at Newcastle, Yohan Cabaye has been somewhat overlooked, mainly down to the fantastic performances of his fellow arrivals. Despite being on the pitch for just under an hour against Stoke on Saturday, Cabaye helped to win the game for the Toon.

He headed home a rebound for his first after Papiss Demba Cissé’s effort hit the bar. The Frenchman then slid the Senegalese striker through on goal and as expected, Cissé scored before Cabaye then sealed the game. With the ball rattling around on the edge of the box, the midfielder calmly curled the ball low past Asmir Begovic to secure a victory putting Newcastle into the top four. So a top performance from the former Lille star who’s used to competing at the top of the table having won Le Championnat last season.

Goal of the Weekend

Junior Hoilett definitely has an eye for the spectacular as he’s shown with some of the goals he’s scored this season. His latest strike was another long range effort but arguably his most spectacular of the campaign. Cutting inside on the left hand side, Hoilett unleashed a superb curling effort from 30 yards which flew into the top right corner of John Ruddy’s goal.

What’s more, it effectively sealed the victory for Blackburn who turned in a very assured performance on Saturday afternoon. Junior Hoilett will probably not be at Ewood Park next season due to his contract expiring this summer but if he continues to turn in good performances, Hoilett can help to ensure Blackburn’s survival too.

Game of the Weekend

Goals don’t necessarily mean quality in a game but Sunday’s encounter between Manchester United and Everton certainly provided plenty entertainment. There was some fantastic finishing but this was combined with limp defending at times. Not many could have foreseen United letting a two-goal lead slip either even with Everton expected to test the Red Devils.

David Moyes side should take credit for their fantastic attitude and performance at Old Trafford. Nikica Jelavic in particular looks another fantastic signing by Moyes. He joins the likes of Papiss Demba Cissé, Pavel Pogrebnyak and Gylfi Sigurdsson as another great January import. As for Manchester United, they now face a very tricky derby game at neighbours Manchester City who will be buoyant ahead of next Monday’s game.

Quote of the Weekend

There’s usually only one winner when playing mind games with Sir Alex Ferguson. However, Roberto Mancini seems up for the fight judging by one comment he made after his side’s win against Wolves.

“After the derby, they [Manchester United] have two easy games.”

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The point Mancini was trying to make is that City have to face Newcastle after playing Manchester United; undoubtedly a very hard game. However, perhaps Mancini is forgetting his side’s results against Swansea and Sunderland, the two easy games supposedly. City lost to Swansea just over a month ago whilst Sunderland will be the only team this season that Manchester City have failed to beat after the Black Cats took four points off Mancini’s men.

Was the Italian being completely serious? No, he was being quite clever, as this could pep up Swansea and Sunderland for those games. Mancini’s mind games are much more subtle than those of say, Rafa “That’s a fact” Benitez and Kevin “I would love it if we beat them” Keegan. Whether he will emerge victorious might become clearer next weekend – either way next Monday’s game at the Etihad is an exciting prospect.

For more musings and frippery on the Premier League, follow @archiert1 on Twitter

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The NEW Premier League fixtures are out and both Tottenham and Arsenal will certainly be feeling they drew the short straw with their opening run of fixtures. It hasn’t been kind on the North London giants who will be facing all their main Champions League rivals in the opening weeks of the season.

In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include Alex McLeish vows to win over the Aston Villa fans; Samuel Eto’o issues a come and get me plea, while Brooking believes England need ten Jack Wilshere’s to succeed.

*

Full list of Premier League fixtures 2011-12 – Guardian

Villas-Boas challenges Hiddink for Chelsea job – Daily Telegraph

McLeish vows to win over Villa fans – Guardian

England need TEN Jack Wilsheres to win – Brooking – Mirror

Inter striker Eto’o issues ‘come and get me’ plea to Premier League – Daily Mail

Kid Varane’s Fergie fear – Sun

Marveaux set to complete Liverpool switch (PLUS video) – Mirror

Spurs defender Walker flattered to be dubbed the ‘new Roberto Carlos’ – Daily Mail

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United set to enter race for Modric – Guardian

Arsenal rebuffed in new move to sign Shakhtar Donetsk’s midfielder Costa – Daily Mail

£35m for Cesc… not a penny more – Sun

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Wolves winger Matt Jarvis has laughed off suggestions that he is playing well enough to earn an England call-up.

Fabio Capello will name his squad for this month’s friendly against France in the next week, and there have been calls for former Gillingham star Jarvis to be given his chance.

However, the 24-year-old has played down his achievements, saying:“If Sir Alex (Ferguson) was impressed by what he saw, that’s fantastic coming from a manager of such standing in the game.

“But I’ve got to stay focused and keep doing well for Wolves and making sure my performances don’t drop.

“I’m playing well and everything seems to be going well at the moment. I’m enjoying playing against these players (in the Premier League). I love taking them on and seeing how I fare against them.

“It’s hard for me to talk about England. If it happens it would be fantastic for me. It’s one of the things I’ve always wanted to do. But I’m not assuming anything yet.”

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Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Manchester City have been eliminated from the Europa League in dramatic fashion, after they beat Sporting Lisbon 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night but lost the tie on away goals.

In a sluggish first-half display by the hosts, Matias Fernandez put the visitors into the lead and doubled City’s task at hand, before Ricky van Wolfswinkel made it 2-0 on the night to the Portuguese team at the interval.

City fought back valiantly in the second period and ended up winning the match, as a Sergio Aguero brace and a Mario Balotelli strike put them within touching distance of the tournament’s quarter-finals; however a winning goal could not be found.

Roberto Mancini admitted after the game that he was frustrated with Balotelli for conceding a free-kick that led to Sporting’s opener, but shouldered the blame personally for the defeat.

“I was disappointed with him because he conceded the free-kick,” the Italian told ESPN.

“It is not his fault that we lost this game. I am the manager and it is my fault, not Mario’s fault. The players did everything on the pitch.

“The first half was very strange. We left a lot of space for them to counter attack. We didn’t play as a team in the first half.

“We didn’t do a good job in the first half, we conceded two goals. The second half changed everything, we scored three goals and had chances to score a fourth goal.

“I am disappointed because there were mistakes. I feel sorry for our supporters because they deserved to go to the next stage,” he confessed.

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City will need to bounce back quickly, as they take on Chelsea in the Premier League on Monday night.

By Gareth McKnight

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There is a lot of hype over the approaching summer transfer window in world football with clubs expected to spend and improve on their squads, especially in the English Premier League. But whilst the media constantly generate rumours on players going here, there and everywhere in multi million pound transfers, there isn’t so much focus on any potential bargains.

A number of players are out of contract come May/June 2011 and it appears most of them are waiting to see what offers come in before they put pen to paper with their current club or a new club altogether. In some cases, it’s the club that don’t see a future for the player and they’ll be hoping to impress other managers with the run-in of games to the end of the season.

But what are some of the best potentially free agents that could turn up at your club this summer? Last year we saw the likes of Tottenham Hotspur gain the experience of William Gallas for free and despite his Arsenal and Chelsea connections, he’s certainly proved a bargain.

So join me for the Top 10 out of contract players this summer, there’s certainly a variety in class. Of course there will be an honourable mentions list.

Click on Robert Green to see the top TEN Bosman deals to be had this summer

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List compiled by Matt Freebody

On-loan Stoke City winger Jermaine Pennant is refusing to give up hope of being capped by England.

Pennant, 27, joined the Potters from Spanish side Real Zaragoza on a loan deal last month and has made three appearances so far.

The former Arsenal, Birmingham City and Liverpool moved to Spain after seeing his career stall in England.

Pennant was a regular at under-21 level for England but has failed to kick on and win a full cap.

However, he still believes he could have a future with the national team should he shine during his time at the Britannia Stadium.

"Every player would love to play for their country and if that ever came it would be a great achievement, but first of all I have to do it for my club," he said.

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"I have been in and out of teams and been abroad but now I am back in the Premier League and hopefully will be here for a bit longer.

"If I can do well every week and stay injury free, then hopefully my name will get thrown about a bit."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Ryan Giggs marked his 900th appearance for Manchester United by scoring an injury-time winner against Norwich on Sunday to give his side a 2-1 win.

Paul Scholes had given the Premier League champions the lead inside seven minutes, but a Grant Holt effort with six minutes remaining looked to have salvaged a point for the Canaries; however Giggs had other ideas and scored in the first minute of stoppage time.

Sir Alex Ferguson was not especially happy with his team’s efforts at Carrow Road, but heralded the achievements of his veteran midfielder.

“It could prove to be very special, but for Ryan to score the winning goal with the last kick of the ball on his 900th game, well, he probably deserves that for the career he’s had,” the Scottish coach told Sky Sports.

“But I have to say we were lucky today in the sense that although we made a host of chances, Danny Welbeck could have scored four. I thought Norwich were the better team.

“In that first half, they put 12 crosses into the box and if it wasn’t for (Rio) Ferdinand, (Jonny) Evans and David de Gea, we wouldn’t have survived it,” he admitted.

Giggs meanwhile was delighted with grabbing the winner, which he hopes will help The Red Devils in their title ambitions.

“Yeah, it was obviously special and Norwich made it a tough game for us and they played really well. To score late on is always nice and to get the winner is a bonus,” he concluded.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Following on from the ‘Most Hated XI’ is another team but this time made up of some of our favourite cult heroes.

The first question is ‘what is a cult hero?’ Well for starters, here’s what it isn’t- a truly great player that’s admired by everyone both inside and outside his club. Someone like Eric Cantona could never be a ‘cult hero’ because all United fans love him while fans from other clubs may at least have a grudging respect- I stress the word ‘may’ and obviously Crystal Palace fans are not among them.

No, a cult hero is the sort of player that not all fans love but the ones who do, adore with a passion. They’re the players that many of the opposition fans hate, or the strikers who’ve turned out for you team and scored one goal in twenty games which happens to be a winner against your arch-rivals. They’re sometimes the comical figures that we love to hate, the panto villain types that a core of us actually admire.

Then there’s that other type of cult hero, the genuine, decent talented player that for some reason never gets the respect of admiration of the mainstream media, so its left up to us fans to let the world know just how great they are. Cult heroes more often than not play the game we imagine the way we would for our club- what they lack in skill they make up for in effort, never giving up and always leaving the pitch having given 100%.

Most of these players may only play a handful of games for your club, others may be there for their for slightly longer, but they will always be admired for making supporting our team that little bit better. All of the players have played in the Premier League but some made their ‘cult hero’ status assured in Division One.

Click on Julian Dicks below to see the Premier League’s ‘Cult Hero XI’

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List compiled by Justin Mottershead