The ICC has announced the suspension of the Project USA initiative due to concerns over the governance of the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA). Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, said that outstanding issues had not been dealt with in a satisfactory manner by the association.”The ICC is not satisfied that the USACA is meeting its obligations to review and restructure its governance to meet the needs of Project USA, and as a consequence Project USA is now suspended,” Speed said in a press release, adding that the future of the tripartite initiative between the ICC, the West Indies Cricket Board and the USACA would now be discussed by the ICC board.”We have witnessed the unseemly and public debate surrounding the USACA elections. At this stage we are not able to recommend to the ICC Full Members that they participate in Project USA given the unsatisfactory state of governance in the USA. I will now be preparing a report on the status of this project for consideration by the ICC board at its next meeting.” The ICC board is due to meet in New Delhi on March 17-18.The news comes less than a month after a leaked letter from Ehsan Mani, the ICC’s president, and Speed slated the way the USACA was being run. “We have seen numerous sporting organisations in various states of disarray throughout our period of involvement as sports administrators,” they wrote. “We have never seen a sporting organisation that combines such great potential and such poor administration as USACA. From our observations, much of the blame for this lies with the current office bearers of USACA including yourself. We question whether the current administration of USACA can play any constructive role in taking the game forward in the United States.”They also warned that they would not shy from suspending Project USA if certain issues were not resolved, adding: “We have now been approached by other countries that would like to replace USA as the preferred partner of ICC to deliver international cricket matches.”But instead of getting better, matters grew worse, culminating in the suspension of the USACA’s elections and growing in-fighting among officials. Negative comments attributed to Gladstone Dainty, the USACA president, criticising the ICC would hardly have helped, even though Dainty subsequently denied them.
A scintillating 170 by Yasir Hameed on his Test debut powered Pakistan to 301 for 5 at close of play on the second of the first Test, at the National Stadium in Karachi. Yasir became the ninth Pakistan batsman to score a hundred on debut, and the second to achieve the feat against Bangladesh. His innings was largely instrumental in ensuring that Pakistan finished the second day with a 13-run lead over Bangladesh’s first-innings total of 288.Coming in to bat when Pakistan’s innings was just three overs old, Yasir showed exemplary technique and temperament, striking 25 fours and scoring 63% of the total runs while he was at the crease. He got off the mark with an exquisite back-foot cover-drive, and proceeded to play with supreme authority on both sides of the wicket, and off either foot. Two hundred partnerships – with Taufeeq Umar and Yousuf Youhana – meant that despite a minor blip in the afternoon session, Pakistan were always in control.Bangladesh’s bowlers were rarely threatening, except for a brief spell by Mashrafe Mortaza and Tapash Baisya at the start of the innings. Mortaza’s pace and bounce unsettled Mohammad Hafeez – also playing in his first Test – and he spooned a catch to Javed Omar at gully in attempting to draw away from a pull stroke (5 for 1).Yasir and Taufeeq Umar – the other Pakistan batsman to score a century on debut against Bangladesh – eased the dressing-room nerves with a 114-run partnership for the second wicket. They were aided by the lack of depth in Bangladesh’s bowling attack. Khaled Mahmud, the first-change bowler, served plenty of wide half-volleys, most of which went for boundaries. Mahmud’s only Test wicket had, before this match, cost him 406 runs, and his bowling today showed why his stats are so modest. To make matters worse, he bowled most of his overs without a third man. Yasir took full toll, guiding him past gully for consecutive fours.
Pakistan were in cruise control when Bangladesh struck back with two wickets against the run of play immediately after lunch. First, Taufeeq (38) charged down the pitch to a wide ball from Mohammad Rafique and scooped the drive to Omar at point (102 for 2). Inzamam-ul-Haq was accorded a rousing welcome by the Karachi crowd, but lasted just five balls before flicking lazily at a Baisya delivery. Rajin Saleh pouched the chance at short midwicket, and Inzamam trudged back for a duck.Yasir and Youhana averted a further slump with a 131-run stand. Youhana struggled for fluency, but playd the second fiddle as an increasingly confident Yasir went after the bowling. A swept four off Alok Kapali brought Yasir his hundred as Mahmud was forced to resort to his spinners in an attempt to staunch the runs. With the grass on the pitch drying out, there was little help for the bowlers as Bangladesh toiled away on a clear day.Youhana became Saleh’s first Test wicket, patting a full-toss back to the bowler just four short of his fifty (234 for 5). Yasir’s long vigil finally ended when he slapped a short ball from Mortaza to Rafique at midwicket, but Rashid Latif and Misbah-ul-Haq made sure that Bangladesh’s bowlers could not breathe easy quite yet.
*Tushar Arothe turns out a captain’s knockSkipper Tushar Arothe hit a fine century to give Baroda the upper hand in their Ranji Trophy league match against Saurashtra at Rajkot on Thursday.Baroda started their first innings well, putting on 70 runs for the first wicket. Nayan Mongia, batting at number three, hit an unbeaten 74, made off 149 balls with seven fours. He held the fort as a mini-collapse occurred with him at the other end.Arothe’s presence stabilised the innings, and the pair took Baroda through to the close of play. At stumps, Baroda were 283/4, with Arothe not out on 105 off 202 balls. Mongia and Arothe had added 149 runs for the fifth wicket.*Gujarat bat out a slow first dayGujarat, batting first in their Ranji Trophy league match against Maharashtra at Ahmedabad, played out a slow first day to end on 182/3.Winning the toss, Gujarat opted to take first strike on what appeared to be a typical Ahmedabad wicket. The first three wickets fell for 47 runs, but opener ND Modi and TN Varsani then came together to put on an unbroken 135 runs for the fourth wicket.At stumps, Modi was on 83, made off 259 balls. Varsani was even slower, making 59 off 223 balls. Ninety-one overs were consumed to make the 182 runs scored during the day. For Maharashtra, eight bowlers were used, the best of whom was R Khirid, with figures of 14-5-28-2.
Angelo Mathews has hailed man-of-the-match Milinda Siriwardana as a “great find” following Sri Lanka’s 72-run victory over West Indies which sealed a 2-0 whitewash.”Milinda is a great find for us – he has contributed with bat, ball and on the field,” Mathews said. “He’s been a brilliant player in past couple of months in ODIs, and coming into Test arena showed no nerves at all. He was just cruising through with his batting. His bowling also came in handy, we needed someone who can bowl a few. He is more than a part-timer.”Siriwardana top-scored in a low-scoring match, striking 68 from 111 balls in the first innings, and 42 off 60 in the second. His left-arm spin was also instrumental to the win, as he took two wickets in the first innings, and three in the second to finish with a match haul of 5 for 51. Each of his victims had batted in West Indies’ top seven.Good outings in his debut T20 and ODI series in July against Pakistan had helped put Siriwardana in the Test team. He will now be considered for longer stints in all three formats.Siriwardana’s inclusion had allowed Mathews to go through the series without having to bowl himself – which allowed him to continue recovering from an ankle complaint. Having claimed two wickets in the Galle Test as well, Siriwardana has seven Test scalps at an average below 18. He has 136 first-class wickets at 30.16.”We needed someone batting in the middle order to roll his arm and Milinda has improved dramatically in the past few months with his bowling,” Mathews said. “He’s worked really hard with Piyal Wijetunga, the spin-bowling coach. The effort he put in at the nets is unbelievable. He deserves what he got today. He’s had a brilliant match and I hope he will go from strength to strength.”Siriwardana was largely chosen for his batting, although, he maintains that he would like to progress in both disciplines. He had scored 1 on debut in Galle, but said he did not allow that to dent his belief in his batting.”Batsmen do fail sometimes – that’s a normal thing,” Siriwardana said. “I didn’t think of my debut as a special game – it was just one match. I had a lot of confidence coming into this match, thanks to the practice sessions.”He had earlier set himself firmly on the path to a Test debut by hitting 1144 runs at 67.29 in the 2015 Premier League Tournament. “Earlier maybe I was considered a limited-overs player,” Siriwardana said. “But in the recent domestic season, I made a few technical adjustments and showed I could do well in the longer format as well.”I had more runs than anyone else this season. I think I got the perfect opportunity at the right time. A player should get that chance when he’s scoring runs, so I got that. I’m not disappointed I didn’t play internationals earlier.”Siriwardana also broke a key partnership in West Indies’ innings, when he had Shai Hope stumped. Hope and Darren Bravo had put on 60 together, and moved West Indies to 80 for 1 in pursuit of 244. Mathews, though, said he was not overly worried by the stand.”From the very first day the pitch had started turning, so we knew that the conditions were only getting worse,” Mathews said. “We didn’t start too well today and bowled badly, but came back into the game after Milinda got a couple of wickets. (Rangana) Herath’s two wickets in one over – dismissing Bravo and Denesh Ramdin – was crucial.”
Wolves have certainly shown over the years that they are capable of spending money on new players, spending significant amounts of money on individual players such as Fabio Silva and Raul Jimenez.
One player, in particular, that cost the Midlands club a lot of money to bring to Molineux is full-back Nelson Semedo, who signed from Spanish club Barcelona in a deal worth a total fee of £37m back in September 2020.
Since then, the 28-year-old has gone on to make a total of 60 appearances for the Old Gold across all competitions, prior to their midweek Premier League clash against Arsenal, chipping in with two goals and two assists in the process.
Despite being a regular figure in the team after Matt Doherty left the club shortly before Semedo arrived, this hasn’t stopped the Portuguese international’s market value from taking a significant dip since joining Bruno Lage’s side.
Two months before he made the move to Molineux, Transfermarkt had his value listed as £36m, whereas it now stands at £22.5m, showing a quite meteoric fall since he moved from La Liga to the Premier League.
Labelled as a “liability” in the past by Wolves journalist Tim Spiers in terms of his defensive capabilities, Semedo has been listed as Wolves’ lowest-rated player for their two previous league games against Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City, prior to the Arsenal match, with a rating of 6.4 for each performance from SofaScore.
Taking all of this into account, with his hefty transfer fee and significant weekly wages of £84k-per-week, making him the fourth-highest earner at Wolves in mind, Fosun have dropped a clanger on spending so much money on bringing the former Barcelona defender to Molineux.
If Wolves were of the mind to sell the full-back, it seems unlikely now that they would be able to make a profit on him.
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Therefore, their best option would be to keep hold of him and hope that he can finally repay the massive investment they made on him with consistent performances on the pitch, certainly from a defensive point of view.
In other news: Wolves can unearth the next Moutinho in 19 y/o who plays “like he’s in the playground” – opinion
Rain ruined the final day of a closely-fought top-of-the-table contest at the MCG where Victoria and New South Wales played out a tame draw. The Blues declared early, setting Victoria a tough chase of 321 from 90 overs but rain arrived before the Bushrangers could begin and another interruption later meant a draw was almost inevitable.Victoria were 0 for 28 from ten overs when their progress was halted by the second delay, which lasted nearly two hours. In the end the skies cleared and Nick Jewell (49) and Rob Quiney enjoyed some batting practice, guiding the Bushrangers to 2 for 117 from their 42 overs.Quiney finished unbeaten on 52 and Brad Hodge was lbw to Matthew Nicholson from the final ball for 4. Beau Casson collected his first wicket for the game when Jewell tried to force his half-century and lobbed a catch to Greg Mail at mid on.New South Wales began the day with a lead of 278 and batted for 20 minutes, adding 42 to their total and giving Bryce McGain his third first-class five-wicket haul. McGain ended up with 5 for 112 after Stuart Clark advanced and ambitiously aimed to send McGain over long on but misread the legspin and was bowled.Dominic Thornely added a quick 28 to his overnight score and was 76 not out when the declaration came at 7 for 323. But the first rain appeared just when Victoria’s batsmen were getting into position to begin their chase and the innings did not start for another two hours.The draw was a disappointing finish to a match that, while low-scoring, had provided some interesting battles and excellent individual performances. Simon Katich’s opening-day 141 from a total of 253 was the standout, although other highlights included David Hussey’s 95 to get Victoria first-innings points and Nathan Bracken’s tight and testing bowling effort when he collected 4 for 40 on the second day.New South Wales and Victoria remain in the top two spots on the Pura Cup table, a game clear of the resurgent South Australia. Western Australia can jump into third if they win their match against Tasmania, which is under way in Hobart.
Points Table Scorecard Alfred Absolem and Pragyan Ojha pocketed four wickets apiece as Hyderabad registered their first win over Mumbai, triumphing by nine wickets at Uppal and leapfrogging to the top of the Group B points table. Set a target of 30, Hyderabad had a great chance to add a bonus point to their tally – a ten-wicket win would have ensured that – but the loss of Ravi Teja’s wicket went against them.Their bowlers had set it up earlier. Ojha set the ball rolling with the wickets of Vinayak Mane and Nishit Shetty while Kaushik Reddy and Absolem, the new-ball bowlers, complemented him with three between them. Rohit Sharma, with 95, ploughed a lone furrow but Mumbai fell 87 runs short of the first-innings lead. The reversal meant that Mumbai’s poor season got worse – after conceding first-innings leads in their opening two games, they lost here – and would need something special from here on to qualify for the semi-finals. Scorecard Azharuddin Bilakhia ground out a maiden first-class century as Gujarat confidently batted out the final day of the drawn encounter at Kolkata. Having already been assured first-innings points, Gujarat concentrated on batting out time with all their top-order gaining batting practice. Bilakhia dropped anchor, striking 15 fours in his 303-ball effort, while Bhavik Thaker weighed in with a stroke-filled 61. The two Patels – Niraj and Parthiv – chipped in with 41 and 35 respectively. With this result Gujarat, who had just two points from their first three games, doubled their tally. ScorecardSyed Sahabuddin snaffled the 13th five-wicket haul of his career to enable Andhra to gain two points from the drawn encounter at Baroda. Resuming on 262 for 3, Baroda were firm favourites to gain the first-innings lead but Sahabuddin picked up four wickets to shatter those hopes. Rakesh Solanki, 104 overnight, added only 13 to his score before falling to a run-out and then Pinal Shah and K Panchal succumbed to Sahabuddin. P Vijay Kumar, the debutant medium-pacer, added two more wickets before Sahabuddin mopped up the tail in no time. Andhra batted out the rest of the day, as SK Prasad accumulated an unbeaten 61, and, with 10 points from four games, are now perched on top of the group along with Karnataka. Scorecard A solid batting performance from Karnataka ensured two points from a drawn encounter at Delhi. Having gained the first-innings lead yesterday, and with chances of an outright result remote, Karnataka’s batsmen gained batting practice. Robin Uthappa and Thilak Naidu followed up their first-innings centuries with fifties while Yere Goud, their captain, added a dogged unbeaten 56. Karnataka, with 10 points from four games, surged to the top of the table while Delhi had an uphill battle on hand, with only six from four. Scorecard Offspinner Rajesh Sharma thwarted Maharashtra’s hopes of a first-innings lead as Punjab got the better of a draw at Kolhapur. Sairaj Bahutule and Yogesh Takawale, Maharashtra’s overnight batsmen, added 112 for the sixth wicket and gave their side a sniff but Sharma’s double-strike put an end to those plans. Satyajit Satbhai carried on the fight with an obdurate 24 but lack of support from the tailenders left Maharashtra 98 runs short. Four wickets apiece from Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh and Rajamani Jesuraj, the medium-pacers, dashed Saurashtra’s hopes of gaining a first-innings lead at Rajkot. Saurashtra, who began the day on 325 for 4, lost their way completely with their last seven batsmen adding just 26. Pujara, overnight on 145, ploughed through the wreckage but received little support from the other end. Tamil Nadu batted out the rest of the day, ending on 110 for 2, with Anirudh Srikkanth top-scoring with a 59-ball 56.
At East London, Eastern Province collapsed to 219, a deficit of 133, for Border to take a strong position going into the final day. After an opening stand of 105 from Chad Baxter (58) and Colin Ingram (74) wickets fell quickly, but at 166 for 2 Eastern Province were still in reach of Border’s first innings total of 352. Warwick Hinkel, with his leg breaks, took two quick wickets, to put Eastern Province under pressure. He added two more to finish with 4 for 42 while Mario Olivier waded in with 3 for 62. Border increased their lead to 350 when they declared on 217 for 3, after Carl Bradfield (80) and Steven Pope (64 not out) put on 80 for the third wicket. At close Eastern Province had scored 18 without loss.Easterns came back strongly after being set a target of 439 to end the day on 223 for 3 at Kimberley. Griqualand West second innings was declared on 314 for 9 with a career-best 64 from Clive Bennett. Jason Brooker’s 58 and 52 from Alan Doherty, his second 50 of the match, contributed to the big lead. Israel Hlengane achieved a career-best with his slow left-arm spin to take an outstanding 7 for 107. Easterns replied well after being bowled out for 118 in the first innings, with Sharad Mandan and Andre Seymore (41) putting on 137 for the first wicket. Mandan was caught behind just two runs short of his maiden first-class hundred. Jaco Booysen will continue tomorrow, unbeaten on 38.A 72-run eighth wicket partnership between Pierre Joubert (68) and Paul Harris (47) enabled Northerns to recover to take a 65-run lead over North West, at Sedgars Park, in Potchefstroom. Struggling overnight at 95 for 5 and then 138 for 7 the pair carried Northerns past the North West total of 186 for Northerns to eventually be bowled out for 251 with Werner Coetsee taking 3 for 42. Joubert then showed his all round ability by taking two wickets in consecutive balls, leaving North West at a precarious overnight score of 77 for 5, lead of just 12 runs.
Cricket Australia wants to host two three-Test series against West Indies and South Africa and shoehorn a Twenty20 competition into next summer’s program. James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, said CA planned to downgrade the traditional five-Test series against West Indies to three and give Hobart its first Test since 2000-01.”All we can really say at this stage is we are working towards a six-Test summer next season, but in terms of how that falls and where the matches fall, it’s way too early to be confirming that,” he said. Sutherland said scheduling made it too difficult to stage a five-Test series against West Indies. The last time West Indies visited for a Test tour they lost 5-0.Sutherland said CA would try to find a “window” to host a domestic Twenty20 tournament. “When that might be is debatable and there are differing views around the country on when the best time of the year might be,” he said. “It’s something we’ve got to explore over the next couple of months.”The extra matches add to the demands of players already worried about the expanding fixture list. As the world’s top Test team, Australia will figure in a one-off match against the Rest of the World in October, and the series also includes three one-day matches.Australia will then face New Zealand in the best-of-three Chappell-Hadlee Series before the home Tests. Sri Lanka are expected to join Australia and South Africa in next summer’s VB Series because West Indies are playing in the current competition.
Hampshire Academy achieved a new benchmark in their short history by outplaying and out-thinking their opponents, the reigning Southern League champions Havant, in their own back-yard, causing Team Manager Tony Middleton to enthuse over their “best win of the season” so far.Captain Alex Morris lost what appeared to be a vital toss and the young Hawks were inserted on a damp pitch resembling rolled Plasicine. However, the expected lavish movement was not forthcoming for the Havant seam bowlers and openers Alex Richardson (19) and Peter Hammond (31 in 83 balls, 1 six, 2 fours) did very well to establish a solid platform of 52 for the first wicket. Hammond, badly dropped behind the wicket on 17, produced arguably the best shot of the day: a huge six over mid-wicket off the bowling of Mackie Hobson (2-30), Havant’s best bowler on the day. Kevin Latouf (27) and Tom Burrows carried on the good work either side of lunch, putting on 72 invaluable runs after the Academy had faltered at 55-3. Burrows (69 balls, 5 fours) in particular showed the great ability to think on his feet; working out the areas in which to score runs on this type of turning pitch (square and behind the wicket), once the Havant spinners had been belatedly introduced into the attack. This was an attribute distinctly lacking in the home batting. A perfectly-judged cameo of 35 in 28 balls (2 sixes, 3 fours) by David Griffiths at the death of the innings gave the Academy further impetus, and probably turned the game – 39 runs coming in the last 3 overs. Most to suffer was the left arm spin of Phil Loat (3-70) as he disappeared for 27 in his last two overs. The Academy’s batsmen had succeeded in setting a very competitive target without the aid of Professional asistance in perhaps the most difficult conditions of the season so far.Evidence of just how much the pitch was assisting the spinners was shown when off spinner Mitchell Stokes (18-7-36-3) opened the bowling with Griffiths. Although the former kept it tight, the latter seemed out of sorts with the ball: former Hampshire Under 19 captain Steve Snell being quick to punish anything short of a length or over-pitched. The introduction of Charlie van der Gucht brought immediate success as Havant stuttered to 53-2, but the tea break saw the home side well placed at 82-2 with Snell still batting very well. However, the introduction of leg spinner Ian Hilsum (2-26) after tea caused Snell (58 in 59 balls, 10 fours) to lose his concentration and he became the first of five Havant batsmen in their top seven to be dismissed driving. 87-2 rapidly became 114-6, but despite a battling stand of 30 for the 7th wicket between captain Paul Gover and Bev Moynan, no other Havant batsman could manage to break into the twenties. Van der Gucht (4-41) bowled with more rhythm in his second spell and polished off the tail as the last four wickets fell for 8 runs in 36 balls, leaving the Academy meritorious victors by 70 runs and with 50 minutes to spare.