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Ireland were beaten by a Sri Lankan team vastly superior in skill but their resolve held out until the end

George Binoy at Lord's14-Jun-2009John Mooney and Regan West walked off a sun-bathed outfield at Lord’s to a rousing applause from a crowd that was appreciative and acknowledged the tenacity of Ireland’s performance. They were beaten by a Sri Lankan team vastly superior in skill but Ireland’s resolve held out until the end. Theirs’ was a performance worthy of the praise Kumar Sangakkara showered on them.Ireland were in the contest for the majority of the game. Their opening bowlers surprised everyone by restricting Sri Lanka to 28 for 2 during the Powerplay, the tournament’s second-lowest score after six overs. Mahela Jayawardene revived the innings with a graceful yet damaging half-century but Ireland fought back during the final overs to keep Sri Lanka to 144 for 9.Ireland’s fight didn’t end with their fielding and bowling effort. Their openers, William Porterfield and Niall O’Brien, added 59 and the rest of the batsmen kept Ireland within reach of the asking-rate for the bulk of the chase. It was only the relentless barrage of quality bowling from Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis that ultimately undid them. The margin of defeat was a meagre nine runs.”The way the Ireland team has played, I think it’s encouraging for them,” Sangakkara said. “They’re going to get stronger and stronger as long as they get some good young cricketers playing the game.”There were two moments that best captured Ireland’s attitude and both involved the brothers Kevin and Niall O’Brien. Sri Lanka were 140 for 9 when Mendis lofted the final ball of the innings towards long off. Kevin O’Brien could have easily settled to collect the ball on the bounce and concede only one run. The alternative was to attempt an improbable catch, a wicket that would have bowled Sri Lanka out and made Alex Cusack only the second bowler to take a five-wicket haul in Twenty20 internationals. From the way he charged in from the boundary, the thought of playing safe never crossed Kevin O’Brien’s mind. He dived selflessly, at full length, but the ball dropped short of him and bounced towards the boundary.His brother, Niall O’Brien, is showing the world what his team already knew: that he possesses deep reserves of toughness to complement his skill. Niall O’Brien was carrying an injury into this match – he had turned his ankle during the game against Bangladesh – but it didn’t prevent him from taking a sharp catch and pulling off another reflex stumping while standing up to Cusack’s medium-pace.It was Niall O’Brien’s batting, however, that won the hearts of all those watching at Lord’s. Unfortunately for him, he damaged his ankle again when he decided against a quick single and tried to turn around quickly. He needed extensive treatment from the physio before resuming his innings. A runner was not an option, for he had come into the game carrying the injury, but he didn’t even want one. He carried on, hobbling between the wickets, reverse-pulling Mendis and Murali, and while he was at the crease, Ireland had a chance.”He’s [Niall O’Brien] a tough character who soldiers on,” Ireland captain William Porterfield said. “It wasn’t easy when he went over on his ankle again. He is mentally tough and kept going. He didn’t even ask for a runner. It was never in his head. He’s got a great personality and he’s good to have around in the changing room.”Ireland’s performance today was better than the one they put in to beat Bangladesh and Porterfield acknowledged that. “I thought the lads gave everything, that’s what we asked for before the game. To restrict Sri Lanka to 140 is a fantastic effort. We were really good in the field and with the ball. We batted well too, just came up short in the end. To run a side like Sri Lanka so close, we’ll definitely take confidence from it.”Ireland came into the World Twenty20 with hopes of qualifying for the Super Eights and achieved that objective. Their realistic target for the second round was to win a game or two. Pakistan would do well to be on their guard at The Oval on Monday.

Rangers came from behind to beat Hibernian 2-1 on Sunday to move back to the top of the Scottish Premiership, overtaking Hearts after they had leapfrogged them on Saturday.

Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe scored for Steven Gerrard’s side, but another player who stood out was attacking midfielder Ianis Hagi.

The son of the legendary Gheorghe Hagi started out wide on the right and received a SofaScore rating of 7.2 for his performance. He had 82 touches of the ball and ended the match with an eye-catching five key passes, although his teammates failed to finish off the chances he created as he did not register an assist.

Hagi impressing in a Rangers shirt has been far from a rarity since he joined the club on a permanent deal from KRC Genk last summer. He spent the second half of the 2019/20 campaign on loan at Ibrox before completing a £3.15m switch to Scotland in 2020, after three goals and two assists in 13 matches for the Gers.

The Romanian international kicked on after signing on a permanent basis, registering eight goals and 13 assists in all competitions in the 2020/21 season. He averaged an excellent SofaScore rating of 7.02 in the Premiership, scoring seven and assisting 11 in just 23 starts. In the Europa League, he averaged a solid score of 6.87, registering one goal and one assist in five starts.

Supports enjoy watching him play due to his silky nature on the ball with end product to match his build-up. His goal contributions prove that he has the quality to produce in the final third, which makes him an exciting player for fans.

At the time of writing (04/10/21), Hagi is valued at £5.85m by Transfermarkt. This is an 85.7% increase from the £3.15m Rangers paid for him one year ago, showing how Ross Wilson has been able to pull off a masterclass in recruitment.

Wilson has brought in a talented young player with potential who suits the way Rangers play and his value has skyrocketed in just 12 months. If this trend continues then he could keep improving and either earn the Gers a healthy profit or be a fantastic player for the club in the long-term.

AND in other news, 18x possession lost: Wilson sent Rangers transfer warning by dud with 44% pass success…

Shakib Al Hasan led from the front as Bangladesh tightened the noose on West Indies to leave them struggling at 192 for 8 by tea on the third day in Grenada

The Bulletin by Sriram Veera19-Jul-2009Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outRyan Hinds was out for 2•Associated PressShakib Al Hasan led from the front as Bangladesh tightened the noose on West Indies to leave them struggling at 192 for 8 by tea before rains forced an early close of play on the third day in Grenada. David Bernard resisted with an unbeaten 61 but he didn’t find much support from his team-mates.In the second session, Bernard, who has been one of the better West Indies players of spin in this series, waged a fighting battle along with Sammy. Bernard played with soft hands while defending and didn’t waste any run-scoring opportunities. He had started with a sweetly timed four off Mahmudullah and a six over long-off against Shakib when rains came down to force an early lunch. Post the break, when Enamul Haque Jnr tempted him with flight, he hared down the track to unfurl straight drives for successive boundaries and he went right back to defend the arm-balls. The audacious shot of his stay was a slog-sweep against Enamul, bowling from round the stumps, to bring up his fifty.Sammy, who was dropped on 9 by Junaid Siddiqui at first slip off Shakib, kept the scorecard moving with his wristy dabs and cuts. West Indies were beginning to move forward with purpose when Bangladesh broke through with a triple strike. Sammy pulled a slightly short delivery from Enamul straight to midwicket, Chadwick Walton, who has had a poor series with the bat, failed yet again, and Ryan Austin fell cheaply. Walton couldn’t resist having a go at a flighted delivery from Shakib, edging a sharp catch to Mahmudullah at first slip, and Austin pulled a short delivery from Shahadat Hossain to mid-on to leave Bernard in danger of running out of partners.Bangladesh had set up the game with a sustained spell of quality spin bowling in the morning. You could sense a wicket was never far away with the spinners creating lots of problems and close-in fielders hovering around the bat. Only two batsmen – Travis Dowlin and Bernard – looked like offering resistance but when Dowlin fell to an umpiring mistake, Bangladesh held the advantage. Dowlin was batting positively, cutting at every opportunity and looking increasingly solid in defense, when he was given out lbw after shouldering arms to a delivery from Enamul that pitched around off stump and turned away.Shakib had got the early breakthroughs for Bangladesh, not through his conventional classy left-arm spin, but with the occasional delivery outside leg stump. Shakib teased Omar Phillips with ones that turned and went straight but now and then he drifted to the leg side. Phillips put a couple of them to the boundary but threw his wicket away off the next one down leg as he swung it to deep backward square leg. He had gifted his wicket in the first innings as well, swinging straight to deep midwicket. The next batsman to fall for the trap was Ryan Hinds, who gloved an attempted sweep down leg and the ball bounded off the keeper to leg slip.Mahmudullah, who opened with Shakib, struck next, ending Floyd Reifer’s misery with a full delivery on off stump. It was a marginal decision as it might have straightened to miss the off stump but the finger went up and West Indies had slid to 100 for 4. The hosts’ hopes for a competitive total rested on Bernard.

Luke Edwards has revealed that Arsene Wenger is a contender to be the next manager at Newcastle United after Steve Bruce is expectedly sacked.

The Lowdown: Bruce still in charge?!

It was widely reported by the media that Bruce was going to be sacked before their game at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, but he will now take charge of his 1000th match as a manager (Sky Sports).

Nonetheless, it could well be nothing more than a token gesture by the Kingdom of Saud Arabia (KSA) consortium, who may still look to bring someone else in after.

The Latest: Wenger in contention

Writing in his latest piece for The Daily Telegraph, Edwards has revealed that Wenger is among a number of names that are in contention to replace Bruce once he leaves St. James’ Park.

The journalist adds that he would be ‘ideal’ in terms of helping with other areas of development, such as the Academy, and that it would be ‘foolish’ to rule him out at this stage.

The Verdict: Ship has sailed

Even though Wenger has no doubt had a glittering career in management, as he won the Premier League title three times with Arsenal, including that famous 2003/04 Invincibles season (Transfermarkt), he is 71 years of age now, and so the new owners should be looking to a manager for the long-term.

Sir Alex Ferguson once dubbed him a ‘phenomenal’ manager despite a humiliating 8-2 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford over a decade ago now, but Wenger would risk tarnishing his legacy with the Gunners, the team he is very much associated with after 22 years at the North London club, should he go on manage another side in the top flight.

Nonetheless, there are younger managers available at the moment that the North East club should really be considering over Wenger.

In other news, find out which World Cup winner NUFC are moving ‘behind the scenes’ to sign here!

Ryan Sidebottom has earned a recall to England’s squad for the fourth Test at Headingley, while Jonathan Trott was also called up

Andrew Miller04-Aug-2009Ryan Sidebottom is back in the frame for the Ashes•Getty ImagesRyan Sidebottom has earned a recall to England’s squad for the fourth Test at Headingley, while Warwickshire’s in-form batsman, Jonathan Trott, has been drafted in as batting cover for the struggling Andrew Flintoff, as England seek to bounce back from a chastening final day at Edgbaston.Having begun the day with an outside chance of forcing victory in the third Test, England’s attack was instead left looking toothless by Australia’s middle order, in particular Michael Clarke and Marcus North, whose fifth-wicket stand of 185 saved the match with ease.What is more, England finished the game with serious concerns about the fitness and form of two of their bowlers – Flintoff, whose dodgy right knee restricted him to just 11 overs in the day and left his participation at Headingley in serious doubt, and Stuart Broad, whose hit-the-deck style caused Australia few problems for the third match running.Sidebottom’s inclusion on his former home ground is a clear indication that England intend to use swing as their preferred route to Ashes success. Trott’s inclusion, meanwhile, is a sure sign that the selectors are anxious about the fitness of Flintoff, as they seek extra batting cover in the event of having to rejig the balance of their side. Trott is currently averaging 99.75 in first-class cricket, but has not featured in an England squad since playing two Twenty20s against West Indies in 2007.”Both players have been in good form for their counties in recent weeks and as selectors we are delighted that competition for places in the side is so strong,” said the national selector, Geoff Miller. “Jonathan Trott has also performed really well for Warwickshire this season and his place in the squad is fully deserved. His inclusion will provide us with the option of playing six batsmen if we feel this is appropriate.”We will continue to closely monitor Andrew Flintoff’s fitness in the build-up-up to Headingley. His right knee will be reassessed by our medical staff over the next forty-eight hours and no final decision on his availability will be taken until closer to the start of the Test match.”Sidebottom’s inclusion in the squad was telegraphed by an ECB request to his county side Nottinghamshire, who have been asked to omit him from their team for tomorrow’s County Championship fixture at Horsham.Though he has not played a Test for England since the tour of the Caribbean in February, when he struggled with an Achilles injury and managed just one wicket in 59 overs on tour, Sidebottom’s accuracy and ability as a left-armer to bend the ball back into the right-hander has long been prized by the England selectors.He was England’s Player of the Year in 2008 after a remarkable return to the side after six years on the sidelines, in which he claimed 53 wickets in 12 months, including a haul of 24 in three Tests in a series-winning display in New Zealand. His comeback fixture took place in May 2007 at Headingley, where he learnt his trade with Yorkshire for six seasons from 1997, and he marked the occasion with eight wickets to set up an innings victory over West Indies.Lateral movement has been England’s key to success in an Ashes series in which they lead 1-0 despite being outbatted by six centuries to one in the three Tests to date. Australia’s batting has crumbled on the two occasions when England have moved the ball consistently through the air – in the decisive first innings at Lord’s, when they were shot out for 215, and then again on the second morning at Edgbaston, when they lost 7 for 77 in the session. Aside from those two occasions, Australia have amassed 1455 runs for the loss of 21 wickets.”When a wicket’s flat, it’s flat, and it’s very hard to kind of conjure something out of nothing,” said England’s captain, Andrew Strauss. “It’s something we’ve got to keep working on, because all around the world these days a lot of the wickets are like that. We’ve got to keep working on our plan Bs, what we can do as variations. It’s always a big challenge when there’s not much happening on the pitch.”That’s where Sidebottom’s innate ability comes into the equation, having prised out five wickets on a typically flat deck at Taunton last week. Although Broad contributed some very useful runs at No. 8, and was praised by his captain for producing his best spell of the series on the final afternoon at Edgbaston, he has so far managed six wickets at 57.50, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that England cannot afford to include two hit-the-deck bowlers against this current Australian batting line-up, especially if one of them, Flintoff, is less than fully fit.Strauss nevertheless remains “optimistic” that Flintoff will be fit for Headingley. “There is obviously some soreness there but I don’t think there’s anything that has deteriorated massively over the course of the game,” he said. “He needs to rest up well because back-to-back Tests are hard for any bowlers and we’ll see how he is on Thursday. We want to play our best team in every game we play but we’ve got to be conscious that if he’s not fit enough to do his job then he won’t play.”Steve Harmison remains on standby as Flintoff’s like-for-like replacement, having played through the pain of blistered feet to wrap up Durham’s sixth Championship win of the series against Sussex yesterday. His second-innings figures of 3 for 68 took his season tally to 53 wickets at 19.37, and underlined his stated “desperation” to play a part in the Ashes.”In choosing our squad for this Test match, we decided to omit a second spinner as Headingley is not usually a ground where two spinners are required and therefore Monty Panesar misses out on selection this time,” said Miller. “We will need to carefully assess the pitch and the overhead conditions at Headingley before finalising our eleven for this Test and the inclusion of Stephen Harmison and Ryan Sidebottom will give us different types of pace bowling options.”Squad 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Ravi Bopara, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Andrew Flintoff, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Graham Onions, 12 Steve Harmison, 13 Ryan Sidebottom, 14 Jonathan Trott.

A terrific all-round performance from Andrew Hall helped Northamptonshire secure the last semi-final spot in the Twenty20 Cup

Cricinfo staff30-Jul-2009
ScorecardA terrific all-round performance from Andrew Hall helped Northamptonshire knock out the Friends Provident champions, Hampshire, and secure the last semi-final spot in Twenty20 finals day. Defending 134 at Wantage Road, Hall took the last two wickets during a lower-order collapse to help the hosts bowl out Hampshire for 121 in the final over.Hampshire’s batsmen struggled from the start and they lost wickets frequently which deprived the chase of any sort of momentum. Hall struck the first blow, bowling Jimmy Adams for a duck during an impressive wicket-maiden, and Northamptonshire seized the advantage after Michael Lumb (26) and Sean Ervine (28), who was well held by Lee Daggett, departed mid-innings.Dimitri Mascarenhas held up one end and threatened to pull off the chase single-handedly by steering the innings to 121 for 6, only 13 runs away from a place in the final four. However, his dismissal for 36 – bowled by Johan van der Wath – triggered a rapid demise and Hampshire lost their last three wickets without further addition to the score. Hall took the last two wickets and finished with 3 for 25.Hall was his team’s batting hero as well. Northamptonshire had slipped to 16 for 3 and 40 for 4 after bring sent in, with Mascarenhas taking two top-order wickets, before Hall counter-attacked with 39 off 24 balls, his team’s top score. He added an unbeaten 52-run stand with van der Wath which lifted the total to 134 and although not a daunting total it proved enough.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left buzzing as some comments have emerged from James Tavernier.

As shared by Sky Sports Scotland, the Ibrox captain sat down with Livingston midfield player Marvin Bartley to talk about racism and their personal experiences of trying to combat it.

Tavernier talked about racial abuse he was sent on social media after a supposedly bad performance, recalling how he simply opted not to tell anyone about it, despite being ‘so infuriated’, admitting it has since been ‘burning inside’ of him.

Of course, the Ibrox outfit have been through their fair share of ordeals in this department, with Glen Kamara the victim of racial abuse last season, and more needs to be done to try and stamp racism out of football for good.

A lot of Light Blues supporters thought that Tavernier was truly inspirational with his words, representing the club well as their captain.

Rangers fans on Tavernier comments

These Bears fans were left buzzing as the comments made by Tavernier on racism were shared on Twitter:

“An inspirational Rangers captain along with another brilliant advocate for all black footballers who have received horrible racist abuse for years. Stay strong lads”

Credit: @JTBruce2

“I’m very proud @James_Tavernier is our captain. Exceptional player & a great ambassador; he’s one of my all time favourite Gers.”

Credit: @MosesBrox

“Excellent representatives of their clubs and Scottish football”

Credit: @ATCO31

“We’re with you Tav”

Credit: @Fabrice79_

“My captain.”

Credit: @angryscotsman81

“Personally, one of the most important moments of our season. @RangersFC one club.”

Credit: @RuaridhMacgreg2

In other news, find out what incident against Brondby left Gers fuming here!

Crystal Palace must move for wantaway Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette over the winter window, providing new manager Patrick Vieira with some genuine strength in depth.

What’s the story?

The 30-year-old is out of contract at the Emirates Stadium next summer and is already attracting interest from several potential suitors in the Premier League and overseas.

It was recently reported by 90min that Lacazette is set for an imminent exit from north London, with neither the player nor the club keen to reach an agreement.

The report stated that: “90min understands that talks between the Gunners and the player’s representatives have taken place, but there has been no offer of a new contract. What’s more, neither club nor player appear keen to try and reach an agreement, leading to a parting of ways.”

Since that initial link, it’s become increasingly apparent why Eagles chairman Steve Parish could do with signing a player of his talents.

Vieira needs him

Vieira oversaw a successful squad rebuild during his first few months at the Palace helm as several exciting young acquisitions replaced multiple experienced campaigners.

And although it’s been a promising start to life at Selhurst Park for the Frenchman, there are still some obvious gaps within his first-team squad.

While a more attack-minded right-back and a natural right winger may take priority for Vieira over the next few months, the opportunity to snap up a proven Premier League goalscorer may be too good of an opening to turn down.

After bagging a remarkable 129 goals and providing a further 43 assists in just 275 appearances for boyhood club Lyon, helping them win the French Cup along the way, the versatile forward earned himself a £46.5m move to Arsenal back in July 2017.

During his four-year stay with the Gunners, Lacazette has continued to find the back of the net on a regular basis, scoring 68 goals and laying on a further 29 assists in 175 outings in all competitions, claiming one FA Cup crown during his time on English shores.

Former Arsenal Arsene Wenger previously lauded the £19.8m-rated attacker for having the knack of being in the right place at the right time, saying: “Scoring goals is about being in the right place, and Lacazette has that quality.”

That’s an attribute that Vieira certainly needs in his squad.

And, in other news…Journalist drops worrying claim over £40m-rated Palace dynamo, fans will be concerned 

Sierra Leone’s flickering hopes of taking part in the Under-19 World Cup were finally ended when they failed to arrive in Canada before the expiry of the ICC’s September 5 deadline

Cricinfo staff07-Sep-2009Sierra Leone’s flickering hopes of taking part in the Under-19 World Cup were finally ended when they failed to arrive in Canada before the expiry of the ICC’s September 5 deadline. As a result they were kicked out of a tournament they had done so well to qualify for.While officially it is said that visa applications for the squad were submitted too late, it is being reported in local newspapers that their non arrival was caused by the refusal by the Canadian consulate in Ghana to issue visas on the grounds there was concern that some of the players would not be willing to return home at the end of the competition. Two Ugandan players sought political asylum after being granted visas to play in an ICC tournament in Australia in 2007, and since then it has proved much harder for some teams to get the documentation necessary for them to play in events.Afghanistan also had issues with entry visas and arrived in Canada the day after the tournament started, but they have been able to honour all their fixtures.With Kenya, Africa’s leading Associate side, already in effect barred from the competition after the ICC controversially withdrew their rights to host the 2010 U-19 World Cup, that leaves Uganda, who have struggled to make their mark, as the continent’s only country in the qualifying event.

Ijaz Butt has said that India are open to playing bilateral series at neutral venues, and that the ICC has agreed to factor it in in its Future Tours Programme

Cricinfo staff19-Sep-2009Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, has said that India are open to playing bilateral series at neutral venues, and that the ICC has agreed to factor it in in its Future Tours Programme (FTP) post 2012.The PCB had earlier complained that the original FTP excluded India-Pakistan Test tours because of the Indian government’s decision to put bilateral tours on hold after India’s scheduled tour of Pakistan last year was called off.”It is natural that governments of both countries will have to approve any cricket series but there have been efforts to revive Indo-Pak cricket and India has shown interest in playing on neutral venues,” Butt told .”We have received a fresh draft of the FTP which is two blocks of four years each, from 2012 to 2016 and to 2020. In it we have Tests, one-dayers and Twenty20 matches with India.”The terror attacks in Mumbai in November jeopardised India’s tour of Pakistan and relations between the two countries. The Indian government directed the BCCI to call off the tour alleging that Pakistan were involved in those attacks. Pakistan cricket was jolted again in March when the touring Sri Lankans were attacked when travelling in the team bus in Lahore in the middle of a Test match. With teams refusing to tour the country in the immediate future, the PCB has explored the option of playing in neutral venues and Butt said that India was welcome to the idea.Butt added that the FTP will be on the agenda when the board meets with the ICC next month in South Africa. “We need a busy FTP in order to survive and playing against India is the top priority, and that’s why we demanded changes in the FTP,” Butt said.Pakistan and India last played a bilateral series in 2007-08 in India, with the hosts winning the Test and ODI series. India last toured Pakistan in 2005-06, losing the Tests 1-0 and winning the ODIs 4-1. The teams have never played a Test at a neutral venue.