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Kevin Pietersen outscored the entire Pakistan team in his first-innings knock of 80 today, but it’ll take a few layers of dust on the scorebook before that stat manages to outshine its mitigating circumstances

Andrew Miller at Edgbaston07-Aug-2010Kevin Pietersen outscored the entire Pakistan team in his first-innings knock of 80 today, but it’ll take a few layers of dust on the scorebook before that stat manages to outshine its mitigating circumstances. Three clear-cut chances – one of them outrageously simple – and one controversial dead-ball “catch” competed with a host of snicks, gropes and optimistic lunges, as Pietersen fought to overcome his own troubling lack of form, and haul England into another commanding position.”It wasn’t my most fluent of knocks. But in terms of the situation of the game, it was one I’m pretty pleased with,” Pietersen said at the close of play. “I obviously rode my luck, but on that wicket, you’ve got to. It was two-paced, and occasionally the ball would nip – which made it really hard. It was one of those real grafting wickets, but we hope we’re in position now to do something really good on day three.”Humility has never come entirely naturally to Pietersen, but he’s had no choice but to feast on humble pie in recent times – from the loss of the captaincy, through the loss of his fitness, and ultimately the loss of his form – and it was strangely fitting that this particular performance required him to scrape the bottom of the pie-dish itself. It wasn’t especially edifying to watch, and as he paced the dressing-room corridor during a rain-break his tension was plain to see, but in terms of getting his game back to where he wants it, the scraps he chiselled out were doubtless every bit as nutritious.”Yeah, my confidence has taken a big whack,” he said. “Obviously I haven’t been scoring the big hundreds I did in the first fifty-odd Tests. But it’s not as if I haven’t been scoring runs. The dressing room is a fun place, the boys are on good form and you always feel pretty confident among them. I’ve taken a big hit in the last 18 months, but I’ll fight back.”You go from captaining the team to being one of the men again … being told what to do all day every day is something that was hard, in the way that everything happened 18 months ago,” he recalled. “Then I got injured and had a bad tour of South Africa – I was playing really badly there – so it’s not been ideal, the last 18 months. And then the last two wickets have been extremely tough. I haven’t played on two tougher ones in England in my career in Test match cricket.”Thanks to their hapless fielding, Pakistan effectively left themselves needing to take 16 wickets to break even, and therefore it was something of an achievement to restrict England to a less-than-formidable 251. They did so without the services of Umar Gul, who pulled a hamstring, but found in Saeed Ajmal a canny offspinner with a well-disguised doosra who backed up the strike bowlers, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, with the sort of disciplined fare that Danish Kaneria had failed to provide at Trent Bridge.All of which conferred extra kudos on Pietersen’s grafting performance, but aside from one sumptuous leg-side flick to bring up his fifty, his flamboyant strokes of old remained under wraps, on a zippy surface that played into the hands of one of his most troublesome opponents. “Asif has made me look a clown on numerous occasions so far in my career ,” he said. “So to get down the wicket and take out lbw and bowled was probably the best option, and to play straight.”Aside from the struggle to reaffirm his status after a nightmarish year in 2009, Pietersen has also had to contend with a dispute on the home front, with his desire to move on from Hampshire leaving him out on a limb domestically, and without serious cricket coming into this series since the Australia ODIs in June. An opportunity to play a second XI fixture was turned down because of concerns about the quality of the cricket and the media circus that would have accompanied it, and instead his main preparation involved an intensive week of coaching with Graham Gooch at Lord’s.Pietersen conceded, however, that he had dropped his guard on the preparation front – a rare lapse from a man whose dedication to self-improvement has been one of the defining features of his career. A Man of the Series performance in England’s triumphant World Twenty20 campaign left him believing that his game was in better shape than he’d imagined, and it’s taken until now for him to make up the deficit.”The work I did with Goochie was brilliant work, and I didn’t feel in bad nick coming into the series, but I took some of my form from the Caribbean for granted coming into the summer, and I learned a few lessons. It’s the mental side of Test cricket you’ve got to get in tune with. You’ve got to really keep working hard, no matter how well you’re playing, and you’ve got to respect everything. But I’m fighting back now, and hopefully I’m back somewhere.”It was not an apology of an innings – far from it. But it did contain an apology nonetheless, as Pietersen extended his current penchant for mea culpas to the incident, on 41, when he slapped a dead-ball delivery straight to Salman Butt in the covers. “It was instinct, and I probably shouldn’t have hit it, so I apologise if I caused any issues. But the umpire called dead ball before the ball was bowled, so I think, and I haven’t read the rules book, but I think that’s a dead ball.”Salman Butt, Pakistan’s captain, also played down the issue as he fronted up for his team once again – as well he might on a day when his players had no-one to blame but themselves. To compound Butt’s misery, he was dismissed for a duck in the final hour of the day, to take his series tally to a sorry 16 runs.”It’s a one-ball game for us batsmen, and if you get a good one there’s not much we can do,” he said. “If we are lucky it might pass without edging, sometimes it doesn’t carry. But I think all the luck was with KP today.”

Fabrizio Romano has dropped an exciting transfer update on Liverpool’s pursuit of Lille star Renato Sanches.

What’s the story?

Speaking to Anfield Watch, he said: “Renato Sanches has always been on the list of Liverpool, he’s a player that they’ve been scouting, they appreciate. It’s not true that it was a done deal in the summer. They were interested but they never made an official proposal to Lille because they were not happy with the value of £45m for him.

“Then he was injured so the deal collapsed it but they always had this name in their list so Renato Sanches has always been appreciated by Liverpool and same for Arsenal, so there are many clubs keeping an eye on him also AC Milan in Italy. We will see if they will decide to jump into it, at the moment it’s still quiet but he’s a player that has always been on Liverpool list.”

Fans will be excited

Bundesliga.com once described Sanches as a “box-to-box midfielder with the strength of a WWE heavyweight and the nimble feet of a ballet dancer” – a great indication of the kind of combination of both athleticism and technique that he possesses.

While Liverpool fans may have seen the Portuguese’s underwhelming time at Swansea, since then, the 24-year-old has been nothing short of outstanding, rebuilding his career in French football.

As per Whoscored, his average match rating of 6.97 is good enough to rank him as second-best in the entire Lille squad this season, showcasing exactly the kind of all-round game that the Merseyside faithful will get excited about.

As well as averaging 1.3 tackles per game, Sanches has really impressed with his developing ability with the ball, managing 1.4 key passes and 2.6 dribbles per match in Ligue 1.

The fact Romano has revealed that Sanches remains on Liverpool’s transfer list is exciting news for Reds fans, especially when you consider the kind of injuries they had had in central midfield in recent weeks and months.

Meanwhile, Liverpool must make a swoop for this Bundesliga midfielder…

Rangers were dealt a big blow earlier this month when the news dropped that striker Alfredo Morelos will miss the rest of the season through injury.

In the Colombian’s absence, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has had to rely on Kemar Roofe to fill in and lead the line for his side.

Even though the Gers have some important games left to play before the season draws to an end and the summer transfer window opens, it seems as though the club are in the mix to sign one player that could potentially bring an end to Roofe’s time at Ibrox.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from Football League World, Rangers are interested in signing Stoke City striker Jacob Brown.

Since joining the Championship club back in September 2020 from Barnsley, the Scotsman has gone on to make 95 appearances for the Potters across all competitions.

Bad news for Roofe

This season has seen the 24-year-old Brown really make a name for himself as a dangerous goalscorer.

In 42 league appearances, the striker has found the back of the net 12 times and provided four assists along the way.

Labelled as a “versatile” player by Michael O’Neill and as a “bright talent” by journalist Alan Biggs, Brown has racked up more shots at goal (80) than any other Stoke player.

Also, no other forward has been able to match the same number of tackles (24) or interceptions (16) that Brown has, showing how he can defend from the front.

This shows just how much of an all-around useful player he is on the pitch for his side, who would surely be gutted to see him leave.

Even though Roofe has only played half the number of SPFL games that the £2.7m-rated Stoke striker has this season in the Championship, it seems rather difficult to get him to do much defensive work.

With 21 league games played, the Jamaican has only made two tackles and four interceptions for the Gers.

Taking this into account and the age difference between Brown and the 29-year-old Rangers figure, Stoke’s sharp-shooter could be an ideal long-term upgrade on Roofe at Ibrox.

Moving forward, if the opportunity to sign the 24-year-old arises during the summer, Van Bronckhorst’s side should be doing everything they can to bring the centre-forward to his home country and give him the chance to win titles with the Gers.

In other news: GvB can unearth Rangers’ next Aribo in rarely-seen 18 y/o who’s “unlike anyone else”

Group D in the World Twenty20 is resembling Friends Reunited. Ottis Gibson and Phil Simmons, former West Indies team-mates, have already gone head-to-head as the coaches of the hosts and Ireland while Eoin Morgan will also face his former colleagues on Tu

Andrew McGlashan in Guyana02-May-2010Group D in the World Twenty20 is resembling Friends Reunited. Ottis Gibson and Phil Simmons, former West Indies team-mates, have already gone head-to-head as the coaches of the hosts and Ireland while Eoin Morgan will also face his former colleagues on Tuesday. However, the most intriguing match-up will be when Gibson is brought up against England little more than three months after leaving the role of bowling coach.It was a rapid turnaround between jobs for Gibson who was given permission to speak to West Indies just a week after finishing England’s tour of South Africa. A few days later it was confirmed he would return home to take on the head coach role, but he still keeps in close contact with a number of the England squad which will create an added edge to the contest at Providence.”I speak to Colly [Paul Collingwood] a lot and also Broady [Stuart Broad],” he said. “We [West Indies] are excited and there’s a bit of banter going around about that game, but I don’t play cricket anymore so can pretty much say what I want. It’s up to the players in the middle to produce and it will be fun seeing those guys again. It was only two or three months ago that I was spending a lot of time with them. Somebody reminded me that West Indies have a good record against England in T20 so we’ll look forward to the game.”There are some new guys in there I don’t know much about. Craig Kieswetter is one, Michael Lumb another and Yardy I haven’t been involved with much. In T20 plans can change every day so what I knew about them three months ago could have gone full circle now so we just have to make sure we are well prepared.”Gibson’s appointment as West Indies coach was generally viewed as a positive move, bringing in someone who understands the culture and can relate to the players. However, Viv Richards’ recent outburst, relating to a Test against South Africa in 1998-99, has been the loudest descenting voice and took many people by surprise.”I saw the now present coach Ottis Gibson with his two feet on the balcony, earphones in,” Richards said. “West Indies were just about to go down the chute – and he was having fun, where the music was concerned. That has left an impression on me, seeing him in the present position he is now.”That is not saying he will not be a good coach, but I doubt he would like to see one of his players [behaving as he did] at that particular time, with him being in the position he is now.”Comparing Gibson 11 years ago to the coach he now is forgets the prolific form in the closing stages of his first-class career with Durham and the work he has done to gain his coaching credentials with England. Gibson, speaking before Richards’ comments were made, said he was settling into his new role and felt confident about the future.”I have a passion for West Indies cricket and now the challenge is to bring people together which slowly is happening,” he said. “The signs are very good and the guys are getting used to how I operate. This tournament will give us a good indicator of where we actually are.”With his bowling background that remains the area where most of Gibson’s hands-on coaching continues. He has brought in Jimmy Adams to help on the batting front for the World Twenty20 and is eyeing a permanent batting coach in the future. He admits that moving from working with just one part of a team to oversee a whole operation has been a challenging experience.”When I was bowling coach I generally only had four or five people to look after on a tour or a net session and now I’m in charge of the whole team,” he said. “You have to make sure they are getting what they need in training and when people are left out you have to make sure people are okay about that as well. Then you are scouring the internet at time trying to get stats and information on opposition teams so it keeps me up at night I can tell you that.”However, Gibson’s remit extends beyond the West Indies side. He has been charged with looking at all levels of the game and he has already implement new systems including a High Performance Centre in Barbados which is headed by Toby Radford, the former Middlesex batsman, who played a key role in Andrew Strauss’s return to form two years ago.Radford has also worked closely with Morgan so should be able to pass on some useful advice about England’s new Twenty20 star. “He will try and instil the right attitude into those people who have been picked for the HPC and hopefully when they get into the senior team they will know what is required and can make a contribution to international cricket,” Gibson explained of Radford’s role.He also emphasised what he said when he first took the role, that it’s vital West Indies cricket only looks forward. “We want to stay away from the glory days and start a new era of glory. They are long gone and we have to start again. We should never forget the past but we can’t keep looking back. We want to get players from that era to come in and share their experiences, but it is about this group of players to set new standards for themselves and start a new page.”

Celtic correspondent Kieran Devlin says there have been complaints about the club’s medical and sports science departments for ‘years’. 

The lowdown

Kyogo Furuhasi, Celtic’s top scorer this season with 11 goals, became the latest addition to the Hoops’ injury list when he limped out of Thursday night’s Europa League clash with Real Betis.

The Japan international sustained a hamstring injury, the same problem which befell Albian Ajeti against the La Liga outfit.

Christopher Jullien, Karamoko Dembele and Filipe Jota were already sidelined.

Manager Ange Postecoglou said after the game that his side were ‘just going through a bit of a rough trot which never seems to end’.

The latest

In the comments section of an article published by The Athletic, a supporter argued that ‘the sheer level and similarity of injuries in the squad is borderline professionally unacceptable’, and raised concerns over ‘the sports science, medical and coaching staffs’.

Devlin responded: “Don’t disagree re: medical and sports science issues and it is feedback I’ve heard repeatedly over the years from sources close to players.”

The verdict

Intriguingly, Postecoglou suggested on Thursday that the injuries may partly be a consequence of the players adapting to his demands on the training pitch and on matchday.

So it could be argued that he should reduce the intensity of the sessions at Lennoxtown to mitigate the risk – this injury to Furuhashi could, of course, cause real damage to their title bid.

However, the Australian also blamed what he called a ‘ridiculous’ fixture schedule and pointed out that the injuries would be less of an issue if Celtic had greater squad depth, so he doesn’t appear to be overly introspective about the mounting injury plague.

In other news, Celtic have reached agreement over this transfer.

West Brom confirmed on Tuesday morning that fans attending Friday’s match away to Barnsley will need to present an NHS Covid-19 passport.  

As to be expected, a number of Baggies fans were quick to react to the news on social media.

Valerien Ismael’s side had to deal with a viral outbreak over the weekend, with three senior defenders absent after returning positive tests.

West Brom were refused permission by the EFL to postpone the fixture, but they still managed to grind out a 1-0 win over Reading at The Hawthorns, extending their unbeaten home run to 11 games.

The Baggies have now shared details that supporters attending Oakwell on Friday will need to provide proof of double vaccination or a negative lateral flow test when entering the stadium. Those rules will also apply at The Hawthorns, with West Brom set to host Preston North End before the New Year.

Baggies fans react

Here is what these Albion supporters had to say in reply to the club’s official Twitter post, with many quite unhappy and one labelling it as ‘ridiculous’.

“Shocking”

Credit: @WeAreWBA_

“Awful”

Credit: @jakeliversauce

“Shameful”

Credit: @LukeWoz

“BOOOOOOOOOO”

Credit: @jpriv78982

“I won’t be attending any games at all if this becomes the norm, ridiculous”

Credit: @darrenmchale4

“Bit harsh on the fans that have paid money before Boris spoke and haven’t had the jabs isn’t it?”

Credit: @WBADyl

In other news: ‘End up at Villa’ – Many West Brom fans erupt at club’s post on ‘joke’ talent

According to reports in France, via Sport Witness, Issa Diop could be on his way out of West Ham in January, with AC Milan, Newcastle and Watford all sniffing around for his signature.

The Lowdown: Diop faltering

Diop has had an up and down career in east London since joining from Toulouse in 2018. He racked up 64 Premier League starts across his first two campaigns as a Hammer, but has fallen out of favour and made the XI just five times in the top flight this season (Whoscored).

That fall from grace has largely been down to the form of Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma under David Moyes, with injuries to the pair the only reason Diop has found himself back in the team in recent weeks.

He hasn’t exactly thrived since returning to the heart of the defence though, ranking as West Ham’s 16th-best performer this season. He averages a mere one aerial duel win per game, less than half that of both Ogbonna and Zouma (Whoscored).

The Latest: Hammers in contact

According to Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, translated by SW, three clubs have already initiated contact to offer Diop a route away from the Irons.

The report claims Milan have made an enquiry while Newcastle and Watford have also ‘established contacts’, although there are no specifics on whether West Ham have a desire to sell.

Diop is currently valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, with a contract running until 2023 – the club also have an option to extend that by a further year.

The Verdict: Would be foolish from GSB

While there is no question Diop’s development has not gone as expected after his early promise in claret and blue, selling in January would be foolish, especially to a Premier League rival.

The 6 foot 4 colossus seems to have lost a bit of confidence – to go from Jose Mourinho hailing him as a “monster” who “dominated” Manchester United back in September 2018 to a player struggling to win a single header per game certainly indicates that.

However, he is still only 24, and with the injury crisis suffered at centre-back this season Moyes simply does not have the option of cashing in now. That would leave the Scot with only Craig Dawson as a senior centre-back, and it’s hard to envisage GSB splashing the cash on several winter signings to fill that gap.

With the time left on his contract, the Hammers would be much wiser allowing the Frenchman six more months to prove his worth, and simply sell up in the summer once their first-choice pairing returns if that does not happen.

In other news: Hammers fans were stunned by one man’s display vs Watford…

Gloucestershire have unveiled an ambitious £10 million overhaul of the County Ground at Bristol, with seating for 20,000 spectators, as they attempt to secure their status as an international ground

Cricinfo staff27-Jul-2009Gloucestershire have unveiled an ambitious £10 million overhaul of the County Ground at Bristol, with seating for 20,000 spectators, as they attempt to secure their status as an international ground.Like many grounds in England which have been recently upgraded to international status, Bristol requires the erection of temporary seating in order to cater for the minimum 18,000 stipulated by the ECB. The ground currently only has 3668 permanent seats, but have managed to host 16,000 in one-day internationals with the addition of temporary stands.The proposals include a “world class” media centre, conference facilities, a gym, swimming pool and possibly accommodation for up to 550 students which would help fund the redevelopment.”We believe the scheme we are announcing for public consultation today is both imaginative and sensitive to our surroundings and represents the very best that can be achieved given the constrictions of the site which has been our home for over 130 years,” said the club’s chief executive, Tom Richardson.”We have to comply with the England and Wales Cricket Board standards if the hugely popular one day internationals are to continue at the County Ground and if we are going to be one of the venues for the future World Cups. These matches are essential to provide the funds to develop players of international standing and have positive economic spin-off benefits for the city.”

Ashes cricket will be shown free-to-air in England after digital channel ITV4 secured rights to broadcast one-hour evening highlights

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2010Ashes cricket will be shown free-to-air in England after digital channel ITV4 secured rights to broadcast one-hour evening highlights.ITV had success with its exclusive UK coverage of this year’s Indian Premier League and now gets a first chance of showcasing Test cricket as well as the seven one-day and two Twenty20 internationals against Australia in January and February.The highlights will be broadcast at 10pm, shortly before the following day’s live action will be about to get underway. Nevertheless ITV say the channel is available to 93% of UK homes and its coverage is welcome news to those who feared no terrestrial coverage of the Ashes would be available.ITV controller of sport, Niall Sloane said: “There is huge demand to see England defend the Ashes and I’m delighted that we have secured highlights, free-to-air for UK viewers.”

Ricky Ponting has predicted Nathan Hauritz’s five-wicket haul at the MCG will be a career-turning moment for a spinner who was, only last week, challenged to stand up as a fourth-innings match-winner

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG30-Dec-2009Ricky Ponting has predicted Nathan Hauritz’s five-wicket haul at theMCG will be a career-turning moment for a spinner who was, only last week, challengedto stand up as a fourth-innings match-winner. Hauritz helped knock Pakistanover for 251 to deliver a big win for Australia and his 5 for 101 was anoutstanding result; he had never before taken five wickets in an innings in a first-class game.His previous best at first-class level was 4 for 86, and in Tests he had nottaken more than three in an innings. In particular, his poor record in thefourth innings of Tests led the chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch tochallenge Hauritz prior to the Boxing Day Test. Hilditch asked Hauritz to stand up towards the end of games, when the captain needs to be able to turn to a wicket-taking spinner.The words seemed to spark something in Hauritz, who on the fourth afternoonput Australia firmly in command with a sharp-turning offbreak that spunthrough the gate of Faisal Iqbal and collected his off stump. On the fifthday it was his flight and bounce that troubled Pakistan, as he had two mencaught in close, another stumped, and he finished the Test with a fifth wicketwhen the No. 11 Saeed Ajmal skied a catch to midwicket.The Australians flocked to Hauritz and embraced him, happy that the No. 1spinner in the country was taking positive steps after a year inthe team. Ponting said the five-for would give Hauritz confidence that hebelonged at Test level and develop into a dangerous strike bowler for Australiain the later stages of Tests.”Unless you’ve actually got over the line and done it when it really matters,you always have doubts about yourself and whether you can do it,” Pontingsaid. “Today, in Nathan’s career, could be one of the really big turning points.That’s his first-ever first-class five-for and it happens in a Test match- you couple that with the fact that there was an article written at thestart of the week about the selectors wanting him to stand up late in thegame, he’s done that really well.”There’s no doubt that’s a great thrill for him, it’s a great thrill forall of us as well. If you saw everyone when he took that last wicket, everyonerushed to him because we all knew how much it meant to him. It’s great tosee that spirit is around the team and all the hard work that guys are puttingin, they finally get the rewards.”Hauritz spent time speaking to Shane Warne on the fifth morning, keen forsome advice on how to be the match-winning fifth-day spinner that Australiahave craved. The words of wisdom involved altering his line and Ponting saideverything that Hauritz had done at the MCG had indicated he was moving inthe right direction.”A great sign for him was the first wicket he got last night, when he gotIqbal with one that caught the rough and spun back through the gate,” Pontingsaid. “They’re the sort of wickets we want offspinners to be getting. Hechanged up his line a little bit this morning, he bowled that little bitwider outside off stump and might have gone for a few more runs through theoff side, but that’s what we want to see from him. Batsmen scoring runs throughthe off side on the fifth day of a Test are always going to be taking risksagainst an offspinner.”Despite the general consensus that Australia’s spin-bowling depth has beena worry over the past couple of years, Ponting said he was pleased with theway the slow men were developing. Hauritz is stepping up as a Test player,Jason Krejza remains in the frame, the Victorian left-armer Jon Holland isviewed as a future prospect and the legspinner Steven Smith has been in thesquad for the past two Tests.”I’m very happy with the way our spin bowling stocks are looking at the moment,”Ponting said. “Krejza has shown a lot of improvement this year in domesticcricket. His wicket numbers might not suggest that but if you talk to a lotof the players who have played him and seen him bowl this year, they seemto think that he’s definitely on the right track.”Jon Holland spent some time with us in India in the one-day squad over there,unfortunately didn’t get a game, but it’s great to see him get an opportunityto play a first-class game for Victoria last week and get a few wickets.And then you’ve got Smith, so there are a few guys around at the moment.That’s a real positive for us.”