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Andrew Symonds has said retirement is not on his immediate radar but he does believe he is entering the “final chapter” of his cricket career

Cricinfo staff22-Jan-2009
Andrew Symonds has watched his great mate Matthew Hayden walk off into the sunset © AFP
Andrew Symonds has said retirement is not on his immediate radar but he does believe he is entering the “final chapter” of his cricket career. Symonds, 33, is likely to line up for Queensland next week as he returns following knee surgery, if his comeback for his club side on the weekend goes to plan.He will be preparing for February’s tour of South Africa, where he will be without his great mate Matthew Hayden, who retired following the home Test series. Symonds took a trip to Hayden’s holiday house on Stradbroke Island to see how his friend was handling retirement.”I went over to Straddie and saw him a couple of days ago, he’s very relaxed,” Symonds told . However, Symonds said Hayden’s situation had not yet sparked retirement thoughts of his own.”The day that I am worn out either physically or mentally I will just say ‘that will do me’,” he said. “I haven’t put a time limit as to when I finish playing. Hopefully I can go on my terms rather than injury or lack of form. There’s only so many tokens left. Hopefully I can use them effectively and have a good end to my career.”The finish looked like it might have been forced upon him after his fishing trip in Darwin in August, when he was stood down from the national squad. He missed the tour of India but returned for the home summer and he is aiming to now look forward rather than back.”Hopefully I can leave the past behind me, we can make this a new chapter,” Symonds said. “I feel like this is the final chapter of my cricketing career coming up so hopefully I can play some good cricket, finish well and look back on my career which has been interesting but also very enjoyable.”Symonds will not bowl in his comeback state match as he keeps an eye on his knee. However he has ruled out giving up bowling in an effort to prolong his career as a batsman only.”I don’t play cricket like that,” he said. “I think I need to be able to bowl to be at my most effective, and I need to be mobile in the field. This has been a good time to freshen up again, clear the mind and give the body a rest, I feel good.”

Surprise, surprise. The rematch of last’s year’s final will be played between a team trying to stay afloat in the middle of the table, and the other trying to wriggle out of the bottom two. Who would have thought?

The Preview by Sidharth Monga29-Apr-2009Match factsApril 30, 2009
Start time 4.45pm (1445GMT, 2015 IST)Big PictureHayden and Warne stand in the way of each other’s success•Chris Helgren/ReutersSurprise, surprise. The rematch of last’s year’s final will be played between a team trying to stay afloat in the middle of the table, and the other trying to wriggle out of the bottom two. Who would have thought?Rajasthan Royals have been riding the talisman they call Shane Warne, and they would look for the same from their captain at SuperSport Park. Kamran Khan, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Munaf Patel have responded well to Warne’s call. In their last game, against Delhi’s mighty batting, the trio bowled 12 overs for 77 runs and five wickets. Warne has also been lucky that Yusuf Pathan has played two gems in both their wins.Chennai Super Kings will know they can learn a lesson or two from their overperforming opponents. Not much has changed in their line-up from last year, but they seem to have lost the touch. The batsmen, despite Matthew Hayden’s good form, have provided little joy, and the bowlers, except for Muttiah Muralitharan, have struggled. On paper, Chennai look the favourites, but the fact is they have won only one of their five games. They will also know if they lose tomorrow, they will have less points than Bangalore, having played the same number of games.Form guideRajasthan: Yusuf continues to amaze even in South Africa, on bouncier pitches where he was supposed to fail, along with the other Indian batsmen in the team. Yet 104 of his 125 runs have come just in two innings, and he will be looking for more consistency. And he can do with more help from Graeme Smith, the most senior batsman in the side. Smith has been a big failure but the good news is, he finally got going with a solid, unbeaten 44 in their win against Delhi.Chennai: His pace bowlers have given Dhoni the biggest headaches. They haven’t been able to play Makhaya Ntini, and Manpreet Gony, L Balaji and Joginder Sharma have bowled too many length deliveries at around 125kmph. Gony has gone at 10 and over, and Joginder and Balaji at eight.But Dhoni also finds himself in a scenario he is not used to: where he is not leading by example. He has been part of a middle order that has wasted the starts given by Hayden. To go with Dhoni’s failures, S Badrinath has shown he is a misfit at No. 7 in a Twenty20 game, when there are only a few overs left and he has to hit right from ball one.Watch out forWarne v Hayden: They have won many a match together, but are now crucial to their teams’ individual successes. Bank on Warne to bring in all his experience to try and nullify Hayden, even before he bowls to him. And expect Hayden to raise his game a notch higher when facing an old friend. Hopefully, either Warne comes on to bowl early or Hayden survives till Warne’s usual introduction.Team newsRajasthan have problems with their batting. The Indian batsmen, apart from Yusuf, have not contributed at all. More changes are not completely unexpected. Neither Rob Quiney nor Tyron Henderson has been successful and they will need to address that issue too.Rajasthan: (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Rob Quiney/Tyron Henderson/Lee Carseldine, 4 Yusuf Pathan, 5 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 6 Ravindra Jedeja, 7 Shane Warne (capt), 8 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 9 Abhishek Raut/Paul Valthaty/anybody, 10 Kamran Khan, 11 Munaf Patel.Chennai’s biggest problem has been the local players. If they have to play Ntini, they will have to forego either of Jacob Oram and Albie Morkel. And they could also want to play M Vijay ahead of Badri.Chennai: (probable) 1 Parthiv Patel, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 5 Albie Morkel, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 S Badrinath/M Vijay, 8 Joginder Sharma, 9 L Balaji, 10 Manpreet Gony, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.Head-to-head recordHaving played Rajasthan thrice, they are yet to beat them. The defeats included being bowled out for 109 in Jaipur, conceding 211 in Chennai, and failing to defend 163 in the final last year in Mumbai.

Boli Bolingoli was Celtic’s ‘best player’ against Livingston and has earned a start against Dundee United, Frank McAvennie has told Football Insider. 

The lowdown

Prior to last weekend, Bolingoli’s last action for Celtic had come in August 2020, when he made a three-minute substitute appearance against Kilmarnock.

The Hoops loaned him out to Turkish Super Lig outfit Istanbul Basaksehir after he broke coronavirus rules and ‘left club officials furious’ (via Sky Sports).

But Postecoglou restored him to the starting line-up for the 1-0 defeat at the Almondvale Stadium.

Having picked up a yellow card, he earned a SofaScore rating of 6.9/10. He won seven of his 13 duels and completed 85 of his 90 attempted passes.

Celtic will be looking to gain ground against Dundee United on Sunday, having slipped to sixth place in the Premiership table.

The latest

McAvennie says Bolingoli’s performance was one of the few positives he was able to take from Celtic’s loss.

He admired the Belgian’s commitment and reckons he has the edge on competitor Greg Taylor when it comes to the defensive side of the game.

“I will be honest, Bolingoli was the best player in that Celtic team, solid,” he said. “He defended really well. He was the only bright spark.

“I always liked him when he was playing, he is a better defender than Taylor.

“He was putting himself about and getting stuck in, that’s saying something because Celtic were awful.

“I think he has to start again this weekend.”

The verdict

Bolingoli was an unused substitute for Thursday’s cup win against Raith Rovers, with Adam Montgomery lining up at left-back. That could indicate that he was being rested with one eye on the weekend.

Perhaps the real indicator of Ange Postecoglou’s preferences will come in the week when Celtic face the trickiest fixture of the campaign so far – a Europa League group stage clash with Bayer Leverkusen.

Even if Bolingoli doesn’t make the cut, rotation in and around those fixtures should ensure he gets a decent number of minutes.

In other news, Celtic fans should read this intriguing Jack Wilshere claim.  

Stuart Broad was named England’s most valuable player by the Professional Cricketers Association

Cricinfo staff07-Apr-2009Stuart Broad’s development as an international player over the last year has been highlighted after he was named England’s most valuable player by the Professional Cricketers Association.He finished eight points ahead of Kevin Pietersen after taking 64 wickets and scoring 464 runs in all cricket from the start of the 2008 English season to the end of the recent West Indies tour.He enjoyed an impressive tour, where he was England’s leading seamer with 12 Test wickets at 30.58 despite a series of flat pitches. He claimed career-best figures of 5 for 85 at Sabina Park. Alongside his wickets he became a reliable lower-order batsman with half-centuries against New Zealand and South AfricaIn one-day cricket he claimed 5 for 23 against South Africa at Trent Bridge and was a regular threat with the white ball as he moved into the top 10 of the world rankings.In the individual formats, Broad finished top of the MVP category in ODIs, third in Twenty20 and fourth in Tests. His closest rival for the overall award was Pietersen who amassed 1789 runs in all formats including five Test centuries and two in ODIs.

Sheffield United are interested in a deal that would bring Siriki Dembele to Bramall Lane.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Darren Witcoop, with the Reach journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that Slavisa Jokanovic is keen on a move for the Peterborough United winger, although the 53-year-old needs to offload some of the United deadwood before he can sanction a move for the 24-year-old.

In his tweet, Witcoop said: “Sheffield United keen on Peterborough’s Siriki Dembele but need to offload players first.”

Fans will be buzzing

Considering just how poorly Sheffield United have started their 2021/22 Championship campaign, with the Blades having scored a single goal and picked up just two points over their opening five fixtures of the season, the fact that the club are believed to be interested in a player as exciting as Dembele is sure to have United fans buzzing.

Indeed, over his 42 League One appearances for Posh last season, the £1.08m-rated man scored 11 goals, registered 10 assists and created a whopping 17 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.8 shots and making 1.5 key passes per fixture.

These returns saw the player Barry Fry dubbed an “exciting” talent earn a highly impressive seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.06, ranking him as the club’s joint seventh-best performer in the third tier of English football.

Furthermore, the 24-year-old looks to have continued this fine form after making the step up to the Championship, having already scored two goals over his four appearances in the league, in addition to averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.95 – ranking him as Darren Ferguson’s second-best player in the second tier.

As such, it would very much appear as if the signing of the £2.6k-per-week Dembele could well help solve Sheffield United’s obvious lack of creativity and goalscoring edge so far this term, with his arrival potentially being the boost Jokanovic needs to finally kickstart the Blades’ season.

In other news: Jokanovic heading for grave Sheffield United transfer error over £225k-rated flop

Nimbus Communications, one of India’s leading television marketing companies, has been awarded rights to India’s home domestic and international games for four years

Cricinfo staff15-Jan-2010Nimbus Communications, one of India’s leading television marketing companies, has been awarded rights to India’s home domestic and international games for four years. Nimbus and the BCCI had, in October, entered an agreement valued at approximately Rs.2000 crore (US$436 million), for a minimum of 64 international matches and 312 days of domestic cricket until 2014. The deal has now been finalised, following Nimbus furnishing a bank guarantee for the agreement amount to the BCCI.Shashank Manohar, the president of the BCCI, said: “The BCCI is pleased to extend its partnership with Nimbus by entering into this agreement till 2014. Nimbus has been the BCCI’s Global Media Rights partner since 2006 and has, in this period, licensed our events for broadcast to hundreds of millions of cricket fans worldwide.”Nimbus also held the broadcasting rights for the previous four years, for which it paid US$612 million – subsequently negotiated to US$549 million – in February 2006.

Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, has said he was perplexed by the docile pitch prepared at the National Stadium for the first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Karachi

Cricinfo staff25-Feb-2009
Wasim Akram: “He [Younis Khan] is still 31-32, quite fit, the passion is there and he could take Pakistan cricket further” © AFP
Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, has said he was perplexed by the docile pitch prepared at the National Stadium for the first Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Karachi. Four 150-plus scores – including a triple-century and two double-tons – were raked up in Pakistan’s first home Test in 16 months, and Akram said sparse crowds for five-day games in the country would only improve if the pitches were more bowler-friendly.”It’s a mystery to me why after 14 months of [not playing] Test cricket, such type of a wicket was made,” Akram said. “We don’t have to play the blame game but have to look what type of wicket should be prepared for the next Test.”Pakistan captain Younis Khan and coach Intikhab Alam had expressed their dissatisfaction about the pitch, and Akram felt the home captain should be consulted. “I think the captain’s involvement should be there in the preparation of the wicket. When I was the captain, Imran [Khan] was the captain, Javed [Miandad], Inzamam [ul-Haq], we made sure what type of wicket we should have and we got that. So I think there was some communication problem there. But I hope not such type of wicket is made in future. We want teams to come to Pakistan and people of Pakistan should support their team but with such type of wickets it gets a bit difficult.”Sri Lanka raked up 644 for 7 in their first innings, and Pakistan’s reply of 765 for 6 was powered by Younis’ triple-century, the first by a Pakistan captain. “I think technically it was a superb knock. For any batsman who scores 300, it doesn’t matter what type of wicket or against which opposition. It is a big achievement and against the likes of Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan] and [Ajantha] Mendis, who are experienced spinners. Murali is one of the best ever and to bat against him for two-and-a-half days shows that Younis is a great player and he has got the ability to lead from the front.”Akram was hoping Younis can provide the much-needed stability to Pakistan’s set-up with his leadership. “It could have been better had he agreed to lead one-and-a-half years ago. He is still 31-32, quite fit, the passion is there and he could take Pakistan cricket further. Let’s hope for that.”Fast bowler Sohail Khan did not have the best start to his Test career, conceding 164 runs in 27 wicketless overs. “Sohail is playing a Test match so it means he is a Test-level bowler. He has been performing in first-class cricket consistently but I think it was such a dead track and he was an inexperienced bowler. You need experienced bowlers to get wickets. You can try youngsters on slightly supporting wickets. He just needs couple of games to get into rhythm.”

Celtic were in discussions over a deal for Royal Antwerp right-back Aurelio Buta on Tuesday, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Buta links

Romano was the man who shared the initial links to Buta back in July. Since then, reports have suggested that the 24-year-old was closing in on a £3m move to Glasgow, but as we know, a move is yet to be confirmed.

Buta, who is on £4,500 per week with his current employers, has just 12 months left on his Antwerp deal, and it seems as if the Hoops are still chasing him after they announced the signings of Joe Hart and James McCarthy on Tuesday.

The Latest: Update emerges

Romano posted on Twitter on Tuesday evening, confirming Hart’s move to Scotland before adding that negotiations have been ‘ongoing in the last hours’ between Celtic and Antwerp for Buta.

Another reliable reporter, Scott Burns, also took to Twitter on Tuesday, with his morning post suggesting that the Hoops have actually agreed on a deal with the Belgian club for the 24-year-old.

Burns added that personal terms have actually been the main issue, even though the right-back is not looking for ‘bank-breaking money’.

The Verdict: Contrasting reports

Even though Romano and Burns’ posts were different, one thing we know for sure now is that Celtic’s interest in Buta is well and truly alive.

A new right-back appears to be next on the agenda following the confirmation of Hart and McCarthy’s moves, as Ange Postecoglou has just Anthony Ralston and Lee O’Connor as options on the right-hand side of defence at this moment in time.

Should a move for Buta go through, Celtic will be getting themselves a right-back who has Europa League experience and can play further forward if required, so it may turn out to be a shrewd piece of business in the long run.

In other news: Celtic now ‘in talks’ for ‘really, really good’ 6ft 3 ace; may cost ‘significant’ fee. 

Srivastava scored a fluent century, Kaif’s effort was more circumspect, and between them they added unbeaten 242 runs in what has essentially become a first-innings match

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga at the Chinnaswamy Stadium14-Dec-2008Uttar Pradesh 295 for 2 (Srivastava 154*, Kaif 103*) trail Karnataka 511 by 216 runs
Scorecard

Tanmay Srivastava’s fluent unbeaten century gave UP a chance of getting the first-innings lead © Cricinfo Ltd
Tanmay Srivastava and Mohammad Kaif played in their last league match of the season just as they did in their first. Srivastava scored a fluent century, Kaif’s effort was more circumspect, and between them they put on an unbeaten 242-run stand. Uttar Pradesh lost only Suresh Raina on the day, moving towards Karnataka’s 511 in what has essentially become a first-innings match.In the first match, against Andhra, the two had added 285 to get UP a first-innings lead. Here they batted together for 349 minutes, and ended the third day 217 short of a first-innings lead that will enhance their chances of making the quarter-finals. The pair were brought together by the dismissal of Raina who looked uncomfortable against the short stuff. He fended NC Aiyappa on a few occasions but finally got going with a trademark cover drive. The next ball, another bouncer was, however, top-edged to Sunil Raju at fine leg. UP had added nine to their overnight 44 for 1 by then.UP arrived needing an outright win to be safe, but could have been in danger of collapse. The good thing was, however, that two of their most reliable batsmen were out in the middle, on a pitch for which you could take along camping material when going in to bat. Srivastava had progressed almost unnoticed to 29 yesterday, and continued in similar fashion today. Kaif was not as comfortable to begin with, inside-edging R Vinay Kumar past Thilak Naidu early. In Vinay Kumar’s next over he took a blow on the body, before pulling out an exquisite punch-drive straight down the ground.Kaif continued in his careful way while Srivastava kept capitalising on error. The partnership began slowly, reflecting Kaif’s cautious start. In the first 17.3 overs, the two added only 27, Kaif scoring 12 off 59. After the first drinks break, though, having sized up the pitch, the batsmen started scoring more freely. Kaif cover-drove Aiyappa, Srivastava square-cut Sunil Joshi to reach his half century, and followed it up with two boundaries in the next over.Vinay Kumar, brought in for a spell just before lunch, managed to trouble Kaif again, the only period of contest between bat and ball through the day. He beat Kaif with one that held its line in the first over, got an outside edge that avoided the slips in his next, and then beat him with a straighter delivery again. From the other end, though, Srivastava took Sunil Raju for three lovely cover-driven boundaries. He hit one between mid-off and extra cover, the next to the right of cover, and another stepping down and hitting inside out. The two had added 91 by lunch, 31 of those scored by Kaif.Resuming on 92, Srivastava got a streaky outside edge to move to 99, and then took a single to just wide of mid-off to reach his third first-class century. The century gift was four overthrows. Post-lunch, Kaif looked more positive, while also blunting the bowling. Joshi bowled one over of instant replays: the ball always full, Kaif always getting his front foot down to the pitch of the ball, defending it straight back, the ball stopping just by Joshi.
Mohammad Kaif’s circumspect hundred frustrated Karnataka © AFP
Karnataka’s fields were confoundingly defensive for a team who had made 511 and a run-rate of less than three suggested as much. Srivastava played most of his innings with a deep point in place, and singles were readily available for him. Kaif would go back into his defensive mode, before suddenly stepping out and hitting the spinners over the in-field. The immediate response to such hits was sending a fielder back, and then Kaif would go back to picking up his singles.By tea, Karnataka were a tired lot, having tried seven bowlers without much success. The partnership had reached 173 in 66.3 overs. Srivastava had slowed down a bit to reach 125, and Kaif had sped up a bit to reach 70, off 214 deliveries.Post-tea Kaif gave Karnataka their last chance of the day. He stepped out to hit C Raghu, but failed to connect well enough and hit it just wide of mid-off. Ganesh Satish, substituting for Uthappa, dropped the catch. After that Kaif stepped up another gear, moving from 88 to 100 with three boundaries: a pull, a leg glance, and a perfectly-placed cover-drive.One of the UP fans in the crowd chose to make his presence in the ground felt then, fully clothed thankfully, and came and shook both batsmen’s hands and ran away peacefully. Srivastava reached the last milestone of the day, converting his second century of the season into a second 150.Although they were still short of taking three points by some way, they got some good news from elsewhere. Baroda, one of their competitors for the quarter-final spot, lost outright to Tamil Nadu and were almost knocked out of the reckoning. UP, though, have a brittle middle-order and will need more from Kaif and Srivastava to take three points from here.

While Harry Kane will start the Premier League season on the books of Tottenham Hotspur, Steve Howey is confident the striker will secure a deadline day move to Manchester City.

Kane has made no secret of the fact he wants to leave his boyhood club after growing frustrated with a lack of silverware.

The England captain, who won the Premier League’s Golden Boot and Playmaker awards last season, reportedly missed the start of his pre-season program by failing to return to Hotspur Way last week.

While Kane has refuted claims he refused to return, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has confirmed his intentions to sign the frontman if Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is willing to negotiate.

Kane, 28, has scored 166 goals in 245 Premier League appearances but is yet to win any silverware while on Spurs’ books.

Although the north London club would like to retain Kane’s services, former Manchester City defender Howey believes the frontman will get his wish and head to the Etihad Stadium just before the transfer window slams shut at the end of the month.

Howey exclusively told The Transfer Tavern: “This is going to be an interesting one and I think it will go down to the wire.

“I don’t think he’ll disappear next week but it could probably be one of those deadline day transfers.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how this one pans out.”