All posts by h716a5.icu

Relegation has become a real prospect for Leeds United heading into the final few games of the season and doubts have started to creep in over their future at the boardroom level…

What’s the word?

According to the ever-reliable Beren Cross of LeedsLive, relegation is not part of the 49ers Enterprises’ plans at Elland Road and their future involvement and subsequent investment could depend on what league the Whites are competing in next season.

He wrote:

‘Paraag Marathe was in the directors’ box alongside Orta, Kinnear and Dallas on Wednesday night. The vice-chairman cannot be at every match because of his San Francisco residence and 49ers obligations for much of the year.

‘This was the first time he had been seen at Elland Road for several months and as the face of the 49ers investment vehicle, his opinion counts hugely. Future strategy on how the NFL franchise does or does not invest further in United is driven by Marathe and his colleagues.

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‘Slipping out of the Premier League less than two years after the Championship trophy was lifted at Elland Road was evidently not a part of their five-year plan in this relationship. Whether Leeds survive or go down, Marathe and the 49ers must play an important role in learning lessons from an abject 21/22.’

Any way back?

It took Leeds 15 years to make their return to the Premier League, so you can pretty much forget about an instant comeback, even more so without the investment from the 49ers Enterprises.

After finishing in the top ten in their first campaign back last term, relegation would surely have been unthinkable for many around west Yorkshire, and that only fueled the involvement of the American party last year.

“We have a three to five-year plan to reach the level we aim, and by staying in the Premier League for a few years we could aim to have a renovated stadium that could become a symbol of our ambition,” current chairman Andrea Radrizzani said in an interview with The Times’ Martyn Ziegler.

Their stake in the club had increased to 37%, whilst The Athletic believe there is a deal in place which could see the 49ers seal Leeds for a fee in excess of £400m by January 2024, but that is surely dependent on their top-flight status as their value will drastically decrease in the Championship.

Dropping back into the second tier would also cause a knock-on effect in terms of the transfer budget, to transfer targets such as Brenden Aaronson – who won’t want to swap the Champions League for the Football League – and maybe even a change in the dugout.

Currently sat in 18th position, tied on points with Burnley after another abject defeat but with a worse goal difference, those around Elland Road must be absolutely worried about what may lie ahead.

It’ll be even worse to miss out on this exciting opportunity from the 49ers.

AND in other news, Forget Klich: Radz must ruthlessly axe £80k-p/w Leeds figure, he’s “out of his depth”…

Liverpool will announce the signing of exciting Fulham youngster Fabio Carvalho very soon, according to a Reds source at Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Carvalho off to Anfield

The 19-year-old has enjoyed a fantastic season for the Cottagers, helping them return to the Premier League after scoring ten goals in the Championship.

Carvalho’s performances alerted Liverpool and a deal to bring him to Anfield has been reportedly very close for weeks now, as he is set to trade London for Merseyside after the Craven Cottage outfit’s owner, Tony Khan, seemed to confirm the move.

It now appears to be a matter of time before the young attacking midfielder is officially announced as a Reds player, perhaps even before the FA Cup final on Saturday.

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The Latest: Announcement imminent

According to Football Insider, in a report published early on Friday morning, a Liverpool source confirmed that Carvalho’s move will be announced ‘imminently’ and ‘within days’.

This implies it could even be before Saturday’s clash with Chelsea, given it kicks off nearly 48 hours after that news.

A ‘total agreement’ with the teenager has been reached, including a ‘compensation fee’ with Fulham.

The initial fee will be £5million, on top of add-ons eventually totalling £2.7million.

The Verdict: Fantastic long-term signing

Carvalho looks like a special prospect in the mould of former Fulham colleague Harvey Elliot – he has been described as ‘fantastic’ by manager Marco Silva – acting as a hugely exciting long-term signing for Liverpool.

It is imperative that the Reds add younger legs in midfield this summer, with several players in that area of the pitch now in their 30s, so this is a signing that makes complete sense.

The hope is that Liverpool-linked Monaco star Aurelien Tchouameni also makes the move to Anfield, as Jurgen Klopp slowly builds a formidable midfield for the future.

In other news, there has reportedly been a ‘major development’ at Liverpool. Read more here.

There were several questions floating around about his methods against West Indies at Perth Stadium, but once again he got the job done in extraordinary manner

Alex Malcolm04-Dec-2022Spin to win in Perth? It’s almost blasphemous to say it out loud. The home of some of the fastest and bounciest pitches in the world, built on the mythical Harvey River clay from Waroona in southwest Western Australia that sets like concrete in the baking WA sun.But Perth Stadium’s drop-in pitches, built in the mould of the WACA, the place that still adorns Dennis Lillee’s name, have been manna from heaven for Nathan Lyon as Australia’s offspinner once again spun them to victory, by six wickets against West Indies, in the fourth innings of a Perth Test match.Related

Lyon continues outstanding Perth record with six to secure victory

Lyon crept past R Ashwin to climb to eighth on the all-time Test wickets-takers list with 446. That he went past Ashwin is a fascinating talking point, and Ashwin could well reclaim higher ground on that list at some point.But what is truly mind-blowing is Lyon’s record at Perth Stadium. In three matches there he has collected 22 wickets at 18.45, striking every 42.4 deliveries. But in the fourth innings of those three matches he has spun Australia to victory each time having taken three, four and six wickets in each individual fourth innings at an average 17.69 overall, striking every 38.9 deliveries.Throughout this six-wicket haul against West Indies, there was a chorus of voices from the various broadcast boxes questioning Lyon’s methods. He was bowling too fast, too straight and from too wide on the crease for some of their liking. Former WA offspinner Bruce Yardley, who took 126 Test wickets for Australia including 19 at the WACA ground at 25.73, striking at 62.7, used to get tight to the stumps with a side-on action, flight the ball slower above the eyes and curve it away on the Fremantle doctor (Perth’s southwesterly breeze) to pitch wide of off to the right-handers and spin the ball back or slide it on with the arm. Those of Yardley’s generation and those who were coached by his generation cannot compute what Lyon is doing.Lyon’s six wickets came with deliveries at speeds of 90.7kph, 89, 90.2, 98, 86.2 and 87.7. Two hit off stump. The other four were on the stumps. Of those four, three asked questions of the batter’s defence as they were caught on the crease trying to determine how much it would spin and bounce. Some were beaten on the inside by balls that spun, others on the outside by balls that slid on, but none had the time to adjust and play him off the pitch. The other was Roston Chase, who tried to go aerial but got nowhere near the pitch of it, because of the speed and drop, and dragged a catch to deep midwicket.Chase recognised what Lyon was able to do having 23 balls from him during his 85-ball 55, and having bowled 37 overs of offspin on the same Perth pitch for figures of 1 for 171.”Once I saw what he did in their first innings bowling I just tried to emulate that and bowl a bit quicker, put a little more pace on the ball along with some revs on in the second innings,” Chase said.”As the wicket deteriorated, I thought he was trying to use the rough a little bit more to put doubt in the batter’s mind. But the wicket didn’t really offer much spin. So I think it was kind of easy. Although he still got six wickets, I didn’t think that it was that hard to really bat [against] him in terms of the ball spinning on bouncing as he usually has it throughout his career. But he’s still got six wickets. So, kudos to him.”That is Lyon’s skill now. He can create deception on a surface which is offering very little assistance to him. It is a skill his team-mates and particularly his captain Pat Cummins appreciates.”I think he’s got plenty of different tricks now,” Cummins said. “He’s obviously always had a really good offspinner but the way he moves around the crease. You saw him bowl over the wicket, around the wicket a lot.”Felt like he could beat them on the outside of the bat or he could bring bat pad into play. He just feels like he’s got a few different ways he can get a batter out and he’s happy chopping and changing between them, perhaps more than early on in his career.”One thing he’s always been good at but continues to get better and better is he can bowl 25-30 quality overs in a day and there aren’t many bowlers in the world that can do that.”Lyon will continue to have his doubters, those that point to his recent fourth innings against India in 2021 in Sydney and Brisbane, or 2022 against England in Sydney and against Pakistan in Karachi where he was unable to spin Australia across the line.Like spin to win in Perth, there will be those who believe that comparisons to Ashwin are blasphemous given Ashwin’s far superior Test average and strike rate. There is no debate that Ashwin’s record leaves Lyon’s in the dust in Asia. But in fourth innings in Australia, South Africa, England and New Zealand, Ashwin averages 34.70 and strikes at 95.9 compared to Lyon’s average of 29.87 and strike rate of 64.7.Both men are one-of-a-kind and incomparable to each other. But Lyon’s performance in Perth and his record at Perth Stadium should be appreciated for what it is: simply extraordinary.

Visitors made light work of hefty Hampshire target to boost hopes of reaching knock-outs

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay09-Jul-2025 Lancashire 175 for 2 (Lamb 66*, Jones 42, Smale 42) beat Hampshire 173 for 5 (Kemp 63, Norgrove 54) by eight wicketsEmma Lamb made her highest Women’s Vitality Blast score to fire Lancashire Thunder to a third victory in a row and boost their chances of reaching the knockouts.England international Freya Kemp had whacked 63 and Abi Norgrove celebrated her maiden Hawks fifty as the hosts reached 174 for five, after a rocky start.But Lamb’s exemplary 66 not out, coming in partnerships of 65 with Eve Jones and 92 with Seren Smale, saw Lancashire home by eight wickets.Hawks and Thunder had gone into the match level on 21 points, with the visitors’ four points giving them a strong chance of leap-frogging Bears into third, and qualify for finals day.Thunder had the dream start at Falklands Cricket Club in Newbury.They won the toss and then had the Hawks 11 for three after the first four overs after Ellyse Perry had been unfortunately run out while backing up, Rhianna Southby had looped off her leading edge to mid-off and Georgia Adams pinged to midwicket.But as quickly as they gained advantage, Norgrove and Kemp quickly swung it in the other direction.In the following two overs, Kemp and Norgrove made the most of the fielding restrictions to pummel seven boundaries – which kicked off a flourishing partnership.Despite being just 20, Kemp has been an integral player for Utilita Bowl-based sides for a few years and earned 30 international caps, while England U19 captain Norgrove, 19, has an incredibly high ceiling but has mainly been used as an impact player at the death of innings this season.Both middled the ball and let the scorched Berkshire outfield do the hard work as the scoreboard rolled and rolled, despite Darcy Carter’s miserly four overs for 24.Kemp won the race to the half-century, but Norgrove was quicker – 38 vs 33 balls. The pair’s 116 was the highest fourth wicket stand in the Blast, as both also pinged a six.But they were both dismissed by Alana King, within three balls of each other but Naomi Dattani and Mary Taylor refused to let that stunt the hosts with 42 in the last 27 balls.Like Lancashire, Hampshire took the early impetus – with a Freya Davies maiden – before Lamb and Jones took control of the chase.The experienced openers used the conveyer belt nature of the outfield to whizz to 65 inside seven overs before Jones was caught at cover. 40 of Jones’ 42 had come in fours.Seren Smale simply continued where Jones had left off as Thunder bolted towards the winning target.Lamb reached her third fifty of the competition in 30 balls and even though Smale was caught and bowled for 42, Ailsa Lister joined in to win with six balls to spare.

The series, that also featured Netherlands, finished with a three-way tie (on the points table) but Scotland finished at the top on virtue of the best net run-rate

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2025A partnership of exactly 100 between opener George Munsey and No. 3 Brandon McMullen set the base for Scotland’s comfortable win against Nepal in the tri-nation series, and it was rounded off by a collective bowling performance.Scotland’s 34-run win brought the curtain down on a series that also featured Netherlands, with all three teams ending on two wins from four. Scotland, however, topped the table on superior net run-rate. Nepal finished second.Munsey, whose highest score in the series had been 30, started aggressively and dominated a 34-run opening stand with Mark Watt. Watt was bowled by Rupesh Singh for 9 in the fourth over but Munsey and McMullen then added 100 in 9.2 overs for the second wicket, hitting nine fours and seven sixes between them. The stand ensured Scotland were going at more than ten runs per over.But then came a stutter. Munsey fell for a 39-ball 78 in the 13th over to Kushal Bhurtel, and three balls later, Sandeep Lamichhane bowled McMullen for 42. Finlay McCreath and captain Richie Berrington fell cheaply in the next two overs, too, and Nepal seemed to be clawing back. Michael Leask (26*) and Matthew Cross (17*), however, combined to take 35 off the final three overs to lift Scotland to 193 for 5.Nepal’s reply faltered early, losing four wickets in 5.1 overs. Bhurtel fell to McMullen in the first over, Bhim Sharki and Aarif Sheikh were removed by Safyaan Sharif (2 for 7), and Aasif Sheikh was run out. Dipendra Singh Airee, who became Nepal’s most-capped T20I player on the day, resisted with 34 from No. 6, but struggled with only one four and one six in his 33-ball stay.Airee fell in the 16th over with the asking rate climbing, bowled by legspinner Chris Greaves (3 for 27), who went on to also dismiss Lamichhane for a duck and Rijan Dhakal for 5. Rupesh struck an enterprising 22-ball 43 from No. 8, but ran out of partners. No. 11 Lalit Rajbanshi was run out in the 19th over to end the innings.