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Aston Villa fell to a 2-1 defeat yesterday against West Ham United thanks to goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Pablo Fornals after winning their three previous league games prior to the clash at the London Stadium.

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As well as the disappointing result, the Midlands club were handed a potentially major injury blow during the match after left-back Lucas Digne was forced off the pitch with just ten minutes on the clock with a suspected injury.

In a Twitter post from Villa journalist Ashley Preece after Sunday’s clash, he revealed that the French defender is apparently set to “have an MRI scan to determine severity of his hamstring injury.”

Gerrard gutted

Since arriving at Villa Park back in the previous January transfer window from fellow Premier League side Everton in a deal worth a reported fee of £25m, the left-back has immediately made himself a key player for Steven Gerrard by appearing in all but one of the nine league games the Villans have played.

In the eight league games he’s played in for his new club, the defender has managed to rack up a higher average of crosses per game (1.3) than any other Villa player, highlighting just what he’s capable of offering Gerrard’s side and what they will be missing if his hamstring injury keeps him out of action for a significant period of time.

In addition to this, the 28-year-old has also picked up an average of 1.4 key passes per game, the joint-second highest alongside Emi Buendia and John McGinn, showing just how much of an attacking threat he is as well as his crosses, meaning that the Villans will not only have to deal with having a defensive option out of action but also someone that can be an attacking threat for the team.

With all of this in mind, it would be safe to suggest that the 41-year-old Villa boss will be gutted if the results of Digne’s MRI scan come back with a negative diagnosis and the full-back could be facing some time on the sidelines while his team look to secure a top-half finish in the league table.

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Looking ahead, having replaced the former Toffees star at the London Stadium on Sunday, Ashley Young could be in for a run in the team if Digne isn’t likely to be back on the pitch anytime soon.

In other news: Forget Coutinho: “Outstanding” 75-tackle sensation has been Gerrard’s Villa catalyst – opinion

Azhar Ali has agreed to continue as Pakistan’s ODI captain after a request by him to resign, over the presence of Mohammad Amir at the training camp in Lahore for the national team, was rejected by the PCB.”Azhar Ali met the chairman PCB [Shaharyar Khan]. He tendered his resignation. The chairman didn’t accept his resignation, Azhar Ali agreed and he will continue as captain,” the PCB said in a statement.Azhar, along with Mohammad Hafeez, had refused to join the camp earlier, but had finally relented following a meeting with Shaharyar Khan. ESPNcricinfo understands that Azhar had agreed to join the camp, but had said he would need time to decide on his role as captain.Amir is in the selection mix for the first time after his five-year ban for spot-fixing in the 2010 Lord’s Test. He was one of the 26 probables named for Pakistan’s pre-season conditioning camp. Azhar and Hafeez were originally scheduled to join the camp after completing domestic matches, but they did not do so. Azhar went on to state that he would not attend the camp “as long as Amir is there”. After their meeting with Khan, though, the PCB chairman had said: “I do respect their concerns but some of them, I told them, are not acceptable. So they understood and confirmed that they are on the same page with us.”

Mervyn “Pee Wee” Wong, a cricket scorer and statistician, died aged 75 on Wednesday night after complications from a stroke in St Augustine.Wong’s most noted piece of work was a collaborative effort with Jimmy Richards, a Jamaican editor, on the “Book of West Indies Cricket Records 1880-1989”, which recorded first-class and Test statistics for West Indies cricket during that period.Brij Parasnath, a cricket commentator and statistician, said Wong had left an indelible mark. “He has left a great legacy for all of us [statisticians], in terms of West Indies records which are updated and accurate, and which have helped us to promote West Indies cricket in a better way through the print and electronic media,” said Parasnath. “We commisserate with his family and wish them all the best in this period of sadness.”

Scorecard

Brad Haddin set up the win with 115 from 102 balls © Getty Images

New South Wales scraped home by one run in a thrilling Ford Ranger Cup match against Western Australia at the SCG. A blistering century from Brad Haddin set up the Blues’ win before Brett Dorey holed out from the final delivery of the Warriors’ 50 overs with two runs still needed for victory.Chasing 268 to win, Western Australia looked out of the game with 24 balls remaining, needing 35 with two wickets in hand. But Dorey smashed 25 from 12 deliveries and with nine required off the last over the New South Wales captain Simon Katich threw the ball to Dominic Thornely, who had not bowled all night. Thornely took 1 for 1 from his first four balls before Dorey slogged a six over midwicket to make the equation two runs from the last ball. When he skied it to deep square leg, Daniel Christian held his nerve and took the catch to win the game for the Blues.Five days after Adam Gilchrist scored the second-fastest hundred in Australian domestic one-day history, Haddin reminded the nation that should Gilchrist, 35, decide to retire any time soon Australia will not need to look far for a replacement. Haddin’s 115 – his fifth century in domestic limited-overs games – came from 102 balls and included nine fours and three sixes.His 146-run partnership with Thornely, who made 60, gave the Blues hope of reaching of 300 but the Warriors staged a late fightback, taking 7 for 18 in 30 balls as New South Wales were all out for 267 in the 50th over. Steve Magoffin took 3 for 43 and together with Sean Ervine (4 for 51) bowled Western Australia back into the game, helped by two run-outs from Chris Rogers.Adam Voges made 68 for Western Australia but they lost wickets at regular intervals as the offspinners Jason Krejza (3 for 41) and Nathan Hauritz (3 for 42) extracted plenty of turn from the SCG pitch. Voges and Brad Hogg worked Western Australia into a winnable position before Hogg was adjudged stumped for 38, despite the fact that Haddin appeared to break the stumps without the ball in his gloves. Krejza, who bamboozled the Warriors’ middle order, had only come into the New South Wales squad after the allrounder Moises Henriques was ruled out with a leg injury.

India’s new selection committee opted for consolidation, naming the same 15-man squad for the second Test at Delhi, starting on December 10. The panel, led by Kiran More, and comprising new faces like Bhupinder Singh and Ranjib Biswal, said that there had been no discussions about players on the fringes during the meeting.”The selection committee met today, and there is no change for second Test. The same team is retained,” said Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary. “The selectors agreed that rather than watching the Test fully, we will spend more time in watching Ranji Trophy. Will come only on the last two days of the [Delhi] Test match and select the team for the last one.””We didn’t discuss anyone’s name at this point, with hardly any game played here,” said Kiran More, chairman of the selection panel. “We discussed how to go about domestic cricket. The selectors will watch Elite and Plate as well, good teams are playing there.”With rain having wiped away any chance of a contest at Chennai, the decision to go with the same 15 was no surprise. Despite the constant innuendo over Sourav Ganguly’s inclusion, it was unthinkable that he would be jettisoned without being given at least a couple of chances at the batting crease.Squad
Rahul Dravid (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Rudra Pratap Singh, Murali Kartik.

Zimbabwe Cricket’s belief that it had nipped the festering domestic rebellion in the bud was dealt a blow with the news that the Midlands Cricket Association chairman Hemat Patel has resigned from the ZC board in support of the newly elected Mashonaland Cricket Association executive.Patel, who was elected to the ZC board as a replacement for Mike Moyo last month, said that there was a general agreement that he could not continue on the ZC board at the same time as being chairman of Midlands, given that he could not carry the mandate of his province.In an interview, Patel confirmed that he had handed in his resignation letter last Thursday: “Following a recent Midlands CA baord meeting and numerous reports circulated in various sectors of media, Hemat Patel categorically refutes claims that Midlands had or have withdrawn support for Mashonaland. The MCA will not be drawn into any conflict between ZC and any other province. The MCA will recognise any provincial board that has been elected constitutionally. In the likely event of the recent Mashonaland general meeting deemed legitimate, the MCA will work hand in hand with the new Mashonaland board.”Patel said that Midlands would not be part of any playing boycott at this stage, but agreed with Mashonaland that there were a number of outstanding issues that needed to be addressed, including the general state of cricket within Zimbabwe.”In a further development, Patel has resigned as a director of ZC with immediate effect as it was felt that as chairman of Midlands he would find it difficult to carry out the mandate of his board and remain as a director of ZC,” Patel’s statement continued. “The Midlands CA is committed to the development of cricket, and will work tirelessly to improve every facet of the game.”Midlands CA and ZC have their own outstanding issues which have not been resolved,” Patel said. “I think getting me on the ZC board might have been a way to soften my province, and by resigning from the ZC board, I am sending a clear message to them that I do not agree with their policies.”

Hampshire Second XI reached the final of the ECB Second XI Trophy for the fourth time in five seasons when they defeated neigbours Sussex 2nd XI by 41 runs at The Rose Bowl today (Monday).Skipper Will Kendall chose to bat first on a hot day after winning the toss, and despite losing his own wicket early, saw his side get off to a flying start. James Hamblin (56), Greg Lamb (53) and Lawrence Prittipaul (37) brought them to 153 for 3, but the home side could not sustain this rate as wickets fell at regular stages when stability was needed. Just 72 more runs were scored for the loss of 7 wickets, with Michael Yardy Sussex’s left arm seamer being the pick of the visiting bowlers with four wickets.Both Sussex openers Neil Turk and Chris Mole were out cheaply and it took two experienced heads to steady the innings. Carl Hopkinson and Bas Zuiderent saw them safely to 97, and seriously in with a chance of victory, but, as with Hampshire wickets fell steadily, losing their 7 wickets for just 53 runs to give Hampshire the comfortable winning margin of 41 runs.Lawrence Prittipaul and Greg Lamb took three wickets a piece, but a great feature of the performance was the fielding of this young side. “This has been a feature of the whole run in this competition,” said veteran scorer Tony Weld.Hampshire 2nd XI will meet Warwickshire 2nd XI in the Final on September 8th at The Rose Bowl.

Sixteen wickets fell as bowlers enjoyed rare dominance on the Lincoln Green pitch today as Auckland became the latest side to make the trek to Christchurch for their pre-season preparation.While their bowlers put the pressure on the New Zealand Academy, almost from the outset, the prospect of spin becoming a factor on the last day means that the home team is still in with every chance.The Academy was all out for 168 and Auckland in reply were 122 for six wickets.Academy captain Jamie How was the first of seven leg before wicket decisions on the day when trapped by Kyle Mills in the 10th over with the Academy on 21. Tama Canning struck next when Nick Horsley was also adjudged leg before wicket with the score on 46.Andre Adams managed to put Shanan Stewart through his paces with a fiery spell but Stewart got his own back against Mark Haslam by hitting two straight boundaries in one over.Auckland captain, and leg-spinner, Brooke Walker removed Stewart, caught behind, but only after it was necessary for umpires Dave Quested and Gary Baxter to have a discussion on the matter.It proved a busy day for the umpires when they had another natter at square leg over an appear for a bat-pad catch from Haslam’s bowling. Luke Woodcock was a little luckier than Stewart and survived, momentarily.In his next over, Haslam did get Woodcock, who worked hard for his 25 but missed the ball when advancing on Haslam only to be bowled.Coming 10 minutes before the lunch break it was unfortunate for the Academy as they lost Brendon McCullum in the same over for a duck when he played across the line and was given out leg before. At 75 for five wickets things were looking grim for the home team.Worse was to follow before lunch when Jonathan McNamee hit a full toss from Walker to midwicket and the shaky total continued to slide to 83/6.At lunch the score was 89/6 off 34 overs.Nathan McCullum was unable to keep out of the way of a Chris Drum bouncer and gloved a chance which was taken behind the wicket just after the resumption.Warren McSkimming returned to the fray for the Academy after a lengthy break for injury, but marked his return by becoming the fourth leg before victim for the innings, this time at Haslam’s hand.James Franklin and Reece Young showed some steel in their ninth wicket stand worth 50 runs in 56 minutes. Young hit out strongly with some good hook shots. Franklin departed however when bowled by Mills after scoring 20 runs.Young was bowled by Walker on 38 after two hours batting.The Auckland spinners varied their pace intelligently and reaped the greatest rewards for their endeavours.Academy paceman Wade Cornelius continued on from where he left off against the Australian Academy and picked up the wicket of international batsman Matt Horne. He sparred at a well-directed delivery to be caught at second slip by the ever-vigilant Brendon McCullum, for a 15-ball duck.Franklin, struggling to get to the bowling crease because of the gusty nor’wester which made conditions warmer than they had been the whole time the Australians were in town, deceived Tim McIntosh with the line and he won an appeal for another lbw to leave Auckland on 21 for two wickets.Barnacle Richard Pudney (6 off 43 balls) clung tenaciously until the drinks break when the score was 46/2 off 18 overs. He was immediately dismissed after the break for no additional runs off 47 balls.Within the space of eight runs the Auckland middle order lost three wickets to the combined efforts of Woodcock and Franklin.Woodcock used the wind to assist his flight as he claimed three wickets and Franklin relished a spell downwind to remove the dangerous Llorne Howell.The total was 77/6 when Adams joined Mills and they set about restoring the balance of the game. Adams was severe on Cornelius in his ninth over, taking 17 runs to strong pull shots that evaded the deep-set fielders.With Auckland trailing by 46 runs with four first innings wickets in hand the game is evenly poised.

West Ham United have been dealt a major injury blow regarding Jarrod Bowen ahead of their upcoming Europa League fixture.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to David Ornstein’s recent report for The Athletic, in which the journalist revealed that, after picking up a heel injury in the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool last weekend, the right-winger now looks set to miss out on Thursday evening’s trip to Sevilla for the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 clash, as well as the weekend’s fixture against Aston Villa.

Regarding the 25-year-old’s knock, Ornstein writes: “David Moyes’ side could be without him for a handful of games after the 25-year-old picked up a heel injury in the defeat at Liverpool. Although the club yesterday confirmed that he had suffered no significant damage, this week’s Europa League trip to Sevilla and the weekend’s home game against Aston Villa are likely to come too soon.”

Hammers will be seething

Considering just how impressive Bowen has been for West Ham in the current campaign, the news that the winger now looks as if he will be unavailable for what is undoubtedly the club’s biggest game of the season is sure to have left the London Stadium faithful seething.

Indeed, over his 28 Premier League appearances this term, the £58m-rated forward has been in spectacular form for the Hammers, scoring eight goals, registering eight assists and creating eight big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.4 shots and making 1.3 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the £96k-per-week attacker average an extremely admirable SofaScore match rating of 7.09, ranking him as David Moyes’ second-best performer in the top flight of English football.

As such, with a trip to the side who currently occupy second place in the LaLiga table already having been something of a daunting task, the fact that the Irons will now have to face Julen Lopetegui’s outfit without both their leading goalscorer and assist-maker in all competitions this season is sure to put a major dent in West Ham’s chances of securing a positive result at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.

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Indeed, the unavailability of Bowen not only comes as a huge blow to the Hammers’ hopes of progressing to the next round of the competition, but it also shines further light on the club’s failure to bring in attacking reinforcements in the January transfer window.

In other news: £14.5m wasted: Pellegrini’s £75k-p/w “shocker” has been rinsing West Ham for 191 weeks

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has revealed that he is unsure whether or not he wants the vacant England manager’s position.

The White Hart Lane head coach has been the frontrunner to succeed Fabio Capello as national selector, but he has admitted that he is happy in his current role.

“I’m not sure,” Redknapp said in an interview with L’Equipe, translated to English by Sky Sports, when asked if he would like to manage England.

“I have a very good job at Tottenham today and I like it. But I do not know. We will wait and see.

“When you have a club, you are looking for a striker and you take them. When you’re coach, you must do with the players you have in your country.

“If you do not have a good scorer, you have none. And you almost never see the players. Two days every two months, it is very difficult,” he stated.

Redknapp continued by talking up France’s hopes at Euro 2012, who he believes will be a difficult opponent for England.

“The French team has a good team. It will be difficult for England at the Euros. The group is difficult with Sweden and Ukraine.

“I believe Laurent Blanc is doing a very good job. The 2010 World Cup was a disaster, but he has come in and done a great job,” he praised.

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By Gareth McKnight

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