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A round-up of the seventh-round matches of the regional four-day competition

Cricinfo staff21-Feb-2009Half-centuries to Donovan Pagon and Tamar Lambert helped Jamaica take first-innings points over the Windward Islands on day two in Dominica. In reply to the Windwards’ 261, Jamaica finished on 264 for 3 with Pagon (81) and Lambert (75 not out) the chief contributors. Pagon, who played two Tests against South Africa in 2005, hit 11 fours in his 163-ball innings and together with Lambert ensured Jamaica kept the Windwards in the field all day. Jamaica resumed on 15 for 0 and lost Xavier Marshall for 27 with the score 44, after which Brenton Parchment added 81 with Pagon. Pagon was the third man to fall but Wavell Hinds and Lambert added 38 before the close.Lendl Simmons was released from the West Indies’ squad for the second Test and immediately did his claims for a maiden Test cap no harms with a century at the Providence Stadium. Simmons, who has represented West Indies in eight ODIs, demonstrated his aptitude in the longer version of the game with 282 for the A team against England in last month’s tour game and, pitted against Guyana, scored his sixth first-class century. Put in to bat, Trinidad and Tobago finished the opening day on 279 for 3 with Simmons batting on 148 at stumps in an unbroken stand with Keiron Pollard (33). Guyana, who have not won in five attempts, got the early wicket of Justin Guillen, chasing one from Trevon Garraway to third slip, after which rain held up play for 15 minutes. Simmons and his captain Daren Ganga (50) put on 169, Ganga batting facing 115 balls and hitting four fours and a six. Simmons was dropped on 92 by Leon Johnson at point off Garraway and reached three figures with a single to cover off the same bowler. Pollard and Simmons were building a threatening 60-run partnership when bad light stopped play.The Combined Campuses & College’s spin duo of Ryan Austin and Kavesh Kantasingh tied down the Leeward Islands on the first day’s play in Barbados. After electing to bat, the Leewards finished on 249 for 9, with Austin and Kantasingh sharing eight wickets. The opener Montcin Hodge top-scored with 65 for Leewards, while Omari Banks (45), Tonito Willett (45) and Kieran Powell (36) got starts. Kantasingh started the slide when he bowled Kieran Powell for 36, snapping a 69-run opening stand. From 72 for 1 at lunch, Leewards lost Runako Morton for 2, caught behind off Kantasingh. Austin joined in by disloging a 50-run fifth-wicket association between Tonito Willett and Omari Banks and the rest of the wickets fell at regular intervals.

The BCCI and the Indian government continued to be in a deadlock over the IPL dates for the second season in April-May 2009 after a meeting between senior officials from both sides on Monday

Cricinfo staff16-Mar-2009The Indian government has asked the IPL to revise its tournament dates once again. The government wants the IPL to rework the revised schedule after consulting the states in which the matches are to be held. BCCI sources said discussions have already been initiated at the state level in this regard.”We told them it will not be possible to provide central paramilitary forces for the IPL because of the elections,” home ministry spokesman Onkarmal Kedia said. “We want them to draw up a schedule after consulting state governments on the dates when they can provide security. The ministry will take a decision after receiving a new schedule.”N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, told reporters in New Delhi after a one-and-a-half hour meeting that home ministry officials had explained their concerns about the dates in detail. “We have also expressed our difficulties and our own concerns,” Srinivasan said.Some of the IPL’s options are to have a packed schedule – with up to three matches in a day – and shorten the tournament, and/or restrict the matches to states that are willing to provide security for them.”Restricting the matches to just a few states would mean that the IPL will lose its home-and-away flavour,” a top BCCI official said. “For instance, holding matches in West Bengal (Kolkata) look very difficult going by the state’s response. In such a case, we can move many of Kolkata Knight Riders’ matches to Cuttack (in the neighbouring Orissa state). But the thinking is that the tournament has to be held in April-May.”The IPL had submitted a revised schedule to the Indian government last week after P Chidambaram, India’s home minister, said security would be provided for matches though the dates would have to be reworked to avoid a direct clash with general elections in the country. However, the revised dates were not accepted by various states where the IPL would be played in, including Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.Karnataka’s Bangalore police declined to provide security cover for the IPL until May 3 and advised the tournament organisers to not host games in the city until after May 4. “Bangalore city police will not be in a position to give security for IPL matches until May 3 in view of our commitments regarding Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on April 23 and April 30,” police commissioner Shankar Bidari said. Bidari said security could be provided if games were played on May 4, 7, 10, 11, 14, 19 and 20.The Andhra Pradesh police, meanwhile, agreed to provide security for matches after April 26, three days after polling ends in the state. “We have studied the revised schedule submitted by the IPL organisers and accordingly informed them that there is no objection to the conduct of matches after April 26,” AK Khan, the state’s director general of police (law and order), told PTI. “However, matches will not be possible for four days from May 14 when the police will be busy with duties for counting of votes on May 16.”

Liverpool could secure their ideal heir to departed forward Xherdan Shaqiri after being linked with a move for Real Madrid ace Marco Asensio.

What’s the story?

According to Spanish outlet TodoFichajes, the Reds are preparing a bid for the versatile 25-year-old as manager Jurgen Klopp continues to search for reinforcements for his first-team squad.

The report states that: “The Mallorcan still does not have a leading role in Ancelotti’s plans, and he has been looking for a way out to relaunch his career for a long time,” with Liverpool reportedly plotting a £30.1 million move for Asensio.

Heir to Xherdan Shaqiri

Asensio made a big impact when he first arrived in Madrid following his move from boyhood club Mallorca, establishing himself as one of Europe’s most promising young talents with a string of impressive performances.

His outstanding displays caught the eye of several onlookers, including Madrid legend Guti, who praised his compatriot’s mindset.

“Asensio is a lot better player than I was. He has an unlimited ceiling, his head is very well furnished, and will depend on what he wants to do in the world of football. The future is in his feet,” said Guti.

A ruptured cruciate ligament in 2020 stunted the midfielder’s progress, though, limiting him to just 10 appearances throughout the 2019/20 campaign.

Nevertheless, he made a solid return to action last term, scoring seven goals and providing two assists in 48 appearances, and at just 25, he still has plenty of time to fulfil his potential.

New Madrid boss Ancelotti doesn’t appear to have a big role for Asensio at the Bernabeu, however. He’s played just 57 minutes of La Liga football in the opening weeks of the campaign, leading to speculation that an imminent exit could be on the cards.

And Klopp may view the Spain international as the ideal replacement for Shaqiri. The diminutive forward departed Anfield after three frustrating years this summer, joining Ligue 1 outfit Lyon in a £9.5m move.

His exit has left Liverpool a little lightweight in the forward areas, though, and with Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah set to miss a significant chunk of the campaign due to the African Cup of Nations, further additions are likely to be required.

A move for Asensio, therefore, makes sense for multiple reasons, and Klopp may be tempted to strike as soon as January in order to provide cover for his forward line.

And, in other news…Liverpool could finally replace Coutinho with move for smart £36m-rated magician 

Divock Origi was simply omitted from Liverpool’s squad at the weekend rather than being injured, according to reliable journalist James Pearce.

The Lowdown: Origi left out of squad

The Reds were superb away to Leeds on Sunday, cruising to a 3-0 win, although the victory was marred by a serious injury to Harvey Elliott.

Origi played no part in proceedings, having not even made the substitutes’ bench, leaving Liverpool with no out-and-out attacker to call upon in reserve. Thankfully, none were needed given the visitors’ dominance at Elland Road.

[freshpress-quiz id=“359326”]

The Latest: Pearce provides update on Origi

Speaking in a Q&A for The Athletic before the game, Pearce confirmed that the Belgian didn’t make the squad because Jurgen Klopp couldn’t justify a place for him in it, offering the succinct five-word update of: “Origi not injured I’m told”.

In reply to an earlier query as part of the Q&A enquiring whether the 26-year-old was out with injury, the journalist responded: “Not injured I’m told. Klopp clearly thinks if he needs to make a change in the frontline he will bring on Oxlade today.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-2/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=“none”]

The Verdict: Surplus to requirements

It was a surprise that Origi didn’t move on in the summer transfer window given his rarity of action, and his latest omission only strengthens that argument.

The fact that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is now seemingly considered a better option in attack speaks volumes, considering that the 28-year-old is renowned for being a midfielder. Then again, his Belgian team-mate hasn’t scored a senior goal in almost 12 months since a Carabao Cup rout at Lincoln.

Origi is still searching for his first snippet of senior action this season and it is hard to see where opportunities will arrive, apart from potentially in domestic cup competitions.

The sooner the 26-year-old leaves, the more beneficial it will be for everyone. His totally voluntary omission by Klopp yesterday, in the absence of any other reserve centre-forwards, was damning.

In other news, some Liverpool fans have hailed a pundit’s support of one Reds player. Find out who it is here.

Following the latest Rajasthan Royals’ batting collapse, Shane Warne has called on his top order to take more responsibility if the team is to defend their title of IPL champions

Cricinfo staff26-Apr-2009Following the latest Rajasthan Royals’ batting collapse, Shane Warne has called on his top order to take more responsibility if the team is to defend their title of IPL champions. Chasing a target of 140 set by Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan slumped to 27 for 4 inside five overs and then lost two more before the ninth over, eventually losing by 27 runs.”Our bowling and fielding were very good … maybe they [Punjab] got 10-15 extra. Chasing 140, we should have done that but unfortunately our top order failed,” Warne said. “They bowled well but we just didn’t get our combination right as yet. Guys at the top are not doing the job, we have to look at that, the bowlers and fielders are doing their job.”Rajasthan have been struggling to cope with the absence of their Shane Watson and Graeme Smith’s form has been poor so far. As a result, their batting collapsed in the first game against Bangalore and they relied on their middle order to prop them up to a defendable total against Kolkata.”The batting is not fine and guys have to take the responsibility and show how important the competition is for them, so hopefully we will get it right in the next game,” said Warne. “This pitch has a history and so it would have been better batting first but then 140 is chaseable, if we could have batted first five or six overs well we should have been being there. We have been playing in the first half but we have not been batting well in the first five or six overs. If we can do that we would surely be a tough force in the competition.”Warne himself scored 34 from 33 balls, the second highest score of a dismal innings, but by the time he came to the middle the match was all but over for Rajasthan.Yuvraj Singh was a pleased man after Punjab won their second game and singled out Kumar Sangakkara and Irfan Pathan for their crucial partnership that smoothed over the loss of four wickets. “After losing early wickets, Sangakkara and Irfan Pathan batted well and got us to a decent total,” he said. “We needed a good partnership and after 10 overs we discussed how we have to go till the 20 overs and we defended it nicely by good bowling in the end.”Sangakkara, Man of the Match for his 60, praised Irfan for his 33-ball 39, an effort that really changed the tempo of Punjab’s innings. “He did most of the batting for us and I just made sure that we batted till the end,” said Sangakkara. “I kept batting positive and then Irfan came and got the momentum back into our side.”We have to make sure that we execute our game plan much better. There have been some run-outs so we have a little homework to do and hopefully we would keep the momentum going.”

Many Manchester United fans have been left slamming the display of Alex Telles in their 1-0 loss at home in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team crashed out of the competition at Old Trafford as an early goal from Manuel Lanzini was enough to send West Ham United through into the next round.

Some Red Devils thought that Telles was at fault for the goal due to the ease with which Ryan Fredericks skipped past him, and the left-back certainly seemed to struggle after that too.

Telles lost out on 100 per cent of his duels in the game, and also failed to record a single dribble, blocked shot, interception or tackle, while losing possession possession of the ball on no fewer than on 13 separate occasions, the fifth-most out of any of his teammates (Sofascore).

Man Utd fans on Telles display

These MUFC supporters slammed his performance on Twitter, with a couple of them even going as far as to claim that the former FC Porto ace was ‘awful’:

“Martial, Telles and Mata were awful. No issues with the others”

Credit: @nzmanc

“Telles got absolutely done for the goal. It was right in front of the corner I was at for the game. Looked awful up close.”

Credit: @UnitedPecky

“Martial was poor but Telles disaster class cost @ManUtd the game.”

Credit: @johnwill175

“Telles was shocking yesterday though let’s be honest”

Credit: @Jaswin23

“I don’t think Telles or the defence played well. It’s not good enough for United level.”

Credit: @FreeLurkyMe2

“Bailly was alright but yeah, Telles was straight up horrendous. I just mentioned the names straight top off my head”

Credit: @VedantUTD

In other news, find out which ‘unbelievable’ Premier League star is being monitored by United here!

Warwickshire chief executive Colin Povey has warned that the club could leave Edgbaston if they do not secure planning permission for the redevelopment of the ground

George Dobell at Edgbaston08-May-2009Warwickshire chief executive Colin Povey has warned that the club could leave Edgbaston if they do not secure planning permission for the redevelopment of the ground.Birmingham City Council have so far declined the club’s application, but meet next week to discuss it once again. The club insist that the development is necessary if the ground is to remain capable of hosting international cricket.”Without international cricket we can’t afford to run what we have got, never mind what we hope to build,” Povey said. “You would be into heavy losses and a completely untenable position for Warwickshire to be remaining at Edgbaston as we currently know it.”You would either have to scale back the facilities or look to relocate somewhere else.We would be down the plug hole. That’s the stark reality.”

Brentford striker Ivan Toney has revealed he almost signed for Rangers before making the move to the Bees instead.

The Lowdown: Toney shines at Brentford

Toney made the move to Brentford from Peterborough last year for a fee of £5m, and that is looking like a snip.

After helping the London outfit earn promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history, Toney has managed two goals and two assists in six top flight games as Brentford continue to impress (Transfermarkt).

The Latest: Toney admits close Ibrox shave

Speaking to Ally McCoist on talkSPORT (via Ibrox News), Toney has admitted he also made the move to Rangers. He explained:

“I was going to sign for Celtic but I was also going to sign for Rangers. So you might be happy with that.”

The Lowdown: What could have been

£25.2m-valued Toney (Transfermarkt) had proven to be an outstanding signing for Brentford since making the move there. In his last 97 matches, he has found the back of the net 61 times, while he also broke the Championship scoring record last term during Brentford’s triumphant campaign (iNews).

Rangers themselves did win the Premiership title last season and also reached the last 16 of the Europa League, so it doesn’t seem they were crying out for Toney. However, he is clearly a talented player, and would have given Steven Gerrard a possible long-term replacement should Alfredo Morelos leave.

In other news, Rangers fans are unhappy with this club update.

A round-up from the latest Twenty20 Cup matches as Yorkshire secure a nail-biting win while Lancashire and Hampshire have more comfortable success

Cricinfo staff02-Jun-2009North DivisionLow-scoring games can often be the best and Yorkshire squeezed to a two-wicket win against Durham at Headingley off the last ball in a match dominated by the bowlers. Deon Kruis scrambled the winning run after a crucial cameo by Tim Bresnan – overlooked for the ICC World Twenty20 – who was dropped by Mitchell Claydon when he lost the ball in the sun on the square-leg boundary. Chasing 117, the home side made a reasonable start as Andrew Gale and Anthony McGrath added 30 but then Durham made inroads. Michael Vaughan was run out backing up without facing and Ben Harmsion picked up two middle-order scalps. Durham had found batting equally tough, especially against Rana Naved who gave a superb display of death bowling as he conceded a total of three runs off the 16th and 18th overs.Lancashire maintained their unbeaten record with a comfortable 38-run win against Derbyshire at Old Trafford. An opening stand of 75 in 40 balls between Paul Horton and Tom Smith set them on their way with Horton hitting 41 off 20 deliveries. The innings was finished off strongly by Steven Croft and Ashwell Prince as they added 51. Derbyshire were never in the hunt as the Lancashire attack made an early mark and Sajid Mahmood claimed a key breakthrough when he removed the middle and off stumps of Chris Rogers. Mahmood finished with a career-best 4 for 29 to continue his impressive form.

North Division

Teams Mat Won Lost Tied N/R Pts Net RR For Against

Lancashire 5 5 0 0 0 10 +1.225 686/91.1 630/100.0 Yorkshire 5 3 2 0 0 6 -0.069 616/96.0 614/94.4 Derbyshire 5 2 3 0 0 4 -0.402 720/99.0 701/91.2 Durham 5 2 3 0 0 4 -0.520 720/100.0 772/100.0 Nottinghamshire 4 1 3 0 0 2 +0.232 631/75.1 653/80.0 Leicestershire 4 1 3 0 0 2 -0.481 570/80.0 573/75.2 South DivisionMiddlesex’s miserable Twenty20 campaign continued with another heavy defeat as they went down by 56 runs to Hampshire at Uxbridge to virtually end their hopes of retaining the title. The batting slumped to 125 all out as they chased a demanding 182 with Liam Dawson and Sean Ervine, who had a fine all-round game, sharing seven wickets. Dawson made the decisive incisions as he claimed three top-order scalps. Hampshire’s total was set-up by half-centuries from Michael Carberry (56) and Ervine (53 off 26 balls) as they added 79 for the third wicket. Ervine played the innings of the day as he struck four sixes to give the innings vital momentum.

South Division

Teams Mat Won Lost Tied N/R Pts Net RR For Against

Essex 4 3 0 0 1 7 +0.974 522/59.5 465/60.0 Kent 5 3 1 0 1 7 +0.840 600/75.2 570/80.0 Hampshire 5 3 2 0 0 6 +0.812 755/96.1 684/97.1 Sussex 6 3 3 0 0 6 +0.047 828/113.4 819/113.1 Surrey 5 2 3 0 0 4 +0.137 812/100.0 797/99.5 Middlesex 5 0 5 0 0 0 -2.248 603/100.0 785/94.5

Lee Ryder has now dropped a promising claim on Newcastle United’s recent takeover case.

The Lowdown: Newcastle threatened

As cited by BBC Sport, Daniel Jowell QC revealed that the Premier League had threatened to expel the St James’ Park club from the top flight in their Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) case against the division over the stalled takeover deal between Mike Ashley and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group.

To come out with such an outrageous threat suggests that the Premier League are feeling the pressure when it comes to arguing their case.

The Latest: Ryder on CAT

Replying to a Newcastle fan in a Q&A session when asked about his thoughts on the CAT case for The Chronicle, Ryder claimed that it ‘went well, arguably better than expected’.

The journalist added that he thinks that there is a ‘good chance’ that it will carry on from where it left off on Wednesday instead of being thrown out, which was the Premier League’s aim in the hearing.

The Verdict: Promising

The opening day of the CAT claim did seem like a promising one for Mike Ashley and Newcastle United. The Premier League did seem desperate at times, as exemplified by their threat, and suggested that the Tyneside club may have a stronger case.

They also got a definitive date for the separate arbitration proceedings in 3 January 2022, and that step is likely to be pivotal in determining the direction of where the prospective takeover is heading.

In other news, find out what sources close to Ashley have now said about Steve Bruce’s future