All posts by h716a5.icu

Everton and PSV Eindhoven probably spoke about Denzel Dumfries before the start of Euro 2020, says former Toffees defender Michael Ball.

While the Netherlands crashed out of the Euros in disappointing fashion after being eliminated by the Czech Republic, Dumfries still managed to have a good tournament.

Despite playing as a wing-back, the 25-year-old was able to come up with a couple of goals and he is now being heavily linked with a move to Everton.

According to Dutch outlet ED, the Toffees have been trying to get a deal done for Dumfries, with director of football Marcel Brands the one spearheading the move, and Ball reckons this has probably been in the pipeline for some time now.

“I think Everton and PSV held talks before the Euros,” the retired full-back exclusively told FFC. “He had a fantastic Euros. The gamble [not selling prior] has worked out for PSV.

“They would like to bring top dollar for him. They like to sell to the top clubs in Europe, in Spain, in Italy, in Germany, and that’s how they work as a football club.

“It’s a gamble PSV have played and it’s worked in their favour.”

Indeed, after his performances in the Euros, Everton’s pursuit of Dumfries looks far from being a simple one.

If reports are to be believed, it now looks like the likes of Inter Milan and Bayern Munich are also interested in the Netherlands international, complicating things for the Toffees to say the least.

No provincial warm-up match attracts interest like this

Matthew Appleby11-Nov-2002No provincial warm-up match attracts interest like this. TV cameras, national selectors, and, possibly most surprisingly, fans, turned out in force to watch what may be the nucleus of the South Island’s first-class teams for 2002/03, or may be a final footnote in New Zealand cricket history, when the chapter on the strike is written.With the likes of Sir Richard Hadlee, Brian McKechnie, Denis Aberhart, Glenn Turner, Richard Reid and Michael Sharpe watching, 22 previously rather obscure young men had opportunities to impress as the players’ strike hit its seventh week.Although few looked in the class of the strikers, that does not necessarily mean the assembled schoolboys, country hopefuls and ambitious club cricketers are poorer players than the striking 50 ahead of them in the provincial reckoning, said one player, tired of the posturing of the striking pros and their representatives.”There was never any doubt I would go for it,” he said.The idea of a new broom also appealed to many in the crowd at a hot and windy Dudley Park in Rangiora.Canterbury began badly, after winning the toss and batting. They lost three wickets for only seven runs before strikebreaker No 1, Ben Yock, smacked 35 off 39 balls. That the burly former first-class wicket-keeper was second top scorer in the match showed the batting was not up to much.Only Jeremy Kench (27) and Peter Borren (14 in a partnership of 49 with Yock) got on top of Otago’s four right arm fast-medium bowlers and two spinners.Both provincial coaches said they were disappointed in batting efforts that saw 272 runs scored in 83 overs for the loss of 17 wickets in the day.Otago began worse, with David Hay, an 18-year-old from Amberley, who is unavailable on Monday and Tuesday because of bursary exams, taking three for seven for Canterbury off his first three overs.Rapt to dismiss Pakistani Test player Mohammad Wasim leg before wicket, Hay’s hero is Geoff Allott, who, ironically, as a member of the New Zealand Cricket Players’ Association, is a leader in the call to be staunch in the strike.But there was no denying Hay’s chance to impress, although the fierce nor’wester caused the left-armer to bowl five wides in his seven overs.”The young guys are learning so much, so it’s quite an honour to go through what we’ve been through in a short period of time,” Hay said.When Hay and fellow North Canterbury opening bowler Brendon Donkers went off, Canterbury’s rusty back-ups, Under-19 World Cup players Leighton Burtt and Borren, struggled to capture form on their return to bowling from injury.Both are great prospects for Canterbury, and if nothing else, some of the youngsters selected in this game showed enough confidence, skill and resolution to put pressure on both the under-achieving provinces’ professionals, if and when the old pros come back.Otago’s Robert King, 25-year-old younger brother of Auckland’s Richard, and Grant Billcliff, brother of ex-Otago players Mark and Ian, added 59 for the fifth-wicket to settle Otago’s reply.King (71) hit three sixes and, when Billcliff (30) lobbed Borren to mid-on, survived a swirler on 24 to take Otago close to victory at 122/6, before he edged Donkers to Canterbury wicket-keeper/captain Paul Rugg, a player in Sharpe’s Canterbury Country teams of the late 1990s.”If we can improve each day, I’ll be happy,” said Sharpe, whose preparation this season, like the rest of the provincial coaches, has been wrecked by the strike.”We’re on a roll,” joked Turner. “We won the last match last season and the first this.” He felt the pitch didn’t do much and worried that if both sides batting does not improve the plan for each province to bat a whole day on Monday and Tuesday is optimistic.It may all be academic if positive noises about the end of the strike come to something this week, but for Hay and King, their performances today will do no harm in furthering their chances no matter what the competition.

Sheffield United look set to be offered a deal to bring Joe Allen to Bramall Lane this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by the Sheffield Star, who claim that, despite the Stoke City manager Michael O’Neill stating that the 31-year-old is not for sale in the summer transfer window, Slavisa Jokanovic’s side have been informed that they will nevertheless be offered a chance to sign the midfielder ahead of next season.

The report goes on to state that it remains unclear at present whether or not the new Blades boss will be interested in bringing the Wales international to the club this summer, although The Star suggest that the departure of John Lundstram, coupled with Sander Berge being heavily linked with a transfer out of Bramall Lane, will leave the 52-year-old requiring greater depth in the position.

Jokanovic must not move

While Allen is a player who boasts a significant amount of Premier League and Championship experience, there is a very strong argument to make against United making a move for the midfielder this summer.

Firstly, with Allen now being 31 years of age, despite the £1.8m-rated man having highly impressed in the top flight of English football during his spell at Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp dubbing Allen an “unbelievable” player, the midfielder is very much now entering the twilight years of his footballing career, meaning it would be unlikely that Jokanovic would gain any resale value if he were to sign the Welshman this summer.

This leads nicely on to the second drawback of a move for Allen, as the midfielder is thought to be earning a whopping £50k-per-week at the bet356 Stadium.

If United were to bring Allen in on a deal of this size in the summer transfer window, he would immediately become the club’s highest-paid player, with the midfielder simply not appearing to be worth such an amount relative to the rest of the Blades’ squad.

Finally, with the former Swansea City man also having been spent two rather lengthy spells on the sidelines for Stoke last season, due to both an Achilles tendon rupture and a hamstring injury, just how much game time Allen would go on to get after a potential switch to the Blades would seem to be something of a lottery.

As such, a move for Allen this summer would appear to be highly unadvisable for Sheffield United, as there will undoubtedly be cheaper, fitter and younger options available to Jokanovic on the market this summer.

In other news: Sheff Utd dealt transfer blow over “incredible” £43k-p/w gem, Jokanovic will be gutted

“Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,” teaches the Bible

Erapalli Prasanna30-Jul-2002″Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,” teaches the Bible. The Indian think tank comprising John Wright and Sourav Ganguly completely ignored this essential truth while preparing for the Lord’s Test match. Despite it being common knowledge that the track at Lord’s was a dry one, they decided to omit India’s best spin bowler. That one decision, in my view, lost India theTest match even before it began.The Test had provided India with the opportunity to make an ideal start to the series. The morale of the team was high following their win in the NatWest final at the same venue a couple of weeks ago. Understandably, the whole nation was expecting India to win against a English team weakened considerably by the loss of key players to injuries.
© CricInfoBut by dropping Harbhajan Singh, who in my opinion is our ace bowler, the Indians played into England’s hands. The only English player who seems to have any idea how to deal with the is Marcus Trescothick, without doubt their best batsman. With Trescothick out of the Test and probably the series with injury, the young off-spinner should have had no trouble inpsyching the English batsmen out. Harbhajan Singh might not be as great a spinner of the ball as Muttiah Muralitharan, but he still has a potent weapon – his straighter one.Hussain, in sharp contrast to Ganguly, knew exactly about the resources at his disposal and employed them with laudable wisdom. The English skipper had to go into this Test match without his key fast bowlers – Caddick, Gough and Tudor. To add to his woes, commercial interests nullified whatever advantage the home side enjoys when it comes to preparing the wicket for a Test match. Hussain and Fletcher, then, went for firepower in the form of young Simon Jones. The sight of the youngster hurling thunderbolts on a flat track made a deep impression on me; I feel he surely has a glittering international career ahead of him.The English planning was meticulous; Jones and Flintoff had been given the brief to soften up the batsmen by digging it short. The two well-built young men executed this plan to perfection; Matthew Hoggard and Craig White benefited from the hostile bowling of the duo. All of which makes me wonder whether the Test match would have lasted for more than four days on a lively track. Hussain, for one, would surely have loved the prospect of unleashing his pack of fast bowlers at the Indians on a bouncy track.Talking of the planning, there were a few instances that made me sure that the English were a better prepared and focused team than the Indians.First, Virender Sehwag getting out to Ashley Giles at the fag end of the second evening. Sehwag was foolish enough to fall into Giles’ trap, and it was the beginning of the end for India – from a position of relative strength (128/1) they squandered the initiative. Second, the decision to send Ashish Nehra as thenightwatchman was a huge blunder – sadly one of only too many by the Indians.In contrast, the English seemed to have done a lot of homework. I am positive that the English have studied many videos of Sachin Tendulkar’s batting. Tendulkar’s fondness for the shot off his pads and also the attacking square-cut have come in for close scrutiny. It was the field placement in the second innings that lured Tendulkar to play across the line, and I have to laudHussain for all the thought that went behind that dismissal.It was by all means a thorough display of professionalism by the English team. If India’s fortunes have nose-dived in the space of a fortnight, England’s have bounced back after this thumping win.It would be prudent to recall that India’s bowlers gave away 325 runs in the NatWest final and only a remarkable rearguard action by Kaif and Yuvraj Singh helped India win on that day. Similarly, runs were given away and there were batting collapses to undermine India’s cause in the Lord’s Test.Hussain, John Crawley and Michael Vaughan batted very well to score all those runs they made. What I fail to fathom is why the Indians couldn’t put any pressure on these batsmen. Surely, Ganguly would have expected Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan to bowl much better than they did. I thought that the two left-arm seamers were guilty of bowling too short; they simply do not possess the pace to threaten any batsman by banging the ball short.Anil Kumble does not look like running through the batting line-up; he seems to have lost his sharpness. I am sure he will be a much better bowler when attacking in tandem with Harbhajan Singh.
© CricInfoTo compound India’s problems, the field placements were not attacking enough at any point. On most occasions, the English batsmen were allowed to take easy singles and rotate the strike. It is difficult to win a Test match if one goes in with such a defensive frame of mind.The saving grace has been the batting of Laxman and Agarkar; they proved that there is some fighting spirit in the Indian camp. And it is that spirit that they should carry with them in the remaining Test matches. All is not lost and I am sure that the two teams are evenly balanced. India will have to do some major re-thinking ahead of the second Test. For starters, Harbhajan Singh should replace Nehra. It would also not be a bad idea to bring in young Parthiv Patel to replace the struggling Ajay Ratra behind the stumps.

New Zealand’s campaign in the triangular Academy tournament in Townsville ended with a five-wicket defeat by South Africa yesterday

Lynn McConnell17-Aug-2002New Zealand’s campaign in the triangular Academy tournament in Townsville ended with a five-wicket defeat by South Africa yesterday.The New Zealanders batted first at their own choice, hoping to maintain the record of teams batting first having won all the previous games in the tournament.However, they struggled against the South African attack. Friedel de Wet’s first six overs yielded only 11 runs, and to the normally quickfire New Zealand batsmen it was a struggle.At one stage New Zealand were struggling at 167/5. Jamie How had scored 45 off 65 balls and the consistent Rob Nicol 42 off 56 balls. Some impetus to the latter stages of the innings was given by Iain Robertson who scored 29 off 30 balls.New Zealand were dismissed in the 49th over for 197.De Wet took three for 23 off 9.5 overs and Alan Kruger took two for 41.South Africa looked to be in trouble at 17/3, courtesy of an outstanding start to his bowling by James McMillan. His first five overs resulted in two wickets for only five runs. His final figures in the game were two for 17 off eight overs.However, Davey Jacobs proved the key man in the game with an innings of 100 not out off 106 balls. He hit 11 fours and three sixes in an outstanding innings which combined caution as required and aggression when available. Gerhard Strydom gave him notable support with 32 off 36 balls.South Africa reached 198 with five wickets down off the first ball of the 44th over.Apart from McMillan, Joseph Yovich had one for 35 from 10 overs, Mark Gillespie one for 25 from seven and Jeetan Patel one for 44 off 10.

According to a report by Calciomercato, amid Fabio Paratici’s impending appointment as new Tottenham Hotspur sporting director, he already has an eye for Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci.

The Lowdown: Paratici and Spurs…

The 48-year-old was heavily linked to joining Spurs amid the botched talks with former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte last week, but unlike his fellow Italian, Paratici will be moving to north London.

This boardroom change will see Tottenham return to the sporting director model with powers more delegated below chairman Daniel Levy (The Athletic).

As such, there have been no shortage of rumours linking Spurs with a host of Juventus players.

The Latest: Paratici wants Bonucci…

Backing previous claims, Calciomercato have now also insisted that the chief could swoop for Bonucci this summer as Tottenham plan to shore up a problem position in centre-half.

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The 102-cap Italy legend is certainly a big name and it is stated that signing him ‘can become a goal’ for Spurs amid the arrival of Paratici.

The report claims that Tottenham have often played with the three-man defence and hints at that also being a motivator behind the interest.

The Verdict: Quick fix…

Bonucci, as well as being a big name, has attracted praise from Tottenham favourites in the past.

Harry Redknapp once spoke of his admiration for the player in an interview with BetSafe (via The Sport Review), calling him a ‘warrior’ and ‘top class’.

Recently called up to Roberto Mancini’s Italy squad for the Euros, Bonucci arguably still has the quality to play at the highest level.

However, given he is now 34-years-old, it is also debatable that he will soon decline and Tottenham need a more long term solution.

On a reported salary of £180,000-per-week, Paratici and Spurs may be better off looking elsewhere.

In other news: Spurs could swoop for this ‘genius’ boss called the ‘very best’ in world football, find out more here.

Havant are still no closer to reaching the semi-finals of the ECB Club Championship after their seventh round tie with Stanmore was abandoned for a second time yesterday (SUN)

Mike Vimpany (as published in Daily Echo)04-Aug-2002Havant are still no closer to reaching the semi-finals of the ECB Club Championship after their seventh round tie with Stanmore was abandoned for a second time yesterday (SUN).The original meeting between the clubs in North London last weekend was called off after eight overs when the Stanmore pitch was declared too dangerous for play.The tie was switched to Havant Park yesterday (SUN) – only to be abandoned once again when a post tea-time cloudburst totally flooded the square and outfield.When the rains came, Stanmore were 5-0 after two overs in reply to Havant’s 185-6.The local Southern Electric Premier League club built themselves a solid position through Richard Hindley (51) and Andy Perry, but Paul Gover (32 not out) lost several partners after Steve Snell (42) had been caught playing a reckless reverse sweep.With conditions far too wet for a `bowl out’, the ECB will have to decide today (MON) on how to decide the twice delayed quarter-final.Saffron Walden are scheduled to visit the winners next Sunday.ROWLEDGE JUST ONE STEP AWAY FROM VILLAGE FINALRowledge have put their Southern Electric Premier League Division 2 relegation worries behind them by reaching the semi-finals of the National Village Championship.They moved to within one match of a Lord’s final by beating Langleybury, the powerful Hertfordshire League club, by 38 runs yesterday (SUN).David Lloyd (55), Shaun Woodhouse (40) and veteran Chris Yates (30) helped Rowledge reach 193-7 off 40 overs.Langleybury were dismissed for 155.

Newcastle United could offload Allan Saint-Maximin this summer in order to raise some much-needed funds for the transfer window.

What’s the story?

Football Insider has claimed that a Newcastle source revealed that Bruce ‘may be forced to raise his own transfer funds by selling top stars, with the most likely to be Saint-Maximin’.

The report added: ‘The mercurial winger, 24, is one of the Magpies’ most valuable assets and is under contract until 2026. However, Bruce knows his sale could significantly boost his budget heading into the summer window.’

Fans would be furious

Make no mistake about it, in a period which has been one of the most disappointing of Newcastle’s Premier League era, Saint-Maximin has been one of the rare bright sparks to inspire the club and its supporters.

While a record of seven goals and 12 assists in 56 games is hardly anything to write home about, his personality and willingness to be direct and take the game on has been a real breath of fresh air at St James’ Park. This season once again saw him rank highly in the dribbling categories, with only Wolves’ Adama Traore managing more than his 3.8 per game in the entire division.

It’s no surprise that so many Newcastle fans have gone on record to publicly hail the exciting Frenchman on numerous occasions, and it’s why his earlier comments about his ambition would have been deeply worrying.

Speaking on talkSPORT, the Frenchman said: “I have to be honest, sometimes you have to think about yourself. The most important thing is the team, of course, but you have to think sometimes about your future and that’s why I say I don’t want to fight for one more year to be safe.

“So I hope we try to do everything to have more ambition and to win a trophy and fight for the first place, it can be great.”

The news that the Magpies could sell their French star to fund other new signings will surely have many fans of the Tyneside club absolutely furious – while money might be tight, you don’t progress as a team by selling your star players, and there’s absolutely no guarantee that Newcastle would spend the money wisely in any way either.

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This latest transfer update from Darsley Park is one which could have the Newcastle crowd riled up.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are risking another Andy Carroll-esque disaster…

SYDNEY – Captains on crutches are becoming a familiar sight inAustralian cricket, with Ricky Ponting today hobbling back into Sydneyafter foot surgery.

Michael Donaldson25-Jun-2002SYDNEY – Captains on crutches are becoming a familiar sight inAustralian cricket, with Ricky Ponting today hobbling back into Sydneyafter foot surgery.Newlywed Ponting, who now lives in Wollongong where his wife RiannaCantor is a student, had a pin placed in his left foot during a shortoperation in Melbourne yesterday.The one-day captain will spend about a week on crutches and will be outof action for about a month but will have a permanent pin in one of thebones in his left foot.A year ago, it was Test captain Steve Waugh who was on crutches aftertearing his hamstring during the Ashes series. Waugh recently underwentminor foot surgery as well.”Apparently it all went pretty well and I should be on these things[crutches] for a week and then hopefully back in full training in amonth,” Ponting said at Sydney airport.Ponting, who was married on Saturday, said there was more disruption tohis honeymoon than his cricket.“All it means is the honeymoon is put back about a week,” he said.”It had to be done, I’d had pain for about 12 months and had some X-raysin early January that identified a stress fracture.”Ponting said the injury didn’t hamper him when batting but caused himsome pain when fielding.His initial approach was to rest the injury after the South African tourbut it failed to respond.”I was running out of time and I really had to get it done now.”With two months until Australia was scheduled to play one-dayers and aTest series against Pakistan, Ponting admitted he was unsure where thematches would be played.He said his preference was for Australia to host the tour, which won’tbe played in Pakistan due to security concerns.”There’s been a lot of things spoken and a lot of possibilities …Morocco, Sharjah.”It’d be nice to play in Australia but the Pakistanis weren’t all thatkeen on that because they thought it was too much of an advantage to usplaying in Australia.”All that we know is that we will be playing some sort of cricket at thetime of the [scheduled] Pakistan tour, we just don’t know where it’sgoing to be.”

It was an action packed opening day’s play in the second Test matchbetween India and Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Friday

John Ward15-Jun-2001It was an action packed opening day’s play in the second Test matchbetween India and Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Friday. Afterbeing restricted to 237 in their first innings, India struck back todismiss three home team batsmen for 31 runs at stumps.In generally fine weather, Sourav Ganguly won the toss and decided tobat on a good-looking batting pitch. Heath Streak, had he won thetoss, said he would have decided to field in view of Zimbabwe’s poorrecord batting first on this ground, but Ganguly’s decision appearedcorrect in view of the conditions.Zimbabwe replaced the injured Henry Olonga with pace-bowling allrounder Travis Friend, making his Test debut. India made two changes,replacing opener Sadagoppan Ramesh and left-arm pace bowler ZaheerKhan with Hemang Badani, also making his debut and Ajit Agarkar.Before the start of play, the teams observed a minute’s silence inmemory of recent Test batsman Trevor Madondo, who died of cerebralmalaria on Monday. Several hundred enthusiastic school children,bussed in by the Mashonaland Cricket Association, added atmosphere asBrighton Watambwa bowled a good opening over to Shiv Sunder Das. Quitea degree of bounce was evident, which would be of benefit to Zimbabwe.Badani did not last long on his Test debut, scoring just two beforebeing trapped lbw to a straight ball from Watambwa. Das and VVS Laxmanhad some taxing overs to face from both Watambwa and Streak, but theyhandled them well, taking runs off the odd stray delivery, usually toleg. Then Watambwa had to leave the field with a hamstring strainduring his fourth over, and Friend took over. He was rather tentative,and the attack lost its menace.At this point Streak produced a fine delivery that rose just outsideoff stump and Laxman (15), drawn into an unwise shot, edged a sharpcatch to Andy Blignaut at second slip. Sachin Tendulkar made a slowstart to his innings, but was ready to pounce on the bad ball andpulled a short ball from Friend for a huge six to square leg. For themost part, though, India were content to play out the morning sessionand departed for lunch with 85 on the board for two wickets, with Dason 44 and Tendulkar on 20.After lunch, Tendulkar had not yet added to his score, when hesuffered a rather unlucky dismissal. He moved too far across hisstumps to a delivery from Streak, and the ball appeared to hit his padand bounce off his boot on to his leg stump. Friend, gradually findinghis feet, began to bowl with considerable hostility, but Das, playinga composed innings at all times, reached a creditable fifty. He fellfor 57, though, as Blignaut got the first ball of a new spell to liftjust outside the off stump, and the batsman got a thin edge to thekeeper.Rahul Dravid got off the mark in fine style, with a handsome off-drivefor four, while Sourav Ganguly struggled in vain to find his touchbefore edging Streak to third slip with just nine runs to his credit.At 122 for five, with Streak bowling superbly, India were unexpectedlyin trouble and Zimbabwe were rampant.Dravid counter attacked with some classic strokes and Zimbabweinvoluntarily released the pressure with some less accurate bowling,perhaps through striving too hard. Sameer Dighe (20) proved a goodpartner for Dravid until he became Friend’s first Test wicket,slashing a catch to gully. At tea Zimbabwe still held the advantage,with India 166 for six with Dravid on 35 and Agarkar on 1.Soon after resumption, Blignaut took his third catch of the innings atthird slip as Agarkar (6) sparred at a short ball from Friend andprovided the edge. Harbhajan Singh again proved a thorn in Zimbabwe’sflesh with his unorthodox hitting, after an early lucky escape when heskied a ball into no-man’s-land. It looked as if the curse of theeighth wicket was hitting Zimbabwe again until leg-spinner BrianMurphy brought a ball in to bowl Harbhajan through the gate for 31.India were 227 for eight after a stand of 55.Javagal Srinath (0) was controversially given run out by the thirdumpire to a brilliant direct hit from Murphy, and the same player hadAshish Nehra (0) caught close in to end the innings. Dravid was leftstranded with a fine 68. Streak with three for 69 was the best of thebowlers, while Friend was the most economical of the seamers.An assessment of just how good or bad the Indian total was could notbe made until Zimbabwe had batted. Zimbabwe had 13 overs to play out,light permitting. Guy Whittall (0) fell quickly to a superb low batpad catch by Dravid off Nehra, and then the same bowler had StuartCarlisle (3) caught in the gully off a loose drive.Alistair Campbell (8) followed, driving across the line at Nehra tolose his off stump and reduce his team to 18 for three. Nehra hadtaken all three wickets in his first three overs and Zimbabwe hadalready thrown away their hard-earned advantage. Well as Srinath andNehra bowled, only Whittall could escape blame. Ebrahim, to hiscredit, continued to bat positively and finished the day unbeaten on13, partnered by Andy Flower with 5.