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The PCB has said the communication Danish Kaneria sent the board from his former employers Essex “failed to satisfy requirements” of the integrity committee

Osman Samiuddin17-May-2011Danish Kaneria’s exclusion from the national team looks set to continue for a while yet, after the PCB has said the communication the legspinner sent the board from his former employers Essex “failed to satisfy requirements” of the integrity committee.The PCB had asked Kaneria to send them a certificate of clearance from Essex following his arrest by police and eventual release last summer in a spot-fixing case involving another player from the county. Earlier this week, Kaneria sent the board an email from Essex in which the club thanked him for his services and explained the reasons he was not being offered another contract. It was an email he had already submitted to the board late last year.”We have responded to Kaneria,” PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarward told ESPNcricinfo. “The clearance letter he sent is something he sent to us six months ago and which we had. We sought legal opinion and confirmed with the ECB, and decided that the document failed to satisfy the requirements of the PCB. So Kaneria has been advised to provide a clearance certificate at the earliest.”What exactly constitutes a “clearance certificate” is unclear: “We just want an idea of what Essex say about him and the case. They were his employers at the time. Will they consider him now?” is what the board’s legal advisor Taffazul Rizvi told ESPNcricinfo recently. Whether or not Essex will or can provide such a document is another matter altogether. Indications from board officials suggest that such a certificate may not arrive so readily, which leaves a question mark over Kaneria’s international future.Kaneria, presently Pakistan’s leading Test wicket-taker, has not played internationals since last summer. He was selected as part of the squad to face South Africa in a series in the UAE in November 2010, but was prevented from travelling by the PCB at the last minute. The board said he had not been cleared by the integrity committee, newly-formed in the wake of the Lord’s spot-fixing scandal.Since then, Kaneria has submitted various financial records and documents and appeared in front of the committee several times, but hasn’t managed to satisfy members. Until recently, the committee was asking him for transcripts of his questioning by police in the case, something Kaneria and his lawyers insisted they could not provide as it was part of an ongoing investigation in the UK.”This is an integrity issue for us,” Rizvi had said nearly two weeks ago, when asking for the clearance certificate. “The committee is not just made up of board members or cricketers, it has an ex-judge of the Supreme Court on it and in their opinion, Kaneria had not satisfied them so he has not been cleared. We can’t take a risk, so we have asked for this clearance now.”

In his email to the BCCI, the English County Board Chairman, Giles Clarke, outlined the details of Lalit Modi’s alleged plan to set up a parallel league in England.

Cricinfo staff07-May-2010In his email to the BCCI, the English County Board Chairman, Giles Clarke, outlined the details of Lalit Modi’s alleged plan to set up a parallel league in England. The details of the plan, as reported in the , are:The ten existing Indian franchises would have the first right to buy the new franchises in England at an auction. Each franchise would need to strike a 50% partnership with a UK-based stakeholder to give the team a local presence. If any of the existing franchises chose not to bid for a team, the losing bidders from the Indian auctions would have the second right to bid. After that, the auction will be thrown open to all interested bidders.The counties would get 20% of the revenues while the franchises would get 80%.All franchise fees are payable to the BCCI, out of which 20% may be paid to the clubs.Each county would be guaranteed a payout between $3 – $5 million a year, along with a staging fee of $1.5 millionThe player regulations would be the same as they are in the IPL – 10 overseas players per team, with no more than four in the playing 11.The mail also spelt out potential courses of action should the national boards oppose the new league:Players could be induced to revolt against the national boards, given their desire to capitalise on their earning power. It cites MS Dhoni as an example of some earning several times more than his BCCI salary from his IPL contract and spin-offs.Alternatively, franchisees could buy out players who are prevented from playing in the league by their national boards and create their own cricket structure, thereby shifting the power structure of cricket.Finally, Modi suggests such a development is inevitable even without the co-operation of the ICC, as players would rather play for money than their national or state / country sides. The smaller nations could be compensated for the loss of revenue from international games to allow the growth of the Twenty20 version.”ODIs have reached a saturation point and though unlikely to disappear, cannot grow any further. Tests are almost redundant and only T20 has growth value.”This would practically mean just a handful of nations playing international cricket and their players spending the rest of their time playing the IPL and its UK version, while the smaller countries sit idle and don’t get to play any games.”

Brennan Johnson features on Newcastle United’s list of potential replacements for Allan Saint-Maximin, The Daily Mail’s Simon Jones reports. 

The lowdown

Saint-Maximin, Jones writes, is expected to leave St James’ Park when the summer transfer window opens. The Magpies will then reinvest the funds from his exit into their planned ‘rebuild’.

Johnson is only under contract for another 14 months with Championship promotion hopefuls Nottingham Forest.

Aged just 20, the Wales international has scored 14 goals and provided seven assists in 39 league appearances this season.

The latest

Newcastle officials, led by Steve Nickson, have already ‘compiled reports’ on Johnson as they run the rule over potential additions on the flanks.

However, Jones does caution that the club will face ‘fierce’ competition for his signature.

Another player on their radar is Bayer Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby, but he too is highly coveted.

The verdict

It’s no surprise that a multitude of clubs are interested in Johnson. He’s Forest’s top scorer and he ranks joint-eighth overall in the Championship goal charts, despite being a winger rather than an out and out forward.

As for assists, he’s second for Steve Cooper’s side (behind Philip Zinckernagel) and again in the top ten for the division as a whole.

To put those figures into perspective, as of April 9, he boasts at least eight more goal involvements than any other player aged 21 or under in England’s top four tiers.

He’s already earned nine senior caps for his country and will hope to feature at the Qatar World Cup at the end of the year if Wales secure qualification.

Johnson, who’s been mentored by David Beckham, has inevitably earned some reviews. For instance, the ‘old-fashioned winger’ was dubbed a ‘beautiful footballer’ and a ‘super, super talent’ by sports journalist Josh Bunting. Newcastle should be delighted if they win the race.

In other news, Keith Downie has an update on Eddie Howe.

Tottenham Hotspur are expected to make a move for a new centre-back in the summer…

What’s the word?

That’s according to Daily Mail journalist Sami Mokbel, who delivered a rather exciting claim to GIVEMESPORT this week. When asked about the central defensive department, he replied:

“I think that is definitely an area they will look to strengthen in the summer.”

Colossal signing

Spurs are certainly going to need to make further additions to Antonio Conte’s playing squad when the transfer window reopens at the end of the season and finding a new centre-back would be a good place to start.

The Italian has often turned to full-back Ben Davies as the third man in his backline as he is the only natural left-footer capable of playing as centre-back. He alongside Cristian Romero, who is only on loan from Atalanta, and Eric Dier is likely to be the first-choice trio for the rest of the season.

There appears to be little faith in his three other options – Davinson Sanchez, Joe Rodon and Japhet Tanganga – with the latter two being linked with exits throughout the winter.

Perhaps aside from Rodon, it’s easy to see why the 52-year-old isn’t keen on the other two as they have often been calamitous and rather error-prone. That much is summed up by their mistakes in the three games against Chelsea last month.

Whilst it remains to be seen what sort of defensive signing the club will target, they have been linked to some rather exciting names in the past, including Conte’s former title-winning colossus at Inter Milan, Stefan de Vrij, and Juventus’ big-money signing Matthijs de Ligt.

Both of whom would offer huge upgrades on his current options.

A lot of Conte’s recent success in stints at the San Siro giants and Chelsea have been built from the back and having solid options will certainly help bring success back to the Lilywhites.

He will surely be buzzing to hear that a new centre-back is “definitely” on the agenda.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Hojbjerg: Conte has formidable Spurs unit with £15.9m “extraordinary talent”…

A rapid half-century by Warwickshire’ left hander Jim Troughton went to waste when rain ended Lancashire’s reply in the Friends Provident t20 clash at Edgbaston

13-Jun-2010
ScorecardNathan McCullum picked up 3 for 31•Getty Images

A rapid half-century by Warwickshire’ left hander Jim Troughton went to waste when rain ended Lancashire’s reply in the Friends Provident t20 clash at Edgbaston.Openers Tom Smith and Paul Horton made three runs in a solitary over from Neil Carter before the match was abandoned with each side taking one point to stay in contention in a congested North group. A pitch which produced 415 runs in the previous match against Durham again rewarded the batsmen as Troughton, with 66 from 37 balls, took the Bears close to 200 for the second time in three days.The hosts closed on 196 for 9 after a rampaging start in which Carter hit Glen Chapple for six, six, four, four off successive deliveries while making 39 in an opening partnership of 54 from 4.5 overs. The all-rounder crashed six fours and two sixes in 15 balls before he was caught at backward point off Sajid Mahmood, but the early surge was sustained as the home side reached 114 for 2 at the halfway point.Although Ian Bell quickly fell to Nathan McCullum, making room to carve the New Zealander to deep cover, opener Jonathan Trott (42) and Troughton also put on 54 prior to a middle-order slump. Troughton’s charge to 50 off 26 balls included 20 runs in four balls from Steven Croft before Lancashire found a way to check the onslaught.Tom Smith, the seventh bowler tried by captain Chapple, benefited from Trott’s skier to Stephen Moore at cover as Warwickshire fell back to 131 for 5. McCullum needed only three balls to dislodge Darren Maddy and Rikki Clarke, the latter stunned by Smith’s leaping one-handed overhead catch at long-off.Off-spinner McCullum’s figures were 3-0-13-3 until his final over cost 18 runs and James Anderson, on release from England commitments, finished with 2 for 38 after conceding 14 in three balls to Chris Woakes.Warwickshire were only two short of equalling the highest total against Lancashire in the competition when Troughton was run out off the last ball, having hit four sixes and four fours in the highest of his seven half-centuries in this format.

A major update has emerged on Rangers forward Alfredo Morelos regarding his lack of involvement in his country’s World Cup qualifier.

What’s the latest?

Colombian journalist Pipe Sierra has revealed that the striker suffered a setback with a muscle injury and stated that the 25-year-old would miss his nation’s clash with Bolivia.

The Gers hitman was absent from the squad as Colombia won 3-0 in their crunch encounter, and it remains to be seen how long the attacker will be sidelined.

Sierra tweeted: “Alfredo Morelos will not be taken into account today in the Colombia National Team by Reinaldo Rueda to face Bolivia. The Rangers striker has muscle overload.”

Devastation

This news will come as a huge setback for Gio van Bronckhorst ahead of the Old Firm match in the Premiership next week. The head coach will be devastated, as losing Morelos would be a major blow to his team heading into what could be their biggest game of the season.

Rangers are currently three points behind Celtic in the table, so a win would send them level on points with their rivals heading into the final weeks of the campaign. On the other side of the coin, though, a win for the Hoops would extend the gap to six points and put the Gers’ title hopes in major doubt.

This is why it is crucial that the Light Blues have as many of their top players available for the match against Ange Postecoglou’s side as possible. Morelos’ absence would be devastating for the club and Van Bronckhorst, as the last meeting between the two teams proved.

Kemar Roofe started in the Colombian’s place as he missed the 3-0 defeat in early February. As per SofaScore, the former Leeds man lost seven of his 10 individual duels (70%) and failed to create a single chance or take a shot in his 90 minutes on the pitch at Parkhead.

Van Bronckhorst will therefore be devastated if he is forced to call upon the Englishman again. Morelos has scored 11 goals and provided seven assists in 25 league outings whilst averaging a sublime SofaScore rating of 7.32 – showing that he has the quality to be a difference-maker at this level and outlining why this injury is a major blow to the Glasgow giants.

Rangers will now be sweating over the 25-year-old’s availability and wondering whether or not he will be fully fit to face the Hoops at Ibrox next weekend.

AND in other news, Forget Morelos: “Beautiful” gem who’s “unplayable” could fire Rangers to the title…

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left fuming over some early team news ahead of their game at home to Stirling Albion in the Scottish Cup on Friday night.

Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of the match, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has revealed (via The Heart & Hand Podcast) that the game will come ‘too soon’ for Ryan Jack, who has suffered from so many injury problems since moving to Ibrox.

It is a real shame for a player who has been a key part of the team over the years, scoring nine goals and making a further nine assists in the Scottish Premiership for the Teddy Bears, while he made 19 appearances in their title-winning campaign.

Nonetheless, the Cup game would have provided the perfect opportunity for Jack to get up to speed and match fitness, but he will miss the clash, leaving a lot of Light Blues supporters angry.

Rangers fans on Jack injury news

These Gers fumed as the team news was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that it has become ‘ridiculous’:

“Jack is clearly finished”

Credit: @StuartSmck1

“Too soon for Jack or Jack’s had a setback how many times have we heard those words?”

Credit: @PeterBa17493285

“Need to cut ties with Jack always an injury somewhere nowadays”

Credit: @mcrowlands

“Too soon for Jack. Honestly it’s beyond ridiculous now.”

Credit: @GoLfNuT1979

“Jack needs to go. Constantly injured”

Credit: @kilcoyne_brian

“Too soon for Jack is becoming the New Jordan Rossiter is 7-10 days away!”

Credit: @Grantmckay01

In other news, find out what update before the Old Firm has been bemoaned by Gers here!

Leeds United were subjected to another heavy defeat on Saturday evening as they lost 4-1 at home to Arsenal, just four days after being thrashed 7-0 by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

The Whites are in the midst of an injury crisis, particularly with key players Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford and Liam Cooper all sidelined, which hasn’t helped their fortunes of late.

However, that doesn’t excuse some of the defending on display against the Gunners, with Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville labelling it as “like an under-9s team defending.”

All four of Marcelo Bielsa’s side’s defenders could be subject to criticism, with Luke Ayling being told by 90min’s Tom Gott that he needs to make sure he “knows the offside rule.” However, centre-back Robin Koch was particularly woeful, with the German being handed a 5.9/10 rating by SofaScore for his display, the lowest of anyone on the night.

Despite being a defender, the 25-year-old only made one tackle and three clearances throughout the 90 minutes, as well as winning just 43% of his duels. He also lost the ball 11 times whilst making 52 touches, which amounts to a loss of possession once every 4.7 touches.

The £15.3m-rated centre-back hadn’t played in the Premier League since the opening day of the season, in what was also a humbling defeat as Leeds lost 5-1 to Manchester United.

According to Transfermarkt, illness and a pubis bone contusion have kept the German out of action for three months, which may partly explain why Koch struggled against Arsenal.

Gary Neville highlighted the centre-back and Bielsa’s management of him after the match, stating: “That’s what happens when your centre-back is not there. Koch is out of position on this side.

“I just don’t see the benefit of Koch going, leaving his space and chasing Lacazette all over the pitch. Then leaving so much for the defenders to do.

“It’s not for me to talk about how Marcelo Bielsa plays the game but I am not having that, not against Lacazette. If that was a great player up front, who maybe could turn, get on the ball and run at you. Messi or someone like that. then you would want to go in and man-mark. But Lacazette is pulling the Leeds centre-backs, who are leaving enormous gaps and they aren’t good enough to fill them.”

On a night to forget for Leeds, and in particular their defence, it was Koch who was perhaps the biggest villain.

In other news – Forget Raphinha: Leeds’ £3.6m gem with 3 key passes was Bielsa’s shining light v Arsenal

A round-up of the third round of games from the Stanbic Bank Twenty20 tournament in Zimbabwe

John Ward14-Feb-2010A fine team performance by Mid West Rhinos brought them a well-earned eight-wicket victory over the powerful Mashonaland Eagles in the third round of matches at Harare Sports Club. As usual, Elton Chigumbura shone for the home team with a swashbuckling half-century, but none of his team-mates came through with significant performances, and the Rhinos found several players whose combined efforts brought them success.Eagles, put in to bat, attacked the bowling with reckless abandon, and in retrospect this probably cost them the match. Doug Marillier looked in good form, but was run out through the frozen immobility of his partner, Forster Mutizwa, who hit a six and was then himself run out by a brilliant throw from Vusi Sibanda as Eagles slipped to 33 for 4.As he has done so often this season, Chigumbura rallied his side after the early setbacks shared a 57-run partnership of calm and steady batting with Greg Lamb before Lamb skied a catch to long off. Chigumbura reached his 50 with a six over long on off Darren Stevens, but was out next ball to a superb catch to become the first of Stevens’ four middle-order wickets as the innings ended on 140.Sibanda drove and cut the first and third balls of the Rhinos’ chase, from Chigumbura, to the boundary, as the score raced to 30 off three overs. His partner Riki Wessels was even more aggressive, and the pair put on 61 in eight overs before Wessels was run out going for a quick single. He was replaced by Brendan Taylor, who batted with equal power and confidence, the 100 coming up in the 12th over. Sibanda was run out with 31 runs needed to temporarily slow the scoring rate but Taylor and Stevens paced their batting well, until three were needed off the final over, bowled by Chigumbura. Tight bowling and fielding saw only two scored off four balls, but Stevens lofted the fifth with superb timing over the bowler’s head for six to clinch a rare victory over the strongest provincial side. Taylor was unbeaten with 45 off 30 balls, and a team effort in all three departments was fully evident for the victors.Matabeleland Tuskers followed a superb victory over the strong Mountaineers with a heavy defeat at the hands of Southern Rocks, supposedly the weakest team, in the second match of the day. Outstanding batting by Chamu Chibhabha and Sikandar Raza led the Rocks to a total of 166, and with Tuskers able to muster only 123 for 9 in reply, this means that after three days and six matches, each team has recorded one victory.The start of this match was delayed by just over 30 minutes due to a lunchtime shower, but fortunately it soon stopped – which does not always happen in Zimbabwe in February. The Rocks decided to bat on winning the toss and Chamu Chibhabha cut the first ball of the innings for four – the third successive time today the first ball of an innings had been hit to the boundary – and with his partner, the Pakistan-born Raza, even more aggressive, the Tuskers bowlers were soon on the receiving end of a hiding they did not expect to get.The 50 came up in the sixth over and the 100 – the first century partnership of the tournament – in the 11th. It was left to Sean Williams, the seventh bowler tried, to break the stand. He bowled Raza as the batsman went for a big hit, having scored 53 off 34 balls, including 4 fours and 3 sixes. Steve Tikolo scored 10 before holing out at long off, and Sean Ervine managed only a single before being caught at the wicket. Chibhabha batted through the innings for an unbeaten 82, which included 7 fours and 3 sixes. Rocks looked a transformed team after ratcheting up a total of 166 for 4, but they still had the Blignaut factor to contend with.Tuskers had no choice but to launch their assault from the first ball, but they were soon reeling with the loss of Gavin Ewing, Mark Vermeulen and Charles Coventry for only 16 runs. Williams and Keith Dabengwa rallied the team, but neither are power hitters and after 10 overs the total was 57 for 3 – meaning the required rate was now 11 an over. Somebody needed to get out to bring in Blignaut – and Dabengwa obliged.Blignaut began steadily, but soon lost Williams, brilliantly caught by Chibhabha at backward point off Ervine for 39 off 38 balls. Ervine then struck the vital blow, causing Blignaut to play a slower ball on to his stumps for just 4. With 15 an over now needed, the result was all but sealed, and Tuskers eventually went down by 43 runs.

It was a flat track in Napier but Iain O’Brien was on a mission to make his last Test memorable and Pakistan’s top order was in a self-destructive mood

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera10-Dec-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Iain O’Brien was accurate and hostile, reaching speeds of 146kmh•Getty Images

Don’t be fooled by the score. It was a flat track in Napier but Iain O’Brien was on a mission to make his last Test memorable and Pakistan’s top order, as ever, was in a self-destructive mood. Imran Farhat lifted Pakistan from the depths of 59 for 5 and resuscitated his career with a fighting century but New Zealand will be more than pleased with their efforts, especially after a dogged batting display from the openers, on the first day of the final Test.Until Farhat produced his hundred it was all O’Brien. At one point his figures read: 4.2-4-3-3. He was hostile throughout his spell, consistently bowling over 140 kmph, and was always accurate but, even so, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that even he would have been slightly surprised by the results.On a flat pitch, Pakistan’s top order contrived to implode yet again by playing poor cricket. Only one batsman, Misbah-ul-Haq, was taken out by a difficult delivery; the rest were simply not good enough. Tim Southee claimed the initial breakthrough when Salman Butt left a gaping gap between bat and pad to lose his middle stump, after which O’Brien took over. And how.O’Brien sussed out quickly that Faisal Iqbal was a sitting target because of his awkward feet movement and aimed one at his throat, forcing an ugly fend to the slip cordon. He tied up Yousuf with his disciplined lines and lengths before hurling one short of a length outside off stump. Yousuf thought it would be the ideal chance to break the shackles but was done in by the extra bounce and edged it to second slip.It was the recurring theme of a bizarre morning. O’Brien tied up edgy batsmen with his discipline before delivering the knock-out blow with some thing extra. Misbah got a gem early in his innings: The ball held its line outside off and Misbah couldn’t help edging it behind.Pakistan’s debacle was exemplified by Umar Akmal’s dismissal. It was a short-of-length delivery that straightened well outside off stump. It could have been left alone or cut to the point boundary but Umar, the best of the Pakistan batsman in this series, just hung his bat out and guided it straight to gully.Fortunately for Pakistan, though, Farhat couldn’t have chosen a better moment to resuscitate his career. It would be churlish to dismiss Farhat’s effort as streaky, though there were several play and misses and a couple of curious slogs which would have raised blood-pressure levels in the dressing room, but that’s how he seems to play. There were spurts where Farhat seemed to lose concentration and went for pressure-reliving big hits and there were phases where he looked to be in control. Or something resembling it at least.The fact that the last century by a Pakistan opener outside the subcontinent was Salman Butt’s effort in Sydney way back in 2005 would make fans overlook Farhat’s iffy patches and remember the good things from the knock. Amid nervous slashes, Farhat played a couple of off drives – the one in the seventh over against Chris Martin being the shot of the day – and a few well-timed cover drives. There was a flamboyant square drive too, on a bent knee for added effect, a crunchy pull shot and he definitely got better in the second session, during which he seemed surer of where his off stump was. He grew increasingly bolder and played big shots against Daniel Vettori to reach his hundred. Farhat found support in Mohammad Aamer in the afternoon and proceeded to lead Pakistan out of shambles.Farhat’s knock, and perhaps more importantly Aamer’s defiance, revealed two truths: The pitch was a true, firm surface that did offer bounce but not much movement, and the other Pakistan batsmen didn’t apply themselves. Luckily for them, Farhat refused to fade away without a fight. He added 69 runs with Aamer and 35 with Umar Gul before Daryl Tuffey hastened the end with a triple strike post tea. Tuffey terminated Gul’s defiance and removed Mohammad Asif for a first-ball duck before he took out the enterprising Danish Kaneria. However, till Farhat did his thing, it was O’Brien who owned the morning and Ian Smith was moved enough to say on air: “Someone offer his wife a job here … we don’t wanna miss this fella!”The icing on the cake for New Zealand was the performance from their openers; McIntosh, who has been lbw a few times in this series, took care not to get the front leg in line and BJ Watling didn’t embarrass himself on debut. Their 47-run opening stand, the best for New Zealand in the series, capped a near-perfect day for the hosts.