All posts by h716a5.icu

Richie Richardson, the former West Indies batsman, is disappointed that leading Caribbean cricketers have declined to sign central contracts with the board

Andrew McGlashan10-Nov-2010Richie Richardson, the former West Indies captain, is disappointed that leading Caribbean cricketers have declined to sign central contracts with the board. Chris Gayle, the recently replaced leader, along with allrounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard turned down offers from the WICB so that they are free to take up lucrative Twenty20 offers around the world.At the time of not signing their contracts the three players – some of the most marketable Twenty20 stars in the world – insisted they remained fully committed to West Indies cricket. Gayle and Bravo are part of the Test squad currently in Sri Lanka, and Pollard is likely to be included for the one-day series next month, but their decisions have done little to ease tensions between the players and the board.”Playing for your country should always be No. 1 then anything else comes after that,” Richardson told ESPNcricinfo. “It might be different for a player who is coming towards the end of his career or hasn’t been selected much, but the main players should be contracted to the board. I know they’ve stated their full commitment to West Indies, but clearly there are distractions around the game these days.”West Indies are a distant second favourite for the Tests in Sri Lanka which start on November 15, but Richardson is hopeful they can mount a challenge in a country where they never won a Test in six attempts. That’s despite the efforts of Brian Lara in 2001-02 when he hit 688 runs, a record for a three-Test series, and still West Indies lost 3-0. Yet the scale of their challenge was clear on the opening day of their warm-up match against a President’s XI when the visitors’ batting crumbled for 176.”I’m always hopeful and I always want West Indies to do well. But it’s going to be tough, there’s no hiding from that,” Richardson said as he announced the launch of his own cricket academy in Antigua. “Sri Lanka are playing really good cricket and have just beaten Australia. It’s a tough country to tour for any team, not many sides have gone there in recent years and won, and West Indies haven’t been playing all that well, but you have to go in with a positive frame of mind. Anything is possible.”Darren Sammy has replaced Gayle as captain after the West Indies board decided it was time for a fresh face to take the side forward into the World Cup and beyond. Richardson has first-hand knowledge of the unique challenges involved in leading West Indies having captained them on 24 occasions – albeit before the severe decline set in – and believes Sammy has the personality and skills to be a success.”It’s too early to make a judgement on whether it’s a good or bad move, but from what I’ve seen he is a very passionate cricketer which is what is needed,” he said. “He’s been playing well in the last couple of years and he’s shown in some of his performances that he has leadership qualities so I’ll certainly be supporting him.”However, Richardson is mystified by the absence of Ramnaresh Sarwan who wasn’t even offered a central contract after the board voiced concerns over his fitness following a string of injuries. To leave out a batsman averaging 41.73 in Tests seems a luxury West Indies can ill-afford. “I don’t know what is going on with Sarwan but he’s certainly got the time to get back into the side,” Richardson said. “He’s one of our premier batsmen and I’m not quite sure why he isn’t with the team or what the problem is. He’s been playing cricket back home so should be there.”While the immediate prospects for West Indies remain bleak, with his academy hat on Richardson is convinced the game can thrive again on and off the field. “There are still a lot of youngsters in the Caribbean who want to play cricket,” he said. “Obviously there are other distractions these days, but I’m convinced the passion is still there and will always be there. It’s part of the Caribbean way of life. It will always be in the veins of Caribbean people.”

Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch could look to bring Manchester United assistant Chris Armas to Elland Road this summer, according to Phil Hay.

The Lowdown: Armas profiled

The 49-year-old worked under Marsch at New York Red Bulls, serving as his assistant for 151 games.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-42/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-03-10T184055Z_1834933207_UP1EI3A1FW561_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-AVA-REPORT-1-scaled-1.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Armas, labelled as a ‘winner’ with ‘infectious positivity’, has since gone on to manage Toronto and has been at Old Trafford under Ralf Rangnick since December.

His services in Manchester may no longer be needed after Erik ten Hag was announced as Manchester United’s new manager, and it looks as if Marsch could take full advantage ahead of his first full season in charge.

The Latest: Hay’s claim

Hay shared a story on The Athletic on Saturday morning, looking at Leeds’ U23s following a record PL2 attendance at Elland Road on Friday night.

Within his report, he claimed that Marsch looks set to make further alterations to his backroom staff this summer, revealing Armas is under consideration for a permanent post.

The Verdict: Makes sense

The pair know each other well following their time back in the USA and Marsch is clearly a fan of Armas, so a reunion in Yorkshire appears to be a shrewd move.

Marsch has already brought Franz Schiemer and Cameron Toshack to Thorp Arch, while Mark Jackson has been promoted from the U23s, so Amas could be the missing piece in the backroom staff jigsaw.

Hopefully, Leeds will be preparing for a first full season under the American as a Premier League side, which could persuade Armas to remain in England.

In other news: Phil Hay: Marsch now eyeing Leeds move for ‘quality’ rising star alongside Aaronson. 

Heavy overnight rains ensured the fourth one-dayer, the first of two in Chittagong, was abandoned without a ball being bowled.

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2010
ScorecardHeavy overnight rains ensured the fourth one-dayer, the first of two in Chittagong, was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Though the rains stayed away on Friday morning, a slushy outfield at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium and cloudy skies ensured a delayed start at best. The ground’s average drainage facilities, coupled with its location in Chittagong’s low-lying plains, meant that only uninterrupted sunshine could have saved the game. Unfortunately, the cloud cover dashed such hopes, forcing the umpires to call the match off after a final inspection at 12.30 pm local time, over 75 minutes ahead of the final cut-off.The result meant Bangladesh will go into Sunday’s fifth game with an unbeatable 2-1 lead. Though there is no rain forecast for Sunday, more showers are predicted for Saturday, which could scupper Zimbabwe’s hopes of squaring a series in which they made a winning start.

West Ham United’s European quest gets back underway this evening as they welcome Eintracht Frankfurt to the London Stadium for a tricky – but historic – Europa League semi-final clash.

The first of two legs takes place in east London, likely to be in front of a near sell-out crowd with a place in the final in Seville the reward.

Irons boss David Moyes is left with plenty of selection decisions to make – last time out, he rested several key stars against Chelsea in what was a bold call indeed, whilst the Hammers breezed past Lyon by a 4-1 aggregate to make it to this stage of the tournament.

Among the surprise names on the bench at the weekend was Jarrod Bowen and he’s surely a shoo-in to start against Die Adler tonight.

The 25-year-old dynamo, who is currently valued at £31.5m, has been one of West Ham’s standout stars in this exciting campaign, where he has provided a whopping 15 goals and 11 assists across all competitions, via Transfermarkt.

These include a pair of strikes against the Ligue 1 outfit in the last round and his importance is signified by the fact that Moyes’ side lost three of five games without him in the squad due to injury.

Bowen is also the Hammers’ highest-rated player in the Premier League, as per WhoScored figures, and has proven to be more than just a creative and goalscoring threat in the final third.

An average of one tackle per game suggests he can trackback and do his defensive duties, something that he may well need to do against the Bundesliga outfit in the absence of a few out-and-out senior centre-backs – Moyes is going to have to do some shifting around indeed.

Meanwhile, no other Irons star has managed more successful dribbles per game in the league (1.4) than Bowen, suggesting that he’s capable of taking on his man, beating him and then delivering with a goal or assist.

This sort of threat is going to be needed against a side that knocked FC Barcelona out in the last round.

The 5 foot 9 machine, previously lauded as “unplayable” by his former Hull City boss Grant McCann and as an “absolute manager’s dream” by Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson, evidently has all the skills to hurt and terrify Frankfurt, who have leaked more goals than they have scored, at the London Stadium.

As such, Moyes must let Bowen off the leash this evening.

AND in other news, Sources: West Ham eye swoop for “brilliant” 21 y/o, he’s “similar to Eden Hazard”…

Ray Harvey – one of six brothers of whom two, Neil and Merv, went on to play for Australia, while an fourth, Mick, also played for his state – has died in Melbourne at the age of 85

Martin Williamson10-Jan-2011Ray Harvey – one of six brothers of whom two, Neil and Merv, went on to play for Australia, while a fourth, Mick, also played for his state – has died in Melbourne at the age of 85.Harvey was an attacking batsman who only managed to hold down a place in the Victoria side for two seasons. hile his ability was there for all to see, he perhaps lacked the drive of his more accomplished siblings. Bill Lawry said that he was one of the two best district cricketers he had faced.His first-class debut came in 1947-48, although he had already made his mark when scoring 86 for Victoria against Australian Services as a 17-year-old in 1943-44. In a side which contained three Harvey brothers, he scored 42 and 22 not out, but despite being given a long run in the team he failed to pass fifty.He was in and out of the team -more out than in – over the next few seasons, getting his chance when regulars were on Test duty, but finally looked the part when drafted in near the end of the 1952-53 summer, converting his maiden fifty into a career-best 121 against Western Australia.In 1953-54 he was a regular in the Victoria side, recording two more hundreds and making 699 runs at 49.92, and that earned him a place in the Australia XI against the England tourists at the start of the following summer in what was effectively a Test trial. But his form again fell away markedly, and in 15 matches over the next six season he passed fifty only twice, in consecutive innings at the end of 1958-59.For Fitzroy in Victorian Premier Cricket he was a major player, scoring 19 centuries and 9,146 runs in first-grade competition, both of which were club records. Like his brothers, he also represented his state at baseball.

Fulham’s director of football Tony Khan has revealed that winger Fabio Carvalho has agreed a deal to join Liverpool during the upcoming transfer window, despite the final game of the season against Sheffield United still being left to play.

The Lowdown: Strong links to Merseyside

The 19-year-old’s current contract with the Cottagers is set to expire at the end of the season, making him a free agent to any potential suitors interested in securing his services.

The Portugal U21 ace has been heavily linked with a move to Anfield this summer, after a deal that was initially in place for the Reds to sign Carvalho in January fell through on deadline day.

Even though the forward has suggested that he is yet to make up his mind on where he will be playing his football next campaign, the Fulham chief appears to have confirmed that his star man will be departing ahead of this weekend’s clash at Sheffield United.

The Latest: Khan confirms departure

When asked for an update on the youngster’s future during an interview with The Athletic (via The Mirror), Khan said:

“I really like Fabio. He’s a player we have always rated, coming out of the academy, and we would have loved to have kept him. But we have made a deal that is best for the club and, since that agreement, it’s worked out wonderfully because he has been such a valuable part of the promotion.

“Marco has done a great job with him. They have a great relationship and Fabio has been tremendous for us. He’s a huge part of the squad and it’s a massive loss but, because we have done good business, we can do good business to make sure we are strong in that position.”

The Verdict: A huge loss

Carvalho has had an outstanding term with the west London outfit, where he has scored 11 goals and provided eight assists in just 37 outings across all competitions, as per Transfermarkt, so it’s no shock that his impressive performances have caught the eye of Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Liverpool will be getting an absolute bargain, but it will obviously come as a huge loss to Fulham, who were surely keen to retain him based on Khan’s comments, having just recently gained promotion back to the top-flight themselves.

Described as being an “exciting talent” by Sky Sports pundit Kevin Phillips, Marco Silva and co. will no doubt be gutted not to have his end product when battling against elite competition week in week out next season, and perhaps he can sign off in style with a goal against the Blades this weekend.

Pundit and former Leeds United defender Danny Mills has made an injury claim regarding Patrick Bamford, as per Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Bamford back on the pitch

The 28-year-old has been limited to a mere seven Premier League starts this season, playing just 559 minutes of action due to a number of injuries.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-43/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-03-10T184055Z_1834933207_UP1EI3A1FW561_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-AVA-REPORT-1-scaled-1.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

His latest foot issue came against Wolves in March, although it looks as if he could have a part to play in the final games of the season as Leeds battle to avoid the drop.

Jesse Marsch confirmed last week that the striker has been back out on the Thorp Arch training pitches, but Mills had his concerns regarding Bamford’s fitness.

The Latest: Mills’ claim on Bamford

Mills, who contributes for Sky Sports, was talking to Football Insider regarding the Leeds striker.

He said that starting Bamford and having to take him off would be ‘disruptive’ to Marsch’s tactical setup and urged caution over the use of the 28-year-old given his injury troubles over the past few months.

The 44-year-old warned:

“It would be a real risk to have him as the main man up front going forward.

“He could break down at any moment, so to have him playing minutes if he’s not 100% – it’s a risk.

“If you have to then take him off, it’s disruptive. You’ve laid all your plans around him playing and having an impact.

“If you then have to take him off, it’s a bit like ‘oh no’ – because you have to change your set-up and your tactics completely if you’re Jesse Marsch.”

The Verdict: Impact sub?

Should Bamford return to the matchday squad for the final three games of the season, it could be wise if Marsch decided for an opposing plan to the one back in March.

Bamford was given the nod from the off in wins over Norwich and Wolves, but he failed to play more than 45 minutes in either game.

Therefore, it could be wise to use the striker as an impact sub instead of starting in upcoming games against Brighton, Brentford and possibly even Chelsea on Wednesday, with the Whites now at a make-or-break stage of the season.

In other news: Leeds and Orta now make first move to sign ‘undefendable’ star in blow to Everton

Andy Flower, the England team director, has revealed that Tim Bresnan is the most serious of their lengthy injury list ahead of the World Cup

Andrew McGlashan in Perth04-Feb-2011Andy Flower, the England team director, has revealed that Tim Bresnan is the most serious of their lengthy injury list ahead of the World Cup. Bresnan suffered a calf injury during the second one-day international at Hobart and is one of five players to have flown home early from Australia with the most recent being Paul Collingwood.England’s casualty list also includes Graeme Swann (back), Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring) and Chris Tremlett (side). The latter isn’t part of the World Cup 15 but is a possible replacement should anyone not recover. “Probably it’s Bresnan considering the sight of his injury, just above his Achilles tendon in his lower calf,” Flower said when pushed on who was struggling the most. “But he’s not a man who has suffered injuries, well not many injuries, in the past and hopefully he will recover very quickly and be ready somewhere near the start.”England have been left battling to have a full-strength squad to take to the subcontinent later this month and it could be especially tight for the two warm-up matches against Canada and Pakistan. Collingwood, who suffered a back spasm at Sydney and flew out of Perth on Thursday evening, has been given paternity leave during the warm-up period along with Swann leaving the prospect of England not having 11 fit players when they arrive in Bangladesh.”Of course the timing of them getting back to full fitness is important for the start of the World Cup,” Flower said. “We can’t be absolutely certain of that at this stage but we are monitoring them on a daily basis.”Despite the rush to get Collingwood back to the UK with just four days of this tour remaining Flower wasn’t overly concerned about the allrounder. He was unable to bowl at Sydney as England failed to defend a record total of 333 having hurt his back playing the final shot of the innings. Collingwood’s mixture of medium-pacers and cutters are set to be important to England’s World Cup although he continues to struggle for runs.”He should be alright. He’s been sent home to get looked after back in England by the specialists, his lower back needs a scan and the right sort of treatment,” Flower said. “The sooner he got home the better, he wouldn’t have been available for this last game anyway. He’s going to a very important member of our World Cup side so we needed to get him off home early.”With the bowling ranks currently so depleted England could reach the point next week where they have to replace players in their final 15. Having stayed fit during the series, and taken 6 for 45 at Brisbane, Chris Woakes has made a strong case to be a first reserve as he also provides some useful lower-order batting.Steven Finn has been given his one-day international debut during this series having not originally been part of the squad until James Anderson was rested for the first three matches. He was England’s most impressive seamer in Sydney, taking 2 for 51 from his 10 overs in a high-scoring encounter. Liam Plunkett, the Durham pace bowler, has also been called into the squad for the final match in Perth and arrived on Wednesday after a 40-hour journey from the Caribbean where he was part of the England Lions squad.

Ireland will have another chance to showcase their international credentials after being invited along with Sri Lanka to join hosts Scotland for a short triangular series in Edinburgh during July

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Mar-2011Ireland will have another chance to showcase their international credentials after being invited along with Sri Lanka to join hosts Scotland for a short triangular series in Edinburgh during July.The three matches will be staged on July 11, 12 and 13 at the Grange following Sri Lanka’s Test and one-day tour of England which concludes with the final ODI at Old Trafford on July 9.Ireland caught the imagination of the cricket world when they chased down 329 to beat England in Bangalore at the World Cup and have put in other hard-fought displays against India and West Indies. The two matches against Sri Lanka and fellow Associates Scotland will give them another opportunity to show how they are developing at the top level.”This is a great boost to us to face a side of the quality of Sri Lanka,” Phil Simmons, the Ireland coach, said. “They have proved already that they are one of the best sides in the world and they are just the sort of opponent we need.”Ireland need to play more one-day internationals between World Cups to give us the experience we need to perform and excel at these tournaments. A game against Sri Lanka, who are ranked third in the ICC rankings, is just the sort of fixture we are crying out for.”The fixtures are also important for Scotland who have slipped down the Associate pecking order in recent times after playing in the 1999 and 2007 World Cups. They failed to reach the current tournament on the subcontinent having finished fifth in the qualifiers although that meant they retained ODI status.”These games against Full Members are always vital, and will give the Scottish team another opportunity to compete against one of the best sides in the world,” Roddy Smith, the Cricket Scotland chief executive, said. “Following on from the recent visits of England, Australia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, it will also enable the Scottish cricketing public to see the Sri Lankan team in Scotland for the first time in an official one-day international.”

With three games left of the Premier League campaign, Jesse Marsch’s Leeds United host Chelsea on Wednesday evening with the 48-year-old coach knowing that the Whites simply must better Everton’s result at Watford if they are to give themselves the best possible chance of avoiding relegation to the Championship come the end of the season.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-united-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-much-more” title=”Read the latest Leeds United news and rumours!”]

However, although Chelsea’s form has somewhat tailed off in recent weeks – with the Blues having won just one of their last five Premier League outings – Thomas Tuchel’s third-placed outfit will nevertheless present Leeds with an extremely stern test at Elland Road, meaning that the American manager must ensure his team selection is absolutely spot on this evening.

So, will Marsch make any changes to his starting XI from the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal last time out? Here’s how we at Football FanCast think Leeds could line up against Chelsea, as well as the latest team and injury news…

With Marsch confirming in his pre-match press conference that Liam Cooper looks set to return to action this evening, while also revealing that Patrick Bamford will once again be unavailable for selection, in addition to the fact that Luke Ayling will be missing due to suspension, we predict the 48-year-old will make two changes to his starting XI at The Emirates.

First of all, we predict Ayling’s unavailability, coupled with Stuart Dallas being ruled out for the season as a result of injury and both Cody Drameh and Leif Davis being unavailable due to their loan spells away from Elland Road, will see Leeds set up in a 3-4-3 formation against Chelsea.

This means that, alongside Diego Llorente and Robin Koch, club captain Cooper will return to take up a place in a three-man backline, while Junior Firpo and Daniel James take up the left and right-wing back roles respectively.

In the middle of the park, after an extremely encouraging cameo against Arsenal, 19-year-old Lewis Bate – who Chris Spearing claimed is “like a whippet” – comes into the XI alongside Kalvin Phillips, with the “shocking” – in the words of Noel Whelan – Mateusz Klich dropping to the bench.

In attack, Jack Harrison and Raphinha start on the left and right flank respectively, while Joe Gelhardt – despite being sacrificed at Arsenal after Ayling’s sending off – retains his spot leading the Whites line.

AND in other news: Phil Hay drops exciting 5-word Leeds United transfer update, he’d be a huge upgrade