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According to reports in the Evening Standard, Chelsea have been joined by Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the race to sign £45m-rated Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles, and Southampton should be watching developments closely.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Evening Standard that the west London outfit want the 24-year-old to strengthen their backline this summer following a hugely impressive 2017/18 campaign for the centre-back, who led the Magpies to a 10th-place finish in their first season back in the Premier League.

The Evening Standard says that the former Nottingham Forest man, who has five years remaining on his contract at St James’ Park, won’t come on the cheap however, with the Blues likely to have to pay £45m for his services unless the Tyneside outfit soften their stance.

Should he arrive at Stamford Bridge, Lascelles would be competing alongside the likes of Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta and skipper Gary Cahill for a spot in the backline, with at least one of those surely leaving the club if a deal was finalised.

Why should Southampton be interested in the situation?

Well, new Saints boss Mark Hughes will surely make bringing a new centre-back to St Mary’s a priority this summer, after their poor defensive record last term almost saw them lose their Premier League status after four successive top-eight finishes.

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It is clear to see that the Welshman, who can ensure Southampton get back to their best by completing a deal for a £10.8m-rated attacker, needs to add some more experience at the heart of the defence given Jack Stephens and Wesley Hoedt struggled at times, with the club yet to really replace two big characters in Jose Fonte and Virgil van Dijk after they left the south coast outfit.

Chelsea defender Gary Cahill may be 32 years of age, but he has the know-how at this level and his brilliant leadership skills have been proven by the fact that Gareth Southgate has named in his final 23-man squad for the World Cup that starts later this month.

According to Sky sources, Newcastle have reached an agreement with Leicester City to loan striker Islam Slimani for the remainder of the campaign.

What’s the word?

With strikers once again proving the most sought-after commodity in the transfer market for clubs at both ends of the Premier League table, Slimani has found himself a surprisingly popular figure in recent days despite making just two top flight starts for Leicester City this season and finding the net only once from twelve league outings overall.

Chelsea were reported to have made an enquiry for the Algerian international last week while reliable insider ExWHUEmployee claimed on Twitter late last night that West Ham were in talks to sign Slimani as well – but it now appears Newcastle have won the race for the 6 foot 2 front-man’s services.

The striker Newcastle desperately need?

At this point in the transfer window, it feels as if any striker will do for Newcastle after depending on the much-maligned Joselu for the first half of the campaign. Only five clubs have scored less top flight goals than the Magpies this season and their three main strike options – Joselu, Dwight Gayle and Ayoze Perez – have found only nine Premier League strikes between them.

But it must be remembered that Slimani wasn’t Newcastle’s preferred option – they missed out on Daniel Sturridge to West Brom and Mike Ashley refused to meet Feyenoord’s £22million valuation of Nicolai Jorgensen – and there’s a very good reason for that.

Slimani’s never quite justified his £28million price-tag at the King Power Stadium, failing to prove an effective partner for Jamie Vardy and scoring only eight Premier League goals in 18 months. His performances have been inconsistent at best, and Leicester will be quietly pleased to get him off the wage bill for the next six months.

Can Newcastle get the best out of him?

Perhaps. With Benitez clearly disappointed by his attacking options, there’s little doubt Slimani will be treated like something of a star man up on Tyneside and the fact he’s arriving so late in the transfer window only adds to the narrative of the 29-year-old being Newcastle’s much-needed midseason saviour.

Tall and powerful, he certainly suits the way Benitez likes to set up his side with an old-fashioned front-man who can hold up the ball and bring others into the game – he’s for all intents and purposes an upgrade on what Joselu offers the Newcastle team. Likewise, it shouldn’t be forgotten how highly-rated Slimani – who Transfermarkt value at £19.8million – was before arriving in the Premier League, when he scored 57 goals in 109 appearances for Sporting Lisbon.

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If Benitez can rekindle that kind of scoring form from Slimani while maintaining his ability to lead the line, he could prove to be the difference between survival and relegation for the 15th-placed side.

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Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge says that although he is “gutted” to have missed out on the Premier League title to Manchester City on the last day of the season he and his team are ready to challenge once again next term.

The Reds rose from a seventh place finish in 2012/13 to take the race for English football’s top prize to the final game of the campaign, in what was an astonishing 10 months on Merseyside.

Liverpool did all they could in fixture 38 by beating Newcastle at home, yet the scoreline they craved from West Ham at City – a win – did not come.

As a result the Reds are still waiting for a first title in 24 years – and a first in the Premier League era – but Sturridge says that despite the felling of anguish, the club are ready to bounce back and go again after a fine season:

“I know we will be contenders again next season,” he is quoted by the Liverpool Echo.

“We will take the positives from this season and learn from the negatives.

“Next season will be a big year for us and we’re looking forward to that already.

“I think this squad is unbelievable. We’ve done really well and I fully expect us to push on again next season.

“This experience will stand us in good stead for next season. I believe we will challenge. I am sure the manager will buy players who he believes can push us on to the next level.

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“With whoever comes in together with the great players we already have here, I am sure we will do well next season.”

Sturridge himself took his league goals tally to 21 with an effort against Newcastle, and will feature for England at the World Cup this summer.

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England under-21’s beat Serbia 1-0 on Tuesday night, but the game was overshadowed by ugly scenes at the final whistle.

Connor Wickham scored in the last minute to give the visitors a 2-0 aggregate win and secure their place at the European Championships in 2013.

However, Danny Rose was sent off in the dying moments and it has been revealed that the Tottenham defender was racially abused by members of the crowd.

England goalkeeping coach Martin Thomas appeared to be head-butted as he left the pitch, whilst some of the players and assistant Steve Wigley were also attacked.

The FA has confirmed that they intend to take a strong stance after the incidents and will appeal to Uefa.

“The FA condemns both the scenes of racism and the confrontation at the final whistle during which time our players and staff were under extreme provocation,” the statement, published in The Guardian states.

“The FA has reported a number of incidents of racism to Uefa following the fixture. These were seemingly aimed at a number of England black players by the crowd. The matter is now with Uefa.”

Stuart Pearce and Jordan Henderson both also stated that they were fully aware of racist chants and monkey noises from the home faithful.

“I think there were one or two racist incidents that came from the crowd and they have been reported to Uefa by ourselves. It is in their hands now; they will have to deal with that,” Pearce stated.

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“There was a lot of racist abuse out there from the stands and a lot going on after the game. There were also stones, coins and seats getting thrown at us. What happened wasn’t nice and is not called for in football,” Henderson added.

By Gareth McKnight

Webster posted his fifth century in his last 22 Shield innings to put his name up in lights

Alex Malcolm10-Oct-2024The Sheffield Shield’s leading allrounder Beau Webster has produced a timely century while Brad Hope posted his second Shield ton as Tasmania batted the entire third day against Victoria at the Junction Oval.Tasmania piled up 527 for 9 on a turgid surface to take a 99-run lead into the final day with Jordan Silk making 84 and No. 9 Kieran Elliott also making his highest first-class score of 63. But the surface is offering very little for the bowlers and it will be difficult for either side to produce a result.On a day when news emerged that Australia’s Test allrounder Cameron Green is facing a grim diagnosis on his injured back, Webster put his name up in lights scoring 113 to start the new Shield season as he finished the last. It was his 12th first-class century and his fifth in his last 22 Shield innings. He has averaged 69.94 in that time and made six other half-centuries including an unbeaten 97. Last summer he became only the second player behind Garry Sobers to score more than 900 runs and take more than 30 wickets in a single Shield season.But these runs came in a game where both sides have piled up more than 428 in their first innings and only 18 wickets have fallen in three days. Webster wasn’t getting too carried away given how placid the pitch is.”It’s a nice one to cash in on,” Webster said post play. “I’m batting well. I feel like I’ve been batting really well for 18 months now, and I’ve got a routine down pat. Whatever the conditions offer, I feel like I’ve got a game plan that can have some success.”He did note, however, that the media speculation surrounding Green was hard to shut out.”It’s hard to ignore,” Webster said. “It sits everywhere, all through the media, whether he’s going to bowl or not, or bat or not, or surgery and things like that. But there’s a lot of other good allrounders around the country, and lot of allrounders that have had good performances in the last 12 months. Hopefully I can just keep doing what I’m doing and if they see something they like, and I get an opportunity, I’ll jump at it and grab it with both hands hopefully. But not reading too much into it though.”Silk played with typical class and composure in a 149-run stand with Webster before Hope then cashed in.Hope made an unbeaten century as Victoria tried everything to find a wicket. Having removed Silk and Webster with two excellent deliveries from Sam Elliott and Fergus O’Neill respectively there was precious little support from the surface otherwise. At one stage late in the day, O’Neill bowled with the keeper up and eight catchers in front of square on either side of the pitch with a sole fine leg.Hope and Tasmania No. 9 Kieran Elliott shared a 127-run stand in the afternoon to take the score beyond 500 as Victoria took a third new ball. The partnership was finally broken by the new ball as Hope edged behind for 111. Elliott fell shortly after for 63.

Australia coach wants all Test series to have a minimum of three games to “show the importance of Test cricket to every nation”

Andrew McGlashan02-Aug-2023Australia coach Andrew McDonald has called for all Test series to be a minimum of three matches in order to show a commitment to the format.His comments came in the aftermath of the gripping 2-2 Ashes draw, which saw Australia retain the urn but England bounce back from defeats in the opening two matches.McDonald is not a fan of the two-match series, which is the minimum requirement for those played under the World Test Championship, and is usually the maximum length for a series outside of those involving at least one of Australia, England and India.Related

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Ashes series remain over five matches while the Border-Gavaskar contest will expand to that number when India tour Australia in 2024-25, and McDonald would like to see an additional game added to other series too.”I’d encourage that the minimum number of Tests against a nation should be three,” he said. “I think two-Test-match series should be put on the back burner and that would show the importance of Test cricket to every nation if it was a minimum of three Test matches.”Australia’s next home season will feature a three-match series against Pakistan and two matches against West Indies before a tour of New Zealand that also features two Tests.McDonald was also asked about the potential for Ashes series to be played over six Tests, as they have been at previous times in history, given that Australia and England had both played that number of games over the last two months, with respective matches against India and Ireland.He quipped at whether England had been asked their views, referencing their stances on various issues about how the game might be played, but acknowledged scheduling would be a challenge.”Did you ask that question to England, because they’re usually the ones that are I suppose forecasting what the rules should be going forward in the laws of the game,” he said. “I think a six-Test-match series, now that we’ve had a drawn series, it’s like the two-Test series against certain nations when it ends up one-all you walk away from that thinking ‘geez, what about another one’.”I don’t know where it fits, though. I think that’s probably a question for [ICC’s] Geoff Allardice and Wasim Khan.”1:43

McGlashan: Bazball puts oppositions under such pressure

When pushed to reflect on the drawn Ashes and the gripping nature of the series, McDonald acknowledged it had been fantastic viewing even though Australia had been unable to turn their 2-0 lead into a first series win in England since 2001.”There was two contrasting styles coming in and it just shows you that you don’t have to play one way in Test-match cricket. And I think that was captivating for most people on the outside,” he said. “Even if it was 3-1 and we’d won that, or it was 3-1 to England, the whole way that both teams went about it – Pat [Cummins] leading our side, Ben [Stokes] leading England, the way the teams prepared and went about their work – [they] had some key decision to make in selection, it all meshed into this weird and wonderful series. It was fascinating.”The series was played to full houses throughout and though those crowds were, as would be expected, massively in favour of England, McDonald understood that the support for Test cricket could only be a good thing.”You love seeing people line up the gates, and you get to the ground in the morning and there’s just a murmur, there’s a buzz,” he said. “And they’re keen to go and watch a Test match. To me, that’s really important for the landscape of Test-match cricket.”It was exciting, and there were a lot of English supporters who said well done and congratulations, so I think it captivated a nation. I think it captivated our nation as well, and I think that’s a real positive thing for Test cricket.”

Northamptonshire seamers keep it tight at start of Warwickshire reply

ECB Reporters Network27-Jun-2022Oliver Hannon-Dalby celebrated 250 career first-class wickets as he ran through Northamptonshire’s lower order on day two of this LV= Insurance County Championship game at Northampton.In a miserly four-over spell, Hannon-Dalby claimed four victims for just five runs as Northamptonshire added 31 runs to their overnight total to close on 451 all out. The 33-year-old-seamer is now the second leading wicket-taker in Division One with 29 scalps, just behind Keith Barker’s 32.But despite his efforts Warwickshire still face a tough task in this game after some highly disciplined Northamptonshire bowling restricted scoring to just 1.8 an over with only two boundaries coming in the first 25 overs of the visitors’ reply.Alex Davies looked to regain the initiative with some lusty blows but Jack White soon ended the resistance when he trapped him leg before for 31. Dom Sibley was still there at the close unbeaten on 30 as Warwickshire ended the day on 71 for 1, still a mammoth 380 behind.Play did not start until 3.10pm after heavy rain but Hannon-Dalby struck immediately with the second ball of the day. Tom Taylor became his 250th victim when he was caught behind playing an expansive shot.In his next over Hannon-Dalby picked up Lewis McManus in similar fashion, to give Warwickshire keeper Michael Burgess his 100th career dismissal.Ben Sanderson was greeted with some short stuff from Nathan McAndrew but responded by hooking him twice to the boundary and then punching him through the covers for four more before he edged Hannon-Dalby to Sibley at first slip.Simon Kerrigan, who was struck on the helmet trying to take evasive action to a short ball from McAndrew, hit the same bowler through midwicket and cover to take Northamptonshire past 450. But Hannon-Dalby ended proceedings soon afterwards by knocking White’s stumps out of the ground.Northamptonshire’s seamers Sanderson, White, Taylor and Luke Procter found plenty of movement on offer to beat the bat and keep openers Davies and Sibley contained. There were few signs of aggression and any attempts to find the boundary were hampered by some ill-timed shots. Just two balls crossed the ropes in the first 25 overs with Northamptonshire turning the screw further with four consecutive maidens.Davies had a reprieve when he offered a sharp return catch but Taylor could not quite hold on in his follow-through. Davies started to find his groove against Procter, dispatching him for three boundaries in two overs including an imperious drive down the ground, before White trapped him lbw for 31 with Warwickshire on 53 for 1 in the 28th over.Chris Benjamin nicked his first ball from White but the ball bounced just in front of first slip. He remained 8 not out with Sibley as the day ended in bright sunshine.

After historic victory, West Indies coach says he’s “tired of these one wins and then struggling for the next three or four games”

Mohammad Isam08-Feb-2021West Indies coach Phil Simmons says he wants his side to keep up the intensity after a win so that it doesn’t become a solitary highlight in the Test series against Bangladesh. West Indies took a 1-0 lead after their historic three-wicket victory in Chattogram, with the second and final Test to be played in Dhaka from Thursday.”I am tired of these one wins and then struggling for the next three or four games,” Simmons said. “We need to improve on some things and continue the intensity in our preparation. We have to make sure we don’t go backwards again. We are trying hard to put things in place so that we don’t go in that direction.”West Indies have won just 12 Tests in the last five years, which includes just two Test series wins: 2-0 against Bangladesh in 2018 and 2-1 against England in 2019 – both at home. In as many as six series, they ended up winning only a solitary Test against teams like Pakistan, England, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. The most recent such occurrence came in England in 2020, where despite taking a 1-0 lead in Southampton, they lost the series 2-1.Related

• West Indies stretch lead despite wobble after Rahkeem Cornwall five-for

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• Mayers' knock brings father Shirley Clarke to tears

• Five reasons WI's Chattogram win is one of their greatest

Simmons, who is in his second spell as West Indies coach, said he was looking forward to seeing a better opening partnership and more consistency from the spinners. “I think one of the areas [of concern] is we haven’t had an opening partnership of note. It would be nice to get a big opening partnership to set up how things go with the other batsmen,” he added.”I don’t think our spinners were as consistent as they can be. They bowled well but there’s room for improvement in our bowling. I think we 90% nailed down how our field placing will be for different batters but we have to be consistent. More than likely, Dhaka is going to spin more than Chattogram.”Simmons said West Indies’ improved self-belief came to the fore during the two critical partnerships in the game. During the first innings, Jermaine Blackwood and Joshua Da Silva put on 99 runs for the sixth wicket that took them past the follow-on mark. The second innings then featured a 216-run stand between debutants Kyle Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner, the pair taking West Indies to the doorstep of an unlikely victory while chasing 395.”The main thing is trusting our ability,” Simmons stressed. “I will highlight the partnerships in the first innings between Blackwood and Da Silva. A lot of pressure was put on us in that partnership, and they trusted themselves to come out of it.”In the second innings, there was a lot of pressure on Mayers and Bonner. They also trusted their ability and believed in themselves. It is the biggest takeaway from this [game]. In the time of challenges during the innings, they trusted their ability and fought through it.”Simmons hailed Mayers for his double-century, but also reminded him that come the Dhaka Test, he would have to make a fresh start. “I think the last time [a West Indies batsman made a double-century on debut] was Lawrence Rowe. It is an amazing feat,” he said. “It is all right to do it in the first innings, but to have the temperament in taking us to winning the game made it extra special.”It is in the history books. You don’t start from 210, you start from zero,” Simmons cautioned. “I know people will forget his double-hundred by the time the next Test is finished. You have to start from zero and do everything you did two days before the game. Most cricketers will know to start over. Sometimes we get into this hype when we have done well. Over the next few days, we have to get back down to earth and know that the game starts from zero again.”Simmons also said that Bonner’s 86 was crucial to setting up the West Indies win, but he would have liked to see him get the extra 14 runs.
“I think he played a special innings too. I am disappointed he didn’t get a hundred,” Simmons said. “The way he batted, he deserved one. I am sure that will come if he continues to play this way. The partnership is what matters.”Kyle may have scored a double-hundred but Bonner’s partnership with him is what set things up. The fact that we didn’t lose a wicket in the first two sessions gave us that push. We were the only team that could win the game.”

Out-going England coach questions ‘whether the county game is producing the players we need’

George Dobell18-Sep-2019Trevor Bayliss believes a reduction in the number of first-class counties could help England bridge the “huge gap” between county and international cricket.Victory at The Oval ensured England maintained their unbeaten home series record in Test cricket under Bayliss’ five seasons as head coach, though he will probably be remembered best for coaching the side to their maiden World Cup victory earlier in the year.But in a wide-ranging exit interview with ESPNcricinfo, Bayliss has questioned “whether the county game is producing the players we need” and suggested a reduction in the number of teams from 18 to ten in a bid to improve the quality of competition. He also feels the quality of county pitches must improve if developing players are going to be given the best opportunity to prepare for the higher level.”You have to ask whether the county game is producing the players we need,” Bayliss said. “Is the competition underneath [the England team] doing the job it should be? There’s a huge gap between county and international cricket. Huge.”Again and again, we’ve picked the best players in the county game. And again and again, they’ve found the gap too large to bridge. Our top players come back from county cricket and they’re not complimentary about the standard. They don’t think it helps prepare them for international cricket.”The pitches are soft and damp. So bowlers get far too much assistance and batsmen don’t get into the habit of building long innings. Those same bowlers then come into Test cricket and they find the pitches do almost nothing and the ball won’t swing round corners. And the batsmen find the pace of the Test bowlers a shock.”If you had better pitches – pitches that offered less to bowlers – you might start to see some fast bowlers developing. You might see more spinners developing. You might even see some better slip catchers because I think the big problem in English cricket is concentration. Players have forgotten how to concentrate for long periods of time. They just don’t have to do it at county level.”I’m not criticising groundsmen. They have a tough job, because there’s too much cricket and the Championship starts in early April.”But no one seems to want to get their head down and guts out a score. The attitude seems to be, ‘I’d best get on with it before an impossible ball comes along.’ But maybe that’s partly because society has changed. Everything is quicker now.”The ECB and the counties have to pull in the same direction. There has to be a collaborative approach ensuring that England is at the heart of it. Ultimately, a successful England team, across all formats, will naturally benefit the game at county level and even have a positive impact on grassroots.”I think there are too many teams. If you had fewer – maybe ten – the best players would be in competition against each other more often and the standard would rise. I think you’d see tougher cricketers develop. Cricketers who are better prepared for the Test game.Bayliss also expressed his incredulity over counties offering stints to overseas players who will, later in the same season, use that experience in Test series against England. Marnus Labuschagne, for example, prepared for the Ashes by representing Glamorgan and adapted to conditions so well that he finished the series as Australia’s second-highest run scorer.”I find it incredible that Marnus Labuschagne, Peter Siddle, Cameron Bancroft, James Pattinson and the like are invited over to play county cricket ahead of an Ashes series,” he says. “There’s no way Australia would allow England players to acclimatise in the Shield ahead of an Ashes series. And quite right, too. I think the ECB should have a look at that.Bayliss he suggested there should be more knockout cricket at age-group level to help prepare players for high-intensity moments in the professional game. “Australian cricketers are tough and robust. They come up through a system which prepared them for Test cricket. From age-group cricket into club and Grade cricket, they play semi-finals and finals. So they get used to played knock-out cricket. They get used to playing under pressure. I think England could do with more of that.Read the full interview here

Liam Livingstone’s 49-ball hundred lifted Lancashire;s mood after defeat against Worcestershire 24 hours earlier

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jul-2018
ScorecardLiam Livingstone demolished the Derbyshire Falcons with a brilliant century off 49 balls as Lancashire Lightning bounced back in style with a nine wicket victory in the Vitality T20 Blast at Derby.After Thursday’s defeat to Worcestershire Rapids, the Lightning needed to respond and they delivered by restricting the Falcons to 161 for 4 before Livingstone and Alex Davies surged towards the finishing line on a tide of boundaries.Wayne Madsen made an unbeaten 76 from 49 balls and Calum Macleod 44 on his debut but the Lightning bowled well with Toby Lester taking 1 for 10 in his first T20 appearance as the visitors won with 33 balls to spare.The Falcons struggled from the start, losing a wicket after being put in to the fourth ball of the innings when Ben Slater was run out by a direct hit from Steven Croft at point and Matt Critchley went three overs later when he drove Lester to extra cover.

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Lester showed good control and although MacLeod marked his first appearance for the Falcons by driving Jordan Clark into the seats at the City End, the home side were in need of acceleration at 62 for 2 after 10 overs.Madsen scored four 50’s in last season’s Blast and he twice drove Matt Parkinson down the ground for boundaries before pulling James Faulkner just past a fielder at deep backward square for another four.MacLeod swept Livingstone to the fine leg boundary and the Lightning’s ground fielding was starting to look ragged as the third wicket pair moved through the gears.But when Macleod tried to cut Jordan Clark and was caught behind in the 15th over, the Lightning reeled the Falcons back in with only 27 runs coming from four overs.Madsen broke free by cutting Clark over the wicketkeeper for six and Alex Hughes pulled his first ball from Faulkner for six as 30 came from the last two overs.Livingstone launched the chase by driving Wahib Riaz into the sightscreen and Davies pulled Lockie Ferguson for four before driving Wayne Madsen over long off for six.The Lightning’s skipper cut and pulled Ravi Rampaul for boundaries and the game was running away from the Falcons as Livingstone and Davies plundered 17 from Hardus Viljoen’s first over.Livingstone reached 50 off 28 balls and celebrated by driving and pulling Critchley for consecutive sixes as the Lightning passed 100 in only the ninth over.Davies reached 50 off 35 balls before Livingstone smashed Viljoen for three sixes to complete a superb century and although he was caught at slip in the 15th over after smashing nine fours and seven sixes, the game had long been over as a contest