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ECB Performance Director Hugh Morris spent the day at the County Ground yesterday to carry out an audit on the first year of the ECB Regional Academy, that is based in the Centre of Excellence

SOMERSET12-Nov-2002ECB Performance Director Hugh Morris spent the day at the County Ground yesterday to carry out an audit on the first year of the ECB Regional Academy, that is based in the Centre of Excellence.During his day at the ground Hugh Morris spent time with chief executive Peter Anderson, he met Gareth Andrew and Neil Edwards, who have both just completed their time at the Academy, and also met with the Academy Director Mark Garaway and first team coach Kevin Shine.At the end of the day Mark Garaway told me: "He was very pleased with the way that things are going here, and sees the model that we have developed in Somerset as one that could be adopted by other counties."The Academy Director continued: "He felt that involving the first team coach and the senior players with the Academy players was working well, and me linking in as the second team coach was a real strength. He also thought that we have a great back up team in Darren Veness, Andy Hurry and sports psychologist Will James."The official report will be sent to the club during the next two weeks, but it would seem that the first year of the ECB Academy at the County Ground has been a great success, especially in the light of the number of youngsters who have made it either into their respective England age groups, into the Somerset Seconds or in the case of Neil Edwards into the Somerset first team.

A major update has emerged regarding Manchester City’s pursuit of Harry Kane’s signature.

What’s the talk?

According to The Times, the Premier League champions have made it clear to Tottenham that they are ready to offer £100m to sign the 27-year-old this summer. The England captain has told Spurs that he wants to leave the club after they failed to qualify for the Champions League and City are looking to swoop in to secure a deal.

Tottenham are reportedly expected to reject this offer from City as they attempt to keep hold of their talisman. However, Pep Guardiola’s side are also willing to include a player in the negotiations, with Raheem Sterling potentially on the table for Spurs.

Back in 2020, former Tottenham striker Jurgen Klinsmann hailed Kane as “exceptional” and said that he can achieve anything he wants to in football.

The German told talkSPORT: “He can achieve anything he puts his mind to. He’s so, so talented, exceptional and he’s now into a stage of his career where he is far more mature. He’s not the young lad anymore, even if you think of him as a young player.”

Earlier this year, pundit Tony Cascarino claimed that Sterling has “dropped off” this season and is not the best winger in world football.

He told talkSPORT: “Raheem has dropped off, he’s having a blip. On his game he is an exceptional talent, but I still wouldn’t say he’s the best.

“If you asked me to pick between Neymar or Sterling, I’d probably pick Neymar.”

Txiki must axe Sterling

Txiki Begiristain must ruthlessly axe Sterling from Manchester City this summer if it allows the club to sign Kane from Tottenham. As Cascarino explained, the England winger has dropped off in the past 12 months and he is not the same player he was a couple of years ago. It could be the right time for City to move him on, especially if it means getting Kane in return.

Sterling’s goalscoring numbers in the Premier League last term were his lowest since the 2016/17 campaign as he produced 10 goals. The English forward managed 17 or more Premier League goals in each of the three seasons leading up to the 2020/21 campaign, highlighting his drop-off in form and explaining why it could be the right time for him to be sold.

Meanwhile, Kane enjoyed his best goalscoring season since 2018 as he found the back of the net 23 times for Tottenham in the league. He also had his best year in terms of creating for his teammates, with an impressive 14 assists domestically. The Tottenham man topped the Premier League charts in both categories last season, winning the Golden Boot and the Playmaker award.

The £200,000-per-week beast could be a major addition to Manchester City’s squad if they can land him. Ilkay Gundogan was City’s top scorer with 13 last season in the Premier League, suggesting that there is room for a player with Kane’s goalscoring prowess to come in and be the club’s main source for goals next season. This is why Txiki needs to ruthlessly axe Sterling if it means getting a deal for Kane over the line.

AND in other news, Txiki must sanction Man City swoop for “ice cold” £34m goal machine, Pep needs him…

A Herculean performance by Craig White enabled Yorkshire to thrash Surrey in their rearranged C&G Trophy semi-final

Sean Beynon04-Aug-2002A Herculean performance by Craig White enabled Yorkshire to thrash Surrey in their rearranged C&G Trophy semi-final. The England all-rounder returned figures of four for 35 and then smashed a ferocious century in Yorkshire’s ten-wicket win.The win sees Yorkshire through to the final at Lord’s against Somerset on 31 August. After a poor season, the result should give the players great heart.Despite five rain interruptions, the players finally made it on to the Headingley turf at the fourth attempt, after play was washed out on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Surrey looked at least to have made a challenging 173/8 on a green, seaming wicket.White made a mockery of their effort, despite surviving a first ball drop. Yorkshire successfully chased their Duckworth/Lewis target of 167 from 42 overs with nearly 18 overs to spare.The 31-year-old hit 15 fours and a six, four more boundaries than were struck in the entire Surrey innings. All the bowlers were treated with disdain as White brimmed with aggression. He finished the game with a beautiful cover drive on the up, his even hundred coming from just 77 balls.Matthew Wood was a virtual spectator early on, as White lifted the ball through the off-side. He hit Ed Giddins for three boundaries in an over, straight over the top, through cover and over cover. Alex Tudor was expensive, and the introduction of James Ormond simply saw the ball fly to the fence faster.With White reaching his 50 from 38 balls, Wood stepped up. The 25-year-oldAcademy graduate hit Clarke for three consecutive leg side boundaries, one pull shot high into the Western Terrace.White then launched into Saqlain Mushtaq with an admirable eagerness. Wood’ssupporting role bought him a fine 57, studded with seven fours and a six.Earlier, Mark Ramprakash’s patient 63 held Surrey together after they lost the toss on a grey morning. Speculation about his England selection was unfounded, but this was an excellent knock in a golden summer for the right-hander. Ramprakash was content to push the ball around for singles, hitting only four boundaries. He was superbly unflustered, and it took a direct hit from Darren Lehmann to run him out.Matthew Hoggard (two for 21) did the early damage, first trapping Ian Ward lbw. Alistair Brown, unsuited to the pitch, slogged to Michael Lumb a third man. Only two boundaries came in a tough first 15 overs.With White inducing an edge to remove Alec Stewart, Surrey were in real trouble. Nadeem Shahid hit aggressively straight, and looked set for a big score before sweeping Lehmann to short fine-leg.Adam Hollioake hit a flashing square drive and lofted Ryan Sidebottom straight before being adjudged leg before misjudging a pull. Clarke, whose reputation continues to grow, failed to impress on this occasion. The young all-rounder was caught by Richard Blakey after snicking a leg-side swipe. White claimed both the wickets, extracting the pace many (himself included) thought was lost.Tudor (17 not out) played stoically after losing Saqlain to a good catch on the cover boundary by Anthony McGrath. At the interval, Yorkshire were slight favourites. In 100 minutes of powerful hitting, White put their total into perspective.

The Hampshire Cricket League is asking clubs if they want a ban on imported overseas players and professional cricketers turning out on Saturday afternoons next season

Mike Vimpany (as published in Daily Echo)03-Jul-2002The Hampshire Cricket League is asking clubs if they want a ban on imported overseas players and professional cricketers turning out on Saturday afternoons next season.They are proposing that the 28-year old competition, which embraces 184 clubs and 314 teams, reverts to being a recreational league, primarily for English players.The League, in a forthright newsletter just issued to clubs, expresses concern at the ever increasing number of overseas players turning out every Saturday afternoon.Currently a record number of 26 foreigners are playing in the Hampshire League this summer, seven of them for teams who play in the regional divisions.However, before formulating the final details, the HCL management committee is canvassing clubs on whether they will back a "no foreign imports" policy at the next annual meeting due in February 2003.Clubs have been told that the league "does not believe it is any longer appropriate for clubs in a recreational league to be spending either their – or their sponsors – money on players who are generally being used to move a club to a position in the league its playing strength does not justify."In the HL’s opinion, this money would be better used on facilities (eg ground improvements) that benefit all club members."In many cases, clubs – mainly through generous sponsors and benefactors – fork out substantial fares to fly players in and then fix them up with jobs.Some coach team-mates and youngsters, and some prepare the pitches. But the league believes that an increasing number are brought in to score runs, take wickets … and ultimately secure quick-fix promotions.These clubs would argue that it is upto them how they spend their money and not up to the league.Some clubs argue that the presence of overseas players lifts the overall standard of HL cricket – a competition which many participants consider to be a largely enjoyable summer weekend recreational pursuit.Others disagree, claiming it creates an uneven playing field, particularly for the clubs who either cannot afford to recruit overseas or who simply don’t want one at all.Ten clubs with overseas players aboard won promotions in the Hampshire League last summer, with a host of the visiting players finishing high in the divisional averages.Acting Hampshire League chairman Chris James agreed that "There is no doubt about it, a large number of these overseas players are playing below their ability level and they are having a significant effect on games.""You only have to glance at the results in the Daily Echo each week to see that."New Zealander Daniel Barclay, who has already scored two centuries for County Division 4 club Compton & Chandler’s Ford, Hythe & Dibden’s South African ace Eugene Burzler, and Cape Town-based pace bowler Derek Manning, who has taken a hatful of wickets for Fair Oak – are among the overseas players influencing lower division matches this season.Roughly half the Hampshire League clubs backed Fareham & Crofton’s proposal at last February’s annual general meeting to place a ban on all foreign nationals, but which failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority.Concerns were expressed about school-age foreign nationals, genuine overseas visitors in the country on business and those coming to this country having lived and been born abroad."The management committee has discussed these concerns and, insofar as the youngsters are concerned, is proposing that no foreign national under the age of 17 years on August 31 of the relevant season – and possibly all those in full-time education here – should be barred from playing," Mr James explained."We’ve also examined the situation as regards the genuine overseas visitor, the individual who comes to the UK on business, for example."The management committee’s plan is to give the working visitor permission to play but only if he arrives in the country by March 1, plans to remain in the UK for a minimum of one year and has a valid work permit."We think this is a fair deal and covers the concerns some clubs expressed to us in February.Mr James added "it is important that everyone appreciates that these are only proposals and that the league wants to hear from clubs on how they want this difficult issue resolved."There are a variety of different ways of solving the problems, but finding one that suits everyone is clearly going to be difficult," he said.

Pakistan’s recent overwhelming victory against New Zealand by a massive margin of an innings and 324 runs was their biggest in Test cricket to date

Arshad Chughtai26-Jul-2002Pakistan’s recent overwhelming victory against New Zealand by a massive margin of an innings and 324 runs was their biggest in Test cricket to date. So far, out of 285 test matches played by Pakistan they have won 85 – 45 of these victories have been at home, 35 away and three on neutral grounds of Dhaka (1) and Sharjah (2). Tracing the history of Pakistan’s test cricket victories it is worth highlighting that their first victory was in the very second test match they appeared in, against India, in their inaugural test series, in 1952-53, by an innings and 24 runs. How this victory margin has improved further in 50 years is presented below:

Innings & 43 runs India Lucknow 1952-53 A.H. Kardar Innings & 64 runs New Zealand Rawalpindi 1964-65 Hanif Mohammad Innings & 166 runs New Zealand Dunedin 1972-73 Intikhab Alam Innings & 188 runs Australia Karachi 1988-89 Javed Miandad Innings & 264 runs Bangladesh Multan 2001-02 Waqar Younis Innings & 324 runs New Zealand Lahore 2001-02 Waqar Younis The win against New Zealand was also the fourth biggest in Test cricket history so far. England, however, hold the record of achieving the biggest victory in Tests by an innings and 579 runs against Australia at the Oval in 1938.Pakistan also has a good share in Test cricket’s biggest victories. Eight of Pakistan’s 27 innings victories have been with a margin of innings plus 150 runs or more. Also six others have been by wide margins of 204 to 301 runs. Pakistan’s recent victory at Lahore was also the biggest at home in a Test match. Their largest victory in away tests was when they beat Bangladesh by an innings and 178 runs in the first test of 2001-02 series at Dhaka.Below is a list of largest Test victories for Pakistan from 1952 to date:Largest Victories: 1952 – 53 To Date
Innings & 324 runs V New Zealand, Lahore: 2001-02 Innings & 264 runs V Bangladesh, Multan: 2001-02 Innings & 188 runs V Australia, Karachi: 1988-89 Innings & 178 runs V Bangladesh, Dhaka: 2001-02 Innings & 175 runs V Sri Lanka, Dhaka: 1998-99 Innings & 169 runs V Bangladesh, Chittagong: 2001-02 Innings & 166 runs V New Zealand, Dunedin: 1972-73 Innings & 163 runs V Sri Lanka, Galle: 2001 Innings & 119 runs V India, Hyderabad: 1982-83 Innings & 102 runs V Sri Lanka, Lahore: 1981-82 Innings & 87 runs V England, Lahore: 1987-88 Innings & 86 runs V India, Karachi: 1982-83 Innings & 82 runs V Australia, Melbourne: 1982-83 Innings & 64 runs V New Zealand, Rawalpindi: 1964-65 Innings & 52 runs V Sri Lanka, Kandy: 1994 Innings & 43 runs V India, Lucknow: 1952-53 Innings & 43 runs V New Zealand, Karachi: 1990-91 Innings & 40 runs V Sri Lanka, Peshawar: 1995-96 Innings & 29 runs V West Indies, Rawalpindi: 1997 Innings & 20 runs V Sri Lanka, Kandy: 1985-86 Innings & 19 runs V West Indies, Peshawar: 1997 Innings & 18 runs V England, Leeds: 1997 Innings & 13 runs V New Zealand, Rwalpindi: 1996-97 Innings & 12 runs V New Zealand, Wellington: 1994-95 Innings & 3 runs V Australia, Faisalabad: 1982-83 Innings & 1 run V New Zealand, Karachi: 1955-56 Innings & 1 runs V West Indies, Port of Spain: 1957-58 301 runs V Sri Lanka, Colombo: 1994 299 runs V New Zealand, Auckland: 2000-2001266 runs V West Indies, Port of Spain: 1976-77 244 runs V West Indies, Sharjah: 2001-02 222 runs V Sri Lanka, Colombo: 1999-2000 204 runs V Sri Lanka, Karachi: 1981-82

Somerset Second XI ended the second day’s play of their three day match against Worcestershire at North Perrott in a strong position

Richard Walsh09-May-2002Somerset Second XI ended the second day’s play of their three day match against Worcestershire at North Perrott in a strong position.Yesterday on the attractive tree lined ground Worcestershire were bowled out for 219, with Pete Trego ending with 6 for 53. The visitors total would have been considerable less had it not been for a last wicket stand of 97.Before close of play on Wednesday Somerset had taken their score to 104 for 2, with Piran Holloway not out on 51.Today the Somerset batsmen enjoyed the conditions at North Perrott and took the score onto 422 for 9 before declaring. Holloway ended with 91 and Graham Rose made 61.By the close of play Worcestershire were 11 for 1, with Trego being the successful Somerset bowler.

Canada, despite several key players missing or struggling through injuries squeaked out a thrilling victory over Namibia yesterday at Windhoek

Dave Liverman11-Apr-2002Canada, despite several key players missing or struggling through injuries squeaked out a thrilling victory over Namibia yesterday at Windhoek. The last time the two teams met in Toronto it was Namibia who came out on top with a last over win by two wickets. This time the results were reversed, with Canada obtaining the winning runs from the 6th ball of the 50th over.Canada started the match missing two key players, Nick Degroot suffering from damaged knee ligaments, and Muneeb Diwan a dislocated finger. In addition Sanjay Thuraisingam, who had missed the previous match with a respiratory infection, and Ashish Bagai, suffering from lower back problems, played although less than fully fit.Canada opened the bowling with Joseph and Codrington, and it was Codrington who made the initial breakthrough, bowling van der Merwe for 2. The pace bowlers were not effective however, and Walters and Keulder saw Namibia past 50 without further loss. The introduction of the spinners drastically slowed the run rate, with the batsmen unable to get either Davison or Seeberan away. Davison bowled Walters, and Seeberan dismissed Murgatroyd and Keulder. The Namibian middle order all contributed useful runs but no-one was able to build a significant innings. Davison chipped in with a second wicket, but Namibia stil seemed poised for a total of over 200 when Thuraisingam returned for a second spell. As Namibia strove to raise the tempo with the final overs approaching, Thuraisingam rapidly dismissed skipper DB Kotze, BL Kotze, and Snyman, finishing with the figures of 3/37 off his 10 overs, a courageous performance. Skipper Joe Harris bowled the final over, and picked up a second wicket as Namibia were all out for 170 with three balls remaining. Seeberan had the remarkable figures of 1/16 off his 10 overs, and Davison 2/29 from 10 overs.Missing Degroot and Diwan, Canada’s batting was not at full strength. The unusual combination of Davison and Maraj opened the batting. Davison took an agressive approach and hit three quick boundaries, taking the opening partnership to 32 before being bowled by Snyman. Chumney and Maraj added useful runs, until Louw dismissed both. Louw bowled superbly, and the Canadian bats found it almost impossible to score from him. He took a third wicket when Billcliff was caught by Walters for only 7. At 95/4 Canada were in danger of collapse, so Bagai chose a mostly defensive role. When Harris fell to Burger, Canada were still 48 runs short; Sattaur made only three before being bowled by Burger, and Canada were 132/6, with few overs remaining. Thuraisingam contributed a vital eight runs, Codrington was run out, and with only two wickets left, Canada still needed twenty to win. Bagai and Joseph were the heroes of an amazing last over win against UAE in Toronto, and the experience stood them in good stead, as they saw Canada home off the last possible ball. Bagai was unbeaten on 34, a patient innings, facing 102 balls in total, and Joseph made 9. Louw finished with the superb figures of 10 overs, 5 maidens, 3 wickets, for 8 runs.

Despite loosing their opener pretty early Mohammedan Sporting Club secured an easy 6-wicket victory over Uttara club In GrameenPhone Premier Division League today held in Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium

Shahryar Khan24-Mar-2002Despite loosing their opener pretty early Mohammedan Sporting Club secured an easy 6-wicket victory over Uttara club In GrameenPhone Premier Division League today held in Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium. Habibul Bashar, recognized as the best batsman of the country, top scored 53 and their foreign recruit Steve Tikolo slammed a quick fire 41 while Mohammedan were chasing Uttara’s ordinary target of 159.Minhajul Abedin, winning the toss and perhaps thinking of the formidable bowling attack they have, sent Uttara sporting to bat first. Taposh Kumar and Shafiuddin Ahmed, the new ball operators for the renowned Motijhil Club, mopped up the front line batsmen within seven overs. Uttara spinner Faisal Hossain (36) and Emtear Rahman (19) were then forced to a period of consolidation. Wicket keeper Rashed-Bin-Rana propelled the scoreboard managing 45 playing 78 balls that included 3 boundaries.Taposh Kumar, the lanky fast medium bowler from Sylhet, seized 3 for 37. Spinner duo Mohammed Rafique and Shabbir Khan bamboozled the Uttara side claiming two wickets each.A target of 159 was not at all a daunting task for a club like Mohammedan who possess a brawny batting line-up, but they lost Rashedul Haque for naught with the score on naught, as the batsman failed to fend off the second ball off seamer Golam Rabbani in the opening over their innings. Habibul Bashar joined in and put up a 62-run stand with Ehsanul Haque. The latter chipped in with 10 runs off 37 deliveries before pacer Sumon Barua finally removed him.Mohammedan’s Kenyan recruit Steve Tikolo, a familiar face in Dhaka, who played the Premier League for the club for the last few years regularly, ran his streak of success in this match as well. His gutsy and gusty 41 off just 42 balls eased off the pressure a lot. Tikolo found six sparkling boundaries all around his stumps.The rest of the match was kept for the crowd at DCS only to watch two most stylish batsmen Habibul Bashar and Minhajul Abedin in flair. Arman Hossain got rid of Bashar at the hands of Faisal before the ace batsman notched up 53 off 80 deliveries featured with 8 spectacular fours.Mohammedan reached the target in 31.4 overs with Minhajul batting on 20 and Sanwar Hossain 12. Taposh Kumar was rightly adjudged for the man-of-the-match for his contribution with the ball.

Queens Park Rangers are yet to receive any transfer offers for Seny Dieng.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by West London Sport, who claim that there have, so far, been no enquires made regarding the 26-year-old goalkeeper, despite the fact that West Ham United have recently been linked with a move for the QPR man.

Indeed, a report by The Sun claimed that David Moyes’ side are extremely keen on signing the £720k-rated shot-stopper this summer, for whom it is claimed Queens Park Rangers would demand a £6m fee.

Fans will be buzzing

Considering just how impressive Dieng has been since earning his spot at Mark Warburton’s number one this season, the news that there have been no offers made for the ‘keeper is likely to leave Rs fans buzzing.

Over his 42 Championship appearances for QPR this term, the 26-year-old helped his side to keep 11 clean sheets and made a total of 121 saves, as well as making an average of 2.9 stops and 0.2 successful run outs per game.

These metrics culminated in the Senegal international earning a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.96, ranking him as Warburton’s seventh-best performer in the second tier this season.

As such, it would very much appear as if keeping hold of the shot-stopper – whom the Rs manager dubbed as “outstanding” – this summer will be something of a priority for the 58-year-old QPR boss, as Dieng will likely play a huge role in the Rs’ bid to push for a top six finish next season.

And, at present, it would seem that, contrary to reports of West Ham’s eagerness regarding a deal for the goalkeeper, QPR could be on course to retain the services of the £4k-per-week man beyond the summer, something that is undeniably good news for both fans fo the club and Warburton alike.

In other news: Warburton heading for QPR summer transfer disaster over “brilliant” £5k-p/w flop – opinion

Birmingham City midfielder Alen Halilovic is attracting significant interest ahead of the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by the Croatian outlet tportal, who claim that the Blues attacking midfielder is a target for clubs in Spain, Italy, England and Turkey after his spell in the Championship this season.

The report goes on to state that Lee Bowyer is desperate to keep hold of the £720k-rated 24-year-old this summer, and has offered the former Barcelona man a new deal at St. Andrew’s.

However, due to the interest in his services, tportal reveal that it is unclear whether Halilovic will accept Birmingham’s offer of a new contract, with the midfielder’s current deal set to expire next month.

Bowyer will be gutted

Having joined Birmingham on a free transfer back in November, Halilovic initially struggled to hold down a place in the Blues team, often being utilised as a second-half substitute by Aitor Karanka.

However, after the arrival of Bowyer in March, the Croatia international began to feature a lot more prominently for the Championship side, starting six consecutive games for the club over the run-in of the second-tier season.

And, while the 24-year-old – whom Davor Suker dubbed a “star” and claimed that he “reminds me of [Lionel] Messi” – was lacking in his returns of goals and assists in the league, managing a solo strike and nothing else, it is clear that the player who has been on the books of Barcelona, AC Milan and Hamburger SV has a significant amount of potential, and is clearly someone Bowyer would like to retain this summer.

As such, the fact that reports are suggesting Halilovic – whom Miroslav Bicanic dubbed a “phenomenal” player – could be looking to move on to pastures new upon the expiry of his contract will undoubtedly come as a blow to the 44-year-old, as, with a full pre-season behind him, the Croatian could well play a big role in firing Birmingham City up the Championship table next season.

In other news: £3.6m-per-goal: Bowyer must avoid BCFC swoop for “skilful” £30k-p/w dud this summer – opinion