All posts by h716a5.icu

Ricky Ponting has become the seventh man to join the 10,000-run Test club

Cricinfo staff30-May-2008
Ricky Ponting was in fine touch on the first day in Antigua, where he reached a coveted milestone © Getty Images
Ricky Ponting has become the seventh man to join the 10,000-run Test club, moving alongside Steve Waugh and Allan Border as the only Australian members of the elite group. Ponting, 33, reached the milestone by advancing to the part-time legspinner Ramnaresh Sarwan and cover-driving for two, taking him from 59 to 61.He acknowledged the achievement with a subdued wave of the bat and accepted the congratulations from his partner Simon Katich. There was a standing ovation from the Australia players in the dressing room and from a contingent of Australian spectators at the ground, but the small crowd at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium made it a muted occasion.Ponting was unable to move far past the mark and finished the innings with 10,004 runs after getting a thick edge to slip on 65. He achieved the feat in his 118th Test, making him the second-fastest man to five figures behind Brian Lara, who arrived there in his 111th game.”It’s taken 13 years of international cricket to get 10,000 Test runs,” Ponting said after play. “Everyone growing up wishes they could do it, but the thing I’m most proud about is my longevity in the game. To play so many Tests, I’m proud of that record. As a top-order batsman, if you play that many games, you’re probably expected to get close on 10,000.”The other three men to have scored so heavily are the Indian trio of Rahul Dravid, who joined the club two months ago, Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar. Ponting expects Tendulkar’s record to remain out of reach.”I’m continually chasing Brian (11,953 runs) and Sachin (11,782),” he said. “Brian has finished but Sachin has got a few years left. Right now, my body has been sound for a few years. I’ve had some niggling back things, but I am working pretty hard to keep out of harm’s way.”Ponting credits his fulltime move to No. 3 behind his run-scoring surge over the second half of his career. Since his elevation during the 2001 England tour he has scored 7362 runs at 68.80 in 74 games.”There has been a bit made of the fact that I’ve been able to average more after being captain than before, but early in my career I struggled with batting down the order,” he said. “Batting at No. 6 was something I’d never done before. Everyone thinks it’s easier down there, I found it harder.”I didn’t know what to do sitting around the changeroom for all that time, and coming in after all those great players. Batting at No. 3 was where everything changed in my career. When I have more responsibility in the batting order is when I play my best cricket.”

Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio is closing in on a move away from Wolverhampton Wanderers after three years at Molineux.

According to Sky Sport Italy (via Roma Press), the 33-year-old will undergo his medical checks with Serie A club AS Roma on Monday after an €11m (£9.4m) fee was reportedly agreed.

Patricio a Wolves stalwart since promotion

Patricio joined Wolves on a free transfer ahead of their return to the Premier League in 2018 after cancelling his Sporting Lisbon contract in the wake of a training ground altercation with fans (via BBC Sport).

He has gone to rack up 127 appearances for the Midlands club, conceding 151 goals and keeping 37 clean sheets (via Transfermarkt). He has 97 Portugal caps to his name and will link up with former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho at the Stadio Olimpico.

According to transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, Wolves already have a replacement lined up in the form of Olympiacos ‘keeper Jose Sa.

Fan feed Talking Wolves relayed Sky Sport Italy’s claim, and here’s what these fans made of it.

Wolves fans react as Patricio nears exit door

“Wow we’re up to episode 21 in the soap opera, only 22 episodes yipeeee”

Credit: @satsomboon

“Bye”

Credit: @Adam11520205

“See ya”

Credit: @leebo1975

“Think we’ve seen the best of him”

Credit: @Michael49001947

“Gutted”

Credit: @philhud11

“The city of Wolverhampton will be 23% less handsome in total if this happens”

Credit: @MattLangham

In other news, many Wolves fans were buzzing as this news emerged. 

Three MCC university cricketers have become the first to sign internships with counties

Cricinfo staff01-Jul-2008
Johan Malcolm will be aiming to make use of the facilities at Leicestershire © Jed Wee
Three MCC university cricketers have become the first to sign internships with counties. Johan Malcolm from Loughborough has joined Leicestershire, Oxford’s Duncan Bradshaw heads to Essex and Cambridge’s Kunal Jogia links up with Derbyshire, all on three-month internships.The MCC will pay the players’ contracts while the counties will assume responsibility for the management of the player as they undergo their extended trial.”The internship scheme is one that suits both parties,” said John Stephenson, MCC’s head of cricket. “Not only can MCC help to develop university cricketers and the MCC University scheme but the county gets to work with the cream of the crop for an extended period. Players will be given a good opportunity to impress without feeling the pressure of having to produce in a one-off situation, which is what has previously happened.”Coming off the back of yesterday’s MCC Universities Challenge Final victory at Lord’s, Malcolm – who was born in Farnborough, Kent – is looking forward to his stint at Leicestershire.”Having access to the superb facilities and coaching on offer at Loughborough and being part of the MCC universities scheme has undoubtedly helped my game,” he said. “Having enjoyed three years as a UCCE cricketer, I am now looking forward to this extended opportunity with Leicestershire. It is up to me to demonstrate to the coaches at Leicester that my ability and attitude is right to take the next step for a career in cricket.””Johan Malcolm was our first choice as he fits into the current profile that we are looking for,” said Leicestershire coach Tim Boon. “Graham Dilley, the Loughborough UCCE head coach, gave him an excellent reference and we look forward to giving Johan an extended opportunity during the summer.”

Davinson Sanchez’s agent has dropped an update on the defender’s potential departure from Tottenham Hotspur this summer.

What’s been said?

In recent comments cited by Gol Caracol (via Sport Witness), Nestor Villarreal claimed that he is working on a number of deals which could see the centre-back leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer, although he ruled out the possibility of the 25-year-old being used as a makeweight in a potential swap deal for Sevilla’s Jules Kounde.

Sport Witness added that, while the sale of the Colombia international appeared a foregone conclusion with Jose Mourinho at the helm, it remains to be seen what Nuno Espirito Santo’s stance is on the defender’s future.

Villarreal insisted that Sanchez is indeed happy to remain in north London beyond the summer transfer window, although he did not entirely close the door on a potential exit in the coming weeks.

The agent said: “In the case of Davinson and Duvan [Zapata] we are working on some things, on the lookout and looking to see if something comes out.

“However, it must be said that the two are calm where they are, at Tottenham and Atalanta.

“They have a contract, if something better or more important comes out, they will leave or else they will stay. They are having no problem there [at their respective clubs].”

Fans surely buzzing

While Sanchez has undoubtedly shown signs of promise in spells during his time at Spurs, it would be difficult to say that the 25-year-old has lived up to his then-club record £42m transfer fee.

Indeed, the centre-back struggled to hold down a place in the Tottenham starting XI last season, making just 18 appearances in the Premier League.

When he did feature, the £28.8m-rated man hardly set the world alight, helping his side to keep four clean sheets, along with averaging 0.8 interceptions, 2.2 tackles and 4.7 clearances and winning 5.4 duels per game.

The defender also made one error leading to a shot, one error leading to a goal and was dribbled past 0.6 times per league fixture.

These metrics saw the man Mauricio Pochettino dubbed a “beast” earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.80, ranking him as Tottenham’s worst-performing centre-back in the 2020/21 Premier League.

After Villarreal’s comments were relayed on Twitter, many fans of the club appeared delighted at the prospect of the £65,000-per-week defender leaving the club this summer, with one dubbing the news “fantastic,” while another admitted it was “time to move on” for the Colombian.

As such, reports that the agent seems to actively be working on a deal which would see Sanchez leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer looks sure to delight many Spurs fans, as it would very much appear that the centre-back is simply not up to the standard required to feature on a regular basis under Nuno.

In other news: Spurs dealt transfer blow over “important” £73k-p/w target, Paratici will be livid

Gamini Lokuge, Sri Lanka’s sports minister, has ordered Sri Lanka Cricket to terminate the international television rights deal signed with Taj Television

Cricinfo staff10-Jul-2008Gamini Lokuge, Sri Lanka’s sports minister, has ordered Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to terminate the international television rights deal signed with Taj Television (Ten Sports) by the former interim committee headed by Jayantha Dharmadasa.The minister’s decision was based on the findings of a special three-man review committee headed by the minister’s secretary S Liyanagma. The other two members of the committee were Dr Maiya Gunasekera, chairman of the National Sports Council and BLH Perera, a laywer.The committee was asked to investigate the circumstances under which the controversial agreements were executed, whether there were any irregularities or non-compliance with procedures and to find out if there were any financial losses caused thereby to SLC.The report blamed SLC officials for not obtaining prior approval of the sports minister. It stated they had gone ahead with the deal without obtaining any legal advice or consulting the in-house lawyer, without following the right procedure and ex facie without any proper approval of the interim committee.The report said Taj Television would hold the rights under the original agreement till December 31, 2008 and they would also be entitled to participate in any tender that will be floated by SLC for future rights.

Many Aston Villa fans have been reacting excitedly on Twitter following Ralph Hasenhuttl’s comments on potential interest in Southampton forward Danny Ings.

Known to be attracting attention from Aston Villa and Tottenham this summer, the England international has been attracting increasing speculation surrounding his future following his decision to turn down a new four-year contract at St Mary’s earlier this month [Sky Sports].

Breaking his silence on the matter, Southampton coach Hasenhuttl added fuel to the fire, claiming that “it’s not a perfect situation” for Ings or the club that he snubbed the Saints’ contract offer [BBC].

The 28-year-old enjoyed an excellent 2020/21 campaign, with 13 goals and four assists in 33 appearances [Transfermarkt] following on from a 25-goal season before that, illustrating that he can be a consistently reliable scorer.

In light of these comments from Hasenhuttl, many Aston Villa diehards took to Twitter to voice their opinions on the state of play surrounding Ings.

Aston Villa fans react:

Reacting to popular news outlet Aston Villa News on Twitter, here is what some Villa supporters said when asked whether the club should sign the Southampton striker:

“An amazing player but we’d have to find a way of playing both him and Watkins”

Credit: @fobl11″He is quality, however Watkins is our striker and Smith isn’t changing the system, no chance.”Credit: @PJ_Harley”Of course, he’s a great forward”Credit: @Kizzalinka”100%”Credit: @silkievillain”Yes!”Credit: @frenchie1985″Knows where back of the net is…..”Credit: @HammondgrowlIn other news, many Aston Villa fans are keen on this hot prodigy.

John Ward reports on the fourth day of the Championship match between Worcestershire and Glamorgan at New Road

John Ward at Worcester20-Jul-2008Worcestershire 457 for 8 dec and 102 for 0 (Moore 58*, Mitchell 44*) beat Glamorgan 279 (Imran 5-50) and 279 (Ali 6-58)
ScorecardIn mid-afternoon, after some determined resistance from the doomed Glamorgan, Worcestershire completed their third championship victory of the season and moved to second place in Division Two of the championship. They owed much to their dynamic quartet of seam bowlers, who bowled with admirable skill and persistence on what remained to the end a sound batting wicket.Glamorgan began the day with 189 for 7 following on, just 11 runs ahead. Perhaps local supporters doubted their team’s ability to finish off the match quickly, or else they were desperate to ensure that victory was completed, because several hundred of them turned up for play that might well have been over within half an hour. But the overnight pair of James Harris and Jason Gillespie continued their stubborn defiance of Worcestershire’s impressive pace attack, and soon took the score past 200. Despite a couple of frenzied appeals, they rarely looked in trouble, and every now and then played a handsome drive that reached the boundary.It took almost an hour before the first wicket fell, as Harris groped outside the off stump to a rather wide ball from Mason and was given out caught behind for a very creditable 43. The pair had added 79 for the eighth wicket and successfully avoided the innings defeat. Still the visitors refused to roll over, and it was not until Kabir Ali took the new ball that he was able to break through the defences of David Harrison (7) and remove his off stump.Finally the last man Dean Cosker hung around for a while, until he was caught at the wicket for 8, off Kabir again. Gillespie was left stranded on 49, the highest score of the innings, off 91 balls, an admirable mixture of steadiness and well-judged strokes, most notably a powerful off-drive to the boundary off Kabir with the new ball. For once, the new star Imran Arif had failed to feature, but Kabir stepped in with six wickets, a fine performance that had locals calling for a recall to England colours.By a curious coincidence, not only did both Glamorgan innings total 279, but in both the seventh wicket had fallen at 165. The last three wickets had thus added 114 runs each time, rather an indictment of the top order, especially those who had reached double figures (in nine instances out of twelve in the two innings), yet failed to go on to a major score. Worcestershire needed 102 to win.It had taken the home side 93 minutes to wrap up the innings, and they thus had an awkward period to survive before lunch. Daryl Mitchell and Steven Moore did so solidly while adding eight runs, but even after the break they left nothing to chance and took a while to get going. In the tenth over Moore twice pulled Gillespie for four and then cut him for another, and they were away.Moore at 37 was dropped at slip off Harris, while Mitchell on 27 lofted a drive that just cleared mid-off, but the end result was never in doubt. Glamorgan just did not have the bowling firepower to upset Worcestershire. Moore reached his fifty with a big six over long-on, over the new stand at the Diglis End, off Cosker; it took him 75 balls.Shortly afterwards, Mitchell cut Alex Wharf for four to win the match by ten wickets – except that, as they had completed a single before the ball went over the boundary, under the dubious new law he was only credited with one. He finished on 44 to Moore’s 58. Unusually, there was not a single extra conceded in this innings, a small but definite credit to Glamorgan.The emergence of Imran has caused some excitement at Worcester. With Imran to add to their already impressive international pace attack – imported though it may be – of Kabir, Jones and Mason, they now boast a line-up stronger than many Division One teams this season. Their ambitions and expectations are high, and they confidently expect to return to the top league next season.A last note on Imran: Worcestershire’s chief executive Mark Newton announced that he has today signed a contract with the county for 2009 and 2010, conditional to his obtaining a British passport, which he believes to be imminent.

Wolves have started productively in the transfer window this summer but they still face the probability of losing key players.

Ruben Neves and Adama Traore are both pushing for moves away from the Midlands, while Rui Patricio has already sealed an exit.

What’s the word?

One player who the club haven’t actively looked to sell this summer is Portuguese sensation Pedro Neto.

He attracted the interest of Manchester United earlier this summer in a mega £50m move but, according to 90min, the Old Gold are tempted to sell him.

They are weighing up whether they want to grant the youngster an exit, with a number of Europe’s top clubs pursuing his signature.

According to the report from 90min, Spurs, Juventus and Liverpool have all made enquiries in the hope of signing him.

Big error

Wolves are in a position this summer where they may need to sell a few of their prized assets in order to build funds to acquire new players.

However, while somebody like Neves is more expendable, letting Neto walk out of the Midlands this summer would be a huge error of judgement from Bruno Lage; his biggest yet since becoming the club’s new manager.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-wolves-transfer-news-ceballos-zinchenko-euros-felix-lage” title=”Read the latest Wolves transfer news!”]

Neto was absolutely magnificent throughout 2020/21 and, in the process of scoring five goals and registering six assists, he was named the club’s Player of the Season.

A dazzling winger adept with the ball on both feet, his frantic style of play has caught the eye of many. He was described as “sensational” by Jamie Redknapp last season, completing 2.1 dribbles and two key passes per match, the highest of any Wolves player.

Neto was also their joint-top scorer and provided their most assists. With that in mind, selling him would be nothing short of catastrophic.

They have signed Trincao to bolster their ranks in the final third and he will likely improve their chances of scoring more goals.

However, after a campaign in which they were missing Raul Jimenez since November with a fractured skull, Wolves need to keep those in the squad who are capable of finding the net regularly.

Neto is such a huge presence in the squad and currently their best player, so allowing him to leave would be foolish. It would also deeply upset the loving Molineux faithful – as a supporter, you never want to see your star players departing.

AND in other news, Wolves in contact to sign “spectacular” £21.3m beast, he could be their new Jota…

Speaking to Sky Sports, pundit Sue Smith has raved over a ‘huge boost’ out of north London involving Tottenham Hotspur superstar Son Heung-min.

The Lowdown: Son contract confirmed…

Reports had indicated that the 28-year-old agreed to put pen to paper on a new deal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Football Insider recently reporting that terms had been finalised and a deal ‘done’.

Now, as announced today, Son has indeed extended his deal in north London – signing a four-year contract which will run until 2025.

The Latest: Smith raves over ‘huge’ Son boost…

Speaking to Sky, Smith has raved over the announcement whilst predicting Spurs supporters will certainly be ecstatic with the development.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-updates/” title=”Tottenham latest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

As well as this, she describes the news as a ‘huge boost’ for the Lilywhites.

“I think it’s a huge boost for everyone linked with Spurs,” she explained to the broadcaster.

“It’s just a huge boost like I say, he’s such a good player to watch, I really enjoy watching him every week in the Premier League.

“He’s vital to Spurs’ attack, I think when they go forward in terms of his running with the ball, his running without the ball, his assists, his goals.

“He’s a really intelligent player and Spurs fans will certainly be happy that he’s been tied down.”

The Verdict: Absolutely massive…

Given Spurs supporters have been waiting for the better part of 9 months for Son to officially extend his stay, with reports emerging as far back as October 2020, this certainly comes as massive bit of news.

The South Korea star was, by some distance, Tottenham’s second-most important player behind Kane and even managed to get into the PFA Premier League Team of the Year.

Amid the noise surrounding Kane and his future, news of Son committing his future is definitely a welcome update – if the talisman does depart, Son will become the face of the club.

In other news: ‘Massive’, ‘Exactly what Levy wanted’…Sky pundit has also raved over this Tottenham Hotspur Stadium announcement, find out more here.

Younis Khan has revealed he would have accepted Pakistan’s captaincy had it not been for the death of Bob Woolmer

Cricinfo staff26-Aug-2008
Younis Khan: “[Bob] Woolmer was a great human being and a good coach. I liked working with him. If he had remained coach I would have taken up the captaincy” © AFP
Younis Khan has revealed he would have taken up Pakistan’s captaincy had it not been for the sudden death of Bob Woolmer, the former South Africa and Pakistan coach. Woolmer died during the World Cup in the West Indies last year, and Younis said he would have enjoyed the captaincy with Woolmer as coach.Younis was offered the captaincy following Inzamam-ul-Haq’s resignation, but turned it down citing the mental strain brought about by Woolmer’s death, the subsequent trauma and the failed World Cup campaign. Younis, who had been Inzamam’s vice-captain for two years, was widely tipped as his successor.”Woolmer was a great human being and a good coach. I liked working with him. If he had remained coach I would have taken up the captaincy when the board made me the offer after Inzamam’s resignation,” Younis told . “Being captain is a big responsibility and I would have only felt comfortable if a coach like Bob was there.”With Younis not willing, the Pakistan board appointed Shoaib Malik as captain. Malik has been criticised throughout his tenure, but Younis felt he should be given time. “Malik is not a bad captain and he needs to be given more exposure and opportunities,” he said. “The board must be patient with him.”Younis suggested the new PCB chairman should be appointed after considerable thought. “I believe the chairman should be a professional who knows cricket closely and can communicate with the players,” he said. The position was left vacant when Nasim Ashraf stepped down soon after president Pervez Musharraf’s resignation.