All posts by h716a5.icu

Chris Woakes, the Warwickshire allrounder, has been given a chance to press for a World Cup place, after being named as the only uncapped player in England’s 17-man limited-overs squad for Australia

Andrew Miller10-Dec-2010Chris Woakes, the Warwickshire allrounder, has been given a chance to press for a World Cup place, after being named as the only uncapped player in England’s 17-man squad for next month’s one-day and Twenty20 matches against Australia. Chris Tremlett also returns into the limited-overs set-up for the first time in two years, but there’s no place for Ravi Bopara, who has been dropped from the squad that played against Pakistan in September, in favour of Ian Bell.Geoff Miller, the national selector, announced the squad during the tea interval of England’s three-day warm-up fixture against Victoria, and admitted that, while the team’s current focus remains solely on retaining the Ashes, the proximity of the World Cup – which gets underway on February 19 – has forced them to name their strongest possible line-up, with the only first-choice omission being the injured Stuart Broad, who is expected to have recovered from a torn stomach muscle in time for the business end of the tournament.”With Broad ruled out of the series we’ve needed to bolster our pace bowling stocks and Chris Woakes comes into the squad after knocking on the door for some time,” said Miller. “Chris will be hungry for his international debut and vying for a place with a number of other quality pace bowlers. He’s put in some good performances for Warwickshire, he’s gone through the channels of the Lions and the Performance Programme, and has performed well this winter. He merits his selection, and the options are there to go in whichever direction we want to go.”When asked if there had been any temptation to rest key personnel ahead of the World Cup, Miller admitted that it was not an option, given that England have now won five consecutive series since the tour of South Africa last winter, and will want to go to the subcontinent in February with that winning streak extended. “You couldn’t do that,” he said. “You’ve still got to keep the momentum, the lads playing together and finding out their roles within the side.”It’s really difficult when you’ve got series after series, following each other so quickly,” he added. “But that’s always been the case, and it will maybe continue to be so. There are one or two players in the squad who are not involved in the Ashes, so they can actually focus on the World Cup now, but those who are involved here and then have to adapt later, it’s really tough. That’s been taken into consideration by the management, but at the moment, the priority is the Test series, then we’ll move on to the one-dayers.”In keeping with the recent precedent, Andrew Strauss has been named as captain of the 50-overs squad, but will hand over the Twenty20 reins to Paul Collingwood, England’s victorious captain at the World Twenty20 in May this year. Craig Kieswetter, who was England’s Man of the Match in the final against Australia, has been retained for that format alone, with Steve Davies once again named ahead of the Test specialist Matt Prior as England’s only wicketkeeper for the ODI series.”Matt is not being overlooked,” said Miller. “He’s made it clear he still wants to play one-day cricket, and we will continue to monitor him, but he has been given the opportunity before, both up the order and in the middle order. He was left out and we brought someone else in, and we will continue in that vein of consistency. We’ll find out how these two go over a period of time.”Bopara is also running out of chances to force his way into the World Cup reckoning, having made a favourable impression during an otherwise disastrous England campaign in the 2007 tournament. But with Kevin Pietersen back in form after being dropped from the Pakistan series, and Ian Bell fully recovered after the foot injury that interrupted his home summer, there was no room for him on this occasion, despite his undoubted potential as a match-winner.”We had a long discussion about Ravi,” said Miller. “He’s still very much in our thoughts and we know what he’s capable of doing, but at this moment in time he’s out playing in South Africa and will continue to do that. We’re quite confident that this squad can do a job for us here, and it may be able to do it in the World Cup as well, but it doesn’t close the door to anyone else.”England ODI and T20 squads Andrew Strauss* (ODI capt), Paul Collingwood (T20 capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Tim Bresnan, Steve Davies (wk), Eoin Morgan, Craig Kieswetter** (wk), Kevin Pietersen, Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Chris Tremlett, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy* ODIs only, ** Twenty20s only

Former Leeds United defender Danny Mills has been reacting to an injury update on midfielder Adam Forshaw, as per Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Forshaw out for the season

The Whites moved five points clear of the relegation zone on Monday night following a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-42/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-03-10T184055Z_1834933207_UP1EI3A1FW561_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-AVA-REPORT-1-scaled-1.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Jesse Marsch handed Kalvin Phillips a first start since December, but he was unable to call upon Forshaw at Selhurst Park.

The 30-year-old suffered a fractured kneecap in training last week and will miss the remainder of the campaign as a result, as confirmed by Marsch on Friday.

The Latest: Mills reacts to Forshaw injury

Mills, who contributes for Sky Sports, was giving his thoughts to Football Insider regarding Forshaw’s injury. He labelled it a ‘big blow’ for Leeds, adding that it sounds ‘dramatic’ that the player will miss the rest of the season, saying:

“It’ll be a big blow but this is often the case.

“He’s got to hope it’s not too bad. I know it sounds really bad saying end of the season but it’s six weeks.

“It’s a month really, it’s four weeks. It’s not that bad. If that was four weeks in the middle of the season, you’d go: ‘Ah, it’s not that bad.’

“But when it’s your season over, it sounds a little bit more dramatic. For his sake, I hope it’s nothing too serious, it’s precautionary and he’ll be fine in due course.”

The Verdict: Not ideal

Leeds struggled for control in midfield on Monday, with Marsch taking off Mateusz Klich for Robin Koch, primarily a centre-back, at half-time.

Therefore, being without Forshaw for the remaining five league games isn’t good news, despite Phillips making a timely return.

Phillips looks certain to be a regular between now and the end of the season, providing he stays fit, so Marsch will need to find the right balance with either Klich, Koch or even Jamie Shackleton alongside the England midfielder as the Whites look to avoid the drop.

In other news: Marsch now wants to bring ‘winner’ with ‘infectious positivity’ to Leeds this summer

Manchester United have reportedly made contact with Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, who is set to leave the Serie A club as a free agent this summer.

What’s the story?

That’s according to ESPN journalist James Olley, who claimed that United – along with Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle – have “made contact” with the Argentine’s representatives.

The 28-year-old has been at Juventus since joining from fellow Italian club Palermo in 2015 but is expected to be seeking a new challenge this summer.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-man-united-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-more-nunez-ten-hag-nkunku-richarlison” title=”Read the latest Man United news!”]

United supporters will be buzzing

The red half of Manchester already know that Ajax boss Erik ten Hag will be taking over as United manager in the summer, with the English juggernaut in need of a serious rebuild.

This season has been a major disappointment for the Red Devils, who currently sit sixth in the Premier League table but could plausibly go into next season without European football.

With numerous players set to depart upon the expiry of their contracts, a major overhaul of the squad will be required if Ten Hag is to have any luck making his first season in the Old Trafford dugout a success.

The likes of Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani and Nemanja Matic are all expected to depart Manchester as free agents this summer, whilst further outgoings are also likely. Therefore, bringing a player of Dybala’s stature to Old Trafford would certainly be a wise move.

Playing as a second striker for the majority of matches, the Argentine has scored 14 goals and registered six assists in 34 appearances across all competitions for Juventus this season. To put that tally into perspective, United’s next-highest scorer after Cristiano Ronaldo, who has netted 23 goals, is Bruno Fernandes with nine.

Moreover, the 28-year-old’s total goal contributions for the Turin club is impressive, with 114 goals and 48 assists in 288 matches, averaging one goal contribution for every 1.8 appearances.

Dybala’s availability on a free transfer will almost certainly be a factor in the Red Devils’ interest too, even though it is expected that Ten Hag will have a transfer kitty of around £200m at his disposal over the upcoming summer transfer window.

There is no doubt that the Argentina forward would add serious quality to United’s squad, and signing him would certainly have Red Devils supporters buzzing ahead of a massive transfer window for the club.

AND in other news: Ten Hag eyes MUFC move for “explosive” £29.7m-rated star, £215k-p/w duo set to be axed

Cricket Kenya chief executive Tom Sears has told ESPNcricinfo that plans are progressing to introduce a new national tournament in the country

Martin Williamson10-Jan-2011Cricket Kenya chief executive Tom Sears has told ESPNcricinfo that plans are progressing to introduce a new national tournament in the country with the aim of improving the domestic structure and helping bridge the current gulf between the local and international game.At present, the Nairobi Provincial Cricket League is the country’s main competition, but standards are widely regarded as being poor and not conducive to bringing on young players. An attempt by CK to start a provincial event in 2009 failed for a variety of reasons, but Sears believes now is the time to try again.”That was a senior men’s competition, this is a junior competition and is different,” he explained. “This proposal will be put forward to the board and discussed at our next meeting.”We are looking at basing it around a club structure primarily in Nairobi. The plan is to have eight teams in two pools of four. Six would be Nairobi-based clubs and we would probably invite the top six teams from the Nairobi league and a combination side from the Rift and a combination side from the Coast … but this is just a proposal at the moment and has yet to be ratified. If it is, we would put the Coast and the Rift in opposite pools to limit the amount of travelling and the top two in each pool would go through in semi-finals and a final.”It’ll create an opportunity for our national players, best club players, and also we have a good clutch of Under-19s and Under-17s and it will give them the chance to play in good, hard cricket because the standard of league cricket here is just not good enough at the moment.”Sears wants this to start in 2010, and unlike other attempts, this will spread right down through the age groups and into the vital area of schools cricket.”It’s about development all the way up, particularly at schools level. At the moment you can have a 12 year-old kid in Nairobi playing a completely different format of the game to a 12 year-old in Nakuru, Mombasa or anywhere else. So what we are trying to do is standardise the format of cricket we are playing at various age groups and have a regional competition that feeds into regional teams that compete in a national competition. This will create opportunities for kids to play locally and the best of those will be creamed off into regional teams at all the age groups up until 17.

If the ICC stipulate that this is a kind of structure they want to have in place, it adds a lot of weight to it

“And then four regions, which will possibly be a Coast, Rift and two Nairobi sides who will compete in a national competition. We are making sure the kids can play and then we are looking at the best of those kids with a view to selecting those national sides. And once we have selected those national sides, making sure they are playing meaningful fixtures.”Funding remains a major obstacle, but Sears says CK is “in discussions with broadcasters who have verbally committed to televising some of it” as well as speaking to a variety of commercial partners.”We’ve got the ICCC, who provide the majority of our funding, onside and they are supportive of what we are trying to implement. If the ICC stipulate that this is a kind of structure they want to have in place, it adds a lot of weight to it. If we can’t do all of it, certainly the senior men’s league and some more structured junior competitions and that is what we have budgeted for.”Another issue historically has been the reluctance of clubs to agree to anything which dilutes their stranglehold on domestic cricket. “The provinces have their own leagues and place a lot of importance on them and that is fair enough,” Sears said. “But any board member who sits on the board of a governing body has to look at the good of the game nationally as opposed to their own locality. I am sure there will be some interesting discussions but we are looking to implement something from the middle of the year onwards.”

Crystal Palace are believed to be nearing a contract agreement with forward Michael Olise, according to journalist David Ornstein.

What’s the word?

The respected insider revealed via Twitter that the two parties are “close” to agreeing a new deal, writing of the situation that:

“Crystal Palace in talks with Michael Olise over new contract. Agreement close. Extra year likely but no salary increase. Aim is to raise release clause (£35m) to ensure future sale breaks #CPFC record (£50m) & that would benefit all.”

In his Athletic column on Monday, Ornstein went into further detail about the situation, insisting that the 20-year-old ‘wishes to stay’ at Selhurst Park and will agree to a new one-year extension on his existing deal, with the main aim of the new agreement seemingly to raise his current release clause (£35m) to ward off any potential interest.

This news follows reports earlier this week that suggested clubs were interested in taking advantage of that clause to strike a deal this summer, although any suitor will now likely have to stump up more than the £50m that the club received for the sale of Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Manchester United in 2019.

Supporters delighted

There will be many of a Palace persuasion breathing a hefty sigh of relief at present, with it looking as if the Eagles have been able to swiftly curtail any notion of a departure by striking a new deal.

The London-born France U21 international has become such an integral asset following a stunning debut campaign in the Premier League, having been snapped up for a bargain fee of just £8m from Championship outfit Reading last summer.

After a slow start to life under manager Patrick Vieira due to injury, the £19.8m-rated starlet has come alive since the turn of the year, chipping in with four goals and eight assists in all competitions thus far this season.

The left-footed speedster has dazzled as a focal point of Vieira’s exciting young side, notably earning praise from pundit Ian Wright, who suggested that “he is going to be somebody that is going to do unbelievable things.”

Dubbed “fearless” by former teammate Sam Baldock, Olise has not looked overawed by the move to the higher level and has showcased his willingness to make an impact in the attacking third, ranking in the top 6% for progressive carries and in the top 11% for progressive passes among players in his position in Europe’s top five leagues.

A young talent with a bright future, it looks as if it’ll be in south London where he continues to develop.

AND in other news: Vieira may finally axe “inevitable” 142-goal Palace dynamo as twist emerges

A blazing 70 by Darren Bravo at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown ensured Trinidad & Tobago topped Group B and moved into the semi-finals at the expense of Barbados

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2011A blazing 70 by Darren Bravo at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown ensured Trinidad & Tobago topped Group B and moved into the semi-finals at the expense of Barbados. Bravo’s innings came off just 35 balls and included five sixes and four boundaries, propelling T&T to a score of 166. He was supported by Lendl Simmons, who scored 53 off 45 in an 80-run partnership with Bravo. Barbados’ chase got off to a quick start courtesy of a 14-ball 27 from Dwayne Smith, but once he fell the wickets kept tumbling and Barbados finished on 115 for 9 in their 20 overs. T&T offspinner Sunil Narine took three wickets while seamer Kevon Cooper finished with figures of 2 for 11 from his four overs. T&T will take on Jamaica in the second semi-final on Saturday.Leeward Islands ended up winners by 19 runs in their dead rubber against Canada in the first match. Leewards reached 161 thanks to half-centuries from Chesney Hughes and Tonito Willett. Canada had some useful contributions from their top-order batsmen but were always behind the required rate. The pressure told as a flurry of wickets at the end meant they finished well short of Leewards’ score. Opener Hiral Patel scored a half-century for Canada and Tyson Gordon did his best to lift the scoring rate with his 31 off 20 balls.Hampshire, who had already played all their games, will face Windward Islands in the first semi-final.

ESPNcricinfo previews the second ODI between New Zealand and Pakistan at Queenstown

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran25-Jan-2011Match FactsJanuary 26, Queenstown
Start time 11:00 (22.00 GMT)
Pakistan had no answer to Tim Southee’s legcutters and inswingers in the first ODI•AFPBig PictureAll’s been quiet on the controversy front over the past few months for Pakistan, but the announcement of a World Cup squad without a captain has stoked trouble again. Claims that the team was divided into camps supporting Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and limited-overs leader Shahid Afridi grew louder following a resounding nine-wicket defeat to New Zealand three days after the squad announcement.Pakistan’s familiar batting frailties cropped up in Wellington, and the second one-dayer could be a continuation of the same. It is being played in Queenstown, a much-loved spot for adventure-sport enthusiasts, but far less welcoming to batsmen – the average first-innings score is 173.New Zealand’s batting hasn’t had much to boast about in the recent past either, though they made short work of the target of 125 in the first one-dayer. Their new coach, John Wright, has stressed the importance of having a strong middle and lower order, which has resulted in Brendon McCullum being pushed down to No. 6. The batting weaknesses of both sides seem of have weighed heavily on the team managements and they have responded by adding meat lower down – in the first ODI Abdul Razzaq batted as low as No. 8, while in Queenstown Daniel Vettori is slated to come in at No. 9.The big gain for New Zealand in Wellington, before the end of a dreadful run in one-dayers, is their quick bowling, with Tim Southee in top form and Hamish Bennett proving a handful on his return from injury.Form guideNew Zealand: WLLLL
Pakistan: LLWLW
Players to watch out for …Umar Akmal has lost his way after a spectacular start to his career, which raised hopes that Pakistan had unearthed someone to lend steel to a fragile middle-order. He wasn’t picked in the Tests, and his hold on a one-day spot is also shaky. The golden duck on Saturday made things worse, but given his undoubted talented, a substantial innings can’t be far.Hamish Bennett, the strongly built Canterbury fast bowler, was impressive on home debut in Wellington, working up speeds in the mid-140s and hassling the batsmen with bounce. With New Zealand lacking an out-and-out fast bowler since the retirement of Shane Bond, Bennett could be the man who provides teeth to the pace attack.Team newsJohn Wright has said he would like all members of New Zealand’s World Cup 15 to get a game in the series. Jamie How, the Central Districts batsman, gets his chance on Wednesday, taking the place of offspinner Nathan McCullum.New Zealand (probable): 1 Jesse Ryder, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Ross Taylor, 4 Jamie How, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Brendon McCullum (wk), 7 James Franklin, 8 Jacob Oram, 9 Daniel Vettori (capt), 10 Tim Southee, 11 Hamish BennettPakistan’s team selection is a lot less straightforward. Shoaib Akhtar will open the bowling, but who will partner him remains to be seen. Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz were rested for the first game after a taxing Test series, and Gul is favourite to take Sohail Tanvir’s place in the XI for the second match. Offspinner Saeed Ajmal lost his place as a starter in the South Africa series, and he might again lose out to left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman.Pakistan (probable): 1 Kamran Akmal (wk), 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Abdur Rehman, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Shoaib AkhtarStats and triviaIn each of the six previous completed matches in Queenstown, the team winning the toss has chosen to field, and gone on to win the match In their only previous match in Queenstown, Pakistan successfully chased down 236, which is the highest total at the venueThe crowd for the first one-dayer in Wellington was 8299, the lowest since the Westpac Stadium opened in 2000Quotes”We are expecting better performances from Kamran Akmal, he came back after a long time, and Umar Akmal as well.”
wants more from the Akmal brothers
“I don’t think it (the toss) is as important as normal because the overhead (conditions) have been so good and it’s a lot drier. I wouldn’t be surprised if a team batted first on it.”

Former Scotland manager Alex McLeish has been left hugely impressed with Carl Starfelt’s improvement in form for Celtic this season, hailing his work behind the scenes with Ange Postecoglou.

The Lowdown: Starfelt superb for Hoops

The Hoops are on the verge of sealing Scottish Premiership glory, with numerous players starring for Postecoglou’s side throughout the campaign.

Starfelt has undoubtedly been one of them, starting 31 league matches and averaging a 90.8% pass completion rate and winning 4.4 aerial duels per game.

The Swede’s current deal expires in the summer of 2025, and considering he is still only 26, he could prove to be a long-term player for Celtic after an initial shaky start.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/key-latest-celtic-updates-5/” title=”Key latest Celtic updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: McLeish hails defender

Speaking to Football Insider, McLeish heaped praise on Starfelt’s brilliance and the work he has done with Postecoglou in training, having improved his all-round form hugely:

“The manager has seen the guy every day. I imagine they have been doing some individual stuff, some video stuff.

“The manager will have known what Starfelt is capable of before he joined Celtic. There was a few Celtic players at the start of the season who weren’t at the level.

“Carter-Vickers is one. Starfelt, after a very shaky start, he has blossomed. It’s a credit to the manager and the coaches but it also shows the player has the bottle to play for these teams.”

The Verdict: Key man for years to come

Starfelt deserves all the accolades he receives this season, having been such an influential part of a defence that has conceded just 21 goals in 36 league outings in 2021/22.

He and Cameron Carter-Vickers has formed a wonderful understanding alongside one another and the hope is that they continue to provide the backbone of the team for many years.

Starfelt hasn’t done his job yet, though, and it is vital that he carries on performing at his current level in the final two league games of the season, becoming a Scottish champion in his first year at Parkhead.

In other news, Celtic have been tipped to sign a player in one position this summer. Read more here.

ESPNcricinfo previews the crunch Group B game between Bangladesh and South Africa in Mirpur

The Preview by Sidharth Monga18-Mar-2011Match FactsMarch 19, Mirpur
Start time 09.30 am (03.30 GMT)The Big PictureThe back-door is shut now. Had West Indies won their game last night, Bangladesh would have made it through to the quarter-finals. As it turned out, the game between West Indies and England twisted and turned, went inside-out, upside-down, before England bit another bullet and stayed alive in the tournament. Surely about a 1000 miles north, the Bangladesh players watched in hope and later in agony in their team hotel in Dhaka. Thanks to that result, Bangladesh are now a point behind England, and a long way behind every contender in terms of net run-rate. There is an upside too: Bangladesh no longer need to watch helplessly, hoping for some other team to do what is desirable for them.It’s relatively simple now: beat South Africa and go through, no who-does-what elsewhere in the group. However, just the thought and the equation are simple, not actually beating South Africa, whose pace attack – even on the slow and low pitch at Mirpur – will provide the hosts with their biggest test. South Africa have also been on a bit of a roll, their tight win against India cancelling out the close defeat to England. They will want to finish at the top of the table, and hence face the fourth-placed team in Group A. Given how this World Cup has gone, it might not be the most desirable thing to do, for it could mean they might have to face Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.There is no reason why Bangladesh shouldn’t back themselves, though. They have beaten South Africa in a World Cup before, they have the advantage of home conditions, they have had back-to-back wins, but they also know this is not going to be easy. It’s been a funny World Cup so far: Bangladesh, bowled out for 58 by West Indies, were supporting West Indies yesterday; England, great rivals of South Africa, will be supporting South Africa tomorrow, as will be West Indies.Graeme Smith certainly doesn’t want to miss a poke at England. “I think English fans are getting used to supporting South Africans these days,” he said on the eve of this game.What happens if…South Africa win: Bangladesh are knocked out, and India, England and West Indies go through
Bangladesh win: Bangladesh go through, leaving West Indies a must-win game against India
The game is tied or no-result: England go through thanks to a superior net run-rate, and Bangladesh are left hoping West Indies lose their game on SundayForm guide(completed matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh WWLWL
South Africa WWLWWThe Bangladesh part of the World Cup returns to Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, where Bangladesh will like a turning surface, but it is not quite possible to create a rank turner in Mirpur. The best they can manage is the low and slow pitch that they rolled out for Ireland. There is no rain forecast, and there shouldn’t be too much of early-morning freshness for this day game, because the sun is already about three-and-a-half hours old by the 9.30 am start in Bangladesh.Watch out for…Bangladesh’s best batsman, Tamim Iqbal, hasn’t had a great World Cup, and he knows how much rests on him. He will want to set that record straight, and make sure this is not his last chance in the tournament.
Graeme Smith has had his share of problems at the top of the order, but playing Bangladesh in Bangladesh provides him with a fairly good challenge before the knockouts.Team newsBangladesh won’t make too many changes to their winning combination, except that offspinner Naeem Islam is likely to replace left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo, on account of a few left-hand batsmen in the South African line-up.
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Shahriar Nafees, 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Suhrawadi Shuvo / Naeem Islam, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Rubel Hossain.South Africa are back to full fitness, and Imran Tahir may come back in place of either Johan Botha or Robin Peterson. If AB de Villiers comes back, he might not keep, which might mean that Colin Ingram, despite his 46 against Ireland, might have to sit out.South Africa (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Faf du Plessis, 7 Morne van Wyk (wk), 8 Johan Botha / Imran Tahir, 9 Robin Peterson, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Morne MorkelNo Bangladesh batsman has scored a World Cup century.The only time Bangladesh have beaten South Africa in international cricket was in Providence in the previous World Cup.AB de Villiers, with 318 runs from four innings, is the only middle-order batsman in the top-six run-getters of the tournament so far.Quotes”We are on the right track and moving forward to our target as we already have won three matches out of five as per our expectation. Everything is okay with the team, but still we believe that we are yet to play our best cricket in the tournament.”

“They need to win the game. We expect a very passionate crowd. They will also be the team under pressure so we hope to be able to force them into doing things they wouldn’t want to do.”

For the second time in the match Rory Hamilton-Brown had to try and haul his side out of danger after James Middlebrook’s fifth first-class hundred and three quick wickets either side of tea left Surrey wobbling.

Sahil Dutta at the Oval10-Apr-2011Stumps
Scorecard
James Middlebrook’s 5th first-class hundred gave Northamptonshire a 54-run first-innings lead•PA PhotosFor the second time in the match Rory Hamilton-Brown had to try and haul his side out of danger after James Middlebrook’s fifth first-class hundred and three quick wickets either side of tea left Surrey wobbling. But four overs from the close Chaminda Vaas removed Hamilton-Brown to leave an interesting final day in prospect at The Oval.Coming into the day the Surrey captain would have been dreaming of the chance to play a matchwinning hand but Northamptonshire’s lower-order resistance before lunch and four wickets left Surrey still searching for safety with a day remaining.Northamptonshire’s bullish approach first up propelled them into the lead as Tim Linley and Stuart Meaker were unable to generate much from a slow Oval surface. Middlebrook flayed his arms at any width on offer and Andrew Hall was similarly attacking as the pair added 79 to their overnight stand in less than 18 overs.It took Gareth Batty’s introduction to remove Hall lbw for 73. The loss of his captain, though, did not disturb Middlebrook’s flow and shortly after David Lucas departed he clipped a full-toss through midwicket to bring up his first first-class century in four years. He celebrated accordingly with a punch of the air but was out two balls later to leave his team with a 54-run lead.In the first innings Michael Brown’s Surrey comeback was curtailed after one Vaas delivery but second time round he offered a glimpse of what Surrey had missed last year as he and Gary Wilson solidly worked off the deficit. Having shunned anything expansive early on he found his range with a couple of sweetly-struck drives through the covers before, four short of a half-century, he flashed a thin edge behind to give Lee Daggett his 100th first-class victim.Soon after tea, Wilson was undone by the delivery of the day – a Rob White googly – to fall for 42. White bowled just a single first-class over last season and his last first-class wicket came four years ago but today he landed his legbreaks consistently before ducking a wrong ‘un past Wilson’s attempted leg-side flick.Steve Davies, run out by his captain on day one, had no one else to blame for his dismissal on day three. Having looked fluent, he charitably flicked across the line to get a gentle leading-edge off Daggett that looped to Steven Peters at point. Once again Surrey’s top-order had fallen victim to their own carelessness and with the lead just 61 were in need of some fight.Hamilton-Brown responded with the his trademark gusto. Chest puffed out, shirt impeccably starched, he busily went about righting the wrongs. Middlebrook’s offspin was first punched through the covers and then clipped through straight mid-on to get him on his way and boundaries continued to flow. At the other end Zander de Bruyn held firm and allowed his youthful senior to boss proceedings.If Hamilton-Brown was not out overnight Surrey might have entertained thoughts of pushing on swiftly enough to put pressure on the final day but the 23-year-old was undone by the wily 37-year-old. Vaas had not bowled since the end of the 11th over and was reintroduced in the 63rd , with 15 minutes remaining in the day.His slower-ball found a fatal inside edge that ricocheted onto the stumps to send Hamilton-Brown back for 41. It set up a nervous finish to the day for de Bruyn and nightwatchman Linley but barring a collapse from either side a draw looks most likely on Monday.