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Graeme Smith believes his side has the record and experience to impress in India, despite a tumultuous week the team, where coach Mickey Arthur resigned and the selection panel was fired

Cricinfo staff30-Jan-2010Graeme Smith believes his side has the record and experience to impress in India, despite an ’emotional’ week for the team, during which coach Mickey Arthur resigned and the entire selection panel was sacked.South Africa leave on January 30 for a two-Test and three-ODI tour of India, the world’s No.1 ranked side in Tests, in the knowledge that they drew 1-1 the last time they visited India and were beaten 1-0 in 2004. A 2-0 win this time will propel them to the No.1 spot.Smith wants his side to draw on these good memories when the tour gets underway. “It’s been an emotional week and not many teams go to India and win,” Smith said. “But our record in the subcontinent is solid and the players who have been part of the set-up for a while have dealt with a few difficult things in recent years and handled them very well. I expect them to be as professional as normal, and I’m looking to them for responsibility and guidance for the youth.”Corrie van Zyl, who was an assistant coach between 1998 and 2003, has replaced Arthur on an interim basis and he is confident that the team can overcome the sudden change of regime. “My experience of things like the last week is that it builds a team rather than tears it apart,” van Zyl said. “I was part of the management team when the Hansie Cronje issue came about and sometimes those things just pull a team together. Obviously the players have to deal with their emotions, but it’s a very important series and we need to focus on our preparations.”South Africa play a two-day warm-up match against Board President’s XI in Nagpur starting February 2 before the first Test on February 6.

Steven Gerrard has confirmed that Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey will be ‘missing for a number of weeks’ with a muscle problem.

As to be expected, a number of Villa fans have been reacting to the injury update ahead of the trip to Leicester City on Sunday.

Bailey’s Villa career is yet to really get going due to a number of issues, with the Jamaica international starting just four games this season. The £28.8m summer signing had to be withdrawn in the first half of the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday with a quad problem.

Gerrard revealed that the results of the 24-year-old’s scan were not positive, with Bailey set to be sidelined until after Christmas.

Matt Targett and Danny Ings may also miss out against the Foxes, although the Villa manager is prepared to give the pair every chance to prove their fitness in the meantime.

Villa fans react

Villa shared Gerrard’s comments regarding Bailey via their official Twitter channel on Friday. Here is what these fans had to say in reply, with many not exactly thrilled as the Jamaican is dealt yet another injury setback.

“Sell him at this rate”

Credit: @BenAVFC98

“Gutted”

Credit: @maund

“We’ve cursed this man”

Credit: @marathesayu

“This is new, an actual time frame for an injury.”

Credit: @Gazoaks

“Send him back, the bloke’s made of glass”

Credit: @avfc_jf

“Pain”

Credit: @Holte_ender1

In other news: ‘Do it’ – Many Villa fans react as ‘brilliant’ transfer news emerges

Celtic are close to completing the Parkhead arrivals of three players in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Japanese publication The Mainichi, who claim that Celtic are nearing deals for all three of Daizen Maeda, Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate ahead of the winter market.

The report goes on to state that the club are progressing well in discussions with Yokohama F Marinos and Gamba Osaka, the respective clubs of Maeda and Ideguchi, regarding deals, as both sides are happy to sanction the sale of their respective stars.

However, it is also said the Bhoys talks with Kawasaki Frontale, the club of Hatate, are at a less advanced stage, as the J League side are currently demanding much more for the 24-year-old than Celtic are prepared to offer.

Ange will be buzzing

With Ange Postecoglou openly stating that he is willing to raid the Japanese top flight of its most impressive players in January, the fact that Celtic appear close to signing three of Japan’s brightest talents is sure to have left the 56-year-old buzzing.

Indeed, over his 36 J League appearances this season, centre-forward Maeda scored a whopping 23 goals, registered three assists and created four big chances for his teammates, with these returns seeing the £990k-rated man average a SofaScore match rating of 7.09 – ranking him as his club’s joint sixth-best performer in the top flight of Japanese football.

Meanwhile, over Hatate’s 30 league fixtures, the versatile midfielder scored five goals, provided two assists and created three big chances, with these metrics seeing him average a SofaScore match rating of 7.16, while central midfielder Ideguchi averaged a SofaScore match rating of 6.76 over his own 29 J League appearances.

As such, should Celtic indeed go on to land all three of these players in January, not only would they continue Postecoglou’s Japanese revolution at Parkhead – following the summer signing of Kyogo Furuhashi – they would also represent a huge step in the 56-year-old’s revolution of the Bhoys first-team squad – something that would only appear to bode well for the club’s title chances this season.

In other news: Major blow: Ange confirms injury update that will surely devastate Celtic fans

David Obuya hit an unbeaten 115, adding 203 with his brother Collins, to lead a strong Kenya batting effort after Ryan ten Doeschate moved to a double century which lifted Netherlands to 385

Cricinfo staff21-Feb-2010
ScorecardDavid Obuya hit an unbeaten 115, adding 203 with his brother Collins, to lead a strong Kenya batting effort after Ryan ten Doeschate moved to a double century which lifted Netherlands to 385.The combined efforts of the Obuya brothers propelled Kenya to 235 for 2 at the close and they will now sense the opportunity to build a first-innings lead. David Obuya’s second first-class hundred was the ideal response for Kenya and his hundred came from 148 deliveries shortly before Collins Obuya was bowled for 89 late in the day.Netherlands’ bowlers found it tough work after ten Doeshcate had provided an early breakthrough by having Rakep Patel caught behind. They had to wait another 46 overs before Mark Jonkman managed to break the second-wicket stand and the fact the attack managed just five maidens in 56 overs shows how they were dominated.Their batting effort had almost been a one-man display with ten Doeschate providing comfortably more than half the total. He resumed overnight on 129 and added 83 of the 109 runs Netherlands compiled before being bowled out. His double ton arrived off 267 balls during a final-wicket stand of 43 with Pieter Seelaar who didn’t contribute during his 23-ball occupation.Elijah Otieno eventually ended the innings to finish with impressive figures of 4 for 57 from 25.1 overs.

With Leeds United’s disappointing results in the Premier League so far this season with just three wins from 16 played games and the fact that they’ve got some injury concerns at the moment, the upcoming January transfer window could be just what the Yorkshire club need to fix their season and get in good shape to attack the second half of the campaign.

What’s the word?

Pundit Paddy Kenny provided an exciting claim on Leeds’ potential exploits over the winter.

He issued the following four-word suggestion that “the money is there” for Leeds to spend in January.

As a result, it could spring the likes of Victor Orta and Andrea Radrizzani into action to sign some players during the upcoming window to help Bielsa strengthen his squad in areas that he may need some reinforcements in, which would surely excite a lot of Leeds fans.

Excitement

If the money is indeed there, it will surely leave Leeds supporters buzzing about what the club could achieve, not just in January but moving forward too.

After all, it’s pretty evident that Marcelo Bielsa’s squad could do with an extra dose of quality over the winter.

Leeds have conceded a total of 25 goals in the league so far this season so it would definitely be worth targeting some defensive players that could come in and make the team stronger at the back so they don’t keep leaking goals, especially with Liam Cooper apparently facing a lengthy spell out injured.

In addition to this, with Kalvin Phillips reportedly out of action for the next two months as a result of the hamstring injury he picked up during Leeds’ 2-2 draw against Brentford, this could force the club to also bring in another midfield option to play alongside the likes of Adam Forshaw and Mateusz Klich while Phillips is out.

That has been a problem area for a long period of time and upgrading on their current options would surely delight supporters at Elland Road.

With all of this in mind, it is obvious that Leeds need to do plenty of business in January and splash some of the cash that Kenny has referred to in an effort to fix some of their issues.

Most importantly, it will help the team have a productive second half of the season that results in them staying in the top-flight, an eventuality that would relieve and please everyone associated with the football club.

However, with Bielsa previously saying that it’s difficult to find players who are “competing” and available during the January window, Orta will have to work very hard to find the right players that could come in and sufficiently fit into Bielsa’s squad to effectively hit the ground running.

In other news: Orta eyes Leeds swoop for “sharp” 16-goal beast, he could be Thorp Arch’s new Gelhardt – opinion

The ICC faces a tough call when it has to decide what to do following crowd trouble in the match between Nepal and USA

Martin Williamson10-Mar-2010The ICC has dismissed criticism it was too slow to react to the crowd trouble which marred the match between Nepal and USA in Kirtipur in the ICC World Cricket League Division 5 tournament.In the immediate aftermath of the serious disturbances, Singapore lodged a complaint with the ICC, claiming they and not Nepal should have qualified for the final, and in turn promotion to Division 4 of the tournament. At the time the USA-Nepal match was suspended, Nepal were facing elimination on net run-rate (NRR), but they edged through after USA were set a revised Duckworth-Lewis target which slightly but crucially improved Nepal’s NRR and enabled them to squeeze out Singapore.The ICC was roundly attacked for its seemingly slow response, not announcing an investigation until two days after the end of the tournament, but it has told Cricinfo the process was started in the immediate aftermath of the game.An ICC spokesperson said the technical committee on duty in Nepal had followed the playing conditions and that at the time the situation regarding NRR could not have been a factor in their decision over the conclusion of the match. Furthermore, Singapore did lodge a complaint with the committee on the evening of the game but at that stage the result could not have been changed.”The ICC immediately launched an investigation into the security incident on the night of February 26 and followed all ICC protocols on the matter including the filing of report to ICC headquarters,” the spokesperson said. “The technical committee also held a meeting the evening of February 26 in regards to security for the following day’s matches.”In regards to the security issue this is being investigated externally following the Rules and Regulations of the ICC. As to the internal investigation that is now being conducted, this was instigated once the ICC Event manager and staff had returned to headquarters and completed a tournament debrief.”The next stage is the findings of the investigation will be delivered to the board who will deliberate what to do when they meet in Dubai in April.”There are two elements to what the panels can do,” the spokesperson said. “As regards the security aspect of the investigation (that goes to the external investigator/commissioner) under ICC Rules and Regulations sanctions can be imposed on a host nation, in this case Nepal, if the commissioner finds that a breach of the rules and regulations.”As regards the internal investigation, the ICC head of legal, David Becker, will no doubt make recommendations to the ICC board on the panel’s findings and these recommendations will be considered by the board.”Nepal have every reason to be worried that their on-field success allied to remarkable crowds which flocked to see them might be undermined by the behaviour of an admittedly significant number of their supporters. Singapore, meanwhile, appear to have the sympathy of many Associate countries, while the USA can rest easy as whatever the outcome, their promotion will stand.As for the ICC, it is in a difficult position. If it fails to act then there is a danger it sets a precedent for crowds to disrupt matches if doing so will benefit their side. Against that, it will not want to stamp down to heavily on a country where cricket has really taken hold.

Aston Villa are set to battle it out with ‘a lot of really big clubs’ for the signing of Boubacar Kamara ahead of the 2022 summer transfer window. 

That’s according to journalist Luke Hatfield, who was speaking to Give Me Sport.

The lowdown

The Athletic’s David Ornstein reported at the beginning of this week that Kamara, who can play as a defensive midfielder and as a centre-back, has decided to leave Olympique de Marseille on a free transfer when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Manchester United were said to be monitoring the 22-year-old’s situation, while German giants Bayern Munich and Spanish marquee FC Barcelona were named as strong admirers.

Kamara is yet to make his senior debut for the French national team but has featured nine times for Les Bleus at Under-21 level.

The latest

Hatfield picked out Kamara when he was asked about possible transfer targets for Steven Gerrard, but warned that there is doubt over Villa’s chances of landing the Frenchman.

“There is a lot of talk around Boubacar Kamara and Marseille,” he said.

“He’s going on a free in the summer but I think there’ll be a lot of really big clubs after him”

The verdict

Kamara is a precise passer and an effective shield for a defence, data from FBRef shows. In fact, he boasts a similar profile to Barcelona’s highly-decorated midfielder Sergio Busquets, and perhaps they view him as a successor.

Indeed, former team-mate Rolando has dubbed him a ‘phenomenon’, suggesting he can go right to the very top.

Do Villa have a shot? Well, it’s a matter of convincing the player rather than the club.

A healthy upgrade on his £46,000-per-week salary should be achievable for Villa, and then it’s down to Gerrard to make the project as attractive as possible.

In other news, fans react to this cruel injury blow.

The Asian Cricket Council has introduced new rules for its competitions aimed at ensuring sides are not packed with ex-pats

Cricinfo staff16-Mar-2010The Asian Cricket Council has announced that it will now be mandatory for teams to include three members in the playing side who are passport holders of the country they represent in its tournaments, and no team will be permitted to field more than two players in the under-four-year-residency category.This ruling will initially apply to Under-16 sides but the aim is to roll it out across all age groups and eventually senior sides.The number of qualified players used to boost sides, as opposed to home-grown talent, has been a concern for a long time and continues to be so. The USA side at the recent ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers was almost entirely made up of players from the Caribbean and the subcontinent, while some other Associates and Affiliates have at times had as few as one player who could not be considered an expat.”If cricket is to put down roots and grow and break out of the relatively small cradle in which it currently is placed in many countries, it has to be played by, taken up by, as significant and substantial a part of the population as possible,” a statement on the ACC website said. “Cricket is increasingly an Asian game yet at the same time, it cannot be a game for the people connected to just a few Asian countries.”The ACC’s decision had an immediate impact, causing Qatar and UAE to withdraw from the ACC Under-16 Elite Cup.The UAE are particularly unhappy with the new regulations because local laws make it hard, and in some instances impossible, for some people born in the Emirates to gain citizenship.

The ECB have confirmed that two Essex county cricketers are at the centre of a police investigation, following allegations of “match irregularities”

Andrew Miller at Chelmsford09-Apr-2010The ECB have confirmed that two Essex county cricketers are at the centre of a police investigation, following allegations of “match irregularities”. With the investigation still underway, the ECB added that they would be making no comment on the matter, but quoted a statement they had received from Essex Police:”Following allegations received about two Essex County Cricket players involved in match irregularities we have initiated an investigation,” read the statement, “and are working closely with Essex County Cricket Club and the English Cricket Board.”The Essex team was called into the dressing-room at the close of play on the opening day of their County Championship fixture against Hampshire at Chelmsford, where they were given a briefing from the county chief executive, David East. It is understood that the allegations first came to light a month ago, but Paul Grayson, the head coach, told reporters: “I am not allowed to comment on the matter.”Essex were at the centre of an investigation back in 1994, when their former seamer, Don Topley, alleged that collusion had taken place towards the end of the 1991 county season, when Essex were closing in on the Championship, and their opponents, Lancashire, were close to securing the Sunday League title.According to Topley, Lancashire agreed to bowl badly in their three-day fixture in exchange for a quid pro quo in the one-day match that took place midway through the longer game. While Essex’s subsequent win helped them to the County Championship, Lancashire’s one-day victory couldn’t prevent Nottinghamshire from claiming the Sunday League.The allegations were dismissed by the ECB as being without foundation, although they did resurface again six years later in 2000.A spokesman for Essex said there would be no official comment from the club until the investigation was concluded. Essex Police were not prepared to name the players involved at this stage, nor reveal the exact nature of the allegations.

Speaking to Football Insider, Tottenham Hotspur pundit Paul Robinson has been left thrilled as managing director Fabio Paratici allegedly plots talks to sign Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger as a free agent.

The Lowdown: Paratici prepared…

According to Football Insider, Tottenham will step up their bid to sign Rudiger ‘this week’ with Paratici talks ‘lined up’ as his contract winds down at Stamford Bridge.

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The Germany international, who’s deal expires in the summer of 2022 as things stand, could leave west London as a free agent at the end of this season – alerting both Spurs and Paratici.

It is believed that Spurs discussions to sign Rudiger will take place behind the scenes, according to Football Insider, with Robinson thrilled by this latest N17 transfer development.

The Latest: Robinson reacts…

The former Spurs goalkeeper, speaking to FI, claims Chelsea’s star defender would be a ‘big signing’ for Spurs and a ‘statement’.

“He is a player I really admire. He is one of the Premier League’s best centre-halves.

“If they can attract him to move across London, wow, what a great signing it would be. I think they can persuade him to join with Conte being there.

“I don’t think for one minute it will be easy business to do though. Chelsea and Spurs do not do business.

“If they can pick him up on a free in the summer it would be a big signing. A big statement as well. There are not many better than Rudiger.”

The Verdict: Get it done…

Signing Rudiger on a free, even despite how difficult it could be to do, would be a fantastic bit of business for the club and a real boost for manager Antonio Conte.

Rejuvenated under Thomas Tuchel over 2021, pundit Rio Ferdinand has likened him to Man City star Ruben Dias whilst calling him ‘unbelievable’ and an ‘animal’ – perhaps summing up his obvious quality (FIVE via The Mirror).

The £100,000-per-week ace, depending on his demands, could also have a realistic salary expectation going by his current wages with the 28-year-old also in his prime.

In other news: £135,000-per-week star now eyeing move to Spurs after Conte contacted him! Find out more here.