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Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore believes that his side can bounce back in thesecond one-day international at Centurion on Friday

Charlie Austin28-Nov-2002Sri Lanka coach Dav Whatmore believes that his side can bounce back in thesecond one-day international at Centurion on Friday. Sri Lanka lost the opening match heavily at Wanderers on Wednesday after an all-too familiar top-order capitulation.The tourists were unfortunate to loss the toss on a well-grassed damp pitch, but even so their 128-run total was clearly unacceptable."The ball did move around in that first hour but in my mind that was not a 128-run pitch – we should have scrambled together a total between 175 and 200," said Whatmore.Sri Lanka lost the opening Test at Wanderers in a similarly chastening manner, but then came back strongly at Centurion in the second Test. Whatmore hopes for a repeat performance."We came back well at Centurion on a different surface and that is what we are looking to do in this game," he said.Sri Lanka, who had a light practice on Thursday afternoon, are considering changes for the second game.They are set to stick with the policy of playing seven specialist batsmen, but may include 35-year-old left-hander Hashan Tillakaratne ahead of Jehan Mubarak.In the bowling department they are keen to provide an opportunity to all-rounder Hasantha Fernando, who needs as much experience as possible if he is going to occupy the pivotal all-rounder’s spot in the World Cup.That would mean dropping one of the four frontline bowlers – Chaminda Vaas,Dilhara Fernando, Pulasthi Gunaratne and Hasantha Fernando.South Africa, meanwhile, who had a voluntary training session in the afternoon, have been boosted by the news that Jonty Rhodes has recovered from a hamstring injury. The one-specialist had responded well to intensive treatment and passed a fitness test on Thursday afternoon.His return will strengthen a middle order that had looked fragile for a period at the Wanderers when South Africa slipped to 56 for four. Rhodes is expected to take the place of Justin Ontong, his replacement at Wanderers, who scored just six.Out-of-form all-rounder Lance Klusener is also expected to make his first appearance of the series in place of Andrew Hall.Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya (Capt), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara, Russel Arnold, Mahela Jayawardene, Aravinda de Silva, Jehan Mubarak, Avishka Gunawardene, Hasantha Fernando, Upul Chandana, Thilan Samaraweera, Pulasthi Gunaratne, Chaminda Vaas, Dilhara Fernando, Chamila Gamage Lakshitha, Prabath Nissanka, Hashan Tillakaratne.South Africa: Shaun Pollock (Capt), Mark Boucher, Nicky Boje, Boeta Dippenaar, Allan Donald, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Jonty Rhodes, Graeme Smith, Monde Zondeki.

An update has emerged on Tottenham’s pursuit of Bologna centre-back Takehiro Tomiyasu…

What’s the talk?

According to Football Insider, Tottenham have agreed personal terms with Bologna central defender Takehiro Tomiyasu as Daniel Levy and Fabio Paratici attempt to broker a deal for the Japan international to come in and bolster Nuno Santo’s squad.

The report claims that Spurs are now working to reach an agreement with Bologna over a transfer fee. Tomiyasu is valued at £17.2m by the Serie A side, whilst Tottenham have offered £15.5m so far.

Fans will be buzzing

Tottenham fans will be buzzing with this news as the club have taken a major step towards signing Tomiyasu by agreeing a long-term contract with him. This means that they are halfway to bringing him to England, as they now only need to iron out a fee with Bologna before being able to confirm his arrival – subject to medical checks and international clearance, of course.

The young defender could be an excellent acquisition for Santo’s squad. Despite being 22, he has played 60 Serie A games since the start of the 2019/20 campaign and this highlights how much faith Bologna have in his consistency in spite of his inexperience. He averaged superb WhoScored ratings of 6.81 and 6.77 in the two seasons respectively, which also shows off his quality at the top level.

Tomiyasu’s Bologna teammate Mitchell Dijks previously labelled him as a “warrior”, telling TuttoSport: “He is very strong, a real Japanese warrior.”

His teammates have faith in him and the club have backed him by making him a regular starter over the past two years, which bodes well for any potential move to Tottenham.

Fans should be excited by this deal as he is a young player with potential who has already shown that he can compete in a major European league, whilst Dijks’ comments on him being a “warrior” on the pitch should make supporters happy, with the prospect of watching him lead their club into battle in the Premier League a very exciting one.

It is now down to Levy and Paratici to ensure that they agree a fee with the Serie A side. The sooner Tomiyasu arrives, the sooner he can settle down and get to know his teammates and what Santo wants from his players, whilst also getting as many pre-season games in as possible to prepare him for the 2021/22 campaign.

AND in other news, Robbie Keane 2.0: Levy could seal dream deal with “first-class” dynamo, Spurs need him…

Virat Kohli, the captain of the India under-19s, and team-mates Pradeep Sangwan and Tanmay Srivastava, have been awarded the Border-Gavaskar scholarship for 2008, whichwill enable them to train for six weeks at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence in

Cricinfo staff06-Jun-2008
Pradeep Sangwan, the Delhi left-arm seamer, is one of three recipients of the Border-Gavaskar scholarship © Cricinfo Ltd.
Virat Kohli, the captain of the India under-19s, and team-mates Pradeep Sangwan and Tanmay Srivastava, have been awarded the Border-Gavaskar scholarship for 2008. The scholarship will enable them to train for six weeks at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Brisbane.”It’s really good to receive the scholarship. I think my performance in the [U-19] World Cup has been taken into consideration for this” Sangwan told the . Sangwan, a left-arm seamer who is Kohli’s team-mate in Delhi’s Ranji squad, was one of the stand-out performers in India’s victorious U-19 World Cup campaign, taking eight wickets from six matches at 20.75.Meanwhile, Srivastava, who was the top-scorer in the tournament with 262 runs at 52.40, felt it was an “honour” to be a recipient of the scholarship. “This is the most sought-after scholarship and I am really lucky to get this. I am looking forward to further working on my skills and improving my game while we are trained in Australia.”Kohli also had a good run in the U-19 World Cup, scoring 235 runs to finish as the third-highest run-getter, and was one of only three batsmen to score a century in the tournament, which was held in Malaysia.The trio will be joined on their Australian stint by Mumbai seamer Dhawal Kulkarni, whose trip has been sponsored under the Dilip Sardesai Scholarship, which has been newly constituted by the Mumbai Cricket Association. They will leave for Brisbane on Saturday.

A number of Liverpool fans are excited after a transfer story emerged regarding the Reds’ reported interest in Netherlands forward Donyell Malen.

Jurgen Klopp’s side battled their way to a third-place finish in the Premier League last season, but the team looked jaded at times during a tough campaign.

There is a feeling that some fresh blood is needed in the squad this summer, with defender Ibrahima Konate already arriving from RB Leipzig. Liverpool’s attack could be in need of a rejig, considering the struggles of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino last term.

[freshpress-quiz id=“359326”]

According to Voetbal International journalist Marco Timmer [via Sport Witness and LFC Transfer Room on Twitter], agent Mino Raiola is in talks with Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund about a move for Malen.

The 22-year-old Dutchman scored 19 goals in the Eredivisie last season and is seen as one of the most exciting young players in the Netherlands.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/the-latest-liverpool-transfer-news-6/” title=”The latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Liverpool fan react positively to Malen links

These Liverpool fans took to Twitter to provide their thoughts on the possibility of Malen coming to Anfield, with many Kopites very much in favour.

“I would like this signing”

Credit: @ChrisHPE

“That magazine is very reliable so this is good news”

Credit: @ABxLFC

“Interesting. The adaptation between leagues might take time, especially as a squad player with limited time, but he’s definitely really talented”

Credit: @NotoriousJOS

“Liverpool please”

Credit: @agarwalkaus

“Jota, Malen and Elliott as our backup front three omds what an upgrade”

Credit: @itskebaboclock

“@LFC SIGN HIM”

Credit: @sanomistan

In other news, Liverpool’s interest in a former transfer target has reportedly returned. Find out who it is here.

The Birmingham Mail’s Ashley Preece has delivered a fresh update on the future of Aston Villa talisman Jack Grealish.

What’s the story?

Writing initially on Twitter, he said:

In the accompanying article, Preece added: “Grealish is rightly having some much-needed time off after the Euros with his future to be ironed out once and for all when he returns. Villa expect to have clarity on Grealish’s future before the month’s out.

“BirminghamLiveÂhas been told how Grealish is still expected to sign a new deal but, again, a lot can change. Ultimately, and the bottom line is this: it’ll be Grealish’s decision should City go in strong for him which they’re yet to do. There’s been no bid while CEO Christian Purslow has always denied that there’s a buy-out clause in Grealish’s £125,000-a-week contract which he signed 10 months ago.

“Club insiders both at Villa and City have gone quiet over Grealish’s future, with both clubs keeping their cards close to their chests. BirminghamLive has been told, though, that City must sell off first-team players if they’re to fund a British transfer record and, until that happens, then deals for Kane and/or Grealish appear unlikely.”

Fans will love it

Make no mistake about it, Grealish staying at Villa Park this summer would be the biggest and best piece of business Dean Smith’s side could do, regardless of any new high-profile signings.

The Villa captain showed once again in Euro 2020 with England the kind of top talent that he is, including an impressive game-changing display against Germany in the last 16 when he had a hand in both of the Three Lions’ goals.

Preece’s update that the expectation is that Grealish will put pen to paper on a new contract, and that City will need to sell players first before making a move for the likes of the Villa man and Spurs’ Harry Kane, is one which will surely delight the Midlands club’s supporters.

Meanwhile, a new update has emerged on Villa’s pursuit of Julian Alvarez…

South Africa’s cricketers opted for practice on a soporific final day of their tour match against Somerset

Andrew Miller at Taunton01-Jul-2008Somerset 249 and 115 for 3 dec (Durston 32*, de Bruyn 9*) drew with South Africa 515 for 3 dec (Amla 172, Kallis 160*) and 215 for 6 dec (McKenzie 63)
Scorecard
Paul Harris enjoyed the conditions as he helped himself to a second first-class fifty © Getty Images
South Africa’s batsmen gained some valuable time in the middle and their bowlers enjoyed another useful work-out, as the tour match against Somerset drifted to stalemate on a soporific final day at Taunton. Neil McKenzie atoned for his first-innings duck with a composed 63, while the spinner, Paul Harris, pounded an entertaining 47-ball fifty, his second first-class half-century. The only South African who really missed out over the three days was Mark Boucher, who was bowled in the third over of the day for 7 by a beauty from Steffan Jones that plucked out his off stump.After resuming on 56 for 1 overnight, South Africa eventually declared on 215 for 6, 45 minutes after the lunch break. In the hour that was available before tea, Morne Morkel took his fourth wicket of the match when Neil Edwards pushed hard outside off and was comfortably taken by McKenzie at second slip, but his first five-over spell went for 41 runs, largely thanks to Arul Suppiah, who batted with great freedom until he was caught at short cover off Harris for 41. Suppiah added 46 for the second wicket with James Hildreth, who swatted Makhaya Ntini over midwicket, for six, but then chased a wide one from Andre Nel to be caught behind for 16.With nothing at stake in the game, both sides were content to go through the motions, and a decent smattering of a crowd was equally content to bask in the warmth of the hottest day of the year so far. McKenzie was particularly keen to make his chance for crease occupation count. He resumed on 37 not out overnight, and it took him 72 minutes to pick off his first boundary of the day, a straight drive off Suppiah that took him to 48. Shortly afterwards he brought up his half-century from 80 balls with seven fours, as he and AB de Villiers settled in for a 74-run stand for the third wicket.De Villiers, who made an attractive 47 not out in the first innings, was the most fluent of the pair, although he also enjoyed a moment or two of good fortune as Somerset’s fielding became understandably ragged. On 20, he miscued a pull and lobbed a tantalising chance over the head of the keeper, Craig Kieswetter, and 17 runs later he was dropped by Andrew Caddick at mid-on, who compounded the misery of his spinner, Michael Munday, by flinging the very next delivery clean over the keeper’s head for four overthrows.De Villiers took that as his cue to step up the tempo, and Munday was sent sprawling in the covers as he drove Suppiah handsomely to the pavilion boundary. One ball later, however, he tried a similar shot but picked out Mark Turner’s midriff at short cover to fall for 48 from 89 balls. With lunch approaching, McKenzie contrived to flat-bat a full-toss from Munday down the throat of Zander de Bruyn at deep backward square-leg, and straight after the break, Morkel clipped Suppiah off his toes, only to be run out by Turner’s direct hit from square leg.Suppiah, who was the pick of the Somerset attack, bowled Ashwell Prince off the inside-edge for 21 to hasten the declaration, which followed as soon as Harris had completed his fifty. His innings was the undoubted highlight of an underwhelming day’s play, as he attacked from the word go with seven fours and two sixes in his innings, one of which landed in the hospitality boxes at deep midwicket.Somerset went to tea on 76 for 2 with the draw all but secured. Suppiah’s dismissal raised the brief prospect of a wobbly final session, especially with a hint of rain and cloud cover in the air, but Wes Durston resisted gamely for the second time in the match, to finish unbeaten on 32, with Zander de Bruyn alongside him on 9. South Africa, however, were unperturbed by the lack of result after a useful three-day workout. “I think we got everything we wanted out of the game,” said South Africa’s coach, Mickey Arthur. “In fact I don’t think we could have scripted it better.”

The Herald on Sunday has reported that Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach, could be one of the contenders to replace John Bracewell, whose term ends in April 2009

Cricinfo staff20-Jul-2008
Greg Shipperd’s stint in the IPL has impressed Vettori © Cricket Victoria
Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach, could be one of the contenders to replace John Bracewell, whose term as New Zealand coach ends in April 2009. Shipperd apparently has the backing of the New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, who was impressed by the Australian during their stint with the Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.”I’ll certainly think about it, yes,” Shipperd told the Wellington-based . “Any national coaching job is very prestigious and a great challenge and you’ve got a terrific emerging team I think, so from a coaching point of view it would be a great challenge and another level above where I currently coach.”Shipperd coached Tasmania for 11 seasons after quitting first-class cricket in 1990-91, guiding the state to its first Sheffield Shield final in 1993-94, then again in 1997-98 and 2001-02. He took charge of Victoria after David Hookes’ death in January 2004 and in the same season, the team celebrated its first Pura Cup title since 1990-91. In the IPL, Delhi made good progress at the start of the tournament, but narrowly made it to the semi-finals, where they lost to champions Rajasthan Royals.Shipperd has until August 4 to make a formal application. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) haven’t disclosed the names of any applicants yet. However, Justin Vaughan, NZC’s chief executive, had stated John Wright, the former New Zealand captain and India coach, is one of the favourites for the job.Of the state associations in the country, the paper reported that Andy Moles (Northern Districts) and Anthony Stuart (Wellington) have attracted a lot of positive feedback. Tom Moody, the former Australian allrounder and coach of Sri Lanka, has indicated his preference to stay on Perth with Western Australia, and hence will not apply.

Tottenham Hotspur are among the leading contenders to sign Nicolo Barella this summer, according to reports…

What’s the word?

Spanish outlet Marca claimed that the Inter Milan midfielder is attracting interest from across Europe, notably from Premier League duo Spurs and Liverpool.

They go as far as suggesting that the English pair are the front-runners in the pursuit of the 24-year-old sensation.

It’s thought that there has been talk of possible bids in the region of €60m (£52m) to €70m (£60.5m), which could well eclipse the Lilywhites’ club-record fee of £55m for Tanguy Ndombele.

This is backed up by Italian newspaper La Repubblica, who claimed that the Serie A champions would only sell for the latter amount.

Lo Celso upgrade

It remains to be seen whether Spurs have the finances to make such a splash, but Barella would be quite the addition for Nuno Espirito Santo heading into next season.

If there is any Spurs player who has underperformed since arriving in N17, you could argue that Giovani Lo Celso sits atop that list, especially if he is to breakthrough as a true box-to-box option in the midgield engine room.

The Inter beast would be a considerable upgrade in the role, that’s for sure.

On the way to sealing the club’s first Serie A title in 11 years, Barella provided three goals and nine assists from midfield and ranked amongst the most consistent performers at either end of the pitch, having averaged 1.6 tackles and 1.3 key passes per game, via WhoScored.

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By comparison, in the 74 appearances that Lo Celso has made since his arrival in London from Real Betis, he has only provided seven goals and four assists. Barella has arguably done better in just one season than the Argentine has across two.

Lo Celso struggled for creativity throughout 2020/21 as well, managing only 0.8 key passes per game in the Premier League.

The 29-cap Euro 2020 champion has received some glowing endorsements in the past and perhaps the biggest of them all comes from former Spurs striker Jurgen Klinsmann, who compared Barella to Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante.

In quotes sourced by football.london, the German said: “He has the same function as Kante – but the Inter player is in the development phase.”

Furthermore, the Italy star has also been described as “warrior full of determination” by the legendary Arrigo Sacchi and “extraordinary” by former Cagliari coach Rolando Maran.

Valued at £58.5m by Transfermarkt, Barella’s worth is only going to increase tenfold after a season in which he clinched two major trophies across the domestic and international stage.

On the above evidence, Paratici could well land a major upgrade to Lo Celso by breaking Spurs’ club transfer record.

AND in other news, Paratici could finally replace Eriksen with Spurs swoop for £26m-rated “revelation”…

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Joe Hart has opened talks over a move to Scottish giants Celtic, as reported by Fabrizio Romano on Twitter.

The Lowdown: Spurs gear up for 2021/22

Looking towards a new era in North London, newly appointed Spurs boss Nuno Espirito Santo will be keen to shift spare parts of his squad in order to cultivate a winning environment in his dressing room.

Thus far, the Portuguese manager has yielded five early casualties in his term at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in the form of Juan Foyth, Danny Rose, Erik Lamela, Toby Alderweireld and Paulo Gazzaniga [Transfermarkt].

Could another departure be set to take place in the wake of recent developments?

The Latest: Romano reveals Hart talks

Transfer guru Romano relayed the following information on Twitter regarding the Hart situation, claiming:

“Celtic have opened talks with Tottenham to sign Joe Hart as new goalkeeper. Negotiations ongoing between the two clubs.”

The Glaswegian outfit are said to be on the lookout for a new stopper due to long-term issues between the sticks [Glasgow Times].

34-year-old Hart has been told he can leave his current employers this summer, with Parkhead looking a likely destination after a few years as a peripheral figure at various clubs [Glasgow Times].

The Verdict: Makes sense due to lack of first-team openings

Facing the prospect of playing third fiddle to Hugo Lloris and new Tottenham import Pierluigi Gollini, it may be the best course of action for Hart to move on to play regular football north of the border.

In 2020/21, the Shrewsbury-born man registered five clean sheets across ten appearances in north London [Transfermarkt].

However, the 6 foot 5 giant has suffered something of a fall from grace in recent years, only managing 57 outings across all competitions in the last four seasons [Transfermarkt].

Nevertheless, his experience within the changing room would be missed by his contemporaries at Spurs.

Once labelled as ‘fantastic’ by fellow England international Fraser Forster, it may be time for the former Manchester City stopper to move on to pastures new [Daily Echo] and re-find that form elsewhere.

In other news, an ex-Tottenham man has backed the club to pursue a Premier League poacher.

Bermuda’s dismal batting display handed Canada the easiest of victories, by eight wickets and with almost half the possible 20 overs in hand

John Ward in Belfast05-Aug-2008
ScorecardThe play-off for fifth and sixth places in the tournament evoked little interest, even before the start of another poor match, where Bermuda’s dismal batting display handed Canada the easiest of victories, by eight wickets and with almost half the possible 20 overs in hand. Bermuda decided to omit their most famous player, Dwayne Leverock, from this match to give their reserves an outing.Canada put Bermuda in to bat and the men in blue soon lost their opener Chris Foggo, caught off a skier to long leg for 7, followed by Orande Bascombe (2) to a lesser skyer in the covers. Inexperienced as they are in this form of the game, the Associate players depart to skied catches much more regularly than do the professionals.Wickets contined to fall, including that of Bermuda’s most successful batsman of the tournament, Stephen Outerbridge, lbw to Henry Osinde for 4. After ten overs, the score was an apparently hopeless 34 for 5, and once again incompetent batting by the top order had condemned a team to humilation and probable defeat. At 45 the remaining opener, Oliver Pitcher, sliced an easy catch to backward point after holding out for a dogged 15, and the sorry procession continued.The innings slid to a sorry conclusion for 70 all out in the final over, and the Bermudan players must have felt deeply demoralised. They never at any point looked like giving a good account of themselves with the bat and Pitcher alone reached double figures. Remarkably, there was only one boundary shot in the entire innings, hit by Foggo in the opening over. Four bowlers took two cheap wickets each; Osinde, with 2 for 12, had the poorest figures of them, but arguably did the most valuable job in shattering the very shatterable top order. Steve Welsh took two middle-order wickets for just six runs in three overs, and two good catches in addition tipped the scales his way for the Man of the Match award.The question was, could Canada do any better? There was no evidence of it from the first ball of the innings, which Mohammad Qazi popped up tamely to midwicket. Canada did not need to hurry, though, and the score proceeded to 32, at which point John Davison, some would say unusually restrained in his batting for a brisk 19 off 13 balls, skied a catch to mid-on after four overs.Geoffrey Barnett took over the post of responsibility and saw his team through to an overwhelming victory by eight wickets, scoring 33 comfortably off 34 balls, while Ashish Bagai backed him up with 15 off 16 balls. Canada, at least, can go home with a convincing win under their belts, but tinged with the knowledge that they peaked a little too late.