All posts by h716a5.icu

Tafadzwa Madondo has died after a motorbike accident while on holiday in Indonesia

Steven Price18-Nov-2008Tafadzwa Madondo, who was a leading schoolboy cricketer and rugby player before emigrating to New Zealand where he forged a successful career in real estate and modelling, has died after a motorbike accident while on holiday in Indonesia. He was 27.Madondo’s older brother, Trevor, who was the first black batsman to be picked for Zimbabwe, died from malaria at the age of 24 in 2001.Tafadzwa Madondo was regarded by many young black Zimbabweans as an inspirational figure, an example of what was possible. He had the benefits of a privileged education where his sporting prowess was encouraged and developed. Although his skill was as a batsman, his one first-class appearance for Manicaland was as an offspinner who could bat a bit. Soon after he moved to New Zealand where his other careers took off.His body will be flown back to Zimbabwe and he will be buried in Mutare.

Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a huge injury boost ahead of their Premier League opener this afternoon…

What’s the latest?

Nuno Santo will take the dugout for his first competitive game in charge of the North London outfit when his side welcomes defending champions Manchester City to N17 later today.

And he’ll be massively bolstered by the availability of summer signing Cristian Romero, who appears to be in contention to feature.

The 23-year-old signed on a season’s loan with a €55m (£46.5m) option to buy from Serie A outfit Atalanta and returned from Argentina’s Copa America triumph with a knee injury.

It’s believed that Romero picked up the problem during the final against Brazil, where he was forced off the pitch in the 79th minute. However, it seems that he has shaken off the knock and could now be available to Nuno for this massive fixture.

“Cristian’s injury was in the Copa America. He had his holiday, totally recovered and he’s been able to train,” claimed the Portuguese head coach to the club’s official website. “He’s doing well, but as I said, the players who haven’t had many sessions. We need to be very careful when we decide to put them on the pitch.”

A timely boost

It remains to be seen whether Romero is a contender to start, to feature on the bench or to not be involved at all but the fact that he is injury-free is certainly a major, major boost to Spurs right now.

Last season, the Lilywhites’ biggest problem was in their backline, which is why Fabio Paratici and co have secured a move for him this transfer window.

Indeed, they recorded the worst defensive record of any of the traditional ‘big six’ and that was largely down to a combination of a lack of leadership and individual mistakes.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/spurs-latest-team-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-more” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours, gossip and much more!”]

After Spurs sanctioned the exit of Toby Alderweireld to Qatar, Nuno was left with only three centre-backs, of which one – Joe Rodon – is vastly inexperienced in the Premier League.

The other two, Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier, were deemed one of the “worst” partnerships in the top-flight last season by former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara. That’s who Nuno would be likely to start in the absence of Romero.

The 6 foot 1 monster led Serie A for interceptions per game (3.1) and was handed the division’s defensive MVP award for the 2020/21 season, leading to Italian football expert Conor Clancy dubbing him “phenomenal” to This is Futbol.

If the £31.5m-rated colossus can feature this afternoon, in any capacity, then it gives Spurs a better chance of pulling off a shock result. After all, the North London side finished 24 points behind the Citizens. Not to mention the Harry Kane saga that has since emerged.

As a result, Nuno will surely be buzzing by this latest development.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Romero: Spurs can form scary duo by signing £55m “extraordinary talent”…

Australia’s inability to defend 414 in Perth has left Ricky Pontingconsidering bowling changes for next week’s Boxing Day Test inMelbourne

Brydon Coverdale in Perth21-Dec-2008
Australia could call up Ben Hilfenhaus for the Melbourne Test © Getty Images
Australia’s inability to defend 414 in Perth has left Ricky Pontingconsidering bowling changes for next week’s Boxing Day Test inMelbourne. Mitchell Johnson collected 11 wickets for the match butBrett Lee, Peter Siddle and Jason Krejza managed only one each andtheir lack of penetration allowed South Africa to record thesecond-highest run chase in Test history.”We have to look at that,” Ponting said after the defeat. “We have tothink about the style of bowlers we’ve got in the side at the moment,with the conditions that we’re going to be confronted with inMelbourne and Sydney work out if we think they’re the best guys to winus the next two games. If they’re not then we have to make somechanges.”The left-armer Doug Bollinger, who went on this year’s tours of WestIndies and India, is a chance to be promoted after completing aperfectly-timed six-wickethaul for New South Wales just as Australia lost the Test. Pontingwas also keen to chat with the chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditchabout the Tasmanian swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus.”Maybe a Hilfenhaus or someone like that who can definitely use a newball,” Ponting said. “I think he’ll come into calculations. Bollingerwill definitely come into calculations because he was so impressivewith all the work he did in India and I believe he’s got wicketstoday. We’ll talk about all those guys.”Neither Siddle nor Lee produced any swing of note and it left tooheavy a burden on the dangerous Johnson. Lee was also down on pace,although he is not in immediate danger and has credits in the bank forhis 310 Test wickets, including nine against New Zealand in Adelaidethis month.”He’ll be in the squad,” Ponting said. “There’s no doubt he’s under alittle bit of pressure at the moment. I think if you asked him he’dprobably be a little bit disappointed with only taking one wicket thisweek as well. I’m sure he’ll be in the squad.”

Former Sunderland striker Danny Graham says he ‘had no doubt’ that the fans ‘hated’ him at the Stadium Light. 

Graham reflected on his two spells with the Black Cats on the Undr The Cosh podcast.

He first joined from Swansea City back in January 2013 for a fee of £5.22million, and he was then back in the North East more than seven years later after leaving Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer.

Across those stints, he made 59 appearances in red and white, scoring just two goals (via Transfermarkt).

What did Graham have to say about his Sunderland experiences?

Graham, who retired from playing in February, feels he ‘was a fighting losing battle’ as he tried win over the fanbase and claims he faced ‘constant abuse’.

He also revealed that Phil Parkinson ‘was begging him’ to rejoin last year and that he was ‘probably the lowest paid in the squad’, so it clearly wasn’t ‘about money’.

Fan feed Roker Report relayed his comments, and here’s what supporters made of them.

Many Sunderland fans rip into Graham

“Danny Graham if you hit the back of the net things would have changed, the problem is you never did!”

Credit: @RobHall372

“I’ll speak candidly about them… the first spell was a joke, the second was a retirement home. one of the worst signings in the clubs history”

Credit: @DeanoCummings85

“Most of all, he comes across as a bit thick as well as lazy. Why not get stuck into training.. box to box sprints or whatever? It’s not doing you any harm & it might give you an edge. Says he worked hard in training then gives lots of examples how he didn’t. Aye, ok mate”

Credit: @GARP1967

“Blame the fans, it’s always the way when ex players are gone and it doesn’t work out for them. I see them as weak individuals as for me I would be BUSTING A GUT to prove them wrong. Danny was shocking for us and I always got the feeling he didn’t want to score for us. History”

Credit: @COLINDLYNCH

“Stole a living”

Credit: @paulbasnett10

“Wouldn’t even give him a response, what a waste of space”

Credit: @jeffangus12

In other news, fans react to the latest transfer link. 

A career-best bowling effort from left-arm spinner Paul Harris set up an eight-wicket win for the Titans in the final of the MTN Domestic Championship in Bloemfontein

Cricinfo staff17-Jan-2009
Scorecard

An inspired Paul Harris led the Titans to victory © Getty Images
A career-best bowling effort from the left-arm spinner Paul Harris set up an eight-wicket win for the Titans in the final of the MTN Domestic Championship in Bloemfontein. Harris, not a part of South Africa’s ODI side, returned home from Australia and promptly picked up 5 for 27 to dismiss the Eagles for a paltry 138 in 44 overs, following which the Titans openers hit half-centuries in an easy chase. It was the second successive MTN Domestic Championship title for the Titans.The Titans chose to field, and as early as the third over they had succeeded in sending back the potentially explosive Loots Bosman, courtesy a throw from Blake Snijman at mid-on. In the next over a brilliant catch from Martin van Jaarsveld, running around from leg slip to intercept a paddle off Morne Van Wyk, justified the decision to open the attack with Roelof van der Merwe’s left-arm spin.van Jaarsveld, who took time out after the first five games of the competition before returning for the final, then struck with the ball. The experienced Boeta Dippenaar and Rilee Rossouw had added 43 from 85 balls, but shortly after Dippenaar got a leading edge to a full toss from Faf du Plessis, van Jaarsveld bowled Rossouw (39 off 59 balls) when the batsman missed a reverse-sweep.That left the Eagles 72 for 4 after 22 overs and there was little resistance to come. Harris’ first five overs from first-change had been tidy if unspectacular, but on return after the fall of Dean Elgar for 22, he turned it on. A lovely piece of spin bowling foxed Ryan Bailey, who was stumped by Heino Kuhn, and another good catch, this time by a tumbling du Plessis at midwicket, accounted for Ryan McLaren.A third and final spell of 3 for 6 from Harris, back for the 42nd over, spun a web around the lower order. Only Con de Lange managed a patient 26, and Harris had his fifth when Victor Mpitsang was well taken in the deep by du Plessis.There had been nothing alarming in the pitch for the first half of the match, and the manner in which the Titans went after the required runs put Eagles’ innings in perspective. The openers Gulam Bodi and Snijman got stuck in from the get-go, and breezed their way to an opening stand of 125 in just 22.3 overs.Snijman started off with an uppercut for six off Dillon du Preez, and after a slow start Bodi played an array of shots in his 65-ball 69, an innings which made him the leading run-scorer in the competition. Bodi edged the persevering Thandi Tshabalala to slip, but Snijman stuck around with an unbeaten 53 off 78 balls to take the Titans to victory.

The Athletic’s Phil Hay has dropped a Leeds United transfer update which is sure to have fans fuming.

What’s the story?

Marcelo Bielsa’s side have had a mixed start to the Premier League season to say the least, suffering a thrashing at the hands of rivals Manchester United before being held to a 2-2 draw by Everton at Elland Road at the weekend.

The Whites have been similarly slow off the blocks when it comes to their recruitment, with only Junior Firpo as a notable new arrival.

Hay has now delivered a worrying update on where things stand behind the scenes at Thorp Arch.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “Incomings wise, Leeds will get Leo Hjelde from Celtic done before the deadline. As Bielsa said last week, more than that looks unlikely. Good chance that Poveda will head to Blackburn on loan. #lufc @TheAthleticUK.”

Fans will be fuming

Speaking after the defeat to Manchester United on the opening day of the Premier League season, Bielsa himself said: “It’s not probable that any more signings will be made. I’m happy with the players I can count on at the moment. It’s the same group as last season with the substitution of Firpo for Alioski.

“Signings that strengthen the team means a player has to compete with players who already have a position. That means there’s a very high cost to these. With regards to this situation, if players don’t arrive there’s disappointment that they don’t arrive.

“The situation is to find players who can overcome the players we already have at a low price. But to say a low price also means a high price. Low prices at the moment are prices which are very high. For good players, the prices are inaccessible.”

While Bielsa must be lauded for his incredible loyalty to the players who have brought Leeds up from the Championship and into the top flight, there remains a worrying lack of cover in certain areas, which could backfire spectacularly if things go wrong.

The Whites have already seen this season the impact not having Kalvin Phillips can have them, succumbing to a 5-1 defeat at Old Trafford in his absence. Patrick Bamford remains the club’s only senior centre-forward option when you consider that Rodrigo is being used in a more withdrawn role. That’s not to mention the Spaniard himself is looking far short of the club-record signing that he is – he didn’t even make it off the bench against the Toffees on Saturday.

After an impressive first season back in the Premier League saw them clinch a top-half finish, this summer could have, and probably should have, seen the Whites take that next step.

Instead, they’ve stood still, and barring the Alioski for Firpo swap that Bielsa mentioned, this remains the same squad from last season. Whites fans will surely be livid if the club doesn’t execute any more significant business before the end of the transfer window.

Meanwhile, Leeds are plotting a late move for this EFL ace…

Nathan Patterson has been linked with a move to Everton in recent weeks but it seems as if he will be staying with Steven Gerrard’s side at Ibrox this summer.

What’s the word?

Patterson has been heavily linked with a move to the Tofffees in recent weeks, with Rangers reportedly turning down an £8m bid for the Scottish right-back.

After the Gers reportedly missed out on £40m of Champions League income after falling to defeat against Malmo in the qualifying stages, Rangers fans might have been concerned that Patterson could have been one of the first-team players to leave as those at Ibrox looked to balance the books.

However, the Athletic’s Rangers correspondent Jordan Campbell quashed any rumours of him departing before the deadline on Tuesday evening, writing on Twitter that the move categorically ‘won’t happen.’

A huge boost for Gerrard?

When considering how important Patterson became to Rangers last season in the absence of James Tavernier, and the way he has performed so far this season, it was vital that Gerrard kept the Scotland international at Ibrox.

Since making his debut in the 2019/20 season, Patterson has gone on to make 18 appearances for the first-team at Rangers, in which he has contributed two goals.

Gerrard was full of praise for the teenage defender last season as he filled in for Tavernier, saying:

“If there is a better right back in the country on form, I would like to see it.

“He emptied the tank for us today and his performance was outstanding.

“He has become a man in a short space of time. He’s maturing. We are still going to work on his body to make him bigger and stronger.

“He’ll hopefully be back to finish this season with us and have a really strong pre-season to develop him from a physical and football point of view.

“There is still loads more to come from Nathan which is really exciting.”

As Gerrard suggests, it seems likely that Patterson is only going to get better, and it would have been a shame to see him leave Rangers with less than 20 first-team appearances under his belt.

[freshpress-quiz id=“593776”]

Therefore, Gers fans will be delighted to hear that the club won’t sell Patterson today and that he will remain at Ibrox until January, at least.

And, in other news… Rangers transfer saga on “perfect” gem looks to be finally over

Cricinfo takes a look at the matches from Round 1 of the 2008-09 Regional Four Day Competition

Cricinfo staff13-Jan-2009
Devon Smith was involved in four half-century stands during his 212 © DigicelCricket.com/Brooks La Touche Photography
Devon Smith’s 212 proved too much for Guyana, who were demolished by an innings and 147 runs by Windward Islands in St George’s in the WICB regional four-day competition. Guyana captain Travis Dowlin’s plan to bat first backfired when Shane Shillingford accounted for the middle order and triggered a batting collapse to 172. Smith then piled on the misery for the visitors and was involved in three successive half-century stands – 50 for the third wicket with Liam Sebastien, 95 with Darren Sammy and 86 with his captain Rawl Lewis – to put the game out of Guyana’s reach. His fourth fifty-plus stand was an unbeaten 67 for the eighth wicket with Shillingford as Windwards declared on 414 for 9. It was another sorry display from the Guyana batsmen in their second innings; they folded for 95 on the third day. Deighton Butler was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up 5 for 29, while Shillingford grabbed 3 for 11 to finish with seven for the match.Smith, last represented West Indies in the second Test against Australia in May last year, said he was making a big effort to return to the side for the home series against England starting next month. “I have had two months of really hard preparation, doing a lot of running and batting and I feel I am now much more mature and confident as a batsman,” he told . “I don’t think I have made the best of my opportunities at the Test level because I think I put myself under pressure to always perform to keep my place in the team and maybe tried too hard.”I now realise how important the mental side of cricket is and I am now more relaxed and enjoying my cricket. Once you do the basics, concentrate, have patience and pick your shots you should make lots of runs. As you get older I think you learn these things.”Smith, 27, has played 24 Tests and 26 ODIs for West Indies.Gavin Wallace’s second-innings bowling display of 8 for 20 gave him a match haul of 11 wickets and handed Jamaica a six-wicket win against Leeward Islands in Basseterre. Omari Banks’ 108 was the only highlight of Leeward’ first innings after Runako Morton chose to bat. Odean Brown, who bagged 5 for 82, and Wallace looked to have done well to keep the hosts to below 300, but Anthony Martin’s spin had Jamaica floundering during their reply. And it was largely due to Donovan Pagon’s 62 that they managed to crawl to 227. With Kieran Powell’s 53 in the second innings, it looked like Leewards would build on the advantage, but Wallace’s magical spell on the third day meant the hosts crumbled to 91 all out. The 162-run target was always going to be easy from then on, and Jamaica grabbed 12 points with a day to spare.In the only game that went the full four days, Dale Richards hit his third first-class hundred to deny Trinidad & Tobago a victory against Barbados in Weymouth. Set 278 for victory, Richards made 113 to carry the hosts to 197 for 4 in their second innings. Barbados failed to grab the initiative after shooting out T&T for 264 in the first innings, with Darren Bravo (97) and Darren Ganga (56) providing the anchor roles. Ryan Hinds was the most successful bowler for Barbados, removing the bottom order quickly with 4 for 50. However, apart from Richards who scored 65, the hosts surrendered tamely for 199 during their reply. Sherwin Ganga and Amit Jaggernauth ripped through the batting order. Ganga picked up a five-wicket haul and Jaggernauth finished with 4 for 64. Fifties from Adrian Barath and Lendl Simmons then lifted the visitors to 212 for 3 in their second innings before they declared half an hour before lunch. Twin strikes from Dave Mohammed came too late and could only ensure six points for T&T by virtue of their first-innings lead, and Barbados pocketed three points.

Dhawal Kulkarni, the Mumbai seamer, has got a call-up to the Indian Test squad for the three Tests against New Zealand

Sidharth Monga13-Feb-2009
Dhawal Kulkarni took 42 wickets in the 2008-09 Ranji season © Cricinfo Ltd
India’s selectors have picked their squads for the tour of New Zealand, with Dhawal Kulkarni, the Mumbai seamer, the surprise inclusion in the Test side. It caps an astonishing season for Kulkarni, who made his first-class debut six months ago and ended up the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy. L Balaji makes a return to the Test squad less than two weeks after being recalled to the one-day side.Harbhajan Singh, who missed the one-day series in Sri Lanka, and Munaf Patel, who had to leave midway with an injury, also return to the squad. Dinesh Karthik has been named reserve keeper for the tour and features in the Test, one-day and Twenty20 squads. He was dropped after a poor Test series in Sri Lanka last year but has fought his way back via a strong domestic season with the bat.The selection of the quicks for the Tests was always going to be the major issue for the selectors, and Kulkarni’s selection was the only surprise. Less than two months ago, Kulkarni was not among the 36 players handed BCCI contracts; RP Singh and Sreesanth were on that list but aren’t in the tour party.Sreesanth was not fit when the contracts were handed out and RP ran into fitness problems later. While Sreesanth played three domestic first-class matches, taking 15 wickets, to prove his fitness, RP’s fitness status remains unknown.There’s a clear indication the selectors have gone for bowlers who have turned out long, consistent spells over the last year, and not those whose potential hasn’t translated into wickets. On that count, the selection of Balaji and Kulkarni selection – with 78 Ranji wickets between them – doesn’t seem surprising.Kulkarni said the call-up was not entirely unexpected. “Given my Ranji performance, where I was the highest wicket-taker (42 wickets), I did feel I could get picked,” Kulkarni told Cricinfo. “Now I am up for whatever role offered to me.” He will be valued both for his knowledge of New Zealand conditions – he toured with the India Under-19s in 2007 – as well as their personnel, having played the ‘A’ side last year.M Vijay stays in the Test squad, the reward for an impressive Test debut against Australia on a day’s notice. Apart from being the reserve opener, he might need to bat in the middle order if the need arises: neither Rohit Sharma nor S Badrinath have been picked. Which also raises the question, why such a hurry in naming the Test squad? What if Rohit finds form in the ODIs? Will India let go of a player who has acclimatised himself to alien conditions? If not, will they swell the squad to 17?It remains to be seen whether Karthik has improved his wicketkeeping after two poor Tests in Sri Lanka last year, but his batting form is not in doubt. He scored 1026 runs at 64.12 in the just-concluded first-class season, none better than the 113-ball 153 against Central Zone, when his team was down at 86 for 6. If he does get to play, it could well be his last chance to prove he can hold a place on the strength of his keeping.The one-day and Twenty20 sides are as expected, with Munaf taking back his place. It is heartening to see that Ravindra Jadeja, who impressed in his ODI debut, will get a taste of New Zealand conditions in the two Twenty20 internationals before flying back. Sachin Tendulkar, who has pulled out of the Twenty20s, will replace him for the ODIs.Test squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, M Vijay, Amit Mishra, L Balaji, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dinesh Karthik (wk)ODI squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Dinesh Karthik (wk)Twenty20 squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha, Dinesh Karthik (wk)

Leeds United have suffered an injury setback ahead of their Premier League clash against Burnley on Sunday afternoon.

The Whites are looking for their first win of the new campaign in the top-flight, having been beaten by Manchester United on the opening day and then held by Everton last weekend.

Now, ahead of their game at Turf Moor later today, The Athletic’s Phil Hay confirmed a late blow for Marcelo Bielsa’s side surrounding Germany international Robin Koch.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “No Robin Koch again this weekend, still recovering from injury, but Bielsa thinks Llorente is ready for 90 minutes and Forshaw came through the Crewe game positively. #lufc”

While Koch had a difficult first game against United, that of course came when he was asked to fill in the holding midfield role after Kalvin Phillips was ruled out through injury.

Without the German in the team last season, Leeds struggled to keep a lid of things in defence, keeping just five clean sheets in the 17 Premier League games he missed through injury between December and early March.

As per WhoScored, he boasted the best passing accuracy of any senior Whites centre-back, and that’s incredibly important for Bielsa as he looks for his side to play out from defence.

The 25-year-old also ranked highly compared to the rest of his teammates when it came to his defensive contributions, averaging the third best in terms of interceptions per game, and being dribbled past the fewest amount of times per match of any defender in the squad.

Vincenzo Grifo, Koch’s former teammate at Freiburg, talked up his ability to The Athletic by saying: “He’s very vocal at the back and he loves to have the game in front of him. He’s an outstanding organiser. His improvement is incredibly rapid, including in the national team, and he’s on a path to become a world-class player, a monster centre-back.”

When Koch is on song, and playing with confidence, the German is a valuable member of this Leeds squad, and news of his absence against Burnley, in a game where the Whites will have to counter the Clarets’ physicality, will come as a major blow.

Bielsa will surely be gutted.

Meanwhile, Leeds United remain interested in signing this star…