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TANGIERS, Aug 17: A top Indian government and cricket board official Saturday said situation was ideal for its team to resume cricketing relations with neighbors Pakistan

By Our Special Representative18-Aug-2002TANGIERS, Aug 17: A top Indian government and cricket board official Saturday said situation was ideal for its team to resume cricketing relations with neighbors Pakistan.Rajeev Shukla, member of the Indian Parliament and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), further said if touring each other’s country was out of question, the resumption should be from a neutral venue.”The resumption of cricket relations is extremely essential. As I see things, the tension is easing out and if cricket is resumed, it would further help the two countries to come close to each other,” he told Dawn.India is scheduled to tour Pakistan next year in April and May for three Tests and five one-day internationals. But that tour is subject to New Delhi’s approval that has slapped a ban on any bilateral series.”The BCCI president (Jaghmohan Dalmiya) had a discussion with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who gave a very patient hearing. Besides other issues, Dalmiya also argued that if a ban has to be slapped, it should be on all sports. The BCCI has received a very encouraging response from the Prime Minister.”I agree that the sports minister has clamped the ban, but if the Prime Minister wants, he can reverse the decision,” Shukla said.India has not played a Test series in Pakistan since 1988-89 though they crossed border in 1997 to participate in the Pakistan’s Golden Jubilee three-match series. Pakistan, on the contrary, played three Tests and a tri-nation one-day series in early 1999.”The general feeling within the BCCI is that cricket between the two countries should resume. After all, we are playing at junior level, aren’t we?”For the ICC Champions Trophy and next year’s World Cup, the government has given its clearance to play Pakistan. So there is no problem on that front,” he said.Shukla said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should send a fresh invitation to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BBCI) suggesting for the series to be played at a neutral venue.”The objective should be to break the ice instead of pressing for the series to be played in Pakistan. If we go to a neutral venue, things would start tonormalize and eventually one day, India would tour Pakistan.”The irony is that by not playing against each other, the rest of the countries are getting an excuse. The Australians refusal to tour Pakistan was certainly a setback and has left, at least, India on a backfoot since we can’t press them to tour Pakistan as we have ourselves not toured that country,” Shukla said.When pointed out New Delhi has banned its team playing in Sharjah, one of the possible venues for the Test series, Shukla said it was because of the investigations that were going on in the aftermath of Hansiegate scandal. “But we have other options available,”he said.The PCB played its home series against West Indies in Sharjah earlier this year while the desert city along with Colombo are likely to be the venues of the home series against Australia.Last week, the chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC) had also indicated that Pakistan and India could lock horns on neutral territory. He had got the feedback from Dalmiya who met Prime Minister Monday last.”Naturally if there is players security, the BCCI will have to seek clearance from the foreign office. But why jump to conclusions. Let the PCB first send a fresh invitation to the BCCI so that it can present it before the sports ministry and the Prime Minister,” the MP said.He admitted that the BCCI feared isolation and suspension from the ICC if it continued to cancel bilateral series with Pakistan.”We can cancel a series once or twice. But eventually, the excuse will become lame and might lead to complications. The BCCI is aware of that fact and that’s why it is seriously interested in revival of cricket between the two boards,” Shukla said.

As another day comes and goes, West Bromwich Albion’s search for a new manager rumbles on, with the Baggies being linked to yet another new name who could potentially take up Sam Allardyce’s mantle at The Hawthorns.

In a hunt that has seen Guochuan Lai rejected more times than a blackout Take Me Out contestant – with Roy Hodgson, Frank Lampard, Michael Appleton, David Wagner and Tony Puils all reportedly unmoved by West Brom’s admiring glances – the Baggies owner appears to quickly be running out of options to find the club’s perfect managerial match – or is he?

TEAMtalk have reported recently that the Chinese businessman has turned his attention closer to home – to the Chinese Super League, to be exact – with the Henan Jianye FC manager, Javier Pereira, now thought to be a front runner for the job in West Bromwich.

Lai is risking fury

While an explanation may not be required as to why appointing a manager who finished bottom of the Chinese Super League Group A last season could be considered something of a risky move by Lai, it is worth outlining anyway.

Having left his role as Fulham’s assistant head of football operations in order to take over at Henan Jianye in September of 2020, the 55-year-old oversaw 14 regular league games at the Chinese club last term, winning one, drawing three and losing 10 of his fixtures in charge, with his side scoring 14 goals while conceding a whopping 33.

These results saw the Spanish manager’s side finish five points behind Dalian Pro at the foot of the Group A table, however, due to the play-off relegation system they have in the Chinese Super League, Henan Jianye rather remarkably avoided dropping out of the top flight, beating Tianjin Jinmen Tiger – a side who finished bottom of Group B on just three points – over three legs to earn a stay of execution.

Indeed, things do not appear to have picked up for Pereira’s side this season either, with Henan Jianye once again being rock-bottom of their division after four games played.

As such, with the above being the 55-year-old’s only experience in football management, we would argue that his record doesn’t particularly scream of a coach who could take the Baggies back to the Premier League at the first attempt – something that will undoubtedly be the expectation of Lai next season.

So, if the club’s owner really does want to avoid the wrath of the West Brom fanbase – something that we are finding extremely questionable at present – it would be highly advisable for Lai to turn his focus back towards a more suitable candidate for the job, or else West Brom could find themselves in a very similar situation to when they were under the leadership of Pepe Mel back in 2014.

In other news: Lai could have just made his biggest West Brom mistake to date, fans are rightly livid

Hamilton physiotherapist Shane Derry, fitness trainer Jason Wheadon and cricket coach Alan Hunt have been assigned new roles to assist Northern Districts’ elite players this year

13-Sep-2002Hamilton physiotherapist Shane Derry, fitness trainer Jason Wheadon and cricket coach Alan Hunt have been assigned new roles to assist Northern Districts’ elite players this year.Derry has been appointed manager of the State Northern Knights. He has been the home physiotherapist for the Knights for the last three years and this season will have the additional duties of team manager.He has had vast experience with many high profile sports teams including the Black Sox (New Zealand men’s softball team), Chiefs Super 12 rugby franchise, the Waikato NPC rugby team, the Hamilton Marist Rugby Club and Waikato touch rugby.Jason Wheadon is a Hamilton-based fitness trainer who has spent the previous four seasons with the Knights.He has worked successfully with individuals and teams such as Leilani Rorani and the Hamilton Marist rugby team. His role as fitness trainer to the Knights is expected to bring organisation and professionalism in terms of quality fitness preparation, something highly valued by the coaching staff.Alan Hunt has been appointed as the coach of Northern Districts A for the 2002/03 season.Hunt played 65 games for Auckland between 1980/81 and 1992/93. He is a New Zealand Level 3 coach and in recent seasons has coached the Auckland A side. One of the attractions for Hunt is the opportunity to work with Knights coach Bruce Blair.He is also looking forward to the challenge of developing a talented group of young players. With a large representation of Northern Districts players in the New Zealand team, Hunt will play a key role in preparing A team players for the transition to first-class cricket.

According to a report by Corriere dello Sport, as relayed by Sport Witness, West Ham United midfielder Felipe Anderson is now vying for an east London exit and has Lazio as his preferred destination.

The Lowdown: Anderson nightmare…

The Brazilian spent 2020/2021 on loan at FC Porto in Portugal but failed to make any sort of impact.

Indeed, Anderson barely featured over what has been a year to forget for the once exciting West Ham signing.

The 28-year-old started just four matches in all competitions at the Estádio do Dragão, with two of them in the Portuguese League Cup, one in top flight and another in the Champions League (WhoScored).

Anderson took to the pitch for a total time of 128 minutes in Liga NOS, with reports surrounding his future emerging in the past weeks.

The Latest: Anderson trying to force Lazio move…

As per Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness), Anderson has been looking to force an exit with his agents calling clubs and offering him around.

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It is said that his ideal move would be a return to Lazio, where he enjoyed many seasons before joining West Ham in the summer of 2018.

The newspaper state Anderson ‘has tried again in the past few weeks through his agents to see if the situation has changed with the new manager (Maurizio Sarri)’ – with his openness to an Italian capital return now ‘inevitably’ inserting the player on Lazio’s list of possible attacking targets.

Whether or not Sarri prioritises him as a signing remains to be seen, but Anderson is now certainly keen on the move and an exit from east London.

The Verdict: Time to go…

Like many clubs, West Ham face an unusual transfer market due to the financial toll caused by coronavirus.

Many teams up and down in the country will, arguably, be in a sell-to-buy situation and the Hammers may be no different.

As such, it would be wise to offload certain figures before investing heavily in marquee signings and Anderson should be one of the names let go.

At 28 with plenty of experience playing top-level football, the winger still has market value and possesses some ability despite his lack of playing time.

Tony Cottee, speaking to talkSPORT, once called him ‘absolutely fantastic’ for his glimpses of quality and West Ham may be able to command a fairly decent figure for him.

In other news: GSB in battle to sign ‘outstanding’ forward called ‘perfect’ for West Ham, find out more here.

The final of the ICC Champions Trophy was washed out on Sunday night after aheavy thunderstorm interrupted play shortly after the start of the secondinnings

Charlie Austin29-Sep-2002The final of the ICC Champions Trophy was washed out on Sunday night after aheavy thunderstorm interrupted play shortly after the start of the secondinnings.Within minutes the outfield was awash with water, and play could not beresumed before the official cut-off time of 8.38pm.Although it was a huge disappointment for the 30,000 spectators that had crammedinto the stadium, the match will at least be played from scratch on Monday.Nevertheless, it was a terrific shame as the match looked set for anintriguing finale after Sri Lanka scored 244 in the first innings.India probably held the initiative with their strong batting line-up, buthad Sri Lanka bowled and fielded like they had against the Australians, the match would have been very close.In the afternoon, Sri Lanka started confidently after winning the toss, with Marvan Atapattu (34) and Sanath Jayasuriya (74) adding 65 in 77 balls for the first wicket.Atapattu, looking confident after his half-century against Australia, tookthe lead, driving through the covers on the up with a classical high elbowand square-cutting precisely.Javagal Srinath, who arrived in Colombo during the middle of the night andbowled like a man suffering from jet-lag, conceded 36 runs in his openingfive-over burst.At the other end, Zaheer Khan was once again impressive, bowling with paceand accuracy on another slow-paced Premadasa pitch.Jayasuriya was more circumspect than his right-handed partner, clearlydetermined to continue his prolific run and ensure that Sri Lanka posted acompetitive score.But Harbhajan Singh, who was introduced in the 13th over of the innings,starting with a wicket maiden, checked Sri Lanka’s progress. Atapattu, having failed to score for the previous four deliveries, tried to sweep in front of square and was brilliantly caught on the second attempt by Ajit Agarkar at short mid-wicket.Harbhajan carried on economically, encouraging the early introduction of Virender Sehwag, who also bowled tightly as Jayasuriya and Sangakkara looked to consolidate on their quick start.When Sourav Ganguly turned to Sachin Tendulkar, Jayasuriya briefly brokefree of the spinners’ shackles with two leg-side boundaries. As the left-hander moved past fifty for the 51st time in his career, Sri Lanka started to gather momentum.After 30 overs, the hosts were 148 for one, looking set for a score in excess of275. But Agarkar’s second spell accounted for Jayasuriya as Harbhajangrabbed a brilliant catch, running backwards at mid-off, and ending a 90-runpartnership from 107 balls.Aravinda de Silva, who announced on Friday that this would be his last gameon Sri Lankan soil, then walked to the wicket to a standing ovation. But he failed to provide the capacity crowd with the fitting finale that they craved. Twice dropped on eight, he was eventually caught behind, having scored just 18. Nevertheless, the crowd rose to salute their hero, as de Silva waved his batto all corners of the stadium and bid goodbye.Meanwhile Sangakkara, who had started fluently with two boundaries, groundto a halt, eventually limping to his seventh one-day fifty before reverse-sweeping a catch to short fine-leg, almost in desperation. Between the 30th and 40th over Sri Lanka scored just 40 runs.Mahela Jayawardene, who has hardly batted in this tournament, tried tokick-start the innings but found it difficult to time the soft white ball. When he pummelled a return catch back to a leaping Sachin Tendulkar, Sri Lanka were212 for five and India had firmly grasped the initiative.Russel Arnold and Chaminda Vaas made some use of the final four overs, scoring 42 from 26 balls to ensure that Sri Lanka got to a competitive total.Earlier, India had made three changes to the side that defeated South Africain the first semi-final, bringing in fast bowlers Srinath and Agarkar inplace of the injured Ashish Nehra and an out-of-form Anil Kumble.Left-hander Dinesh Mongia replaced V.V.S. Laxman and, surprisingly, opened the innings in place of skipper Ganguly. Sri Lanka had made one change, recalling pace bowler Dilhara Fernando with leg-spinner Upul Chandana the player to stand down.

An update has emerged regarding the asking price for Rangers transfer target Santiago Moreno this summer.

What’s the talk?

According to Football Insider, Rangers have been handed a boost in their pursuit of the Colombian winger, whose club America de Cali have dropped his price tag by £2m, with the Gers now able to bring the attacker in for £3m instead of the £5m they were initially quoted for him this summer

They will face competition in the hunt for his signature, though. The report claims that English Premier League clubs Southampton, Leeds and Norwich are all tracking Moreno as they look to bolster their squads ahead of next season. However, the former two may be the only competitors in the race as local Norwich press rebuffed the link to the 21-year-old.

Fans would love it

Steven Gerrard must ensure that Rangers are able to secure Moreno’s services. The Rangers boss needs to seal a deal for the youngster to improve his attacking options heading into the 2021/22 campaign as the flying winger could add a new dimension to their attack. His price being lowered to £3m could also mean that Rangers are potentially landing a bargain, as they will not need to pay the full £5m they were previously quoted.

Football Insider claim that Moreno has been likened to Liverpool star Sadio Mane. If Moreno is even half as good as the Anfield ace, then £3m will be looked back upon as an unbelievable deal for Rangers if they are able to pull it off in the coming weeks.

Mane has scored 97 goals and set up another 43 in 218 games for the Merseyside club and is currently sat on 95 career goals in the Premier League. That is not to say that Moreno will go on to match those achievements in his career, but stylistically he is seemingly similar to the Senegal international, and that could excite Gers fans who want to see a player who can get them off their seats when they return to Ibrox.

The £3m-valued dynamo is still full of potential at the age of 21. He has produced six goals and four assists in 25 games this calendar year, which shows that he is already able to contribute with direct goal contributions at a respectable rate, but he still has plenty of room to improve.

Moreno only turned 21 in April and could be a player who Gerrard is able to coach and develop over the course of a number of years, hopefully turning him into the next Sadio Mane whilst at Ibrox. This is why Gerrard must bring the Colombian to the club, as it could work out well for Rangers in the short- and long-term.

AND in other news, “In with a chance” – Exclusive: Graham Roberts drops big Jermain Defoe claim at Rangers…

BRISBANE, Nov 14 AAP – A crafty trap set by stand-in captain Michael Kasprowicz to snare the prized wicket of Tasmania skipper Ricky Pointing and some aggressive bowling by Andy Bichel put Queensland in the box seat after a poor opening session in

Wayne Heming14-Nov-2002BRISBANE, Nov 14 AAP – A crafty trap set by stand-in captain Michael Kasprowicz to snare the prized wicket of Tasmania skipper Ricky Pointing and some aggressive bowling by Andy Bichel put Queensland in the box seat after a poor opening session in the Pura Cup clash at the Gabba.The Bulls, facing a potentially huge run chase when the Tigers cruised at 0-98 at lunch, ran the cleaners through the the visitors soon after with Test pace man Bichel fittingly shutting down Tasmania’s innings on 187 when he shattered tailender Shane Jurgensen’s stumps.At the close Queensland was in good shape at 1-69 trailing Tasmania’s meagre first innings by 118 runs.Tasmania lost 10 wickets for 83 on a pitch that didn’t offer the bowlers much assistance after being hurriedly prepared following Australia’s blowout first Test win over England at the weekend.Whatever was on the lunch menu must have been spicey because there was some extra fire in the Bulls attack when they resumed.”The ball didn’t swing as much as we thought in the first session,” said Kasprowicz, who added he wasn’t concerned after watching Tasmania coast to 98 without loss.”Bic (Bichel) got two wickets after lunch which got us on the right foot.”Leading Queensland for the first time, 13-season veteran Kasprowicz appeared in danger of doing a “Nasser Hussain” after putting Tasmania in and watching them rattle up the runs.But two wickets by Bichel in the space of five deliveries to remove openers Jamie Cox (51 off 104 balls) and Michael DiVenuto (50) in the second over after lunch triggered a stunning turnaround.Cox, playing a record 147th first-class game for Tasmania, the most by any player for one state, looked on target for a big score until he became the first of Bichel’s four victims.When Ponting fell to Kasprowicz’s three card trick, the Tigers were wobbling at 3-113.Kasprowicz shrewdly positioned Scott Brant at deep backward square leg and then tempted Ponting to a rash pull shot with a shortish delivery.As as soon as Ponting hit the ball he knew he was out, Brant barely moving to swallow the catch like a Venus fly trap.The top order collapse continued with big Joe Dawes having Michael Dighton caught in slips by Stuart Law for 13 after Daniel Marsh (1) threw away his wicket cheaply by not offering a shot to a Kasprowicz off cutter.While his chief rival Brett Lee took five wickets in Sydney against South Australia, Bichel did his second Test claims no harm finishing with an impressive 4-46 off 17.2 overs, well supported by Kasprowicz (2-38) and youngster Scott Brant (2-41).

Liverpool fans are livid after it was suggested Divock Origi will not be leaving Anfield this summer.

Origi has become somewhat of a club hero for the Reds since signing for them in 2014. During their run to the Champions League trophy in 2019, in particular, he played a vital role, scoring twice in the semi-final second leg aginst Barcelona as Liverpool turned around a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 on aggregate, while he also netted the second in a 2-0 victory in the final.

However, his influence on the side has waned over the last couple of years, and last term he managed just 17 appearances in all competitions for the club (Transfermarkt).

With just 35 total goals to his name in 157 appearances, he has never been prolific, and even though he does not appear to be part of Jurgen Klopp’s plans moving forward, he will still be at the club next season according to The Athletic reporter Caoimhe O’Neill.

The news was shared on Twitter by O’Neill, and it attracted plenty of attention from the supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts, with one supporter calling the news ‘unbelievable’.

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

“We’re finished”

Credit: @MuhdFaiz_xyz

“neither him nor we fans are happy for this. this is turmoil for every parties involved.”

Credit: @GhimireSandeep2

“I mean what levels of utter incompetence and Mis management means we are still stuck with a player we deemed not good enough when he went on loan in 17/18 season to still be our backup central striker. Unbelievable”

Credit: @IRed_2020

“What’s the point? He just stays on the bench 95% of the time. We should sell him and buy a striker who can get some game time! We desperately need a new striker. Very strange decision if you ask me”

Credit: @gab_LFC

“What’s the point in this? Even at our lowest last season when we couldn’t score goals and the front 3 were woeful, Klopp still wouldn’t give him a game. Just take the hit and get rid of him now, he offers virtually nothing.”

Credit: @WilbertoDeT

“What a joke of a club. He is offering nothing. He had his moment in the cl final. Time to cash in.”

Credit: @scouser306

In other news, Liverpool fans are said to be interested in signing this Premier League striker this summer.

On Friday 22 November 2002 the Highveld Strikers will take on WesternProvince in the Standard Bank Series at the Wanderers Stadium

Unati Mabandla20-Nov-2002On Friday 22 November 2002 the Highveld Strikers will take on WesternProvince in the Standard Bank Series at the Wanderers Stadium. The matchstarts at 15:45 and gates open at 15:00.There will be lots of fun and entertainment including Hunky Heinz and otherIdols performing at the dinner break, and an autograph session afterwards.There will be competitions galore, where the draw for the 4 World Cuptickets courtesy of IOCORE will take place, a Highveld Strikers Foot Longeating competition, Hit the Wicket competition and also a V-Energy down-downcompetition. For the kids there will be a Climbing wall and jumpingcastles, where they can enjoy the evening.For the spectators that still have tickets of the last two days of the testmatch against Sri Lanka, we will exchange one ticket per person and give aticket for this game. No complementary tickets will be exchanged.This day promises to be an experience for the whole family. Come join usand experience Cricket Jo’burg Style.The Highveld Strikers squad for this match:Clive Eksteen [Captain], Adam Bacher, Solly Ndima, Marthinus Otto, Warren Dugmore, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Enoch Nkwe, Matthew Harris, Ashfak Abowath, David Terbrugge, Sean Andrews, Grant Elliott.

Queens Park Rangers have made an approach to bring Jordan Archer to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by The Sun journalist Alan Nixon, who revealed in a post on Twitter that Mark Warburton’s side are looking to push a deal through for the recently released Middlesbrough goalkeeper in the coming weeks.

Nixon goes on to state that one of the current QPR shot-stoppers, Liam Kelly, appears to be heading to Scotland, having been linked with both Motherwell and Dundee United this summer, with Archer appearing to be the 25-year-old’s replacement in west London.

Warburton will be buzzing

While Archer has not featured a great deal for a number of his most recent clubs, making four Scottish Premiership appearances for Motherwell and five Championship appearances for Middlesbrough last season, the 28-year-old boasts a wealth of Championship experience, as well as impressing for Millwall when given a shot as a team’s first choice ‘keeper.

Indeed, over his 45 second-tier appearances for the Lions back in 2017/18, the £270k-rated man kept a whopping 18 clean sheets, as well as making an average of 2.9 saves and making 0.2 successful runs out per game, in addition to stopping a total of 131 shots over the course of the season.

These metrics saw the man Neil Harris dubbed an “excellent” player earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.81, ranking him as Millwall’s 13th-best performer in the Championship that year, playing a huge role in the club securing a highly impressive eighth-place finish.

As such, while Seny Dieng looks likely to be Warburton’s first-choice goalkeeper for the Rs next season, the addition of the £4.1k-per-week Archer would appear to provide the 26-year-old with both fantastic competition and back up for his spot between the sticks, something that will undoubtedly leave the 58-year-old QPR boss buzzing.

In other news: QPR transfer update emerges on “explosive” £10k-p/w machine, Warburton would love him