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This is part of The Transfer Tavern’s Talking Tactics series, where we analyse two changes a manager should make in their upcoming fixture.

Glasgow Rangers have a healthy 3-0 aggregate lead going into the second leg of their tie away at Red Star Belgrade in the UEFA Europa League, but Giovanni van Bronckhorst will know that the job is not done yet, and that they will have to be professional if they are to see it through.

With players like Allan McGregor, Leon Balogun and Fashion Sakala left to rest on the bench in the most recent 3-0 win away at Dundee in the Scottish Cup, there will be plenty of potential changes for the Dutchman to make to his starting eleven, and we feel there are two big risks he should take.

Alex Lowry starts

Of course, with the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe in the squad, young Alex Lowry has not had too many opportunities so far this season, with just four senior games played in total.

However, he came off of the bench late on against Dundee and made an instant impact, grabbing himself an assist for Sakala’s goal straight away.

The teenager will be full of confidence, and given that they are already three goals up, it would do no harm for van Bronckhorst to start him this evening, with the option of bringing on Morelos or Roofe if things are not quite working out.

Ryan Jack axed

Unfortunately for Jack, he was rather clumsy in conceding the penalty in the first leg, earning him an early yellow card, but luckily McGregor was there to spare his blushes in what could otherwise have been a very nervy end to the half.

Having played almost the full 90 minutes at Dundee as well, after being subbed off for Lowry, the £12,000-per-week ace may need a rest and just to be taken out of the firing line a little given what happened in the first leg at Ibrox.

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Nonetheless, he is still a handy option to have off of the bench, and van Bronckhorst may need to call upon him to help see the match out in the second half.

In other news, find out which ‘excellent’ talent Gers have now set sights on here!

	Mahela Jayawardene was unhappy Sri Lanka couldn’t push on to a larger total © Getty Images

Mahela Jayawardene, whose 153-run third-wicket partnership with Kumar Sangakkara helped Sri Lanka post a competitive 238, believed the team had themselves to blame for the loss. “We still couldn’t get the finish I intended, losing wickets in the end,” a visibly disappointed Jayawardene said. At 3 for 161 after 38 overs, they had an excellent launching pad, but only scored 77 in the last 12 despite having plenty of wickets in hand. He also thought India were gifted runs by his side’s sloppy fielding.But Jayawardene praised Sangakkara, his vice-captain and long-time friend, with whom he has been involved in several big partnerships in the past. In the scorching heat, the pair came together with Sri Lanka struggling and performed an admirable rescue act. “The role that Kumar and I have is to bat the majority of the overs. Kumar batted extremely well, one of the best I’ve seen him play for quite some time,” he said. “Credit to Kumar to (help the team) get to 238 from the situation we were in.”India’s chase got off to a dreadful start which had them stuttering at 3 for 35, but three crucial partnerships swung the momentum their way and prevented Sri Lanka from making further inroads. “When we picked up wickets we got the opportunity to put pressure, but Yuvi took chances and started hitting the ball. Our line was not consistent and our fielding wasn’t up to the mark,” Jayawardene said.”You shouldn’t take anything away from Yuvi’s innings, but we contributed to that as well.” He said that both Yuvraj and Dhoni had played really well in different situations, and refused to pick one innings as more important than the other.With their third loss in five games, Sri Lanka are at the bottom of the table, six points below second-placed India. “I haven’t done my maths yet but I know we need to win two out of our three games and India need to lose all their remaining games,” Jayawardene said. “Every game is like a semi-final.”

Scoreboard

Michael Vandort made his 12th first-class century and gave Sri Lanka A a good start to their four-day game against Bangladesh A © Cricinfo Ltd

Michael Vandort struck a century to put Sri Lanka A in a strong position on the opening day of the second four-day match against Bangladesh A at the Colombo Cricket Club Ground. Vandort scored 114 as Sri Lanka A reached 296 for 5 at stumps.Bangladesh A got off to a superb start after putting Sri Lanka A in to bat. Their new ball bowlers, Nazmul Hossain and Mohammad Sharif, removed Sri Lanka A’s openers, Mahela Udawatte and Kanchana Gunawardene, with the score on 39. Chamara Kapugedera joined Vandort and the pair added 64 runs for the third wicket before Nadif Chowdhury took his third catch to dismiss Kapugedera.The game was evenly poised on 103 for 3 when Jehan Mubarak came to the middle. With Vandort holding up one end, Mubarak got into his stride and soon gave Sri Lanka the advantage. They added 128 for the fourth wicket but Bangladesh A dismissed both batsmen late in the final session to end the day on a satisfactory note. Sharif’s best bowler was Bangladesh A’s best bowler with 2 for 36 in 15 overs.

Sri Lanka will need to play out of their skins to move up the rankings © AFP

The three-match ODI series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka starting on Friday becomes crucial as both teams look to avoid relegation to the preliminary round of the forthcoming Champions Trophy. Countries have until April 1 to improve their rankings and make it to the group stage.According to the new format, eight teams will be divided into two groups of four each which include the top six in the ICC ODI Championship table as of April 1 2006, plus the top two from the preliminary round. This round comprises a four-team round robin play-off for the sides ranked seven to10 in the ICC rankings.Sri Lanka are under greater pressure to qualify for the group stage – their fate hinges not only on their performance in the three-match series against Pakistan but also on the results of the India-England ODIs starting March 28. India and England are scheduled to play two ODIs before the April 1 cut-off date.Sri Lanka are currently ranked at seven in the latest rankings with 107 points, just behind England (108). A 2-1 win for Sri Lanka will mean that they can topple England and claim that sixth spot, but can slip back to No.7, should England win one of their two games against India.If Sri Lanka sweep the series 3-0, they will immediately move to No.6, but Pakistan face the danger of being relegated to No.7, should England win one of their games. If Pakistan win 2-1, Sri Lanka will slip to 106 points but will need to rely on India winning both their games to jump to the sixth spot.A fourth – and worst-case scenario – is if Pakistan sweep all three games, which would mean that Sri Lanka would have no option but to deal with the preliminary round, irrespective of the results of India’s matches against England.Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka have shown a bit of inconsistency with their ODI form. Pakistan, after beating England in the ODI series at home late last year, suffered a reversal, losing the ODI series to India 1-4, which included four straight defeats. Sri Lanka rebounded after disappointing performances in India and New Zealand by reaching the best-of-three VB Series finals in Australia, eventually going down 1-2. A shock defeat in the second ODI against Bangladesh followed, although they took the series 2-1.Kenya, currently in Bangladesh for a four-match ODI series starting March 17, are yet to play the minimum number of games to qualify for the rankings. The exact number will be determined at the ICC Executive Board meeting in Dubai next week.For the full list of rankings click here.

Muttiah Muralitharan will be in action again for a noble cause© Getty Images

Surrey have confirmed that they will host an all-star Twenty20 game between an Asian XI and International XI at The Oval on June 20 to provide aid to the victims of disasters. Surrey hope to raise a million pounds (US$1.9million) to rebuild a tsunami-hit Sri Lankan village and help other areas hit by natural disasters.Rahul Dravid, Muttiah Muralitharan, Anil Kumble and Chaminda Vaas will all be part of an Asian side which will take on an International XI. The opposition will include Shane Warne, Brian Lara, Shaun Pollock, Stephen Fleming and Graham Thorpe.Paul Sheldon, Surrey’s chief executive, said, “Having recently been to Sri Lanka I am acutely aware of not only the need to help those affected by the tsunami, but also to ensure that the money given is spent for the benefit of those who need it most. To this end we will donate the money to a Cricket Aid village named after Surrey in Sri Lanka. The game itself will be a festival of cricket, where the best players from all over the world will play in this unique game at the newly re-developed Oval.”Financial help will also be extended to Grenada, which was hit by hurricanes in 2004, and some cash will be put aside in order to help if there are natural disasters in cricket-playing nations in future.A similar initiative was also taken by the ICC when it hosted a charity game to raise funds for tsunami victims at the MCG in January which raised US$11 million. This was followed by a series in New Zealand.

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Scorecard

Wade Seccombe celebrates his century with Andy Bichel © Getty Images

A defiant century by Wade Seccombe and four quick strikes by the Queensland attack lifted the them out of a crisis and into control of their Pura Cup match against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval.Chasing 284 to win, South Australia were in deep trouble at 4 for 17 at stumps on day three, with Mark Higgs on 1 and Andy Flower on two. Michael Kasprowicz and Andy Bichel each took two wickets in a nine-over burst before the end of play, leaving SA on the ropes. They need another 267 runs to win, while Queensland were only six wickets from their first win of the season.A total of 17 wickets fell today. After SA resumed on 7 for 283, their innings was quickly wrapped up for 301, giving Queensland a nine-run first-innings lead, with Bichel taking 2 for 3 in three overs to finish with 6 for 61.The Queensland top order then self-destructed, with Jimmy Maher, Clinton Perren, Martin Love, Andrew Symonds and James Hopes all falling cheaply, leaving them staggering at 5 for 46 in their second innings. But Seccombe (115) and Stuart Law (72) led the Queensland fightback with a 138-run sixth-wicket partnership, with the pair continuing their good form after both made half-centuries in the first innings. Seccombe and a free-hitting Bichel (44) then added a 69-run seventh-wicket stand to help Queensland to 274 all out.”One thing we talk about as a group is a lot of belief in ourselves,” Seccombe said of the team’s ability to extricate themselves from trouble today. “We mentioned it prior to this game and always obviously believing we can pull ourselves out of any situation and win from any situation. Obviously we take that belief into everything we do.”Seccombe was given a life by Mark Higgs at second slip, who dropped a straightforward chance off Shaun Tait’s bowling, when he was on 12 and the score was 5 for 84, in what proved an extremely costly fumble. His match-turning century was his fourth in first-class cricket and his first against SA, and came off 185 balls, with 13 boundaries and a six.Greg Blewett, SA’s captain was hopeful they could stage a similar late-order recovery tomorrow to snatch the match. He said: “It would have been nice to have a few more wickets in hand tomorrow, but one good partnership I think and the game’s still up for grabs.”

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have agreed to cancel their meaningless round robingame in the Asian Test Championship (ATC) and play a straight final fromMarch 6-10 at Lahore, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced Tuesday.”The dates of the second Asian Championship final were decided after we gotthe consent of both the boards involved,” ACC secretary Zakir Hussain Syedtold AFP news agency at Karachi.All parties will be relieved to complete a tournament, designed to be amajor source of revenue for Asian cricket, which flopped after India pulledout last September because of increasing hostilities in India-administeredKashmir.Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka had crushed Bangladesh by an innings inSeptember, guaranteeing their respective places in the final, making theirproposed group game, originally scheduled for February, unnecessary.”We have a disappointing Asian Championship because of India’s withdrawal,”said Syed admitted, “and since the event was a major revenue-earner for uswe suffered badly.”Syed estimates that India’s last-minute withdrawal had cost the ACC anestimated $30million. “We hope to get a sponsor for the final, but it’sstill much below earnings than the last time.”Efforts are now focused on renewing cricket ties in time for the Asia Cup -a six nation one-day tournament – later this year in Pakistan.Pakistan, at least, will be delighted to welcome back international cricketafter the US invasion in Afghanistan prompted the cancellation of tours byNew Zealand and Sri Lanka, plus the rescheduling of the West Indies seriesin Sharjah.Indeed, Pakistan’s Cricket Board (PCB) had also proposed a five-matchone-day series in addition to the ATC final according to AFP, but the SriLankan Board turned that down with the team preparing in March for theforthcoming tour of England.

Half centuries from Parag Das and Rajesh Bora helped Assam to a useful272/9 on the opening day of their East Zone Ranji Trophy clash againstBengal at Maligaon. Assam are playing their first match while Bengal arefresh from an innings victory over Tripura last week.Assam skipper Zakaria Zuffri won the toss and elected to take strike. Theright-left opening combination of Parag Das and Subhrajit Saikiaestablished an early dominance by piling on 127 first up. Bengal howeverregained the initiative by grabbing four wickets in the space of 13 runs.Off spinner Saurashish Lahiri, a trainee at the National Cricket Academy,collected three of those scalps while veteran left arm spinner UtpalChatterjee chipped in by removing Das for 68 (147 balls, 13 fours), whichturned out to be the topscore for Assam.Rajesh Bora resurrected the innings with a brisk 55 (73 balls, 6 fours, 2sixes) and built two useful partnerships in the middle order to help Assamto 257/5. Another collapse followed as four wickets tumbled for 15 beforestumps were drawn three overs early due to bad light. The last wicket pairof Sunil Subramaniam and Javed Zaman will resume battle on Monday. Lahirifinished with 4/65 while Chatterjee returned figures of 3/50.

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has dropped a claim on the 49ers potential increased involvement at Leeds United…

What’s the story?

According to recent reports, the Whites’ chief executive, Angus Kinnear, is set to resign at the end of the season, throwing a lot of things up into the air.

And now, O’Rourke has delivered his verdict on Kinnear’s potential exit, and what that could potentially mean for the 49ers too.

He said: “Angus Kinnear has done a good job in the background at Leeds United, so they wouldn’t want to lose him as well as Bielsa in a matter of months.

“Maybe that might point to more influence from the 49ers and the American side of things as well.”

Could be exciting times for Leeds

Leeds supremo Andrea Radrizzani has previously said: “Now we are partnered with 49ers, this is fundamentally very important because it will be very difficult to stay in the Premier League, but if we stay in it this year I think we can go much more than last year and go into the top six.

“Start to renovate the stadium and continue to grow the value of this club.”

The summer just gone by saw the Whites take a more reserved approach to the transfer market, but another season of staying in the Premier League would surely allow them to loosen the purse-strings.

Leeds fans will no doubt be watching the likes of Newcastle being taken over by new owners and the prospect of massive amounts of investment, and will be longing for a similar kind of spending spree in the future.

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If Kinnear does end up leaving and thus allowing for the 49ers to have increased influence, that could spell exciting times at Leeds in terms of potential new signings and the ability to compete with teams far higher up in the table than they are right now.

It could breathe some fresh air into things behind-the-scenes at the club and usher in a new era, particularly when they’ve also got a new manager at the helm too in Jesse Marsch.

Meanwhile, Leeds must finally unleash this rarely-seen star…

	Nathan Bracken roars in one-dayers but wants a chance in Tests, too © Getty Images

Nathan Bracken hopes to fend off increasing competition and gain a recall to Australia’s Test side, but knows that no matter what he does in the one-day arena it’s his first-class results that count. Bracken is ranked sixth in the world for one-day bowling – and was as high as second last year – yet can’t nudge into the longer form for Australia. He has not played a Test since December 2005.Bracken’s Pura Cup form is solid, with 21 wickets at 20.71 for New South Wales so far, and he has worked on his fitness to increase his endurance. But his new-ball partner Doug Bollinger, yet another left-armer, is outbowling him at New South Wales with more than double the wickets; he has 44 at 14.02, and he impressed for Australia A in their preseason tour of Pakistan. Queensland’s Ashley Noffke also has a better tally and average with 44 wickets at 17.56, including a match against the touring Sri Lankans in October, and he is clearly in the selectors’ thoughts after recent call-ups for internationals in the shorter forms.Mitchell Johnson, a fellow left-armer, is way ahead of Bracken in the pecking order at the moment, having secured his Test place for now, with fair showings in the recent Test series against Sri Lanka and India. Shaun Tait was also in front, called up to the Perth Test as the fourth quick bowler, but has slipped off the radar for now after announcing a break from cricket.”In Australia at the moment it’s whoever is performing well at the right time,” said Bracken. “A lot of guys are putting their hands up consistently. Ashley Noffke got the opportunity in Brisbane, he’s been putting his hand up for the whole season and Doug Bollinger’s in the same boat and there’s a few other guys in other states.”I’m just trying to pull my weight in one-day cricket. I’ve been told that four-day cricket results relate to Test cricket so I have to perform well [at state level], and one-day cricket results reflect on one-day cricket, so for me it’s perform well here. If that leads to something more then that’s great and if it doesn’t I still get to play one-day cricket for my country.”His next one-day appearance will be on Friday against Sri Lanka in Sydney, where he should be joined by Stuart Clark who is back after missing Sunday’s opener against India for personal reasons. Clark hasn’t played an ODI since September, but Australia called him back to replace Tait, and now he should get the call-up with Brett Lee expected to be rested.Bracken backed the rotation policy, while acknowledging it was hard for players to miss out. Everyone wants to play every game for their country,” he said. “Nobody puts their hand up and says ‘I’m a bit tired, I want a rest’. They all want a go, but you’ve got to understand the situation.”Matthew Hayden will return from a hamstring problem to boost his side with his batting but also fielding-wise. “It will make a big impact having Matthew back into the team for no other reason than he can get into first slip and get some normality back to our slips cordon,” Tim Nielsen, Australia’s coach, told The Age. “I think the balance of the slips cordon has been upset a little with different roles for different blokes regularly and Hayden missing out.”Australia will also hope that the third CB Series match isn’t, like the first two, washed out.