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One over from Andrew Flintoff was enough to show West Indies the task they face to save this Test

Andrew McGlashan in Antigua16-Feb-2009
Andrew Flintoff was nailed by low bounce. He has the chance to get his revenge on the third day © AFP
One over from Andrew Flintoff was enough to show West Indies the task they face to save this Test. He doesn’t need a diagram to show him where to bowl, but in this match he has the help of a football marking on a perfect length. That the over was bowled to Chris Gayle merely rubbed in the fact that West Indies had asked England to bat first. No wonder Gayle’s swagger was not as noticeable as it was in Kingston.”When you are consistently hitting that area the ball is misbehaving quite a bit,” said Paul Collingwood. “But the other parts of the pitch are behaving quite well and there’s not a lot in it for full [length]. The short balls are going through quickly, but the more you hit that halfway area there is inconsistent bounce. Hopefully we can home in on that tomorrow. It looks like Freddie’s length and we all know how accurate he can bowl.”In the 36 hours that the groundstaff had to prepare this surface they used a road-roller to try and flatten the ridge as much as possible. England’s end result of 566 for 9 showed that the trick worked for a while, but an increasing number of deliveries have started to interest the bowlers.Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff both received balls that kept low from Jerome Taylor at the Factory Road End. Gayle was then on the wrong end of the opposite extremes as one climbed past his nose before the next kept low by his ankles. The mind-games had started and when Gayle drove lazily to mid-off it was the shot of a distracted man.However, John Dyson, the West Indies coach, had no qualms about the surface. “There were a few balls that misbehaved, but one of the things I’ve said about Test wickets in the last 12 months is that some of them are just too good.”They aren’t meant to last six or seven days. You expect them to wear and play a few tricks. Just how many tricks it will play we won’t be sure on until we see it tomorrow. The main tricks have been made by the soccer line, not the wicket itself.”In the aftermath of the abandonment on Friday, Gayle joked that this Test should be played back in Jamaica. At the time it was said with tongue firmly in cheek, but the demeanour of West Indies throughout the opening two days has been of a side that doesn’t want to be here. Unlike England, they don’t appear to have been able to put all the various issues out of their minds.”I was a little disappointed with the way we bowled today,” Dyson said. “On a wicket like that you have to be very patient and we fell back into an old habit of being to be aggressive.”Fidel Edwards was an exception as he ran in hard throughout and bowled with intelligence and extreme pace, and Brendan Nash stood out in the field for the manner he continually cajoled his team-mates. Nash’s Australian upbringing shone through, for Aussies don’t accept anything except total commitment. It’s a trait the home side will need plenty of in the next three days.In the aftermath of West Indies’ stunning victory in Kingston both Dyson and Gayle called for calm. They realised that an evolving team was going to have some days like this. Now they have to show that when the going gets tough they can battle it out. That will be a true test of how far this side has come.

Rafa Benitez has overseen an impressive start to the season as the new manager of Everton.

There were significant worries over the Spaniard’s credentials when he first entered Goodison Park but those fears have been quashed with aplomb.

Everton have gathered seven points from their opening three matches but there is one controversy that continues to rage on.

That surrounds one of Benitez’s former players; James Rodriguez.

The 61-year-old took charge of Rodriguez during his spell at Real Madrid but it doesn’t seem as though their relationship has blossomed.

He wants to leave Merseyside behind and came so close to departing for good this summer. However, after failing to seal a switch away, he’s now back in training for the Toffees as they prepare to face Burnley.

James has immense quality in his locker, something that ten Premier League goal involvements last term testifies.

Yet, does he really deserve to play for Everton again? Arguably not. Benitez will presumably give him a second chance at Goodison but if he continues to strop, there are young players waiting in the wings.

One of them is Charlie Whitaker. The attacking midfielder joined Everton at the age of 12 and has risen through the academy ranks with some stellar contributions.

He scored six times for the U18 side but since making an early transition to the U23s, has been catching the eye even more.

Whitaker has scored eight goals in nine outings at the highest academy bracket, three of which have come in four Premier League 2 outings this term.

A central midfielder by trade, David Unsworth has found a new position for him as a second striker, picking up small pockets of space in the hole and carving out goal scoring opportunities.

Speaking about the 17-year-old back in May, Unsworth commented: “We have tried to get someone up there with him and he has been sensational. He is a great trainer, great to work with and a great lad. He does the hardest thing in the game, which is score goals, and he makes it look really easy.

The boss continued: “For the size of him, he is good in the air, he is brave, we just need him to link play and the future is bright for him. I’m not getting over-excited, because you can’t, it is too early. But the signs are very, very good.”

Versatile, dynamic and exciting, Whitaker isn’t the first attacking midfielder to come through the production line.

You only need to think of Kieran Dowell, a similarly tricky player who failed to make the grade at Everton and is now plying his trade for Norwich after several loan spells away.

However, if James does depart, then an opportunity to thrive in the first-team set-up has to come Whitaker’s way.

His ability to transition with such perfection through the age groups at youth level, coupled with his ability to score goals, makes him an appealing option for Benitez.

AND in other news, Rafa must ruthlessly axe “sloppy” £69k-p/w Everton liability, he’s “regressed awfully”…

أعلنت اللجنة المنظمة لبطولة كأس أمم إفريقيا لكرة اليد رقم 25، التي أقيمت في مصر، عن تشكيل لاعبي الفريق الأفضل في المنافسات.

وكانت البطولة التي اختتمت اليوم، قد نجح منتخب مصر في الظفر بها، بعد فوز كبير على كاب فيردي في موقعة الفاينال، بنتيجة 25-37.

فيديو | منتخب مصر يتوج بأمم إفريقيا لليد للمرة الثامنة في تاريخه بعد فوزه على الرأس الأخضر تشكيل فريق بطولة أمم إفريقيا لكرة اليد

حراسة المرمى: علي العروسي (المغرب).

الخط الخلفي الأيمن: عمر يحيى (مصر).

الخط الخلفي الأيسر: علي زين (مصر).

لاعب وسط خلفي: لياندرو ساميدو (كاب فيردي).

لاعب دائرة: جهاد جاب الله (تونس).

جناح أيسر: عمر الوكيل (مصر).

جناح أيمن: هشام الحكيمي (المغرب).

The chairman of the ECB, Giles Clarke, has given a strong indication that England could take on Scotland for a 20-over match a few weeks before the ICC World Twenty20 this summer

Cricinfo staff14-Jan-2009
Giles Clarke has spoken with Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, about cricket in the country © Getty Images
The chairman of the ECB, Giles Clarke, has given a strong indication that England could take on Scotland for a 20-over match a few weeks before the ICC World Twenty20 this summer.England’s first match of the tournament gets underway on June 5 against the Netherlands, but Clarke intimated that teams will need sufficient practice ahead of the event, with England tackling Scotland possibly on June 2 or 3.”Almost certainly Scotland will have a warm-up game with England, probably at Trent Bridge,” Clarke told the . “If I were allowed to bet – which I’m not – I’d expect a big travelling support for the Scots.”England have only faced Scotland once in an ODI – last August in Edinburgh, a match blighted by the summer’s gloomy mizzle – and Clarke, whose mother was born in Glasgow, spoke of the need for Scottish cricket to gain a greater foothold. A permanent ground with adequate seating is one such area in which they could improve.”Telling extremely able people who know Scottish cricket better than me what to do is the last thing on my mind. However, as someone who likes to consider themselves a friend of Scottish cricket, there are benefits to be gained if the right steps are put in place,” he said. “I realise it is not the economic environment in which to develop a stadium but it is the right climate in which to have a building contract. Establishing a strong ground would help take the Saltires deeper into the [English] county structure which is necessary to move them forward and they have already come a long way in the short time they’ve been playing regular fixtures.”The shorter the format the greater chance of a more level playing field and Twenty20 fixtures, perhaps against Durham, would help demonstrate crowd appeal. That would mean a [Scottish] economic base to get the sponsorship that drives youth athletes down the road to becoming professionals.”It will require a quantum leap of faith and although I’m not a political person I do know [first minister] Alex Salmond is a cricket fanatic whose father has told me how he travelled by train to Lord’s in 1938 to watch Wally Hammond make a double century against the touring Australians.”I have spent a day with Alex Salmond and my hope is he is in a position to get an argument across for more [government] support of clubs provided they cater for all ages and genders.”Scotland have shown definite improvement as an Associate nation and, along with Ireland, are beginning to show that British Associate cricket is in a healthy state.”They compete particularly well at Twenty20 and one day international level because they are fit, give little away in the field and are very, very tough,” Clarke said. “There’s no reason why similar goals should not be achievable by Scotland and with the ethnic groups preferring cricket to football there is an opportunity to go forward with them on board which should also be appealing in terms of integrating communities.”

أعلن تركي آل الشيخ مالك نادي ألميريا الإسباني، عن خوض فريقه مباراة ودية أمام الهلال السعودي في بريطانيا خلال أغسطس المقبل.

وتمكن الهلال من الفوز بنتيجة 2-1 أمام الفيصلي بالمواجهة التي أقيمت على أرضية ملعب الملك فهد في الجولة الأخيرة من بطولة كأس الأمير محمد بن سلمان.

طالع | تركي آل الشيخ يلمح لإمكانية ضم لاعبين من الدوري المصري أو السعودي لـ ألميريا

وكشف حساب نادي ألميريا الإسباني عن إقامة المباراة أمام الهلال بطل السعودية يوم 7 أغسطس المقبل.

واستطاع فريق ألميريا التأهل إلى دوري الدرجة الأولى الإسباني “لا ليجا” في الموسم المقبل 2022-2023، ومن المقرر أن يستهل مشواره بصدام قوي أمام ريال مدريد حامل اللقب.

مباراة الابطال .. قريباً في بريطانيا ❤️💙

مبروك للزعيم 💙 pic.twitter.com/w28ERmQHrp

— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) June 27, 2022

🔴⚪ ألميريا 🆚 الهلال 🔵

أسود ألميريا في مواجهة زعيم آسيا وكبيرها 🤩

📆 7 أغسطس

لا يفوتكم ❤️ pic.twitter.com/NbgI8C8iAB

— نادي ألميريا (@UDAlmeria_Arab) June 27, 2022

MatériaMais Notícias

O Criciúma reagiu rapidamente ao mau começo na Série B – três derrotas em três jogos: na noite da última terça-feira, o Tigre anunciou a demissão do então técnico Deivid e contratou Luís Claúdio Winck. Junto com o ex-atacante de 37 anos também caem a comissão técnica e o Diretor Executivo de Futebol,Gabriel Skinner.

Deivid comandou o time em 28 jogos e obteve10 vitórias, seis empates e 12 derrotas, com um aproveitamento de 42.8%. Ele comandou o time em quatro competições: Catarinense, Série B, Primeira Liga e Copa do Brasil.

Depois de comunicado da demissão, Deivid não escondeu a frustração e se classificou como um técnico da moda antiga, que gosta de olho no olho.

-A gente fica triste, pois na segunda ele manda um monte de mensagens, falando um monte de coisas e na terça ele faz um negócio desses. A gente não fica triste pela demissão, mas na forma como foi. Uma falta de respeito, profissionalismo e respeito com o ser humano, mostra que ele está visando dinheiro e pegando o clube para fazer negócios – comentou o comandante, em entrevista à Rádio Difusora.

O clube catarinense volta a campo no próximo sábado, às 16h30, quando visita o Luverdense, na Arena Pantanal, pela quarta rodada da Série B.

RelacionadasFigueirenseIrritado com falha, goleiro do Figueira sai de táxi do estádioFigueirense31/05/2017

Journalist Luke Hatfield has told Football FanCast that West Brom’s striker conundrum could lead to Matt Phillips starting upfront at the start of the season.

The Baggies currently have just one recognised number nine in their current squad in Karlan Grant, although Callum Robinson can play through the middle.

Experienced pair Hal Robson-Kanu and Charlie Austin were both released following the end of their contracts, whilst Valerien Ismael has been unable to bring in another frontman despite his best efforts in the window.

Kenneth Zohore is still contracted to the club, but his injury problems mean that a summer exit is more than likely.

With that in mind, Hatfield reckons that Phillips could come to West Brom’s rescue despite only playing through the middle a handful of times during his career.

He told Football FanCast:

“Albion need a striker, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him start there. He is capable of scoring goals, and he has scored at Championship level.

“But it wouldn’t shock me if we do see Phillips in that role in the Championship at some point in the season.”

This isn’t an ideal situation for Ismael, but Phillips has a proven goal record at this level, and with West Brom boasting quality all over the pitch, this shouldn’t prove too big an issue for the Baggies to cope with in their opening few games.

Mike Procter, the ICC match referee from South Africa, who is in Pakistan for the ongoing Asia Cup, has said that he is satisfied with the security situation in the country

Cricinfo staff27-Jun-2008
The security situation in Pakistan is under focus in the run-up to the Champions Trophy in September © AFP
Mike Procter, the ICC match referee who is in Pakistan for the ongoing Asia Cup, has said that he is satisfied with the security situation in the country and that it should not be an impediment to hosting the Champions Trophy in September.”I see no reason why Pakistan should not host the Champions Trophy. I find Pakistan a safe place and have been here twice this year,” Procter told AFP in Lahore. “This is my personal opinion … I was here in March [for the five-match series featuring Bangladesh] and I’m here now, and I found the security arrangements to be fantastic.”The foreign umpires who have been with me during the Asia Cup also felt very safe and I would love to come to Pakistan for future events whenever I get appointments.”Proctor, who was in Pakistan in 2002 when a suicide bombing outside the New Zealand team’s hotel led to the postponement of the tour, said: “It was a different situation then. It was a suicide bomb blast … even at that time, the security was the best. We are more conscious about it now as the situation around the world since 9/11 has become volatile.”Meanwhile, there are reports that the ICC is considering South Africa as an option to host the event in case it doesn’t take place in Pakistan. “South Africa could hold the Champions Trophy in case Pakistan or Sri Lanka [the alternate venue] can’t,” an ICC source told AFP. “But it must be stressed that Pakistan remains our first choice and a lot of work has already been done to ensure the tournament is held there.” The source also said that Johannesburg, Centurion and Potchefstroom will be hosting the Champions Trophy matches in case the tournament is shifted to South Africa.The ICC board will meet on Sunday in Dubai, where they will analyse a security report before making a decision on the matter.

Plenty of the pre-Test series hype has focused on South Africa’s potent pace attack led by Dale Steyn, but Michael Vaughan doesn’t feel England’s lack of pace makes them any less threatening. Vaughan, England’s captain, has put faith in the trio of Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson and Stuart Broad even as he shored up the possibility of his Ashes 2005 pace quartet bowling as a unit again.”We don’t have bowling of 90-95 mph,” Vaughan said ahead of Thursday’s first Test at Lord’s. “But it’s not always about that. We have an attack that relies more on the control side. It has not got the pace it used to have but I think they’ve got a decent amount of skill.”Jimmy Anderson showed against New Zealand at Trent Bridge that if the ball is swinging he has a hell of an amount of skill. Stuart Broad is developing into a fine cricketer – he’s inexperienced but he bowls beyond his years – and Ryan Sidebottom has probably been the find of the last year in Test match cricket.”You add to that Monty Panesar, who can get five- and six-wicket hauls, and the attack looks quietly nice.”England’s last series against South Africa, a 2-1 away win in 2004-05, featured the same attack that would bowl them to a historic Ashes victory the following summer. However, none of Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones or Andrew Flintoff are in the squad for Lord’s.Of the four, Flintoff is the closest to selection for the second Test at Headingley which starts on July 18. A serious knee injury has seen Jones, currently with Worcestershire, spend the last three years on the sidelines but he moved a step closer to a Test return when named in England’s provisional Champions Trophy squad.”I have not seen Simon bowl in a match. I have just seen his figures and when a guy is getting five-fors pretty consistently, and getting them quickly – he’s getting them in seven and eight-over bursts – that is exciting,” Vaughan said. “As captain you want someone who can change the course of a game in a few overs.”If he performs like he did in the 2005 Ashes then we’ve got something special there and it’s absolutely fantastic that both he and Harmison are knocking on the door again.”Harmison continues to be overlooked by England’s selectors after a poor showing in New Zealand earlier this year, but Vaughan noticed a spark during a Championship match-up last week. “Having just played against Harmy, he has definitely got his pace back. He bowled a 12-over spell, which suggested he wanted to get me out, and he did,” he said. “The most important thing is he looked as if he was enjoying his cricket, which was a really positive sign.”I know he doesn’t want to play solely for Durham for the rest of his career, he wants to get back into the England team, and someone with that amount of ability and 90-miles-an-hour gas is going to be knocking on the door consistently.””And we know what Matthew Hoggard offers. Who would have said a year ago we would be even talking about the Ashes ’05 unit potentially bowling together again? It certainly could happen but we ought to talk about the guys in the team at the moment who do a good job.”Vaughan was confident of captaining at Lord’s, having taken an Ostinol injection for his troublesome right knee last Wednesday.

Manchester City are said to be really confident of signing Aston Villa star Jack Grealish this summer, as their summer recruitment drive intensifies [Pete O’Rourke via Football Terrace].

Enjoying a superb 2020/21 campaign, the 25-year-old registered an incredible 19 goal contributions in 27 fixtures for the Villains; seven goals and 12 assists [Transfermarkt].

Having been heavily linked with a move to the Etihad this window, the Sky Blues could be about to accelerate the process following recent reports.

O’Rourke, who was speaking in the latest issue of The Football Terrace podcast, claimed that City are ‘really confident’ of striking an agreement for the England international, which would cost around £100 million [City Xtra].

In light of this news, loads of Manchester City fans flocked to Twitter to share their opinions on the recent reports.

Manchester City FC fans react:

Replying to popular Manchester City fan outlet City Xtra, here is what some fans had to say about the update, and they don’t seem particularly confident…

“Next week: Man City are even more confident of signing Jack grealish The week after: BREAKING Jack grealish signs villa extension”

Credit: @7Mcfcmax

“Different day, same story”

Credit: @MB264738

“really confident FC now”Credit: @dekmcfc”BRUV YOU SAY THE SAME THING EVERY DAY ARE WE EVER GONNA SIGN HIM”Credit: @philgoatden3″Just get it done, Damn it man”Credit: @Ziniology”Confidence ain’t enough”Credit: @fredijeh2In other news, Manchester City fans react to a transfer update.