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Allrounder ends his 11-year association with Queensland

Peter English11-Jun-2009Ashley Noffke has made a quick decision over his domestic plans and will join Western Australia next season. Noffke ended his 11-year association with Queensland a day after being “stunned” that he was not guaranteed a place in either of the state’s limited-overs teams.Talks between Noffke and Queensland Cricket on Wednesday night could not stop the allrounder from taking up a two-year deal with the Warriors. “It’s been an extremely tough decision to make, one that I never thought I’d have to,” Noffke said. “But at the end of the day the Warriors have offered me an opportunity to play in all forms of domestic cricket and that’s all I was asking for. This was never about money.”Noffke, who is playing county cricket with Worcestershire, was more focussed on pushing for a return of the international honours he achieved with Australia’s one-day and Twenty20 teams in 2007-08. Last season was disrupted by a hip injury that required surgery and the Bulls wanted him to concentrate on staying fit for the four-day competition.”I’m obviously extremely disappointed that I won’t be pulling on my maroon cap anymore, but I’m also very thankful to the Warriors for the confidence they’ve shown in my ability,” Noffke said. “I certainly intend to repay their faith in me.”Queensland refused to alter their policy and offer more than a one-year contract to Noffke. Graham Dixon, the chief executive, said it was disappointing to lose Noffke after the state made its best offer.”We spoke with Ash again last night and explained to him what our plans were for him,” Dixon said. “We reiterated that the Sheffield Shield competition was our focus for him and that he did not feature in our plans for Twenty20 cricket, but we were open as to his future in the FR Cup. We are sad to lose Ash as he had been a strong contributor for a long time.”Noffke claimed 242 Sheffield Shield wickets for the Bulls in 68 matches, putting him eighth on the state’s list, and scored 2430 runs, including two centuries. His departure will lead to a reshuffle in the Queensland contract list, which is currently being finalised.Tom Moody, the Western Australia coach, was “thrilled” by Noffke’s move. “Ashley offers flexibility as a high-quality bowler and very capable batsman,” he said. “He will not only bring great cricketing qualities to the Warriors squad, but he also brings a great deal of experience and leadership to the playing group.”

Manchester United has been home for some of the greatest players in Irish football history and they do not come much better than Roy Keane. The former Manchester United captain may have had an up and down relationship with the Republic of Ireland national team, but he represented his country 68 times and always gave his all for the cause on the pitch.

However, the best moments of Keane’s career came in the red shirt of Manchester United. Playing in central midfield, Keane often took control of matches for his club, using both his skill as a footballer and his mentality as a winner. Keane won the Premier League title seven times with Manchester United, the FA Cup four times and the Champions League. He was named in the PFA Team of the Century for 1907 to 2007 and that sums up his contribution to Manchester United and the topflight of English football.

Keane was inducted to the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021 and if Manchester United fans could have one player back in their team in 2021, it would probably be Roy Keane.

Prior to the Champions League success of 1998/99, during which Keane was hugely influential, you must go back to 1967/68 to find the previous European Cup success. Part of the team that defeated Benfica 4-1 at Wembley Stadium to win the European Cup in 1968 was Tony Dunne. The Irishman had ruptured his Achilles tendon in the quarter final against Gornik Zabrze but that did not stop Dunne from making an appearance in the final and helping Manchester United lift the trophy for the first time. Dunne won 33 caps for Republic of Ireland and was named captain four times. Dunne may not be the most famous name from Manchester United’s past glories, but the Irishman was a vital part of the successful team in the mid-to-late 1960’s.

Another Irishman who played an important role in the success of Manchester United in the 60’s was Shay Brennan. He played at full-back and made over 550 appearances for the club, winning two league titles and the European Cup. Brennan was part of the first Manchester United team to play after the Munich air disaster and will always be remembered for scoring two goals in the match against Sheffield Wednesday on what was an emotional night.

Remaining with defenders and we come to Dennis Irwin. The left-back was never the star man of the Manchester United team but could always be relied upon to produce a solid performance for the club. Irwin made 368 appearances for Manchester United and was good from set-pieces, scoring free-kicks and penalties. Irwin always kept his cool under pressure and if you are the same, you might want to check out Platin Casino online in Ireland, with the opportunity to play casino games against other people, with real dealers.

In addition to the above, some of the best Irish players to ever play for Manchester United include Paul McGrath, a fantastic central defender, John O’Shea, who could operate in both defence and midfield, Frank Stapleton, who scored 60 goals for the club, and Kevin Moran, who excelled at both Gaelic and association football.

Rangana Herath said that the one over he bowled at the end of the third day confirmed that Sri Lanka would have an outside chance of winning

Sa'adi Thawfeeq in Galle07-Jul-2009Sri Lanka’s match-winning left-arm spinner Rangana Herath said that the one over he bowled at the end of the third day confirmed that his side would have an outside chance of winning.”Yesterday I bowled one over and I managed to get turn and bounce. That one over made the difference to open the bowling with me today,” said Herath who spun Sri Lanka to an astonishing 50-run win taking a career-best 4 for 15 off 11.3 overs.Herath was a late replacement in the team for key spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who was forced to pull out due to a knee injury. Herath was playing premier league cricket in the Staffordshire League in England when he received a late call to join the team and barely 24 hours after arriving in Galle he was drafted into the XI.What a spell he produced on the fourth day, capturing the wickets of overnight batsmen Mohammad Yousuf and Salman Butt in his first over of the day and later returning to wipe off the tail.”Although I was playing in the UK I had informed the national selectors that I was available for selection,” Herath said after picking up his first Man-of-the-Match award. “I had my mind set to play in the Test no sooner I was asked to return to Colombo. I came to the Test with a positive frame of mind.”Each time I go to play league cricket I inform the selection committee that I am always available for the national team,” 31-year-old Herath said. “I didn’t think that I would be called up to play in this series. But I am happy that I got the chance to play in the Test and prove myself.”Normally Asian batsmen are very good playing spin. I have done well against Pakistan previously and this time I thought I can do the same.”Herath has always lived in the shadows of the great Muralitharan, but whenever he has been given the opportunity he has grabbed it. Tuesday was one of them, when he bowled his team to a great victory. Unfortunately for Herath he couldn’t get his first five-for in an innings. He ended up with four wickets for the fifth time in his career. “I thought I could get five wickets in this Test but I wasn’t able to. I hope to do so in the future.”

Pundit Alan Hutton believes Celtic are relying too heavily on summer signing Kyogo Furuhashi, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Celtic’s struggles without Furuhashi

Furuhashi returned from international duty with Japan last month with a knee injury which kept him out of five games.

The Hoops’ only wins without him came at home against Ross County and Raith Rovers, with Ange Postecoglou’s side losing away to Real Betis and Livingston while failing to defeat Dundee United at Parkhead.

Furuhashi has since returned from injury and helped Celtic pick up their first domestic away win in seven months by scoring in a 2-1 win over Aberdeen.

The Latest: Hutton’s comments

Hutton, who regularly features on BBC Radio 5 Live, was asked by Football Insider if the Hoops had relied too much on Furuhashi.

Here’s what the Scot had to say, labelling the forward’s impact as ‘massive’, believing Celtic could struggle again if Furuhashi is absent again.

“Yeah, I think so.

“I think we’ve seen when he’s out injured there’s that thing of: ‘Right, what do we do now? What plan are we going for?’

“Ajeti and people like that have come in. They have scored goals but have not been that figure where you think: ‘Right, you’re going to turn this game on its head.’

“Obviously, Kyogo coming back in has made a massive difference for them.

“I think with Kyogo, whenever he’s on the pitch, you think something could happen. He’s got that little bit of magic, he could a game in an instant.

“His finish was outstanding. To chest it into the goal, back post, unbelievable. That’s what he’s capable of.

“That’s probably the one problem I see right at this moment at time. If he was to get injured or miss games over any period of time, I think Celtic might struggle without him.”

The Verdict: Everything crossed ahead of Japan return

There’s no denying Furuhashi has been key for Celtic this season, contributing to nine goals in 11 appearances.

Results took a hit without him, so the Hoops will be hoping he returns from the current international break injury-free.

Japan made a late U-turn in regards to calling the forward up after he returned at club level, so the last thing Celtic will want is for him to come back with another knock, with Hutton feeling the Hoops could then struggle.

In other news: Coach with 17-honours may be open to replacing Postecoglou; he’s a Celtic fan. 

Celtic lost one of their stars in the summer as central defender Kristoffer Ajer departed Parkhead and the Hoops when he was sold to Premier League side Brentford.

After months of speculation, with reports of failed bids from Bayer Leverkusen and Norwich, Ajer sealed his permanent move to the London-based club and Australian head coach Ange Postecoglou lost a top player in the heart of his defence.

The Hoops landed Ajer from Norweigan side IK Start for a measly £540k in the summer of 2016 and he established himself as a regular starter over the years at Parkhead. He played 176 matches in all competitions for Celtic, scoring seven goals from centre-back and eventually earning himself his big-money switch to Brentford.

Last season, Ajer caught the eye with a series of impressive performances. He averaged an excellent SofaScore rating of 7.15 as he started 34 matches in the Premiership. Celtic kept 17 clean sheets in those games, with Ajer winning 62% of his duels on the pitch. That ensured he made 2.7 tackles and interceptions and 3.3 clearances per game.

The towering Norweigan also went through the entire campaign without committing a single recognised error leading to a shot or goal. This does not include penalties as one spot-kick given away was a small blot on an eye-catching season for Ajer.

Speaking in 2020, Alex McLeish labeled Ajer “influential” and likened him to Liverpool colossus Virgil van Dijk. The ex-Villa coach told Football Insider:

“I go back to that St Johnstone game, you see sometimes when it’s not going for Celtic, and the game’s in its dying embers, and then all of a sudden you see Ajer striding up the pitch trying to inspire like Roy of the Rovers.

“Running from defence, augment the attack and then it leads to a goal – these are inspirational moments, and he is an inspirational, influential player for Celtic. Like Virgil van Dijk, he came to Celtic, and we all know what happened next.”

His superb form in the Premiership, highlighted by these comments and the aforementioned statistics, secured him his transfer to the Bees this summer. The Premier League side paid roughly £13.5m for his services, which shows that Celtic pulled off a transfer masterclass with the defender.

They bought a teenager centre-back with 61 matches of senior experience for £540k and developed him into a £13.5m player. This is a profit of almost £13m for five years of work behind the scenes on the training pitch and in games each week in the Premiership, sending a message to other young players who could see Ajer’s progress and want to go on a similar journey.

This means that Celtic made a healthy turnover on Ajer whilst potentially giving themselves a better chance of landing talented young players in the future. They could be given a boost in the transfer window as they can point to players like Ajer as examples of the excellent work they can do.

AND in other news, £7.4k-p/w Celtic wizard’s value has soared 177.7% since January, Postecoglou loves him…

Nadeera Nawela scored an unbeaten 64 to deny the tourists a win in the tour opener

Cricinfo staff09-Aug-2009
Scorecard
Mahela Udawatte scored 47 at the top of the order to help the hosts force a draw•AFPSri Lanka Cricket Development XI held on for a draw as the New Zealanders failed to break through a determined batting performance from the hosts on the third and final day of the tour game in Colombo.Resuming on 437 for 7, the New Zealanders were bowled out for 493 with captain Daniel Vettori reaching his hundred in the company of Jeetan Patel. Patel hit two fours and two sixes during his 46-ball 39 to extend the first innings lead to 334.With no chance of victory, SLC Development XI were content in blocking out the New Zealand bowlers. Openers Tharanga Paranavitana and Mahela Udawatte began with a resolute partnership of 74, before Udawatte was dismissed by Jacob Oram for 47. Dinesh Chandimal, who scored a fifty in the first innings, failed in the second to leave the hosts on 85 for 2. Three more wickets fell to reduce the hosts to 157 for 5, but Nadeera Nawela scored an unbeaten 64 off 131 balls to deny the tourists the win.Nawela was well supported by lower order batsmen Sachith Pathirana and Sachithra Senanayake, and an unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 57 between Senanayake and Nawela ensured the home team batted through 75 overs to come away with a well earned draw.New Zealand play another warm up game on August 12 before the first Test beginning on August 18 in Galle.

Manchester United will be hoping to get their season back on track when they host Atalanta in the Champions League this evening.

A hugely disappointing 4-2 defeat at the hands of Leicester City last time out means the Red Devils have won just one of their last five outings in all competitions, piling the pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

The loss against the Foxes over the weekend was United’s fourth already this season, but the underwhelming performances will be as much of a concern for their under-fire boss.

Apart from the opening-day thrashing of fierce rivals Leeds United, the 20-time English champions have been far from convincing every time they’ve stepped onto the pitch.

Wins over Wolves and Villarreal weren’t a fair reflection of the 90 minutes, while draws against Southampton and Everton could have been much worse.

The problems appear to be mounting week in week out for Solskjaer, while the solutions seem as complicated and distant as ever before, just as an extremely testing set of fixtures approaches.

It’s unlikely that just changing one aspect of United’s play, starting XI, or approach to proceedings will have a huge effect, their issues are a collection of deep-rooted and fresh problems that may take many months to iron out.

However, one of the fresh problems that has presented itself to Solskjaer this season could easily be resolved, but only if the 48-year-old is brave enough to make an extremely bold decision.

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford over the summer 12 years after he departed to fulfill his dream of playing for Real Madrid.

And while his arrival has brought a wealth of experience at the elite level, a born winner and a natural goalscorer back to the red half of Manchester, it also invited a whole host of complications and predicaments into a once harmonious environment.

At 36, Ronaldo is no longer the player he once was. He now relies on a constant stream of quality crosses into the box to cause his devastation, and that ultimately comes at a cost.

The Portugal international is unable to press from the front, largely ineffective on the counter-attack and makes minimal contribution to United’s build-up play, drawbacks that are having disastrous consequences on the team’s overall performances.

After rebuilding the Red Devils as a reactive, safety-first side in his early months in charge, Solskjaer successfully began to redefine their style of play, as he outlined in a press conference back in March.

“We’ve been going with a high press in more or less every game, on the front foot, trying to pin the teams back, especially when they have the ball,” Solskjaer revealed.

“Last year, maybe we relied more on counter-attacks, drop deep, defended really well, hung on. As a coach and manager, that’s the worst feeling ever, when you’re defending in and around your box because any little quality from your opponent and you’ve conceded. We’ve tried to go more positive.”

And pivotal to United’s new approach was £5.4m-rated striker Edinson Cavani. The South American led from the front with his intelligent pressing, incredible work ethic and eye for goal, but the underlying stats indicate Ronaldo’s style contrasts greatly.

As per fbref.com, Cavani made 15.77 pressures per 90 throughout 2020/21, achieved an Expected Assists of 0.17 and Goal Creating Actions of 0.46.

In contrast, Ronaldo has managed tallies of just 4.77, 0.09 and 0.31 per 90 so far this season, respectively, highlighting the vast drop-off in creativity and pressing that Cavani’s absence has resulted in.

While Ronaldo does have a superior Expected Goals total in his favour – 0.66 to Cavani’s 0.55 – the sacrifices his presence in the starting XI results in do not outweigh the extra firepower he brings.

Dropping arguably the greatest goalscorer in the history of football to the bench would be a bold call, to say the least for Solskjaer, but it’s one that could end up saving his job.

And, in other news…Man Utd receive triple selection boost ahead of Atalanta, Ole will be buzzing 

It was an unproductive day for England batsmen at Lord’s. And just to brighten the mood of the England selectors even more, the innings of the day came from a 20-year-old Australian

Andrew McGlashan at Lord's11-Aug-2009
ScorecardGetty ImagesIt was an unproductive day for England batsmen at Lord’s. Ravi Bopara, desperate for form, bowled five overs and spent most of his time at cover, Alastair Cook parked himself at slip or gully and Owais Shah, an outside candidate to bolster England’s flimsy line-up, managed 8.And just to brighten the mood of the England selectors, the innings of the day came from a 20-year-old Australian. Sam Robson, born in Sydney, staged a Middlesex recovery with his maiden first-class century alongside South African-born Dawid Malan. Their combined age is less than two years more than Mark Ramprakash, but it only went to highlight a major problem in English cricket. A lack of good home-grown talent.To be fair on Robson he has committed himself to qualifying for England and began his five-year residency period at the start of this season. He made his second XI and one-day debuts last year and this summer has been given the role vacated by Phillip Hughes, a former schoolmate of Robson. It was a nervous wait as he approached three figures – and there was nearly a mix-up with Gareth Berg – but eventually Robson worked a two past mid-on from his 255th ball. It certainly wasn’t flashy, but instead hard-working, determined and solid. What England would give for a bit of that next week.The closest there was to success for an England player was Graham Napier, and his international career only extends as far as the World Twenty20 squad earlier this year. He bowled with good pace from the Pavilion End on a fairly docile surface, extracting three wickets either side of lunch. At the moment England need batsmen, but very soon they’ll need another allrounder. Napier is averaging 48 with the bat and 30 with the ball in four-day cricket this year while English allrounders normally have numbers the other way round.His second scalp was Shah, who played round a straight ball, when a major innings would at least have kept his name in the selectors’ minds. However, even a scorching hundred – such as the 129 out of 226 he made against Derbyshire – probably wouldn’t have been enough to expand on six Test caps. Everyone is talking about Ramprakash’s unfulfilled talent, but Shah’s spluttering Test career could end up on a par.Before Shah’s failure, Nick Compton cut lazily to cover where Bopara took a sharp, low catch – a not insignificant moment after some of his sloppy fielding in the Test series. After lunch Eoin Morgan (his star appears to have faded recently) who laboured for 40 balls over 4, was well caught down the leg side by James Foster to leave Middlesex struggling on 64 for 3 and making Mark Pettini’s decision to bowl appear less of a gamble.It has been a difficult season for Middlesex and before this match only Shah had passed 500 runs in the Championship, so the recovery staged by Robson and Malan will have boosted spirits. Caution was the watchword for both as they ensured against further losses in the face of a disciplined Essex attack.Malan, who has made his name with some dashing one-day innings, restrained himself with 109-ball half-century but did open his shoulders against Bopara’s medium pace and played one dismissive lofted drive over mid-on. Their stand of 143 in 43 was eventually broken by the preserving Danish Kaneria, after a switch to the Pavilion End, when he drew an edge from Malan that was taken at slip. Then just like the clichéd London bus, another came along straight away when Ben Scott was trapped leg before.However, the innings was given another kick by the in-form Berg. He twice notched career-best scores in the previous match against Kent – where Middlesex registered their first Championship victory of the season – including a vital 98 in the second innings. Here he dominated the sixth-wicket stand of 55 as Robson sweated on his hundred.Robson couldn’t quite put the finishing touches to his determined innings when he played across the line to Tony Palladino, but scoring a maiden first-class century at Lord’s means he won’t forget this day in a while.

Even though Liverpool wingers Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane have contributed 12 out of the 22 Premier League goals the Merseyside club have scored so far this season, it seems as though the Reds have their eye on signing another attacking wide player to add to their squad, one that would be very familiar to the fans.

What’s the news?

According to Germany-based journalist Christian Falk (via Sport Witness) Liverpool are one of the club’s interested in signing Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling next summer.

That’s if he ends up leaving the Citizens after recently saying he would be open to a move away at some point.

Anfield return?

Before he moved to City in 2015 from Liverpool for a reported fee of £49m, Sterling had made 129 senior appearances for the Reds in which he scored 23 goals and provided 25 assists in the process after making 22 appearances for their U18 side.

Since joining the Manchester club, Sterling, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £300k-per week according to Spotrac, has gone on to make 304 appearances for City across all competitions, racking up a total of 115 strikes and 89 assists, winning a whole host of trophies along the way, including the Premier League title.

Despite being labelled as an “outstanding” player by former Reds defender Jamie Carragher, we feel that quite a number of Liverpool fans would be unhappy to see Sterling make a return to Anfield.

After he departed Merseyside, a host of supporters refused to take things lightly, brandishing the attacker a snake. That was despite claiming he’d left the club to develop, which he seems to have done given the goals and assists he’s totalled as well as the major honours.

Fortunately for Liverpool fans, Sterling has admitted he would open to a move abroad if he were to leave the Etihad next summer. Thus, there is a sense that a return to Liverpool probably won’t happen, especially with City likely to be unwilling to give away one of their best-attacking talents to a Premier League rival.

Moving forward, we think Liverpool should stick with Mane and Salah for the foreseeable future and not bring Sterling back to the club.

In other news: Klopp must axe “disappointing” LFC dud v MUFC, he lost the ball every 5 mins v Atleti – opinion

The stand-off is mainly over annual retainer contracts, which the West Indies players have been reluctant to sign since October 2008

Cricinfo staff08-Sep-2009The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has said it will continue with the disciplinary action against players at the centre of the controversy surrounding pay and contractual matters. The action had been suspended during negotiations between the board and the players but those talks broke down last week.Leading players including Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan are all part of the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), which is currently locked in a battle with the board over annual retainer contracts. The West Indies players have not signed those contracts since October 2008; WIPA has claimed that the players have played four tournaments in a row this year without the contracts while the WICB says the demands of the players are unjust.In a separate statement, indicative of the widening gulf between the two parties, WIPA also agreed that a number of proposals, including the involvement of the Caribbean Court of Justice, were no longer applicable following the breakdown in talks.The board’s statement said it decided to resume disciplinary action against all West Indies players who had committed breaches of its Code of Conduct during the England tour, Indian tour and the Bangladesh tour earlier this year, by referring these matters to its disciplinary committee.It did not itemise all of the breaches of its code but the said the players were likely to be asked to respond to well-publicised charges from the three series.Against England, the players blocked the logo of the team’s sponsor during the first one-day international in Guyana, where they also failed to attend a cocktail reception hosted by the same sponsors. The players also failed to show for the official launch of next year’s Twenty20 World Cup to be staged in the Caribbean during India’s visit.Matters were brought to a head in July this year with 13 of the leading West Indies players making themselves unavailable for the first Test against Bangladesh in St Vincent, citing pay and contract issues. The WICB was forced to field a weakened squad which resulted in Bangladesh sweeping both the Test and one-day series.Mediation efforts between the WICB and WIPA also collapsed recently, with the mediator, former Commonwealth secretary general Shridath Ramphal, claiming that one “party” had introduced a document late in the negotiations that led to their stalling.The board also came in for criticism from Bharrat Jagdeo, the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) chairman and Guyana president, alleging that the board prejudiced the efforts to broker peace from the start.However, the WICB denied the claims. “Disciplinary action against offending players had been initiated prior to the commencement of mediation and had been suspended in favor of a settlement through mediation,” the board said. “The WICB had as part of its compromise in the mediation effort offered to withdraw all disciplinary action against the players. With the failure of mediation the next step would have been the settlement of all matters through arbitration which, the WICB will be pursuing immediately.”