All posts by h716a5.icu

Wade Townsend’s first Sheffield Shield century helped Queensland recover from a precarious 4 for 39 to post a respectable 7 for 244 on the opening day at Bellerive Oval

Cricinfo staff08-Feb-2010
ScorecardWade Townsend followed his 100 against the touring West Indians with 121 against Tasmania•Getty ImagesWade Townsend’s first Sheffield Shield century helped Queensland recover from a precarious 4 for 39 to post a respectable 7 for 244 on the opening day at Bellerive Oval. Townsend and Chris Hartley led the fightback with a 172-run partnership that saved the blushes of the captain Chris Simpson after he chose to bat.Queensland’s problems began when the openers were removed by Adam Maher, in his first Sheffield Shield match, and Adam Griffith, who was playing his first game for Tasmania since 2007. The other two Tigers fast men then chipped in with Lee Carseldine caught at short leg off Tim Macdonald and Glen Batticciotto bowled by Brendan Drew.But there were no more wickets until after tea as Townsend and Hartley staged the revival. Townsend showed his talent earlier in the season when he posted an even 100 against the touring West Indians and this time he reached 121 before he was caught behind off the bowling of Griffith.Griffith, who missed all of last summer following a knee reconstruction, also removed Hartley for 68. By the close of play, Queensland were relying on Simpson, who was unbeaten on 1, and Ben Cutting, who had scored 4.

Liverpool have been boosted in their reported attempts to sign Adama Traore, with the Wolves winger apparently available for just £18m in January.

The Lowdown: Liverpool linked with Traore

The Reds could potentially be looking to sign a new wide attacking player in the next transfer window due to Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane’s involvement at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Liverpool duo will be absent during an important part of the season and Jurgen Klopp will know that an extra attacking player wouldn’t go amiss.

Traore has been linked with a move to Anfield in recent weeks and it is a rumour which isn’t going away.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375258″]

The Latest: Reds given fresh boost

According to Football Insider, a Wolves source has indicated that the Midlands club are willing to cut their asking price for the Spaniard by a whopping 64% from £50m in July to a mere £18m now.

Liverpool are claimed to be on ‘red alert’ following this revelation, having initially been put off by the amount that Wanderers demanded for Traore’s services during the summer transfer window.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-13/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Is he worth it?

On his day, Traore is a fascinating player to watch, with his incredible pace and dribbling ability genuinely making him unplayable at times.

There are huge doubts over his all-round worth as a footballer, though, with the Spain international not yet registering a goal or an assist in 12 Premier League appearances this season. He has duly lost his place in Bruno Lage’s starting line-up in recent weeks.

Jurgen Klopp may believe that he can polish Traore as a player and make him more complete, but the 25-year-old would need to improve greatly in his end product to make the grade at Anfield, just as his one-time team-mate Diogo Jota has done.

For £18m, it could be worth taking a punt on him, but it seems just as likely that Michael Edwards may be eyeing up cheaper, more effective alternatives, even with Wolves drastically slashing their valuation of the Spain international.

In other news, another transfer rumour had lots of Liverpool fans excited. Read more here.

Some Wolves supporters are in confident spirits after Wanderers were drawn at home to Sheffield United in the third round of the FA Cup.

It has been a largely positive start to the season for Bruno Lage’s men, who sit eighth in the Premier League with 15 matches played.

There is still plenty of work to be done if Wolves have genuine hopes of securing a European finish but the positives outweigh the negatives currently.

Away from the Premier League, there is always the chance of silverware in the FA Cup, as Wanderers look to lift the trophy for the first time since way back in 1960.

On Monday evening, Wolves were pitted against the Blades in the third round draw, with the tie taking place at Molineux early next month.

United are currently 10th in the Championship so all things point towards Lage’s team making it into the fourth round.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375704”]

Wolves fans happy with FA Cup draw

These Wolves fans reacted positively to the draw on Twitter, after it was confirmed on the club’s official channels.

“Come on boys!”

Credit: @XXXTANNERTACION

“Decent”

Credit: @wwfcglover

“Happy with that tbh”

Credit: @eve_elizabethxx

“The Morgan Gibbs-White derby”

Credit: @krittterrr

“I’m happy we got a home tie, but I was hoping for Kidderminster!”

Credit: @AdeTWG

“I’ll take that tbf. Would love to see us take the competition seriously though and have another decent cup run/give it a good go at least”

Credit: @WwfcAj_

In other news, Tim Spiers has made a big Wolves claim ahead of the January transfer window. Read more here.

Kenya’s fall from Associate powerhouse to also-rans continued with their seven-wicket defeat to Netherlands at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Cricinfo staff11-Feb-2010
Scorecard
Kenya’s fall from Associate powerhouse to also-rans continued with their seven-wicket defeat to Netherlands at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Rocked by Steve Tikolo’s first ball dismissal, Kenya never fully recovered and were bowled out two balls short of their allotted overs for 130. Eric Szwarczynski’s 45 led Netherlands’ reply, and they chased down the target with five balls to spare.With a place in the Super Fours at stake for the winner of this game, Kenya would have been hoping for a strong performance from their top order. Tikolo’s 126-run opening stand with Alex Obanda steamrollered Canada on Wednesday, but they had added only a single run today when Tikolo hit Mudassar Bukhari’s second ball to Szwarczynski to depart for a duck.Pieter Seelaar, Netherlands’ left-arm spinner, distinguished himself with a tight spell under pressure in the win over Canada, and he performed superbly again to finish with 4 for 19 in his four overs. After Bukhari removed Obanda for 5, Seelaar worked his way through the middle order, dismissing captain Maurice Ouma, Collins Obuya, Rakep Patel and Tony Suji in consecutive overs as Kenya slipped to 67 for 6.Kenya’s final total owed a lot to Jimmy Kamande’s enterprising innings. His 42 contained three sixes, and carried Kenya to 126 before he fell to Mohammad Kashif in the penultimate over. After his dismissal, Bukhar had Shem Obado caught by Seelaar, and bowled Lameck Onyango to wrap up the innings.Kenya needed to replicate Netherlands’ early breakthroughs to give themselves a chance of victory, but Szwarczynski and Alexei Kervezee stole the game with a 72-run partnership in the first half of the innings. Kervezee eventually fell after he had compiled a domineering 33, and Szwarczynski departed five short of what would have been a well-deserved half-century, but their dismissals came too late for Kenya. Although Onyango’s effort with the ball took the match into the final over, the reality was that Netherlands won at a canter.Their reward is a place in the Super Fours, and with it the chance to make it to the World Twenty20 in West Indies. In the absence of the experienced Thomas Odoyo, the lack of incisiveness in Kenya’s bowling attack was exposed in this tournament, and they will also be left ruing the disappointing defeat to UAE in their opening game, where pedestrian batting scuppered their pursuit of 165.

Manoj Tiwary exploded after a slow start and Sourav Ganguly hit a composed half-century to boost Kolkata to 183 which proved beyond the reach of the listless Punjab

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera27-Mar-2010
Scorecard and ball by ball details
How they were outManoj Tiwary scored an unbeaten 75 and then took a terrific catch to dismiss Yuvraj Singh•Indian Premier LeagueSourav Ganguly hit a composed half-century and Manoj Tiwary exploded after a slow start to boost Kolkata Knight Riders to 183, a total beyond the reach of a listless Kings XI Punjab. It was a mediocre game, especially from Punjab, who were so painfully slow that they fell out of the reckoning very early in the chase.It made for strange viewing that no one took ownership of the chase as the game kept slipping away from Punjab. Yuvraj Singh and Manvinder Bisla hit a few boundaries early on in the piece but both fell to Ajit Agarkar – Manoj Tiwary held on to a splendid running catch at deep midwicket to remove Yuvraj – and the chase started to derail. What baffled was the approach of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, who allowed the pressure to mount. They didn’t go for any big shots and left themselves with too much to do in the end. With the run-rate mounting at an exponential rate, both fell while going for high-risk shots: Jayawardene moved outside off stump and couldn’t connect with the paddle shot, and Sangakkara was stumped as he lost balance while going for a reverse slog. Game over.The victory, though, was set up by Kolkata’s batting, led by Ganguly and Tiwary. It was an interesting innings: just when the visitors were letting things slip, they would attack. Their batting graph resembled a sine curve: Kolkata attacked at the top before they suddenly lost steam and meandered for a while, but they picked up the momentum after the first time-out. They slowed down once again towards the end but Tiwary looted 21 runs in the final over, bowled by Irfan Pathan, to regain lost ground.The start too was frenetic with Brett Lee’s first over on comeback going for 19 runs. Chris Gayle hit some smashing drives but, to be fair to the bowler, there was an edged boundary and a yorker that went for four byes as well. And when Ganguly went after Pathan in the second over, lifting him over cover and smashing him to the straight boundary, Kolkata had reached a healthy 27 for 0, but suddenly, against the run of play, they started to slow down.Shalabh Srivastava struck for Punjab, removing Gayle with more than little help from Bisla, who charged to his left on the deep square-leg boundary and lunged as the ball swerved away from him to take a stunning two-handed catch. Ganguly collected a couple of boundaries but, with Tiwary struggling at the start, the run-rate started to dip. There were 27 dot balls in the first ten overs, nearly five full overs of stagnation, but the time-out allowed Kolkata to regroup and come out firing.All of a sudden, Tiwary started finding his touch and two shots in particular showcased his skill. The first was against a near yorker-length delivery well outside off, he reached out to crash it to cover boundary. The second was even better. Ravi Bopara’s yorker was heading towards off and middle, when Tiwary crouched to play a delicate late-cut to the third-man boundary. In between, he swung over midwicket, and backed away from the stumps to drive through off. Ganguly lashed out at Piyush Chawla, lofting and flaying him for boundaries and runs started to come in a flood.However, Kolkata lost momentum again after the fall of Ganguly – hitting Pathan to long-off. From 124 for 2 in 14 overs, they slowed down to 162 for 4 in 19. Tiwary then took Pathan apart in the final over, smashing four boundaries – a pulled six after which he backed away to find the wide long-off boundary repeatedly. The brutal finish seemed to have sucked out the spirit from Punjab, who dawdled in the chase.

Pundit Alan Hutton thinks Albian Ajeti’s Celtic career could now be over, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Hamstring injury

Ajeti was given a rare start by Ange Postecoglou in the Hoops’ Europa League dead rubber against Real Betis last week.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/celtic-updates-19/” title=”Celtic updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

However, the 24-year-old lasted just 28 minutes before needing to be replaced with a hamstring issue.

He’s now joined a long list of players sidelined at Parkhead, with Celtic thought to be willing to cut their losses on the Swiss striker in the January transfer window.

The Latest: Hutton’s claim

Hutton, who regularly features on BBC Radio 5 Live, was talking to Football Insider regarding Ajeti’s future.

Asked if he thinks Ajeti will get another chance under Postecoglou, he said:

“I’m not so sure. “I think if we look at it, on the whole, he’s had enough opportunities to shine.

“When he was given the armband in pre-season you maybe thought he was going to get more game time. But the likes of Furuhashi have come in and done really well, and that’s just put him well down the pecking order.

“When he does get an opportunity he’s picked up these sorts of injuries, and they’ve kept him out.

“The one problem for Celtic is: are they going to get any of the money they spent on him back? That’s the one thing that could be a stumbling block if they look to move him on.

“I think he’s running out of time.”

The Verdict: Time up

Ajeti may well have played his final game in a Celtic shirt, with Postecoglou labelling his injury as ‘significant’.

The Hoops also appear to have a possible replacement lined up, with Daizen Maeda linked with a move to Scotland. The club are confident of sealing a January move, so it could be curtains for Ajeti as a result.

His Parkhead career has failed to get going after joining in a deal worth £4.5m from West Ham and has found the back of the net on just nine occasions in 48 appearances, so a permanent move away may make sense for all involved.

In other news: Ange now wants 49-cap colossus at the peak of his powers to end January business. 

Zimbabwe may not be the strongest opposition, but West Indies captain Chris Gayle was delighted after leading his team to a 4-1 ODI series victory, their first in the format in nearly 20 months

Cricinfo staff15-Mar-2010Zimbabwe may not be the strongest opposition, but West Indies captain Chris Gayle was delighted after leading his team to a 4-1 ODI series victory, their first in the format in nearly 20 months.”It’s been a long time since we last won a series, and it feels really, really good to have achieved this,” he said after the four-wicket victory in the final one-dayer in Kingstown.West Indies won with more than 22 overs to spare, largely due to Gayle’s typically full-throttle 63, but his dismissal sparked a collapse in which four wickets went down for eight runs renewing concerns over their batting fragility.”We have to take a close look at our batting because we want to win games more convincingly and consistently, but a win is a win,” Gayle said. “We have to try and not to lose wickets in bunches the way we do now, but it is something we have been discussing, and trying to get out of our system.”He was satisfied, though, that the team had fought back from the embarrassing defeat in the first one-dayer to win four in a row. “It has been an entire team effort because we started really badly, when we lost the first ODI. But for the guys to have bounced back, and win the series 4-1 was a tremendous effort.”New coach Ottis Gibson said West Indies had experimented with their batting order in the series – like the move to send Denesh Ramdin at No. 4 in the third ODI – as part of the finetuning for next year’s World Cup. “I’ve just been here for two weeks now and I’m still getting to know the players and getting to know which player fits which position best so there’s been a little bit of shuffling.”The thinking behind that is that we’ve got literally 12 games left before the next World Cup in India next year so I’ve got 12 opportunities to see players, to see where they best fit so that by the time we get to the World Cup there’s no shuffling.”West Indies’ next assignments are the ICC World Twenty20 at home, followed by a tough full series against South Africa.

Celtic have been urged to make Cameron Carter-Vickers’ loan deal a permanent switch in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

In a recent interview with Football Insider, Frank McAvennie stated his belief that Ange Postecoglou must make the Tottenham Hotspur loanee’s move a permanent deal this winter, following the news that the Bhoys can land the centre-back for just £3m.

Indeed, previous reports had suggested that it would take around £10m in order for Celtic to sign the USA international, however, after Spurs insider John Wenham revealed that the price for the 23-year-old is actually just £3m, the initial reports would appear to be wide of the mark.

Speaking about the defender, McAvennie said: “[Carl] Starfelt wasn’t quite at it against Hibs. For me, he was a bit sloppy. He was letting his man get past him far too easily. You could see that for the goal Hibs scored.

“Carter-Vickers on the other hand was brilliant. I’m starting to really like him. He’s been really solid in recent weeks. For me, he’s been the one who has played a big role in improving that defence.

“Joe Hart also has to take massive credit for that but Carter-Vickers has been playing every game for a reason. If it’s only going to cost £3m I would get that done in January, pay the money. Then he’s ours and we don’t need to worry about it.”

Forget Jullien

Considering just how impressive Carter-Vickers has been since his arrival at Parkhead this summer, it would indeed appear wise for Postecoglou to do all he can to make the centre-back’s temporary switch a permanent move next month, as McAvennie suggests.

Indeed, over his 14 Premiership appearances so far this season, the £1.8m-rated defender has helped his side keep seven clean sheets, scored two goals and registered one assist, as well as making an average of 1.4 interceptions, 0.6 tackles, 82.9 passes and winning 72% of his duels per game.

These returns have seen the £20k-per-week man average a rather remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.48, ranking him as the fourth-best performer in the top flight of Scottish football this term.

As such, considering the fact that Christopher Jullien appears to still be some way off making a return to first-team football as a result of his ongoing knee injury, sealing a deal for Carter-Vickers this winter would indeed appear to be a very wise move for Postecoglou, as it would not be surprising if, following his remarkable campaign with Celtic thus far, a number of bigger sides begin plotting a swoop for the 23-year-old next summer.

In other news: Forget Bitton: £15k-p/w Celtic dud who lost 80% duels cost Ange dearly vs St. Mirren

According to journalist Pete O’Rourke, as reported by GIVEMESPORT, Aston Villa could sign Steven Gerrard favourite Connor Goldson for a bargain fee in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: Goldson’s contract set to expire

The centre-back signed for Rangers in the summer of 2018, arriving from Brighton in a £3m deal. The defender has gone onto have an impressive career at the Ibrox, having made 192 appearances for the club, scoring 17 goals and producing seven assists during that time.

The 29-year-old has proven to be pivotal for Gerrard’s former club, averaging 3.6 clearances per game this season, second only to Filip Helander.

Despite his market valuation currently peaking at £6.75m, Goldson’s contract is set to expire in the summer. As Gerrard will soon have the opportunity to dip into the transfer market for the first time since being appointed Villa’s head coach, it is expected that he will be monitoring the player’s situation.

The Latest: Goldson to reunite with Gerrard?

The Daily Record (via Ibrox News) have previously stated that the 29-year-old is dreaming of securing a move to the Premier League, and he could follow Gerrard to Villa Park in a rumoured £2m move. Birmingham Live had reported in recent weeks that the defender is a target for the Midlands club.

Goldson has opened up the possibility for a reunion with his former boss after revealing that he is yet to discuss his plans with his agent.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, O’Rourke said: “One of the names in the frame would be Connor Goldson, who is yet to sign a new deal at Rangers.

“I think his contract is up in the summer, so Villa might be able to get him for relatively cheap in January.”

The Verdict: Reunion looking likely

Goldson once claimed that Gerrard being manager was a key reason in his decision to join Rangers from Brighton. Therefore, it is likely that this could prove to be influential in any move away from Ibrox.

The 29-year-old is clearly a favourite of Gerrard’s, as the 41-year-old previously labelled him ‘outstanding’, having selected the defender 182 times during his spell as Rangers boss.

With his contract set to expire in the summer, it is looking likely that a small fee could be accepted in the January transfer window, potentially seeing a reunion of the pair at Villa Park.

In other news: ‘Hope this is a joke’, ‘Pub league’ – Lots of Villa fans ‘surprised’ at who else Gerrard wants in January

Shanel Daley and Stafanie Taylor starred with ball and bat respectively to help West Indies cruise to a six-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 at St Mary’s Park

Cricinfo staff22-Apr-2010
ScorecardShanel Daley and Stafanie Taylor starred with ball and bat respectively to help West Indies cruise to a six-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 at St Mary’s Park. It was a disappointing batting performance by the visitors who could muster only 103. Taylor then made an exact 50 to help West Indies attain victory in the penultimate over.The Sri Lankans got off to a poor start when they lost their first four wickets for 32 by the eighth over. Daley, the left-arm seamer, picked up the wicket of Inoka Galagedera and later claimed two more wickets to finish with 3 for 14. Deepika Rasangika was the highest scorer with 20, as she helped Sri Lanka pass 100.The hosts were guided by a stand of 46 for the second wicket between Cordel Jack and Taylor. Taylor hit one six and no fours in her run-a-ball 50. She was out in the 17th over but by then West Indies were well on their way to victory.The second T20 will be played at the same venue on Friday.