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Plays of the day from the third day of England v Bangladesh at Lord’s

Andrew Miller at Lord's29-May-2010Bowler of the day
Steven Finn was England’s most threatening bowler in batter-friendly conditions on Friday, and sure enough, when the clouds rolled over and the deck juiced up today, he continued to excel by sticking to the virtues that had made him a threat in the first place. Finding a tight line and appreciable lift from his six-foot-plenty frame, he set the tone for his team-mates with 2 for 33 in a seven-over first spell, and when the new ball was taken late in the day, he was rightly given first use from the pavilion end. Within two deliveries, he scalped Mushfiqur Rahim with a beauty.Delivery of the day
Where Finn was discipline personified, James Anderson reaped his rewards through whimsy. Line and length has never been his modus operandi – hence his reputation as a bit of a “daisy” – but whereas yesterday was one of those days he didn’t, today he got the ball singing to his tune. The delivery to extract Jahurul Islam was a beauty – a snaking outswinger that burst off the turf, grazed the edge, and zipped through to Matt Prior.Fumble of the day
After a blissful year in which he seemed finally to have seen off his challengers, Prior’s place in the side is once again under scrutiny thanks to the emergence of Craig Kieswetter in the limited-overs format. The assumption is that his Test place is safe for now, largely because his glovework – once so shaky – has improved beyond recognition. Even so, he’ll be under pressure not to let his standards slip, and so he was very grateful for Andrew Strauss’s alertness at slip as he parried a flying edge off Shakib Al Hasan into the hands of his skipper.Decision of the day
There’s no Decision Review System for this series, largely because of Sky’s justifiable unwillingness to foot the hefty bill without the aid of sponsorship, but while the stakeholders wrangle on the sidelines, the umpires are left to make their judgments without back-up. And after Alastair Cook’s unlucky lbw on the first morning, today it was Mohammad Ashraful’s turn to cop a rough one. Facing up to a hostile spell from Finn, he was trapped on the crease by a full-length lifter, and was not best pleased by Asoka de Silva’s verdict. The ball would have flown over the top of leg stump.Stop-start of the day
It always seemed ambitious to schedule a tea break at 5.10pm, and sure enough, the final “session” of the day was a little bit of a farce. The players managed 13 deliveries in a row before a beauty from Bresnan to Mushfiqur persuaded umpire Bowden that the light really wasn’t up to scratch, but after a five-minute hiatus, out they came again … for seven balls … in which time Mushfiq was less fortunate, as Finn splayed his stumps with a bail-trimmer down the hill that was reminiscent of Glenn McGrath in his Lord’s pomp. Still they weren’t quite done, however. A further nine deliveries, in which Shahadat Hossain somehow survived against Anderson, brought a lop-sided day to a close.

Celtic have been handed a significant boost ahead of their upcoming Scottish League Cup semi-final.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to a report by BT Sport, who claim that St. Johnstone look set to be without key attacking duo Glenn Middleton and Stevie May for Saturday’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Celtic.

The report goes on to state that May will be sidelined for around six weeks due to a knee injury, while on-loan Rangers winger Middleton suffered a hamstring injury in Scotland U21’s 2-0 loss to Belgium in midweek.

Speaking about the injuries, St. Johnstone manager Callum Davidson said: “Stevie suffered a knee injury in training so he’s going to be out for a while, probably up until Christmas.

“That’s a blow for us because we want good competition for places and he’s someone who either plays with energy or comes off the bench with energy. He’s going to be sorely missed. I’m gutted to lose him because he was just coming into a bit of form.

“Glenn is struggling. I was cursing at the television when I saw him limp off. It’s a slight hamstring injury. He’s been in getting assessed today and hopefully it’s not as bad as first feared, but I think Saturday will come too soon for him, which, again, is a blow.”

Postecoglou will be delighted

Considering just how important both May and Middleton have been to St. Johnstone so far this season, the news that neither player looks set to feature in the League Cup semi-final is sure to have left Ange Postecoglou delighted.

Indeed, over May’s 13 Scottish Premiership appearances this term, the centre-forward has scored two goals, registered one assist and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.3 shots and making 0.6 key passes per game.

With Celtic’s defence looking rather depleted with Carl Starfelt a doubt, and Stephen Welsh nursing his own issues, this should come as a huge relief to the Bhoys manager.

Meanwhile, over Middleton’s own 13 league fixtures this season, the on-loan winger has taken an average of 1.2 shots and made 0.6 key passes per game. His absence will certainly make it an easier afternoon for the likes of Anthony Ralston and Josip Juranovic.

As such, the fact that St. Johnstone will be without the duo for Saturday’s fixture will undoubtedly come as a substantial boost for Celtic, who will very much fancy their chances of making the final following their opponents’ injury blow.

In other news: Ange may be heading for Celtic nightmare over 20 y/o sensation who’s a “real presence”

The Indian government has informed the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that it backs the agency’s anti-doping code, including the controversial ‘whereabouts’ clause

Cricinfo staff19-Sep-2009The Indian government has informed the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that it backs the agency’s anti-doping code, including the controversial ‘whereabouts’ clause, a senior Indian official has claimed.WADA had earlier written to the Indian government asking whether it supported the Indian cricketers, who had rejected the anti-doping code in its present form.Rahul Bhatnagar, director-general of India’s National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), said WADA had already been told of the government’s stand in a letter. “The Government and National Anti-Doping Agency stand fully committed to WADA Code including the provisions related to International Standards of Testing and ‘whereabouts’ clause,” Bhatnagar, who is also joint secretary in the sports ministry, said. “We have informed WADA that there is no change in the position of Government of India in so far as implementation of anti-doping rules adopted by NADA.”India’s stand now and before has been the same. There is no compromise when it comes to doping in sport,” he said. “In respect to the issue raised by BCCI regarding ‘whereabouts’ clause we have repeatedly been asking BCCI about the advice they have sought in this matter. But we have not got any response either from BCCI nor from elsewhere as to what exactly was that opinion.”He also said that the ‘whereabouts’ clause had been accepted by NADA and that it had been approved by the Indian government.The ICC implemented the new WADA code from January 1 and that included a clause which mandated cricketers nominated to an international testing pool to reveal to an ICC-nominated officer before every quarter details of their location for an hour every day for the next three months to facilitate out-of-competition testing.This whereabouts system was to start from August 1 but was stalled after the 11 Indian cricketers in the pool, including Sachin Tendulkar, refused to reveal the required information citing security and privacy concerns. The BCCI has backed the players in this issue and even sought the opinion of two top legal authorities in the country to firm up its stand. It is believed that the BCCI now has significant support from other ICC full members on this issue.

With Dean Smith’s Aston Villa side heading into Sunday’s Premier League clash on a run of three consecutive defeats, the 50-year-old would have undoubtedly been hoping for a much better result and performance when West Ham United visited Villa Park this weekend.

However, first-half strikes from Ben Johnson and Declan Rice, in addition to an Ollie Watkins goal for Villa, saw the Hammers take a 2-1 lead into the break, before Ezri Konsa’s 50th-minute red card all but ended Smith’s chances of getting anything out of the game – with goals from Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen completing the 4-1 rout late on.

As is perhaps to be expected after such a result, a number of Villa players did not fare well in terms of match ratings, with Emiliano Buendia and goalscorer Watkins being the only two players to receive a SofaScore match rating of 7.0 or above on the losing side.

Although, it will undoubtedly be Konsa most disappointed with his display on Sunday, as the centre-back cost his side dearly.

Marching orders

While the 24-year-old’s biggest fault on Sunday was quite obviously his sending off for denying Bowen a clear goalscoring opportunity early in the second half – even if this decision has caused some level of controversy in the aftermath of the fixture – the defender’s display during his 50 minutes on the pitch was far from his best performance in a Villa shirt.

Indeed, the £22.5m-rated man failed to make any tackles, any interceptions or any clearances – three of the metrics which generally determine how effective a defender has been during a match.

The former England U21 international also lost four of his eight duels, completed just 17 passes and touched the ball a grand total of 25 times – 14 times less than Aston Villa shot-stopper Emiliano Martinez.

Finally, it would be difficult to comment on the £72k-per-week centre-back’s performance without mentioning the red card properly, as, regardless of whether or not Chris Kavanagh’s call was harsh, Konsa gave the referee and VAR a decision to make – one that ultimately ended up costing his side dearly.

Indeed, this is reflected in the SofaScore match rating of the player who Thomas Frank dubbed “like a Rolls-Royce”, with the 24-year-old’s 5.8 ranking him as the worst player on the pitch on Sunday.

As such, while any Aston Villa fan will know that Konsa is a much better player than his performance against West Ham would have you believe, the fact nevertheless remains that the defender was a major factor in Villa’s breakdown against the Hammers.

In other news: Signed for £17m, now worth “quadruple”: Lange struck oil on “unreal” £47k-p/w AVFC ace

‘If we bowl well, we’re favourites in this game. They need 450 to avoid the follow-on. As long as they’re short of that, they’ll be in danger,’ says Gambhir

Cricinfo staff25-Nov-2009This was a traipse back down memory lane to the 1990s when India’s batsmen would pile up huge totals before vacating the stage for their slow bowlers to systematically demolish the opposition. At least, India will be hoping the script plays out that way. The batsmen have done their part, putting 642 on the board at a cracking pace and with the pitch already showing signs of deterioration, the onus is now on Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha to make inroads into a Sri Lankan line-up that amassed 760 in the first Test.Most of the damage at Green Park was done on the opening day, with Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag adding 233 for the first wicket. Gambhir, who has now scored hundreds in each of his last four Tests, was confident that India would be able to drive home the advantage. “If you get 650 on the board, it’s always difficult for the team batting second,” he said. “The way the wicket is behaving now, it’s only going to get more difficult. Stroke-making isn’t easy because the bounce is not that great.”There’s only one team that can lose from this situation and that’s Sri Lanka. If we bowl well, we’re favourites in this game. They need 450 to avoid the follow-on. As long as they’re short of that, they’ll be in danger. And on this pitch, 450 is a lot of runs.”Until the series in Sri Lanka last July, Gambhir wasn’t even an integral part of India’s line-up, but his progress since has evoked all manner of comparisons. After the first day’s play, Sehwag referred to him as India’s best opening batsman since Sunil Gavaskar, and while he doesn’t mind the praise, it’s not something that’s uppermost in his mind. “In New Zealand as well, he [Sehwag] said that I’m the next Wall [Rahul Dravid]. Coming from him, it’s a great feeling. If someone else had said it, I wouldn’t have taken it seriously because these statements don’t matter. Comparisons with other cricketers don’t really make that much difference to me.”These days, Gambhir bats with the same sort of composure and steadiness that once made Dravid such an immovable object. There’s something reassuring about the way he goes about the business of making runs. And while he has gone from one century to another, the original has also regained his touch, with back-to-back centuries in Ahmedabad and Kanpur. “I think he’s a great player and his record speaks for him,” said Gambhir when asked about the Dravid renaissance.”As a cricketer, you go through these lean patches, and he’s such a great player that it was just a matter of time before he came out of that. We’ve all seen that once he got a hundred in Mohali against England, he hasn’t looked back. A lot of credit goes to him for the way he fought it out. The entire team is really happy because he’s one of the great players of the game. Hopefully he can continue the same way for us because he’s one of mainstays in our batting line-up.”Sri Lanka managed to get through to stumps with only one wicket down, but Gambhir was confident that the gremlins in the pitch would come to India’s aid sooner rather than later. “If you see the last session, the ball has started turning and keeping low as well. If we can bowl well tomorrow and for the next two days, it’s going to result-oriented [the pitch]. That’s what we felt even when we saw it before the Test started. We thought something would happen on this wicket. It’s only going to deteriorate from here on and if we can bowl the areas we want to bowl, there’s definitely going to be a result.”At one stage, with the scoreboard showing 613 for 4, a total in excess of 700 appeared likely. But Rangana Herath triggered a lower-order collapse in which six wickets fell for 29, and Gambhir was generous in his praise of the least celebrated member of Sri Lanka’s spin troika. “A five-wicket haul is a five-wicket haul. No one gives easy wickets in Test cricket. A lot of credit goes to him. On the first day, nothing was happening and he still stuck to his line and length and he got all the rewards for the way he bowled. Most of the wickets he got were off good balls. Except for Zaheer [Khan], all the other dismissals were off good balls.”More than 50,000 have cheered themselves hoarse in the stands over the first two days, making a mockery of recent suggestions that Indians no longer love their Test cricket. According to Gambhir, it was only ever thus. “Test cricket can never die in India because of the amount of passion people have,” he said. “It’s the ultimate cricket, if you ask any of the cricketers. It’s what I’ve always said in the past as well. Those who’ve become legends of the game have fantastic Test records. You don’t practise to play four overs in Twenty20, you practise to get 200s and 300s. That’s where your skill and temperament and patience are tested. We’ve got a great crowd here, and even in Ahmedabad we had decent crowds. That’s really satisfying.”With 10 centuries scored in the first seven days of the series, there was some sympathy too for those toiling with ball in hand. “Especially in Ahmedabad, it was a very tough job for the spinners, and for fast bowlers,” he said. “The way both Harbhajan and Amit [Mishra] bowled, my heart went out to them because there was nothing from the track. If you see, even Muralitharan, who’s the best spinner in the world, didn’t have a wicket on the fifth day, only the third time that’s happened. In future, I hope we can have wickets which suit both batsmen and bowlers so that it’s an even contest.”You sense though that he and team-mates, not to mention the thousands in the stands, will be perfectly happy to see an uneven contest over the next day or two. India have Sri Lanka staggering, and at a venue where spinners have always held sway, they’ll relish the opportunity to deliver the knockout punch.

India tucked the first win of their South African tour into their kit coffins when they beat the Nicky Oppenheimer XI by five wickets in a gentle stroll at Randjesfontein on Monday.The Indians moved comfortably to victory after the home team had

Peter Robinson22-Jul-2009India tucked the first win of their South African tour into their kit coffins when they beat the Nicky Oppenheimer XI by five wickets in a gentle stroll at Randjesfontein on Monday.The Indians moved comfortably to victory after the home team had declared at 244 for three with the winning margin slightly misleading. Two of the Indian batsmen retired in a match in which the bat unquestionably held sway over the ball.and, if nothing else, Sachin Tendulkar’s form suggested he is well over the foot injury that sidelined him recently.It was, said Sourav Ganguly, “a lovely ground, a lovely wicket, a nice relaxed way to start the tour”.Ganguly was reluctant to read too much into what was, effectively, a practice outing, but coach John Wright said the two big pluses for the Indians were the bowling of Anil Kumble – “He looked good, he was pleased with the way he bowled” – and the batting of Tendulkar – “He looked good, too. It’s very much a confidence thing”.The NFO innings, which demonstrated the depth of young talent available to South Africa, was built around two century partnerships and a gem of a hundred from Jacques Rudolph, the 20-year-old Northerns opener who is tipped by many for higher honours.Rudolph and Loots Bosman put on exactly 100 for the first wicket after the home team batted first by mutual agreement between the captains. Bosman was the aggressor, spraying four sixes and four fours around the picturesque ground owned by the Oppenheimer family.Bosman carved out 62 off 77 balls before he tried to cut Anil Kumble and chopped it on at 100 for one.Rudolph, meanwhile, once again emphasised that among his considerable talents is the ability to pace an innings and in harness with Graeme Smith 117 was put on for the second wicket.In the process Rudolph moved to his hundred, a landmark he celebrated by heaving Kumble over mid-wicket for a huge six before holing out to mid on in the same over for 109. Smith went on to record the third half-century of the innings, reaching 54 before he was run out.The declaration came after a first session that lasted 187 minutes and 52 overs and was followed by a second session during which just 21 overs were bowled, the players coming back in for tea as the lunchtime crockery was still being gathered up.India managed 109 for two in this period, Tendulkar crunching 45 off 36 balls before falling leg before in Nantie Hayward’s first over, a decision which disappointed the crowd as much as it pleased Hayward.Sourav Ganguly compiled a more measured 34 before holing out to midwicket off the left-arm wrist spinner Goolam Bodi while SS Das breezed his way to 59 before retiring to let someone else have a go.As was the case in the NFO innings, the bowling lacked bite (with the possible exception of Hayward who might yet force his way back into the South African Test side this summer). The Indians, then, were seldom under any pressure against NFO part-timers and Dale Benkenstain and Rahul Dravid also retired himself out for 48.Virender Sehwag was the last wicket to fall, run out for 44, before Reetinder Singh Sodhi and Deep Dasgupta saw India home.

Sunderland bounced back from their 4-0 defeat to Portsmouth prior to the international break with a 2-1 win away at Gillingham on Saturday.

The Black Cats are one point off the top of the table, with two games in-hand on Plymouth and one on Wycombe – who sit 1st and 2nd respectively.

Aiden O’Brien and Tom Flanagan scored the goals for Lee Johnson’s side after they went 1-0 down in the first half, with Elliot Embleton also seeing red for a challenge in the 67th minute.

Flanagan scored the winning goal from centre-back and put in a solid display defensively, but another Sunderland player stole the show on the day – Dan Neil.

The teenage gem was sublime for the Black Cats as he impressed and helped Sunderland control the match and, ultimately, win the game. He was solid defensively and offensively as he caught the eye ahead of captain Luke O’Nien and the goalscorer Flanagan.

Neil’s SofaScore rating (7.4) was higher than O’Nien’s (6.6) and the highest in the team in terms of outfield players who failed to score. This highlights how well he was able to perform in midfield as his statistics made him stand out despite ending the game without a goal.

He did, however, provide an assist as he set up O’Brien’s equaliser in the first half. Alex Pritchard spread the ball out wide for Neil in an excellent position on the right and he whipped in a delicious, teasing, cross for the winger to prod the ball home in the six-yard box. The teenager put the ball into the corridor of uncertainty between the goalkeeper and the defender, allowing O’Brien to sneak in between them and get his foot to it first.

This was one of four key passes he produced during the game as he showed off his creativity. Per SofaScore, he also completed 100% of his attempted dribbles, two of his four attempted long passes and 84% of his passes overall, with 68 touches in the 90 minutes. This highlights the quality he was able to provide when in possession throughout the game.

Defensively, he put a shift in. Per SofaScore, he made one interception, two tackles and one block, whilst also winning three of his seven ground duels. There is room for improvement with his individual battles, but his numbers show that he was still able to make a positive contribution defensively on the whole, to go along with his impressive display on the ball.

Therefore, Neil stole the show for Johnson’s side ahead of the likes of Flanagan and O’Brien as he played a key role in Sunderland’s comeback to help them continue their assault towards promotion to the Championship.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left reacting to some manager news involving Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

As per The 4th Official, sources close to the Dutchman have now confirmed that talks over potentially becoming the new manager at Ibrox have gone ‘very well’, and that the expectation is that those talks will continue.

This comes after The 4th Official revealed that ‘really really positive’ initial talks were held on Saturday, and that an announcement could be made soon, suggesting that GvB is highly likely to become the next Light Blues coach – some fans praised the outlet’s coverage of the saga so far down below.

Van Bronckhorst is loved by many Teddy Bears supporters, and also has an impressive managerial CV, guiding Feyenoord to their first Eredivisie title in 18 years back in the 2016/17 season (BBC), in addition winning four other major trophies with the Rotterdam club.

Thus, it is no surprise to see so many Gers eager to get a deal done.

Rangers fans on van Bronckhorst manager news

These RFC fans gave their reactions to the manager news as it was shared on Twitter:

“Get it done.”

Credit: @VaticanRSC

“ANNOUNCE GIO”

Credit: @shanewatson95

“Very good source throughout the manager search and it looks like Gio is nearly here”

Credit: @EveryOtherSatu1

“Much as we all seem to want the same man, and it looks highly likely it will be him, I’m glad the club are still doing it all properly.”

Credit: @let55go

“56 with ease”

Credit: @IbroxLive

“Just hire the man already”

Credit: @38821090G

In other news, find out what international footage has Gers gushing here!

The ICC president David Morgan will meet Pakistan board chairman Ijaz Butt in Dubai on August 27 to resolve the issue of Pakistan’s hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup

Cricinfo staff15-Aug-2009The ICC president David Morgan will meet Pakistan board chairman Ijaz Butt in Dubai on August 27 to resolve the issue of Pakistan’s hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup. The two bodies decided to reach an out-of-court settlement for Pakistan’s loss of 14 World Cup matches due to security concerns after the ICC agreed to pay a US$ 10.5 million hosting rights fee and a substantial compensation.Butt and Morgan decided to meet in Dubai following a telephonic conversation on Friday. Morgan said the conversation had been “relaxed and friendly”, in keeping with their previous meeting in Dubai.”Although nothing has yet been agreed, there remains a strong will on both sides to conclude this matter as soon as possible without recourse to legal means, and with that in mind we will meet in Dubai on 27 August with a view to reaching a resolution that is acceptable to both parties,” Morgan said.”In the light of our latest discussions I remain confident we can achieve that goal, something that would allow all of us, the ICC and its members, to focus on our key objective – the staging of a successful ICC cricket World Cup in the Asian subcontinent in 2011.”Pakistan was stripped of its rights to host the 2011 World Cup in the aftermath of the attacks on touring Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore in March. Following the decision, the World Cup secretariat was moved from Lahore to Mumbai. The ICC then ruled out the possibility of a neutral venue – the PCB was keen to organise its share of matches at a neutral venue, most likely the United Arab Emirates.

Everton fans are delighted with the news that Crystal Palace are interested in signing Tom Davies and are keeping tabs on his future.

The Toffees have had a generally good start to the season under new manager Rafael Benitez. As it stands, they are fifth in the Premier League table, having won four of their opening six matches, and they sit just one point behind current leaders Liverpool (Sky Sports).

While the Goodison Park outfit have performed rather well, Davies has had to make do with a just two appearances and a total of 17 minutes in the league (Transfermarkt).

According to Football Insider, there is uncertainly over the £16.2m-valued man’s future at the club, and Palace are said to be interested in acquiring his services as a result.

The news was shared on Twitter by @ToffeeTVEFC, and it attracted plenty of attention from the supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts on the rumour.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Davies news below

“I’d get shut in a heartbeat”

Credit: @andy_francis2

“Let it happen please”

Credit: @VladtheLad8

“Stop teasing me”

Credit: @andysimo5

“Sound like a good deal all around if for the right price. Davies needs to be be playing regularly and seems that Rafa doesn’t fancy him.”

Credit: @_RobMatthews_

“This would be a good deal for everyone make it happen Palace.”

Credit: @leemolton

“Probably time he left now I think. It hasn’t worked here for whatever reasons and Palace are a decent club who may be able to give him game time”

Credit: @pdwyer1987

In other news, Everton fans react to this transfer news.