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Zimbabwe Cricket have confirmed that Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand will be touring the country in the course of a busy schedule in 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Mar-2011Zimbabwe Cricket have confirmed that Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand will be touring the country in the course of a busy schedule in 2011 that includes both one-day internationals and Test matches, as well as a triangular series including South Africa and an Australian A side.”The Zimbabwe Cricket team is scheduled to have a busy schedule in 2011-2012 season commencing in August,” ZC managing director Ozias Bvute told in Zimbabwe. “Tours have been confirmed with Bangladesh, Pakistan, New Zealand and a triangular series against South Africa and Australian ‘A’ sides.”Bvute admitted frustration at Zimbabwe’s performance at the World Cup, where the team thrashed Canada and Kenya but struggled to be competitive against the top sides. He suggested that more matches against strong teams was the key to Zimbabwe’s development.”There is a lot of disappointment after our inability to progress to the quarter-finals at the World Cup, however, given the schedule of matches lined up over the next four years we feel this should adequately prepare our team for the next World Cup.”Zimbabwe’s home season begins with Bangladesh’s visit between July 1 and July 22. The two teams have been regular opponents in recent years, having played 18 ODIs against each other since January 2009, with Bangladesh winning 13 of those games. Zimbabwe will play a one-off Test match and four ODIs against them before Australia A arrive for a one-day tri-series also involving Zimbabwe and South Africa, and two four-day matches against the host. Match details are yet to be confirmed at this stage, but the tour will run from late June to late July.Pakistan then visit for another Test match, three ODIs and two Twenty20 matches from July 26 to August 19. New Zealand, who sent an A side to Zimbabwe for an unofficial Test series against Zimbabwe A last year, have not yet finalised dates for their tour.Understandably, the squads for visiting international sides are yet to be named, but Cricket Australia’s National Selection Panel has announced a provisional 24-man squad which will be trimmed in May.”We have given the provisional squad advanced notice for this tour to allow them sufficient time to prepare for the series pending selection in the final squad,” said National Talent Manager Greg Chappell. “The Australia A program in recent years has played a big role in readying athletes for the rigors of international cricket, with players such as Tim Paine, Callum Ferguson, Cameron White and Mitchell Starc all coming into the Australian set-up at varying times over the last couple of years and having an impact.”This group is a cross section of the best young players in the country. Some of them have already had a taste of international cricket and show signs of being among those that will be the backbone of our teams in the future, while the others have shown enough in domestic cricket to suggest that they are the type of cricketer that we will need to be able to challenge India, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka for supremacy in the next few years.”With the new World Test Championship and the new ODI ranking periods beginning straight after the ICC Cricket World Cup and with tours to Sri Lanka and South Africa later this year and New Zealand and India touring Australia next summer, it will be a great opportunity for these young players to show their skills and put their name forward to be part of this challenging period for Australian cricket,” added Chappell.The last time an Australian representative team visited Zimbabwe was in 2008, when a Centre of Excellence Scholarship team toured Africa.Provisional Australia A squad: George Bailey, Michael Beer, Luke Butterworth, Trent Copeland, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Callum Ferguson, Aaron Finch, Peter George, Jon Holland, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Nicolas Maddinson, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Stephen O’Keefe, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

While David Moyes has stated that his West Ham United side are in need of reinforcements in the January transfer window, the Hammers are yet to get any incoming deals over the line this month, and the deadline is edging closer with each passing day.

However, with it being reported that a new centre-back and centre-forward are the Irons’ priorities in the current window, the east Londoners have been linked with countless players in both positions. One of the more intriguing names tipped for a switch to the London Stadium this month is that of Inter Milan forward Alexis Sanchez.

Indeed, according to a report by La Tercera, Moyes is plotting an $8m (£6m) bid for the 33-year-old this month, with the Chile international also believed to be keen on a move back to the Premier League.

Moyes could repeat Lingard trick with Sanchez

While it may well be true that Sanchez is entering the twilight years of his career at the top level of the game, the £3.15m-rated striker has nevertheless proven during his time in Italy that he still has a great deal to offer.

Indeed, the £175k-per-week forward played a crucial role in Inter’s Scudetto-winning campaign last season, scoring seven goals, registering seven assists and creating eight big chances over his 30 Serie A appearances, with only 12 of these coming as starts.

These returns saw the player who Pep Guardiola dubbed a “fighter” and a “perfect” fit for Inter earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.04, ranking him as Antonio Conte’s ninth-best performer in the Italian top flight in 2020/21.

As such, should West Ham indeed manage to seal a deal for Sanchez this month, and he subsequently goes on to replicate this level of form in the second half of the Premier League campaign at the London Stadium, Moyes could well secure a repeat of his inspired move for Jesse Lingard last season.

Indeed, over his 16 Premier League appearances during his loan spell at West Ham in 2021, the £18m-rated attacking midfielder scored nine goals, registered five assists and created three big chances for his teammates, as well as taking 2.6 shots and making 1.1 key passes per game.

These metrics saw the £75k-per-week Manchester United ace earn a highly impressive seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.19, ranking him as the Hammers’ best player in the top flight.

Sanchez will cost West Ham a pretty penny in wages, but considering the club’s desperate need of attacking reinforcements this month, a move for the Inter veteran would very much appear to be a wise one for Moyes to pursue, as the Chilean could well be a perfect fit for the Irons.

In other news – “Someone we like”: Ex drops teasing West Ham transfer update, fans will be buzzing

Andrew Gale and Jacques Rudolph both hit half-centuries as Yorkshire Carnegie raced to a crushing nine-wicket win over Leicestershire Foxes in their Friends Provident t20 clash at Grace Road

20-Jun-2010
ScorecardAndrew Gale and Jacques Rudolph both hit half-centuries as Yorkshire Carnegie raced to a crushing nine-wicket win over Leicestershire Foxes in their Friends Provident t20 clash at Grace Road.Having restricted the Foxes to 148 for 8, Yorkshire knocked off the runs with 17 balls to spare to claim their third win in the competition and send the Foxes to their fourth defeat and their third in a row at home.Yorkshire captain Gale hammered an unbeaten 65 off 42 balls, while South African Rudolph slammed 53 off 37 balls, with two sixes and four other boundaries. They took the game beyond the Foxes’ reach with an opening stand of 103 in 12 overs, setting the tempo by scoring 64 off the six overs of power play.It was a blistering exhibition of stroke play against some mediocre bowling from the home side. Rudolph, having already hit left-arm spinner Claude Henderson for a six, repeated the dose to reach his fifty off 34 balls before finally falling to a leg-side stumping by Paul Nixon off the bowling of James Benning.But that brought in Herschelle Gibbs, who joined Gale in another free-scoring partnership that took Yorkshire to victory with time to spare. Gale, having reached fifty off 34 balls with seven boundaries, hit the winning runs with a cut to the boundary off Wayne White, while Gibbs contributed a quickfire 29 that included a trademark six off Jigar Naik plus four other boundaries.It was a comfortable victory for Yorkshire, who had bowled tidily after the Foxes had won the toss.Only Brad Hodge, with 43 which was his best score of the competition so far, and James Taylor, who hit a sparkling 60 off 42 balls, provided any real resistance as the Foxes lost four wickets in the final two overs of the innings, scoring just eight runs.Tino Best claimed 2for 26, and Richard Pyrah took 2 for 19 as the Yorkshire attack kept a firm grip on the match. There was also an impressive four overs from Tim Bresnan, who finished with one for 21 to confirm his readiness to join up with the England one-day squad for the forthcoming series with Australia.The only black mark for Yorkshire was a three-point penalty imposed on bowler Steven Patterson who had to be taken out of the attack in his final over after being no-balled twice for head-high bouncers.

An update has emerged regarding the Ibrox future of Rangers dud John Lundstram…

What’s the talk?

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has suggested that the Gers could sell the midfielder this month in order to make a quick profit on him.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “Obviously he was signed by a different manager, in Steven Gerrard.

“So for Rangers, they might decide to cash in on Lundstram right now and they make a bit of money out of it after getting him on a free transfer.”

This comes after The Daily Record claimed that Chris Wilder is interested in signing Lundstram for English Championship side Middlesbrough. The pair worked together at Sheffield United in the Premier League and a reunion could be on the cards in the coming weeks.

Fans will love it

Rangers fans will surely love this update from O’Rourke, as Lundstram has struggled since his move to Glasgow, so selling him for an instant profit could be a great move for the club from a footballing and financial perspective.

In terms of the off-field benefits, it would mean that Ross Wilson managed to bring a player in for nothing before selling him for a profit just six months later, handing him more funds with which to improve Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s squad.

On the pitch, it just has not worked out for the English midfielder, and fans could well love to see him being moved on. He has been unable to nail down a regular starting spot and has only started twice since Van Bronckhorst took over from Steven Gerrard, suggesting that the Dutchman is not a fan of his style of play.

Last month, Frank McAvennie has suggested that the end to Lundstram’s Blades career foreshadowed what has happened at Ibrox this season, saying: “He’s dropped off the map. Rangers made a big fuss of signing him in the summer and to me, it seems like he never gets a game.

“I know he’s scored a couple of goals so clearly he can hack it up here. I remember Sheffield United fans being happy he was leaving, that was never a good sign.”

This highlights how much of a disaster the last 12-18 months have been for Lundstram, as he seemingly had a poor end to his spell at Bramall Lane and could now be dumped by Rangers. Hopefully, if he does leave Ibrox, he is able to find his feet and enjoy a good run of form to rejuvenate his career.

AND in other news, Van Bronckhorst could land the new Prso as Rangers submit offer for “groundbreaking” January transfer…

Shane Watson says all of the Australian bowlers should be blamed for the side’s lack of penetration on the fourth day as England stormed back into the opening Test.

Peter English at the Gabba28-Nov-2010Shane Watson says all of the Australian bowlers should be blamed for the side’s lack of penetration on the fourth day as England stormed back into the opening Test. The locals started with a 202-run lead but by stumps were 88 behind after the visiting top three took advantage of an inconsistent attack to post 1 for 309.Mitchell Johnson struggled with his line and Ben Hilfenhaus was unthreatening for long periods, while Peter Siddle could not build on his impressive six-wicket return in the first innings. “I don’t think you can single out Mitchell today,” Watson said. “All of us, the bowlers, didn’t perform particularly well, me included.”Andrew Strauss (110) and Alastair Cook (132 not out) were regularly given balls to cut, pull and drive, and the wayward approach also allowed them constant singles. Jonathan Trott joined the fun after Strauss was out stumped to Marcus North, the only wicket to fall on an extremely difficult day for the hosts.”It came down to sustaining pressure and unfortunately we weren’t able to do that,” Watson said. “We did it for little periods but weren’t able to execute for long enough. The English guys batted well, particularly Strauss and Cook, but all of us as a bowling group weren’t able to consistently execute to build the pressure that was needed.”The problem has been a feature of Australia’s attack since the last Ashes series and is highlighted on flat pitches when the bowlers can’t make things happen. “That’s something we are continuing to work on as a group,” Watson said. “We know how important it is on flat wickets and there’s no doubt that there’s going to be a lot of flat wickets throughout this whole summer. We have to continue to improve, to make sure we get better at it.”This surface was supportive to the fast men for the first two days but has flattened out. There are a few cracks to aim for but England’s position is so strong that they may be in a position to push for victory over the second half of the final day. That depends on lifting their scoring rate in the morning, something Watson hopes they try to achieve.”It would be nice if they did,” he said. “It might give us a few more opportunities to be able to take some wickets.”Although England were reluctant to think too far ahead in the game, Australia’s former captain Ian Chappell said that a positive approach in the final stages of the game could have a major bearing on the momentum of the series, much as was the case when England snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat at Cardiff in 2009.”A draw has got to be the favourite, but England should at some point just start to push a little bit, and try to frighten Australia,” Chappell told ESPNcricinfo. “I don’t for a moment think they will bowl them out – if they do you’ll be talking about this one in the same terms as Headingley 1981, or India’s victory over Australia in Calcutta. But even if England can push Australia into a bit of a corner and get five of them out and put the frighteners on them, then they would go to Adelaide with a huge psychological boost.”Despite the swift momentum shift, Watson said Australia were still in the game. “But we do have to turn it around very quickly,” he said. “We still need to get nine wickets and that seems a long way away at the moment. But there’s definitely still quite a bit of hope for us.”

Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist Paul Brown has provided an update on the contract situation of West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek. 

The lowdown: Instant hit

Signed for £19.1million from Slavia Prague on an initial four-year deal following a successful loan spell at the London Stadium in 2020 (BBC), the powerful midfield general has already been earmarked for new and improved terms.

However, recently it emerged in a report from 90min that the Hammers had placed negotiations over a new contract with the 26-year-old on hold until the summer at the earliest.

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As the end of the season comes into view, speculation as to whether those talks are forthcoming has begun…

The latest: Brown provides fresh update

In conversation with GMS, Brown has shared what he knows from the feeling inside the east London club, claiming they are ‘very relaxed’ over the Czech Republic international’s future.

“The club are very relaxed about it. They don’t seem to think there’s any prospect of him refusing and trying to go elsewhere.

“There’s obviously the question marks still over Declan Rice and there’s no way West Ham could afford to let both first-choice midfielders to leave in the same window. Whether they actually get a decent offer for Rice or not, they feel they could accept his future is up in the air anyway.

“I think all parties are basically being sensible at the moment and just seeing where they end up before agreeing the figures. I don’t think it’s likely that he leaves.”

The verdict: Sign him up

Whilst many would point towards the long-term future of Declan Rice as the highest priority for GSB this summer, securing the services of Soucek must not be far behind.

Since becoming an Iron, the 48-cap towering midfielder has scored 19 times in 99 appearances for the club, also missing just one game through injury in that time, the type of availability any manager would kill for.

Combative, powerful and with a knack for scoring important goals, whilst forging a stellar partnership alongside Rice at the heart of David Moyes’ side, Soucek has already attracted reported interest from German giants Bayern Munich and should therefore be regarded as a key man to get signed on the dotted line.

In other news: The Times: West Ham weighing ‘monster’ player move alongside three more potential signings! Find out more here.

Cedric Kipre, Matt Phillips and Adam Reach were deemed to be West Brom’s poorest performers in their 2-1 defeat to Brighton in the FA Cup third round.

The Baggies traded Championship commitments for domestic cup action on Saturday afternoon, welcoming Premier League outfit Brighton to The Hawthorns. Unfortunately, Valerien Ismael’s side exited the competition at the first attempt, losing 2-1 after extra time having initially taken the lead through Callum Robinson.

According to Sofascore’s performance metrics, it was Kipre, Phillips and Reach who stood out as the worst performers for West Brom of those to have played at least 60 minutes. We explore why that was the case.

Adam Reach – 6.4

The 28-year-old’s Baggies career has not got going since he joined from Sheffield Wednesday last summer and this was another ineffective outing, which took him to 20 Albion appearances without a single goal.

The winger played no key passes and had no shots on target in the match – a disappointing return, considering he is deemed a creative player – and he lost the ball a whopping 25 times, the most of any outfield player for the home side.

Reach played just two out of nine accurate long balls, too, and he did little to win over any of his detractors.

Matt Phillips – 6.3

Phillips was another Baggies player who failed to find his best form against the Seagulls, not affecting matters enough in the final third.

The attacker lost possession 12 times in a loose display, while from a defensive sense, he didn’t make one tackle or interception, failing to ruffle Brighton’s defenders’ feathers.

Phillips also didn’t have a shot on target in the match and won just one out of seven ground duels.

Cedric Kipre – 6.0

Kipre started in his usual right-sided centre-back role but had a very disappointing afternoon at the office, summed up by his game-changing red card midway through the second half.

He committed three fouls in total during a reckless performance, and he also failed to make a single interception or get a shot away during the game.

Furthermore, the 25-year-old won just three out of seven ground duels, as he was bettered by Brighton players all too often on a day to forget.

In other news: This Daryl Dike tweet had lots of Baggies fans gushing

South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith was confident of his sides preparation ahead of the first Test against West Indies

Cricinfo staff10-Jun-2010South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith was confident of his side’s preparation ahead of the first Test against West Indies, despite the practice game against Trinidad and Tobago being marred by poor weather.”We got good batting in the warm-up game and we would have liked our bowlers to have at least 30 to 40 overs in the middle but that did not happen,” Smith told . “But the coaches are confident that the guys have done enough. The bowlers had a good work-out in the middle on Tuesday so I am pretty comfortable where we are in terms of preparation.”The visitors go into the series as favourites, following their sweeps of the Twenty20 and ODI legs of the tour. However, Smith is aware that his side had not played Tests in a long time, and was wary of a backlash from the hosts. So he is eager to make an impact in the first Test and carry the momentum through the rest of the series.”The first Test is crucial in the series. Mentally we must make sure we are ready for the type of Test cricket we are going to play. The West Indies have been away and re-grouped and have got a few new faces around them. They are that kind of team that if you give them a sniff they can hurt you. They will be very motivated to bounce back after the one-day series loss. From our perspective it is about re-focusing ourselves to make sure that we make the last 15 days on tour positive ones for us.”The first Test is the one that we really want to make count. It is the one with a lot of question marks about how our preparations are as we haven’t played Test cricket for a while. This is the one where we really want to put in a big peg and start well. We must control what we can control and that is to play our brand of cricket that has been successful for quite a long period of time,” Smith said.West Indies have not played Test cricket since the Australian summer where they were competitive despite losing the series 2-0. “Even though they lost their last Test series in Australia they came close in a couple of those matches and they have shown that they can be very, very competitive so we have to make sure that we are on the money,” Smith said.South Africa’s last Test assignment was the two-match series in India, which they tied one-all. Smith believes the conditions in the West Indies will be similar to what they encountered on the India tour. “The wicket is going to be pretty dry. Reverse swing is going to be a factor and there is going to be a bit of spin throughout the Test match. I think we can understand that we are going to be playing subcontinent style Test cricket rather than what one might encounter at the Wanderers.”

As per Sky Sports journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, writing on his personal website, there has been a transfer update out of Tottenham Hotspur involving Juventus midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.

The Lowdown: Tottenham enter Kulusevski talks…

The January transfer window deadline is nearing, and with just two more full days remaining, Tottenham are running out of time to back manager Antonio Conte with major signings.

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Transfer chief Fabio Paratici has already seen moves hijacked for winger Adama Traore and forward Luis Diaz with the Italian now turning to Juventus starlet Dejan Kulusevski.

Talks are underway to try and bring the Sweden international to north London but, according to Di Marzio, he isn’t the only Juve player who Spurs have made an offer for.

The Latest: Tottenham table ‘proposal’…

Sharing news on his website on Friday afternoon, citing what he heard ‘in the past few hours’, the Sky Sports reporter said Tottenham have also made a ‘proposal’ to sign Bentancur on loan.

However, The Old Lady outright rejected their approach for a temporary transfer as they did not ‘appreciate’ those conditions.

Spurs, according to Di Marzio, are still working on an agreement for Kulusevski despite this development, and it is not clear if they will try again for Bentancur.

The Verdict: Blow for Conte?

The South American ace, looking like a star at international level, has already amassed near-half a century of caps for his native Uruguay and played in every match of their 2018 World Cup campaign.

Bentancur even notched an assist from midfield during the tournament with the midfield maestro possessing lots of big stage experience at just 24-years-old.

It’s little wonder Juve aren’t willing to sanction a loan and reportedly want €30 million (£25m) if they’re to green-light his exit before January 31.

In other news: Spurs now preparing last gasp marquee bid to sign ‘special’ forward for Conte, find out more here.

Michael Hussey is a man of lists and routine but he was forced into an uncomfortable rush as Australia started the second Test by losing three wickets in 13 balls

Peter English at Adelaide03-Dec-2010Michael Hussey is a man of lists and routine but he was forced into an uncomfortable rush as Australia started the second Test by losing three wickets in 13 balls. Hussey, the No.5, walked to the wicket after 11 minutes, having barely had time to get ready before Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke were knocked over.”I was just rushing to get my gear really,” Hussey said. “It was all happening very quickly. I couldn’t really believe it to be honest, it was just [a feeling] of shock. Before I blinked I was out there in the middle.”Hussey provided a very steady hand with a vital 93, but even his impressive effort could only get Australia to 245, a total about half of what is appropriate for Adelaide. But all the focus was on the first three overs, which started with Katich’s run-out without facing a ball.”I think that was the first time it’s happened in his career, so he was obviously a bit disappointed,” Hussey said. “We place a big focus on the first five overs of the day and trying to get the momentum going in our favour. Katto was just disappointed that we got off to such a poor start. He was in shock really, more than anything.” Almost two hours after his dismissal Katich was still sitting alone outside the dressing room.Ponting (0) and Clarke (2) both fell edging James Anderson to second slip and Hussey was suddenly required. “I was actually looking forward to having a nice relax for a few hours and watching the first session,” Hussey said. “I have a set routine. Once a wicket falls, I get my shoes and whites on. When two go down, I get my gear on pretty quick. I was upstairs watching, obviously not for very long.”Despite the brutal setbacks, Hussey was pleased with the extent of the recovery. “We probably would have taken 250 after being 3 for 2,” he said. “Obviously we’d have liked a fair few more. We’re a bit disappointed in the dressing room.”Hussey has moved from being terribly out of form to the side’s most productive batsman over the past week. He produced a career-saving 195 in the first Test and was closing on another century when he drove at Graeme Swann and edged to slip.”It’s only two innings,” he said of the turnaround. “It doesn’t really make a summer or win us the Ashes. I think you probably need a little bit of luck. It’s a very fine line with batting and even today I think I nicked one just short of Graeme Swann at second slip. I was also dropped by Jimmy Anderson.”While the score was Australia’s smallest first innings since 1992, Hussey said the team remained “pretty upbeat” and were encouraged by some balls staying low. “We know we’re going to have to bowl well but we can take a lot of heart that England were bowled out for 260 in the first Test up in Brisbane and came back very strongly,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we’ve lost the Test match whatsoever.”