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Going by their current form, and the inconsistency of the opposition,India look runaway favourites for tomorrow’s final of the triangularone-day series against West Indies, as they aim to set recent historyright.India registered comprehensive victories in all their four leaguematches with both Zimbabwe and West Indies hardly posing anychallenge. All their players look to be in fine form and are bubblingwith confidence.But, they have lost the last three finals they have featured in, andin at least two of those tournaments, they had performed exceedinglywell in the league matches. Captain Saurav Ganguly had exactly this inmind even as he expressed confidence with the team’s preparation forthe final.”We have lost three finals in the recent past,” he said referring tothe ICC KnockOut tournament in Nairobi last year, the subsequentSharjah triangular series and the recent home series againstAustralia.”We don’t want to lose one more final this time,” he said. On form andrecord, India seem to have a strong case this time. In both battingand bowling, they have outperformed their opposition by miles. And thefielding has seen tremendous improvement with the youngsters bringingin a lot of energy and vitality on the field.On the other hand, West Indies continue to look a poor imitation oftheir former self. The absence of Brian Lara has seen a shakyperformance by the batsmen while the bowling is hardly formidable.With the captain having regained his batting form, the famous troikacomprising Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid is all set tofire on all cylinders in the final tomorrow. Tendulkar and Dravid havebeen in ominous touch in this tournament though the latter has had acouple of soft dismissals for small scores.V V S Laxman is ready to be included in the side having recovered fromhis finger injury and that would give a boost to the batting orderconsidering that his replacement Dinesh Mongia, though he got someruns, hasn’t looked very comfortable at the number three slot.Laxman, in all probability, will play tomorrow and that makes Mongia’sinclusion doubtful. Hemang Badani, who has shown much promise, hasbeen dismissed cheaply a couple of times and the team will need ahandsome contribution from him on the big stage.The bowlers have done an admirable job on this tour with all the fiveseamers competing with each other in giving an impressive performance.After another good show in the last game, Debasish Mohanty lookscertain to be included for tomorrow’s game along with Ashish Nehra,surely the best bowler for India on this tour.The third seamer’s slot is up for grabs between Zaheer Khan, AjitAgarkar and Harvinder Singh but Zaheer looks to be the favouriteconsidering his consistency in recent times.The West Indies pace department has suffered a setback followingCameroon Cuffy being sidelined for four weeks due to a fracture on hisleft foot. Mervyn Dillon and Reon King have performed only in patchesand it is their spinners Mahendra Nagamootoo and Neil McGarrell whohave comparatively better performances to their credit.Among the batsmen, the bulk of the scoring in this tournament has beendone by openers Darren Ganga and Chris Gayle and wicketkeeper RidleyJacobs.Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the most experienced member of the team apartfrom captain Carl Hooper, has been unable to lend the solidity to themiddle order that was expected of him and has got out cheaply tillnow. It will be important from West Indies’ point of view that hecomes good tomorrow and ensures a good total.Hooper himself has looked good though he has come in pressuresituations where all he was required to do was to go for the bigshots. He will once again be the key to his team putting up animpressive score.Despite the absence of hosts Zimbabwe from the final, tomorrow’s matchis a sold-out affair. The wicket looks favourable to batsmen though itremains to be seen whether the side winning the toss likes to batfirst or not.Ganguly has won the toss on all four ocassions and every time he hassent in the opposition to bat. He would like to do it again, if onlyfor continuity’s sake, but it would be interesting to see how Indiafare if they are forced to bat first tomorrow.Teams (from): India: Saurav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, RahulDravid, V V S Laxman, Hemang Badani, Virendra Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia,Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Samir Dighe, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan,Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Debasish Mohanty, Harvinder Singh.West Indies: Carl Hooper (capt), Darren Ganga, Chris Gayle, WavellHinds, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, MahendraNagamootoo, Neil McGarrell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Reon King, MervynDillon, Colin Stuart, Corey Collymore.Umpires: Ian Robinson and Russel Tiffin.

Aston Villa have been reported to be open to selling 24-year-old centre-back Ezri Konsa in the summer, who has a valuation of £22.5m according to Transfermarkt, but would likely cost more than that for any interested clubs.

If they do choose to sell him, manager Steven Gerrard could look to 17-year-old sensation Kerr Smith, who joined the club from Scottish Premiership side Dundee United in January for a mere £864k, after making an impressive 12 senior appearances with his former club.

“He’s a talented boy,” said former Dundee United manager Micky Mellon about him last year. “We enjoy having him here [at Dundee United] and watching him progress. I’m not surprised there would be interest in a 16-year-old that’s as good as him.”

Daily Record reporter Scott Burns also heaped praise on the defender before his transfer to Villa, saying: “He’s done well, considering he’s only 17. He’s obviously quite big and strong, but he’s also very good on the ball.

“I remember Micky Mellon saying Kerr Smith was as good as anyone he’d seen at that age group.”

In his five Scottish Premiership games this season, he averaged 2.8 clearances per game as well as completing 100% of his dribbles, 50% of his duels and picking up just one yellow card throughout the season.

Since moving to the Midlands, he has appeared six times for the youth teams at Villa, but not yet having made an appearance for the senior squad.

According to The Courier, the teenager “shined” on his U23 debut win over Norwich City in the Premier League 2, which was spectated by Gerrard – who would have been impressed with the result which was accompanied with a clean sheet.

The Scotland U19 international will be looking to follow in the footsteps of Bologna star and compatriot Aaron Hickey, who has become one of Europe’s hottest prospects after making the move to Italy from Hearts, where he made his first steps into professional football around the same age as Smith.

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If Villa can unearth his potential, they could have a centre-back for their long-term future for Gerrard to centre his team around.

In other news: AVFC can land Gerrard’s own Grealish in “super-talented” gem who won’t cost a penny 

ScorecardFile photo – Scott Boland ripped through Western Australia•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Chasing 459, Western Australia were wiped out for 102 in 28.2 overs, as Victoria romped home to pick up their second win and rise to the top of the table.Right-arm pacer Scott Boland scythed through Western Australia with career-best figures of 7 for 31. Each of Western Australia’s top three managed double-digit scores but failed to build on it, the last nine wickets tumbling for only 57 runs. James Pattinson collected two wickets while Fawad Ahmed pitched in with one.Earlier in the day, Marcus Stoinis completed his second first-class century, taking his match tally to 185. Rob Quiney managed only nine runs to his overnight score before he was out for 71. Peter Handscomb (63) gave Stonis good company before Aaron Finch struck a quick 45. Victoria eventually declared their innings at 322 for 7, after the fall of Pattinson (0).

Tim Boon: “I look at England, Australia and India as the top three jobs in the world. We all harbour thoughts to lead countries” © Getty Images

Tim Boon, Leicestershire’s senior coach and the latest name to be linked to the Indian coaching job, has said he views the option positively. “I’m in the middle of a contract here in Leicestershire but any county coach will aspire to be an international coach. I look at England, Australia and India as the top three jobs in the world. We all harbour thoughts to lead countries.”His time with England, in 2004 and 2005, was a memorable one, and he feels a well-equipped coaching staff makes a big difference in modern sport. “People tend to forget the role played by the back-room staff in that Ashes win. Little observations matter. It might be a 2% change, something related to down-swing, batsmen trying to hit the ball in the wrong areas. The relentless fielding drills, one-on-ones with players played a part in that Ashes win. It helped them develop clarity in their thinking.”I’m not advocating you have people with white coats but you have a management team that knows what your objective is. You need critical pathways for the players and work towards tiny-margin victories.”However, the Indian board chose not to reveal their cards. Both Ratnakar Shetty, the chief administrative officer of the Indian board, and Niranjan Shah, the secretary, refused to comment on the issue.Kepler Wessels, Queensland’s Terry Oliver, former Sri Lanka coach John Dyson, Dave Nosworthy of South Africa and former India wicketkeeper Chandrakant Pandit are the some of the names doing the rounds for the Indian coaching job.The Indian board has sought the help of the boards in England and Australia in the recruitment process. “If they have someone who matches what we need, they will recommend some names to us,” Sharad Pawar, president of the Indian board, had said on August 3. It is expected that the process could take a month.India have been without a coach since Greg Chappell’s resignation after the World Cup. Ravi Shastri took over temporarily as the cricket manager for the Bangladesh tour while Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh were appointed as specialist coaches. After Graham Ford, the former South African coach who is currently the director of cricket at Kent, rejected the board’s offer, Chandu Borde, the former Indian captain, was appointed manager for the tours of England and Ireland.

Graeme Hick has been in good form this season © Getty Images

Graeme Hick has been offered a new one-year contract by Worcestershire.Hick, 40, who has been with the county for 23 seasons, had been pondering his future after a poor start to the season, but he hit good form in June and has not looked back since. Recently he became only the second player since the war to score 100 first-class hundreds for his county (the other being Geoff Boycott).”Graeme is a legend of Worcestershire cricket and is having another good season,” Mark Newton, the Worcestershire chief executive, explained. “I can confirm we recently discussed the situation with him and would love to see him continue to re-write the record books here at Worcestershire. The offer has been made and Graeme has asked for time to consider the situation.”

Younis Khan has been in fine form in 2005 © AFP

Younis Khan, the Pakistan vice-captain, and Shahid Afridi, the Pakistani allrounder, have been given pay raises by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). They join Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq as the highest-paid contracted cricketers in Pakistan.The PCB had offered one-year contratcs to 20 players and the highest monthly salary is 200,000 Rupees ($3,352) in addition to match and tour fees. “Younis [Khan] and Afridi have performed outstandingly since last winter and deserved this promotion,” Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, told . He also said that other consistent players had been given new contracts with increases in pay. The second tier group receive a monthly salary of 125,000 Rupees and those in the third get category 75,000 Rupees. Pakistan started the contract system in order to maintain a close watch on the fitness levels of its players and to discourage them from playing abroad in the off-season.Younis has played 37 Test matches and has scored three centuries in his last four Tests. He has performed very impressively in 2005, scoring 778 runs in 12 innings and averaging 70.72. Afridi, who has the distinction of scoring the two fastest centuries in one-day cricket, has also shown much improvement with impressive performances with both bat and ball in 2005.

Pakistan 426 for 7 dec (Baluch 242) and 58 for 2 drew with West Indies 147 (Shaiza Khan 7-59) and 440 (Gregory 118, Shaiza Khan 6-167)
ScorecardKiran Baluch smashed 242, the world record for the highest score by a woman in a Test, but it wasn’t enough to secure Pakistan victory in the one-off game against West Indies at Karachi. Despite being made to follow on 279 runs in arrears, West Indies dug deep to score 440 second time round and so draw the match.Baluch, 28, beat the previous record of 214, held by India’s Mithali Raj, as Pakistan declared on 426 for 7. With Sajjida Shah, her fellow opener who made 98, she put on 241 for the first wicket as Pakistan dominated the first day. They closed on 242 for 1, with Shah dismissed in the penultimate over of the day.”I am delighted on creating a world record and credit this record to all the women players in the world,” said Kiran. “It’s a great moment in women’s cricket in Pakistan and I am delighted that such records will give us the due recognition which has been missing.”The second day also went Pakistan’s way, as they progressed past 400 before declaring and then reduced West Indies to 72 for 5.The third morning was notable for Shaiza Khan, Pakistan’s captain, becoming only the second woman to take a Test hat-trick – the first was Betty Wilson for Australia against England in 1957-58. Shaiza removed Verena Felicien (47) and Doris Francis (0) with the last two balls of her 14th over and then Stephanie Power (19) with the first delivery of her 15th. Shaiza finished with 7 for 59.Forced to follow-on, West Indies fared far better, led by a battling hundred from Nadine George in extreme conditions . Her century, West Indies first in a Test, came off 150 balls and contained 13 fours. Exhausted, she retired hurt shortly after reaching the landmark with a muscle problem. But with Verena Felicien (55), George added 97 for the fourth wicket and West Indies closed on 230 for 4.Pakistan needed early wickets on the final day, and when West Indies slumped to 371 for 7, only 38 ahead with George dismissed for 118, they looked on course. But Power and Francis, who both scored 57, added 105 for the eighth wicket in 115 minutes and effectively batted Pakistan out of the contest. Shaiza, followed her first-innings heroics with 6 for 167 in 55 overs, ending with match figures of 13 for 226, the best in a Test.Set an unlikely target of 162 off a maximum of 31 overs, Pakistan had crawled to 58 for 2 when the match was called off.

Photo © Barmy Army

There have been many great days, many great Test matches for the Barmy Army,but none compared with the fifth Test in Sydney, where 8,000 proud Britscheered Nasser Hussains men on to a famous win.England played magnificently and deserved the victory, but there is no doubtthe team fed off the volume and unstilting support of the Barmy Army, justas we fed off them.And after the deafening final day in Melbourne, the Barmy Army had backedthe team into a position where, for the first time in the series, Englandhad all the momentum.Barmy Army chief Paul Leafy Burnham said after the Sydney win that he hadnever before seen or heard the England fans in such good voice.The crowd definitely riled them up in Melbourne and the momentum had pickedup. We played all the cricket in Sydney, he said.The whole Hill area was standing up. Watching from the back, it was as goodas Ive ever seen.Everyone had a smile on their face and even the police changed theirattitude.It just gets bigger and bigger and better and better. Melbourne was asunbelievable noise again.There were record crowds here and the number of Barmy Army is also gettingbigger and the noise we generate is the best Ive ever seen.Dean Headley, Allan Mullaly, Darren Gough, all heroes of Englands 1998victory at the MCG, praised the support of the Barmy Army for lifting theside just as Australia began to get on top.Deano ran in to claim six wickets, Gough finished it off and the both theteam and the fans celebrated wildly.After Sydney it was the same. Even Steve Waugh, who had just saved his Testcareer with an historic, and brilliant, century praised the Barmy Army forthe support.What he would give for a bit more than Aussie Aussie Aussie.!I think its important to compare the noise with the performance of theEngland team, said Leafy.The Australia tour was marred occasionally by the dispersment of the Englandfans, which made it difficult to make an impact from day one of the Test,and importantly, day one of the series.But it just added further weight to Leafys calls that the Barmy Amry need areserved area.It always seems to be the first day, said Leafy.The first day of the series was so important. Look at the first day of theseries when Nasser decided to bowl. Its a shame that there was no realnoise in Brisbane that day.We are probably the only group of supporters in the world who would stillcheer on the team despite everybody thinking that it was the wrong decision.Even the players looked as if they thought it was the wrong decision. Butit still wasnt fair to him because he didnt have the crowd behind him.It just didnt seem he was getting backed. Youve got to give someone everychance if they come up with a decision like that and I dont think it was.Its very difficult to get everyone together on the first day.But Leafy and his trusted sidekick Katy worked tirelessly through the tourto bring everyone together as the Barmy Army grew and grew.The New Years Day party brought 2000 revellers to Coogee, a chance to bringeveryone together, to sing the songs and to raise over Aus $20,000 forcharity.Thats why we had the party in Sydney with Dermot Reeve. It was a crazy dayto have a party but we thought everyone could get together and sing thesongs which happened.But it wasnt really until day four here that it all got together in theground.we had a problem with the rent-a-crowd who came along.We need our own area where we can get everyone together. In Sydney Theydidnt help. They pinched the songs, printed some questionable literatureand invaded our little area again.They were definitely put there to compete with the Barmy Army.The experience in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney just reinforced what Ivealways believed we do need our own area. The whole idea is to get everyonetogether, make as much noise as you can so the players hear it.

Former New Zealand cricket captain Martin Crowe’s interview with the enquiry panel looking into allegations made against Crowe has been postponed.Crowe was to have been interviewed tomorrow by the panel headed by chairman Sir Ian Barker and Nick Davidson QC.However, the interview has been postponed until a date after July 1, which is the date a deadline for Indian bookmaker Mukesh Gupta to substantiate his allegations against Crowe was imposed on him by Anti-Corruption Unit head Sir Paul Condon.If nothing is heard from Gupta by July 1, the New Zealand panel will interview Crowe, but the time and location of the interview will not be released to the media.

It’s no secret Everton have been spending an absolute fortune trying to patch up and repair their problems for many years and now the excessive spending alongside the poor manager retention rate has taken it’s toll on the club as they are now in a relegation battle fighting for their place in the Premier League next season.

Farhad Moshiri is renowned for his impulsive and unnecessary spending that has ultimately led to the Merseyside club’s downfall, and it’s not just spending that has caused the problems the club are facing now, but the sale of key players who have been hugely impactful in the side since his arrival in 2016 has played a huge part in Everton’s dwindling remaining quality.

One player who the Toffees were unable to keep hold of is Romelu Lukaku, who reportedly rejected a lucrative offer to extend his contract at the club following a voodoo message that told him to go to Manchester United.

He left Goodison Park in 2017 after three years at the club, scoring 87 goals and assisting his teammates 29 times equalling a goal involvement every 120 minutes. That’s an attacking output that neither Dominic Calvert-Lewin (162 minutes) or Richarlison (195 minutes) have been able to match during their time as the centre-forwards at the club.

Since the 6 foot 2 attacker, who was hailed an “iconic figure” by Roberto Martinez, left the club it’s fair to say he has gone onto bigger and better things, with the striker winning a Serie A title with Inter Milan scoring 65 goals in 95 appearances for the club and winning the FIFA Club World Cup with his current club Chelsea more recently, leading to his market value to soar to £90m according to Transfermarkt.

Although Everton made £75m in Lukaku’s sale, they have spent far more trying to fill the void in their attacking line to replace his goals and assists, with over £100m spent on offensive players since he left five years ago and no progression made. In fact, the club is suffering one of their worst seasons with the potential of relegation for the first time ever in the Premier League this season.

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As a result, Moshiri will surely have nightmares about giving in to selling Lukaku all those years ago, as the money spent and the lack of progression for Everton far outweighs the profit made on the player, and with the side only scoring one goal in the Premier League in over two months, a player of Lukaku’s calibre would be perfect for them right now.

In other news: Insider drops claim on “big” Moshiri “decision” that’ll leave Everton supporters livid