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The League One campaign of Sheffield Wednesday did not get off to the best of starts on Saturday afternoon, as Darren Moore’s side were held to a goalless draw by Charlton Athletic at The Valley.

Much had been discussed prior to kick-off about whether the Owls manager would start either of his recent signings Florian Kamberi or Lee Gregory following Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Huddersfield Town in the EFL cup last weekend – a fixture which the club ultimately lost on penalties – however, Kamberi would only make the bench, while Gregory was not included in the matchday squad at all.

Instead, the 47-year-old decided on a front three of Jaden Brown, Callum Paterson and Andre Green, although Paterson would be withdrawn after just 16 minutes due to injury.

And, as the game progressed, it was clear to see exactly why Moore had been so keen to bring in attacking reinforcements this summer, as his Wednesday side mustered just one shot on target over the course of the 90 minutes, from a total of six attempted efforts.

Perhaps the most disappointing of the attacking performances was given by Green, with the 23-year-old struggling to have any real impact on the game whatsoever.

Indeed, over his 64 minutes on the pitch, the £720k-rated man managed no shots – either on or off target – failed with his one attempted dribble and touched the ball a total of 20 times – 11 times fewer than Bailey Peacock-Farrell between the Sheffield Wednesday sticks.

The £6k-per-week winger also completed neither of his two attempted crosses, found his target with a mere seven of his 10 attempted passes and lost possession of the ball a total of nine times.

Furthermore, the former Burnley man won none of his seven duels, was dribbled past by an opponent on three occasions and committed one foul, before he too was forced off due to injury in the second half.

Overall, these metrics saw Green earn a highly disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.3, the worst of any player from either side to feature in the match.

As such, it would be a difficult argument to make for the winger to keep his place in the Sheffield Wednesday starting XI for the visit of Doncaster Rovers next week, with Green undoubtedly needing to up his game should he wish to play any sort of major role in the Owls’ push for promotion this season.

In other news: Chansiri masterclass: SWFC confirm transfer development that will have fans buzzing

Kanishkaa Balachandran previews the second Test between India A and Australia A in Hyderabad

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Hyderabad 08-Sep-2008
Amit Mishra is likely to feature in India A’s playing XI considering the Australians’ troubles against the spinners in Bangalore © Cricinfo Ltd.
Three-day games necessarily serve as warm-ups for bigger games. But the fixture at the plush Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium starting on Tuesday is more than just a warm-up. It’s the last chance for the bunch of hopefuls in the Australia A side to raise their hands for selection into a Test line-up which, till recently, was set in stone.The tourists’ face-saving performance in the second innings in Bangalore will be overshadowed by their first-innings collapse of 116 and had it not been for the poor weather on the opening morning, India A would have claimed a deserving victory.The Australians are certainly not accustomed to losing, and their coach, Simon Helmot, reiterated several times in his interaction with the media that positive cricket was the best and probably the only way to shock the Indian side out of their comfort zone and push for a win.An overcautious approach against India’s spinners, he felt, exposed the weaknesses in their batting but their improved display after following-on had set an example. “The Australian way is to win and that’s what we’re here for,” Helmot said. “We’ll play positively and in our team meeting today, we’ll talk only about winning.”They got on top of us in the first innings. We played more positively against them in the second. The important thing is, in Bangalore, we finished on a high and we’d like to take that momentum into the second game.”S Badrinath, the India A captain, shrugged off the disappointment of not being able to finish off the job in Bangalore, but stressed that the momentum was with his side. “We claimed the moral victory in the first game,” Badrinath said. “It’s up to us now to continue with that confidence. I thought we did our best there and I rate it as a tremendous effort.”The teams are, unfortunately, strapped for time to push for a result with only three days at their disposal. It begs the question as to why such an important pre-series build-up (to Australia’s tour of India next month) was restricted to three-day fixtures, while the touring New Zealand A side have the luxury of four-day games. Helmot, who couldn’t hide his disappointment at the scheduling, said it was near impossible to force a result, unless teams adopt an aggressive approach, force early declarations and impose pressure.More than positive cricket, the conditions will play a critical role on the eventual result. Much like Bangalore, the city has been lashed by evening rains but fortunately, it hasn’t interfered too much with the preparation of the pitch. The pitch has a greenish tinge to it but more importantly, the grass will not be shaved off on the morning of the game. The sight of the surface certainly had Helmot gushing, but curiously, the Indians begged to differ.Badrinath reckoned the batsmen would relish the surface, Parthiv Patel described it as a “batting belter” and Piyush Chawla sniggered – in his own lingo – to two of his fast bowling team-mates, which, roughly translated, meant “you guys are going to get hammered.”It can be easily inferred from those views what each captain would do after winning the toss. The Indians practised first on the eve of the match under overcast skies and if those conditions remain as consistent as the evening rainfall, then Badrinath might have to consider inserting the opposition.However, careful not to play into Australia’s strengths, Badrinath stated that the twelve for tomorrow had three specialist spinners but was non committal on whether all would make the final line-up. Australia’s struggles against spin in the first game could pave the way for Amit Mishra, the legspinner, to make his first appearance in the series and his extended session in the nets, under the guidance of coach Dav Whatmore, was an indication.Ashok Dinda, the Bengal seamer, has been drafted in to the squad as a replacement for the injured Sreesanth but his selection isn’t guaranteed. Badrinath hinted at a change at the opening combination, with Sahil Kukreja replacing his Mumbai team-mate Ajinkya Rahane in the twelve.Helmot reacted with surprise when informed of India’s twelve and admitted that India’s spin trio looked better equipped to exploit the conditions than his own. “They all look very good. They all bowl with good pace and variation,” he said. “Chawla and [Mohnish] Parmar worked well in tandem and [Sudeep] Tyagi got a lot of reverse swing in conditions that didn’t seem too conducive. It was a good workout for our guys actually.”Australia’s final line-up doesn’t have a really settled look to it, with a handful of players carrying niggles. Bryce McGain, the legspinner, has a sore shoulder, the seamer Ryan Harris has been ruled out with a chipped finger, and Beau Casson, the left-arm spinner, isn’t up to peak fitness either. Not surprisingly, Helmot said the line-up will be decided on the morning of the match. He indicated that Jason Krejza, the Tasmanian offspinner, will get a chance after sitting out in Bangalore.Both teams predictably spoke of carrying on with the momentum, but the ultimate result could hinge on which side reads the pitch better.Teams
India A (probable) 1 Robin Uthappa, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Parthiv Patel (wk), 4 S Badrinath, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Virat Kohli, 7 Piyush Chawla, 8 Vinay Kumar/Amit Mishra, 9 Mohnish Parmar, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Sudeep TyagiAustralia A (probable) 1 Phillip Hughes, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Adam Voges, 4 Marcus North, 5 George Bailey, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk), 7 Beau Casson/Jason Krejza, 8 Ashley Noffke, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Bryce McGain, 11 Doug Bollinger

Norman Arendse, the president of Cricket South Africa (CSA), has called for better regulation of Twenty20 cricket so that it doesn’t override other formats of the game

Ken Borland08-Aug-2008Twenty20 riches for CSA The Twenty20 game will continue to be a tremendous earnings coup for Cricket South Africa, with a projected earning of Rand 50 million from the Champions Twenty20 league. Prof Hentie van Wyk, the board’s treasurer, had warned last year that the organisation was entering two lean years due to the relatively unattractive teams touring South Africa and thus earning less from television rights. The board has also announced a Rand16 million loss for the last financial year. In fact, CSA had budgeted for a loss of Rand 71 million so the loss of a quarter of that amount is actually quite a success. It is also sitting with very healthy cash reserves of Rand 154 million so it is hardly under threat financially. Norman Arendse, the president of Cricket South Africa (CSA), has called for better regulation of Twenty20 cricket so that it doesn’t override other formats of the game. His comments come a day after ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat told Cricinfo the world body was re-thinking its own role in light of the proliferation of Twenty20 tournaments.Speaking at CSA’s annual meeting in Johannesburg on Friday, Arendse also revealed CEO Gerald Majola was in talks with Cricket Australia over the formation of a Twenty20 competition along the lines of the Super 14 rugby tournament, contested between clubs from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.”Twenty20 is a very popular concept, but we need to manage and contain it,” Arendse said. “Private entrepreneurs see it as an opportunity to make money, but we need to preserve the integrity of the game and make sure it is played on an organised and controlled basis.”CSA are moving quickly to immerse themselves in the newest format of the game, with earnings from the Champions League – in which two teams from South Africa will take part – projected at Rand 50 million [USD6.8 million] a year. A host of bilateral and trilateral agreements are being negotiated with Australia and India.”India have the money and the audience, but they need us because we have player power; we have some of the best cricketers in the world,” Arendse said. “There is an issue around the timing, but the Champions League is a fantastic idea and there is a lot of money at stake.”Arendse also spoke about sharing the wealth from such tournaments, a point made by his Sri Lankan counterpart Arjuna Ranatunga. “The IPL was a tremendous success and it was huge for the players. We released them to play in it, but it didn’t bring back a cent to us. Hopefully the Champions League will be payback for us.”He asked the ICC to regulate the formation of multiple cricket leagues within member nations, following the dispute between the Indian Premier League and the Indian Cricket League that has affected the game globally. The ICL has not been sanctioned by cricket boards world over and with the exception of England. ICL recruits have been barred from their respective domestic tournaments.”The IPL/ICL issue still haunts us and we need to manage better the formation of two domestic leagues in the same country,” Arendse, who is a member of an ICC committee on the issue, said. “It could happen tomorrow to any of the other member countries of the ICC and, like FIFA (the football federation), we need to have every aspect of the game fully regulated.”At the moment, the member countries are left to be autonomous and to decide for themselves what they want to do domestically, but the impact of those decisions affects cricket globally.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Na Arena Fonte Nova, Bahia decide vaga na final do Campeonato Baiano contra o Fluminense de Feira, às 16h. Por ter vencido a partida de ida por 3 a 0, o Esquadrão de Aço entra em campo com vantagem. Mesmo que perca por até três gols de diferença, terá a classificação confirmada. Passando para a próxima fase, quem garantir vaga na final encara o vencedor da disputa entre Vitória da Conquista e Vitória no próximo dia 3.

No início da tarde desta sexta-feira, o Bahia divulgou a lista de relacionados para a partida. A principal novidade é o retorno de Tiago, que cumpriu suspensão no último domingo. Por outro lado, Régis está cumprindo suspensão e será desfalque.

Veja lista de relacionados:

Goleiros: Jean e Anderson;
Laterais: Armero, Matheus Reis e Eduardo;
Zagueiros: Tiago, Lucas Fonseca, Rodrigo Becão e Eder;
Meio-campistas: Renê Júnior, Juninho, Matheus Sales, Feijão, Allione, Zé Rafael e Diego Rosa;
Atacantes: Hernane, Edigar Junio, Mário, Matheus Peixoto, Maikon Leite e Gustavo.

Australia have opened up a 278-run lead after a day of hard-fought Test cricket in the best traditions of the Ashes. England were dismissed for 325, with Glenn McGrath finishing with four for 87 and Jason Gillespie overcoming injury fears to ensure that Australia enjoyed a useful lead on first innings. Despite Andrew Caddick claiming two early wickets when Australia batted again, Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn consolidated to take Australia into day four in a commanding position.When England resumed on 158 for one, it was the usually economical and precise McGrath who took the valuable wickets of Mark Butcher for 54 and Marcus Trescothick for 72 to prevent the tourists from making progress from their promising overnight position.Trescothick looked dangerous and showed his class when he drove two consecutive deliveries past McGrath to the boundary. Yet McGrath, slightly out of rhythm and looking laboured, made the breakthrough when Butcher shaped to drive but edged to Hayden in the slips.McGrath struck the next blow five balls later when Trescothick drove without conviction at a ball outside off stump and Ricky Ponting was waiting in the slips for the edge. After being tied down for a while by the pace duo, Trescothick played at a ball on the line which he had been happy to leave earlier in the morning.McGrath’s 100th and 101st Ashes wickets came at precisely the right time for his team. He could have done with another, however, as Nasser Hussain and John Crawley settled in to revive English hopes with a partnership that added 97 for the fourth wicket and appeared to be taking their side towards comfort.After lunch, however, Steve Waugh took the new ball with immediate success. Gillespie, this time was the destroyer. During this period the 27-year-old was electric. Passing a fitness test on his calf before play, he continually stretched the muscle during and after his spells.The injury did not seem to hinder Gillespie in any way as he continued to pose more of a threat than McGrath. After Hussain hoisted Gillespie for six to bring up his fifty, the bowler seemed to crank up the pace and accounted for Hussain with a beauty. He squared up Hussain with a ball at which he had to play and wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist did the rest.With the cracks in the pitch beginning to open up, Gillespie struck again in his next over as Alec Stewart played an indecisive inside edge onto the stumps to be bowled without scoring and England had slumped to 270 for five.Now it was the turn of McGrath. Craig White had made 12 misjudged the bounce to lose his off bail without offering a shot to a ball that he thought would go over the stumps.The only recognised batsman left, John Crawley played patiently and responsibly as he pushed for ones and twos, then waited and punished the bad balls. His fifth fifty against Australia and the fourth in the England innings took all of three hours and 120 balls, but he was doing a fine job for his side.Crawley, however, could only watch as Andy Bichel stepped up to account for Ashley Giles for 13 – caught behind playing some way from his body – and Caddick in quick succession. With the injured Simon Jones unable to bat, Crawley was left on 69 not out.Australia started their innings in blazing fashion, as they tend to do. Justin Langer had hit four boundaries in his 22 from 25 balls when he edged Caddick to Stewart, while the same bowler produced an absolute snorter to account for Ponting. It flew from a length to take the shoulder of the bat on its way to Trescothick at first slip. Ponting took a long look at the pitch as he departed.Hayden was joined by Martyn to see the home side through to stumps, playing with controlled aggression to both finish with 40 not out.In the last 12 matches played at the Gabba, only three have ended in a draw. Rain has been the deciding factor in those three but, in the middle of a local drought, that consideration is not likely to come into play on this occasion. The Australians will be happier with that knowledge than England at this stage of the match.

Carlton Palmer has offered his thoughts on Leeds’ reported interest in Ryan Kent…

What’s the talk?

Former Leeds star Carlton Palmer has urged the club not to give up on Ryan Kent as he thinks the Rangers man is a talented player who could improve the squad. This comes following The Athletic’s claim that the forward is still being looked at by Victor Orta after failing to land him last year.

He told Transfer Tavern:

“They’ve been linked with him and he’s a talented player.

“All you can do is keep tracking the player.

“Howard Wilkinson said when I went to Leeds United he was tracking me for two years. I don’t think you ever give up. If you identify a player that you want, you just keep going.

“You never give up on a target that you really want, you just wait for the opportunity where you may be able to get him out.”

Get it done

As the aforementioned report explained, Kent is not a new target for Marcelo Bielsa. The Argentine coach wanted to bring him in last year and now is the chance for the club to go back again to get a deal done.

Bielsa is clearly eager to work with the ex-Liverpool attacker and Orta must ensure that he can land his signature before the end of the transfer window.

However, if the head coach’s opinion is not enough to convince fans that he would be a great addition to Leeds’ squad, they only have to look at his performances for Rangers to see that it would be the case. He averaged a sublime WhoScored rating of 7.40 in 32 starts for the club in the Scottish Premiership, scoring eight and assisting seven from out wide.

Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd lavished praise on the “phenomenal” forward and said that he gets supporters off their seats with his style of play.

He said:

“There’s Ryan Kent who is phenomenal – he gets you off your seat. His numbers have increased season after season. Even if the team are not at the level we saw at the start of the campaign, he is still a threat. He is so comfortable with the ball – it is like has superglue in his boots!”

Therefore, the £18k-per-week gem could be a quality signing for the Whites and bolster Bielsa’s options at the top end of the pitch.

This is why Orta must engage in discussions with Rangers over a deal for the winger and get him to Elland Road in the coming weeks.

AND in other news, Orta in talks over Leeds deal for £19.8m-rated “phenomenon”, Bielsa will be buzzing…

Former Manchester City left-back Michael Ball believes Jack Grealish must join the Premier League champions if he wants to ensure a starting berth in Gareth Southgate’s England side ahead of Qatar 2022.

Pep Guardiola has been keen to sign Aston Villa captain Grealish this summer, with reports suggesting City are set to offer £100million for the attacking midfielder.

Grealish, who was England’s poster boy during their run to a first-ever European Championships final earlier this month, is Villa’s highest-paid player and has four years remaining on his £120,000-per-week deal.

As a result, Villa are not in a position where they need to sell their talisman and hold a strong negotiating position should City firm up their interest.

The 25-year-old made 27 appearances last season, contributing seven goals and 12 assists.

Ball feels Grealish needs to leave his boyhood club if he wants to become a member of Southgate’s preferred England starting line-up ahead of next year’s World Cup in Qatar.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Ball said: “We know how much he is a Villa fan but, at the end of the day, he’ll want to break into that England side for the World Cup and he wants to be one of the key players.

“I feel for him to improve, so Gareth Southgate has no doubts as to whether to play him, he has to move on. What better manager is there to play under than Guardiola?

“If Manchester City come calling, he’s got to go. If that move happens, he is the number one pick for the World Cup.”

Tottenham Hotspur have been told how much it’ll cost to land one of their mooted summer transfer targets…

What’s the word?

It’s thought that Spurs are battling Premier League rivals Wolves for the signature of Sporting Lisbon midfielder Joao Palhinha but they will have to stump up €60m (£51m), which is thought to be his release clause.

That’s according to Portuguese newspaper Record (July 12th, page six), who first linked the North London outfit to the 26-year-old last month after making his major tournament debut at Euro 2020.

O Jogo (via Express & Star) suggested Nuno Santo was interested in the six-cap Portugal international last year, so this latest link should come as no surprise.

Nuno’s next Neves?

Perhaps most interestingly, Wolves’ reignited interest boils down to the future of Ruben Neves, who has been linked to the Lilywhites’ North London rivals Arsenal in recent months.

According to journalist Pedro Sepulveda, who was speaking on Fabrizio Romano’s Twitch stream this week, Palhinha will only be targeted by Wolves if his fellow countryman leaves and as Football FanCast have previously outlined, he’d be a perfect like-for-like successor.

Therefore, it isn’t unfair to suggest that if Spurs win the race, then Nuno may well get his own Neves on the hallowed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium turf next season.

Both players are quarterback-like presences in the engine room.

For instance, the Wolves star managed an 84.4% passing accuracy, whilst also recording an average of 2.4 tackles per game in the Premier League.

By comparison, Palhinha managed just shy of that in terms of passing, recording 83.4% and better tackling returns, with an average of 3.3 tackles per outing. That increased to 4.5 at Euro 2020, too, via WhoScored.

Nuno may already have a defensive beast in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg but during his time at Wolves, he wasn’t afraid to double up on such an influence as Leander Dendoncker, who can also play at centre-back, was often deployed alongside Neves.

He could look to repeat this anchorman tandem by signing Palhinha, only further bolstering those potential comparisons.

Sporting boss Ruben Amorim claimed the 26-year-old powerhouse is a “special player” to MaisFutebol (via Manchester News Today), whilst Portuguese football expert Marino Peixoto added further weight to that argument, suggesting that he has had a “simply phenomenal season” for Lisbon last term.

A Transfermarkt valuation of £16.2m may be some way off his whopping £51m release clause but if he’s a player that Nuno wants, then it’ll be on Fabio Paratici and Daniel Levy to make it happen.

In Palhinha, the 47-year-old could well discover his new Neves.

AND in other news, Paratici could finally replace Dembele with Spurs swoop for “complete” £26m “machine”…

East Zone were 341 for five at the close of play on the first day of the four-day Duleep Trophy match against South Zone at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Staff Reporter03-Apr-2002East Zone were 341 for five at the close of play on the first day of the four-day Duleep Trophy match against South Zone at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday.South Zone skipper MSK Prasad won the toss and decided to ask East Zone to bat first, a decision he was made to regret by the East Zone opening batsmen Debang Gandhi and Parag Das. The two batsmen put together 127 runs off just 24 overs to give East Zone a solid start.Das was very aggressive, scoring 78 runs off 88 balls with the help of a dozen hits past the ropes. His hard-hitting knock came to an end when he played all over a delivery from young off-spinner Hemal Watekar.Orissa batsman Rashmi Parida then joined Gandhi in the middle and kept the run-rate going briskly. East went in for lunch with the score at 139/1 off only 28 overs. Parida made a fluent 41 off 69 balls, striking eight fours before being caught by Nekkanti Madhukkar off the bowling of Sridharan Sriram. The second-wicket partnership yielded 82 runs off 19.5 overs.East Zone skipper Sanjay Raul missed out, caught by Kiran Powar off the bowling off Sriram after making just 10. Subhomoy Das (20 off 68 balls) failed to keep the momentum going and was trapped lbw by Watekar. In the meanwhile, Gandhi, a former India Test opening bat, went on to complete a well-deserved hundred off 148 balls.Gandhi’s was the last wicket to fall in the day, caught by Vijay Bharadwaj off Watekar in the 74th over. The opening batsman from Bengal made 125 runs off 184 balls, cracking 19 fours and a six. At the close of play, Rajiv Kumar (35*) and Zakaria Zuffri (16*) were at the crease. South Zone’s fast bowlers were severely punished on the day, with Madhukkar going for 60 runs off his seven overs. Watekar (3/78) has been the most successful bowler so far.

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Titular com a ausência de Luis Ricardo, o lateral Jonas comemorou a sequência e o triunfo da equipe contra o Olimpia, nesta última quarta-feira, pela Copa Libertadores. Segundo ele, o Botafogo precisa saber jogar com o resultado à seu favor no Defensores Del Chaco e a preparação na semana será primordial.

– Fizemos mais um bom jogo e a vitória foi merecida. Estamos com uma vantagem agora e temos que saber administrar isso no jogo de volta, que será mais uma batalha. O grupo vai procurar se preparar bem durante a semana para fazer mais uma grande apresentação na competição para conquistar a vaga na fase de grupos – disse, se lamentando posteriormente do terceiro cartão amarelo que o impedirá de entrar em campo na decisão no Paraguai.

– Infelizmente não vou estar presente em campo com a equipe no próximo jogo, mas estarei na torcida pelo grupo. Tenho certeza que o nosso elenco sairá do Paraguai com a classificação para a fase de grupos da competição. Não faltará entrega de todos para que isso seja possível – completou o jogador.

Com a ausência de Jonas, o técnico Jair Ventura teria como opção Marcinho para a lateral-direita. A jovem revelação tem sido titular nos jogos do time “B” no Campeonato Carioca e está inscrita normalmente na Copa Libertadores.

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