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Big Liam Scales Celtic contract update as Rodgers tells club what he wants

by z3u9t.icu Uncategorized

Last month, it emerged that Celtic youngster Rocco Vata, the subject of significant interest from Italy during the January transfer window, was in talks over a signing a new contract at Parkhead.

Vata had initially been given permission to leave Glasgow, but the Hoops then performed a u-turn by initiating negotiations over an extension, with the player receptive as long as Brendan Rodgers shows him a clear path to the first team.

Rocco Vata in action for Celtic.

It was said that Celtic were close to agreeing a deal after making good progress, but we're still waiting for an official announcement on the 18-year-old, and it remains to be seen whether the latest news on Liam Scales bumps him down the order of priorities.

Celtic sit down with Scales after Rodgers demand

According to The Daily Record, Celtic have now "pushed the button" and opened discussions with Scales' camp over a contract extension. The defender's current deal is due to expire in around 18 months' time, and Rodgers has made it clear to the club that he wants those terms renewed.

The Scottish Premiership leaders are now looking to end any doubt about his long-term future, while talks are still ongoing with compatriot Vata, whose deal only runs until the end of this season.

"Outstanding" Scales has surprised Rodgers

Scales, who joined Celtic from Shamrock Rovers in 2021, spent last season on loan at Aberdeen but has returned to take on a vital role, making 31 appearances. He played every minute of the club's Champions League campaign and has been an ever-present in the league since the third match of the season. As you can see below, only midfielders Callum McGregor and Matt O'Riley and goalkeeper Joe Hart have spent more time on the pitch for Rodgers' side this season.

1

Callum McGregor

2,917

2

Joe Hart

2,908

3

Matt O'Riley

2,852

4

Liam Scales

2,790

5

Greg Taylor

2,605

The Northern Irishman has spoken glowingly of Scales, impressed by both his attributes and his ability to handle the weight of expectation. He admits that he wasn't expecting him to figure all that heavily at first, but says he's very much made the spot his own.

“Well he’s outstanding. I’m so happy for him. He’s probably one of the biggest surprises of my career as a coach. It’s only because I hadn’t seen him play that much and there were other players ahead of him. Through people leaving and others getting injured, I’ve seen enough in training to give him the opportunity.

“Ideally you always want a left-sided centre back in your team that has good pace and intelligence, and he has all of that. You see the way he plays and is performing and he’s really grown and I’m so happy for him because he’s got pressure being from Ireland. There’s a lot of pressure on the Irish players at this club and he’s been outstanding."

Rodgers has a "huge" player he will unleash from Celtic bench – McAvennie

The player has been attracting plenty of interest from England.

ByDavid Comerford Feb 14, 2024

Scales will enter the talks in a strong position if he wants a healthy pay rise. He leads the squad for passes completed, aerial duels won, interceptions and clearances per game (among those with at least 10 appearances), and he's also a full international now after making his Ireland debut in October.

No Cunha but "exciting" star returns in Wolves’ predicted lineup v Spurs

by z3u9t.icu Uncategorized

Last week's 2-0 home defeat to Brentford was an afternoon to forget for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The defeat was bad enough on its own, but the injury to Matheus Cunha made the day far worse.

Matheus Cunha

Later today, the Wanderers will attempt to bounce back from their loss by beating Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham Hotspur.

Gary O'Neil is unlikely to make mass changes to his starting XI despite losing last time out, but nevertheless, there may be as many as two tweaks in the potential lineup that the boss could field at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

1 GK – Jose Sa

Jose Sa has started 22 Premier League matches this campaign, and he will start in between the sticks again despite keeping just three clean sheets.

2 RCB – Max Kilman

Max Kilman

Max Kilman is the leader of the Wolves side, and he will start this weekend wearing the captain's armband.

The 26-year-old has started every game this season.

3 CB – Craig Dawson

Craig Dawson is also a frequent starter for the Wanderers, with the boss valuing his experience.

The 33-year-old has played 22 Premier League games this campaign.

4 LCB – Toti Gomes

Wolverhampton Wanderers centre-back Toti Gomes.

The final player to complete the usual back three is Toti Gomes, who has worked his way into the side this season.

5 RM – Nelson Semedo

Nelson Semedo has started all but one game this season in the league, and he will start over Matt Doherty.

The defender ranks third in the Wolves squad for interceptions and tackles per game.

6 CM – Mario Lemina

Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina.

Mario Lemina has been an engine in the middle of the park this season, and he will feature from the off.

Over his 21 Premier League games, the 30-year-old has scored four goals and averaged 2.8 tackles per match.

7 CM – Tommy Doyle

Tommy Doyle

The on-loan Manchester City man could come into the side having replaced Joao Gomes on the hour mark last time out, the latter man having 'struggled' against the Bees – in the words of the Express and Star's George Bennett.

In place of Gomes, Doyle won both of his ground duels and enjoyed a 90% pass accuracy rate in his 27-minute cameo, indicating that he could be deserving of the nod today.

8 LM – Rayan Ait Nouri

Rayan Ait-Nouri up against West Ham's Jarrod Bowen.

Rayan Ait Nouri was fantastic last weekend, making three key passes, having 99% pass accuracy, and winning 11 duels.

The Algerian is guaranteed to start.

9 RF – Pablo Sarabia

Pablo Sarabia came off the bench to hand Wolves the win over Spurs in the reverse fixture with a goal and an assist.

This time around, the Spaniard will have the opportunity to cause chaos from the off.

10 LF – Pedro Neto

Wolves winger Pedro Neto.

Pedro Neto has been electric this season and is the main creative outlet for Wolves, as highlighted by his eight assists, the most in the squad.

His pace on the break will be vital, and he will look to score his first Premier League career goal against Spurs.

Derby’s "incredible" £3m former star is now struggling in League Two

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Derby County had to wave goodbye to many of their key players during the height of their bleak financial issues, saying farewell to the likes of first-team stalwart Tom Lawrence and rising starlet Luke Plange to name a few.

All of that agony is a distant memory for the Rams in the here and now however, as Paul Warne attempts to be the much-loved manager at the helm that steers Derby to a return to the Championship.

Yet, this ex-player's current predicament will still raise an eyebrow when Derby fans observe from afar.

Once a goalscorer in a Championship playoff final for the Rams when Frank Lampard was boss, one out-of-sorts striker now finds himself roughing it up in League Two as his career begins to fizzle out.

Jack Marriott's time at Derby

Joining the Derby ranks off the back of a Golden Boot-winning season in League One with Peterborough United – Marriott bagging 27 third-tier goals from 44 appearances – the hefty price tag of £3m didn't look too extortionate at the time.

Where Are They Now

Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast's Where Are They Now series.

The ex-Posh star, who was described as being an "incredible" talent by Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony during his time in Cambridgeshire, would immediately hit the ground running making the step-up to further justify the millions spent to acquire his services.

The energetic 5 foot 8 centre-forward would find the back of the net a respectable 13 times in all competitions during his first season at Pride Park, including a strike against Aston Villa in that campaign's Playoff Final.

Derby and Marriott's fortunes would go downhill hand-in-hand after this Wembley heartbreak however, with the former Derby attacker finding the back of the net just four more times over the next two seasons as the Rams failed to ever mount another charge for promotion.

Marriott would have a mixed time playing for both Sheffield Wednesday and Fleetwood Town in the aftermath of his Rams exit too, with the 29-year-old even returning back to Peterborough United for a stint.

Now, however, the dwindling striker finds himself playing in League Two with Wrexham Town – the Welsh side managing to convince Marriott to make the drop down from the third tier owing to their mega riches under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Jack Marriott's time at Wrexham

Once worth £3m when the Rams swooped in to sign him in his prime, Marriott's value is now all the way down at €0.9M (£771k) playing in Wales, according to Football Transfers.

The new Wrexham number 11 is goalless from his opening six games for the Red Dragons, upstaged by the likes of former Premier League veterans Steven Fletcher and James McClean being amongst the goals recently.

With Paul Mullin also one to steal the limelight for Phil Parkinson's giants up top – with the 29-year-old sharpshooter onto 12 goals this season – Marriott could well end up blending into the background in Wales if he isn't careful.

It's a sharp decline for an attacker who was once a hero at Derby, firing in goal after goal with the Rams eyeing up promotion to the Premier League at the time.

Now, Derby are just content aiming for a return to Championship football whilst the waning centre-forward aims to break his goalscoring duck soon in League Two. How things can change…

Pattinson makes strong start with three wickets

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

Jackson Bird and Michael Neser also claimed a wicket apiece on a day cut to 33 overs by rain and bad light

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2019

James Pattinson was in the wickets for Australia A•Getty Images

Sussex 118 for 5 (Pattinson 3-38) v Australia AJames Pattinson made an early impression with the red ball for Australia A ahead of a likely Ashes call-up as he bagged three wickets on a truncated opening day against Sussex.Rain and bad light prevented play until mid-afternoon and only 33 overs were possible with Sussex initially making a strong start as they reached 69 without loss in the 14th over before Australia started finding regular breakthroughs.Pattinson, who has been playing for Nottinghamshire ahead of the Australia A tour and is in line for his first Test action in more than three years after a string of injuries, finished with 3 for 38 in an encouraging display for Test captain Tim Paine who was behind the stumps.ALSO READ: What’s up for grabs in Ashes selection battle?The opening wicket of the day went to Jackson Bird, another with a good chance of making the Ashes squad, when he had Phil Salt – who was called into the England T20 squad earlier this season – taken at mid-off for a brisk 37 off 44 balls.Then Pattinson got into his work by trapping Varun Chopra lbw and bowling Sussex captain Luke Wells before having Aneesh Kapil caught at third slip in the penultimate over of day.The other wicket, that of Laurie Evans, went to Michael Neser who was a late inclusion in the XI along with Joe Burns following the call-ups of Mitchell Marsh and Matthew Wade to the World Cup squad.Australia A play three four-day games during this leg of their tour with a match against England Lions followed by the inter-squad selection showdown with an Australia XI in Southampton, immediately after which the Test squad will be named.The Ashes starts at Edgbaston on August 1 and there may now need to be extra batting cover following the hamstring injury to Usman Khawaja which could take up a month to heal.

Stiaan van Zyl's epic century sets Sussex on course for maximum-points win over Middlesex

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

South African bats for more than seven hours for 173, while Ben Brown offers spritely 107 as Sussex lead by 334

ECB Reporters Network03-Jun-2019

Stiaan van Zyl gets on to the front foot•Getty Images

Stiaan van Zyl’s marathon hundred set Sussex on course for a maximum-points win over Middlesex on day two at Lord’s.The South African left-hander batted for just over seven and a half hours for his 173 and with wicketkeeper Ben Brown weighing in with 107, Sussex, who bowled out the hosts for 138 on the opening day, piled up 481 for 9.Middlesex, for whom James Harris returned figures of 4 for 98, survived four overs before stumps reaching 9 for 0, but they face the prospect of having to bat out almost all of the remaining two days to salvage a draw.Sussex were only 31 ahead at start of play, but van Zyl and Brown showed great application to bat throughout an absorbing morning session against tight bowling from the hosts.Van Zyl moved to his half-century before surviving a decent lbw shout from Toby Roland-Jones in what was a probing opening spell from the former England seamer.Brown at this stage was completely becalmed and he got the benefit of the doubt on another lbw appeal when he had made just 18, Ethan Bamber the unlucky bowler. Just 83 runs came in that first session, but even so it meant Sussex were already more than 100 in front.The new ball was available almost immediately on the resumption, but instead of bringing much-needed wickets for the hosts it was the signal for a furious assault from Brown, who unfurled a series of glorious shots.It set up a race between the two batsmen as to who could get to three figures first. In the event van Zyl just prevailed, reaching the landmark from 233 balls with 12 fours.Not long afterwards it was Brown’s turn, 16 boundaries getting him to the century almost 100 balls quicker than his team-mate. His second fifty came up in 41 balls in a passage of play which saw 81 runs in the 55 minutes after lunch.It was 2:35pm by the time Middlesex got their first success of the day, Brown slogging across a straight one from Roland-Jones and losing his off bail.Two more wickets fell before tea, David Weise pulling a short one from James Harris to Roland-Jones in the deep, before Chris Jordan played on to give Bamber his first scalp of the innings.Van Zyl remained and any hopes of running through the tail were hindered by staunch support from Will Beer, who ensured maximum batting points were secured before tea. The pair batted deep into the final session taking the eighth wicket stand to 89 before van Zyl’s epic vigil ended when he was trapped in front by Harris.There was still time for Beer to make 50 and so equal his career-best, before Harris struck for a fourth time to scatter Ollie Robinson’s stumps, provoking Jason Gillespie’s men to declare 343 to the good.

Arsenal could land Zinchenko upgrade in £24m gem who "moves like messi"

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is preparing his side for their second clash against Liverpool in the space of two weeks.

This time, it is the FA Cup in which the two heavyweights clash and the Spaniard will be eyeing up a win over the Anfield side as he aims for a second triumph in the competition as manager of the Gunners.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

With the January transfer window in full swing, Arteta is also focussing on bolstering his squad, and he appears to be targeting a Turkish defender with regard to a potential move.

Arsenal could sign the next Timber in "insane" £86m gem

The 17-year-old could anchor Arsenal’s backline for over a decade.

By
Jack Salveson Holmes

Jan 5, 2024

Arsenal transfer news – Ferdi Kadıoğlu

According to a report from Turkish outlet Sabah earlier this week, the north Londoners are preparing to travel to Turkey next week in order to sign Fenerbahçe left-back Ferdi Kadıoğlu.

Arsenal rumoured defender targets for January

Latest update

Jorrel Hato

5th January

Goncalo Inacio

18th December

Ousmane Diomande

30th November

Sacha Boey

13th November

The Turkish side currently values the defender at €30m (£24m) and, given just how light Arsenal are in this area, with Oleksandr Zinchenko the only senior left-back in the squad, it could represent decent business.

Turkey and Fenerbahce defender Ferdi Kadioglu.

The Dutch-born Turkish international is only 24 and not only could he add much-needed competition, but he could even be an upgrade on Zinchenko.

Ferdi Kadıoğlu could be an upgrade on Oleksandr Zinchenko

Not only has Kadıoğlu registered a higher shots on target percentage domestically this season (28.6% vs 15.4%) than Zinchenko, but he has also registered more crosses (40 vs 24) and this indicates that he could be a much better-attacking option than the Ukrainian player.

The Turkish defender has also created more big chances (five vs three) and has averaged more key passes per game (1.6 vs 1.1) which is further evidence that he is a greater threat further up the field.

Kadıoğlu has kept eight clean sheets in the league this term, along with making 0.9 interceptions per game and winning 6.3 total duels per game. Over the same metrics, Zinchenko has kept just two clean sheets, made 0.7 interceptions per game and won 3.9 total duels each match, suggesting that the Fenerbahçe defender could even be an upgrade defensively.

Throughout the course of his career, the Ukrainian full-back has scored just six goals and registered 23 assists, taking 233 matches to achieve this.

On the other hand, Kadıoğlu has found the back of the net 28 times and grabbed a further 36 assists across 242 matches and if Arteta is looking for more goal contributions to come from his fullbacks, making a move for the Turkish international is a no-brainer.

Indeed, the 24-year-old was praised recently by content publisher Gooner Chris following a stunning strike for his club side, saying: “This guy is a full-back yet he moves like Messi. Ferdi Kadioglu to Arsenal. Who says no?”

Arteta needs to bolster some areas of his squad during the January transfer window and the chance to lure Kadioglu to north London is a must if he looks to achieve glory of any sort this season.

At just £24m, the move wouldn’t break the bank and give the squad a much-needed boost in defence as they prepare for a crucial few months ahead.

David Willey four-for leads England series sweep as West Indies are dismissed for 71

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentaryDavid Willey made an emphatic point while Mark Wood didn’t miss a beat as West Indies were bowled out for an abysmal 71 and England cruised to an eight-wicket win in St Kitts to sweep their T20I series 3-0.Willey claimed 4 for 7 and Wood 3 for 9 in a staggering West Indies innings lasting just 13 overs in which four players reached double figures but none of them passed 11 runs.Chasing just 72 to win, Alex Hales signalled his intent when he smashed Sheldon Cottrell for 16 runs in the first over of England’s innings and the tourists reached the target for the loss of just two wickets with 57 balls to spare, England’s largest T20I victory in terms of balls remaining.West Indies’ paltry total was their third-lowest in T20Is and only marginally better than their 45 in the second match against England at the same ground on Friday night.Playing on the same pitch which, by all accounts, appeared tacky, West Indies made the surprising decision to bat first upon winning the toss. Sure enough, Willey struck with the first delivery of the match, a fuller-length ball that dug into the surface slightly and, as he pressed forward uncertainly, Shai Hope spooned a simple catch to Hales at short cover.In his next over, a Willey slower ball tempted Shimron Hetmyer into a loose shot that sailed straight to mid-off where star fielder Chris Jordan took an easy catch.Man of the Match Willey, who before the final fixture had questioned the noise surrounding Jofra Archer’s potential World Cup selection, did his best to press his own claims for inclusion when, in his next over, he claimed two wickets in three balls, dismissing debutant John Campbell, who skied a catch to Joe Denly in the covers, and Darren Bravo, caught behind.Wood, who was rested for the first two T20 games, picked up where he left off after an impressive showing in the third Test and the ODI series, after replacing Liam Plunkett for the tour finale.Wood had Jason Holder put down off his second ball in a rare fielding mistake by Joe Root but, after Denly’s part-time spin dismissed Holder next ball, easily caught by Jordan, Wood had Nicholas Pooran out to an athletic catch by Player of the Series Jordan running round to his right at mid-wicket. With West Indies in disarray at 48 for 6, Wood and Adil Rashid cleaned up the tail and left England’s batsmen to chalk off the run-chase with minimum fuss.Hales made a sharp 20 off 13, while Bairstow, dropped by Hetmyer off Holder’s bowling when he was on 19, went on to reach 37 off 31 before he was bowled by Devendra Bishoo. At that point, England needed just 12 more runs for victory and Eoin Morgan saw his team over the line with a six and a four in consecutive balls off Bishoo.

Strikers sign off with win, Scorchers end with wooden spoon

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Adelaide Strikers avoided following their first Big Bash League title in 2018 with a bottom finish for 2019 by easing past Perth Scorchers, who were handed the ignominy of ending at last place following a five-wicket defeat at Adelaide Oval.In a match marked by less than elite fielding standards, the Scorchers were able to push to 174 via the contributions of Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh and Nathan Coulter-Nile, but they were outdone by the middle order composure of Jon Wells and Harry Nielsen, who shrugged off three early Strikers wickets to put together the key stand of the match.Rashid Khan delivered yet another exemplary spell for the hosts, while both Jason Behrendorff and AJ Tye were highly expensive for the Scorchers, as the Perth team’s previously outstanding command of the defensive elements of the game continued to go awry.Rashid, Laughlin find the pads
In a contest between the two most diminished teams since last year’s competition, the Adelaide Oval crowd (paltry) and the reward on the line (avoiding last place on the table) rather summed this up. Scorchers captain Marsh won the toss and under sunny skies watched his men appear to be setting a strong platform by pushing to 1 for 48 in the Powerplay. Within this sequence, Cameron Bancroft struck the ball cleanly and intelligently on his way to 22, and seemed capable of more until the always-excellent Rashid hit him on the front pad with a googly.ALSO READ: Perth Scorchers’ BBL to forget – what went wrong?Rashid’s appeal was jubilant and at least partially presumptuous – it was not until he had actually turned around that debutant umpire David Shepard raised his finger. That single break became still more significant two balls later, when Ben Laughlin fizzed his quicker ball through Ashton Turner, who has performed well enough for the Scorchers to earn a call-up to the Australian white-ball squad to tour India later this month. Given lbw for a golden duck, his exit limited the Scorchers’ horizons.Mitchell Marsh hit an unbeaten 41-ball 50•Getty Images

Inglis sets up Coulter-Nile, Marsh
At the other end, however, Inglis was putting together a more than useful innings, finding the boundary regularly while turning the strike over. His quartet of sixes enabled the visitors to be in reasonable position despite the earlier wickets, allowing coach Adam Voges to send in Coulter-Nile ahead of his listed position – a move the Scorchers had been surprisingly hesitant to make during a tournament in which they have struggled to accelerate.As if to underline his gratitude for the opportunity, Coulter-Nile sent his first ball sailing well over the fence at deep midwicket, and by the time his eighth ball was skied for an outfield catch, he had piled up 25 runs to power the Scorchers’ projected total from 150 to 170. Marsh, meanwhile, played more sedately, but was able to stay the course long enough to register his first half-century of the competition with the final ball he faced.Strikers wobble after rapid start
Alex Carey, retained in the Australian ODI team earlier this week, is inching closer to a pivotal role in the World Cup in England later this year. For now, though, he was entrusted with giving the Strikers a rapid start to the chase, something he delivered as a rare batsman to find the range of Behrendorff this season. Leading into the final game, Behrendorff was the only bowler to go for fewer than six runs per over in the BBL (minimum three overs), but a cost of 12 runs set him on the path to comfortably his most expensive analysis.Jake Weatherald was less fluent, and his attempt to join Carey on the attack led to a skier and the Scorchers’ first wicket via Matt Kelly. Carey departed five balls later, shelling a Tye slower ball to long-on, and Travis Head’s return to the Strikers ranks following his prolific Test series against Sri Lanka could only reap 10 before he too popped up a high catch. At this point, the Scorchers appeared more than capable of defending their target, given the Strikers’ three most obvious threats were back on the sidelines.Nielsen, Wells deliver consolation
Far from the BBL’s biggest name, Wells has nonetheless performed very strongly across the tournament, making it to seventh on the leading run-makers’ list and third on the averages while striking at better than 125. Here his value was demonstrated not only by his own scoring but also by getting the youthful Nielsen to focus and put together the stand that took the Strikers to the cusp of victory.Without resorting to any sort of overly ambitious batting, the pair was able to add 88 from 55 balls, including a telling 15 from Tye’s final over – completing a difficult day and indeed tournament for a bowler who had previously been a central part of the Scorchers’ defensive mastery with the ball. When Wells was finally defeated, edging Coulter-Nile onto the stumps, Nielsen stepped up to take another 15 from the remainder of the over, though Coulter-Nile ended it in obvious distress from dizziness and/or fatigue. Either way, the remainder of the task was straightforward for Nieslen and the Strikers, leaving the Scorchers in last place.

Will Pucovski opts out of Australia squad for mental health reasons

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Will Pucovski, the 20-year-old in Australia’s squad, has been released to return home from the Canberra Test after asking to continue his progression from mental health issues that he faced earlier this summer.Having been picked to face Sri Lanka, Pucovski was left out of the XI for both Brisbane and Canberra Tests, leaving him in limbo on the fringes of the squad away from home.This followed his withdrawal from the Victoria Sheffield Shield team at the start of the season, in the wake of a double-century against Western Australia in Perth that underlined his outsized batting talent. In subsequent weeks, Pucovski worked with numerous experts on his mental health, but had played only one more Shield game before he was chosen by the selectors Trevor Hohns, Greg Chappell and the coach Justin Langer, who then left him out of the XI.”Will Pucovski has been released from the Men’s Test squad and will return home to Melbourne to continue managing his well being,” team doctor Richard Saw said. “He reported some challenges over the past few days, and the decision has been made that the best thing for Will’s welfare is for him to return home to Melbourne.””Will has been proactive in this process and while he has made significant progress, he feels this is the best course of action to get ready to play cricket for Victoria. He worked closely with members of his family, Cricket Australia medical staff and Cricket Victoria to reach his decision.”Pucovski batted later than the rest of the squad in the nets two days before the start of the inaugural Test at Manuka Oval, and then on match eve spent a long time walking laps of the oval with a member of the team support staff, Andrew Weller.”Will’s decision to speak up and continue to ask for assistance in managing his ongoing mental health is extremely positive,” Saw said. “Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria will continue to support Will, and we kindly ask that Will’s privacy is respected so he can continue working towards a return to Premier Cricket and the next round of first-class cricket.”Two weeks ago, when wheeled out by Cricket Australia to provide a good news story on his selection, Pucovski discussed the journey he had been on since absenting himself from the Victoria squad.”I’m feeling really good, as good as I have felt in a really long time,” Pucovski said in Melbourne. “I’ve met some people along the way who have helped me turn things around. There is probably no better time to get exciting news like I have in the last 24 hours. It’s not every day you get called up to represent your country, so it’s been a very exciting couple of days.”I met a lady called Emma Murray who has worked quite a bit with Richmond [club], and had a bit of attention with how they have turned things around. She has been a mentor in that space.”I have added things like I am meditating every morning, which I honestly never really believed in until she got me on to it and things like that have helped me turn things around. I speak to her regularly and am seeing another woman who helps me with a few different things. Having that team together makes me feel really supported and in a good space to deal with that kind of stuff.”Pucovski is expected to return to cricket for Victoria when the Shield resumes after the end of the Big Bash League in the second half of February.

Afif Hossain, Zakir Hasan haven't developed as expected, says Bangladesh selector

by csb10.top Uncategorized

Poor form has held back some of Bangladesh’s young cricketers who, at the start of the year, were touted for big things. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that Afif Hossain, Zakir Hasan and, to a lesser extent, Mahedi Hasan had been disappointing in domestic and representative sides since making their T20I debuts in February this year.Afif is a left-handed opener who bowls useful offspin, once snaring Chris Gayle as part of a five-wicket haul on T20 debut. Zakir is also a left-handed batsman who keeps wickets and is also known for his fielding. Both Under-19s graduates have been billed as the next big stars emerging from Bangladesh but so far they have struggled to find a spot in the senior side regularly.Mahedi, an offspinner who is useful with the bat, had impressed in the 2017 BPL along with Afif and Zakir. All three were doing well in the Dhaka Premier League List-A competition when they were picked in the T20I side in place of some senior players who were injured at the time.”We had high hopes about Afif and Zakir but they have been quite disappointing, to be honest,” Minhajul told ESPNcricinfo. “They haven’t made use of their skill development as well as given game planning much thought. Afif and Zakir didn’t do well in domestic cricket or in the Emerging Teams Cup.”Afif made two first-class centuries immediately after his T20I debut but, for Bangladesh A, he scored only 64 runs in six innings against Sri Lanka A and Ireland A. He has averaged 16.90 in the current first-class season, before making just 20 runs in the two Emerging Teams Cup matches.ALSO READ: ‘As long as he is alive, Hope will play’ – BrathwaiteZakir averaged 28.92 in 13 innings for Bangladesh A, before making three fifties in seven first-class matches this season so far. He made 69 in one of his two Emerging Teams Cup appearances.By contrast, Mahedi has done very well in this season’s Bangladesh Cricket League first-class tournament, averaging 80.50 with bat and taking 16 wickets at 26.75. “He is not out of contention,” Minhajul said. “Mehidy Hasan Miraz is playing all three formats while Nayeem Hasan made a wonderful start to his Test career. We consider him [Nayeem] as Miraz’s backup but Mahedi is also one of the offspinners in our radar.”The Bangladesh team management have instead trusted Nazmul Islam, Ariful Haque and Abu Jayed in recent times, with the trio regularly picked in the senior side. Nazmul has played all 13 of Bangladesh’s T20Is this year while Jayed has made an impressive start to his Test career. Ariful meanwhile has made debuts in all formats this year.One thing in common among Nazmul, Jayed and Ariful, as well as Mohammad Mithun who made his Test debut this year, is the length of time they have spent in domestic cricket. Afif, Zakir and Mahedi need a few more seasons in domestic and A-team cricket before they can have enough experience for their individual skills to develop, and to find consistency.It answers a long-standing question in Bangladesh cricket: do they really need to give youth a chance at the top so quickly? Perhaps, given the evidence, it is more important to let these young cricketers succeed and fail in domestic cricket for a few years before being picked at the highest level.