Category Uncategorized

CB Ratnayake retained Somachandra de Silva and Nishantha Ranatunga as chairman and secretary respectively while appointing three new members to the committee

Sa'adi Thawfeeq02-Jun-2010Sports Minister CB Ratnayake, despite accusing Sri Lanka Cricket as the third most corrupt institution in the country and slamming the board’s interim committee, retained Somachandra de Silva and Nishantha Ranatunga as chairman and secretary respectively while appointing three new members to the committee on Wednesday.Former cricketer and Sri Lanka rugby player Asanga Seneviratne, lawyer Kalinga Indratissa and Sports Ministry representative Prabath Fonseka are the three new members appointed. They replace Pramodya Wickramasinghe, A. Gunaratne Weerasinghe, Lalith Wickremasinghe and Ranil Abeynaike. Sujeewa Rajapakse continues as treasurer of the six-member interim committee.Ratnayake, who appointed Aravinda de Silva as the head of a new selection panel, in a media conference on Monday, had promised to revamp the way the game is administered, even if it meant replacing the incumbent members. Ratnayake had said he had a problem with the way the interim committee had handled finances and contributed to wastage of resources.

Everton manager Rafa Benitez has revealed the latest information regarding striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s fitness, with the striker set to be involved in the Toffees’ next league game against Newcastle.

What’s the latest?

The Spaniard was left furious after the Merseyside club’s request to have their meeting with the Clarets postponed was rejected by the Premier League with the Blues dealing with an injury crisis. The fixture has since been postponed due to positive cases in the Everton camp.

Everton have a seriously limited roster of players to select from, with some U23s facing a call-up to the first-team, particularly in the attacking areas with the likes of Richarlison, Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray unavailable.

This has given Benitez no choice but to involve Calvert-Lewin for the first time since the Englishman suffered a toe injury that has kept him sidelined for three months.

On the lack of available players, Benitez said: “The reality is some of these players include Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has been out injured for two months. We have other players with knocks and we will have to push them.

“They are not fit and who will take responsibility if something happens to them because they have to play 90 minutes? We are exposing them.”

Fans over the moon

The situation is certainly strange, but it will be a huge relief for Everton fans to see the star striker back playing. However, there will also certainly be concern regarding whether or not the 24-year-old’s injury is aggravated, therefore prolonging his spell on the sidelines.

The Toffees have been lucky that both Andros Townsend (three) and Demarai Gray (five) have been able to chip in with goals during Calvert-Lewin’s absence, however, they will be desperate to have their best forward back available.

Calvert-Lewin was a major presence for the Toffees last season, then under Carlo Ancelotti, as the Englishman scored 21 goals in 39 appearances across all competitions.

Moreover, the 24-year-old had scored in each of his three Premier League appearances this campaign before picking up his injury, further highlighting the difference he can make to this Everton team.

Everton fans will have high expectations for the England international, however, there is plenty of evidence that he can meet if not exceed those desires.

If he comes back and hits the ground running instantly, supporters will no doubt be over the moon.

AND in other news, EFC must sign £22.5m-rated ace, Moshiri has already “tried to negotiate a transfer”…

Rafa Benitez will need to make some important decisions in the upcoming transfer window, due to a poor first half of the season leaving the side plagued with injuries and sitting 15th in the Premier League table.

Everton could make signings to add depth to the side, and have been linked with a number of players already to fill positions of weakness, but they could also do with offloading some players that aren’t good enough for the side, and wasting the club money on the wage bill.

Cenk Tosun is currently on £69k-p/w at Everton, whilst making no impact on the team whatsoever this season, with only one appearance for just six minutes for the Toffees this season, and with that being said, it is clear Benitez doesn’t value the player as good enough for the side, even during an injury crisis that has seen the Spanish manager call up and rely on academy players in recent games.

Despite the lack of game time, The Athletic reported a few weeks ago that Tosun’s agent has claimed the Turkish international doesn’t want to leave the club in January;

“Cenk does not want to leave in January,” Dr Erkut Sogut said. “He has a contract until the end of the season and he wants to give something back. He feels like he can contribute and is not the type to just sit on the bench and be happy.”

Due to the 30-year-old’s contract ending at the end of the season, Benitez could offer out the player in a cut-price deal that could attract interest from clubs who are desperately seeking a striker to help their teams score goals, as he is clearly not needed at Everton or even favourable for a start over any of the other forwards in the team.

The centre forward has only scored 11 goals in 58 appearances for the Toffees since he joined the club from Besiktas in 2018, and has lost a position in the team to much more prolific goal scorers like Dominic Calvert Lewin and Richarlison, with the pair scoring a combined 90 goals more than Tosun in their time with the club.

Although there have been no recent links to other clubs for the Turkish striker to move in the January transfer window, if Everton could offload him in the January transfer window, it would free up funds and the wage bill for the manager to work his magic and bring in players that could make a positive impact on the struggling side in the second half of the season.

In other news: Journalist claims Everton could be reunited with Ross Barkley

The ECB made an offer to the BCCI last December to host the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 tournament

Andrew McGlashan17-Feb-2010The ECB made an offer to the BCCI last December to host the 2010 Champions League Twenty20 tournament, but have still to receive a response from the Indian board while their participation in the event remains in doubt with the recently announced dates clashing with the end of the English domestic season.Writing on his Twitter feed, Lalit Modi, the Champions League commissioner, claimed two English counties have now been invited to the event. “We have sent invites to two teams from [the] ECB yesterday for [the Champions League]. Waiting to hear from them,” he said.However, an ECB spokesman told Cricinfo they don’t class it as an official offer. “There has been a telephone conversation, but no formal invite has been sent.”Late last year the English board told the BCCI they would be willing to host the tournament after the end of the season on September 22. Although the daylight is drawing in by that time of the year in England there would still be plenty of time to host Twenty20 matches, even into early October, especially if floodlights were used but the unpredictable weather would be something of a lottery.However, the ECB have not heard anything since placing the offer on the table and last week Modi announced the tournament would run from September 10-26 at a venue still to be confirmed. USA are keen to get their foot in the Twenty20 door and Don Lockerbie, their CEO, had meetings with Modi in Dubai last week, while Abu Dhabi have also put in a bid to host the Champions League.Those dates clash with England’s one-day series against Pakistan, the final two rounds of County Championship matches, plus the semi-finals and final of the ECB40 competition and have created further tension between Modi and the ECB.Modi has said it was the only window available for the event because India are due to play Australia in a one-day series from early October and he added that he hoped the ECB could make “minor adjustments” to their schedule. Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, has made it clear that there won’t be any alterations to the domestic season.The ECB had already brought the end of the domestic tournaments forward by a week compared to last year in order to create a window for the Champions League, which they believed would start at the end of September. When the clash became clear, counties were quick to say that the domestic calender must take precedence and David Collier, the ECB chief executive, sent an email to the 18 first-class counties confirming players wouldn’t be released. Also, if any weakened teams were fielded it would go against the playing regulations.If no compromise can be reached counties will lose out on the chance to compete for the main prize of $1.6 million for winning the event plus a guaranteed appearance fee. The next stage in trying to find a solution will come in March when the chairmen of the boards involved meet in Dubai.The ECB aren’t on the governing council of the Champions League – which is made up of the BCCI, Cricket Australia (CA) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) – after, instead, trying to join forces with Allen Stanford, but will need to try and gain the support of CA and CSA to engineer any changes in the dates.

Many Crystal Palace fans took aim at Jack Butland during their Premier League clash with Southampton on Wednesday night. 

Prior to this game, Butland’s only competitive action under Patrick Vieira had come in an EFL Cup defeat to Watford back in August.

He’d been on the bench for every league game, playing second fiddle to Vicente Guaita.

But Vieira opted to bench the Spaniard against the Saints at Selhurst Park, finally handing Butland a chance to impress.

Butland struggles vs Southampton

The Englishman’s SofaScore rating of 6.2 was the joint-lowest in the Palace starting XI.

Only five of the 14 long passes he attempted during the game were accurate, while he conceded as many goals as he made saves (two).

What’s more, London News Online journalist Richard Cawley noted that Butland touched the James Ward-Prowse free-kick that made it 1-1 – as good as the strike was, you expect to save it when you get a hand to it.

Here’s what Palace fans on Twitter made of the ‘keeper’s display.

These Crystal Palace fans critical of Butland

“Well if we wanted to know why Butland hasn’t got many minutes there’s our answer”

Credit: @BrosterJr11

“Butland make a save challenge”

Credit: @palacecarl

“New plan. Pull Butland. Clearly hasn’t gotten over his yips.”

Credit: @CPFC703

“Ok, time to retire Butland”

Credit: @staycmaria

“Yeah Butland aint it”

Credit: @saucyzaha

“Vieira should know Butland was only OP in FIFA”

Credit: @MrBloodclaat

In other news, fans erupted over this footage. 

Andrew Flintoff expects to resume batting in the New Year as he continues his recovery from surgery

Cricinfo staff23-Dec-2009Andrew Flintoff expects to resume batting in the New Year as he continues his recovery from surgery.Flintoff is recuperating following knee surgery and revealed on his website he will return to the nets next month, although he does not expect to be bowling for some time yet as he is following a programme devised by surgeon Andy Williams.He retired from Test cricket in the summer and will now just concentrate on the shorter form of the game whenever he recovers.In training regime that includes plenty of time in the swimming pool, Flintoff has now also started cycling. “I’m just really looking forward to starting cricket exercises again, which I hope to start early in the New Year,” Flintoff said on his website. “As long as I don’t have any setbacks, I should be able to start batting against a bowling machine.”I won’t be doing anything daft and I will have to ease into it again, but it will be good just to start playing some form of cricket again after all this time and it will be great to start hitting balls again. When all you do is go to the gym every day, you can almost forget that you’re a cricketer.”Yet it is the strain from bowling that has brought Flintoff’s injuries in the past and he is realistic about his prospects for returning with the ball. “While it’s good to be able to pick up a bat again, I’m still some way away from bowling again just yet. I’ve been given a programme by the surgeon and I will be sticking to that. I can’t see me being given the go-ahead to start bowling for a good few weeks yet.”Flintoff is set to return for a check-up in February when he is hoping to get involved with training sessions at Lancashire.

2009 PCA awards

• Player of the Year: Marcus Trescothick (Somerset)

• Young Player of the Year: James Taylor (Leicestershire)

• ECB Special Award: Michael Vaughan

• Special Merit Award: Andrew Strauss

• Umpire of the Year: Richard Kettleborough

• Sixes League: Dwayne Smith

• Impossible is Nothing Award: Graham Stevenson

• Team of the Year 2009: Marcus Trescothick (Somerset), Andrew Strauss (captain – Middlesex & England), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire & England), Ed Joyce (Sussex), Ian Blackwell (Durham), Craig Kieswetter (Somerset), James Foster (wicketkeeper – Essex), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire & England), James Tredwell (Kent), Graham Onions (Durham & England), Steve Kirby (Gloucestershire)

Marcus Trescothick, the former England batsman, has been named the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s Player of the Year. He had earlier scooped the PCA’s Most Valuable Player of the Year award as well.The opening batsman topped the overall scoring charts in the County Championship with 1817 runs, including eight centuries, at an average of 75.70 and helped Somerset finish third. He was in top form in the other formats as well, finishing the season with a total of 2934 runs across all competitions.Trescothick, who quit the England team in the 2006-07 Ashes tour due to a stress-related illness, is currently in India for the Champions League. He was also named in the PCA Team of the Year alongside England players Andrew Strauss, Stuart Broad, Graham Onions and Jonathan Trott.Another player picking up the awards after a strong county season is Leicestershire’s 19-year-old batsman, James Taylor. He scored 1,177 first-class runs in 16 matches at an average of 58.85. That haul included three hundreds and six fifties, with a highest score of 207 not out against Surrey at The Oval in July. Last month he had picked up the Cricket Writers’ Club Young Cricketer of the Year award, beating allrounder Stuart Broad to the prize.

Rangers have been told not to block any approach from Cardiff City for their coach Michael Beale.

Former Premier League goalkeeper Paddy Kenny was discussing the 41-year-old coach’s future with Football Insider.

The lowdown

BBC Sport reported last month that Beale was on Cardiff’s shortlist of potential replacements for the sacked Mick McCarthy.

Formerly an under-23 coach at Liverpool, he took up an assistant role at Ibrox when Steven Gerrard was appointed as manager in 2018. He was part of the coaching setup which steered Rangers to an unbeaten 2020/21 season and ended Celtic’s run of nine consecutive Premiership titles.

Gerrard admitted earlier this year that it would take him ’15/20 years’ to become as good an ‘on-pitch coach’ as the ‘expert’ Beale, while Kyle Lafferty has claimed that the 41-year-old is ‘the brains’ behind Rangers’ success and described him as ‘amazing’ from a tactical point of view.

The latest

Kenny has said that Rangers will be ‘desperate’ to retain Beale’s services, knowing that losing him would be a significant blow to their domestic and continental prospects, but he urged the club ‘to do the right thing’ if the opportunity to take over at the Bluebirds arises.

The Irish former goalkeeper told Football Insider: “The last thing they need is for him to leave. I’m sure they’ll be desperate to keep him.

“But if he’s got a chance to become a manager, can you stand in his way? I think you’ve got to do the right thing.”

The verdict

When you read the glowing appraisals of Beale, it’s surprising that he hasn’t had a crack at senior management already, so Rangers might well have been bracing themselves for this scenario.

Fans may be worried, particularly in light of Lafferty’s comments, but they can take solace from the experiences of Gerrard’s former club. Zeljko Buvac, labelled ‘The Brain’ in Jurgen Klopp’s setup, left Liverpool in 2018, but the Reds went on to win the Champions League and Premier League over the next two seasons.

As Kenny has said, it would be tough for the Gers to lose Beale, but it could also be hard to deny him his first senior managerial role if he is intent on taking the reins at Cardiff.

In other news, many Rangers fans were left fuming by this post

Everton will be aiming to return to winnings ways when they host Watford in the Premier League this afternoon, but Rafael Benitez’s charges will have to do so without several key players.

Star striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin is set for an extended spell on the sidelines after suffering a setback in his recovery from a muscle injury, while key midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure has also joined the list of absentees.

The in-form Frenchman has been instrumental in the Toffees’ early season success, bagging two goals and providing four assists in just eight Premier League outings. His enforced absence over the next month or so will be a huge blow for Benitez as he aims to keep Everton on course for a top six finish, although the solution could be a rather simple one.

Academy graduate Tom Davies has long threatened to fulfil his potential and become a top-class engine room operator without ever making the step up. Now 23 years old, it may be a case of now or never for the youngster if he wants to become an instrumental figure in the middle of the park for his boyhood club.

Under previous manager Carlo Ancelotti, Davies was in and out of the team, making just 17 Premier League starts throughout 2020/21.

However, he did show glimpses of brilliance under the current Real Madrid boss, who praised his tactical intelligence after a standout performance against Manchester United back in February.

“He cannot play No.10, in my opinion, but when you play with three midfielders he can play all three positions, no problem because tactically he is very intelligent,” Ancelotti said after that game.

However, Benitez has so far been unwilling to place his trust in Davies. The former England under-21 international has played just 35 minutes of top-flight football in the opening weeks of the campaign, with his only two starts coming in the Carabao Cup.

Nevertheless, that must change at Goodison Park for the visit of the Hornets, as the £32k-per-week Everton maestro undoubtedly has the ability to make a huge impact upon proceedings.

His work rate, tenacity and ability to win the ball back from the opposition would allow the likes of Demarai Gray and Andros Townsend freedom to attack without worrying about their defensive duties too much, making up for the absence of Doucoure in the midfield. The 23-year-old notably made the second-most interceptions per game (1.4) of any Toffees player last season, illustrating his ability to stifle opposition attacks.

Therefore, Benitez must unleash Davies against Watford, giving the youngster a platform to showcase his talent and prove that he’s capable of becoming a fundamental feature in Everton’s starting XI.

In other news… Brands must seal Everton move for “outstanding” £19.8m-rated gem, Benitez needs him 

Craig Hope has dropped a major Newcastle United claim, regarding tension behind the scenes following the defeat to Tottenham.

What’s the talk?

According to the Daily Mail journalist, Jamaal Lascelles and Isaac Hayden had a bust-up after the loss and had to be separated by staff.

In the article, Hope revealed that a significant portion of the squad want Steve Bruce to be sacked before their clash with Crystal Palace, with the post-match bust-up leading to some players questioning the 60-year-old’s tactics in the dressing room.

He Tweeted: “Sources say players want new owners to intervene now & change manager as tensions rise.”

Delight

Newcastle fans will be delighted by this update from Hope in terms of the players wanting Bruce to be sacked this week. Whilst it is far from ideal to read that Hayden and Lascelles were scrapping with each other at full-time, it – at the very least – shows that the players are passionate and want to do well on the pitch for each other, although both players must find constructive ways to show it.

The playing squad are seemingly voicing their concerns to PIF about Bruce and their frustration could speed up the process, with Bruce hanging on by a thread as it stands. He was reportedly set to leave last week before the owners opted to keep him on for his 1000th game in management.

A 3-2 defeat to Tottenham at St. James’ Park on Sunday led to multiple chants calling for Bruce to be sacked, which may have been heard by Amanda Staveley and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who were sat in the stands for their first game. This coupled with the unrest amongst the playing squad could lead to Bruce’s departure, which would undoubtedly leave the Toon Army delighted.

A recent survey, prior to the takeover, by the Newcastle United Supporters Trust found that 94.3% of supporters are keen to see him leave, with 95.3% predicting relegation from the top-flight. However, that second statistic could change if the 94.3% of fans are granted their wish and PIF sack Bruce, depending on who is brought in to replace him in the dugout.

What the survey does show is that the majority of fans want to see the ex-Aston Villa coach leave the club and that is why they will be buzzing with the players taking matters into their own hands to make it happen. It is now down to PIF to make the call and ensure that they replace him with the best candidate to lead the side forward.

AND in other news, “I understand”: Pete Graves drops key NUFC transfer claim that’ll leave fans buzzing…