Scorecard Tasmania were in the driver’s seat at the end of the second day of the Pura Cup match against Queensland at Brisbane. Half-centuries by Travis Birt, Brett Geeves and Michael Di Venuto helped the Tigers gain a first-innings lead of 138 before their opening bowlers, Adam Griffith and Ben Hilfenhaus, rattled the top order to leave the home side at 3 for 54, still trailing by 84.Resuming at 1 for 70, Di Venuto and Birt added 72 for the third wicket to take them closer to Queensland’s total of 196. Di Venuto fell 12 runs short of his century, caught by Martin Love off Nathan Rimmington, and his dismissal sparked a middle-order collapse.After being reduced to 6 for 214, Tasmania regained control through Birt and Geeves, who added 57 for the seventh wicket. Geeves struck 12 boundaries in his entertaining 65 off 77 balls but was lucky to be let off on 38 when Andy Bichel spilled a sharp return chance. Birt also made 65 and played a more sedate knock.Dismissed for 334, the Tasmanian opening bowlers soon had Queensland reeling after picking up three wickets for five runs. Matthew Hayden was forced to drop down the order due to an injured finger, and his absence was felt as Griffith accounted for Martin Love and Jimmy Maher in successive overs.Love chased a wide delivery outside off stump, edging to Daniel Marsh at first slip, and in the next over Hilfenhaus got the crucial wicket of Clinton Perren, who was caught behind first ball. James Hopes reached 40 by stumps and was being assisted by Lachlan Stevens.
Brett Lee says Australia will spend a few days “taking the pressure off” before Saturday’s tour game against Essex at Chelmsford. Australia, who narrowly lost the fourth Test on Sunday and are behind 2-1 in the series, will have two days in London before starting their preparation for the final Test at The Oval starting on September 8.Lee said the team was very upset and disappointed to lose by three wickets after “a very tough four days” at Trent Bridge. “We can’t reflect over what’s happened in the past too much,” he told . “We can have a few days away from cricket, we can enjoy it and have a game of golf. Do whatever takes the pressure off.”Since returning to the Test side at Lord’s, Lee has made valuable contributions with 152 runs at 30.40, including being not out at the end of the second and third Tests, and 19 wickets at 33.68. “Physically it’s been a tough four days, it’s been a tough four months,” he said. “It’s a matter now of going to freshen up.”
The Pakistan board has come in for severe criticism from the Senate Committee on Sports and Culture for the team’s poor performance in the home series against India. In a meeting held with PCB officials – including Shaharyar Khan, the chairman, and Rameez Raja, the chief executive – the committee was especially critical about the ad hoc nature of decision-making by the board.According to a report in The News, a Pakistan daily, Enver Baig, one of the senators in the committee, lashed out against the PCB: “I spoke of ad hocism in the board for the last five years today and asked Shaharyar Khan how long this was going to continue and he had no answer to give.”But he has promised that in three months time constitutional amendments would be made but the committee also told him categorically that he will not bulldoze any amendments in the constitution and he will place all the intended amendments before a general body meeting and only implement and incorporate them if they are approved by the general body.”Baig was also unhappy with the fact that Rameez continued to do commentary on television and occupy a senior position in a bank despite holding a full-time job with the board. The report stated that Rameez had the permission of the ICC and Pervez Musharraf, the chief patron of the PCB, to hold all these positions, but Baig wasn’t convinced. “Rameez informed us he would be going to South Africa shortly on a commentary assignment, we asked Shaharyar who will run board affairs in his absence on a day to day basis.”The manner in which cricket is organised in the country has come in for adverse reactions following Pakistan’s defeat in the Tests and the one-dayers against India, a series in which the entire country invested plenty of time, money and emotion. “Even the heavy expenditure can be justified if the team had produced good results against India,” Baig explained. “But they disappointed a lot.”The committee is supposed to file a report on Pakistan cricket, and Baig warned that the board could expect more uncomfortable questions in future. “The senate committee’s look into Pakistan Cricket Board affairs is not over as yet. We are not finished as yet and will be holding two more meetings in Lahore and Karachi before finalizing a report.”
James Anderson has become the youngest player ever to take a hat-trick for Lancashire, as Essex slumped to 97 for 7 at lunch on the first day of the Frizzell County Championship Division One match at Old Trafford.
Anderson was already a shoo-in for his Test debut against Zimbabwe at Lord’s next week, but he emphasised his readiness by trapping Nasser Hussain lbw first-ball for 0 with a beautiful inswinging yorker, the second of his three wickets.Darren Robinson had already fallen for 11, caught in the gully by Alec Swann, and Anderson completed the hat-trick with the first ball of his next over, when Will Jefferson was caught behind by Warren Hegg for 19.It was the first hat-trick at Old Trafford since Dominic Cork famously skittled the West Indies in 1995, and the last Lancashire bowler to complete the feat was Mike Watkinson, their current coach, against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1992. Anderson’s achievement overshadowed the Lancashire debut of Carl Hooper, the former West Indies captain, who has gained special dispensation to replace the injured Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh.It was a mixed day for England captains. Essex’s captain Ronnie Irani, who led England’s one-day side in a tour match at Bowral last winter, also fell for a first-ball duck, but Michael Vaughan scored 103 for Yorkshire against Northamptonshire, his first century of the season.
It was the 68th match between these two sides. The record now reads :India 35, Sri Lanka 28, abandoned 5.
Umpires Asoka de Silva and Peter Manuel were officiating in their 10thand 35th match respectively.
Saurav Ganguly was missing a ODI for the third time in his careerafter being suspended by ICC match referee. He could not play againstAustralia at Kochi on April 1,1998 as he had been suspended by SouthAfrican match referee Peter Vander Merwe for showing dissent whengiven out by umpire David Shepherd in India’s first innings atBangalore in 1997-98. Ganguly was also handed over a one-matchsuspension by Australian match referee Barry Jarman for excessiveappealing in the Kanpur ODI against Zimbabwe on December11,2000.Ganguly thus,could not appear in the following match at Rajkoton December 14,2000. Ganguly was also captaining India at that time.He thus achieved the dubious distinction to become first captain to besuspended for a match on two separate occasions.
Rahul Dravid was leading India for the second time in his career. Hehas now led India to victories in both the matches he has captained,the other occasion being the Rajkot one-dayer against Zimbabwe lastyear.
Sri Lanka’s total (183) was its lowest in a completed innings againstIndia in Sri Lanka. The previous lowest was 211 at this same ground onJuly 25,1993.
Sri Lanka’s total was the lowest ever total in ODI history to includea century stand for the opening wicket. The previous lowest was 189 byAustralia against South Africa at Melbourne on December 9,1993 withMark Taylor and Michael Slater putting on 105. The following tablelists lowest such totals :
Total
For
Vs
Venue
Date
Partnership- Batsmen
183
Sri Lanka
India
Colombo RPS
28-07-2001
103- Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana
189
Australia
South Africa
Melbourne
09-12-1993
105- Mark Taylor & Michael Slater
190
Australia
West Indies
Sydney
18-01-1980
103- Rick McCosker & Julian Weiner
194
England
West Indies
Lord’s
23-06-1979
129- Mike Brearley & Geoff Boycott
196
England
Australia
Sydney
06-12-1994
100- Mike Atherton & Alec Stewart
198
South Africa
Pakistan
Durban
09-02-1993
101- Andrew Hudson & Kepler Wessels
Note : Only completed innings have been taken intoconsideration
When Amay Khurasiya and Virender Shewag opened the Indian innings itwas the fourth opening combination for India in this tournament andfifth in last five matches. India opened with Ganguly and Tendulkar inthe final of Coca Cola Cup at Harare on July 7,2001. With injuredTendulkar out of the team,Yuvraj Singh and Ganguly opened the inningsin India’s first league match in this tournament against New Zealandon July 20. Ganguly then chose to bat in the middle order in the nextmatch against Sri Lanka on July 22 and Amay Khurasiya and Yuvrajopened the innings. When India played against New Zealand on July 26,Ganguly decided to return to his regular position and opened theinnings with Virender Shewag making it five opening combinations infive matches !! .However this is not an Indian record. India playedwith different opening combinations in seven consecutive matches fromJanuary 18,1981 to June 2,1982 and from October 3,1984 to December27,1984.
The wicket of Rahul Dravid was 200th for Chaminda Vaas in ODIs. He wasappearing in his 163rd match. Vaas became third Sri Lankan afterMuttiah Muralitharan (246 wickets) and Sanath Jayasuriya (202 wickets)and 15th bowler overall to do so. Incidentally he became only thethird left arm bowler in ODIs to reach this milestone after PakistaniWasim Akram (440) and fellow teammate Sanath Jayasuriya (202).
VVS Laxman was winning his maiden MoM award in his 24th match.
Liverpool’s revival continued with a hard-fought win at Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, but it would be remiss to avoid the glaring issues that remain within Arne Slot’s squad.
The Premier League champions will not defend their title this season. Too much is wrong, with tactical imbalances persisting and key personnel beginning to succumb to injuries.
Alexander Isak, 26, is unlikely to play a significant part again this season – if any – after breaking his leg against Spurs while in the process of scoring. Micky van de Ven clattered into him. Liverpool chiefs are bleak in their outlook, and expect a lengthy layoff.
Now, if it wasn’t clear before, do Liverpool need to push and sign a new forward during the January transfer window.
Who Liverpool are looking to sign in January
At the top of Liverpool’s Christmas wish list is Bournemouth superstar Antoine Semenyo, whose eight-goal and three-assist return in the Premier League has sparked something of a frenzy for his signature, which is available for £65m for the first ten days of the winter transfer window.
Unsurprisingly, competition for the Ghana international is thick, and though reports are conflicting, transfer insider Ben Jacobs believes “Manchester United and Manchester City are the leading contenders.”
Sporting director Richard Hughes understands the severity of Liverpool’s attacking crisis, with Isak ruled out indefinitely and Mohamed Salah away at AFCON.
Therefore, a move could be made for West Ham United captain Jarrod Bowen, with TEAMtalk revealing that Liverpool would be ready to act on their long-standing interest in the right-sided forward by making a bid, but only if the player becomes available.
Indeed, Irons owner David Sullivan would only allow him to leave if an offer exceeded £100m, and even then, it might not be enough. The Hammers are five points adrift from safety in the Premier League, and losing Bowen at the campaign’s midpoint would all but condemn them.
Why Liverpool should sign Jarrod Bowen
Cast your mind back to August 2023. Salah is being courted by suitors in the Saudi Pro League, and Liverpool are to reject an offer worth £150m for their Egyptian superstar.
Salah was and is irreplaceable, but Bowen had been earmarked as a potential successor at the time, having been said by talkSPORT host Tony Cascarino to have entered “the Salah club” due to his prolific, intelligent style off the attacking right flank.
The 29-year-old Bowen’s vast Premier League experience suggests he could have a lot to give Slot’s Liverpool over the next few years, should a move indeed be in the pipeline.
He might have only scored five goals – supplying one assist too – across 17 league outings this term, but the £150k-per-week talent’s consistency and talismanic reputation at the London Stadium suggest he could add more stability and dynamism to Liverpool’s right side, much needed if Salah is to leave, as has been mooted after his outburst at Elland Road earlier in December.
Bowen is a star and he’s a leader. This is exactly the kind of player Liverpool need to maintain the Salah-esque presence that may or may not be wrenched from Slot’s squad for good in the coming weeks.
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And it’s not as if Bowen lacks athleticism and pace. In fact, Sofascore record that he averages 4.6 duels and 1.5 dribbles per match in the Premier League this season. Semenyo averages 6.1 duels (though a lot of this is due to his aerial prowess), and he has completed 1.6 dribbles per game.
Given that FBref data shows that Semenyo is one of Bowen’s most statistically comparable rivals in the Premier League this season, it’s clear that Liverpool could hit the jackpot with this one, signing a player whose loyalty and talent over in east London could be attributes to endear him to the Reds fanbase swiftly.
West Ham – Record Premier League Scorers
Player
Apps
Goals
Michail Antonio
268
68
Jarrod Bowen
210
60
Paulo Di Canio
118
47
Mark Noble
414
47
Carlton Cole
216
41
Data via West Ham
After all, Semenyo is earning quite considerable praise for his clinical edge, but Bowen still ranks among the top 9% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for non-penalty goals scored per 90 – and in a rather uninspiring West Ham team at that.
Liverpool certainly wouldn’t be happy to pay a £100m sum for Bowen’s services, but a deal could be struck for a more agreeable fee, especially if the Three Lions star agitates for a long-fated move to Merseyside, playing a role that Semenyo may well not be able to match, should he join Liverpool instead.
He's as good as Van Dijk: Liverpool make £66m Guehi upgrade a key target
Liverpool have now made this £66m star a top target heading into 2026, who could be an upgrade on going after Marc Guehi.
Robin van Persie, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud. Between them the three strikers scored 81 goals and assisted 35 others in a combined 122 games last season. The signing of Lukas Podolski was, even in the eyes of the most pessimistic Arsenal supporters, never truly seen as a replacement for Robin van Persie. Reassurance came in the form of his performances for Germany in which he is deployed on the wing and his admission that he didn’t always expect to be number one.
But what about Olivier Giroud? The news announced yesterday from a variety of sources seemed to indicate that every man and their dog had spoken to an insider source, either at Arsenal or Montpellier, who had confided in them the most secret of secrets – that Giroud had agreed a contract with Arsenal. With the £12m deal to be announced after Euro 2012, just what does it mean for Arsenal and van Persie?
It didn’t take long for a whole host of self-appointed-experts to formulate definite and partisan opinions on the consequences of this, seemingly certain, signing.
For some he is the poor man’s replacement for our outward bound captain, for others he is the target man van Persie has been waiting for as a partner and for those truly cynical fans Giroud is the reincarnation of one Marouane Chamakh. But with less gel, obviously.
So, which is it – the captain’s usurper or Marouane mark II? Well, let’s look at the facts. First of all, it’s not hard to dispel the myth and show that Giroud is comfortably a better player than Arsenal’s desperately underwhelming Moroccan forward. Olivier Giroud has scored over twenty league goals in two of the last three seasons and is a natural goal scorer. Chamakh has never managed to score more than thirteen league goals in a season and was always more of a link up striker.
Moreover, Giroud, at Montpellier, is used to playing the same system that he would presumably be asked to play at Arsenal – flanked by two wingers with a playmaker in just behind. Finally, at six foot three and weighing just under fourteen stone Giroud is easily better built for the physicality of the Premier League.
As simple as it is to highlight the disparity Giroud and Arsenal’s lesser strikers it is easy to highlight the same situation between van Persie and Giroud. The Dutchman is a proven, world-class striker at the peak of his career who, last year, was the top scorer as well as the PFA Player of the Year for arguably the best, and toughest, league in the world. Olivier Giroud may have been joint top scorer for Ligue 1 last year but the fact remains he has spent most of his career playing in the lower echelons of French football.
I’m not saying that means he’s necessarily not up to scratch, the same was true of Laurent Koscielny and he had a superb second season for Arsenal, but it does indicate that he will struggle to ever fully replace a player like van Persie. But maybe we’re missing the point. Perhaps neither Podolski nor Giroud are replacements for van Persie on their own, perhaps the Arsenal hierarchy view their combined purchase as a solid replacement for Robin – Giroud and Podolski scored a combined total of 42 goals last season, van Persie scored 37.
It would be understandable if Gazidis and Wenger, resigned to losing their captain, had gone out and bought two players to replace him. The problem is, however, that it is not a progressive step by Arsenal. Who knows, maybe these two strikers together could replace him, but Arsenal only just scraped third this season, do they really want risk having a similar season again? They don’t need to swap and replace players; they need to improve the squad by adding to it.
Clearly there are two sides to every coin; the other being that Arsenal could get over £20m for van Persie this summer and he is unlikely to be the same player next year. The van Persie situation is remarkably similar to that of Thierry Henry in the summer of 2006. What happened there? Henry signed a new deal with a huge sign on bonus and effectively cost Arsenal around £10m to keep him for a year, a year in which he spent most of his time on the treatment table. The same could easily be possible for Robin. Last year was a gruelling physical challenge for van Persie and his resting period will be minimal because of his involvement in Euro 2012 (just as it was for Thierry at the 2006 World Cup). If the Dutchman does stay Arsenal risk either losing him for nothing if he refuses to sign a new deal or they risk wasting vast sums of money on a player who is far from guaranteed to be fit all season.
This would be a worrying thought for Arsenal fans, were it not for the other aspects that van Persie brings to the club.
Forget the money, forget the worry of whether all these strikers can play together. Robin van Persie is Arsenal’s captain, he holds this team together. To sell him might not only take Arsenal back to the gloomy days of William Gallas’ reign, devoid of morale with a distinct sense of disunity, but it also sends the message that every summer Arsenal will sell their best players. It is an issue that needs to be dealt with and there is no time like the present.
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You hear people saying that Giroud, Podolski and van Persie won’t all be able to play together, that there will be problems and damaged egos. Who cares? If these players don’t like competition for places then they shouldn’t sign for big clubs. Every successful team has decent squad depth. This is Arsenal’s chance to have a good array of strikers in the prime of their lives for the first time since Kanu, Henry, Bergkamp and Wiltord were all on the books; and we know what kind of success that lead to.
If Arsenal sign Olivier Giroud they have a chance to change their fortunes. They have the chance to forget that they’re a conservatively run business and remember that you have to speculate to accumulate. Arsenal football club have to forget what they ‘know’ about how you run a business; even the most risk averse football clubs must put themselves on the line occasionally, this is Arsenal’s chance.
Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo, whose hat-trick led the side to a 3-0 friendly win over Chivas of Guadalajara.After being frustrated by the Mexican side’s goalkeeper Luis Michel in the first half in San Diego, Ronaldo finally broke the shackles in the 73rd minute and the star struck twice more in the next nine minutes to wrap up the win for the tourists.
Mourinho was delighted with Ronaldo’s performance, and the coach is pleased with the progress his team is making on their now-routine pre-season tour of North America.
“Cristiano is Cristiano. He always has the joy, the motivation and the pride to play, be it in China, Japan or the USA,” Mourinho said.
“He himself is pleased to have played well and scored. We knew we wanted to play well and we managed that.”
“This was very good training for us. I have been coming to the USA for many years with Chelsea and now Madrid. We played against American and Mexican teams, though never Chivas from America. They are tough games against good sides, who play aggressively.”
“That is what we need. There is no need to win games 10-0. We need to play against good teams, who give us some problems.”
Mourinho was also impressed by the form of Brazilian playmaker Kaka, who he feels is ready to resume top form after a lean few years.
“I always knew that what Kaka needed was to have a proper pre-season. The World Cup, injuries, a last-minute transfer to Real Madrid have combined to ensure that he has not had a proper pre-season in five or six seasons,” he said.
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One story will undoubtedly dominate in the run up to this game which will prove handy for Roy Hodgson, who’ll welcome the distraction from his side’s terrible away record this season. He’s unlikely to escape the questions altogether but with Alan Pardew taking up more of the column inches, Hodgson can focus more on repeating the level of performance which saw his side cruise past Aston Villa at Anfield on Monday. Something which he’s struggled to do so far this season. And pretty much every other season he’s managed in the Premier League.
If positives can be found in Liverpool’s away record it comes from their last four games. Other than the disappointing showing against Stoke, they looked good for 45 minutes at White Hart Lane, handed Bolton their only home defeat of the season and picked up a point against Wigan. It’s not exactly title winning form but if Liverpool can start picking up more points away from Anfield then his hopes of making it in to one of the Champions League places come the end of the season may not be as slim as they currently appear. Especially not if some wise purchases are made in January.
The big question for this weekend’s game is just what effect the senseless sacking of Chris Hughton followed by seemingly equally senseless appointment of Alan Pardew will be on the players. If, as expected, recent events cause turmoil in the St James’ dressing room, Liverpool could continue their recent good record over Newcastle and secure just their second away win of the season at evens.
FREE £20 Bet – Pardew is 11/4 to get off to a winning start
Strangely it was without Gerrard, Torres and Carragher that the reds put in one of their more impressive displays of the season, albeit against a Villa side with a similarly poor away record. Not having them in the side, particularly Gerrard and Torres, will allow other players to take a more prominent role. Mareilles has more freedom to get forward from midfield and Babel may play from the start instead of getting ten minutes at the end of games, a situation which seems more conducive to getting a good performance from him. The Dutch player finished well against Villa and is possibly a better option than Ngog to partner Torres if Hodgson opts to play two up top.
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Top Odds:
Babel at 6/1 to score first is worth a look. Kyrgiakos at 9/1 to score anytime or even 25/1 to score first. Liverpool -1 goal at 11/4 could be a winner. The Reds have also won three of the last four by a scoreline of 3-0 which is a 17/1 shot. Liverpool to win at evens.
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Juventus have given up in the race for Arsenal hitman Robin van Persie, and will turn their attention to Liverpool’s Luis Suarez and Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, according to Mirror Football.
The newly-crowned Italian champions are expected to strengthen in the summer in preparation for Champions League football next season, with a new frontman high on the wishlist.
The Bianconeri had been interested in bringing Van Persie to Turin, but the Dutch international is now in a tug-of-war between Arsenal and Manchester City, and as such Juventus are ready to drop their pursuit.
Suarez has been involved in controversies on and off the pitch this season for the Reds, and the Italian giants are eyeing up a move for the Uruguayan.
Meanwhile, Dzeko is fourth choice in Roberto Mancini’s preferences in attack at City, and is widely expected to leave the Etihad Stadium this summer in search of regular first-team football.
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