Tag Futebol

Journalist Josh Holland has made an Aston Villa transfer claim regarding Atletico Madrid midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia, as per GiveMeSport.

The Lowdown: Kondogbia linked with Villa

NSWE have already made a head start on their summer business prior to Steven Gerrard’s first full season in charge by securing Phillipe Coutinho on a permanent deal.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/aston-villa-latest-news/” title=”Aston Villa latest news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Villa manager wants a ‘specialist No.6’ and personally watched Kondogbia in action against Manchester City in the Champions League last month. Reports then suggested that NSWE were ‘very confident’ of getting a deal over the line and labelled the 29-year-old a ‘serious target’.

The Latest: Holland’s comments on Kondogbia

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Holland was asked about a number of midfielders who have been linked with a move to Villa Park, including Kondogbia, Ibrahim Sangare (PSV Eindhoven) and Boubacar Kamara (Marseille).

He described the Atletico powerhouse as a ‘veteran’ compared to Sangare and Kamara, saying that a holding midfielder is a ‘priority’ for Villa:

“Kondogbia, I think everyone knows his performances in the Champions League for years now have been noted.

“He’s a bit on the veteran side compared to the other two (Sangare and Kamara), but he’s done it at a higher level than obviously PSV and Marseille. So, I do think that a CDM was probably their priority.”

The Verdict: What about Phillips or Bissouma?

It looks as if NSWE will back the manager by signing at least one holding midfielder this summer, and it appears that Villa have a long list of names for that position.

Gregg Evans stated that Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips was one of the first names mentioned in transfer discussions with Gerrard, while Villa also had a bid rejected for Brighton’s Yves Bissouma in January.

They both have plenty of Premier League experience, so perhaps it would be wise to bring in either Phillips or Bissouma along with one of Kondogbia, Sangare and Kamara to provide Gerrard with three strong defensive midfield options alongside Marvelous Nakamba.

That’s because talks haven’t progressed with Douglas Luiz, and with his deal set to expire in just over 12 months’ time, he could end up moving on.

In other news: Villa and NSWE now eyeing ‘very talented’ 6 foot 3 powerhouse for Gerrard

Manchester City are reportedly interested in a move for Inter Milan defender Stefan de Vrij, according to reports in Italy.

What’s the word?

As per CMIT TV (via Sports Witness), the reigning Premier League champions are ‘willing to spend’ an ‘important figure’ to prize the Dutchman from the San Siro, with a bid in the region of €40m (£33.5m) potentially on the cards.

The 30-year-old – who joined the Serie A outfit from Lazio in 2018 – has just a year remaining on his existing deal, with the ‘right offer’ potentially set to tempt both him and Simone Inzaghi’s side into a sale this summer.

As the report also alludes to, however, there has been speculation in recent weeks linking the £31.5m-rated man to Tottenham Hotspur in the upcoming transfer window, with the player having previously worked under Spurs boss Antonio Conte in Milan for two seasons – notably winning the Scudetto last term for the first time in 11 years.

Stones in trouble

Despite being currently well-stocked in their centre-back ranks – with Aymeric Laporte, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake all at the club – this latest news suggests that Pep Guardiola’s side appear keen to further bolster their backline, with one of their current stars potentially set to be a notable casualty.

The man that could well give way to any new defensive addition is England international, Stones, with the 27-year-old having lost his place to teammate Laporte as the first-choice partner to last season’s Premier League player of the year’, Dias.

Having been a £40m arrival from Bournemouth just two seasons ago, it would also appear unlikely that the club would cash in on Ake just yet, particularly with the former Chelsea man offering that much-needed balance as a left-footed option.

For Stones, it has proven to be a fairly frustrating campaign thus far, with the £250k-per-week star having made just 11 top-flight starts to date, while he was also recently forced off with an injury in the recent thrilling 4-3 victory over Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

That enthralling clash had seen the former Everton man line up in an unconventional right-back position in the absence of compatriot Kyle Walker – a role he has utilised on five occasions this season – a fact that further emphasises his diminishing status at the heart of the backline.

The £25.2m-rated man has also registered some fairly meagre statistics so far this term, averaging o.4 tackles and 0.8 interceptions in the Premier League, while he also ranks in just the top 97% for blocks made per 90 and the top 77% for clearances made, compared to players in his position across Europe’s top five leagues.

While that partly has something to do with City’s usual dominance in possession and limited need to defend, such a record also points to lingering concerns over his defensive ability, having once been criticised by Alan Shearer for making “mistake after mistake” in his early days at the Etihad.

By contrast, potential new arrival de Vrij has been in stunning form for the Serie A title challengers, with former Lazio defender Mauricio dubbing him a “monster” with “excellent technique” following his eye-catching displays for the Nerazzurri.

The 55-cap international has performed favourably in comparison to the aforementioned City man so far this season, registering 1.2 tackles, 1.8 clearances and one interception per game in the league thus far in his 26 outings.

There would no doubt need to be a period of adjustment as he has frequently lined up at the centre of a back three for Inzaghi’s charges, although his arrival in England could help to strengthen an already stubborn and seemingly impenetrable backline.

Stones – who has been linked with a move to Newcastle United of late – would be wise to be at least a little concerned for his future.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Rice: West Ham could have signed “magic” £45m-rated star for just £5m…

Bharath Seervi01-Jan-201861 – Number of seasons it took for Vidarbha to win their maiden Ranji Trophy title. They appeared in Ranji Trophy for the first time in 1957-58, and played 260 matches before coming into this season. Only two teams have taken longer to win their first title – Gujarat (83 seasons) and Uttar Pradesh (72). Vidarbha are the 18th team to become Ranji Trophy champions.3 – Number of new Ranji champions in this decade. Rajasthan had got their maiden title win in 2010-11, and Gujarat got it last season. In the previous decade, two more teams had got their maiden title – Railways (2001-02) and Uttar Pradesh (2005-06).27 – Wickets taken by Rajneesh Gurbani in the knockout stage this season (at an average of 14.11), which is 12 more than any other bowler. All other Vidarbha bowlers together picked up 32 wickets in this period at 30.96. Gurbani picked up four five-wicket hauls in these games, all the other Vidarbha players managed one. Gurbani was also the Man of the Match in each of these three knockout matches. He also took a hat-trick in the final and thus becoming only the second bowler to do so in a Ranji final; the first was B Kalyanasundaram for Tamil Nadu in the 1972-73 final against Mumbai.

Vidarbha bowlers in knockouts of Ranji Trophy 2017-18

Player	Wickets	Ave	SR	5WI/10WM	MoM
Rajneesh Gurbani	27	14.11	27.2	4/1	3
All other Vidarbha players	32	30.96	61.9	1/0	3

9 – Wasim Jaffer has played nine Ranji Trophy finals – eight for Mumbai and one for Vidarbha – and he has been on the winning side on each of these occasions. He played his first final in the 1996-97 season. He moved to Vidarbha in 2015-16 after 18 seasons for Mumbai. Last year Mumbai played their first final without Jaffer in 20 years, and they ended up as runners-up for the first time.4 – Number of Vidarbha batsmen who scored 500-plus runs at average of over 50 this season – the most for any side. Delhi and Karnataka had three such batsmen. For Vidarbha, Faiz Fazal (captain), Sanjay Ramaswamy, Ganesh Satish and Jaffer were those four batsmen. Fazal and Ramaswamy were also the second and third highest run-getters in the season.3 – Vidarbha bowlers who picked up 25-plus wickets at average of less than 25 in the season – the most for any team. Delhi, Karnataka and Gujarat had two such bowlers. Gurbani, Akshay Wakhare and Aditya Sarwate were those three bowlers for Vidarbha. Gurbani and Wakhare were among the top-five wicket-takers of the season.

By reaching 10,000 Test runs, Alastair Cook has scaled a summit that 623 England players who made their Test debut before him couldn’t.

Shiva Jayaraman30-May-2016Alastair Cook has scaled a summit that 623 England players who made their Test debut before him couldn’t. By reaching 10,000 Test runs, he joins a pantheon of batsmen as the youngest among them to reach that milestone. Tendulkar – the quickest before Cook – had scored his 10,000th run at the age of 31 years and 327 days. Cook has taken 170 days fewer than him. He is also the quickest from debut – by over a year – to get there, having taken just ten years and 88 days.England’s predilection for Test cricket – they have played an average of 12.5 Tests a year since Cook’s debut, more than any other team – has obviously helped Cook in getting there quicker than any other batsman. However, to his credit, Cook has both kept himself fit and kept his contributions – with the bat and the captaincy – significant enough to play in 128 of the 129 England Tests since his debut. In fact, he has played in 126 consecutive Tests since his one and only absence – he missed the third Test of his debut tour to India in 2006 due to a stomach bug. That is the second-longest continuous streak by any player for any Test team. Only Allan Border’s streak of 153 consecutive Tests for Australia is longer than Cook’s.Besides his patience and determination, Cook’s fitness is one of the key reasons for his huge tally of runs, for he doesn’t score quickly and so has to stay on the field longer to get them. Among batsmen with at least 5000 runs since the turn of the century, Cook’s strike rate is the third lowest. Right from the start of his Test career Cook has preferred to dig in to score runs – as a 21-year-old on debut in Nagpur, he made a 243-ball unbeaten 104 in the second innings. Since then, there have been 30 more innings of at least 200 deliveries. The last of those came against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi when Cook batted 836 minutes for a 528-ball 263 – the third longest individual innings of all time.These marathon innings demand patience, and Cooks clearly has it in spades. The one aspect of his batting that epitomises this is his ability to leave the ball. By the end of the Chester-le-Street Test against Sri Lanka, Cook had offered no shot to 4,465 deliveries, which is 20.6% of the balls he has faced in his career. In terms of percentage of balls faced since Cook’s debut, only Shivnarine Chanderpaul has left alone a higher share of deliveries among modern batsmen in the 10,000-club.

Highest percentage of balls left in Tests since Cook’s debut

Batsman Deliveries left alone Deliveries Faced %ageShivnarine Chanderpaul 2788 13062 21.34Alastair Cook 4465 21658 20.62Jacques Kallis 2256 11134 20.26Sachin Tendulkar 1829 10193 17.94Kumar Sangakkara 2659 15554 17.10Cook is eighth on the list of batsmen who have faced the most deliveries in Tests in the last 20 years. He has faced an average of 94.57 deliveries per innings, which is the sixth highest by any batsman with a cut-off of 100 innings.What stands out, though, is Cook’s ability to construct these marathon innings in Asia – conditions that have usually challenged non-Asian batsmen. Cook has batted an average of 122.8 deliveries per innings in subcontinent conditions (including the UAE) which are the highest for any batsman, Asian or otherwise, to have played at least 30 innings in the last 20 years.

Most deliveries per innings in Asia since 1996 (min 30 inns)

Batsman Balls faced in Asia Inns Balls/InnsAlastair Cook 5035 41 122.80Azhar Ali 6208 53 117.13Hashim Amla 4195 39 107.56Jacques Kallis 4672 44 106.18Rahul Dravid 16856 160 105.35Cook’ 2,252 runs in Tests in Asia are the most by any overseas batsman. Jacques Kallis is the only other batsman to aggregate 2,000 runs. Among the 63 non-Asian batsmen who have scored at least 5,000 Test runs, Cook’s 22.4% runs in Asia are the third highest contribution to career runs after Hashim Amla’s 24.7% and Carl Hooper’s 23.8%.

Top %age of runs scored in Asia, overseas batsmen (min 5000 Test runs)

Batsman Runs in Asia Career Runs %ageHashim Amla 1819 7358 24.72Carl Hooper 1373 5762 23.82Alastair Cook 2252 10042 22.42Marcus Trescothick 1306 5825 22.42Stephen Fleming 1571 7172 21.90Cook’s game is at its dogged best in his back-to-the-wall second-innings efforts, such as the ones at the Gabba, in Ahmedabad, and in Galle. His second-innings numbers don’t look extraordinary on the outset – 3,952 runs at 44.40 with 13 hundreds. But nine of those 13 hundreds have come with England facing a second-innings deficit. Only Sachin Tendulkar has made more centuries while trailing in the second innings. Sunil Gavaskar, Kumar Sangakkara and Brian Lara too made nine such centuries, but in 75, 83 and 93 innings, respectively, to Cook’s 72. Cook has made 2,942 runs in second innings when faced with a deficit, which is 29.30% of his career runs. This is the second highest for any batsman in the 10,000-club after Gavaskar, who made 33.65% of his career runs when facing a second-innings deficit.

Most centuries facing deficit in second innings

Batsman Inns Runs Ave 100s %age runsSachin Tendulkar 113 3649 46.18 11 22.91Alastair Cook 73 2942 47.45 9 29.29Sunil Gavaskar 75 3406 55.83 9 33.64Kumar Sangakkara 83 3248 50.75 9 26.19Brian Lara 93 3224 39.31 9 26.97The quality of stubborn resilience that Cook has displayed in bailing out England on so many occasions has helped in his career too. Starting in 2013, he hit a rough patch in which he managed just 638 runs at 23.62 and went without a century for 27 innings. But, with the clamour for dropping him as England’s Test captain at its loudest following England’s loss to India at Lord’s in 2014, Cook made use of the luck that came his way in the next Test in Southampton to score 95 and 70 not out. His next hundred took another eight innings to come, but Southampton marked a revival in Cook’s batting career: in 30 innings beginning with that Test, Cook scored 1,625 runs at an average of 58.03 with three hundreds and 11 fifties. In the subsequent year, Cook scored 1,364 runs at 54.56 – the fourth highest by an England batsman in Tests in calendar year.Cook has scored 900 or more runs in a calendar year eight times already in only ten complete years of his Test career. One could argue that’s not a big achievement considering he gets to bat enough every year to get there. But in six of those years he has averaged at least 45. Only two other batsmen – Tendulkar and Kumar Sangakkara – have had seven years when they have scored 900-plus runs at an average of at least 45. Admittedly though, batsmen from Asia do not play as many Tests every year as those from England or Australia. But the next best England batsmen in this list are Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen and Mike Atherton who had three such years each in their careers that lasted eight, nine and 12 years respectively. Ricky Ponting is the nearest Australia batsman to Cook in this roster, with five such years in a career spanning 17 years.

900-plus runs at 45-plus average in a calendar year

Batsman Years Career spanKumar Sangakkara 7 15Sachin Tendulkar 7 24Alastair Cook 6 10Brian Lara 6 16Rahul Dravid 6 16Jacques Kallis 6 18Cook is only the second regular opener after Sunil Gavaskar to make it to the 10,000-club. In all likelihood, he will be the first batsman to get 10,000 Test runs purely as an opener too: Cook needs 536 more runs to get there and 144 to go past Gavaskar as the highest run-scorer among openers in Test history.He has ticked most of the boxes that batsmen who have long careers usually do. Cook is one of the only 12 batsmen to make centuries against all the eight (or nine) teams he has played against. He just needs five more runs against South Africa to become only the third batsman – after Tendulkar and Dravid – to make 1000 runs against seven Test teams. He has also hit at least one Test hundred in all the nine cricketing countries he has played in. The fact that only one batsman in Test history has managed that in more countries than him – Dravid hit centuries all the ten countries he played in – should confirm Cook as one of the most adaptive batsmen in Test history.

The young Bangladesh side, in many ways, represents the transition and growth of cricket and its infrastructure in the country. The World Cup is a chance to test these systems

Mohammad Isam17-Feb-2015Conditions, pitches and bounce. Preparations, expectations and pressure. Bangladesh would have to deal with these demons first and Afghanistan second in Canberra on Wednesday. Each player will have to accept a world outside their comfort zone for Bangladesh to have a successful outing from their first game onwards.Since the 2011 World Cup, Bangladesh have played 36 out of 50 ODIs at home and none in Australia and New Zealand. There was, however, little doubt that this was the best cricket team in Bangladesh and there was little debate about who was left behind when the national selectors announced the squad in January. This match and the World Cup campaign is, essentially, an important test of Bangladesh cricket and the systems it has put in place, both natural and structural.The players’ individual progress, over a decade or the past few months, lends its own context to the transition of Bangladesh cricket over the last 15 years. With so much debate now over their future in international cricket, the World Cup is perhaps the best occasion for Bangladesh to show how each batch of cricketers has contributed to the bigger picture. Two of the players took to the game before Bangladesh gained Test status, while the next group of four players began training together in 2003 as part of BCB’s first major development programme.Most players in the current squad have followed in the footsteps of Mashrafe Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim – rising either through sheer talent, the U19 programmes or building themselves in domestic cricket, sometimes even a combination of the three. They are the sum total of almost every thought-process that has taken shape in Bangladesh cricket: the need for faster bowlers, all-round fielders, proper allrounders and stroke-playing openers.Mashrafe and left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny are from Bangladesh’s last innocent era – the late 1990s. They took to cricket moments after Hasibul Hossain and Khaled Mashud scampered a leg-bye in Kuala Lumpur in 1997. Like many kids across the country, they ran out of their homes to celebrate Bangladesh’s victory over Kenya, having heard the delirious commentators.After 14 years of playing and coping with as many as 11 leg injuries, Mashrafe is now in his third and most important stint as captain. Sunny, on the other hand, had almost given up the game, after he felt he was the “nothing” player of his era. He was only picked in the Bangladesh T20 team last year, 13 years after making his club and first-class debut, thanks to a large bag of wickets in domestic one-day and T20 tournaments.If Mashrafe and Sunny came from the ‘all-or-nothing culture’ of Bangladesh’s early days as a Test nation, the next batch of cricketers was expected to make something out of their own talent with the help of the training they received from a young age – a first for Bangladesh cricket.Mashrafe Mortaza, now in his most important stint as captain, came from the ‘all-or-nothing culture’ of Bangladesh’s early years as a Test nation•AFPThe Bangladesh Cricket Board’s first high-level cricket development programme brought Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah, Shakib and Tamim into international cricket, all within the span of a few years. Among the four, Shakib perhaps is an exception in the amount of international exposure he has garnered by playing in various leagues across the world. He is the only member of the current squad to have played in Australia a month before the World Cup, with a stint in the Big Bash League.Between 2007 and 2010, Tamim, along with Shakib, was seen as one of the path-breakers of Bangladesh cricket, leading the way on the international stage. In that period, he was the highest run-getter for Bangladesh across formats – 4278 in 122 matches – closely followed by Shakib. Since then, however, he has crunched his game down to bare essentials and has lost his position as a batting leader within the team to Mushfiqur, who has flourished over the last two years.The rise, performance and popularity of these four players has brought forth a more forceful genre of cricketers, represented in the side by Rubel Hossain, Nasir Hossain and Sabbir Rahman.Rubel was the first fast bowler after Mashrafe to generate excitement with his pace, while Nasir and Sabbir have evolved into two of the best all-round fielders in the country. Of the three, only Nasir received proper training in his formative years but is now on the periphery of the team due to a slump in form. Rubel’s concentration on pace and a lack of subtlety has made him a one-dimensional bowler, while Sabbir, who made his international debut only last year, is still very new to international cricket.By every estimate Taskin Ahmed, Mominul Haque, Anamul Haque and Soumya Sarkar represent the future of Bangladesh cricket and one of them perhaps could go on to become the Bangladesh captain.Taskin, a fast bowler, was a YouTube sensation as an Under-19 cricketer, growing from his roots in taped tennis-ball cricket, and is seen as a successor to Mashrafe and Rubel. Mominul and Anamul made their international debut in the same match – against West Indies in November 2012 – but have different characters and have had different careers so far. The more flamboyant Anamul has notched up three ODI hundreds but Mominul, with a quieter personality, has put together strong performances in Test cricket.Unlike many Bangladesh international players, who have risen through the ranks of Under-19 cricket, pacer Al-Amin Hossain and left-arm spinner Taijul Islam are almost entirely products of the domestic system, nurtured through the club and divisional leagues. Their wicket-taking abilities won them a place in the senior side last year and they have not disappointed so far.Nine members of the Bangladesh squad are playing their first World Cup and it’s a chance for them to show that cricket in the country is thriving. What they lack in experience they will have to compensate with natural ability and eagerness. For the older hands, the tournament is a chance to prove their status as big-stage players and leaders of Bangladesh cricket, and leave a memorable legacy.

Plays of the day from the IPL game between Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab in Chennai

Siddhartha Talya02-May-2013The dismissal
The IPL speedometer hasn’t been the most accurate on some occasions this season, one Piyush Chawla delivery in one of the earlier games clocking more than 130kmph. However, he did bowl a quicker delivery today that won him a wicket. In the 11th over, Chawla fired one in outside off to a charging Michael Hussey, who missed and was stumped by Gurkeerat Singh.The timeout
The Chennai heat is unforgiving and it wasn’t a surprise when, during the first strategy break, a four to five man contingent, including the coach, emerged from the dug-out and headed towards Suresh Raina and Hussey. Raina was given a back massage by S Anirudha, both batsmen had their heads wrapped in towels, were gulping down liquids; Hussey, through the break, was down in knees. All these in conditions without any breeze not a speck of cloud in the sky.The run-out
Rajagopal Sathish hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary in his three previous games this IPL, but he single-handedly brought about the downfall of MS Dhoni for 2 today. Dhoni turned Sathish, who was bowling, to midwicket and tried to scramble back for the second. Sathish ran across from the pitch, slid, collected the ball and returned a good throw to the striker’s end where Gurkeerat took off the bails to find Dhoni just short of the crease.The stop
Raina misfielded one from Shaun Marsh in the penultimate over, when he struck one down the ground. But in the over before, he did something spectacular. Marsh drilled Dwayne Bravo wide of long-on, and it looked certain to go for four. Raina ran to his right and dived full length to stop the ball on the half-volley with one hand, and kept the batsmen to two. That misfield, therefore, was a shocker.

Sri Lanka were so feeble on the field that they rendered absolutely inconsequential a magnificent hundred from Mahela Jayawardene

Sambit Bal at the Wankhede Stadium02-Apr-2011The World Cup hasn’t been blessed with grand finals. From a distance now, 1975 looks much closer than it actually was; 1983 was memorable because it produced a stunning upset; and 1992 was sealed with two magic balls from Wasim Akram. Only 1987 produced a tense finish, but it was played between two middling teams. To the dispassionate eye, the regret about 2011 will be that Sri Lanka, so clinical until the final, were so off the boil on the field that the biggest chase in a World Cup final became a canter in the end.Sri Lanka had the distinction of chasing the highest score to win a World Cup. In 1996 they were generously assisted by the dew in Lahore as they knocked off 241 with plenty to spare. While dew was a factor on Saturday night too, Sri Lanka were so feeble on the field that 274 felt like 50 short. Kumar Sangakkara was full of grace in conceding India’s superiority in the contest, but when he said they would have needed 350 to challenge India, he might have been reflecting on his team’s out-cricket.It was a pity because it rendered absolutely inconsequential a magnificent hundred from Mahela Jayawardene.In fact, it could be said that there were two Sri Lankas in the final in Mumbai. There was Jayawardene: beautiful, balanced and inspired. And then there was the Sri Lanka on the field: sloppy, uncoordinated, listless and a bundle of nerves. India were worthy winners because they carried more class and depth, but Sri Lanka’s inability to stretch them despite the early tremors caused by Lasith Malinga robbed the final of the tension it deserved.Jayawardene must feel hard done by because the world remembers only winners. His team-mates didn’t drop as many catches as Pakistan did in the semi final – in fact, Tillakaratne Dilshan grabbed a stunner off his own bowling to dismiss Virat Kohli – but they leaked so many runs in the field that the India batsmen, once they settled down, were never made to work hard.This was in dramatic contrast to the Indian fielding effort that peaked on Saturday, after gradually improving through the knockout stages. Now trimmer and considerably fitter, Yuvraj Singh, back in his old position at point, was electric: and, along with Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli, he formed an offside cordon the Sri Lankan top order found impossible to breach. They starved Sri Lanka of singles by attacking the ball and cut off certain boundaries with spectacular dives. Even the fast bowlers, usually liabilities in the outfield, seemed to have acquired springs. Zaheer Khan saved a couple of fours at third man, and Sreesanth sprinted and slid at square leg to stop another.While India rose well above themselves, Sri Lanka, though never among the most sparkling fielding sides, sunk way below their usual standards, and the combined difference could well have been 40 runs. This piece of comic fielding summed up the Sri Lankan performance: Gautam Gambhir sliced Muttiah Muralitharan straight to point where Chamara Kapugedera fumbled the ball, allowing a single, and then fired in a throw wide of the bowler to concede another run.With the ball too, Sri Lanka were below par. Malinga produced two huge wickets when it was least expected. He hasn’t been a threat with the new ball throughout the World Cup and to nail Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar in his first spell was a huge bonus. But Malinga couldn’t do the job expected from him and MS Dhoni and Yuvraj picked him off easily when he returned for what could have been a match-turning spell.Murali was perhaps not fully fit and got easily annoyed with the wet ball and Suraj Randiv, who was brought in as cover for Murali but played ahead of Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath, was the most economical bowler of the day but never threatened to produce a wicket. Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Perera more than compensated for the absence of Angelo Mathews with the bat but they were clearly ill equipped as lead bowlers. Sometimes in seeking to address the conditions, teams veer away from their strengths.What a let-down this effort was for Jayawardene, who produced an innings worthy of a final. The world feels a lovely place when he gets going, but beauty is nothing without purpose and substance. His was a beautifully structured innings that first lifted Sri Lanka from a sluggish start and then gradually led them towards a challenging total. As ever, Jayawardene, who had had an indifferent World Cup so far, persuaded the ball through gaps affectionately, using the pace that the pitch offered and creating space with gentle wrist work. His first fifty came off 49 balls, and the second, without any noticeable shift in gear, in 35, with the century coming with two superbly executed fours off Zaheer Khan.This was his second virtuoso innings in knockout matches of successive World Cups. In 2007, his unbeaten hundred against New Zealand had come in similar circumstances (he came in to bat at 67 for 2 then, as against 60 for 2 today) and had carried his team to the final.On Saturday, he became the first centurion in a losing cause in a World Cup final. How empty it must feel.

It looked like he had been passed over in favour of his former team-mate Matt Prior. Not quite. Tim Ambrose is England’s surprise choice for the wicketkeeper’s spot in the squad for New Zealand

Andrew Miller05-Jan-2008

England’s new No. 7 is a keeper first and foremost © Getty Images
Tim Ambrose and Matt Prior have been friends and rivals ever sincethey first played together at Sussex in the summer of 2001, but deepdown they always knew that, as two men competing for the samewicketkeeping position, one of them would have to win out in the end.In the summer of 2005, when Ambrose packed his bags and left forWarwickshire after two difficult seasons in Prior’s shadow, it lookedas though the argument had finally been settled. At Lord’s on Friday,however, the tables were turned in spectacular fashion.”I’m a little bit surprised but thrilled,” said Ambrose, afterlearning that he had been earmarked for a Test debut at Prior’sexpense, when England begin their three-match series against NewZealand on March 5. “I’m a little bit numb and for now I’m justletting it sink in before focusing on the job. Matt and I have alwayshad a healthy competition – I wouldn’t call it a rivalry because he’sa good friend of mine, so I feel for him and I’m sure he’ll be verydisappointed at the moment.”Prior’s performances in Sri Lanka were wholehearted but sadly flawed,with the nadir coming at Galle where he dropped three crucial chances,all diving to his right. Despite his undoubted success with the bat -he has averaged in excess of 40 in his first ten Tests – those missestook his tally for the year into double figures. For the selectors whoare still intent on finding a long-term successor to Alec Stewart, itis a catalogue of errors that cannot be ignored any longer.Mind you, Prior has never pretended that wicketkeeping was his firstlove – batting was always No. 1 for him, and he only stumbled on thekeeping role by accident as a teenager, when a junior team-mate failedto turn up for a match. Ambrose, on the other hand, presents himselfas a gloveman first and foremost. “I’ve always kept since the firstgame I played, so it’s always been a major, major part of my game,” hesaid. “I take a lot of pride in it, and I thoroughly enjoy it. It’s why I play the game.”A glance at the bald statistics would tend to tell the same tale.Ambrose has managed just four first-class centuries in seven seasons,and none at all in his final three years at Sussex. In 2003, the yearin which the county secured their first Championship title, he playeda vital role with 931 runs and a top score of 93 not out, but in 2004and 2005 his form fell away as Prior seized the role of top dog. “Weknew from a long way out that one of us would have to go elsewhere totry and pursue our dreams,” said Ambrose. “The opportunity came up forme at Warwickshire and I received good support in making that move.Sussex were very helpful and understood the situation, and it’s workedout well for us.”It wasn’t, however, the first time that Ambrose had upped sticks tofurther his career. He was born and brought up in New South Wales,the son of an English mother and Australian father, but at the age of17 made a leap of faith and emigrated to England. “I had playedjunior levels for NSW U17s, but I always felt the opportunity to keepwicket and bat in that situation was against my favour, so when theopportunity came up to come over here I grabbed it.”Ambrose sent off letters to various counties asking for a trial, andreceived replies from Hampshire and Sussex, with whom he spent hisfirst three days in England after landing from Sydney. “My trialstarted the morning after I got off the plane, so it was a prettyshotgun thing,” he said. “I was looking to explore the world really,and experience new things, and also to play some cricket. In thatfirst year Sussex asked me to play and offered me a contract, andobviously I’d have to be a fool to pass up. It’s resulted in me havinga great life here for the last seven or eight years.”The Ashes are looming in 2009, and are the obvious target for everyEnglish cricketer with international aspirations, but Ambrose insistedthere would be no conflict of allegiance if he ever got the chance toplay. “I’ve lived all my adult life here, and this is my home,” hesaid. “All my friends are here, and I haven’t even been to Australiafor a few years. I’ll be very pleased and proud to have opportunity torepresent my country.”My mother and all her family were born in England and went toAustralia to seek opportunities,” he added. “She was fairly young,around 15 or 16, so it’s similar to the age I was when I came backhere. I’ve spoken to quite a few of them this morning, as they’ve beenvery supportive of me for the last seven or eight years.”The Ashes are looming in 2009, and are the obvious target for everyEnglish cricketer with international aspirations, but Ambrose, who was born in New South Wales, insistedthere would be no conflict of allegiance if he ever got the chance toplayHow equipped for success is Ambrose likely to be? If any manshould know, it would have to be England’s head coach, Peter Moores,the man who offered that Sussex contract back in 2001. “I’m a big fanof Peter, as everyone who’s worked with him is,” said Ambrose. “He’san excellent manager and coach, and he’ll be great to help with mykeeping, confidence, and every aspect of the game. I’m very muchlooking forward to reuniting with him.”It was to Moores that Ambrose turned when he realised his time atSussex was running out. “He was very supportive, because he realisedthat it was going to be the case for one of us,” said Ambrose.”Obviously he wanted to make sure that whichever one of us did makethe move, it was the right thing to do, at the right time and theright place. I spent five or six years under his guidance, and Iattribute a lot of my success and learning experience in the earlypart of my career to him.”And yet, because of Prior’s claims, Moores was never able to offerAmbrose a long-term role as wicketkeeper. Judging by the drama of thisselection, he still hasn’t quite made up his mind. Once again, thespotlight is set to burn furiously on England’s latest No. 7 when theNew Zealand series gets underway.

David de Gea has explained why it was “impossible” for him to accept Premier League offers on the back of leaving Manchester United in 2023.

• Released by Red Devils as a free agent
• Spent a year mulling over his options
• Enjoying new challenge with Fiorentina

Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  After 12 years at Old Trafford, during which he made 545 appearances and became a four-time Player of the Year, Spain international De Gea was surprisingly released by the Red Devils as a free agent when his contract expired.

Advertisement

• Getty
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Questions have been asked of that decision on a regular basis as De Gea’s successor in Manchester, Cameroon international Andre Onana, has found the going tough in English football – with a number of costly errors being made across his two seasons as No.1.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  De Gea opted to enjoy a 12-month sabbatical after severing ties with United, eventually signing for Serie A side Fiorentina in 2024, with the 34-year-old snubbing several approaches from England before heading to Italy.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• getty
  

  WHAT DE GEA SAID

  De Gea has told : “I turned down offers from England because after spending so many years at a club like United, you feel like you don't want to play for another club in England.

  “I only wanted Manchester United, and while it's true that I received offers from England, I knew it would be impossible for me to play anywhere else. I've spent my whole life there; it's the club that shaped me and allowed me to have a wonderful career.

  “I felt it was time to rest and come back even stronger. People asked me, 'When are you coming back?' I reassured everyone, 'I'm fine, I'll be back’. It was normal for people to have some doubts after a year out, but I was sure that after a game or two I'd be back to my old self.”

Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji is considering his future after Galatasaray matched the Premier League champions’ £15 million valuation ($20.1m). The Switzerland international, who played a key role in Pep Guardiola's side’s treble success, faces competition for game time as the Catalan tactician looks to trim his squad options before the transfer window closes.

• Galatasaray meet £15m valuation for Akanji
• Guardiola keen to trim large City squad
• Akanji weighing options after losing starting role

Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Galatasaray have lodged a £15m bid for Akanji, which City are prepared to accept. The Turkish champions are also keen on Ederson and remain interested in Ilkay Gundogan. Akanji, who joined from Dortmund in 2022, now has a decision to make before the September 1 deadline, as per .

Advertisement

• AFP
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Guardiola currently has nine defenders available, six of whom can operate centrally. Akanji’s path at right-back is blocked by Rico Lewis, who is close to signing a new long-term deal despite interest from Nottingham Forest. With such depth, Guardiola feels trimming the squad is necessary to maintain morale and streamline the selection process.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  The Switzerland international has been an important figure since arriving at the Etihad, featuring heavily in City's treble campaign. However, he was an unused substitute in City’s opening-day win at Wolves, as was Gundogan. Elsewhere, Claudio Echeverri has been sent on loan to Bayer Leverkusen, while other youngsters have departed on temporary or permanent deals.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• AFP
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR AKANJI?

  The Switzerland international will weigh up his options in the coming days, with Galatasaray pushing to secure his signature before the window closes. If he departs, Guardiola will still have plenty of defensive depth to rely on for City’s title push. For Akanji, regular minutes in Turkey may prove too tempting to turn down.