All posts by h716a5.icu

Scott Styris may have been coming back from injury this summer, but he had reward for all his hard work when awarded the Northern Districts Cricketer of the Year Award last week

Lynn McConnell10-Apr-2002Scott Styris may have been coming back from injury this summer, but he had reward for all his hard work when awarded the Northern Districts Cricketer of the Year Award last week.His performances for ND in both first-class and one-day cricket made him the obvious candidate for the award which was sponsored by Air New Zealand Travelcentre.During the summer in the State Championship, he scored 644 runs at 44.00 and included among those runs was an innings of 212 not out against Otago. At the time it was an ND record but James Marshall bettered it a week later.However, he also took 28 wickets for ND to complete a fine all-round summer.Appearances in the State Shield were limited due to the fact he was selected for New Zealand to play in the Australia tri-series in which he played in four games.But among his Shield performances was an outstanding 82 not out against Auckland at Eden Park’s outer oval to win the game in the final over.Styris is now a member of the New Zealand team in Sharjah and Pakistan.Nicola Browne was awarded the women’s cricketer of the year. She has had a meteoric rise in women’s cricket, despite being 18. She was the leading ND wicket-taker in the State League and also had the best economy rate.She was one of the success stories of the New Zealand A team’s tour to Australia, and she was asked to stay on as a member of the New Zealand women’s team for the annual series against Australia. She played in all three matches and then played another match in New Zealand in the return series. She is a member of the New Zealand Academy at Lincoln University this year.Ian Butler was named the Young Cricketer of the Year. He made his ND debut in the State Championship in late-November and by February was a member of the New Zealand team.He made five first-class appearances for ND taking 17 wickets at 24.Other awards made were:Basil McBurney Trophy – Bay of Plenty; Fergus Hickey Rosebowl – Bay of Plenty; Glenview International Hotel Cup – Northland; Outstanding services to coaching – Wynne Bradburn; Allan McBride Trophy for service to Junior Cricket – Per Rorholt; Umpire of the Year – Tony Hill; Fielder of the Year – Robbie Hart; Batsman of the Year – James Marshall; Bowler of the Year – Joseph Yovich.

Former Premier League manager Lawrie Sanchez told The Transfer Tavern that Steven Gerrard would struggle to reject the Tottenham job, but believes he should stay at Rangers.

It’s strongly believed that Gerrard will eventually replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, but following the Reds’ impressive end to the campaign, that’s incredibly unlikely to be the case this summer.

As a result, the Rangers boss is constantly being linked with other jobs, one of which being Spurs, who are still without a manager more than six weeks after Jose Mourinho’s sacking.

Gerrard has overseen Rangers for three seasons, and finally guided them to their first Scottish Premiership title for more than a decade.

It was more the manor that has seen the former Liverpool midfielder draw the plaudits, though. His Rangers outfit reached 100 points for the first time ever and managed to remain unbeaten throughout the league campaign, ending Celtic’s hopes of an unprecedented 10 in a row.

But would he snap up the opportunity to join Spurs or remain at Rangers, who’re now back in the Champions League?

Sanchez told The Transfer Tavern:

“I think he’d find it difficult to turn down. Klopp is going to be there for another couple of years at least.

“If I was Stevie G, I would win the title with Rangers again and wait and see – Klopp has had a poor year. If he goes to Spurs, and fails, you saw what happened with Lampard at Chelsea, it’s held against you.

“If offered, very difficult to turn down. If I were him, I’d think ‘I’m going to do the treble with Rangers’ and by this time next year, the Liverpool situation might have improved.”

LAHORE, May 29: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Wednesday named players for the regional academies at Karachi, Muridke, Rawalpindi and Peshawar that will begin June 3

Our Sports Correspondent30-May-2002LAHORE, May 29: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Wednesday named players for the regional academies at Karachi, Muridke, Rawalpindi and Peshawar that will begin June 3.Haroon Rashid and Rashid Khan were named coaches for Karachi; Azhar Khan and Aaqib Javed for Muridke; Masood Anwar and Naveed Anjum for Rawalpindi and Farrukh Zaman and Ehteshmauddin for Peshawar.KARACHIBatsmen: Asha Sabir, Saqib Zia, Wajid Ali, Khalid Latif, Atif Ali Zaidi, Asim Kamal, Ariz Kamal, Mohammad Farooq, Faisal Iqbal (all Karachi), Manzoor Ahmad, Arun Lal (both Quetta), Hameedullah (Pishin), Taj Wali (Hyderabad), Syed Rehan (Mirpurkhas).Pacers: Tabish Khan, Sharif Asadullah, Adeel Malik, Owais Athar (all Karachi), Mohsin Razaullah (Sukkur)Spinners: Ali Zafar, Azam Hussain, Irfanuddin (all Karachi), Abdur Sattar (Larkana), Agha Tahir (Mirpurkhas), Pir Zulfiqar Dadu), Mohammad Qasim (Quetta)Wicketkeepers: Amin-ur-Rehman, Naeem KHan (both Karachi)Local boys: Mohammad Umair Shahzad, Danial Ahsan, Noman Alvi, Umair Mumtaz, Fahad IqbalMURIDKEBatsmen: Salman Butt, Khaqan Arsal, Adnan Raza, Kashif Mahmood, Kamran Sajid (all Lahore), Naeemuddin, Kamran Younis (both Gujranwala), Javed Husain (Sheikhupura), Shahid Yousuf (Sialkot), Mohammad Ali (Multan), Asif Iqbal (Bahawalpur)Pacers: Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Raza, Arslan Mir, Junaid Zia (all Lahore), Tanvir Ahmad (Sahiwal), Nadeem Javed, Mohammad Yasin (both Sheikhupura), Samiullah Niazi (Sargodha), Farhan Ahmad (Multan)Spinners: Hafiz Bilal, Raza Ali Dar, Azhar Ali (all Lahore), Majid Majeed (Rahimyar Khan), Mobashir Ahmad (Bahawalpur), Manzoor Amjad (Sialkot)Wicketkeepers: Adnan Akmal, Shahbaz Iqbal, Zulqarnain Haider (all Lahore).Local boys: Irfan Haider, Shahid Siddique, Khalil Ahmad, Mohammad IshaqueNWFPBatsmen: Zeeshan Mohsin, Aftab Khan, Mohammad Fayyaz, Mohammad Idrees, Yasir Hameed (all Peshawar), Abid Khan, Sajid Khan, Mumtaz Khan, Mohammad Shaique (all Fata), Mohammad Faheem, Mohammad Naeem (D.I.Khan), Akbar Badshah (Nowshera)Bowlers: Kamran Ali, Shehryar Khan, Abdul Nasir, Dilawar Khan, Manzoor Khan, Umar Gul (all Peshawar), Hilal Afridi, Riaz Afridi, Shakir-ur-Rehman, Imran Khan (all Fata), Aizaz Khan (Bannu), Abid Iqbal (Kohat), Imran Durrani (Nowshera), Yasir Shah (Swabi)Local boy: Ahmad JanRAWALPINDIMasood Asim, Nauman Awan, Shoaib Jan, Zahid Mehmood, Salman Saeed, Osama Shabbir, Ameer Khan, Shahid Mehmood, Saad Altaf, Haseeb Amjad, Muneer Ansari, Najaf Shah (all Rawalpindi), Mohammad Altaf, Mohammad Fayyaz, Zeeshan Nadir, Saifur Rehman, Raja Kashif, Talat Hussain (all Islamabad), Sohrab Aslam, Afaq Rahim, Mir Usman, Abdul Shakoor, Yasir Ali, Nadeem Sikander (both Attock), Amjad Waqas (Haripur), Imran Khan (Haripur Hazara), Naved Latif (Sargodha).Local boys: Yasim Murtuza, Sohail Akram, Zaheeruddin Babar, Danish Hanif, Riaz Afridi, Atif Khan.APP ADDS: The executive council of the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), that met on Wednesday, decided to launch academies in each of the seven zones of Karachi and one at KCCA Cricket Academy.The council decided to ask the zonal office hearers to submit their proposals in this behalf to secretary KCCA by June 10.The council also decided to launch the KCCA annual talent hunt program. Inter-zonal U-15, U-17 and U-19 tournaments will be organized after conducting open trials in each zone.The council also decided to the start of inter-zonal U-19 cricket tournament from June 9.It also approved the plan to start the construction work at the KCCA Stadium in the right earnest from early next month.

Southampton have recently been linked with a move for Benfica full-back Nuno Tavares, and he could be a superb addition to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side ahead of next season.

According to Portuguese news outlet O Jogo (via Sport Witness), the Saints, Brighton and Newcastle are all interested in signing the 21-year-old this summer but will face competition from Serie A giants Napoli.

The report suggests that he could be available for €15m (£12.9m) this summer and, although this is slightly over the budget Hasenhuttl has set ahead of the transfer window, it would be worthwhile for a player of Tavares’ potential.

The Portuguese defender has made 41 appearances for Benfica in his senior career thus far, contributing one goal and seven assists in that time, whilst he also has some experience playing in the Europa League.

This season saw Tavares make just seven starts in the Portuguese top flight with Benfica but his performances last season, when he made 11 appearances, contributing one goal and four assists, demonstrates his obvious ability.

Back in January, football agent Cesar Boaventura claimed that Manchester United were interested in the young defender and was full of praise for him, saying: “He’s a fast player, one of the fastest players in the whole Portuguese league.

“He’s young. Maybe he’s not a player ready for a big one. But he could be in the future. Within a couple of years he can become one of the best in Europe.”

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

Southampton are in desperate need of a left-back ahead of next season following the news that Ryan Bertrand would leave St Mary’s on the expiry of his contract, and Tavares could prove to be his long-term replacement.

Hasenhuttl would surely appreciate a versatile player who can play as both a left-back and a right-back, and Tavares has featured on the right on six occasions in his career thus far. He could yet prove to be a back-up to Kyle Walker-Peters, which immediately marks him out as someone who the Austrian would appreciate having in his side next season, given his desire for players to adapt to a number of roles.

Therefore, Martin Semmens should definitely try and bring Tavares to St Mary’s this summer, as he could prove to be a superb addition to the Southampton squad for the future.

In other news… Southampton missed out on “incredible” £45m-rated Premier League beast, Saints fans should be fuming

LAHORE – Pakistan is likely to agree to shift the three-nation one-day tournament in August and the Test rubber in October to Australia

Agha Akbar13-Jun-2002LAHORE – Pakistan is likely to agree to shift the three-nation one-day tournament in August and the Test rubber in October to Australia. So instead of playing the Aussies at home, Pakistan would be visiting them. It means that, as hinted in a statement by the ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed the other day, the option of neutral venues has been discarded by the Pakistan Board.In addition, it would also be safe to infer that in PCB’s pragmatic consideration, hoping to host any tournament or a series at home in the prevailing environment is unrealistic.One has to willy nilly agree with this view, though there might be some who would suggest that it would have been better to wait and see the drift of events. But one big problem here is that by leaving things for too late, we may have cricket played somewhere but there would be next to no revenue. And, having been clobbered first by the Indian border tensions, followed by the aftermath of September 11 and then the May 8 blast in Karachi, raising revenue is one serious issue with the PCB.One source high in the PCB confided to this writer ‘while nothing has been finalised as yet, the Board is looking at many options, and various feasibilities are under careful study.’Since the PCB is so obviously resigned to the fact that playing host is well nigh impossible, the possibility of shifting the one-day tournament to Australia and swapping the Test rubber slated for 2002 with the one Down Under in 2004 could be the second best arrangement. Though Pakistan would not be playing at home, and that is definitely a disadvantage, but the choice is between quality cricket and no cricket, or at best some at a neutral venue. Secondly, the Test series is only being swapped, while the other option is going to a neutral place. So, no home series now but we get to play one later.At this point, the Pakistan team has started emerging as a team and has also hit glorious form. It needs high-grade cricket in the build-up for the 2003 World Cup. And matching wits with the Aussies would be worth our while, indeed a big boost, in cricketing terms, for in contemporary cricket the Pakistanis are the only side capable of upsetting the Aussie apple cart.In revenue terms too – with Channel 9 telecasting the event, and there isn’t any better cricketing channel – Pakistan could get good value for their effort. So while one would have liked to see the top-ranked team in the world bruised and battered right in front of our eyes, maybe Waqar Younis and his charges would provide us the pleasure of doing the same in the Aussie backyard. That would be a first, and indeed take some doing, but it by no means falls in the realm of impossible for Younis and his talented bunch.Although it’s not an ideal situation, indeed far from it but it definitely is the best of the options.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans were delighted with the performance of Nathan Patterson for Scotland against Luxembourg on Sunday.

With the 2020/21 campaign now over, Gers fans can now look ahead to the European Championship. Many Rangers supporters have a difficult relationship with the Scottish national team, but they will at least want to see their own players perform well for their respective countries.

One of those in Steven Gerrard’s squad who will be featuring at Euro 2020 is Patterson. On Sunday, he made his debut for Scotland despite being just 19 years of age, and he did not look out of place at all on the right side of Steve Clarke’s back four (Glasgow Live). The manager has a big decision to make ahead of Scotland’s opening game of the tournament against the Czech Republic based on the teenager’s performance.

These Rangers fans were clearly delighted with what they saw from the teenager, and they took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts on his display.

Let’s see what these fans had to say about Patterson’s Scotland debut

“Nathan Patterson is Scotland’s best right back, if you disagree you are wrong.”

Credit: @CammyB1872

“I’d rather talk about Rangers players and not someone who thought that staying at Rangers would hold him back …… Nathan Patterson now that is a player ….. he has the world at his feet ….. good luck to him .”

Credit: @StuartCab205

“He looked the part. Hope he starts against the Czechs next Monday.”

Credit: @neaver82

“Didn’t look out of place, well done young man. Let’s go!”

Credit: @ColinMacLellan1

“Thought he had a cracking debut. Slotting perfectly into the right wing back position, suits him with his attacking abilities!”

Credit: @Kerr2000S

“He was superb when he came on, if he doesn’t get chosen to start against the Czechs it’s clearly sentiment from Clarke’ he was far better then O’Donnell when he came on”

Credit: @SREID645

In other news, Rangers have been urged to sign this 24-year-old.

Former Premier League manager Lawrie Sanchez has refused to rule Ajax boss Erik ten Hag out of the Tottenham job despite his recent contract extension.

Soon after Jose Mourinho was sacked, the Dutchman emerged as one of the favourites to replace him in north London, with Football London’s Alasdair Gold claiming recently that Spurs and Daniel Levy see him as being “similar to Pochettino”.

However, ten Hag appeared to end Spurs’ hopes of appointing him after committing his future to the Eredivisie champions by penning a new long-term contract.

Almost two months later, and Tottenham are still looking to find a replacement for Mourinho having missed out on all their top targets – with Antonio Conte and ex-manager Mauricio Pochettino the latest two.

After following a breakdown in talks with Conte, ten Hag’s name has once again resurfaced despite having that fresh deal in place.

And Sanchez exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that the 51-year-old, who’s won five domestic trophies in less than four years in Amsterdam, could still end up as Spurs manager:

“The fact he signed a new contract I thought he was ruled out, but it’s only a negotiating ploy.

“The club will say that ‘look, you’ve signed a new contract, if anyone comes in for you, they’ve got to offer you more money, so you have benefitted us because you strengthened our hand if we want to get more for you and you don’t lose anything because you’re only going to get more money.’ “

Cricket was the winner is the usual platitude trotted out when you have justlost a great game, but I think it might be apt in the case of the NatWestSeries final at Lord’s last Saturday

Phil Tufnell17-Jul-2002Cricket was the winner is the usual platitude trotted out when you have justlost a great game, but I think it might be apt in the case of the NatWestSeries final at Lord’s last Saturday. It’s never good to lose matches likethat, but I reckon it has to be said that India won it rather than Englandlosing and, as a result, it was a fantastic game to watch. So India won,cricket won, and the England boys will be pig-sick that they didn’t winhaving put 325 on the board.It has to be said that England had got into a great position to win, butthen were undone by that partnership between Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif.England might be a bit worried that they couldn’t defend that huge total butsometimes it’s just the way the game goes. You’d like to think that we coulddefend 325 so perhaps there are one or two things to be looked at but ingeneral I thought England put in a good performance throughout the series.There have been a lot of good qualities to be seen. England’s fielding hasbeen great, Ronnie Irani has come in and done well, the batting has alwayslooked as if it was going to get runs, so I think we can take a bit ofcomfort from the last couple of weeks. If there is a little cause forconcern it’s getting the right balance and formula on the bowling side.What really impressed me about the Indians in that match was the fact thatthey did it without a major contribution from Sachin Tendulkar. It was a lotof runs to get without a ton from the little genius, but they kept theirbelief right down the order. I did like the look of Yuvraj Singh. I was gladit wasn’t my bowling he was smacking around because he looks a real find forthem.Now attention turns to the Test series where I think it will be the same oldstory. I think we can get plenty of runs against India but it’s just aquestion as to whether we can break down a very strong batting line-up. Ithink it should be a good series with the bat prevailing. Four high-scoringdraws could be the order of the day unless there’s a little flash ofinspiration from someone to unlock the door.England have claimed a powerful batting line-up for some time but now it’sperforming well on a regular basis. You’ve got the likes of Mark Butcher andGraham Thorpe to come back in, so it’s shaping up rather promisingly.Hopefully those who have done well during the NatWest will be able to takeform and confidence with them to the different type of cricket.I know it’s always said that there is little connection between the twoforms of the game, but in some ways I reckon the gap is getting smaller. AndI don’t think there’ll be much of a gap between the two sides. We should winat Headingley, they might start favourites at The Oval; Trent Bridge andLord’s will likely be flat. But it should be a great spectacle to watch withthe batting power around, meaning that the bowlers could take a bit of apounding.I always enjoy watching the Indian batsmen, apart from when I’m bowling atthem, because there’s something really appealing about their wristystrokeplay. England’s bowlers will have a real test on their hands to combatthem but, as I say, someone nips in with a five for 30 out of the blue andsuddenly we could be in the guinea seats.
Phil Tufnell appears courtesy
of Paragon Sports Management

Sri Lanka held their nerves to capture the Morocco Cup beating South Africa by 27 runs Wednesday

Samiul Hassan22-Aug-2002Sri Lanka held their nerves to capture the Morocco Cup beating South Africa by 27 runs Wednesday. South Africa, chasing 236 for victory, looked dead and buried when they slumped to 91 for six in 26 overs. But a gritty 101-run seventh wicket partnership from 112 balls between Boeta Dippenaar and Mark Boucher brought the Proteas within striking distance.However, when 44 runs were required off 39 deliveries, Dippenaar tried one shot too many to hole out to Mahela Jayawardene off Pulasathi Gunaratne. But as always when one wicket leads to some more, the remaining three wickets fell in a space of 20 balls for the addition of 16 runs with Boucher being the last man out with nine balls remaining.While Dippenaar anchored the innings and scored 53 from 98 balls with two fours it was Boucher who threatened Sri Lanka’s control with busy innings of 70 from 65 balls with four fours and two sixes.The gutsy wicketkeeper swept the ball with perfection and played innovative pull shots to leave stand-in captain Marvan Atapattu bewildered.South Africa wrote their own demise when they lost six wickets inside 26 overs with the scoreboard reading 91.Muralitharan bowled Nicky Boje in his first over and then added the wicket of Roger Telemachus to finish with two for 35. But it was Gunaratne who picked up the vital wickets of Dippenaar and Boucher to end up with two for 38. Chaminda Vaas removed Herchelle Gibbs (6) and Graeme Smith (15) conceding 33 runs from his 10 overs.Gibbs was smartly held at mid-off by Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya. But, in the process, the left-hander injured his right shoulder.Jayasuriya, who was adjudged man-of-the-final, played his role to perfection when he first won the most important toss and then slapped 10 fours and a six in his run-a-ball 71 to provide his team another flying start. But Sri Lanka, who were 167 for two in 32 overs, failed to capitalize from the ideal platform and could add only 68 runs from the remaining 18 overs as they lost wickets at regular intervals.In the last 10 overs, Sri Lanka added 43 runs while between the 30th and 40th overs, they just added only 37 runs for the loss of three wickets.Lance Klusener, Allan Donald and Nicky Boje masterminded South Africa’s fight back when they equally shared six wickets between them. However South Africa’s strategy to not open the bowling with Donald or Kallis alongside Shaun Pollock proved disastrous.Roger Telemachus, who shared the new ball, allowed the Sri Lankan openers to settle down when he went for 36 runs in his four overs with Jayasuriya alone scoring 28 with five fours and a six.Besides Jayasuriya, who also picked up the Man-of-the-Tournament award, Kumar Sangakkara chipped in with a 54-ball 40, 47-ball 33 by Aravinda de Silva and 25 off 40 deliveries from Marvan Atapattu who put on 78 under 15 overs with his skipper.It was Sri Lanka’s second title since they beat Pakistan in Sharjah in April 2001.The Sri Lankans, who trailed 10-14 against South Africa before the start of the competition, also reduced the gap to 13 wins against 14 loses.Meanwhile Jayasuriya could miss next month’s ICC Champions Trophy after suffering an injury against South Africa.Jayasuriya scored an explosive 71 after winning the toss and batting first but dislocated his right shoulder after falling awkwardly taking a catch.Sri Lanka team physiotherapist Alex Kontouri replaced the dislocation on the field but later confirmed that the injury was serious following a scan at a local hospital.”There is ligament damage. He will have another scan when we return to Sri Lanka but at this stage I would say he is only 50-50 for the Champions Trophy,” Kontouri told reporters.

Pundit Noel Whelan has suggested that Steve Bruce will be on the phone to Arsenal immediately to try and sign Joe Willock, following Alan Nixon’s £50 million war-chest update [Football Insider].

The Lowdown: Newcastle prepare for the 2021/22 Premier League season

As Newcastle United look to improve on their 12th placed Premier League finish last time out [BBC], Bruce hasn’t dipped his toes into the transfer market water just yet.

The Toon have been linked with moves for the likes of Kristoffer Ajer and Matt Grimes respectively [Shields Gazette], but Whelan reckons that the Magpies hierarchy will be focusing their attentions on an alternative reported target.

The Latest: Whelan tips Newcastle United to pull off stunning signing

Speaking in an interview with Football Insider, the former Leeds United striker indicated that the Toon will be pulling out all the stops to acquire Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock, after journalist Alan Nixon indicated the North East side would have around £50 million to spend this summer [Sportslens].

Discussing that claim, the pundit said: “If that’s accurate, that’s Bruce’s first phone call.

“They need fresh faces and hungry players. He’s definitely one of them. He’s shown that appetite to go out from Arsenal.

“He’s shown Arsenal what they are missing and showing Newcastle what they could have.

“He’s got energy, he can get goals, he’s always positive. But they need more than that.”

The Verdict: Willock would be a quality addition to the Newcastle United fold

Of course, Newcastle United fans already have a flavour of the 21-year-old’s quality after his major impact on loan at the club during 2020/21 [SB Nation].

Becoming a star man in his temporary stint, the midfielder notched an impressive eight goals from 14 fixtures for Bruce’s men [Transfermarkt].

Unbelievably, this goal barrage led him to finish as second-top goal-scorer for the Magpies behind only Callum Wilson [WhoScored]. Clearly supremely talented, he would be a coup for the club if they were to secure his services on a permanent deal.

Already reported to have been courted by Newcastle United who are ‘increasingly confident’ about acquiring him ahead of 2021/22 [Chronicle], the St James’ Park faithful will be desperate to get a deal done, just as Whelan suggests.

In other news, Newcastle United are interested in a Premier League defender.