All posts by h716a5.icu

Shabbir Ahmed has said that if the Pakistan board did not increase financial benefits for domestic cricketers it would have to face more defections to the unauthorised Twenty20 league which offered good money to players

Cricinfo staff17-Dec-2008
Shabbir Ahmed: “Livelihood of many cricketers is now linked to the ICL. How long can they [PCB] continue to ignore it?” © Cricinfo Ltd
Shabbir Ahmed, the former Pakistan bowler who now plays for the ICL, has said that if the Pakistan board did not increase financial benefits for domestic cricketers it would have to face more defections to the unauthorised Twenty20 league which offered good money to players.However, Shabbir, who plays for the ICL’s Chennai Superstars, was hopeful that the new PCB regime, which included several former Test players, would change the situation where ICL players were banned from playing any form of representative cricket in and for Pakistan. Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan captain and current director-general of the PCB, had earlier said there was immense pressure on the board to bring ICL players back into the fold.”All the previous heads of the board were clueless,” Shabbir was quoted as saying in the Pakistan daily . “It is good now they have brought a former Test player [Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman] and other cricketers into the board.”Sooner or later the authorities will have to recognise the ICL as it is big cricket and it is offering big money. Livelihood of many cricketers is now linked to the ICL. How long can they continue to ignore it?”Shabbir accused former PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf of having a personal agenda against the ICL players. “At times it seemed as if Ashraf had some sort of personal agenda against the ICL and some interest in the Indian Premier League and allowing players to sign contracts with it,” Shabbir said.Earlier this year Shoaib Akhtar alleged that the PCB’s ban imposed him on grounds on indiscipline was punishment in return for refusing to give Ashraf a share of his salary from the IPL. Shoaib also alleged that Ashraf had tried to extort money from other Pakistani cricketers as well. He apologised and took back his comments after Ashraf filed a defamation suit against him.Shabbir said several former players who criticised the decision of those who joined the ICL had played in Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket despite opposition from other cricket boards. “They did because they were getting good money. We have also gone to the ICL to safeguard our future.”

Former All Leeds TV presenter Joe Wainman has dropped his verdict amid rumours Leeds United are vying to sign Hibernian left-back Josh Doig.

Marcelo Bielsa has already strengthened his defensive options by welcoming Junior Firpo to the club after concluding a £13million deal with Barcelona last month.

However, Ezgjan Alioski’s decision to turn down a new Whites deal in favour of a lucrative contract with Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ahli has resulted in Leeds boss Bielsa being keen to add further reinforcements.

JustJoe Football Show anchorman Wainman has suggested 19-year-old Doig is needed at Elland Road, especially with early injury doubts over Firpo.

Leeds have been told they will have to fork out £5million if they want to persuade Scottish Premiership side Hibernian to sell their prized asset.

However, Leeds are not the only club in the running and Hibs’ sporting director Graeme Mathie has described suitors as undervaluing Doig.

Doig made 35 appearances last season and Wainman believes the highly-rated teenager is the perfect option for Bielsa.

He told Football FanCast: “We’ve been linked with Josh Doig, who plays in Scotland.

“He is a young guy who has been coined as the next Kieran Tierney. He seems to be the one that’s on the radar because we have let a lot go. Ideally, we need another left-back.”

Kapil Dev, the ICL chairman, has said taking legal action would be the only option left if the ICC doesn’t respond to the league’s bid for official recognition

Cricinfo staff19-Oct-2008New innovations at ICL?Kapil Dev said the umpire review system, which the ICC is now trialling, was started by the ICL. They also have some more innovations in the pipeline. “We also plan to award nine runs for a 90-yard hit,” he said. “And we are thinking about abolishing overthrows if there is a direct hit while going for a run-out.”Kapil Dev, the ICL chairman, has said taking legal action would be the only option left if the ICC doesn’t respond to the league’s bid for official recognition at its next board meeting, possibly in November. The ICL had issued a letter to the ICC to convene a board meeting after the talks with the BCCI failed.”I think we are on very good ground as far as a legal case goes,” Kapil said. “Eventuallywe will do that [take legal action]. “We are not the ones who are enforcing bans on players or umpires.”Subhash Chandra, chairman of the Essel Group, which owns the ICL, and Himanshu Mody, the league’s business head, had met BCCI president Shashank Manohar and N Srinivasan, the board’s secretary, in New Delhi but the talks barely lasted 15-20 minutes and they failed to arrive at a common ground.Manohar met officials of the ICL for the first time since the league was set up in April 2007 after its request for recognition came up for discussion at the ICC board meeting in Dubai earlier this month. It was decided at that meeting that Manohar would provide a written report to the ICC board “in due course” after discussions with the ICL.Kapil said he was unhappy with the way the talks were conducted. “I wasn’t there but I believe they said ‘you shut down the ICL then we will talk’. There is no point in talking after that. We will now wait for 21 days to decide our future plan of action.”

Journalist Jack Rosser believes that West Ham United need to upgrade on Craig Dawson in defence despite signing the centre-back on a permanent basis.

The defender became the Hammers’ first summer signing following his initial loan move from Watford.

The Hammers paid a total of £2m to bring the veteran into the club, per Transfermarkt, after he enjoyed an exceptional stay at the club last term.

Dawson made a total of 24 appearances in all competitions and scored four goals, helping the club to a sixth-placed finish as they achieved qualification for the group stages of the Europa League.

The Irons have still been linked with a number of central defenders this summer as David Moyes bids to improve his backline and Rosser is of the belief that they need to upgrade on the 31-year-old.

Indeed, the Hammers have been linked with potential moves for Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma and Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenkovic.

He said: “Craig Dawson was a success last season but he’s not quite up to the standard they want to maintain the level they’re at so they are going to have to invest there.

“If they do that, it knocks Issa Diop down the pecking order, then they’d be silly not to look at any interest that comes in.”

Sreesanth has not been included in Kerala’s squad for the opening game of the Ranji Trophy plate league against Goa

Cricinfo staff26-Oct-2008Sreesanth has not been included in Kerala’s squad for the two opening games of the Ranji Trophy Plate League. The fast bowler, however, is likely to be considered for the rest of the matches in the season subject to the result of his fitness test to be held at the National Cricket Academy on November 4.The 15-member squad announced in Kochi on Saturday will be led by Sony Cheruvathur and features three new faces, opener Sambasiva Sarma, allrounder KJ Rakesh and fast bowler Prasanth Parameshwaran. The team will be unchanged for the first two Plate League group matches, said Kerala Cricket Association secretary TC Mathew.Kerala kick off their campaign against Goa and will also take on Jharkhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in Group A while Assam, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Services, Tripura and Vidarbha make up Group B. A finish as one of the top two in the group will earn them a semifinal place and making the final would mean an automatic promotion to the Super League.Kerala: Sony Cheruvathur (capt), VA Jagadeesh (vice-capt), Prasanth Parameshwaran, Sebastian Antony, Sambasiva Sarma, Rohan Prem, Robert Fernandes, Sreekumar Nair, Raiphy Vincent Gomez, Vinan G Nair (wk), Tinu Yohanan, Prasanth Chandran, S Aneesh, P Prasanth, KJ Rakesh. Coach: Vedam Hariharan.

Tottenham goalkeeper Joe Hart is willing to take a pay cut to join Celtic, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Hart not Postecoglou’s target

Links to Hart emerged last week via transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

He claimed that both clubs have opened talks over a deal for the 34-year-old, with reports elsewhere claiming Ange Postecoglou hasn’t requested the signing of Hart.

Sky Sports picked up on the story on Thursday, claiming the Hoops have approached Spurs for Hart, and 48 hours on, Football Insider shared a further development on Saturday.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/celtic-updates-11/” title=”Celtic updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Source shares update

A Celtic source informed Football Insider that the Hoops have been given encouragement over a deal for Hart.

The Spurs man, thought to be on £30,000-a-week in north London, is willing to accept a drop in salary ahead of a potential move to Parkhead.

The Verdict: A gamble?

With Hart seemingly not Postecoglou’s target, a move for the experienced ‘keeper could be a gamble.

He’s made just 13 appearances in the last two seasons for Burnley and Tottenham, so may not arrive in Scotland at his top level.

Postecoglou has already used Vasilis Barkas and Scott Bain in his first three competitive games in charge and he’s still looking for his first clean sheet as Hoops boss.

Bringing in Hart, who has plenty of experience in the Premier League, appears a smart move on paper, but due to his lack of game time, it could take him a while to get up to scratch.

In other news: ‘Worst of the lot’, ‘Waste of a jersey’ – Many Celtic fans slam ‘imposter’ who ‘needs sacked’.

Antonio Conte could make one of his first major mistakes at Tottenham Hotspur after an intriguing claim emerged this week…

What’s the word?

According to football.london reporter Alasdair Gold, Spurs centre-back Joe Rodon is believed to be growing frustrated by his lack of game time, having failed to break into the starting lineup under any of Jose Mourinho, Nuno Santo or the recently-appointed Italian.

And as a result of his lack of minutes, he is one player who could look to depart Hotspur Way in January.

“Rodon has played more times for Wales than for Spurs and he is believed to be growing frustrated with his lack of game time,” he claimed in a recent Q&A with supporters.

“The centre-back is understood to be open to a loan move in January in order to get time on the pitch but much could depend on whether Spurs bring in a new centre-back, particularly if Cristian Romero’s injury proves to be serious.”

Since then, the reliable journalist has revealed that top-flight rivals are huge fans of the Wales international. “I think Brighton like him a lot. Whether Brighton look to bring him in, I think four, five months at a team like Brighton, or any team – I’d say he needs Premier League now – would be big,” he added, via his YouTube channel.

Conte catastrophe

This would be quite an error from Conte, who as Gold also states, has only started Rodon twice – the second of which saw him last just 54 minutes on the pitch before being replaced.

The 6 foot 4 colossus has never put a foot wrong since joining in an £11m deal from Swansea City over a year ago.

“You look at Rio Ferdinand and John Terry and there are elements of both in Rodon’s game,” once claimed Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe, whilst he led the squad for interceptions per 90 minutes (2.6) last season and had the best passing accuracy bar Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, too.

[snack-amp-story url = “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/tottenham-hotspur-latest-team-injury-team-news-updates-transfers-gossip-rumours-antonio-conte-thfc” title=”Read the latest Spurs news, transfer updates and much, much more!”]

That skill set should make him a seamless fit for Conte’s system as he’s evidently a trustworthy ball-playing option, especially one that plays regularly for his country.

Furthermore, the 52-year-old is without key summer signing Cristian Romero for an indefinite amount of time, so who knows when the Argentina international will return.

Another injury to his back-three could seriously harm the squad, even more so if Rodon is allowed to leave in January when in reality, he has the merits to be starting every week.

Earlier in the year, the 24-year-old defender was dubbed “flawless” and a “special player” for his Wales displays by journalist Ian Mitchelmore, and it’s surely a case of getting him to that standard in the Premier League.

Both Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez, who are likely to start, were part of Spurs’ defensive problems last season and Conte has even opted for full-back Ben Davies in the middle too.

It just does not make sense to offload the £18m-rated Rodon in January and doing so could hand the former Chelsea boss his first grave mistake in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium dugout.

AND in other news, Spurs unlikely to land key transfer target liked by Conte in January…

Football FanCast’s EFL spy reckons that Ben Purrington should make the next step and play for a “big” club like Sunderland.

Purrington has been with Charlton for three seasons now but started less than half of their games in League One last season following stiff competition in the full-back areas.

He did make 32 appearances in all competitions but went through long spells in the campaign without featuring due to the form of Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen.

Meanwhile, Sunderland only have one recognised left-back in their squad in Denver Hume after Callum McFadzean was released at the end of last season.

And the EFL insider exclusively told Football FanCast that 25-year-old Purrington, who previously scored against Sunderland in a League One play-off final, would meet the requirements needed to become a successful full-back at the Stadium of Light:

“He was part of a late play-off push and has a good year of game time under his belt to go and play for a big club like Sunderland.

“He fits the hard-working full back type clubs look for, and he is a good size to win headers and defend his posts.”

Both Sunderland and Charlton are both expected to be fighting for promotion next season, which means Purrington is in a healthy position should the Black Cats come knocking.

But in Lee Johnson, Sunderland arguably have the best manager in the division and are expected to end their four-year stay in the third-tier, meaning it would be a no-brainer for the defender.

Manchester City’s hopes of signing Jack Grealish this summer have taken a blow, as Aston Villa prepare to offer him a £200k per week deal to keep him at Villa Park.

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mail, Villa are preparing a club-record contract offer for their influential captain, who has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester City so far this summer after his exceptional performances for club and country in recent seasons.

Recent reports have also suggested that the 25-year-old was having second thoughts about a switch to the Etihad this summer and this new bumper contract with Dean Smith’s side could well be enough to convince him to stay with the Villans.

A blow for Guardiola?

It seems clear at the moment that Grealish and Harry Kane are City’s two top targets for the summer but Guardiola’s side kick off their campaign in less than two weeks when they take on Leicester City in the Community Shield at Wembley, and neither player looks to be any closer to joining than they were at the start of the transfer window.

Whilst the Spanish manager already has a plethora of attacking options in his side, Grealish was one of the standout performers in the Premier League last season, contributing six goals and 10 assists in just 26 Premier League appearances, averaging a hugely impressive 7.56 rating from WhoScored for his performances.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-manchester-city-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Read the latest Manchester City transfer rumours and news!”]

Guardiola is clearly a huge fan of Grealish, as he praised him back in 2019, saying:

“He is an incredible, incredible player – top player. I am happy for the fact he is an Aston Villa player and he got offers to move on but decided to stay there in the Championship.

“I like that they were promoted to the Premier League and he defended his club. He is a talented player – fast in the final third, passes, always creates something.

“He’s an exceptional player but too expensive for Manchester City!”

[freshpress-quiz id=“577936″]

Unfortunately for the City manager, it seems as if his prediction that he would be too expensive for City may still be true two years later, as it seems unlikely that a move for the £58.5m-rated attacker will still be on the cards should he commit to a new long-term contract at Aston Villa. Pep will be gutted to miss out on a deal for the England star.

And, in other news… Man City dealt cruel blow with “very special” gem, fans will be gutted

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Everton defender Michael Ball believes Jonjoe Kenny could be given a chance by Rafael Benitez this upcoming season.

The 24-year-old right-back has spent the last couple of campaigns out on loan at Celtic and German outfit Schalke.

Kenny has since been linked with a surprise move to Arsenal, with the MailOnline claiming that he is one option being considered in the event that Hector Bellerin departs the Emirates this summer.

If the Englishman decides to remain at Everton, though, Ball thinks he could be given an opportunity under Benitez.

“He’s going to have a good opportunity now,” the ex-Everton player told FFC. “Maybe he comes back to pre-season fully fit and ready to go and Rafa might give him that confidence. ‘Yeah, you could be our next number two. You’ll take over from Seamus Coleman or be a great back-up for Seamus.’ ”

With Coleman turning 33 this year, perhaps Kenny could return to succeed the Irishman or at least provide cover for him.

It probably would not be a total shock, though, to see the former England U21 international leave the club on another loan.

Talk coming out of the Netherlands suggests the Toffees are pushing hard to sign another right-back in Euro 2020 star Denzel Dumfries from PSV Eindhoven.