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Doug Bollinger, who arrived from the Champions League two days before the first Test, injured himself on the final day of the Mohali Test

Sidharth Monga in Mohali06-Oct-2010October 24, 2009. Brett Lee joins the Australian team barely 12 hours before the toss for the first ODI of the gruelling seven-match series. Till then, Lee has been occupied in winning New South Wales the Champions League Twenty20. On the day of the match, with Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar threatening a heist with the bat, Lee pulls up sore. End of series.It’s déjà vu in October 2010 in certain ways. Doug Bollinger, after a successful Champions League, arrives here two days before what turns out to be an all-time great Test, bowls impressively in the defence of a modest total, and when he is on absolute fire, running through the Indian batting with his aggression and hostility, he has to pull out because of abdominal pain. After an over in which he bounces Harbhajan Singh out, Bollinger is not available through the rest of the innings.”I actually had him ready to bowl the next over,” Ricky Ponting said later. “I went to grab his hat off him for the start of his next over and he said he’d felt some pain in one of his abdominals, and being a fast bowler and having that sort of injury I just sent him off the ground straight away.”Ponting, captaining an Australian side not dominant any more and hence in need of every resource it can get hold of, didn’t hide his disappointment last year. He is not hiding it this year.”It would have been nice to have another fast bowler to rotate through when we needed that breakthrough,” Ponting said. “At that stage, Doug had bowled just the one spell as well, so he would have been nice and fresh. When you are bowling at the tail, you need those strike options. That said, we used five other bowling options, but none of them could give us that result.”Ponting – not obligated, unlike many other international players, to always sing praises for the leagues – and the Australian team management haven’t been a fan of the clashes the various leagues create with national duty, the preparation part more than the actual playing part. They have all been concerned about the late arrivals of Bollinger and Michael Hussey.There is nothing to ensure that Bollinger wouldn’t have been injured had he trained with the Australian team for the last 10 days, but it helps a captain to know that his strike bowler has not been away playing in a private league until two days before a Test.”It probably doesn’t help,” said Ponting of Bollinger’s Champions League commitments. “But he’d been bowling, and that’s one positive for Doug that he’d been playing competitive cricket.”He probably hasn’t been bowling the amount of overs in the Champions League that some of the others have had coming over here, but the facts are that he’s been playing, he arrived a couple of days before the game.”I thought his work before that was very good, I thought his spell today was probably the best he’s bowled during the game, so [it was] disappointing for him to go down at the end there, it hurt us a lot.”

Aston Villa made the surprise signing of Steven Gerrard’s former Liverpool teammate, Philippe Coutinho, from Barcelona in January, and not only will his talent and ability surely have a fantastic impact on the side’s Premier League season, but he could also become hugely influential to the players around him.

The 29-year-old has already scored for the Villans on his debut in the eventful 2-2 draw to Manchester United at Villa Park last month, where he helped the side secure a point after going 1-0 down in the first half, scoring his goal just 13 minutes after coming onto the pitch in the 68th minute.

One player who also shone in the game against Manchester United is Jacob Ramsey, who not only opened the scoring in the second half for his team but also assisted Coutinho in his first Premier League goal in over four years.

Ramsey has been going from strength to strength at Aston Villa, with the current manager at the club being one of his biggest fans.

Gerrard hailed the £15k-per-week gem “outstanding” following his wondergoal scored against Norwich at Carrow Road in a 2-0 victory, and his progression at the club can only enhance with the arrival of Coutinho, something we saw glimpses of against Man United.

Ramsey has the world at his feet, being described as a “big talent” by scout Jacek Kulig, and as a midfielder, not only having one of the greatest central players to grace the game as his manager, but the opportunity of playing alongside Coutinho who has experience on the left wing and in attacking midfield positions, racking up 102 goals and 75 assists in his career so far.

The £13.5m-rated Birmingham born youngster was instantly put into Gerrard’s Villa first team when he took over in November, with the side now picking up 16 points from just ten games in the league since the Liverpudlian took the reigns.

Ramsey has also offered an attacking output from his position that puts him in the top 18% of Premier League goal scoring midfielders, with 0.23 goals per 90 and an xG of 0.14 per 90 minutes.

Evidently, Gerrard now has a scary duo for Aston Villa going forward, with the 20-year-old being given the best opportunity to develop into a fantastic player working with Coutinho’s influence and experience.

He can learn a lot and become part of a formidable attacking threat with the Brazilian by his side to lead the team to greater things in the future.

It will be interesting to see how the pair progress over the remaining months of the season, and how far the former Rangers boss can take his players in the future with new additions being integrated into the existing Villa squad and the continued development of young players like Ramsey.

In other news: Gerrard already planning to pounce for Bissouma

Chelsea are keen on making a move for Leeds United winger Raphinha at the end of the season, according to an update from journalist Gianluigi Longari.

The Lowdown: Raphinha on the move?

The Brazilian has continued to be a star player for Marcelo Bielsa’s side this season, providing consistent quality while other key men have either struggled or been injured.

He has scored eight times in the league and averages by far the highest match rating of any player in the squad (Whoscored).

Raphinha should hopefully stay put in the January transfer window but a summer exit feels possible, especially if worst comes to worst and Bielsa cannot save his injury-stricken squad from the drop.

The 25-year-old has already been linked with a move away and now a fresh update has emerged.

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The Latest: Chelsea keen on signing Brazilian

Taking to Twitter on Friday, Longari confirmed Chelsea’s interest in the former Rennes starlet:

“For the summer so many clubs are interested in him, and Chelsea appreciate him so much.”

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The Verdict: Matter of time?

In truth, it is easy to envisage Raphinha enjoying a fresh challenge this summer, as he comes into the peak years of his career at 25 years of age.

In an ideal world, he would stay at Leeds for several more seasons but he may feel he belongs at a Champions League-playing club, having been hailed as ‘wonderful’ by BBC pundit Danny Murphy for his incredible play in Yorkshire.

It would be hard to begrudge Raphinha a big-money switch but Leeds must only sell him if they receive a monstrous bid and then must use the money to bring in top-class additions of their own.

In other news, Victor Orta looks set to miss out on one Leeds target. Find out who it is here.

James Hopes expects a more aggressive England to turn out in the one-day series starting on Tuesday than the one that was swept aside last year

Cricinfo staff18-Jun-2010James Hopes expects a more aggressive England to turn out in the one-day series starting on Tuesday than the one that was swept aside last year. Australia, who relied on Hopes to escape defeat against Ireland on Thursday, breezed to a 6-1 victory in 2009, but lost the World Twenty20 final to England in the Caribbean in May.The allrounder Hopes said England’s new-look team would be a threat in home conditions, starting with the opening game at the Rose Bowl. “I’m sure they’re backing themselves to beat us,” Hopes said after the 39-run win in Dublin.”If you add Kevin Pietersen back into their team – he wasn’t there last year – I think they are going to be naturally more aggressive. We’re going to have to get better because if we bowl like we did at the start and the English team get into a position like the Irish team did, they probably would have put us away.”Ireland’s openers raced to 80 in 11 overs in their chase of 232 before Hopes stepped in to take 5 for 14 off nine to secure a victory that prevented an embarrassing result. Everyone but Hopes was rusty after a layoff and the side now heads to Lord’s to play Middlesex in their final warm-up before the England series.”It was good to play the Irish because they are a pretty good team,” Hopes said. “We have another practice match on Saturday and we know a five-match series against England is going to be different to the seven-match series we played last year when we beat them 6-1.”The performance of the Ireland team impressed Hopes and he expects more improvement if they can get regular games against the world’s best sides. “Every time they play a Full Member country, they’re not disgracing themselves,” he said. “They’re putting on a good show and giving teams a good run.”

An update has emerged regarding Newcastle United’s pursuit of Aleksandr Golovin from AS Monaco in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

According to Russian outlet MetaRatings, the Magpies are set to join Everton and West Ham in the race to land the 25-year-old’s services this month.

The report claims that the player is keen on a switch to St James’ Park, which could give them an advantage in their efforts to bring him in during the January window.

Cabaye 2.0

Eddie Howe must secure Golovin’s services, as he could find Yohan Cabaye 2.0 for Newcastle with a deal for the playmaker this month. The 25-year-old is a midfielder who can have a telling impact on games with his ability to make things happen in the final third.

The Russia international has enjoyed a strong spell in Ligue 1 and proven his quality at the top level in recent years. Since joining Monaco in 2018, he has produced 13 goals and 18 assists from a midfield position in the French league, with Golovin capable of playing in a number of roles across the middle of the park.

Last season, he managed five goals and nine assists in 21 Ligue 1 appearances (12 starts), averaging a goal contribution every 1.5 games. He averaged 1.7 key passes per match as he showed off his creative quality from midfield, regularly providing his team-mates with chances to score.

Niko Kovac, his former manager at Monaco, previously heaped praise on the talented Russian, saying: “Golovin is a fantastic player. For his first start since August, he’s scored three goals. He’s a world-class player. He delivers delicious passes. I know the quality of his passing. That’s why I asked him to take the free-kick that led to the third goal.”

In 93 games for Newcastle, Cabaye managed 18 goals and 14 assists for the Magpies, which shows that – like Golovin is for Monaco – the Frenchman was a midfielder who could score and create goals in the Premier League. He was also known to score some sublime free kicks from time to time, and Golovin has shown that he too can be a threat from a dead ball situation.

Therefore, the 25-year-old could be a terrific signing for Newcastle, as he has shades of Cabaye to his game and could be Howe’s midfield maestro for years to come, which is why the Magpies boss must try to get a deal over the line for him in the coming weeks.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano drops exciting Newcastle transfer update, fans will be buzzing…

Australia could one day have separate Twenty20 and Test teams playing simultaneously, according to the chief executive of Cricket Australia James Sutherland

Cricinfo staff02-Jun-2010Australia could one day have separate Twenty20 and Test teams playing simultaneously, according to the chief executive of Cricket Australia James Sutherland. The gap between the formats has grown and only five of the 11 who lost the World Twenty20 final to England are regulars in Australia’s Test outfit.Sutherland believes the separation will continue to grow, with more and more Twenty20 specialists likely to appear. The reported that Sutherland outlined the vision in his keynote speech at a Cricket Australia conference in Queensland on Tuesday.”While hosting Tests here, Australia could have its Twenty20 team touring somewhere else,” Sutherland said. “It is difficult not to see a generation of players coming through with an eye to becoming Twenty20 specialists. As more Twenty20 cricket is played there are clearly opportunities for players to choose to be specialists.”Taking it through to its natural extension, if you have a specialist team then why can’t you have a specialist Twenty20 team and a specialist Test team [playing] at the same time? In rugby union, for example, the ARU has a sevens team and a Wallabies team.”However, while such an idea might suit older players who retire from first-class cricket to pursue a Twenty20 career, such as Dirk Nannes, it could make for some tough choices for younger men. Steven Smith, for example, has made his name as a Twenty20 player but his Test hopes could be scuppered if such a concept was in place.

Now that the January transfer window has opened, this will allow Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst to make some changes to his squad which he thinks will improve the team at Ibrox and help them close in on the Premiership title.

One player who has been touted for a move to the reigning Scottish champions is Anderlecht and former Southampton centre-back Wesley Hoedt, who was labelled a “top quality” player upon his arrival at St Mary’s by the club’s then vice-chairman Les Reed.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Rangers journalist Chris Jack had this to say about the possibility of Van Bronckhorst’s side making a move to sign Hoedt: “I think he’d be a good option. Also somebody that Ross Wilson knows well, and I think he’s coming from the type of market that Rangers are going to be shopping in.”

The defender joined Southampton in 2017 from Italian club Lazio but only racked up 45 appearances across all competitions before joining Anderlecht on a permanent basis last summer after loan spells with Celta Vigo, Royal Antwerp and a temporary return to Rome.

His short time with Anderlecht has arguably been more fruitful than his entire spell in the Premier League. The 27-year-old has played every minute of action for the Belgian outfit across all competitions so far this term, showing how important he is for them and why the club may be reluctant to let him go midway through the season if Rangers were to make an approach this month.

In the Belgian league, Hoedt’s performances have earned him an overall season rating of 7.12/10, making him Anderlecht’s fourth-highest rated player this term according to SofaScore. That would make the £3.6m-rated defender Rangers’ sixth-highest rated outfield player, which suggests that he could fit in with Van Bronckhorst’s squad in terms of quality on the pitch, delighting a lot of Gers fans in the process.

With this in mind and the possibility of current Rangers defender Connor Goldson leaving the club when his current deal expires in the summer after it was previously reported that he had rejected the chance to remain at Ibrox, this could pave the way for the Light Blues to launch a move for Hoedt at the end of the current season and see if Anderlecht would be willing to strike a deal.

In other news: Jordan Campbell drops key Rangers transfer claim, Van Bronckhorst will be buzzing…

Celtic appear to be plotting a move for Barnsley man Callum Styles, according to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, as relayed by The 72.

The Lowdown: Styles profiled

The 21-year-old is primarily a left midfielder who can also play as a central or attacking midfielder. The 5 foot 4 speedster is valued at £2.7m and is approaching 100 Barnsley appearances after joining from Bury back in 2018.

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The Englishman extended his Oakwell stay last year and was linked with a move to Leeds United earlier this year, and it seems as if the Hoops are now keen on his services.

The Latest: Nixon’s claim

According to Nixon in The Sun on Sunday (19.12.21, pg. 69), as relayed by The 72, the Hoops are checking on Styles ahead of the January window. This comes on the day of Celtic’s League Cup final triumph against Hibernian, with interim CEO Michael Nicholson seemingly busy on the transfer front.

A Celtic fan asked the reliable journalist on Twitter if the transfer was a ‘goer’, to which he responded: “Watching… closely… talented player…very attack minded”

Nixon described Styles as a player with ‘great feet’, adding that he would ‘very much’ suit Ange Postecoglou’s style of play.

The Verdict: With or without Hatate?

Celtic have reportedly reached an agreement with Kawasaki Frontale for Reo Hatate, who can also play on the left and in midfield, so the Hoops may well be checking in on Styles as a possible alternative, or even another January signing alongside the Japanese ace.

He appears to be a player with great potential following the links with a Premier League club in the summer, so if the Hoops can bring Styles to Glasgow in the New Year, he would provide Postecoglou with another option in multiple positions as the 56-year-old looks to continue his Parkhead rebuild.

In other news: Postecoglou wants 49-cap colossus at the peak of his powers to cap Celtic’s January business 

With the 2022 January transfer window now open, this will allow clubs such as Leeds United to make any potential transfer deals that they may want to complete to strengthen their squad.

Looking ahead to the next few weeks, it seems as though Bielsa has his eye on one player that he would like to see in his squad in the future.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, journalist Pete O’Rourke had this to say about Bielsa’s interest in Huddersfield Town midfielder Lewis O’Brien.

He said: “I think he was interested in O’Brien. He does like him as a player. He thinks he’s got the style and profile that fits the way he wants to play football.”

As a product of Huddersfield’s youth system, O’Brien has made a total of 107 appearances for the Championship club across all competitions in which he has managed to score seven goals and provide eight assists along the way.

Having been linked with a move to Elland Road during the previous summer transfer window to the point that Leeds reportedly made four offers to Huddersfield for with a maximum reported transfer bid of £13m, this shows just how desperate Leeds were to sign the 23-year-old.

This also doesn’t make it much of a surprise to hear the extent of Bielsa’s interest in the player from O’Rourke.

However, it would still excite a lot of Leeds fans to hear just how infatuated the manager is with the player, potentially reopening the door for another move for the midfielder during the current January transfer window.

Although, with the Englishman putting pen to paper on a new long-term deal at Huddersfield back in September that will see him stay at the Championship club until 2025, it could take a lot more than the £13m bid Leeds offered a few months ago if they want to sign him this time around.

If Bielsa is still desperate to bring O’Brien to Elland Road, then Leeds’ hierarchy should definitely explore the possibility of potentially signing him this month and eventually granting their Argentine tactician his wish of adding the Terriers ace to his squad.

With Leeds only having three senior players in their squad that predominantly play in the central-midfield role, it could be worth the club signing another option for this position whether they are able to secure O’Brien’s signature or not to give them a bit of extra depth.

On the evidence of their injuries, primarily in that third of the pitch, it provides another reason for fans to be elated about their interest in him.

In other news: Bielsa can finally axe “humiliating” Leeds dud by signing “first-class” 28 y/o machine – opinion

Daniel Marsh, the man who captained Tasmania to their first Pura Cup title, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket

Cricinfo staff10-Mar-2010Daniel Marsh, the man who captained Tasmania to their first Pura Cup title, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket. Marsh, 36, will step down after this week’s Sheffield Shield match against Victoria at the MCG, which will be his 150th first-class appearance in a career spanning 17 seasons.The son of the great wicketkeeper Rod Marsh, he began his career with South Australia in 1993-94 before moving to Tasmania after three summers with the Redbacks. A reliable middle-order batsman and left-arm spinner, Marsh effectively took over the state’s captaincy in 2003-04; the rarely available Ricky Ponting was officially the skipper.He spent four seasons as de facto leader and two summers as the official captain, guiding Tasmania to two domestic one-day titles in 2004-05 and 2007-08. Marsh handed the captaincy to George Bailey for this season but he was part of the FR Cup-winning team again, but it is for delivering the 2006-07 Pura Cup triumph that he will be best remembered.The 421-run win in the final against New South Wales gave Tasmania their first domestic four-day title after missing out in three previous deciders. Marsh said he had no doubt that this was the right time for him to depart from the first-class arena.”It has been an amazing time in Tasmanian cricket and I feel very fortunate to have been involved,” Marsh said. “I am very confident that now is the right time to retire and look forward to spending more time with my family. I wish the Tasmanian team all the best for the future and will look forward to watching them play whenever possible.”With one match remaining in his career, Marsh has 8139 first-class runs at 37.68 and 174 wickets at 46.73. In 129 one-day games he has made 3119 runs at 33.53 and collected 61 victims at 49.96. Marsh will depart as Tasmania’s fourth leading all-time first-class run scorer and the most capped player in the state’s one-day history.