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For a change, the Indian cricketers won’t be fazed by what they see in the middle at Kensington Oval this morning

Tony Cozier30-Apr-2002For a change, the Indian cricketers won’t be fazed by what they see in the middle at Kensington Oval this morning.In the past, the visible grass at both ends might have sent shivers down their spines as they anticipated shaping up to Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner in the 1980s and Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Ian Bishop more recently.Now, on the evidence of their victory in the second Test in Port-of-Spain last week, they reckon they can give as good as they can get.There’s a covering of grass just about a fast bowler’s length at both ends so there should be something there for them, said Richard Prof Edwards, the former Barbados and West Indies fast bowler who is overseeing the preparation of the pitch.The middle appears bare as the grass has been rolled in but it is live grass and the roots should bind the surface.Edwards said the pitch should be similar to that used for the South African Test last year basically good for batting with some help for the fast bowlers on the opening day and responding to spin towards the end.First innings totals then were 454 (South Africa) and 387 (Barbados) before the bowlers came into their own to produce an exciting draw with the West Indies hanging on at 88 for seven at the end.Head curator Henderson Davis was a busy man from as early as 5:45 a.m., until late in the afternoon, as he and his force worked tirelessly.Everything is top-class right now, Davis said. Preparations have been going good, and we’re just waiting on the start of the match now.Another groundsman also revealed some of the rolling of the pitch had been done whilst covered with plastic, which is expected to assist with retaining moisture and prevent cracks from forming.Square `overused’Edwards complained again about the overuse of the square that is used for practice by the resident Pickwick Club during the domestic season and then has to host Busta Cup matches leading up to the Test.It really needs plenty of work on it but there is not enough time to do what should be done, he said.When India were last in the Caribbean, Kensington produced a bowler-friendly pitch on which India, set 120 to win, were bowled out for 81.Since then, there has been criticism that it is too easy-paced. Last-day rain led to a draw against England in 1998, Brian Lara’s unforgettable 153 not out brought the West Indies victory by one-wicket in 2000 and there have been tight draws with Pakistan and South Africa since.All four Busta Cup matches staged there this season brought outright results.India controversially dropped their leading spinner, Anil Kumble, a bowler with 320 Test wickets to his name, and went with three fast bowlers at Queen’s Park.Javagal Srinath and the left-armers Zaheer Khan and Asish Nehra vindicated the decision with 16 of the 20 wickets between them.They are certain to retain the balance, even if Kumble, because of the bounce his high action could achieve, is brought back for off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.The West Indies are also likely to keep four fast bowlers, Pedro Collins replacing Marlon Black to lend variety with his left-arm, over-the-wicket method.

West Ham United have been given a huge boost ahead of the weekend as they look to bolster their European claims…

What’s the latest?

David Moyes has been without several of his key players in recent matches, with many absent through injury.

However, ahead of their crucial Premier League encounter with Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday night, the 58-year-old has been handed some positive signs of encouragement.

The ever-reliable ExWHUemployee told supporters on Twitter that Declan Rice was finally in line to feature, having picked up a knee injury during England duty at the end of March. He has missed their last six games, in which the Hammers have tasted defeat three times.

Ex revealed that the 22-year-old “should play against Brighton” in response to a question from one fan asking for an update.

Huge boost

This will be massive for West Ham, especially if Rice is able to start the game.

After Liverpool’s win over Manchester United on Thursday night, the east Londoners slipped down to sixth in the table. They are now six points adrift of fourth and are only two points ahead of Spurs, meaning they must win their remaining three games to guarantee a place in Europe.

The squad have struggled for consistency as of late and that’s hardly a coincidence with Rice on the sidelines as he is a crucial part of Moyes’ starting XI.

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Indeed, he currently ranks fourth for average WhoScored rating (7.02) among the Irons’ squad for the season so far. whilst he tops the charts of interceptions (two per game) and isn’t far behind for tackles either (1.9 per game).

It’s his commanding presence in front of the backline which allows the likes of Jesse Lingard and Michail Antonio to run amok further up the pitch. In his absence, the more attack-minded Manuel Lanzini has had to fill in but it’s just not the same, with the Argentine averaging only 0.5 tackles and 0.4 interceptions per game.

The £54m-rated powerhouse was dubbed a “revelation in the midfield” for the Irons as well as a “phenomenal holding midfielder” earlier this week by Kevin Campbell, who spoke to Football Insider.

Having Rice back out on the pitch should come as a massive boost to the Hammers’ chances of picking up a result at the Amex Stadium on Saturday, and that will surely have Moyes absolutely buzzing heading into kick-off.

AND in other news, Forget Arnautovic: West Ham must land 11-goal “elite talent” who’s “destined for greatness”…

In recent weeks, Rafa Benitez has confirmed that he wants to return to the Premier League and it would not be a surprise to see Wolves move for the Spaniard, according to former Newcastle United defender Steve Howey.

Nuno Espirito Santo shocked the entire Premier League as he announced just two days before the club’s final game of the season, that the match against Man United would be his last as Wolves manager.

The Portuguese manager arrived from FC Porto in 2017 and managed to get Wolves out of the Championship as champions which was also his first season managing in England and after some smart signings such as Raul Jimenez and Joao Moutinho, Wolves qualified for the Europa League in their first season back in the top flight.

Since leaving Newcastle United in 2018, Benitez had been managing in China, but left earlier this year because of the COVID situation. Wolves could be a good club for the Spaniard, who’s managed 340 Premier League matches previously, according to Howey, who spoke exclusively to Football FanCast:

“I would imagine that somebody like Rafa Benitez will be inundated with offers, but whether they are offers from Premier League teams, I’m not too sure.

“It’s obviously a club that has turned around its fortunes brilliantly and they seem to be quite a well run club who appear to have some financial backing. So again, I wouldn’t disregard that idea of somebody like Rafa going there.”

There was talk of Benitez returning to Newcastle if their proposed takeover, backed by PIF, eventually got approved by the Premier League as Amanda Staveley is very fond of the Spaniard.

Wolves have traditionally had a solid defensive base since returning to the Premier League whenever Romain Saiss, Conor Coady and Willy Boly have been fit and Benitez loves to build his sides from back to front.

The Mercantile Cricket Association Division A tournament started today, butfailed to live up to the high expectations of competitive cricket, as allthe matches were hopelessly one sided and most of the cricketers were ableto rest there not so

Charlie Austin19-May-2001The Mercantile Cricket Association Division A tournament started today, butfailed to live up to the high expectations of competitive cricket, as allthe matches were hopelessly one sided and most of the cricketers were ableto rest there not so tired legs well before dusk.Hatton National Bank, the defending champions breezed to a six wicketvictory over Singer Sri Lanka, Seylan Bank cruised to a six wicket victoryagainst John Keels Group, Access Group lost just three wickets as theychased a low East-West Information total, and Sampath Bank went on a runspree against Janashakthi Insurance.Singer Sri Lanka were bowled out for just 62 by HNB, lasting only 27 overs.Kumar Dharmasena’s off breaks proved too hot to handle and he claimed fivewickets for just 13 runs. Although HNB then lost Avishka Gunawardene,Prassana Jayawardene, Chintaka Jayasingha and Saman Jayantha they cruised tovictory in just 11 overs.John Keells made a promising start against Seylan Bank as Michael Vandortand Dilan Ramanayake added 64 runs for the first wicket. Then, in the 14thover of the innings, Dilhara Fernando clean bowled Ramanake before rippingout the heart of the top order. He finished with five wickets and took threewickets in one over. John Keels lost five wickets whilst on 82 and couldonly muster 111. Naweed Nawaz saw Seylan Bank home with an unbeaten halfcentury.After losing four early wickets Sampath Bank’s middle order batsmen gorgedthemselves on the Janashakthi Insurance bowling, which has been weakened bythe loss of Muttiah Muralitharan this season. They scored 309 in theirallotted overs with Marvan Atapattu scoring 82, KAS Jayasinghe making 53,and KADJ Siriwardene smashing six sixes in his quick-fire 85 off 56 balls.Janashakthi were bowled out for 173.In the final match of the day East-West Information were bowled out byAccess International for 146. Ishara Amerasinghe, a young fast bowler whohas impressed this season for Nondescripts Cricket Club, picked up fourwickets, Ruwan Kalpage continued his good form with three wickets, and therecently recalled Niroshan Bandaratillake grabbed a brace. Access powered tovictory thanks to a half century by Indika de Saram and an unbeaten 32 byAravinda de Silva.

Wolves’ win over Brighton on Sunday afternoon felt like a landmark moment for a number of Nuno Santo’s players.

Morgan Gibbs-White stole the show with a last-minute winner while Max Kilman returned to the fray to prove he still has something to offer.

The defender has been linked with the exit door but he and several other young players at Molineux put in a battling and brave display.

With Vitinha at the top of Wolves’ midfield, the future looks particularly bright. They will, of course, have to exercise their option to buy him but considering his performance against West Brom over a week ago, they’d be fools not to.

What Wolves do require, though, is a battling midfield player.

Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho bring poise and grace but Leander Dendoncker has been far from consistent throughout 2020/21.

The perfect player would be Boubakary Soumare, a man Wolves have been linked to in the French media. It’s thought Leicester are interested in the midfielder but Nuno’s men, Everton and Aston Villa have all made enquiries.

The 22-year-old is a dominating force in Ligue 1 for Lille and would add something brand new to the squad at Molineux.

He is strong in the tackle but crucially, he likes to stride forward and influence play in the final third too.

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If we compare him to Dendoncker, they are pretty neck and neck for their contribution defensively but it’s in the build-up where Soumare really stands up.

The Frenchman has proven to be successful with a massive 85% of his dribbles this term while his 67% tackle success is 15% more than Wolves’ Belgian enforcer.

Coincidentally, Dendoncker’s pass success (87.4%) is better, but Soumare’s tally (86.4%) is greater than both Moutinho and Neves.

What sets him apart from all of the midfielders at Wolves this season is his ability to carry the ball forward. On plenty of occasions Nuno’s side has lacked someone willing to transition things from defence into attack swiftly.

Fortunately, Soumare would provide them with an enormous dose of energy. In 2020/21, the youngster has carried the ball forward 157.1 yards per 90 minutes. That number is considerably more than Dendoncker (69.8) and the aforementioned Portuguese duo.

Moutinho carries the ball 111.8 yards per 90 minutes while Neves manages an average of 101.9.

It won’t come as a great surprise to hear that he’s been compared to Paul Pogba. Another all-action midfield player, he combines frantic energy with raw power.

Speaking about the Soumare in 2020, Lille president Gerard Lopez said: “He’s one of the very best at his job. He’s technical, with incredible physical power and wins a great deal of possession. He’s a modern No.6 or 8. We’ll see him in the France team very soon.”

Valued at £30m a few months ago, it won’t be a cheap deal for Wolves to conclude, but if they get it over the line he’d represent an enormous upgrade.

AND in other news, Forget Traore: Wolves “danger” who played 3 key passes was Nuno’s true hero today…

Rangers have been linked with a move for Young Boys winger Nicolas Moumi Ngamaleu recently and he could prove to be an excellent addition to Steven Gerrard’s side at Ibrox this summer.

What’s the word?

According to teamTALK, Rangers are keen on the left-winger but will face stiff competition for the 26-year-old, with Everton, Leicester City, Brighton and Leeds United all credited with an interest.

It is claimed that Rangers have watched him this season and although he has just two goals and five assists to his name in the league, his previous campaigns suggest that he could be a stellar signing for the Light Blues.

Would he be a good signing?

Gerrard is undoubtedly looking to add to his squad this summer as he prepares to defend the Premiership title and challenge in the Champions League and for the domestic cups, so adding a player with experience in both the Champions League and Europa League would make a lot of sense for the 40-year-old manager.

Ngamaleu was in excellent form last season, contributing 11 goals and 12 assists in all competitions for the Swiss League side, so it is no surprise that he is attracting interest this summer, despite him failing to match those numbers so far this campaign.

The Cameroonian international has featured across the front three on a regular basis in his career thus far, so certainly looks as if he would fit into Rangers’ 4-3-3 system.

Although Gerrard already has the likes of Ryan Kent, Ianis Hagi, Joe Aribo and Scott Wright available to him as wingers in his squad, if he wants his side to have more success in cup competitions next season, he will arguably need to have even more strength in depth.

Ngamaleu is rated very highly, especially when it comes to dribbling and defending, which suggests that he could be dangerous from both an attacking and defensive perspective in Gerrard’s side.

[freshpress-quiz id=“593776”]

The winger is currently valued at £3.25m by Transfermarkt, with his contract set to expire in 2023, so whilst he could prove to be an expensive option for Wilson this summer, he looks to be exactly the sort of player that could prosper in Gerrard’s system.

And, in other news… Rangers handed significant transfer boost over 131-goal beast, Gerrard should already love him

Everton Football Club have a very proud youth academy.

From Wayne Rooney coming through the ranks roughly 20 years ago to the reliably consistent Leon Osman or the effervescent Ross Barkley, there have been some impressive talents to graduate from the Merseyside club.

Their product line in recent years hasn’t been quite as successful but we’ve still seen players like Tom Davies make the seamless transition from academy football to first team life.

The current jewel in the crown of Everton’s youth system is Anthony Gordon. The 20-year-old has played 20 times for the Toffees’ senior side but is yet to score for the club. He is currently earning valuable experience on loan at Preston but he may have to look over his shoulder in the next few years.

That’s because the winger will be challenged by plenty of other young attackers trying to make the grade at Goodison Park.

Ellis Simms is another making waves but the promising duo could be joined in competition by a certain Emilio Lawrence. The attacker is just 15 years of age but has made the step-up to under-18s football in the last few weeks.

A number of injury concerns have rocked the academy in recent months which has meant that a number of the under-18 squad have had to play at under-23 level.

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That has opened the door for spaces in the under-18s, a level at which Lawrence is now flourishing. He was handed 20 minutes against Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this week and he took full advantage of his opportunity by finding the back of the net.

Everton have never been afraid to fast-track young players if they’re ready and this was a fine example. Lawrence was a significant danger to the opposition as he popped up with a late strike to seal a 3-1 win.

Speaking at full-time, under-18 manager Paul Tait reserved special praise for the teenager, saying: “Emilio gave us a threat. He can hit the ball with both feet and shifted it from right to left to score a smashing goal.”

The ability to use both feet in such a confident fashion should give him a big leg-up when it comes to competing for places at higher levels of the game.

It seems evident that Lawrence plays with no fear, and although a first team breakthrough is still a long way from becoming a reality, he appears to have plenty of tools to continue making a splash.

He’s one talent who Carlo Ancelotti will need to keep watching in the coming years.

AND in other news, Imagine him & DCL: Everton must swoop for £24.9m gem who gives oppo “sleepless nights”…

Former Tottenham Hotspur captain Graham Roberts has told Football FanCast that the players at the club will have rebelled against Jose Mourinho’s methods, leading to his sacking.

Spurs confirmed on Monday that they had sacked the ex-Chelsea boss after a dramatic slide down the table.

Towards the end of 2020, Spurs were top of the Premier League, but they are currently seventh, and have won just one of their last six games in all competitions.

Mourinho appeared to fall out with a number of players, jettisoning both Harry Winks and Dele Alli from his team, and giving Gareth Bale precious few chances to prove his worth while on loan from Real Madrid.

And Roberts believes that the decisions that Mourinho made in terms of man-management will have alienated the squad.

Indeed, he has told FFC that the manager’s methods are outdated, even though he thought that Mourinho would bring success to north London when he was first appointed.

He said: “I think there was pressure. I think it’s come inside the club as well from players, leaving players out, so I’ve got to say, when he joined, I thought he was a good appointment, I thought we would win trophies but football’s gone forward now, you can’t aggravate players, because they’re all mates.

“If you upset one or two, the next one thinks, ‘well, you’re going to upset me’.”

Lee Johnson has admitted that it will be ‘extremely difficult’ for Sunderland to earn promotion to the Championship automatically after their latest defeat.

Johnson makes Sunderland admission

The Black Cats lost 1-0 to Blackpool on Saturday, their third defeat in a row after losing 2-1 to both Charlton and Wigan (Sky Sports). They are now eight points behind Peterborough in second place with just five games left to play (BBC).

Speaking after the defeat to the Seasiders, Johnson admitted that his side must now look to earn promotion via the play-offs. He said (via The Chronicle):

“It looks now that it is going to be extremely difficult to get into that top two, which is very disappointing after putting so much effort into getting there.

“Now we have to secure that second chance, but keep going and building performances because you never know it [automatic promotion] might still happen because there are still 15 points to play for.

“We’ve lost three games on the spin, two of those – against Charlton at home and then today – I didn’t think we deserved to lose, but it’s happened.

“There’s not a lot we can do about that.

“There have been three losses, but two of those have been decent performances and the other [at Wigan] was a really bad one.”

Realistic

Prior to this dreadful three-game run, it really looked as though the Wearside outfit had a realistic chance of automatic promotion. They even had their fate in their own hands but, as Johnson has said, the three defeats have all but ended those hopes and they must now concentrate on the play-offs.

They are currently six points clear of seventh place, so they should earn a play-off spot, but they must ensure that they do by bouncing back quickly. Given the way they have battled to be in contention for the top two, it would be a huge shame if they now totally threw away their promotion chances.

In other news, many Sunderland fans slammed this man’s performance against Blackpool.

Members of the Newcastle squad are considering ‘face-to-face talks’ with Managing Director Lee Charnley as the threat of relegation looms larger, according to Football Insider.

The report claimed that the players were anticipating Steve Bruce’s dismissal in the wake of their desperately poor defeat at the hands of Brighton on Saturday night.

When it was revealed the following morning that Mike Ashley would once again stand by Bruce, there was apparently a feeling of ‘genuine shock’ among many of the players.

Newcastle in dire straits

The Magpies went down 3-0 at the Amex Stadium after a lifeless display which saw them amass an xG of just 0.09. They are precariously hovering just two points above the relegation zone with nine games to play.

Newcastle are also without a win in their last six matches, and at least some of the players are said to have ‘lost all faith’ in Bruce.

It should be stressed that these talks with Charnley wouldn’t be to demand that the 60-year-old be sacked outright, however. Instead, the players would pursue ‘more general answers about what can change’ as they look to stave off a return to the Championship after four years in the top flight. [Football Insider]

Transfer Tavern verdict

With fan action restricted in lockdown, the Toon Army will probably be pleased to see a group of players trying to hold the club’s hierarchy to account.

They are surely wondering what reasons Ashley and co. have to justify their consistent backing of Bruce, who is already a deeply unpopular figure among many Newcastle supporters and now, it seems, faces a possible backlash from some players too.

In other news, one Newcastle player’s season could be over.