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A cultured hundred from Yuvraj Singh failed to prevent India ‘A’ from slumping to a eight-wicket defeat on the final day of their four-day match against South Africa ‘A’ at the Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein

Staff Reporter09-Apr-2002A cultured hundred from Yuvraj Singh failed to prevent India ‘A’ from slumping to a eight-wicket defeat on the final day of their four-day match against South Africa ‘A’ at the Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein.The tourists, who began the day on 87 for three, lost vice-captain Mohammad Kaif with the score on 107. Kaif made 46 off 106 balls with eight fours.Yurvaj, however, continued to blossom, building on his overnight score of seven. But at the other end the wickets continued to fall at regular intervals as South Africa ‘A’ began to close in on victory. Abhijit Kale departed for 15, Parthiv Patel made just 12, and India ‘A’ were soon reduced to 171 for six.Lakshmipathy Balaji, who made a gutsy 37 in the first innings, could not reprise his daredevilry again, being dismissed for just four. Murali Kartik, meanwhile, failed for the first time in the match as India sank deeper into the mire.Yuvraj, who had played with commendable application and patience in the midst of all this, then revived Indian hopes in the company of number 10 Amit Mishra. The duo put on 51 runs for the ninth wicket, Mishra contributing just nine of those runs.Yuvraj brought up his hundred during the course of the partnership, showing yet again that he is now ready for higher honours. But after Mishra’s dismissal, followed by that of Yuvraj, the Indian second innings ended at 251.For South Africa ‘A,’ fast bowlers Dewald Pretorius and Andre Nel claimed three wickets each.The home team, who needed just 74 runs to seal an outright win, eased past the target for the loss of just two wickets.

Lincoln have been dealt a transfer blow ahead of the upcoming window as on-loan defender TJ Eyoma is poised to be given a chance to impress by Tottenham in pre-season.

What’s the talk?

Tottenham journalist Rob Guest has revealed that Eyoma will return to the North London club and that he will be given the opportunity to stake a claim for a first-team spot in pre-season. Guest has claimed that Tottenham’s next manager will get to take a close look at every player and has drawn comparisons with Japhet Tanganga, who was able to impress in pre-season and work his way into the senior squad. He told Football London:

“Now that his time in Lincolnshire has come to an end, Eyoma will enjoy a well-deserved break before returning to Hotspur Way in pre-season as he bids to take the next step in his promising career.

“Tottenham’s next manager will take a close look at all his players ahead of the 2021/22 campaign and then make a decision on whether they remain with him, go out on loan or are sold.

“Japhet Tanganga, who Eyoma was once ahead of in the pecking order in N17, took his opportunity in the summer of 2019 and subsequently made his senior bow a few months down the line and is now part of the first-team squad.”

Appleton will be devastated

Lincoln failed to secure promotion to the Championship at the weekend as they lost 2-1 in the play-off final to Blackpool and now they have been dealt another blow with this update on Eyoma. The Imps will be in League One for another season and they may not have a chance to recapture one of their key players from the campaign because of Tottenham’s intentions to take a close look at him.

Eyoma played 50 games in all competitions for Lincoln as he proved his worth at League One level. He averaged an impressive WhoScored rating of 6.78 at right-back and a score of 6.82 at centre-back for Lincoln in the league, which highlights both his quality and his versatility at the age of 21.

The £3.9k-per-week defender was clearly a favourite of Appleton’s, as shown by the number of appearances he made, and the Lincoln boss will be devastated that it is now unlikely that they will be able to bring him back for a second season.

Even if Tottenham get to the end of pre-season and decide to send Eyoma back out on loan, Lincoln cannot afford to keep waiting around. They will need to crack on with their own business instead of waiting by the phone to see if Spurs will allow them to sign Eyoma for another season, which means that this news could alter their transfer strategy this summer.

Appleton will be devastated to lose the chance to get the Spurs man back on loan and he will now need to look at recruiting either a player who can play equally well at right-back and centre-back or two players – a centre-back and a right-back, given what Eyoma was able to produce for Lincoln in those positions.

Liverpool have been linked with a move for AC Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu as the summer transfer window approaches.

What’s the story?

According to Italian outlet Calciomercato, the Reds have made contact with the 27-year-old’s agent, with his contract at San Siro set to expire over the coming weeks.

Serie A giants Juventus and Qatari outfit Al-Duhail are also credited with an interest in Calhanoglu as the race for his signature hots up.

Klopp needs him

Liverpool’s all-action gegenpressing style has proved hugely successful for Jurgen Klopp’s men in recent years.

A first Premier League title arrived just 12 months after the enigmatic German manager delivered the Anfield outfit’s sixth European crown but a hugely substandard 2020/21 campaign has left the need for some readjustments on Merseyside.

The high-energy, direct nature of Liverpool’s attacking play was fuelled by the work rate and tireless running of their midfielders.

Whether it was Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Gini Wijnaldum, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or Fabinho taking up residence in the centre of the park, Klopp’s charges would regularly win the ball back high up the pitch before playing quick, simple passes to their famed front three.

However, their usually high standards dropped in the recently-concluded campaign, and a lack of alternative options available throughout Liverpool’s squad hurt the 19-time English champions.

Ever since Philippe Coutinho departed for Barcelona in January 2018, Klopp has been unable to call upon the service of a natural number 10.

The arrival of Thiago last summer added a deep-lying playmaker to Liverpool’s ranks, but the absence of a creative talent who thrives on playing intricate passes and through balls from an advanced midfield area has been noticeable in recent years.

Acquiring the services of Calhanoglu could solve that particular problem and Klopp may need the Turkey international if he wants to regain the Premier League crown for Liverpool.

Milan manager Stefan Pioli has praised the former Bayer Leverkusen wizard’s ability after his impressive performances in Italy, saying: “He knows how to marry perfectly with the game of his teammates. I have great respect for him, and with intelligent players, you can play great games. He has the qualities to have some more goals.”

Twelve assists in 43 appearances for the Rossoneri in 2020/21 illustrates the quality that Calhanoglu would bring to Anfield, and given that he’s available on a free transfer, it’s a signing which makes sense for many reasons for Klopp and Liverpool.

In other news…Edwards must avoid Liverpool’s next El Hadji Diouf in £25m-valued flop 

Muttiah Muralitharan watched the fourth day’s play of the first Teat at Lord’s from the visitors’ dressing room balcony

Stephen Lamb19-May-2002Muttiah Muralitharan watched the fourth day’s play of the first Teat at Lord’s from the visitors’ dressing room balcony. Sri Lanka’s top off-spinner arrived from Australia last night, where he has had treatment for a partial dislocation and tendon damage to his left shoulder.”He is in good spirits and looks forward to playing as soon as possible,” said team manager Chandra Schaffter.”He has been wearing a small sling but that has now been removed. His injurywill be assessed again in four days’ time.”Meanwhile it’s been confirmed that umpires Venkat and Daryl Harper, who are standing in the Lord’s Test, have made no report concerning the action of the Sri lankan fast bowler, Ruchira Perera.Perera’s action has come under television scrutiny over the past two days, and was called into question by Channel Four commentator Dermot Reeve.

If he ever needed motivation to beat the West Indies, and events yesterday will have provided him with plenty, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has another

Lynn McConnell18-Jun-2002If he ever needed motivation to beat the West Indies, and events yesterday will have provided him with plenty, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming has another.It relates to the ICC Test Championship that losing captains say they don’t take any notice of while long-suffering captains who achieve some consistency of performance are only too happy to acknowledge, in much the same way as politicians rate opinion polls.If you hadn’t already noticed, by virtue of Sri Lanka’s series loss in England, they have lost their third place on the championship ladder and New Zealand have stepped into the breach, this despite their record loss to Pakistan in their last Test match outing.Such is the nature of the table, however, that if New Zealand can be sufficiently fired up to perform well against the West Indies they will strengthen position on the Test table.The table at the moment reads:Australia 1.54 1, South Africa 1.50 2, New Zealand 1.13 3, Sri Lanka 1.07 4, England 1.06 5, West Indies 0.93 6, Pakistan 0.81 7, India 0.79 8, Zimbabwe 0.50 9, Bangladesh 0 10.It is one of the inequities of the system developed for the championship that New Zealand can suffer a hiding as they did against Pakistan but it counts for nothing because the two match series was abandoned before that game could be played.However, the prize for New Zealand from success would be significant.If they could win the series in the West Indies, and their toughest rival may well be the weather, they would move to an average of 1.18.If they draw the series, they will drop ever so slightly to 1.12. However, if they lose they would slip back below Sri Lanka and join England in fourth on the table.The West Indies’ average too can increase or decrease but not by enough to affect their current ranking. They won the last series in the West Indies 1-0, but this falls outside of the initial five-year cut off period set by the ICC for the championship.

West Ham are under no pressure to sell Declan Rice this summer, football finance expert Kieran Maguire has told The Transfer Tavern.

Rice continues to be linked with a move to Chelsea, with The Telegraph claiming that Thomas Tuchel is a fan of the player, while Fabrizio Romano claimed on his ‘Here We Go’ podcast, via Give Me Sport, that Chelsea are in talks with his representatives.

Last year, it was reported that West Ham owed £70m from player transfers, which may sound worrying to some supporters.

However, after borrowing money over the last 12 months, Maguire is confident transfer fee issues can easily be addressed without having to sell key assets.

“No, I don’t think they have to sell,” The Price of Football author exclusively told TT. “They have borrowed money over the course of the last 12 months, so that will allow them to deal with those transfer fee issues.

“If they choose to sell, it’s because somebody comes in with a really good offer for Declan Rice. They won’t be in a firesale or liquidation sale environment, where you’re desperate to sell in order to keep the bank manager happy, so I think they’re in a strong position this summer.”

It is great news for manager David Moyes, who will not want to lose any of his star players after such a successful season.

The Hammers, of course, were able to qualify for the Europa League after finishing sixth in the Premier League table, and the Scotsman will surely be hoping to build on that and make sure it was not a one-off.

Queens Park Rangers have been dealt a huge boost to their hopes of bringing Emiliano Marcondes to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Independent, who claim that Brentford are set to release the 26-year-old attacking midfielder at the end of his current contract at the Brentford Community Stadium, which is due to expire at the end of the month.

This could potentially open the door for QPR to reignite their reported January interest in the former Denmark U21 international, as he will be available to sign on a free transfer in the coming weeks.

Warburton must move

Considering how regularly Marcondes featured for Thomas Frank’s promotion-winning Brentford side last season, the news that the club plan to release the midfielder this summer comes as somewhat surprising news.

However, this should not bother Mark Warburton in the slightest, as the 26-year-old would appear to be an excellent addition to the 58-year-old’s attacking arsenal at QPR ahead of their upcoming Championship campaign.

Indeed, over his 31 league appearances – only 12 of which came as starts – for Brentford last season, Marcondes scored one goal, registered two assists and created three big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 0.8 shots and making 0.7 key passes per game.

While these would by no means appear to be mind-blowing returns, when taking into account the £2.52m-rated man only featured for an average of 44 minutes per fixture, his metrics are rather impressive, with the 26-year-old earning a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.75.

As such, with the potential of playing more minutes, and subsequently returning a greater number of goals and assists, if a move to QPR were to come off, the versatile £12k-per-week forward could well prove an extremely astute piece of business for Warburton to get over the line this summer – as the Rs manager bids to build a side capable of mounting a push for the play-off places next season.

And, with the player Frank dubbed “remarkable” having scored the goal in the play-off final that all but secured Premier League football for Brentford next season, perhaps Marcondes could go on to repeat the feat with QPR next term.

In other news: Huge transfer update emerges on “immense” £5.4k-p/w gem that’ll leave QPR fans gutted

It was a frustrating day at the Rose Bowl on Friday, the third day of the Frizzell County Championship match was washed out, but not after the umpires had made five inspection trips to the middle.

Vic Isaacs05-Jul-2002
Frustration
Photo Vic Isaacs
It was a frustrating day at the Rose Bowl on Friday, the third day of the Frizzell County Championship match was washed out, but not after the umpires had made five inspection trips to the middle.Heavy overnight rain, which had the ground awash at 6am, had made a prompt start impossible, but the lack of any sunshine and no wind, despite the sterling efforts of the ground staff, meant that by 5pm, Messrs. Ken Palmer and George Sharp, with the captains in attendance finally agreed to try again tommorrow.There was a small crowd that had waited all day, plus a party of 40 former Hampshire players in attendance for their bi-annual reunion. Among them were new club president Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie, Derek Shackleton, Jimmy Gray, Peter Sainsbury, Butch White plus many going back to before the last war, and some of more recent ilk. Joining them were Club Chairman Rod Bransgrove and former President Wilfred Weld.

Noel Whelan has dropped a worrying Rangers transfer claim involving Borna Barisic.

The Lowdown: Premier League race for Barisic

As per Football Insider, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Leeds United and Wolves are in a Premier League race to sign Barisic in the summer window.

A recruitment source has told the news outlet that talent spotters from some clubs in the top flight are hoping to watch the Rangers ace play in Euro 2020 for Croatia, and if he performs well, bids are likely to come in for him.

The Latest: Whelan on Barisic

Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan, who is now a pundit after playing as a striker for the likes of Leeds and Coventry City, has claimed that he is not surprised that so many teams from the Premier League are interested in signing Barisic, and warns that loads more will be, especially Marcelo Bielsa’s side:

“He’s an established player who has played very well for his club side.

“You look at successful teams like Rangers and about players being noticed. When you win titles as emphatically as Rangers did, you get looked at. 

“There will be loads of teams interested in him I’m sure. It doesn’t surprise me to hear Arsenal and Villa are looking at him.

“He’s just had a fantastic season, scoring goals, getting assists and keeping clean sheets.

“He ticks every single box. He gets up, he can defend, he’s a threat and he fits the style of play at Leeds United.”

The Verdict: Worrying for Rangers

It is certainly worrying for the Ibrox faithful that so many clubs from the English top flight are keeping tabs on Barisic, as a move to the perhaps the world’s most prestigious league may be simply too much to turn down.

The 28-year-old was a very important player for the Gers both in their SPFL title win and in general throughout the 2020/21 season, playing in no fewer than 50 matches in total in all competitions, scoring five goals and making a remarkable 14 assists from left-back (Transfermarkt).

Barisic would certainly not be easy to replace for Steven Gerrard’s team, as an exit would leave Gerrard without a quality defender and primary playmaker, and so they must look to try and keep him at all costs.

In other news, find out the latest Police Scotland have done amid the 55 celebrations saga here!

Robin Singh, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Debashish Mohanty are among the 25 players who have been included in the provisional Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, according to a Press Trust of India report

Staff Reporter23-Aug-2002Robin Singh, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Debashish Mohanty are among the 25 players who have been included in the provisional Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, according to a Press Trust of India report.The report said the official publication of the list had been withheld as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not want the ‘senior’ players to put pressure on the probables.Singh, who has represented India in 136 one-day internationals and is currently coaching the Indian under-19 side touring England, might be named captain, the report added.The squad:Robin Singh, Sadagoppan Ramesh, Gautam Gambhir, Gagan Khoda, Daniel Manohar, Connor Williams, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Irfan Pathan, Debashish Mohanty, Rakesh Patel, L Balaji, Murali Karthik, Sairaj Bahutule, Sarandeep Singh, Ramesh Pawar, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Rohan Gavaskar, MSK Prasad, Deep Dasgupta, Hemang Badani, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Jai Prakash Yadav, Vijay Bharadwaj, Jacob Martin