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A round-up of the first day of the fourth round of matches in Division Two of the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2010An all-round bowling effort from Hyderabad ensured Pakistan Television were bundled out for 125 on the opening day at the Niaz Stadium. On a day when bowlers dominated from start to finish, Hyderabad did not fare much better against PTV’s seamers, finishing the day at 101 for 5. PTV opener Imran Ali’s 37 was the highest score from either side, and his 42-run opening stand with Raheel Majeed offered little indication of what was to follow. Legspinners Sharjeel Khan and Zahid Mahmood picked up three wickets each for Hyderabad before seamers Saad Altaf and Mohammad Ali did the damage when PTV bowled.The events at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore were in complete contrast to those at the Niaz Stadium as Khan Research Laboratories galloped to a dominant 301 for 2 against Lahore Shalimar. Opener Ali Naqvi was the only batsman to fail after Shalimar chose to field. Saaed Anwar jnr struck 12 fours in his 67 to lay the foundation before Bazid Khan and Mohammad Wasim capitalised. Wasim, who has played for Pakistan at the highest level, brought up his 25th first-class ton by stumps, while Bazid remained six short of the landmark following the unbroken 178-run stand.Opener Khalid Latif’s 64 was the only resistance offered by Karachi Whites as State Bank of Pakistan bowled them out for 187 at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex. Seamer Bilawal Bhatti who picked up four wickets was the wrecker-in-chief for NBP after they chose to field. Rizwan Haider chipped in with three wickets as the hosts struggled to put together partnerships. Wajihuddin’s (32) third-wicket stand of 53 with Latif guided them to 107 for 2 before the middle order misfired. SBP ensured they did not lose any wickets in the two overs they got to face, and hold all the aces going into the second day.Three half-centuries from middle-order batsmen and one from a tail-ender helped Lahore Ravi survive Quetta seamer Gohar Faiz’s maiden five-wicket haul and finish at 302 for 9 after an action packed day at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Faiz struck three early blows to leave Ravi stuttering at 37 for 3 before Fahad-ul-Haq and Sheraz Butt began the resistance. Fahad made 54 off 92 balls and added 111 with Sheraz to repair the innings before Quetta reclaimed the upper hand by claiming five wickets for 51 runs. Having batted through the collapse, Ashraf Ali ensured he did not fall by the wayside, and found a willing partner in No. 10 Tanzeel Altaf. The pair added 87 crucial runs to push Ravi towards 300 before Altaf fell for 51. Ashraf shepherded the last man Imran Haider to ensure his side was not bowled out on the first day, and was unbeaten on 72 at stumps.Peshawar failed to build on the base laid by their openers and stumbled from 121 for 2 to 264 for 8 against Abbottabad at the Gohati Cricket Stadium in Swabi. Mohammad Fayyaz and Gauhar Ali stroked their way to a 72-run opening stand before things began to go awry for Peshawar. Fayyaz made 58 with 11 fours and Gauhar contributed 41 before Wajid Ali broke through. Ahmed Jamal and Mohammad Naeem got into the act as well as Peshawar’s batsmen began to throw away starts. Jamal picked up four wickets before an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 95 between Nauman Habib and Riaz Afridi gave Peshawar some late cheer.

Former England batsman Usman Afzaal has been released by Surrey leaving him searching for a new county

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2010Former England batsman Usman Afzaal has been released by Surrey leaving him searching for a new county.It is a move that was widely expected after Afzaal, 33, hadn’t featured in a first-class game since Surrey’s innings defeat to Middlesex at the end of July.Afzaal, who played for England in three Ashes Tests in 2001, joined Surrey from Northamptonshire at the end of the 2007 season and made 4328 runs in 101 games in all competitions for the county, with a first-class average of 46.44.This season, however, Surrey have backed the younger players coming through their system as they try to find a route off the lower end of the second division.Batsmen Arun Harinath (23), Tom Lancefield (19) and most recently Jason Roy (20), have all featured this summer and Surrey may also have Kevin Pietersen on their books after he joined on loan earlier this month.Surrey’s managing director Gus Mackay praised Afzaal for all he’s given the club over the last three seasons and wished him luck in finding a new county with which to continue his career: “I would like to thank Usman for his contribution to the club during his time here and wish him all the best for the future.”

West Ham United made it through to the semi-finals of the Europa League last night after beating Olympique Lyon 3-0 away from home.

The Hammers went in at halftime 2-0 up after coming through a barrage of Lyon attacks throughout the first period of their second-leg clash.

Three minutes into the second half, Jarrod Bowen found the back of the net to put David Moyes’ side 3-0 up with one foot in the semi-finals.

Having got through the game with a clean sheet and three goals scored, this was a magnificent night for the east London club, who deservedly made it through to the next stage of the tournament.

In terms of individual performances, one figure that stood out from the crowd in a West Ham shirt on this occasion was defender Craig Dawson.

With the French side having 17 attempts at goal in total, the centre-back had a lot to deal with throughout the night.

Labelled as a “set piece savant” by commentator Maximiliano Bretos, the 31-year-old put his side 1-0 up with a headed goal from a corner.

However, it was his work defending his own goal where the Englishman really stole the show.

With just 32 touches of the ball in total, the defender made four clearances, six blocks and one interception, showing just how vital he was for the Hammers in keeping Lyon out of their goal.

He also managed to win 67% of the duels he was involved in, highlighting how much of a tough opponent he was for the opposition players.

This display ultimately earned the veteran an impressive overall match rating of 8.5/10 for his efforts, making him the highest-rated Hammers player on the day according to SofaScore.

Having picked up a higher rating than fellow goalscorers Bowen and Declan Rice, this shows just how solid he was at the top and bottom of the pitch and that he was a massive reason why the team have gone through.

The 52k-per-week centre-back’s display caught the attention of West Ham journalist Roshane Thomas who described Dawson’s performance as “superb.”

Moving forward, with the east London club now set to take on Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-finals, they will need their defensive powerhouse to be just as impressive next time out as he was in midweek if they want to reach the final.

In other news: Moyes can form “dangerous” duo as GSB plot bid for £25m gem who could “explode” at WHU

Yorkshire have not won a Roses match, remarkably, since 2002 but are in a strong position to correct that shortcoming after dominating the first and last sessions on day two

Jon Culley at Old Trafford29-Jun-2010
ScorecardYorkshire have not won a Roses match, remarkably, since 2002 but are in a strong position to correct that shortcoming after dominating the first and last sessions on day two here, where Adil Rashid offered further evidence that his self-confidence is beginning to flow back after a difficult few months.Rashid has always been a bowler in need of regular reassurance and the dismal way in which he was handled by England during the winter has been seen – not only by his own county – as damaging to his morale. Being dropped from the tour to Bangladesh and overlooked for the World Twenty20 seemed to a good few independent judges to be precisely what the young legspinner did not need, particularly after largely being left to carry the drinks with England in South Africa.A winning contribution to a Roses match would only be good for his self-esteem, and after he and the teenage offspinner Azeem Rafiq shared six wickets between them – five in the final session – there was reason to believe that Yorkshire’s eight-year wait for a victory over the old enemy might be about to end, although a bad weather forecast for Thursday is less encouraging.Rashid’s form has been returning in the last month, particularly in the shortest form of the game. In the Friends Provident t20, he is the country’s leading wicket-taker with 20 wickets so far, five more than his nearest pursuer among the slower bowlers, and the skill and intelligence with which he bowled here blunted Lancashire’s hopes of mounting a substantial reply to Yorkshire’s 447.They were 94 without loss and 101 for 1 at tea but were comprehensively hauled back in the last session.Until then, against Yorkshire’s seam attack – lacking Ajmal Shahzad and Tim Bresnan but disappointingly wayward nonetheless – openers Paul Horton and Stephen Moore had looked comfortable, putting together Lancashire’s best opening stand of the season by some distance.But, bowling unchanged for 19 overs at the Statham End in his first spell, Rashid stifled their progress by conceding only 38 runs and, for good measure, claimed the first three wickets, increasing his haul in first-class Roses matches to 31 in eight games. He has taken five in an innings on three occasions.Each of his successes this time demonstrated a different skill, from the caught-and-bowled chance he snapped up when Moore parried back at him from high on the bat, through Horton’s leg-before dismissal to a ball that went straight on, to the turn and bounce that accounted for Mark Chilton, via an edge to slip.The spell altered the complexion of the contest after Lancashire had given themselves some hope that closing on Yorkshire’s 447 – a total allowed to swell rather negligently by Lancashire in the morning – might not be beyond them.Horton, who averages 73.37 in Roses matches, had taken the score to 101 for 1 with a boundary just before tea and completed his fifth half-century in seven matches against Yorkshire just afterwards.But his departure for 63 at 131 for 2 was followed swiftly by Chilton at 143 and when Azeem Rafiq, the 19-year-old offspinner, took revenge for a big six struck by Steven Croft by having the allrounder caught at slip next ball, Lancashire were beginning to wobble.That wobble turned into a bit of a crisis, however. With half a dozen overs left in the day, what they needed most was to reach the close without further damage, especially after allowing Yorkshire to add 68 more runs in the morning before they could take the last two wickets, missing out on a bowling bonus point too.Instead, Simon Katich, on his Championship debut against a county he represented four times in 2002, was snapped up bat and pad by Adam Lyth off Rafiq, who secured his third wicket by bowling nightwatchman Simon Kerrigan between bat and pad for a duck. Lancashire are still 111 short of avoiding the follow-on.

West Bromwich Albion manager Valerien Ismael has outlined his plans for the remainder of the transfer window, admitting that the priority is now outgoing whilst not ruling out the possibility of new faces coming in.

What’s the story?

When speaking to the media, the Albion manager said: “Everything is on outgoings.

“It could be the typical case, that it’s a last-minute transfer, that it’s in the last few minutes that something happens. We will see. I think maybe next week things will take more speed.

“But [we] are working behind the scenes to make sure first we can get some outgoings before we can get some incoming.”The Baggies managed to make their priority signing on the first day of the window as striker Daryl Dike joined from MLS outfit Orlando City on a permanent basis, having been on loan at Barnsley under the Frenchman for the second half of last season.With just over a week left until the transfer window closes, the Championship promotion chasers will be looking to offload some players, with the early termination of striker Jordan Hugill’s loan deal from Norwich City a priority.However, with game time set to also be limited back at Carrow Road, it is understood that the Canaries want to find the 29-year-old a new club to join on loan before recalling with Hull City and Millwall interested.Should the next week go smoothly, there may also be enough time to bring in another new player.West Brom fans will be relievedWith aspirations of an instant return to the Premier League taking a hit in recent weeks, West Brom need to get their season back on track by offloading dead wood and potentially adding another player or two to their ranks who can make an impact. Consequently, fans should be relieved with Ismael’s plans to do exactly that.Prior to Saturday’s 3-0 home win over Peterborough United, the West Midlands club had gone on a run of just two wins in ten Championship outings which saw them slip out of the automatic promotion places.Sat in fifth and four points off of second place Bournemouth, promotion is still very much a realistic target for this campaign, however, the coming weeks will make a major impact, hence why tinkering within the squad will be vital.Albion have been excellent defensively this term, in fact, they remain the second tier’s best defenders having conceded a league-low of 20 goals; it’s at the other end where they’ve struggled.Ismael’s side have only managed 34 goals in 27 games, with only one other side in the top eight (Middlesbrough) having scored fewer. To put it into perspective, top of the league Fulham have scored over double the Baggies’ tally with 73.It is unknown how West Brom’s squad will look on 1 February but what is for sure is that if a new face is to come through the door at The Hawthorns, one will have to leave beforehand to make it possible.In other news: Sky Sports pundit drops worrying WBA January claim, it would be a “huge blow” for Ismael

Leeds United are aiming to sign Lazio striker Vedat Muriqi in the January transfer window, according to a new transfer rumour which emerged on Thursday.

The Lowdown: Leeds linked with Muriqi move

The Whites are yet to make any new signings this month, with Marcelo Bielsa surely hoping to bring in some much-needed squad reinforcements before the deadline – the manager may be without as many as ten players due to injury for the trip to West Ham this weekend.

Leeds were linked with a move Muriqi earlier in the week, who has struggled for playing time at Lazio this season, starting only one Serie A match to date.

The 27-year-old has been compared to Bayern Munich legend Robert Lewandowski, which is sure to whet the appetite of some Whites supporters.

[freshpress-quiz id=“383507″]

The Latest: Getting closer

Another update has now appeared, with La Lazio Siamo Noi [via Sport Witness] claiming that Leeds will ‘push to bring’ to Elland Road ‘immediately’.

It is also mentioned that there has been ‘significant progress’ in negotiations, with an initial loan move plus an €8m (£6.7m) obligation now looking increasingly likely.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-31/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Worth a punt?

Muriqi may have had his struggles this season in terms of playing time but he is a gifted striker who could add precious squad depth to Bielsa’s squad.

The 6 foot 4 target man has scored 18 goals in just 37 caps for Kosovo, highlighting his ruthlessness in the final third, and he also bagged 17 in 36 during a spell at Fenerbahce.

At the moment, there is too much pressure on Patrick Bamford to provide end product but signing Muriqi should help alleviate that issue, even if the Kosovo colossus is not starting matches week in week out.

In other news, a journalist has claimed Leeds won’t be signing one player. Find out who it is here.

Shahid Afridi has said one of his immediate priorities as Pakistan’s new captain is to ensure his players aren’t guilty of any unruly behaviour while on tour

Cricinfo staff10-Jun-2010Shahid Afridi has said one of his immediate priorities as Pakistan’s new captain is to ensure his players aren’t guilty of any unruly behaviour while on tour. Pakistan cricket has had its reputation in tatters of late with a history of infighting within the team and Afridi sent out a warning to his team-mates before departing for the Asia Cup that any indiscipline will not be tolerated.The squad for the tournament in Sri Lanka includes two controversial players in Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar, who have been accused of either flouting team rules or creating rifts within the team. Afridi said he had a word with both in particular and expected them to set a better example going forward.”In the training camp I spoke to Shoaib and also Malik and explained the new set of rules that we expect them to follow in the team,” Afridi told reporters in Lahore.” I explained that being senior players I require their support to introduce a new culture in the team.”The board has also made it clear that the captain and manager have full authority to take action against any player they feel is getting out of line.”Pakistan’s turbulent tour of Australia earlier this year resulted in several senior players, including Afridi, being fined or banned indefinitely for various offenses. After the players appealed, the PCB reduced and wrote off the punishments of five players. The indefinite ban on former captain Younis Khan was lifted, Malik’s one-year ban was removed, the Rs 3 million fine on captain Afridi, for ball-tampering, was revoked entirely, while the fines on the Akmal brothers for acts of indiscipline were reduced.Following the retirement of Mohammad Yousuf, who was also banned indefinitely, Afridi was appointed captain in all formats for the Asia Cup and the tour of England. Aiming to make a fresh start, Afridi called on his players to put the past behind them and perform.”We have enormous talent and we have some exciting new players coming up. I am confident that if we play as a unit we can beat any team in the world.”

Sri Lanka left it late to secure a place in the World Twenty20 semi-finals but now they are in the knockout stage their varied bowling attack could hold the key to success

Andrew McGlashan in St Lucia12-May-2010Sri Lanka left it late to secure a place in the World Twenty20 semi-finals but now they are in the knockout stage their varied bowling attack could hold the key to success. Although without the services of Muttiah Muralitharan they can still throw the ball to Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis, who was left out of the final Super Eight match, and youngster Suraj Randiv.Mendis has a strong chance of returning to face England who have seen little of his variations. The one occasion he has played against them was in the Champions Trophy last year when England thwarted him effectively at the Wanderers during a successful run chase as he went wicketless in nine overs. However, facing Mendis on a spring day in Johannesburg is a very different proposition to facing him on a low, slow surface that has aided spin in St Lucia.Kumar Sangakkara was keeping his cards close to his chest, but it will be hugely tempting to use Mendis against a team that, even taking into account their impressive form, have a poor history against mystery spin.”We’ll have to have a think about that, how that works with our combinations and batting. We would love him to play,” Sangakkara said. “I think he’s a top quality spinner and England’s probably played him once. It’s a realistic possibility but we’ve got other spinners, even part-timers who are pretty good.”But he isn’t the only threat. Malinga, like a few of the big-name Sri Lankan players, hasn’t quite been at his best in this tournament but with the sudden death stages now here he can be the ultimate matchwinner. He was impressive against India where his 2 for 25 played a key role in restricted a late-order charge and Paul Collingwood is certainly on his guard despite the strong form of England’s top order.”A few of us have played against them. But it is obviously a little slight concern,” he said. “Quite a lot of the guys haven’t played against the angle of Malinga, his skiddiness, his change-ups – and not many of us have played much against Mendis.”When guys are bowling 24 balls at you, you can’t give yourself six or seven to get yourself in against them. That’s one of the things we need to make sure we overcome; we need to watch as much footage as possible and talk about it between ourselves. That’s another great thing, that we are communicating really well. Players who have played against them are passing tips on to the other guys, and I think that’s helping a lot.”England haven’t seen anything of 25-year-old Randiv but despite playing just three Twenty20 internationals he is highly regarded by the Sri Lanka hierarchy. He started life as a pace bowler before finding offspin was his vocation and despite not possessing the variety of Muralitharan and Mendis he can still be a handful as he showed against Australia.”The one thing Sri Lanka have got is that they are quite unorthodox in terms of a lot of the bowlers. That is something the batters will have to come up against,” Collingwood said. “But we have a lot of strength in our side now so as much as we will prepare for Sri Lanka and the kind of unorthodox styles that they do have we also have to remember our strengths as well and I think there are plenty of them in our side as well.”Sangakkara, while acknowledging how well England have played over the last week, remained confident that conditions would suit his attack. “We would like to think so, we’ve got a lot of variation in our bowling attack. We will try to exploit that in these conditions but we’ve got to think of all the angles.”We are trying to concentrate a lot on what we do best and how we can get England reacting to us with our bowling, our field-placings and our batting,” he added. “It’s going to be about how we exploit the conditions to our strengths.”Semi-finals of major tournaments can be won with a little bit of magic and Sri Lanka have players who can produce such moments.

Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, has backed his county colleague Steven Finn to live up to the hype and expectation that his impressive home Test debut against Bangladesh has generated

Andrew Miller01-Jun-2010Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, has backed his county colleague Steven Finn to live up to the hype and expectation that his impressive home Test debut against Bangladesh has generated. Though he cautions against expecting too much too soon, Fraser does not believe that Finn would be overawed at the prospect of leading the attack in Australia this winter.Finn was the outstanding player in the recently concluded first Test, in which used his height and accuracy to claim match figures of 9 for 187, including a second-innings haul of 5 for 87, his first five-wicket haul in any first-class match at Lord’s. His uncomplicated method has led to inevitable comparisons with Fraser’s own career, which was also launched on the true surfaces of Lord’s, and which culminated in 177 wickets at 27.32 in 46 Test appearances.”Steven has been very complimentary about me in the last few weeks, but where he’s at is all down to himself,” Fraser told Cricinfo’s Switch Hit podcast. “He’s got a bit extra on me in a couple of areas – he’s a bit taller and a bit quicker – but if he combines that with a bit of accuracy and some perseverance, he’s going to have a long successful career ahead of him, because as you saw in the Bangladesh game, he’s a very capable young man.”As Bangladesh demonstrated in their attritional batting displays, wickets can be hard to come by on a Lord’s surface that rarely assists the bowlers, except in overcast conditions. But as Fraser recalled from his own playing days, it is surfaces such as these – and the deathly-flat decks that Finn encountered on debut in Bangladesh in March – that can turn promising young bowlers into the finished article.”When I was young, playing at Lord’s, and playing on good pitches in general, really helped, because you’ve got to learn to be disciplined,” he said. “If you’re not, you can leak too many runs. Sometimes you can kid yourself that you’re bowling better than you are, on pitches that are nipping and seaming around everywhere, and then you get to a higher level and play on flat ones and you get exposed.”He’s had to develop that discipline to be successful, and it ingrains the skills you require to exploit pitches that are helpful,” Fraser added, having watched Finn carve Worcestershire apart in a 14-wicket haul on a juiced-up New Road track in April. “He played exceptionally well in that match, and that showed what he can do when conditions are in his favour. Bangladesh are not the strongest team in the world, but he’s shown he can be effective on pitches that aren’t offering assistance.”Finn’s performance was impressive not merely for the wickets that he collected but the level-headedness that accompanied them. In the aftermath of the contest, for instance, he acknowledged the fact that that he had conceded too many boundaries – a total of 24 in 49 overs. “One of his strengths is his self-analysis,” said Fraser. “He sets himself high standards, and he wants to be better than he is each day. He can walk off having taken 9 for 37, but still thinking about a couple of poor balls that he bowled, rather than the nine wickets that he took.”If we’re being honest, there have been games for Middlesex this season where he’s bowled better [than at Lord’s],” added Fraser. “If you want to give him a bit of criticism, he pushed the ball in a bit, whereas this year he’s shaped the ball away from the right-handers a little bit, and he conceded maybe four an over, which is something he’s not keen on.”On the subject of the Ashes, which seems destined to remain the hot topic of the summer, Fraser was happy to endorse Finn’s credentials. Although he guarded against the comparisons with Glenn McGrath and Curtly Ambrose that have already come Finn’s way, Fraser did not believe that such a high-profile campaign would prove too much too soon for a 21-year-old in his first full season of international cricket.”We’re expecting a lot from someone at a very early age, but he is a very capable young man,” said Fraser. “By Brisbane, he might have played eight Tests, so his Test career will be well on its way. Playing there would be another step forward in his progress towards being an international bowler, because he’s got assets that are worth sticking to. When he does get it right he can be a real handful, and he’s got the potential to be a fine bowler.”I do think you can get carried away,” he added. “Names like McGrath and Ambrose are being bandied around, but they are all-time greats who took their Test wickets at under 22. England have not had many bowlers in the last 20 years who’ve taken their wickets at under 27 or 28. He knows and we know at Middlesex that he’s young and he’s going to have the odd bad day and bad game, because youngsters do that. But he’s his own man, and he’ll bowl in his own way, and I think everyone at Middlesex has taken a huge amount of pride at Steven’s progress.”

Afghanistan have named their squad for the World Twenty20 which starts at the end of April, with Shabir Noori and Sayed Nasrat coming inclusion at the expense of Aftab Alam the only changes from the 14-strong squad that won the qualifying tournament in F

Cricinfo staff01-Apr-2010Afghanistan have named their 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 which starts at the end of April, with Shabir Noori and Sayed Nasrat’s inclusion at the expense of Aftab Alam, the only changes from the 14-strong squad that won the qualifying tournament in February.Afghanistan enter their first global tournament in Group C, alongside South Africa and India but are buoyed by a recent a run of success that saw them win the qualifier and chase down 494 to beat Canada in the Intercontinental Cup.Afghanistan squad Nawroz Mangal (captain), Mohammad Nabi, Karim Sadiq, Mirwais Ashraf, Rais Ahmadzai, Dawlat Ahmadzai, Mohammad Shahzad, Hamid Hassan, Samiullah Shinwari, Noor Ali, Asghar Stanikzai, Shahpoor Zadran, Shabir Noori, Sayed Nasrat, Shafiq Shafaq.