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Hampshire have refused to include Kevin Pietersen for their Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Kent on Sunday

Andrew McGlashan20-Jul-2010Hampshire have refused to include Kevin Pietersen for their Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Kent on Sunday despite a request from Andy Flower, the England coach, to allow him some cricket before the Test series against Pakistan.Last month Pietersen announced he would be leaving the county to move closer to his home in London. Now Hampshire have responded by opting to stick with their young players rather than risk breaking up a team purely for the sake of Pietersen’s match practice. It also means should Hampshire make Twenty20 finals day, which is being held at the Rose Bowl, that Pietersen won’t play even if freed from national duty for the showpiece occasion.Although the club insist Flower is comfortable with the decision – and it is debatable how much value a one-off 40-over hit would have been for Pietersen – it is a rare example of a county going against the ECB’s wishes. It leaves Pietersen, who has been low on form this season, as the only England player not to have any cricket before the first Test against Pakistan, at Trent Bridge, on July 29.”I would like to express my thanks to Andy Flower for agreeing to this sensible decision and wish him, Kevin and the rest of the England team the very best for their forthcoming internationals,” said Rod Bransgrove, the Hampshire chairman.”We have some excellent England aspirants here at Hampshire, including batsmen Michael Carberry, Jimmy Adams, Michael Lumb, Liam Dawson and James Vince. Whilst at different stages of their development, each of them have provided recent evidence of their ability to progress to represent England. It is our wish and responsibility to give them every possible opportunity to fulfil that potential.”Pietersen suffered a thigh strain during the final one-dayer against Australia but would have been rested anyway under England’s rotation policy. However, it means he won’t have batted in the middle for nearly a month when he faces a strong Pakistan attack including Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer at Trent Bridge.His form this season, since returning from the World Twenty20 where was Man of the Tournament, has been disappointing with poor returns against Bangladesh and Australia. However, the England captain Andrew Strauss, speaking before the Hampshire decision was made, remained confident Pietersen would return to his best.”Kevin has just turned 30 but he has got a lot of cricket left in him,” he said. “He has had a tough time, there is no doubt about that. He has not scored as many runs as he has done in the past. But he is a high-quality cricketer and he will come back and play match-winning innings for us.”There was a precedence for Hampshire’s move after Ian Bell was left out of a Friends Provident Trophy semi-final in 2007, ironically against Hampshire in a match where Pietersen did appear.

Many Sunderland fans have been left raging over some transfer news that has emerged on Jermain Defoe before the Portsmouth clash.

As per The Northern Echo, Lee Johnson is reluctant to sign the former Glasgow Rangers striker in the January transfer window, despite the board giving the green light for a deal to go through.

Defoe himself would prefer to move to the Stadium of Light, but Johnson has reservations over his match fitness and what exactly his squad role would be.

With Nathan Broadhead currently injured at the moment, Ross Stewart is Johnson’s only striker option, and so it does seem strange that he would not want to bring another one in.

Defoe is also cult hero among the Black Cats faithful, having scored 37 times in 93 games in all competitions over three seasons (Transfermarkt), including a memorable winner at home to rivals Newcastle United in the Premier League back in 2015.

Sunderland fans on Defoe transfer news

These SAFC supporters raged as the transfer news was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that they are ‘fuming’, while another simply called it ‘pathetic’:

“LJ not doing himself any favours here”

Credit: @safctim

“Trying to derail us or summit?”

Credit: @ColArmy86

“Johnson Out if we don’t sign him”

Credit: @Mustardinho

“The mind boggles. Fuming”

Credit: @ConnorBromley

“IF true, Johnson has just lost the fans”

Credit: @LewisGreaves1

“Pathetic”

Credit: @JHerra18

In other news, find out what exit claim has Black Cats gushing here!

A round-up of the final and third-place play-off of the Emerging Players Twenty20 tournament

Cricinfo staff12-Aug-2010Final
ScorecardMoises Henriques and Mitchell Starc starred with bat and ball respectively as Australian Insititute of Sport beat India Emerging Players convincingly by 29 runs in the Emerging Players Twenty20 final. Batting first, the Australians posted 162, thanks to Henriques who contributed 72 and James Faulkener who scored 44. Their 72-run stand for the fourth wicket set them to a competitive score. Henriques hit three sixes and two fours in his unbeaten 41-ball knock. The Indian top-order stumbled to Starc, whose early strikes reduced them to 27 for 3. Cheteshwar Pujara resisted with 38 but the lack of partnerships affected the Indians as the hosts narrowed in on victory. Peter George and the offspinner Glenn Maxwell took two wickets apiece to support Starc.3rd-place play-off
ScorecardEven a 116-run opening stand wasn’t good enough for South Africa Emerging Players as they fell short in their chase of 149 against New Zealand Emerging Players in the third-place playoffs. Batting first in a match reduced to 18 overs a side, New Zealand were helped to 148 by another century stand, between Jamie How and Dean Brownlie. Brownlie made 56 off 39 balls while How remained unbeaten on 71, off 51 balls, hitting five sixes. The pair added 101 for the second wicket before they were separated in the 12th over. CJ de Villiers was the most effective bowler for the South Africans with 3 for 29. The South African openers, Reeza Hendricks and Davey Jacobs, made half-centuries to get the team off to a strong start. But it came apart when the left-arm seamer Neil Wagner struck twice in an over. Michael Bates then removed Jacobs, and the South Africans were struggling to keep with the asking rate. In the end, they could only manage 133, having come that far.

Now that Wolves look set to say goodbye to winger Adama Traore with an initial loan move to Barcelona this month followed by a potential permanent deal being on the table for the Spaniard in the summer, this could pave the way for the Midlands club to spend the remainder of the January transfer window trying to secure a suitable replacement for the 26-year-old.

In terms of who they could look to bring in to fill the void left by Traore’s imminent absence, one figure that has been mentioned with a move to Molineux in recent weeks that may not be too difficult for the Old Gold to secure is Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele.

With Barcelona apparently telling the Frenchman that he must sign a new deal at the club this month or else he’ll have to leave, which has then led to Dembele saying in a public statement that he won’t give in to blackmail, Wolves could step in and work out a deal that would suit all parties and bring the 24-year-old to England and draw a line under his time in Spain.

Labelled as an “exceptional” player by Dani Alves, the winger has proven throughout his career what a capable attacking asset he can be by racking up 53 goals and 50 assists in 208 club appearances across all competitions including La Liga, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and the Champions League.

This could make him the perfect replacement for Traore given how he wasn’t much of a regular goalscorer for the Old Gold having found the back of the net on just 11 occasions in 154 appearances.

Having also been labelled as a “phenomenon” by former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi, Dembele could be tempted with a move to Wolves this month to test his game in the Premier League at a club aiming to secure European football.

Moving forward, with the January transfer window set to close on Monday, Wolves will have to move swiftly if they want to have any chance of signing the £27m-rated attacker and hope that their dealings with Barcelona over Traore and Francisco Trincao back in the summer will put them in good stead to secure Dembele’s signature.

In other news: Wolves eyeing transfer swoop for £14k-p/w “man mountain,” Lage would be delighted – opinion

Everton are considering a move to bring Luka Jovic to Goodison Park on transfer deadline day.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Mike McGrath, with The Telegraph journalist revealing on Twitter that Frank Lampard is contemplating a late move for the Real Madrid centre-forward in a bid to bolster the attacking options in his first-team squad.

In McGrath’s subsequent report for The Telegraph, the journalist revealed that the 24-year-old will be allowed to leave the Bernabeu prior to Monday night’s transfer deadline, as the Serbia international is not a current part of Carlo Ancelotti’s first-team plans.

In his tweet, McGrath said: “Everton considering Luka Jovic as a loan option from Real Madrid to strengthen Frank Lampard’s attack. Player will be allowed to leave on loan. EFC can make foreign loans but no more domestic after arrivals of El Ghazi and Van de Beek.”

Deadly trio

Since his £52.4m move to Madrid back in 2019, Jovic has not exactly been in the best form of his career, but the 24-year-old nevertheless proved during his final season with Eintracht Frankfurt that he would make a fantastic addition alongside Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison in the Everton attack. The Toffees duo have struck 24 and 17 goals respectively since the start of the 2020/21 season, a clear sign of the attacking threat they possess.

Over his 32 Bundesliga appearances in 2018/19, the £18m-rated Jovic scored 17 goals, registered six assists and created seven big chances for his team-mates, with these returns seeing him earn a highly impressive seasonal SofaScore rating of 7.14.

In the same season, the £152k-per-week Serbian bagged a further 10 goals, provided one assist and created two big chances over his 14 Europa League outings, taking his total haul to 27 goals and seven assists over 46 games played in the two competitions.

As such, should the player who Mladen Krstajic dubbed a “goal-getter” be able to rediscover such form after a potential switch to Everton tonight, Lampard could well form a deadly attacking trio at Goodison Park which should undoubtedly help fire the Toffees back into the top half of the Premier League table.

In other news – “It’s true…”: Journalist drops major update on last-gasp Everton deal, Lampard would love it

Wolves striker Raul Jimenez is currently on a ‘bad run of form’ according to journalist Tim Spiers, although the journalist pointed out that the Mexican has still posted one particularly impressive statistic this season.

The Lowdown: Jimenez draws blank at Arsenal

Bruno Lage’s suffered a damaging 2-1 defeat away to Arsenal on Thursday night, with Jose Sa’s stoppage-time own goal clinching victory for the Gunners.

Jimenez had a quiet night by his standards, with the Mexican missing one big chance and failing to record a single key pass, according to Sofascore.

The 30-year-old certainly isn’t in the best form of his Wolves career, having been hailed as ‘special’ by Nuno Espirito Santo in the past, and there was some post-match debate online regarding his place in the team.

The Latest: Spiers discusses Jimenez’s form

Responding to a Wolves fan on Twitter who accused Jimenez of being unable to ‘lead the line’ in attack, Spiers replied to admit that the striker is indeed “going through a bad run of form” at the moment.

However, the journalist refuted the supporter’s claim about the Mexican and leading the line, pointing out that the 30-year-old has won more headers per 90 minutes this season than in any other since first coming to Molineux in 2018, a statistic backed up by WhoScored.

[freshpress-quiz id=“388797″]

The Verdict: Long-term replacement needed

There is no doubt that it hasn’t Jimenez’s most productive season at Molineux, with only five league goals to his name and just two in the last three months, but as Spiers has quantified, he remains an important figure who leads the line well.

However, with Jimenez turning 31 in May, Wolves may soon need to start planning for life beyond the Mexico international, especially with his horrendous head injury understandably hindering him from ever rediscovering his peak form.

Bringing in a centre-forward with similar attributes to the 30-year-old should be high on Lage’s list of priorities this summer, unless he feels that Hwang Hee-chan can excel in the role, having played there once this season.

In other news, three Wolves players struggled in the defeat to Arsenal. Find out who they are here.

Relegation-threatened Warwickshire inched closer to County Championship Division One safety on a gloomy, interrupted day at the Rose Bowl by claiming all three bonus bowling points against Hampshire

14-Sep-2010
ScorecardRelegation-threatened Warwickshire inched closer to County Championship Division One safety on a gloomy, interrupted day at the Rose Bowl by claiming all three bonus bowling points against Hampshire.Hampshire, resuming on 147 for 6 with the settled pairing of Dominic Cork and Liam Dawson at the crease, were quickly on the back foot in overcast conditions which once again favoured the bowlers. Veteran Cork, so fluent on Monday in bludgeoning his way to an unbeaten 41, was dismissed by Darren Maddy (4 for 37) without adding to his overnight score, bringing an end to his and Dawson’s 64-run partnership.James Tomlinson followed for a solitary single just three overs later, snared by Rikki Clarke (two for 47) to leave Hampshire once again in the mire on 156 for 8. The wicket brought youngster Danny Briggs to the middle to join his similarly youthful team-mate Dawson, and together the pair dragged the hosts’ total towards respectability.Dawson in particular impressed, going to his half-century while seemingly relishing playing the anchor role to the innings. His scoring remained slow but he demonstrated well-placed trust in his partner as the fresh-faced pair rotated the strike confidently to put on a 50 partnership for the ninth wicket.With Warwickshire’s bowlers growing increasingly frustrated by Briggs’ unexpected resistance, the Rose Bowl gloom – which had been threatening to descend all morning – finally settled in. The break was enough to give Warwickshire the fresh impetus they needed as after a paltry six minutes off the field, Imran Tahir returned to finally break the 60-run ninth-wicket partnership by removing Briggs for a well constructed 27 off 43 balls.A tired Dawson (74) followed just an over later as his stubborn 173-ball stay finally came to a close when he edged a tame Keith Barker delivery behind to leave Hampshire 218 all out. All eyes were cast skywards as the heavy cloud cover lingering over the Rose Bowl made the pavilion lights shine ever brighter, but Warwickshire were able to get their reply underway.In chilly conditions, Warwickshire made steady progress to their innings, skipper Ian Westwood and Varun Chopra moving to 29 without loss in the face of a fiery spell from former Ashes winner Simon Jones.Jones, making his first-class debut for Hampshire, troubled both batsmen with good pace, consistent line and some extravagant seam movement on a helpful pitch. But as the Welshman inched ever closer to a maiden first-class wicket in Hampshire colours, so the murky Rose Bowl light finally became too dim, bringing play to a close some four hours early.

The weather won again as Victoria and Tasmania were washed out in their one-day fixture at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Oct-2010Match abandoned Victoria 2 for 112 (Finch 42*) v Tasmania 1 for 9
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Aaron Finch was stranded on 42 not out•Associated PressThe weather won again as Victoria and Tasmania were washed out in their one-day fixture at the MCG. Aaron Finch’s 42 not out pushed the Bushrangers to 2 for 112 after their first 20 overs and Tasmania were 1 for 9 when the rain came 4.1 overs into the reply.The highlight of the contest was a leaping catch by Rhett Lockyear at deep midwicket to snatch Brad Hodge’s swipe off Xavier Doherty, who will be in Australia’s one-day squad this week. Hodge left with 20, the same score the opener Glenn Maxwell managed before he was out slashing Ben Hilfenhaus to third man.Mark Cosgrove was caught down the legside from the third ball of the second innings to give Shane Harwood the wicket. The rain leaves Tasmania with a five-point gap over Victoria and New South Wales.

Leeds United director of football Victor Orta has had his fair share of successes and failures in the transfer market since joining the club in 2017.

The likes of Patrick Bamford, Mateusz Klich and Raphinha are some of the successful additions, whilst the jury is still out on big-money signing Rodrigo.

But what about transfers that Orta failed to get over the line?

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-marsch-raphinha-dest-philhay” title=”Read the latest Leeds news!”]

One player that the club were reportedly interested in signing in 2018 was attacking midfielder Emiliano Buendia from Spanish side Getafe. However, instead of joining the Lillywhites, he signed for their Championship rivals Norwich for a fee of £1.3m (Transfermarkt).

He made an immediate impact in England as he starred in the Canaries’ promotion to the Premier League in 2019 at the expense of Leeds. Buendia scored eight goals and provided 17 assists in all competitions as Daniel Farke’s team won the Championship title.

The winger was then directly involved in eight Premier League goals as Norwich were relegated from the top flight at the first time of asking. Instead of leaving the Norfolk outfit, though, the Argentine winger stayed on for another year and enjoyed a sensational season in the second tier.

Buendia won the Championship Player of the Year award as he scored 15 goals and set up a further 17 in 39 outings as the Canaries romped their way to another title. His performances led to him being dubbed a “revelation” by former top-flight striker Chris Sutton, with the midfielder dominating the division. 

This form earned him a move to Aston Villa last summer for £33m and he has delivered two goals and four assists in 28 Premier League matches to date for his current club.

At the time of writing (14/04/22), Transfermarkt value him in the region of £31m. This illustrates how far he has come in the last four years, as his value has skyrocketed since he arrived in England from Getafe.

He has proven himself to be far too good for the Championship and he has been a constant threat in the Premier League with his creative passing. Buendia has averaged 1.4 key passes per match this term, having averaging 2.3 for Norwich in his previous top-flight campaign in 2019/20.

Therefore, Orta played a major Leeds disasterclass by missing out on the Argentina international for £1.3m in the summer of 2018. Not only would the Whites have enjoyed his sublime talents on the pitch under Marcelo Bielsa, but they also would have been able to make a huge profit on him – just as Norwich did.

AND in other news, Adam Pope drops 6-word Leeds injury update, Jesse Marsch will be delighted…

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte may now be faced with a big transfer decision this summer as he sets his sights on a key summer signing.

The Lowdown: Conte set for meeting…

The Italian, as he seeks to build upon Spurs’ promising end to 2021/2022. will reportedly demand sufficient backing this summer.

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Reliable journalist Matt Law of The Telegraph, sharing news in mid-week, claims that the former Chelsea boss is set to demand as many as six fresh faces in the next window.

The 52-year-old, according to Law’s information, has his sights on a reserve goalkeeper, centre-back, right wing-back, two midfielders and a forward.

Conte is also set for crunch talks over transfers with chairman Daniel Levy and managing director Fabio Paratici, but if he wants to seal the major signing of a forward, it is believed he will have a big decision to make – potentially involving Steven Bergwijn.

The Latest: Conte may have to sell Bergwijn…

As per The Telegraph, Tottenham’s homegrown quota presents a complication to Conte’s transfer plans, so much so that Law states he is ‘likely to need to offload’ one of Bergwijn or Lucas Moura if he wishes to seal the signing of an overseas forward.

Indeed, if the head coach wants to sign a back-up for star man Harry Kane, he may now have to part company with Lucas or Bergwijn – with Conte calling the latter man ‘important’.

The Verdict: Big decision…

Deciding which player out of Bergwijn or Lucas to sell could be a tough decision, especially considering both men have their merits as back-up stars.

The latter man enjoyed some brilliant outings for Spurs earlier in 2021/2022, coming as a real regular until the last couple of months, meanwhile the same can be said of Bergwijn.

Tottenham’s international winger most notably won an away game at Leicester single-handed, turning the 2-1 score line on it’s head with an added time brace and clinching a 3-2 victory for Conte at the King Power Stadium.

What separates them, we believe, is age as Lucas slowly enters the twilight phase of his career at 29-years-old, while Bergwijn still has plenty of years left at 24.

If Conte wants to sign a new striker, parting company with the Brazilian over Bergwijn could be his best bet.

Called a ‘big-game monster’ for ex-Spurs boss Jose Mourinho, Conte’s versatile attacker may well still have a part to play.

In other news: Tottenham in pole position to sign ‘unreal’ 6 foot 3 powerhouse for Conte, find out more here.