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With 10 wickets and 122 runs and potentially the catch of the tournament , Afridi has again staked his claim for Player-of-the-Tournament award

Osman Samiuddin20-Jun-2009At the very heart of Pakistan’s invigorating run to a second successive World Twenty20 final has been a player you might think was put on the planet to play Twenty20 cricket. A three-four over bash with the bat, a quick four-over spell hustled through the middle overs and some adrenaline-fuelled cheerleading in the field: thanks very much, Shahid Afridi.Having been the Player of the Tournament in the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, Afridi was expected to be a key component again this time. His form in the immediate run-up to the tournament, especially with ball in hand, had been outstanding and even with the bat, against Australia, a brief vigour had re-emerged. And with ten wickets, 122 runs, potentially the catch of the tournament and a semi-final all-round performance to match any, Afridi has again staked his claim for top individual honours.The catch to dismiss Scott Styris off Umar Gul, running back to long-on and taking it at full-stretch over his shoulder – “any player, any piece of fielding, batting or bowling, can do that,” said Afridi – was the moment at which Pakistan’s tournament turned. And he followed it up with what he considers to be among his best individual performances against South Africa. “Without a doubt it’s up there. I’ve put in some good matches in the past, but to do it in such a big-game, in a semi, against such a strong side, it has to be up there,” Afridi told Cricinfo. “Wickets were down, the pressure was on and it was such an occasion, it makes it very special.”The improvement in Afridi’s bowling has been among the more remarkable sights in cricket, all the variety, threat and control apparent in his spell of 2 for 16 against South Africa. As significant have been three contributions with the bat, culminating with an eminently sensible 51 in the semi-final. “I don’t know if I’m at my peak with the ball but certainly I’ve put a lot more effort into it. Nothing extraordinary, just hard work,” he said.”I used to think of myself as a batsman three to four years ago because that is how everyone started to think of me. But I was moved around so much the order that I just went back to concentrating on bowling. I told Younis I wanted to bat up the order and it worked.”Pakistan’s surge to a second successive final has been vastly different in nature to the relatively smooth progress of two years ago. Four of their six games have been do-or-die, performances have oscillated and it has resembled more 1992. “Playing in the UK is much different to surfaces in South Africa or Australia,” Afridi said. “We arrived here later than most other countries as well and it took us time to adjust to the atmosphere. We’ve picked up day by day and we’ve got that momentum now. Our big advantage was that we played two big sides [India and South Africa] in the warm-ups. Sure we lost to them but it was good to have those games.”Younis Khan’s influence as captain has also come under the scanner. Even though he is the side’s top scorer, his comments at the start of the tournament – that this was all a bit of fun – have attracted scorn. Ex-chief selector Abdul Qadir’s comments, that Younis wouldn’t have been in the World Cup squad had he had his way, didn’t help. Typically, Afridi has brushed aside the criticism.”As far as I know Younis, I don’t think how his statement came out in the press was how he intended it,” said Afridi. “You often say something and it gets misinterpreted totally. The best thing about Younis has been his positivity. He is not scared of anything and he hasn’t allowed pressure to affect the side. Mentally he is very strong.”Only one game remains now and even if Pakistan have achieved more than anyone expected them to, there appears no let up among the side. “Personally I never lost hope [of reaching this far]. I’ve played this whole tournament as I’ve played all my life – that each and every match is my first and last match and that I have to give it my all.”The way I do it on the field, people can see. The aggressiveness, motivating bowlers, other fielders, I’ve always done it and if we, as a team, go into the final with the kind of body language that we did in the semis, we can go in confident.”

Everton have had a plethora of young players to come through the ranks and star in the senior team at Goodison Park.

Cast your minds back nearly 20 years ago and you’ll picture a baby-faced Wayne Rooney scoring a venomous strike for the Toffees.

The likes of Ross Barkley have burst onto the scene since but one of their proudest discoveries should be John Stones.

The central defender didn’t come through the Everton academy like Rooney and Barkley but he did join Goodison at a particularly young age.

In fact, he was signed from Barnsley as an 18-year-old for a fee of just £3m.

It’s not rare for a Premier League club to spend a vast amount on a teenager but that deal quickly became a bargain.

Like all budding teenager’s, Stones made his debut in the EFL Cup and it wasn’t until January that he earned his first Premier League start.

That happened to be a 1-1 draw with Stoke and since that moment, he progressed wonderfully.

The centre-back quickly became an eye-catching player, one that was known for his elegant passing and his transitional play.

This was not a classic defender, but one that bore all of the attributes you’d associate with the modern game.

A new contract was signed that should have kept him at the club until 2019. Indeed, it gave Everton protection when Chelsea lodged three bids that were ultimately rejected. Their top offer was in the region of £30m but still Everton stood firm.

However, when the might of Manchester City came calling, it was not only difficult for Stones to say no, but also tricky for Bill Kenwright to reject their massive £50m bid.

He eventually left in 2016 and since his emergence at the Etihad under Pep Guardiola, he has won countless trophies and become a pillar of the England side.

Stones played all seven matches during the recent European Championships as the Three Lions reached the final at Wembley.

Despite that, there have been significant lulls in the defender’s career. He has spent time out injured and Guardiola hasn’t always favoured him. For example, this term, the £100k-per-week earner has failed to make a single appearance.

His difficulties and inconsistency when it’s come to form has led to his transfer value decreasing dramatically by £23m.

The 27-year-old may have become a key cog for Gareth Southgate but it’s evident that Kenwright played a blinder over his sale.

To get £50m for a player who is now worth £27m in the prime of his career has to be commended.

AND in other news, Forget Keane: Everton must swoop for £22.5m-rated beast who is “one of the best ever”…

Celtic icon Stiliyan Petrov was recently asked if he would consider becoming Dominic McKay’s replacement at Parkhead, The Scottish Sun report.

The Lowdown: McKay’s exit

McKay left the club earlier this month, just 72 days after arriving through the door at Celtic Park.

The Hoops cited personal reasons for his exit, however, stories have since emerged that McKay may have jumped before he was pushed.

Former Celtic defender Ramon Vega reportedly wants to take over from McKay, something Petrov is aware of, and the former midfielder has had his say on possibly taking over.

The Latest: Petrov’s comments

The Scottish Sun shared a story on Wednesday, where Petrov was quizzed on numerous Celtic-related topics.

One of which was on the club’s CEO vacancy, to which he was asked if he would consider the role.

The report claims that Petrov smiled, and said:

“I have studied but they have a lot of candidates for it. I saw Ramon Vega put himself forward.

“They have to make a decision because you see how important this position is. You see it at other clubs.

“There needs to be people looking at the short, medium and long term, because if you don’t have a plan then you don’t have a direction.

“I hope they can sort things out very quickly. There are some other issues that have to be addressed and you need that balance to have success.”

The Verdict: Celtic need to take action

McKay’s departure was confirmed almost two weeks ago now, so Celtic could do with bringing in his permanent replacement as soon as possible.

Michael Nicholson is in interim charge, but with the winter transfer window fast approaching, securing a full-time replacement could help Ange Postecoglou when it comes to planning for January.

It doesn’t look as if that man will be Petrov, but it may well turn out to be Vega, who is seemingly interested in the position.

In other news: Celtic now working on ‘top’ transfer without McKay; 48 y/o says he ‘would shine’ in Glasgow. 

Sheffield United did not complete a deadline day swoop for Alex Collado as a result of unsigned paperwork.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness), who claim that Barcelona were left furious with Slavisa Jokanovic’s side for failing to submit the necessary paperwork in order for the winger to complete his switch to Bramall Lane.

The report goes on to state that both Barcelona and the 22-year-old had signed the loan contract, although the Blades informed the LaLiga side at the 11th hour that the deal had fallen through.

However, it is also reported that Sheffield United’s stance on the matter is that the player’s agent attempted to alter previously agreed terms of the forward’s contract at the Championship side – which led to their cancellation of the deal.

Fans will be fuming

While it appears unclear exactly who is in the wrong regarding the collapse of Collado’s proposed last-minute switch to Sheffield United, if it is indeed true that the reason the winger did not join the Blades is due to the club failing to submit the necessary documents in time, fans will rightly be fuming.

Indeed, with it being clear that Jokanovic is in desperate need of players who can operate in the wide attacking areas of his squad – with the Serbian currently having no natural options on either wing – as the Blades have seen their season get off to a diabolical start, the deal for Collado appeared an important one to get over the line.

Furthermore, exactly why Jokanovic failed to make a move for the Barcelona youngster until the dying moments of the transfer window is also questionable, and could give credence to the Spanish side’s claim that it was the Championship club’s lack of organisation that caused the deal to fall through.

Either way, the fact that the Blades failed with their move for the £4.5m-rated man is undoubtedly a disaster for the club, as Jokanovic will now have to make do until January, at the very earliest, without any wingers in his first-team squad.

In other news: Lost 70% duels: £19k-p/w Sheffield United waster badly failed Jokanovic in August

Scottish cricket has been boosted by the news that the BBC has agreed to broadcast the ODI against Australia

Cricinfo staff20-Apr-2009Scottish cricket has been boosted by the news that the BBC has agreed to broadcast the ODI against Australia on August 28 live on TV and radio.Last summer Scotland’s match against England was not shown anywhere after the BBC and Sky both declined to cover it.David Harron, editor, TV Sport, Scotland, said: “We are delighted to be able to give the Scottish audience the chance to see the one day match between Scotland and Australia. There’s no doubt that a visit from the Australians is always keenly anticipated and there will no doubt be huge interest in the game which falls just 4 days after the climax of the Ashes.”Roddy Smith, Cricket Scotland’s chief executive, said: “It is fantastic news that BBC Scotland are to show this year’s big match against the world champions live. It is sure to be a great occasion and one not to be missed either in person or on the television.”

David Collier, the ECB chief executive, has stated he will not resign in wake of the Allen Stanford fiasco

Cricinfo staff22-Feb-2009
David Collier (right) maintains he and Giles Clarke enjoy the support of the board © Getty Images
David Collier, the ECB chief executive, has said he will not resign in the wake of the Allen Stanford fiasco. Collier admitted he and ECB chairman Giles Clarke have discussed their positions but maintained they still enjoyed the support of the board.Collier and Clarke were seen as the key people behind the board’s now-terminated contracts with the Stanford group, and the pressure has been mounting on the two to quit following the charges of fraud against Stanford.”Certainly I’ve discussed that with Giles but more importantly members of the board have been phoning to say we have full confidence and you must carry on,” Collier told BBC Radio Five’s Sportsweek. “We’ve looked back at all of the events and said ‘what more could we have done at the time?’ It’s not as though we’ve been involved in any of the fraud that is alleged. This is another party altogether.”Collier said he had been urged to stay on. “I have been extremely heartened that many people involved in cricket – and I suppose having worked in the game for 30 years I’ve probably got as many contacts as anyone – have urged me to continue what they see as the immense progress we’ve made over the last four years,” he said. “I’ve certainly looked back and said ‘would we have been able to do things differently?’ and I believe that as professionals we went through all the correct contract procedures.”I believe therefore that I could not have done more at that time and I don’t think the board could have done more. So the answer is no on that [resigning].”The ECB severed all ties with Stanford group earlier this week after the Texan billionaire was charged with fraud in the USA. The development could see the ECB lose a potentially lucrative revenue stream, but the board assured the counties “there would be no impact on fee payments in 2009”.Clarke, who was recently re-elected as chairman, had admitted the ECB may have made an error of judgement in getting involved with Stanford.

Portsmouth have enjoyed a strong start to the 2021/22 campaign and are currently sat in fifth position in League One during the first international break of the season.

Danny Cowley’s side have 10 points on the board, with three wins, one draw and one defeat after five games. Only Sunderland (12) have more, with Pompey one of six teams tied on 10 points below the Black Cats at the top of the table.

The south coast side won their first three league matches of the season, beating Fleetwood, Crewe and Shrewsbury. They were then held to a 0-0 draw by Doncaster before losing 1-0 to Wigan in their last game of the month in League One.

A number of players caught the eye with their performances in August, including on-loan Manchester City goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu – who started four of the five games and impressed between the sticks with an average SofaScore rating of 7.30 (before denying Cristiano Ronaldo from the penalty spot in midweek).

Forget the Republic of Ireland international, though, as it was Clark Robertson who was Pompey’s star man in August with his excellent performances at centre-back, as his defending helped Bazunu to rack up clean sheets and earn a high SofaScore rating of 7.18.

He was a defensive powerhouse throughout the month as he helped the team to keep four clean sheets in five games in League One. The only league goal Pompey conceded in August came in the 1-0 defeat to Wigan, with none conceded in the first four matches.

Keeping a clean sheet is a team effort, but Robertson stood out with his dominance in defence. As per SofaScore, he won an incredible 74% of his duels on the pitch, averaging 6.4 duels won per game. This shows that he was able to dominate the opposition and prevent them from winning much against him, stopping attacks and creating opportunities for his team to hit on the break, or to alleviate pressure by retaining possession.

Robertson, who joined from Rotherham in the summer, also made zero errors leading to shots or goals to further illustrate just how reliable he was for Cowley at the back. This shows how he was virtually faultless in the five matches, which is why he was arguably Pompey’s star man during August.

His excellence at the back built a platform for the attacking players to do their work without needing to worry about silly errors behind them. With just one goal conceded from five league games for Cowley’s side, Robertson’s performances have undoubtedly been key to their strong start to the campaign.

AND in other news, Pompey fans will be buzzing with Cowley’s claim on gem tipped to “become a top player”…

Former Everton star Michael Ball believes that Denis Zakaria would be a good signing for the club, provided they can secure him for a reasonable fee.

The Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder has been linked with a number of English clubs, including Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

Zakaria has been with the Bundesliga club since 2017 and has made a total of 128 appearances for them.

Reports have suggested that he was valued at over €40m (£34m) last summer but that price has appeared to drop, with the club cutting his asking price in half to £17m.

Ball believes that the fee is vital when it comes to any deal, and thinks that the club should only rubber-stamp the transfer if the asking price is as low as is being reported.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, the former Everton star said: “I think he was valued at around €40 million maybe 12 months or so ago. I think those fees are unrealistic for Everton but if they can get him for half the price, it could be a good one for the club.”

Zakaria is also a Switzerland international and played for his country at Euro 2020; in total, he has won 34 caps.

Alex McCarthy became the latest Southampton player to commit his future to the club earlier this week, although fans may not be too happy with the decision.

What’s the word?

Southampton confirmed on Wednesday that the 31-year-old had been rewarded with a new three-year contract at St Mary’s, with Ralph Hasenhuttl set to stick with the former QPR man as his first choice ahead of Fraser Forster this season.

Both McCarthy and Forster’s contracts were set to expire at the end of the current campaign and the former’s new contract paves the way for the latter to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Hasenhuttl suggested earlier this month that:

“We will definitely extend the contract of one of the two keepers, then the other one will leave. I think that, in the future, we will look to sign a new goalkeeper.”

Therefore, it looks as if Saints fans will have to wait until next summer to see a new ‘keeper arrive, with any new signing likely to replace Forster and compete with McCarthy for the starting spot in between the sticks.

However, Southampton fans may not be too happy that McCarthy was the one handed a new deal reportedly worth £50k per week, as his performances in the second half of last season were far from good enough and his two displays so far this season won’t fill fans with much confidence.

The shot-stopper, who has previously been dubbed “fantastic” by the manager, was slow off his line for two of Everton’s goals in the opening fixture whilst he was beaten by a tame effort from Mason Greenwood in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

Last season saw Southampton concede 68 top-flight goals despite having an xGA of just 58.55, which suggests that the goalkeepers must take a fair portion of the blame for their woeful defensive record.

[freshpress-quiz id=“594431”]

It also perhaps won’t fill McCarthy with confidence that Hasenhuttl is already planning on bringing a new ‘keeper in as the long-term solution in goal, so hopefully, his form doesn’t continue to suffer.

And, in other news… Forget Elyounoussi: Saints beast who played 4 key passes was Ralph’s star vs Newport

Kumar Sangakkara believes the Sri Lankan Test team has benefitted by having him play as a specialist batsman and let Prasanna Jayawardene take charge behind the stumps

Cricinfo staff21-Dec-2008
Kumar Sangakkara averages more when not playing as a wicketkeeper © AFP
Kumar Sangakkara, the wicketkeeper-batsman, believes the Sri Lankan Test team has benefitted by having him play as a specialist batsman and letting Prasanna Jayawardene take charge behind the stumps. Sangakkara remains Sri Lanka’s first-choice keeper in the limited-over games, while Prasanna has been impressive with his glovework behind the stumps in the longer version.”We have got Prasanna Jayawardene who right now would be the best keeper in the world by far,” Sangakkara told the . “He’s doing the job for us. So it is a win-win situation for everyone.”Prasanna, 29, has played 21 Tests for Sri Lanka. He averages 26.78 with the bat, and has also taken 41 catches and 15 stumpings. Prasanna was superlative standing up to the two spinners, Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, during Sri Lanka’s last Test series, against India at home in August. Although he made his debut in 2000, Prasanna only featured in five Tests till the home series against South Africa in mid-2006.Sangakkara was the keeper for Sri Lanka in the period, but his increasing vital role with the bat made it necessary for him to hand over the role to Prasanna. The move has worked wonders, with Sangakkara raking up big scores consistently since then. “Statistics show that I bat better when I don’t keep in Tests,” Sangakkara said. In 48 Tests as a keeper, Sangakkara’s average is 40.48, which soars to 83.05 in the 28 Tests he has played as a specialist batsman.Sri Lanka are in Bangladesh for a two-Test series and a tri-nation ODI tournament. However, foggy conditions ruled out play on the first day of their only tour game, against a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI. The weather has also hampered the team’s outdoor practice sessions.