All posts by h716a5.icu

Sunderland were hit with the cruellest of blows when Ross Stewart suffered an Achilles tendon injury in January but with the 27-year-old out of action till the end of September, Tony Mowbray is in the market for a new forward and news has emerged that they're interested in signing a highly-rated Premier League striker.

Sunderland transfer news – What's the latest?

According to journalist Alan Nixon this week, Everton striker Tom Cannon is wanted by a whole host of clubs across the continent after impressing on loan at Preston North End last season.

From January onwards, the 20-year-old sharpshooter returned eight goals in 20 Championship appearances and this has alerted Serie A club Sampdoria with Championship sides Sunderland and Stoke also throwing their names into the hat.

While Sunderland would be interested in striking a deal, Nixon states the £8m fee that he commands could be the sticking point, potentially ruling out any Championship clubs in their pursuit of the Irishman.

With Everton giving Cannon the green light to go out on loan for another season, his destination is looking like Preston as reported by Chronicle Live, however, if Sunderland were willing to stump up the £8m fee, he could be heading to the North East instead.

How good is Tom Cannon?

Making an instant impact at Championship level, the Republic of Ireland youth striker drew praise from several opposition managers and pundits during his spell at Deepdale with Liam Rosenior waxing lyrical about the youngster following Hull's 0-0 draw at Preston.

“I thought Tom Cannon was outstanding, one of the best we've played against by far".

Meanwhile, former West Ham striker and EFL pundit, Dean Ashton, directed lofty praise towards Cannon after he scored his sixth goal in as many games against Reading in April.

“Yeah, almost a one-in-two man, which at Championship level is incredible for such a young player – with such little experience,” said Ashton, as quoted by Lancs Live.

While praise can sometimes be thrown around at will, Cannon's goal-scoring exploits certainly warranted every positive word that was said about his loan spell, and he isn't the first loan player to showcase their talents in the second tier.

Sunderland have a habit of signing phenomenal youngsters on loan and in the first half of last season, they captured striker Ellis Simms, also from Everton, who was recalled by the Toffees in January following his impressive performances.

The 22-year-old accrued seven goals in 13 starts for the Black Cats and despite producing similar numbers to his fellow loanee, Cannon actually excels when comparing a variety of stats across their respective loan spells.

According to FBref, Cannon ranks higher than Simms for successful shots on target (1.13/0.80), successful take-ons (1.24/0.48), carries into the penalty area (1.13/0.64) and tackles in the attacking third (0.38/0.08).

While Simms has a marginally better non-penalty goal record of (0.43/0.56) and expected assists (0.13/0.17), Cannon's all-round game, including his pressing numbers, ability to commit defenders and passing range are all significantly better than Simms.

Despite being two years younger, Everton's young prodigy is already becoming a complete forward and those attributes will only become more refined if he departs Finch Farm and spends another season in the Championship.

With Everton's fine prospect ready to explode into life once more, Sunderland know that if they were to strike a deal, Cannon would be ready to show the Black Cats faithful that he's an even bigger talent than their former fan-favourite.

An official announcement from SLC is likely on Monday, with the former Sri Lanka batsman taking on the role leading up to the 2019 World Cup

Madushka Balasuriya 04-Nov-20170:42

SL batsmen can learn plenty from Samaraweera – Arnold

Former Test batsman Thilan Samaraweera will be Sri Lanka’s batting coach leading up to the 2019 World Cup, SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala has confirmed.The move is expected to be rubber-stamped on Monday, when Samaraweera arrives on the island from Melbourne, where he lives. The following day he will travel with the team to India, where they are set to play three Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is. Samaraweera will have his work cut out on the tour, in shoring up a batting unit low on confidence.While the role of batting coach is officially a first for the 41-year-old former middle-order batsman, he has previously had stints as a batting consultant with other national outfits – with Bangladesh since September last year, and a brief stint with Australia prior to that. He replaces Hashan Tillakaratne, who had taken up the role on a temporary basis in July ahead of India’s visit to Sri Lanka. Tillakaratne will now go back to his role as batting coach of Sri Lanka’s developmental squads.A veteran of 81 Tests, in which he scored 5462 runs at 48.76, Samaraweera retired from international cricket in 2013.

Burnley have reportedly made a breakthrough and reached an agreement to make their 11th signing of the summer transfer window.

What’s the latest Burnley transfer news?

Vincent Kompany is currently preparing for the Premier League opener against treble winners Manchester City at Turf Moor. However, the Clarets are working hard behind the scenes in the transfer market, with a total of 10 new players already secured with weeks remaining of the window.

Zeki Amdouni, James Trafford, Jordan Beyer, Dara O'Shea, Michael Obafemi, Luca Koleosho, Sander Berge, Nathan Redmond, Lawrence Vigouroux and Jacob Bruun Larsen have all arrived, with Berge the latest addition from rivals Sheffield United.

A move for the Norway midfielder was confirmed on Wednesday evening, with Berge saying:

“I have heard a lot of good things about the Club and seeing the success from outside last season, there’s a great project building here. It’s a great environment full of young talented players from all around the world, so I just think it’s the perfect fit for me.

“The club has high ambitions, making several signings and it all just fits into what I’m looking for.”

Shortly after a move for Berge was confirmed, there were reports of Burnley closing in on another signing in Aston Villa’s Aaron Ramsey.

Reliable reporter David Ornstein took to X to reveal that a verbal agreement has been reached in a deal worth around £14m plus add-ons, with Villa also including a buyback clause.

“Burnley reach verbal agreement with Aston Villa for Aaron Ramsey. Working to finalise deal £14m + add-ons + buyback. Personal terms in place, medical being scheduled.”

Who is Aaron Ramsey?

Ramsey is just 20 years of age and is primarily an attacking midfielder who can also turn out in a deeper central midfield role if needed.

An England youth international, the player has progressed the Villa Park academy and his older brother, Jacob, has become a regular in the first team.

Ramsey has been sent out on three different loan moves during his career so far, the first of which came with League One side Cheltenham Town. He made 15 appearances for Cheltenham and spent the previous campaign in the Championship with both Norwich City and Middlesbrough.

In total, Ramsey scored eight times in 29 second-tier appearances last season and came in for praise from former Canaries boss Dean Smith, who said:

“I thought AJ [Ramsey] was excellent in the ten position today. Some of his movement and his flicks and his vision was excellent.

"He understands the game, he’s a clever footballer, especially today, you could see that in the first half."

It looks as if his next move will be a permanent one to Turf Moor, and should he go on to develop under Kompany, Burnley may view a transfer as a shrewd piece of business, although Villa will have the option to bring the player back to the Midlands in the future.

From allowing Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich to put on 212 for the eighth wicket to the soft dismissals of Solomon Mire and Craig Ervine, day four in Bulawayo didn’t go to plan for the hosts

Liam Brickhill in Bulawayo01-Nov-2017Zimbabwe coach Heath Streak admitted it would be tough for his side to bat themselves back into the match after conceding a 122-run first innings lead against West Indies in Bulawayo.”There’s still a long way to go, 92 overs,” he said. “And it’s slow going out there, not an easy wicket to score quickly on. So we’ve got to get through a session and get ourselves into a position where we can maybe consider giving them a target. But it’s very tough, especially with the deficit we’ve had to make up, and the pitch being so slow.”Zimbabwe found themselves 23 for 3 in their second innings before a half-century from Sikandar Raza – his second of the Test – took them to 140 for 4 at stumps.”There’s still a lot of cricket to be played tomorrow,” Streak said. “A hard fighting day and a hard fighting first session. It’s not too far until the new ball, and we’ve got to get through that and see if we get some sort of total to defend.”He added that, after several missed chances in the field, Zimbabwe had only themselves to blame for allowing Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich put on a record 212-run partnership. “They put us under pressure, and we didn’t help ourselves with a few dropped catches,” Streak said. “We’ve got ourselves to blame for giving them that lead, but we’ve just got to deal with where we’re at now.”He lamented the soft dismissals that heaped pressure on Zimbabwe’s middle order once again, suggesting that wickets in hand could have helped Zimbabwe push for more of a lead heading into the fifth day.”Hamilton [Masakadza] got out to a good ball that hooped back quite a bit, but then Solomon [Mire] got out to a soft dismissal even by his own standards,” Streak said, describing Mire’s swipe across the line at a ball from Kemar Roach that trapped him lbw. “He does play aggressively, but on that wicket and with that length, it’s very difficult to play that type of shot, especially on a fourth-day wicket when you’ve had a lot of evidence of balls keeping low. So those are the sorts of dismissals we want to get rid of. Even Craig Ervine, if he’s honest with himself, got out to a pretty soft dismissal. It wasn’t like the ball did a heck of a lot.”If we had taken maybe two wickets off there, Mire and Ervine’s wickets, then it’s 140 for 2 and that’s a pretty good score. We’d have wickets in hand if we want to push on and try and get some sort of lead and put them in.”One bright point for Streak was the batting of Raza and Peter Moor, who reined in his attacking instincts to finish on 39 not out from 152 balls at the close. ” PJ [Moor] is a very determined guy first of all, and he’s a very intelligent guy who has worked out watching the other guys,” Streak said. “It’s not easy to just go out there and play shots, so he’s adjusted his game accordingly to the wicket. His batting in the first innings has also given him some insight into how to do it. Anyone who has gone out there and batted for a period of time, you can see there haven’t been easy or free flowing innings from anyone.”Apart from being slow, the pitch also fell short of Zimbabwe’s expectations in terms of help for the spinners. “Having a bit of cool weather around, has meant that the wicket hasn’t dried and dusted up as much as we would have liked,” Streak said. “So it’s been a little more placid than what we’d hoped. We wanted a wicket that would spin and break up, but the weather conditions on day one and two made the deterioration of the wicket much slower than it ought to be. Normally in October you get hot, dry days and then that deterioration happens a lot quicker.”

For Tom Curran, the one-day series against West Indies could mark the start of something special, and potentially career-transforming

Andrew Miller14-Sep-2017The “Autumn Internationals”, a one-off T20 at Chester-le-Street, followed by five ODIs against West Indies, get underway on Saturday to herald the finale to an English season that has stretched for longer than any other in history. But for one of the youngest players on show, the coming days look set to mark the start of something special, and potentially career-transforming.At the age of 22, Tom Curran epitomises both the promise of youth and the opportunities presented by a world game in a state of exciting, if occasionally unnerving, flux. He has just two (albeit impressive) England T20 caps to his name, and yet a reputation forged in recent seasons with Surrey already precedes him. With lucrative stints at T20 franchises in South Africa and Australia already lined up for the winter, Curran knows that the coming days could help propel him ever further into the limelight.”If I’m selected, I’ll be ready to take my chance,” Curran said during a Royal London event in Notting Hill. “Representing England is a huge honour, and often players get a go in one format and, if they go well, that’s their way into other formats. So if my way into other formats is starting with T20, that’s a challenge and something I’m excited about.”There was much to admire about Curran’s initial stab at international cricket, his twin outings against South Africa in June, in which he produced exemplary spells at the top and tail of each innings. He claimed a wicket with his second ball in international cricket on debut at Cardiff, and finished off with two more in his final over of the series – the penultimate of South Africa’s hard-hitting onslaught on the short boundaries at Taunton – where a smartly disguised slower ball and a pinpoint yorker served as memorable calling-cards from a player with plenty of confidence in his abilities.”Two years ago, I set myself the target of bowling at the death for Surrey with Jade [Dernbach],” he said. “We pride ourselves on closing out innings, and I got satisfaction from defending games, winning at the end, keeping opposition batters to below-pars scores.”It’s one of the hardest things to do and arguably one of the most valuable assets to a bowler, being the best death bowler. I set that as a target for myself as a bowler – to practise yorkers, keeping working on slower balls, it makes it hard for the batter to line you up and clear the ropes at the end of an innings, and that makes a massive difference to the side.”Everything now is in favour of the batters, you have to face facts that you are going to get hit some days, but if I’m clear at the top of my mark that I’ve done my work leading up to the game and commit to my skill 100%, more often than not it will come off and I’ll be successful.”He certainly had the look, during that South Africa series, of a player who belonged at the highest level. “I was very pleased to get out there,” Curran said. “Before the first T20, I was very nervous but in the second I felt a lot more at home.Tom Curran ahead of the Royal London One-Day series against West Indies•Royal London”It was a big step up, but it was more about the hype, the amount of messages you get, and other people saying how big it was. Once I got out there, I just got back to my skills and what I was doing for Surrey, because I’ve been very pleased with the white-ball stuff this season.”And that pleasure has been picked up by T20 scouts around the world, with Curran braced for a busy winter on the road. His first stop will be Cape Town, where he has been picked up by Knight Riders for the inaugural Global T20 League, and then it’s off to Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash, where he is set to follow in the footsteps of Stuart Broad – not for the first time in his career, he will surely hope.”It’s a very exciting winter, and obviously depending on what happens with [England’s] white-ball squads, that’ll be in the plan too,” he said. “Whether people like it or not, they’ve got to face facts. This is where a big part of the game is going.”Test cricket for the players is still the ultimate, but these tournaments, you can’t hide from them. They are taking off, they are getting massive. I’ve only played two T20s and now I could be taking off to South Africa to be one of the big T20 tournaments, and then the Big Bash which is the biggest.”It shows how quickly things can happen. It’s exciting, I can’t wait. When it comes to the IPL, I’ll cross that bridge when it comes, but the sky’s the limit. It’s exciting. It’s small steps now, but I’ll look to dominate both leagues and see what will be.”In the more immediate future, however, there’s an international series to be won and lost, one that will feature the much-anticipated return of Chris Gayle, a player with whom he has successfully crossed swords in the past, and with whom he can hope to get well acquainted this winter when they share a dressing room at Knight Riders.”I played against him a couple of years ago when he was at Somerset,” Curran recalled. “I got him out so if we can do that again, that’d be good. I had deep square out, I bowled a bumper, and luckily he top-edged it.”I’m not one to over-analyse. At the end of the day, it’s my skill against theirs, it’s irrelevant who’s batting. But as players, we’re excited to be playing and challenging ourselves against the best in the world. It’s great to see they’ve got their big guns back and it’s a challenge I can’t wait to take on.”Tom Curran was speaking on behalf of Royal London, proud sponsors of One Day cricket. Visit royallondoncricket.com to find out more.