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Frank Lampard is under pressure to get his summer recruitment spot on if he wants to remain at Everton for the long haul.

Narrowly avoiding relegation from the Premier League with a 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace in their penultimate match last season won’t keep the fans on board for very long.

He appears to have made a solid start, with James Tarkowski close to signing for the Toffees and there will surely be more to come.

With there being plenty of areas to improve in the Everton squad, there could be a lot of transfer activity this summer. The likes of Jonjoe Kenny and Cenk Tosun leaving the club could free up wages for more attractive signings.

Portuguese outlet O Jogo (via Sport Witness) have claimed that Everton are interested in Porto winger Otavio, with Lampard looking to bolster his squad. They have made an enquiry but may have to pay up to €60m (£51.4m).

The player earns £29k-per=week at his current club and that will be expected to rise if a move to the Premier League materialises.

With the news that Brazilian forward Richarlison wants to leave the club, there could be a large transfer kitty that Lampard could utilise, and signing Otavio would be a wise move.

Although largely deployed on the right-hand side of midfield, Lampard may utilise his attacking potential and push him further forward where he can feed Dominic Calvert-Lewin plenty of chances, he notched nine league assists last season.

He isn’t shy of getting stuck in defensively either, something that Everton missed last season. Compared to positional peers in the top five leagues, Otavio ranks in the top 1% for pressures (28.99 per 90) and tackles (3.03), proving that he has the ability to be a success at both ends of the pitch.

He was dubbed “phenomenal” following a performance for Portugal and at 27 years of age, he could be about to approach his peak years.

It would be an expensive move but it could just prove game-changing to get Everton back to winning ways and Calvert-Lewin back among the goals.

AND in other news, Everton “still interested” in signing £107.8m duo this summer, Lampard will love them…

Nottingham Forest will host Sheffield United in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final clash, and Steve Cooper will be hoping they can continue their momentum after their 2-1 victory at Bramall Lane.

What’s the latest?

The Forest manager took to his pre-match press conference to give a promising injury update on his team ahead of the important challenge facing them this evening.

Cooper told the press (via Nottinghamshire Live):

“There isn’t anything new from the game. We were carrying a few injuries going into it, with the players who were unavailable yesterday. There’s no changes from yesterday. There’s the normal bumps and bruises, and a little bit of fatigue from the game.”

The manager continued: “But that’s very normal for the day after a game. I’m fairly sure we’ll be as we were for the first leg.”

Cooper will be delighted

At this stage of the season after playing 46 games as well as a short turnaround in the play-offs when it comes to fixtures, Cooper will surely be delighted that his team are still fit and raring to go with just one game standing in the way of joining Huddersfield Town at Wembley for the final in just under two weeks time.

Despite having less possession (39%) Nottingham Forest took their chances and offered a superior attacking threat than their Premier League promotion competitors with over twice as many shots on target, five more big chances created and ultimately scoring two goals to secure a lead ahead of their home leg this evening.

If Cooper could lead his team to the final at the end of this month it would be an incredible achievement considering the position they were in when he inherited the side from Chris Houghton in September 2021.

Upon appointment, Forest were bottom of the Championship table, suffering their worst start to a campaign in over a century and Cooper has since completed a turnaround supporters would have felt was impossible when he joined the club seven months ago.

Thus, to get to the final and potentially return to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years would be a dream. With a lack of injuries, that could well become a reality.

AND in other news: Forest can land the new McKenna in “outstanding” 19/yo prodigy, Cooper surely ecstatic

Newcastle United star Allan Saint-Maximin has shared a promising update on his injury problems on social media, with the Frenchman seemingly close to a return to action.

What’s the word?

The Frenchman picked up an injury in the 1-1 draw with Wolves last month and missed the games against Liverpool and Crystal Palace.

He was a big miss for Eddie Howe’s side in those fixtures, as the Toon picked up just one point, so to have him back in action soon would be a big boost for the northeast side.

The former Nice man shared an update on Instagram on Sunday, insisting that he would be back soon, which suggests that he could be in contention to face West Ham at the weekend.

Howe had previously suggested that the 25-year-old could feature against Crystal Palace before he was left out of the squad, which suggests that the hamstring injury wasn’t serious and that he should return to full fitness imminently.

A boost for Howe

If the winger returns this weekend, it come as a huge boost to the entire club considering his early exploits in 2022/23.

Saint-Maximin has enjoyed an impressive start to the new campaign, contributing one goal and two assists in four Premier League appearances, which has seen him average a superb 7.67 rating from WhoScored, the best of any Newcastle player so far this season.

This emphasises just how important he is to Howe’s side, and with no wins since the opening game in the league, it is vital that Saint-Maximin returns as soon as possible.

The former Bournemouth boss sang Saint-Maximin’s praises after he starred in the 3-3 draw against Manchester City earlier in the season.

He said: “He got every aspect of his game in a very good place, his pace was there. You could see he was electric. His decision-making with the ball was very good, he defended well.”

The prospect of Saint-Maximin lining up with new record signing Alexander Isak is also a very exciting one, with the Swede having opened his account for the club against Liverpool on his debut.

Indeed, after the Frenchman’s update on social media, it could be something that Newcastle fans get to witness for the first time away at West Ham on Sunday.

For the third time in as many innings, Pakistan’s senior batsman found himself bounced out by Duanne Olivier

Danyal Rasool at Newlands03-Jan-2019Pakistan might have tried to turn a chapter after Centurion, but they keep finding it’s the same old story. On a morning where, put in to bat, they lost their first five wickets inside 20 overs, Sarfraz Ahmed’s unchanged batting order found the narrative of the Test had begun in that same unchanged vein.No dismissal epitomised that more than Azhar Ali’s, theoretically Pakistan’s best batsman in these conditions. For the third time in as many innings, he copped a short ball from Duanne Olivier, failed to fend it to safety, and found himself heading back to the pavilion cheaply.It is a tactic Olivier, in particular, has employed with devastating consequences against Azhar. Of the 34 balls Olivier has bowled to Azhar in three innings, 22 have been short, producing just eight runs and all three dismissals. Of the other 57 balls Azhar has been on the receiving end of, just 21 fell short of a good length, with fuller balls allowing him to score at over a run a ball (15 in 14).Pakistan batting coach Grant Flower was surprised at Azhar’s struggles against the short ball after the first Test. “I’m very surprised, because he usually doesn’t have a problem with the short ball,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “That took me by total surprise. He definitely knows what he’s going to get in the next Test, albeit on an easier pitch to bat on. But I can’t see the South Africans relenting. In the pressure of the match, he was probably just indecisive.”While Flower, like perhaps everyone else, was prescient enough to know what the hosts’ tactics would be against Azhar, he has been less successful in helping his batsman to cope. Among the 19 balls Azhar faced in his short-lived stay at Newlands, over half were banged in short. When Olivier was introduced into the attack, every one of the five balls to Azhar put the Pakistan batsman on the back foot. The one that dismissed him was nearly a carbon copy of those that felled him in Centurion, with Azhar flaccidly pushing it to first slip.Cheap dismissals set the tone as Pakistan were eventually dismissed for 177, the same team that trudged off at Centurion, dejected and demoralised. The challenges they face are well understood, predictable, even. They were out on New Year’s Day at 9.30am, practising for nearly four hours, but the possibility of producing the goods against a fearsome South African attack still appears remote.The bout between Azhar and Olivier is a microcosm, while the larger contest presently looks like a mismatch.

Last week at the Women’s Big Bash League: the Melbourne Renegades end their winless streak with a little help from the elements, and Sophie Devine lights up Adelaide with a ton

Geoff Lemon and Adam Collins02-Jan-20172:46

‘Devine destroys Hurricanes’

Dottin’s head injury rules her out of the seasonSometimes, things are as bad as they look. When players go down on the field, you always hope for a Mohammad Amir knee story at the Gabba: apparent pain and danger dissolving before the next new ball. But, when two Brisbane Heat outfielders crashed into each other on the boundary, and support staff swarmed out of the gates to surround their prone bodies, there was little chance of a best-case scenario.The collision was full-tilt between two powerful players. Laura Harris, the sister of Australia hitter Grace, was belting across from long-on, while West Indies superstar Deandra Dottin arrived from deep midwicket, both leaning forward and thinking about diving for the ball. As a result, rather than their bodies taking the impact and knocking them back in the direction they had come, the contact was almost entirely between their heads, at such force that each player spun away and fell in the direction that she had been running. Both covered a few more metres in the fall, Harris crashing into the picket fence and Dottin into a kit bag next to it.The Australian stayed with team-mates and slowly recovered, albeit with a rainbow lump across her forehead that looked less like an injury than a mythical dragon’s egg. Dottin, though, was stretchered off, and has since had titanium enhancements to her skeletal structure after fracturing a cheekbone. She won’t take the field again this season. Given her 60 off 44 balls that won Heat their opening game of the season, and the fact that she still has the fastest T20I century in women’s or men’s cricket, the loss for Brisbane and the competition is clear.Red-hot Lanning’s team left red in the face by green mistakesDottin’s injury had a curious effect on Melbourne Stars: the opening partnership of Meg Lanning and Emma Inglis was flourishing at 88 in pursuit of Brisbane Heat’s 129. But after the injury delay, Melbourne’s canter ended in a choke. That undid their superb start to the round on Boxing Day, where Lanning’s dominant 97 not out extinguished any hope for the Heat.By New Year’s Day, the tournament was halfway there, and Melbourne Renegades were living on a prayer. Coming into their televised blockbuster derby at the MCG, Red Melbourne had one win from their seven fixtures. The Thunder had pulled off a double over them in Sydney that week, before the Scorchers smashed them in the roof-closed clambake at Docklands Stadium.In the derby, Lanning led Green Melbourne in a WBBL-record opening stand of 94, and the situation was again dire for the women in red. But they put in a mighty second shift with the ball. Young quick Maitland Brown was frugal at the death, and Lanning prevented from truly exploding. Then the twist: a fast start and a rain delay left the Gades with 52 to win, and New Zealand batsman Rachel Priest did the rest.Lanning fumed at the umpires, assuming the target should have increased when her side took a wicket after the delay. That earned her a trip to the match referee’s office for a please-explain and a stern lesson in Duckworth-Lewis. Naturally, the Stars captain was frustrated, her team having lost from a commanding position for the second successive time.A tale of two SydneysSydney is known for end-of-year fireworks, and that was the case for the Sixers with the bat after they had collapsed badly the previous weekend. Taking down the Thunder in a replay of last year’s final, they tallied 3 for 164.Ellyse Perry made a run-a-ball 42, while Alyssa Healy struck 55 from 38, her knock defined by inside-out drives over cover. Then, the tournament’s big improver Ashleigh Gardner smashed 52 not out, following up from her rescue-effort knocks of 38 and 43 in the previous round.Deandra Dottin’s collision with Laura Harris ended with her being stretchered out and suffering a fractured cheekbone•Getty ImagesThat made it advantage Sixers for the last few games, given the Thunder had twice kept the Renegades to paltry totals and chased them easily, while the Sixers had done the same to Hobart Hurricanes, including Sarah Aley’s catch-of-the-tournament contender off her own bowling.On January 2, the pink half of Sydney made 3 for 161, which was way beyond the Adelaide Strikers, with runs yet again for Perry, Healy and Gardner, while the green side of town made 132 and just held off Heat for 129. The colours may be wildly divergent, but the two Sydney teams remain neck and neck.Sophie’s choice – she’s really choiceIt was bound to happen. Sophie Devine’s season had been like a sitcom – featuring a string of glamorous 40-somethings with a plot twist every five minutes. But you felt sure that a feature-length spinoff was coming. When it got greenlit, it was spectacular.Chasing Hobart Hurricanes’ substantial 143 on Boxing Day, the New Zealand international entered with her side reeling at 2 for 5. She walked off an hour later with 103 to her name, the second ton in WBBL history. She matched Grace’s score from the previous season, although she got there in 48 balls – four fewer than Grace.Devine cleared the ropes eight times, and more often than not, sent the ball into the crowd: over midwicket with raw power, dead-straight with hockey slaps, and down on one knee with the class of a tuxedo-clad proposal. She scored 88 runs in boundaries, and appropriately, brought up the century and winning runs with a blistering straight drive.The rematch the following day was lost to rain – Adelaide’s second abandonment in as many weekends – but their New Year’s Eve hopes at the Adelaide Oval were washed out by the home team itself. When Devine failed against a formidable Scorchers bowling line-up, her team-mates put up a stinker. England superstar Katherine Brunt got Adelaide’s talisman for a duck. With Brunt’s countrywoman Anya Shrubsole going at three per over, Adelaide limped to 82 for 9 amid a panicky cascade of dot balls and run-outs. The South Australian side needs an alternative path to victory, fast.Switch on a suburban circuitPlenty of action in the outskirts to start off 2017, with Blacktown in Western Sydney hosting the brace of games between the Thunder and the Heat. The leafy inner-Melbourne suburbs of Camberwell and Toorak will see the Scorchers take on the Renegades and the Stars respectively. The Strikers stay central to host the Sixers at Adelaide Oval, while the Thunder travel to Launceston to take on the Hurricanes, who are in desperate need of a win after losing twice between Christmas and the New Year.

On the day Shane Watson announced his retirement from Test cricket, ESPNcricinfo picks out some of his most memorable performances in whites

Daniel Brettig06-Sep-20154 for 42 v India, Nagpur, 2008Before the 2008 tour of India, Shane Watson had been known primarily for his injuries – and perhaps the ghost of Lumley Castle in Durham on the 2005 Ashes trip. However on a journey that proved largely barren for Ricky Ponting’s declining team, Watson was to show the first genuine glimpses of Test-match promise. His batting was better than his final series figures showed, exemplified by a patient 78 in Mohali when others found the going close to impossible. His bowling was in its quiet way revelatory, proving he had jettisoned the youthful yearning to bowl as fast as possible and replaced it with a strong command of line, length and reverse swing. The second-innings spell in Nagpur might easily have helped Australia to a series-saving win had Ponting persisted with Watson after tea. As it was, he chose to avoid a ban for over rates by using Michael Hussey and Cameron White. Still, the maturing Watson who came to command a place in the Test team had his origins on this tour. Three years later in Galle, his use of the reversing ball would break the back of Sri Lanka’s first innings to set-up one of the most noteworthy Australian victories of the period.51 v England, Leeds, 2009A half-century in an innings victory doesn’t sound like much, but the confidence and power Watson demonstrated after being chosen as an opener in the middle of the 2009 series was striking. He had been brought in to replace Phillip Hughes after two poor Tests at Cardiff and Lord’s, a decision which still rankles with some as being too hasty. Nevertheless, Watson immediately showed a strong degree of confidence around off stump and a scarcely disguised glee in putting away the bad ball. At Headingley he was actually the slower of the two batsmen in Australia’s second-wicket stand as Ponting put together one of his last great innings, but Watson’s contribution was sturdiness personified and set the scene for his most prolific batting phase. A commentating Geoff Boycott summed it up as: “A very commonsense, well-played 50 … he’s played absolutely splendidly.” Of course, Graeme Onions would get Watson lbw before the innings could bloom into anything bigger – another developing trend.126 v India, Mohali, 2010One-hundred and nine innings, four hundreds. It is by these digits that Watson’s career can most aptly be summed up, as he failed overall to overcome the mental and physical hurdles placed in front of Test batsmen wishing to become regular centurions. On that basis, Watson’s finest Test innings was probably this one, the only “bat all day” century he ever made, and by some distance the slowest. There were a few familiar tropes to it: he was dropped by Virender Sehwag in the gully before he had scored, he then got off to a rapid start against a hard ball and an attacking field, before slowing down – notably getting into something of a Mexican stand-off with Pragyan Ojha’s left-arm spin. The innings polarised the dressing room, as Michael Clarke figured Watson could have batted with more urgency and said so in front of the team, and the pair would bicker over the issue across the match. Others were more generous, and it remains a mystery why Watson could not go on to any other innings like this one. He had concentration, stamina and technique in ample supply this time around. He will forever wonder why there were no other such days.5 for 17 v South Africa, Cape Town, 2011For all his expertise with reverse-swinging medium pace, it was in seaming climes that Watson had his most destructive days of all. A pair of five-wicket hauls against Pakistan in England were incisive, but Watson never had the ball on a string quite like he managed against South Africa between lunch and tea on day two of the 2011 Newlands Test. Swinging the ball just enough to beat the bat, he helped usher the tumble of 9 for 47 in 11.1 madcap overs. Hashim Amla, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher all fell to his wiles, which included a zippy bouncer for variation. Watson walked off the ground holding the ball exultantly aloft, and the Australians felt they had won the match there and then. What followed was the loss of another 10 wickets for 47 and arguably the most incomprehensible Test match day of them all, placing Watson’s display somewhat in the shade. It was his last big haul in Tests.88 v South Africa, Johannesburg, 2011When asked about Watson, one former England player said that he was one of the best players of the conventionally moving ball he ever saw, but also one of the worst against reverse swing. That much was borne out by his mighty tally of lbw dismissals, generally as a result of the ball bending in to hit that ever-so-prominent front pad. But when the ball was moving around in the air or off the seam in the traditional way, Watson’s ability to cover his off stump yet also avoid edging too often into the slips was up there with the very best. This innings in Johannesburg came mere days after the Cape Town debacle, in a fine opening stand with Hughes. Simon Katich had brought the best out of Watson at the top of the order, and his batting dropped away unmistakably after the selectors chose to jettison the older man. Hughes and Watson could not make their union work, but at the Wanderers they managed to keep out Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel for more than three hours while adding a handsome 174. The degree of difficulty in this partnership was to be shown by the rush of wickets that followed it, but the foothold Watson and Hughes provided Australia’s nervy batsmen allowed them to stay in the game, and a memorable win arrived two days later.83* v England, Melbourne, 2013Through the first half of 2013, Watson was nothing so much as a dissident within the national team. His relationship with Clarke and the coach Mickey Arthur was tenuous at best, while he and Mitchell Johnson became an isolated duo within the squad as they queried the way an otherwise young team was being moulded following the exits of Ponting and Michael Hussey. When both were made an example of in Mohali alongside James Pattinson and Usman Khawaja, Watson made it clear he did not agree, and risked his career by repeating his discontents publicly. As subsequent events unfolded, Watson’s intransigence looked a vital sign that the team was not in a strong state, and ultimately Darren Lehmann was called in to reshape it after a fashion more suited to all. By the time of the last Test of the year, Australia were celebrating the return of the Ashes, and in Melbourne Watson put together his final innings of major significance, a rollicking knock to help Chris Rogers reel in a fourth innings chase that should have been much more challenging than it proved. There was plenty of warmth in the celebrations when Watson and Rogers finished the chase, for both had emerged as contributors from a time nine months before when neither could reasonably have expected to be playing in the match. As an on-field performer Watson was forever enigmatic, but as a team man his sense of humanity was always strong.

With an unpredictable run-up and an urgent, hustling style, Maharashtra seamer Samad Fallah has scripted a tale of resilience and passion for cricket

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Indore19-Jan-2014In the middle of his second over on Saturday morning, Samad Fallah came to a halt halfway through his run-up. Most fast bowlers, in that situation, would have turned around, walked back to the top of their mark, and started again. Fallah simply resumed running from where he had stopped.Over the course of the 16 overs he delivered in dismissing seven Bengal batsmen at the Holkar Stadium, Fallah’s run-up was a wild and unpredictable thing, seemingly without a fixed starting point.”When I start, I do mark my run-up,” Fallah says. “But as my bowling goes on, sometimes I try to surprise them, don’t let the batsman get ready, make my run-up short. But run-up is not in my brain. I can run from anywhere and I can bowl. With my run-up I’ve played lots. I’ve run zig-zag also. To take wickets in first-class cricket I’ve done so many things.”A lot of bowlers nowadays use a measuring tape to mark out their run-ups. For them, achieving rhythm is a matter of scientific precision. If rhythm is an ingredient in Samad Fallah’s bowling, it is probably the rhythm of free jazz. His run-up, which begins with a two-second shuffle on the spot, barely contributes any momentum to his action, which is all shoulder and whirring arm, culminating in a Rafael Nadal grunt.The grunts grew louder with each ball – and were frequently followed by desperate appeals for lbw – over the course of Fallah’s first spell on Saturday, which spanned ten overs. “The first spell is 10 or nine always,” he says. “Eight is minimum.” When he came back for his second spell, he replaced Harshad Khadiwale, who had taken an unexpected wicket in a three-over spell of gentle medium pace.Khadiwale might only be an occasional bowler, but his textbook run-up and delivery stride spoke of his rigorous schooling in the game. He has played for Maharashtra’s Under-14, U-15, U-17, U-19 and U-22 teams.Fallah’s action is as much a product of his upbringing as Khadiwale’s is. He’s never played age-group cricket for Maharashtra. In his early 20s, he gave up cricket for two years, apart from the odd tennis-ball match, and worked behind the counter of the Irani cafe established by his grandfather, and run by his father, in Pune.Fallah kept taking wickets in tennis-ball cricket, though, and found himself a place in the Poona Club team. Big wicket hauls in the Maharashtra Cricket Association’s invitational league – “73 wickets in nine games,” he says, “which is a record still” – earned him a call-up to the Maharashtra team at the start of the 2007-08 season. At that point, his father didn’t even know he was playing serious cricket. Fallah called him from Chennai, where Maharashtra – he wasn’t in the playing XI yet – were playing Tamil Nadu.”I called him, and I said I got selected for Ranji Trophy, and he said, ‘No no, you can’t be selected’,” Fallah says. “I had to call from a landline number, and then he realised, okay, he’s in Chennai.”A painting of Fallah in his bowling action, with a selection of his first-class statistics, now adorns a wall in his father’s cafe. “It was not me who asked for it,” Fallah says. “My dad actually wanted to surprise me, so suddenly I saw a picture that was not looking like me at all.”The left-arm seamer on Cafe Alpha’s wall doesn’t have the shoulder-length hair, the soul-patch, or the studded earlobes. It might well be a painting of Irfan Pathan. The stats, moreover, need an update. The wall says 134 wickets in 34 first-class matches; Fallah now has 198 in 50.

“When I start, I do mark my run-up,” Fallah says. “But as my bowling goes on, sometimes I try to surprise them, don’t let the batsman get ready, make my run-up short. But run-up is not in my brain. I can run from anywhere and I can bowl. With my run-up I’ve played lots. I’ve run zig-zag also. To take wickets in first-class cricket I’ve done so many things.”

In his debut season, Fallah took 20 wickets, at an average of 23.90. Since then, he hasn’t gone a single first-class season without crossing 25 wickets. He reached that mark for 2013-14, during the course of his seven-for on Saturday.At the start of the season, when he took just two wickets in Maharashtra’s first three matches, that number seemed a distant prospect. Left out of the game against Andhra, Fallah came roaring back. In his last five matches – he only bowled 9.4 overs in one of them, a spin-dominated game in Assam – he’s taken 26 wickets.”After [the first] three games I was not feeling good, then I was not picked for the next game,” Fallah says. “I was supposed to be rested for the other game also, but I got a chance because somehow the selectors felt that one game was enough for me to get back. If I would have dragged myself that time, I would have been worse, because I was not in good shape also in my mind. I was doubting myself.”What my bowling is all about is believing. I kept on believing in my instincts and the things that I do, bowling around, over [the wicket] … to enjoy myself. Basically I enjoy my bowling, which I was not doing in the first phase. After one break I realised, okay, now I can’t stay out of the game also. So I came back against Kashmir and I took four and that’s how I got back. So it was good actually, what happened. Sometimes you need that kick, that ‘okay, I’m not doing that good.’ And you see your players, your team, wanting you. Everyone was calling me, the team, coaches, selectors, saying they need you. The team wanted me. Me being a character also, they need me somewhere.”Fallah says he is a talkative, needling presence in the dressing room and on the field. “Normally I talk too much,” he says. “I express too much.”It shows in his bowling too, in his urgent, hustling style, always at the batsman, probing away from different angles. It shows in his frantic appealing. He might yet cop a fine for the amount of lung-power he expended against Bengal. But, you suspect, he’ll accept it with a grin and carry on appealing as raucously as ever.A couple more successful appeals will take him to 200 wickets. It might also bring about a long-overdue update to the stats on Cafe Alpha’s wall. “The first hundred took only 21 matches,” he says, alert as always to his own statistics. “I’ve played almost 30 matches after that, so I guess I’m slowing down.”

Ian Botham has been a tireless crusader for cancer research for near on three decades. His 14th charity walk for the cause ends today

Alan Gardner21-Apr-2012Walking may not seem like the most challenging of activities for a champion sportsman. As a player, Ian Botham batted and bowled like a man in a hurry to get the job done quickly (and he often did). Off the field his antics were the antithesis of sedate. But it was for his charity fund-raising, as much as his cricketing feats, that he was elevated to Sir Ian in 2007, and these days walking is as much a part of the “Beefy” brand as Headingley ’81 and his commentary role with Sky.Botham, however, is no stroller. It quickly became apparent when I joined him in Norwich for the eighth leg of Beefy’s Great British Walk, that the drive and determination that characterised his playing career are still present. Early on, as the party set out through the city centre, someone mentioned that the pace (a brisk 4.5mph, on average) was quite testing. “We’re not even warmed up yet,” Botham growled, eyes shielded behind sunglasses, back hunched against the elements.It is 27 years since Botham first marched from John O’Groats to Lands End in aid of Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, an undertaking inspired by an encounter as a 22-year-old playing for Somerset with children suffering from terminal blood cancer in a Taunton hospital. In that time he has completed 14 charity walks, covering almost 10,000 miles and raising more than £13 million. Correspondingly, the survival rate for children suffering from the most common form of leukaemia has risen from 20% to almost 93%. But he won’t be stopping yet.”The walks are ultimately about one thing and only one thing, and that’s to raise money to go into leukaemia and lymphoma research,” he says. “I’m a competitive person, so if I set out to do something there’s no point in falling short of that mark. I can’t get to 100% survival rate, but I know I can get close to it. We still have major problems with the adult forms of the disease but as we’ve made that many inroads into this form of blood cancer, we believe that somewhere along the line it’s going to open doors to other forms. So there’s a massive incentive for us to keep going, and that’s what we’ll do.”The walks are a family operation, with four generations present on this one. Botham’s daughter Sarah is the coordinator, having taken over from wife Kath. A hardcore of friends and neighbours trudged through the April showers for Beefy’s cause – such as “Big Gaz”, who tagged along to walk with Botham “for ten minutes” when he was a teenager in 1992 and is still a regular participant. A motley selection of celebs, such as Olympic decathlete Daley Thompson, former Norwich footballer Jeremy Goss, and Spandau Ballet drummer John Keeble, also swelled the numbers.

Early on, as the party set out through the city centre, someone mentioned that the pace (a brisk 4.5mph, on average) was quite testing. “We’re not even warmed up yet,” Botham growled

The lead-out car played regimental band music and there was a certain amount of pomp and circumstance to the procession, so much so that in Cardiff a bystander asked if they were doing a practice run for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Even in suburban and then rural Norfolk, plenty of people came to their front doors or wound down the car window in order to donate, while labourers at a burger van nodded in recognition. As we passed by the waterways of Wroxham, boat builders left their workshops and ladies both young and old stopped to smile and wave – but then Botham always did know how to charm the broads.A few miles from the end, the team were joined by a collection of local walkers and fundraisers who wanted to meet the man himself, although the effect was more of them being sucked into Botham’s wake as he barrelled through, his speed slackening only to exchange a few handshakes and pats on the back.It is his cricketing celebrity that fuels the pavement-pounding charity drive, and Botham acknowledges the latter could not exist without the former. At the walk’s conclusion he sat with his feet up on a stool, an ice pack on his knee, signing autographs and posing for photographs in avuncular fashion. A local brewery had provided the ale – named Give It Some Humpty, after Botham’s typically no-nonsense remark to Graham Dilley – and a band playing in the background gave the afternoon an almost festival feel, rain and mud included. You could call it Beefstock.”Cricket is the springboard,” Botham said. “I think a lot of people enjoyed the way I played the game and that’s reflected a little bit in the amount of people we’re seeing turning out.”He is, of course, still a vocal commentator on the fortunes of the England team – and to say Botham has trenchant opinions is a bit like observing that tractors have big wheels. He was not perturbed by members of the South Africa side, such as Vernon Philander and Alviro Petersen, gaining experience of English conditions while playing county cricket but described the length of the series between what is likely to be the two best Test teams in the world (England host South Africa for three Tests this summer) as “ridiculous”.Botham was also confident the 4-1 reverse over the winter, in Test series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, was merely a blip and that England’s current leader is the right man for the job, describing criticism of Andrew Strauss as “a load of baloney”.”I don’t have any problems with Strauss, I think he should be England captain,” he says. “He hasn’t scored a hundred for a while, so he has to answer some questions; it goes with the territory. But Strauss and Andy Flower have got England to No. 1, we’re still No. 1. We didn’t have a very good winter by our standards, let’s put that behind us and move on.”This latest expedition will be behind Botham too, with their final leg due in London on Saturday. Then he will go fishing, the competitive flames doubtless stoked once again. He is already making plans for a fundraiser to coincide with his 60th birthday – which will also mark the 30 years since his first walk – though he will not be drawn on them yet. Call it a shortened run-up if you like, but Botham is still charging in.

Stats highlights from the third ODI between Sri Lanka and Pakistan

S Rajesh03-Aug-2009In his 17 previous ODI innings Mahela Jayawardene had scored one half-century, four ducks, and averaged 15.11•AFP

• The 202-run partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga is the third-highest for the first wicket for Sri Lanka in ODIs, and their highest at home. Their highest overall is 286, against England at Leeds in 2006. Of the five 200-plus opening stands for Sri Lanka, Tharanga has been involved in three. It’s also Sri Lanka’s first double-century opening stand without the presence of Sanath Jayasuriya.
• Jayawardene’s glorious 123 ended a barren run in ODIs: in his 17 previous ODI innings he had an average of 15.11, with one half-century and four ducks. This was also only his second ODI innings as an opener. In his previous effort – against Zimbabwe in Harare in November 2008 – he had failed to get off the mark.
• Dambulla has traditionally been a difficult venue for batting, but in this game both Pakistan and Sri Lanka scored totals that hadn’t been scored at this ground. In 28 previous ODIs in Dambulla, the highest score had been 282, by Sri Lanka against India in 2004. India chased it bravely, but fell short by 12 runs. Those were the two highest ODI totals here before today.
• The win also ended a poor run for Sri Lanka in ODI series at home – they had lost their last three, against England and twice against India. (Click here for Sri Lanka’s results in home ODI series.)
• The pitch was so good for batting that even Muttiah Muralitharan leaked plenty of runs – in ten overs he conceded 64, which is the second-highest number of runs he has conceded in a home ODI. The highest is 66, against India earlier this year. In terms of economy rates, this comes in at third place among his most expensive spells at home. Click here for the full list.
• It was also a bad game for Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s most consistent spinner. He leaked 7.50 runs per over, his most expensive spell in almost two years. Against India in Kanpur in November 2007, he had conceded 57 in seven, a rate of 8.14 per over. Since then, in 30 ODIs before this one, only twice did he concede more than six runs per over.

Warwickshire happier with draw after only 19 overs possible on final day

ECB Reporters Network08-Apr-2024

Warwickshire and Worcestershire launched their Vitality County Championship season with a draw after bad weather shunted a hitherto intriguing game up a cul-de-sac at Edgbaston.Worcestershire were frustratingly denied a chance to press for victory on their return to Division One after a wet outfield prevented play before lunch on the final day. After the loss of the last session the previous day, that took too much time out of the match for Brett D’Oliveira’s side to capitalise on the strong position they had built, largely through Kashif Ali’s two superb centuries.In the sliver of play that was possible on the final day, they took their overnight score from 237 for 2 – and lead of 264 – to 295 for 3. Jake Libby advanced to 101 not out, his 17th first class century, before another downpour proved terminal.Warwickshire’s bowling attack, which will expect to be “better for the outing”, in the words of head coach Mark Robinson, secured just one more wicket when Olly Hannon-Dalby clutched an instinctive return catch from a straight drive by Rob Jones. There was little joy for the other bowlers and least of all for left-arm spinner Danny Briggs who was adjudged to have delivered seven leg-side wides.With the match consigned to stalemate, Libby continued implacably to his ton while Adam Hose enjoyed some time in the middle of his former home ground, restraining his usual attacking game to collect an unbeaten 17 in over an hour.If there was some frustration for Worcestershire at being denied an opportunity to record their first Championship win at Edgbaston since 1993, there was also plenty of room for satisfaction. They acquitted themselves extremely well on their return to Division One.They were the better side with bat and ball. Kashif’s first two first-class centuries – 110 and 133 – lit up a match largely conducted under an unbroken canopy of grey while overseas debutants Nathan Smith and Jason Holder offered promise in the seam attack.”We played some really good cricket during the game,” D’Oliveira said. “Kashif had a really special game and is a really special cricketer. I am excited by the journey ahead of him. Our overseas guys have fitted in really well. First and foremost, they are excellent characters who have slotted straight into the dressing room. Jason is brilliant for me as a captain to have to bounce ideas off. Nathan is a highly talented bowlers who has already showed what he can do in this match.”Every we time we come up we are favourites to go down and we have been relegated a few times, so that’s reasonable, but this year we aiming to us that as a strength and surprise a few people.”Worcestershire will travel to Trent Bridge to face Nottinghamshire on Friday with confidence high. Warwickshire, meanwhile, will aim to be much improved against Durham at Edgbaston after missing Sam Hain (personal reasons) and Liam Norwell (injury) at the heart of their bowling and batting during this match.Robinson admitted that he did not know when either player would return. “We will be better for the outing, as they say. Gary [Barwell] and his groundstaff team did a great job to get a game on but conditions were difficult for the bowlers. I think all the bowlers struggled in the wind and with soft take-off points but Worcestershire’s probably coped a little bit better than ours.”We haven’t been where we want to be during this match. Our prep was affected because we lost one player the day before the game and another one on the morning of the game, but we haven’t bowled particularly well and it was a disappointing session with the bat where we lost five quick wickets to hand Worcestershire the initiative.”Liam Norwell will not be available for a while. He has an injury which we are looking into to get a bit of clarity. The good news, if you can have good news about an injury, is that it is not the disc in his back that has been the problem in the past. With regard to Sam Hain, I don’t know if he will be available for the next game. We will give him all the time and space he needs.”