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West Bromwich Albion are now facing another season in the Championship after failing to maintain a consistent run of promotion-worthy form throughout the current campaign.

With Steve Bruce at the helm and the summer transfer window set to open for business in the coming weeks, it seems as though the Baggies may have identified one man for a potential swoop.

According to journalist Alan Nixon (via Birmingham Mail), the Midlands club are eyeing up a move for Blackburn Rovers midfielder Joe Rothwell.

Since arriving at the Lancashire club in 2018 from Oxford United, the 27-year-old has gone on to make 161 appearances across all competitions. In that time, the midfielder has scored 11 goals and provided 18 assists, showing that he can be effective in front of goal.

According to WhoScored, in addition to having three goals and 10 assists to his name in the current Championship campaign, the Englishman has an overall performance rating of 6.95/10, making him the third-highest rated player in Blackburn’s squad to start more than two league games.

With his current contract at Ewood Park set to expire in the summer, the Baggies could theoretically land Rothwell on a free transfer, as they did with Alex Mowatt during the summer 2021 transfer window.

Rothwell is better than Mowatt

To compare the two midfield maestros, the Blackburn man has recorded more interceptions (48) than Mowatt (35) and has a higher percentage for shots on target. Also, despite playing seven more games than the West Brom midfielder, Rothwell has committed nine fewer fouls than his fellow countryman this season.

This all suggests that he could be a significant upgrade on last summer’s midfield recruit for Bruce’s side if they bring him to the Midlands.

Described by his manager Tony Mowbray as a player who has “Premier League talent”, he could be just what the Baggies need in their side to make a strong push to get back into the top flight in 2023.

With Bruce discussing a possible transfer overhaul at The Hawthorns during the upcoming window, adding Rothwell to their ranks could be a perfect way to start.

In other news: West Brom dealt another big injury setback, it’s worrying news for Bruce

Anil Kumble, the former Indian legspinner who also captained Royal Challengers Bangalore, has withdrawn from the IPL citing business commitments

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jan-2011Anil Kumble, the former Indian legspinner who also captained Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), has withdrawn from this weekend’s IPL auction, citing business and other commitments. The decision appears to have brought the curtains down on Kumble’s playing career though he remains involved in the game’s administration at the highest levels.”It’s a tough call but I had lots of things I had committed to,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I had a company to run, I wanted to be involved in other things. At some point of time you have to take a call and move on.”Kumble – who had a reserve price of US$400,000, the maximum possible, for the upcoming IPL auction – will remain associated with the Bangalore franchise as its Chief Mentor. He will be a part of the RCB’s senior leadership team over the next three years. “As long as you’re playing, you can’t really start focussing on other things that you want to do … It’s not easy but it’s a step you need to take and that’s what has happened.”He retired from international cricket in 2008, and remains India’s leading wicket-taker in Tests (619) and one-dayers (337). In November 2010, Kumble won the election to become president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association, and had earlier been appointed chairman of the National Cricket Academy, based in Bangalore. He is also the vice-chairman of the state’s wildlife board.In the IPL, Bangalore had a forgettable inaugural season under Rahul Dravid, and started poorly in 2009 with Kevin Pietersen at the helm. Kumble took over as leader midway through that season and helped turn round Bangalore’s form, taking them to the final, and also captained them to the semi-finals last year. He was among the most effective bowlers in the previous two seasons, taking 17 wickets with an economy of 6.42 in 2010, and 21 at an economy of 5.86 in 2009.The IPL’s chief operating officer Sundar Raman tweeted that Kumble’s absence would be felt. “Jumbo [Kumble’s nickname] will be missed in IPL. Been an inspiration for many youngsters.”

Celtic will earn at least £17million if they qualify for next season’s Champions League, according to financial expert Dr. Dan Plumley.

The Lowdown: Nearing a Champions League return

Ange Postecoglou’s side are within touching distance of Scottish Premiership glory, leading Rangers by six points with three matches remaining this season.

A title win would see Celtic automatically go into next season’s Champions League group stage, allowing them to test themselves against some of Europe’s best teams.

Not only would it be an exciting challenge for Postecoglou and his players but it would also be a significant financial boost.

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The Latest: Expert drops £17m claim

Speaking to Football Insider, Plumley claimed that a minimum £17million windfall would come the Hoops’ way if they get the job done in the league:

“If you base it on the prize money, each club gets just over £13m. You then have win bonuses, which are £2.4m for a win and just under £1m for a draw. So around £17m is what you’re looking at the very least.

“If you go straight into the group stage, you know you have that extra money to play with. Celtic do generate good revenue for where they are in that league. If you add another £17m on top, it becomes even more significant.

“In terms of future planning, you can target transfers accordingly because there is no jeopardy. You know you’re going to be there come September.”

The Verdict: Exciting time for Hoops

There is a feeling that a special era is growing again at Parkhead, with Postecoglou doing a fantastic job since arriving and the title now tantalisingly close.

The financial gains from reaching the Champions League are huge and it would allow more money to be available for transfers, not to mention a higher calibre of player coming in to play amongst Europe’s elite under a special manager.

Celtic must not rest on their laurels just yet, though, with work still to do in the league, starting with Saturday’s visit of Hearts.

In other news, a journalist has dropped a key Celtic transfer claim. Read more here.

Sreesanth, the India fast bowler, has been fined 10% of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the fourth day’s play at Newlands

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-2011Sreesanth, the India fast bowler, has been fined 10% of his match fee for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the fourth day’s play at Newlands. Sreesanth pleaded guilty to committing a Level 1 offence, relating to “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings.”Sreesanth kicked the boundary after two appeals in the same over were turned down by the umpire; the on-field umpires Simon Taufel and Ian Gould, the third umpire Brian Jerling and the fourth umpire Shaun George subsequently reported the matter to match referee Andy Pycroft. No hearing was required as Sreesanth accepted the decision and pleaded guilty.It was a frustrating day for Sreesanth who went wicketless in his 24 overs while Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and the tail stepped up to overcome the loss of early wickets and put South Africa in control by stumps.

Western Australia ended a two-year wait for a Shield victory in thrilling fashion when Nathan Coulter-Nile claimed the final South Australia wicket with the penultimate ball of the match

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2011
Scorecard
Western Australia ended a two-year wait for a Shield victory in thrilling fashion when Nathan Coulter-Nile claimed the final South Australia wicket with the penultimate ball of the match. It gave Coulter-Nile four scalps while Michael Hogan bagged three in a collective effort from the attack, but Graham Manou and the tail almost secured the visitors a drawWestern Australia declared at their overnight score of 9 for 324, leaving South Australia a tough target of 378. James Smith and Daniel Harris began in steady fashion, adding 45, before Hogan intervened. One wicket led to another, as Michael Klinger departed two balls after Harris, leaving his side in trouble.Aiden Blizzard added 38 runs with Smith before Coulter-Nile struck for the first time in the day. Within the space of two overs the visitors had lost their top order as Aaron O’Brien and Daniel Christian fell for ducks. Smith’s dismissal for 65 suggested an early finish to proceedings.However, Manou resisted with a gutsy innings and found stubborn support from the lower order. Rob Cassell (4) faced 55 deliveries until he was lbw to Michael Beer and Manou was caught behind with 10 overs remaining. Jake Haberfield and Peter George, who has a first-class average of three, almost denied Western Australia the outright victory but George edged into the slips in the dying moments.The defeat pushed them to the bottom of the table, while the hosts are level on 14 points with Victoria and Queensland.

Celtic welcomed a handful of Japanese players to Parkhead during the previous summer and winter transfer windows.

Back in the summer, the Hoops secured the signing of Kyogo Furuhashi from Vissel Kobe in a deal worth around £5m.

Then, in late December, the trio of Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi all moved to Parkhead to join Ange Postecoglou’s squad.

Looking ahead to the summer transfer window, which is set to open for business in the coming weeks, it seems as though history could be set to repeat itself at Lennoxtown in terms of Celtic’s potential plans.

What’s the talk?

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Pete O’Rourke talked about the upcoming transfer window and the possibility of Postecoglou bringing in some more Japanese players to Parkhead.

The journalist and transfer insider said: “I think it’s definitely a market that’s served Celtic well in the last couple of transfer windows.

“The signings of Furuhashi, Hatate and Maeda have been key additions to the squad and have helped propel Celtic to the top of the Scottish Premiership.

“Postecoglou knows the Japanese market inside out, so he would be foolish not to look at it again and see if he can find players who can improve that Celtic squad.

“The big bonus with the Japanese market is that the signings are relatively cheap. There are not big price tags on these players, so it is something that would fit the Celtic remit as well.”

Supporters will be buzzing

Taking into account how Furuhashi has been a pivotal figure for the Hoops since his arrival by racking up 18 goals in 31 appearances across all competitions, this is a prime example of why signing players from Japan can be very rewarding.

As for the winter recruits, Maeda and Hatate have scored a combined 10 league goals between them, once again showing how successful the Hoops’ transfer business has been.

With all this in mind, it will surely be very pleasing for the Celtic fans to hear that Postecoglou may look towards Japan once again to bring some new faces to the club for next season.

If any new players walk through the door this summer, and if they can replicate the same sort of impact that the likes of Furuhashi, Maeda and Hatate have had in the current campaign, this would give the Hoops a great chance of being successful once again in 2022/23.

In other news: Postecoglou must now axe “appalling” and “pathetic” disaster duo, they’re bleeding Celtic dry

Round-up of the fourth day’s play in the second round of matches in the Faysal bank Pentangular Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Feb-2011Baluchistan and Federal Areas played out a draw at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Baluchistan extended their lead to 302 with useful contributions from the middle order and Rameez Alam’s 79. Captain Abdur Rauf decided to have a shot at victory, giving Federal Areas more than 50 overs to face. They were in trouble when Rauf and his new-ball partner Zulfiqar Babar reduced them to 59 for 4, but Umar Amin’s unbeaten 79 backed up by resistance from Hammad Azam and wicketkeeper Naeem Anjum helped draw the game. Baluchistan lead the table with a win from two games, with Federal Areas in second placePunjab and Sind played out a high-scoring draw at the Gaddafi Stadium but not before Sind grabbed a first-innings lead by scaling down 515. They were well placed to do that with an overnight score of 267 for 3, and the overnight batsmen Sarfraz Ahmed and Hasan Raza continued the good work into the final day. Sarfraz smacked 25 boundaries in his 213 while Raza made120. Khurram Manzoor gave Sarfraz company in a stand of 154 for the fifth wicket that took Sind into the lead and clinched them three points. They eventually finished with 616 for 7. Punjab find themselves at the bottom of the table now, while Sind are placed third.

On Friday, the crowd at the Wankhede returned dejected despite Tendulkar crafting his maiden Twenty20 century as Kochi Kerala Tuskers busted their party with one of the most memorable chases in IPL history

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran15-Apr-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
At the 20-overs mark, it was all Sachin Tendulkar. Things changed completely in the second half of the match•Associated PressTwo weeks ago, the crowd at the Wankhede was delirious though a fervently anticipated Sachin Tendulkar century didn’t materialise. On Friday, the same crowd went home dejected despite Tendulkar crafting his first Twenty20 century, as Kochi Tuskers Kerala busted their party with one of the most memorable chases in IPL history.Two of the world’s finest Twenty20 batsmen, Brendon McCullum and Mahela Jayawardene, constructed chalk-and-cheese half-centuries to power Kochi’s pursuit of 183. Both perished to Lasith Malinga’s deadly deliveries but Kochi, who had stumbled in the final stretch of their first two games, didn’t slip up this time as Ravindra Jadeja and Brad Hodge muscled boundaries to finish the game with an over to spare.Tendulkar’s effort checked off another item on his ever-shrinking to-do list, and Mumbai ran up a tall total without needing contributions from Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds and Kieron Pollard. It was then assumed that the bowlers would make the rest of the game a formality, but McCullum firmly put that assumption to rest by muscling three boundaries between mid-off and cover in Malinga’s second over. The next big jump came in the sixth over from Pollard as McCullum swatted a four past midwicket and Jayawardene eased boundaries behind square on either side of the wicket.The Mumbai fielding made things worse for the home team. Rohit Sharma dropped McCullum at first slip off the first ball, and Jayawardene was given a life by Ali Murtuza at backward point.McCullum kept skating out of the crease and lashing the ball through the off side right through his innings, while Jayawardene was content shuffling across and using the bowler’s pace, rarely powering the ball. The difference between the two batsmen’s innings was highlighted in the ninth over as McCullum smashed the first ball over long-off, and Jayawardene reverse-paddled the fifth ball off the back of the bat for four.With dew making it difficult for the bowlers to grip the ball, both batsmen kept picking off the boundaries. Kochi were in command by the 14th over as they moved to 128 for 0 when Jayawardene deftly poked a Malinga delivery past the keeper towards a delighted Kochi dug-out. Next ball, Malinga removed Jayawardene with a yorker which prompted a surprise promotion for Jadeja. McCullum, though, kept Kochi on top with a couple of scythed boundaries in the 17th over that worsened Pollard’s evening.With 27 needed off three overs, and nine wickets in hand, Mumbai gambled by bringing on Malinga for his final over. He delivered by bowling McCullum first ball, but Hodge eased Kochi’s anxieties with two walloped boundaries off the rest of the over. Jadeja, who has received plenty of criticism over the past two years, then justified his promotion with a couple of swiped sixes off Murtaza Ali to finish off Mumbai with an over to go.It was the Kochi’s franchise first IPL win and Mumbai’s first defeat of the season, a result few predicted after Tendulkar had combined power and placement to reach a memorable century. It, however, came after a nervy start: Tendulkar was nearly run out on 0, umpire Paul Reiffel turned down two lbw appeals from Vinay Kumar which should have been given. There was also a close call for caught behind, and an outside edge off Thisara Perera that just beat the keeper.Mumbai made relatively sedate progress, reaching 57 in eight overs before losing Davy Jacobs. The in-form Ambati Rayudu immediately took charge, blasting two sixes off Raiphi Gomez. A series of powerfully hit straight boundaries took him to 44, when the partnership had realised 64.The final five overs turned into a Tendulkar show as he plundered 45 runs. Tendulkar showed how he could finesse the ball or force it depending on his mood: in the 16th over, a short ball on legstump was helped over fine leg for six, and a length ball outside off was pummelled over long-on for six more as 20 came off the over. A helicopter shot for four and a slugged six over midwicket took him to 90 after 19 overs.Tendulkar proceeded to paddle a four past short fine leg, and bludgeon another past long-on before reaching his ton with a push to mid-off off the final delivery of the innings. The decibel levels shot up in the stands, but it was a muted celebration from Tendulkar himself on reaching the milestone.Neither he nor the crowd were celebrating at the end of the game. One of the bigger worries for a formidable Mumbai unit was how dependent their attack was on Malinga’s form, something they will have to address after losing despite a solid batting effort.

Coverage of the World Cup in the Indian electronic media has come under a cloud with the ICC on Monday barring non-rights-holding channels access to the remaining matches for alleged breach of its accreditation guidelines

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-2011Coverage of the World Cup in the Indian electronic media has come under a cloud with the ICC on Monday barring non-rights-holding channels from access to the remaining matches for alleged breach of its accreditation rules and guidelines. The channels will be barred from practice sessions and the press conferences related to the three remaining matches, including Wednesday’s semi-final between India and Pakistan in Mohali, unless they sign a written undertaking that they will adhere to the ICC guidelines.”The channels have violated the terms and conditions of the accreditation agreement and news access guidelines they signed up to at the start of the tournament,” an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “Their accreditations have been deactivated.” It is believed that at least 40 leading channels will be affected.Apparently the ICC has repeatedly warned the channels of violations during the tournament and took the decision to bar them only after the guidelines continued to be breached. It is believed that the breaches have been of a commercial nature; there could be elements of ambush marketing involved with the channels running shows sponsored by companies that are in competition with the ICC sponsors.Meanwhile, the Broadcast Editors’ Association (BEA) and the National Broadcasters Association have decided to approach India’s Information & Broadcasting ministry on the matter. Shazi Zaman, the BEA president, has termed the ICC move as arbitrary and an infringement of media rights, according to .ESPN-StarSports has the broadcast rights for the World Cup. The first semi-final between Sri Lanka and New Zealand will be played in Colombo tomorrow while the final will be held in Mumbai on April 2.

Matt Prior scored just four on his return to county duty but Sussex Sharks secured an easy nine-wicket win against Middlesex Panthers in Group A of the CB40 League at Hove

08-May-2011
ScorecardLuke Wright had a good all-round day with an unbeaten innings to follow two wickets•Getty ImagesMatt Prior scored just four on his return to county duty but Sussex Sharks secured an easy nine-wicket win against Middlesex Panthers in Group A of the CB40 League at Hove.Prior’s only scoring shot was a delightful straight drive up the Hove slope for four off Tim Murtagh but in the second over he looked surprised when umpire Andrew Hicks upheld Ashes team-mate Steve Finn’s half-hearted lbw appeal.It was the only success Middlesex’s bowlers were to enjoy as Ed Joyce and Luke Wright put on an unbeaten second-wicket stand of 118 to ease their side to victory in the 23rd over. A fast outfield and easy-paced pitch meant they needed to take few risks and it was only when the target was in sight that either batsman began to open their shoulders.Wright hit a flat six off Neil Dexter over extra cover and 11 boundaries on his way to only his second domestic one-day half-century since 2009. The England all-rounder finished undefeated on 71 from 68 balls while Joyce contributed 47 from 63 with three fours and a six over long on off slow left-armer Tom Smith.Earlier, Middlesex never recovered after losing three wickets in six balls, two of them to Naved Arif. In the seventh over Scott Newman was yorked and four balls later Paul Stirling caught behind off a flat-footed jab outside off stump.It got worse for the visitors in the next over when another left-armer, Chris Liddle, had Dawid Malan caught at short-extra cover to leave Middlesex 29 for 3. Liddle picked up his second wicket when Neil Dexter was well caught by Murray Goodwin diving forward on the deep square-leg boundary and Middlesex lost their fifth wicket in the 18th over when Chris Rogers was totally foxed by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan’s slower ball.Gareth Berg led a recovery of sorts with only the second one-day half-century of his career. The South African struck four boundaries in his 52 off 79 balls and added 51 for the sixth wicket with Ben Scott to give his side hope.But Middlesex collapsed again when Berg holed out to long on, losing their last five wickets for 16 runs. Wright picked up his second wicket later in the over when Smith played on and Rana finished with three for 26 after he bowled Murtagh with one which nipped back to hit off stump before trapping Finn next ball with a delivery that kept low.A poor batting display by the Panthers ended when Anthony Ireland was taken at long on with 19 balls of their innings unused.