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Chelsea will get a full week to prepare for the Carabao Cup final while Liverpool have to play Luton on Wednesday due to fixture rearrangements.

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Chelsea set for more preparation time than Liverpool Broadcasting issues force Liverpool to play Luton on WednesdayWembley showdown set for February 25 Getty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

The Reds secured their spot in the Carabao Cup final, beating Fulham in the last four, which will mark their first Wembley trip of the campaign. Initially, Liverpool had the week leading up to the final clear for preparation. However, a recent change in the fixture list has disrupted their plans.

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Liverpool's encounter against Luton Town, originally scheduled for the weekend of the final, has been rescheduled to Wednesday, February 21. The tight turnaround necessitates recovery on Thursday, training on Friday, and travel to London on Saturday, offering minimal preparation time for Jurgen Klopp and his squad. In contrast, Chelsea benefits from an uninterrupted week leading up to the final. Their home clash against Tottenham, initially slated for February 23, remains unchanged.

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The fixture changes stem from broadcasting agreements and the selection of televised matches. Chelsea's fixture against Tottenham has already been chosen by Sky Sports, preventing any rescheduling due to conflicting Champions League ties. On the other hand, Liverpool's match against Luton was not selected for TV broadcast in the UK, leaving room for potential midweek rescheduling.

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While Chelsea and Tottenham mostly enjoy the luxury of free midweeks, Liverpool face a challenging schedule, thanks to their Europa League commitments. However, with Mohamed Salah having returned to full fitness, Jurgen Klopp will be confident to lift their first silverware of the season and keep alive their quadruple hopes.

The former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India Raj Singh Dungarpur says he still does not believe match-fixing can take place in a team game

25-Nov-2009The former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India Raj Singh Dungarpur says he still does not believe match-fixing can take place in a team game.Asked specifically how widespread is the scourge of match-fixing, Dungarpur told Asia Today programme of the ‘BBC World’ last night, “betting is widespread. Match-fixing I don’t know. I still don’t believe match-fixing can take place in a team game.”Asked how confident he was that match-fixing was not continuing in India today, Dungarpur said “I am very confident it doesn’t exist anymore, if at all it had existed before.”Dungarpur said he did not think most boards, except for India, went into a full investigation with CBI.”Everybody has tried to put it under the carpet. I think the first instance is as far back as 1981 when Dennis Lille and Rodney Marsh put money at 100 to one or 150 to one, huge odds, and finally ended up on the losing side. I think if that was investigated, perhaps the future would have been much brighter,” he said.When pointed out that Condon report says match-fixing was still on, Dungarpur said he did not believe it. “If anybody was even remotely connected with it they would run 100 miles away from it now,” he said.Asked why it was so hard to clamp down on the bookmakers, Dungarpur said”because the whole operation is illegal. And I think it’s impossible to put your finger on it and I think at a certain point the law authorities themselves are involved in it or it couldn’t exist the way it does.”

The 15-man squad also includes two other players with fathers who played prominent roles in Australian cricket: Nicholas Buchanan and Alister McDermott

Cricinfo staff18-Dec-2009Mitchell Marsh, the Western Australia batsman, has been named captain of the Under-19 squad for the World Cup in New Zealand in January 2010. Marsh, who played state cricket at the age of 17, was youngest player to play in Australia’s domestic one-day competition and comes from a strong sporting family – his father, Geoff, played 50 Tests for Australia and his brother, Shaun, has played 19 ODIs.The 15-man squad also includes two other players with fathers who played prominent roles in Australian cricket: Nicholas Buchanan, the son of former national coach John Buchanan, and Alister McDermott, the son of Craig McDermott. Alister McDermott made his first-class debut against the touring West Indians in November and picked up three wickets.South Australia fast bowler Kane Richardson is the other player with state experience in the squad, having played two List A matches and a Twenty20 game. Josh Hazlewood, the fast bowler from New South Wales, is the only one to have been part of the 2008 World Cup in Malaysia.”I think we’ve got a side that will acquit itself well in the competition,” Greg Chappell, chairman of the youth selection panel, said. “Obviously we’ve got a couple of players that have played state cricket this season which stands them in good stead for the competition we’re up against in New Zealand.”The fact that the tournament is being played in New Zealand probably helps us a little bit in terms of providing similar wickets to that of Australia and the strong subcontinent teams maybe slightly disadvantaged by that. The subcontinent teams are always very strong and have some great young talent and if we were playing them in their own conditions I think it would be a very difficult challenge.”I would expect that we’ll get through to the semi-finals, I’d be very disappointed if we didn’t make it that far and if you get a bit of luck once you make it there, then anything can happen. I’m confident we’ll acquit ourselves pretty well.”Australia are seeded sixth in the tournament and were grouped with South Africa, Ireland and USA, against whom they will play their opening game in Queenstown on January 16.Squad: Mitchell Marsh (WA/capt), Timothy Armstrong (NSW), Tom Beaton (WA), Nicholas Buchanan (Qld), Jackson Coleman (Vic), Luke Doran (NSW), Benjamin Dougall (SA), Jason Floros (Qld), Josh Hazelwood (NSW), Alexander Keath (Vic), Nicolas Maddinson (NSW), Alister McDermott (Qld), Kane Richardson (SA), Thomas Triffitt (Tas), Adam Zampa (NSW).

The West Indies board has said the Champions Trophy the squad will be picked among those currently playing Bangladesh and others available

Cricinfo staff12-Jul-2009The West Indies board has announced that the squad for the Champions Trophy will be picked from among those currently playing Bangladesh and others who have made themselves available for selection. It also decided to interview prospective captains for future series. These decisions indicate there may be no speedy solution to the stalemate between the board and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) regarding player contracts.Just before the start of the first Test against Bangladesh, the WIPA announced a boycott of the match by the 15-member squad that included captain Chris Gayle and senior players Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. The board organised a second-string squad, with nine uncapped players, and the Test went on. It has now referred the strike to its negotiating team for recommendations which will be eventually reviewed board’s executive committee.After its meeting on Saturday at Grenadine House Hotel in St Vincent, the board issued a release stating its “unswerving commitment and support” to the group of players who were available for the Test and said there would be at least 29 contracted players from which future squads could be picked. But the players have to participate in all regional tournaments in order to be eligible, which the board said would be “done without prejudice”. “Each case will be determined on an individual basis and factors to be taken into consideration by the selectors will be conduct, attitude, performance and overall value.”The board also agreed to institute a policy of regular meetings with the West Indies team “to ensure better rapport between both parties and to establish a support team for the benefit of the personal development of players and their welfare”.

Antonio Conte is facing plenty of important decisions as he embarks on his first game in charge of Tottenham Hotspur this evening.

The north London outfit appointed the 52-year-old on Tuesday after handing Nuno Santo his marching orders less than 24 hours earlier following a 3-0 defeat to Manchester United at the weekend.

It’ll be no easy task for the Italian, who won a Premier League and FA Cup during his last stint in England, but he could do himself a massive favour by axing Ben Davies.

The Red Devils had been leaking goals for fun before they turned up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon, so it was perhaps a huge surprise to see Nuno opt for the 67-cap Welshman over the more attack-minded Sergio Reguilon.

Ultimately, it was a decision that cost him dearly as Spurs looked lacklustre in attack once again and they leaked three goals in yet another league outing.

The 28-year-old left-back was given the run around by United’s veteran frontline of Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo and he was caught ball watching for the latter’s superb opener.

Davies was also Spurs’ lowest-rated outfield player (6.1), as per SofaScore figures, which only further highlights his struggles.

Across the full 90 minutes, the £14.4m-rated star won just one of four ground duels (25%), lost possession 16 times, failed to deliver a single accurate cross and even earned a booking for his troubles.

He has often failed to impress in the big matches, as seen by Sunday and last season. One game against Liverpool saw ex-Leeds striker Noel Whelan deem him “appalling” to Football Insider.

Whilst Vitesse are no great shakes, the £93k-per-week Wales international captained the side when these two faced each other in the Netherlands 14 days ago and he was once again one of the poorer players on the pitch, earning a 6.3 rating – the joint-third lowest, as per SofaScore.

Conte is likely to utilise an attacking formation with wing-backs, so Davies’ time at the club could be thrown into doubt. Therefore, it seems a wise decision for the Italian to ruthlessly axe him, starting with tonight’s encounter.

If he were to start, it could prove costly and the new manager will want to kickstart his reign with a bang.

AND in other news, Spurs have “close agreement” with “devastating” £34m-rated beast, Conte surely buzzing…

India’s best fielding performance in ODIs since the Champions Trophy in September last year set up their march to the final by way of a thumping win

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga10-Jan-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Zaheer Khan was India’s best bowler, picking up three wickets, to help bowl out Sri Lanka for 213 and set up a thumping win•Associated PressIndia’s best fielding performance in ODIs since the Champions Trophy in September last year set up their march to the final by way of a thumping win. It wasn’t anything spectacular: half chances were taken and easy ones not missed, marking a big improvement on their recent fielding form. That, coupled with impressive bowling from Zaheer Khan and Amit Mishra, pulled Sri Lanka from an explosive start and restricted them to a paltry 213, which was chased down with 17.2 overs to spare.Zaheer was the pick of the bowlers, creating one half chance, and two fairly easy ones. At one stage his figures read 6-2-11-2. Sri Lanka had chosen to bat to allow their bowlers experience first-hand the wet conditions before the final, but it took resilient half-centuries from Kumar Sangakkara and Suraj Randiv to take the match far enough for the dew to set in.If Sangakkara and Randiv had to work hard, India’s runs came withpredictable ease: Gautam Gambhir scored his 19th half-century, DineshKarthik narrowly missed a fourth, and Virat Kohli made it to his fourth 50-plus score in his last five innings.But it was the first 11 overs of the match that staged the decisive action: two wicket-maidens, a wicket in the first over of new spells on three occasions and, between that, scintillating batting from Tillakaratne Dilshan. Coming back from a groin injury, Dilshan decided to do away with the running. He just drove, cut, pulled and late-cut eight boundaries in 17 deliveries to deflate any confidence India and Sudeep Tyagi would have gained from getting Upul Tharanga out in the first over.When Zaheer was brought on, in the sixth over, Dilshan had hit sevenboundaries in his 29, and Sri Lanka nine in their 38. He was pulled for a four second ball. The next ball took a thick edge, and was dying on Gambhir at fine gully before he snared it. Zaheer was pumped, and proceeded to bowl to a plan that worked just fine for him. Nothing to drive, a short cover in place, playing on the batsmen’s patience with the nagging accuracy. Mahela Jayawardene gave in, driving a ball that should not have been driven, and Kohli hung on to a sharp catch at short cover.Back came Sreesanth, whose first two overs had gone for 16, and ThilanSamaraweera walked across to a straight delivery and missed. Forty-two for 1 in 5.2 overs became 61 for 4 in 10.2. Soon Thilina Kandamby was run out, his fifth such dismissal out of 23. This time, though, he was sold a dummy by his captain, and was done in a by a smart throw from Karthik and quick backing-up by Zaheer.Thissara Perera, bounced and verbalised by Zaheer, tried to target Mishra, but Yuvraj Singh pulled out a diving catch at wide long-on, not his last contribution to Sri Lanka’s woes. Sangakkara, who had reached 32 off 42 by then, responded to Perera’s wicket by stepping out and hitting Sreesanth for four. He dominated a seventh-wicket partnership that took Sri Lanka closer to 150, but that’s when Yuvraj struck.Sangakkara had tried to make full use of every loose delivery that came his way, and also took calculated risks to keep the scoreboard from stagnating. But when he pulled a Yuvraj delivery which was too full, he had completed 43 innings without a century. Randiv and Thilan Thushara added 59 for the eighth wicket, a stand that saw Randiv through to his first List A fifty. But when the time came to press on, when they opted for the Powerplay in the 44th over, the tail came up short, and Sri Lanka were bundled out by Zaheer and Mishra, with four overs still to go.If there was any doubt to which way the match was going, Karthik and Gambhir removed it by taking 86 off the first 10 overs. Sri Lanka’s last chance of preventing India from getting the bonus point vanished when Dilshan and Tharanga dropped Gambhir on 41 and 44 respectively.Karthik did no harm to his chances of pushing for a place in further matches by following up a catch and a smart run-out with a dominating role in the opening partnership. He started off with a streaky boundary past the slip but soon got into the groove, punishing errors in both line and length. Anything straying on the pads was flicked through midwicket, and the ones short were cut through point and covers. Gambhir smartly assumed the second fiddle, capitalising on width when not milking singles.Once with Kohli, and with fields spread, the two got down to exploiting the gaps, running almost on intuition, scoring 60 off their 72-run partnership on foot. Upon Gambhir’s dismissal, Kohli asked for the Powerplay and quickly finished Sri Lanka off, accelerating from 33 off 48 to 71 off 68.

Everton slumped to their second consecutive defeat in the Premier League after they were thrashed 5-2 by Watford at Goodison Park.

It seemed as though it was going to be an easy afternoon’s work for the Toffees after Tom Davies’ third-minute strike gave them an early lead, but the visitors equalised through Josh King just 10 minutes later.

Former Hornets striker Richarlison then restored Everton’s lead after coming off the bench for Rafa Benitez’s charges ahead again, although their joy was short-lived once more. Juraj Kucka’s header drew Watford level late on before King then struck twice inside six minutes to complete his hat-trick, with Emmanuel Dennis putting the seal on an incredible comeback victory.

It was the Norwegian who stole the show as he fired Claudio Ranieri’s side to a much-needed three points, yet several Everton players were hugely disappointing throughout the 90 minutes.

Although goalkeeper Jordan Pickford conceded five goals in a humbling defeat for the England international, it was arguably midfielder Allan who put in the most underwhelming display among the home side.

As per SofaScore, the Brazil international received a match rating of just six out of 10, the second-lowest rating awarded to anyone on the pitch.

When taking a closer look at his underlying numbers, it’s easy to understand why he was rated so low. Allan was dribbled past a whopping five times by an opposition player, won only three of his 11 duels (73% lost) and had a passing accuracy of just 77%.

With Abdoulaye Doucoure out injured, the 30-year-old was the most senior player in Benitez’s engine room, but he let his manager down with a hugely below-par showing this afternoon.

Both Allan and Benitez will be hoping for a much-improved performance against Wolves next time out, especially as Everton’s injury list shows no sign of diminishing for several weeks.

In other news… Report drops worrying Everton update over £40.5m-rated gem, fans will be concerned 

Steven Gerrard has built a strong Rangers squad full of talented players to compete for places in the starting XI at Ibrox throughout the course of the season.

One position where the Gers have had a strong battle is the left-back spot. Calvin Bassey and Borna Barisic have both started four Scottish Premiership matches each as they continue to fight to be the regular starter on the left side of Gerrard’s defence.

Bassey has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.10 with 1.8 key passes per game and 63% of his duels won. Barisic, meanwhile, has averaged a score of 7.40 with 2.3 key passes per game and 58% of his duels won, suggesting that he has a slight edge over the ex-Leicester man when it comes to creativity.

The international break has given some players a rest and others an opportunity to show Gerrard that they deserve to start against Hearts next weekend by impressing for their country. Barisic falls into the last category as he caught the eye in a 2-2 draw for Croatia against Slovakia on Monday night.

He played the full 90 minutes of their World Cup Qualifying match and was handed an impressive SofaScore rating of 7.1 for his performance. Outside of Luka Modric and Andrej Kramaric, the two goalscorers, only Marcelo Brozovic (7.6) was given a higher rating.

Defensively, he was solid. Per SofaScore, he made one clearance and two tackles as he won an eye-catching seven of his 11 duels on the pitch, including 100% of his aerial battles. Along with this, he was not dribbled past once in the entire game, showing that he didn’t allow himself to be beaten easily down the flank.

In possession, Barisic was excellent. The Croat completed 96% of his passes, including four of his five attempted long passes. The left-back was also successful with 100% of his attempted dribbles and created one chance for his teammates, as he enjoyed 85 touches of the ball on the night.

This shows that he was superb in possession and efficient with his passing selection, whilst he was also able to beat his man with his athleticism to get the side up the pitch.

His performance will surely have caught Gerrard’s eye ahead of Rangers’ clash with Hearts this weekend. Barisic’s excellent display for Croatia may well have secured his place in the starting XI ahead of Bassey too.

AND in other news, Big update emerges on crucial Rangers figure that should leave fans concerned…

Lancashire are confident of securing one of the Pakistan-Australia Test matches next year, but their ultimate aim is to bring Ashes cricket back to a redeveloped Old Trafford

Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford30-Aug-2009Lancashire are confident of securing one of the Pakistan-Australia Test matches next year, but their ultimate aim is to bring Ashes cricket back to a redeveloped Old Trafford. The club has submitted its bid to the ECB for one of the neutral games in 2010 and has felt bullish about its chances since the series was announced with the strong Asian links in the area an advantage.However, while hosting the Test next summer would be a significant boost the absence of an Ashes match this season is still hurting. When Lancashire learnt they wouldn’t host Australia over five days it made them realise how seriously the venue needed redeveloping.”Since Old Trafford first hosted international cricket we have only missed out on three Ashes Tests and one of them was 2009,” said Jim Cumbes, the Lancashire chief executive. “There are no guarantees, the ECB can’t give any but they have been very supportive. When the work is finished this will be a wonderful stadium. The bidding process for the Ashes in 2013 is probably 12 months away and when it comes around we feel we will be a strong position.”Building work is well underway in the first stage of an ambitious project to revive the ground that has fallen into disrepair in recent years. By 2012 they aim to have built new stands, a new joint media centre and players’ pavilion and renovated the current pavilion. The permanent capacity will be 15,000, but temporary seating will bring it to 25,000. At the end of the 2010 season the square will also be turned to face north-south, which will avoid problems with the setting sun and provide an increased number of pitches.Nothing, though, is certain. The bidding process has, according to Cumbes, “put many chairman’s and chief executive’s noses out of joint” but he believes the ECB’s position on it is softening a little since Cardiff offered huge sums for their Ashes match. “I think they are realising that geography is also important”, he said.The biggest stumbling block, however, could still be planning permission. The crux of the massive redevelopment is based on a partnership with Tesco, who will build a superstore a short distance from the ground and help finance the whole project which is expected to cost around £70million.The next stage of the project is due to go before the planning committee in September and while the club is publicly confident it will pass, the plan could still be ‘called in’ by the government which would cause a severe delay and threaten the entire project. “That would be tough,” admitted Michael Cairns, the Lancashire chairman. “Something would happen but not to this scale. It doesn’t bear thinking about if there was an extensive delay on this process.”They have won one of the packages recently announced by the ECB and have Test matches against India in 2014 and Pakistan in 2015. Still, they are subject to the ground plans going ahead so a huge amount rests on the next month for the future of Old Trafford.It has taken a long time for the club to even get to this stage and Cumbes revealed there had even been consideration of a drastic move. “We did seriously look at whether to become a county ground, but with the size of the North West you just can’t do that,” he said. “You’d be letting people down. It is unthinkable not to have Test cricket in this region which is why we want to bring it back to Old Trafford.”

For the second consecutive year Australia have pulled off a last-minute victory in the Sydney Test, this time despite a courageous and painful batting effort from the injured Graeme Smith

The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale07-Jan-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Australia pulled off a last-minute victory despite a courageous and painful batting effort from the injured Graeme Smith © PA Photos
For the second consecutive year Australia have pulled off a last-minute victory in the Sydney Test, this time despite a courageous and painful batting effort from the injured Graeme Smith. Last season it was Michael Clarke who bowled Australia home nine minutes from stumps and on this occasion Mitchell Johnson picked up the final wicket with five minutes remaining to give Australia a consolation win that left the series ledger a little less lopsided at 2-1.The last breakthrough came when Johnson nipped a ball back off a crack in the wearing pitch to bowl Smith, who had been incredibly gutsy in coming to the crease at No. 11 with a broken left hand and a right elbow so sore he said he could barely brush his teeth in the morning. Smith survived for 29 minutes with Makhaya Ntini as he aimed to salvage a draw but every fast ball he faced drew winces around the ground as he quickly released his left hand and gritted his teeth.It was difficult to watch but an appropriate end to a series that has for three weeks been impossible to look away from. When Smith strode to the crease to a standing ovation it was after a 75-minute partnership between Ntini and Dale Steyn that looked like creating a fitting coda for a series in which tails have wagged and Australia seemed to have forgotten how to win. The feeling only increased when Matthew Hayden put down a sitter at slip to reprieve Ntini with half an hour left.But when it mattered Australia’s new-look attack, which had come together as the team’s reputation diminishes, did manage to hold onto a No. 1 ranking that was a legacy of past champion sides. Led by the Man of the Match Peter Siddle, they were toiling on the sort of cracking surface that might have brought carnage in the Warne-McGrath years, when Australia would more likely have been chasing a clean-sweep rather than trying to prevent one.This year the home team entered the day with the series already lost and needing nine wickets from Siddle, Johnson, Doug Bollinger, Nathan Hauritz and Andrew McDonald. All played a part, and McDonald’s lbw to remove Steyn was a particularly key moment.As the bowlers have discovered all summer, it’s not easy being green. In the words of Kermit the Frog, green blends in with so many ordinary things and Australia’s once extraordinary attack was starting to look run-of-the-mill. Under serious pressure to deliver, especially in the final session, they eventually achieved their goal.Siddle, who had picked up five wickets in the first innings, was again a handful with his speed and lift. Bollinger found a hint of swing and set up the victory with the first two strikes of the innings. Hauritz turned the ball more than he has in years and McDonald was naggingly accurate. The most pleasing thing for Ricky Ponting was that the even contributions meant he did not have to break the back of Johnson, the veteran of the group in his 18th Test.The young attack will take plenty of confidence from the result ahead of the tour of South Africa. The South African batsmen have lifted their team out of enough holes on this tour but on this occasion the craters in the pitch were inescapable. AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla scored half-centuries and each looked for a while like he might be the rescuer but the task was slightly too great.Siddle’s three strikes turned Australia’s position from good to powerful. He was lucky to have Mark Boucher lbw to a ball that would have missed leg stump but earned the wickets of de Villiers, who was bowled for 56, and Paul Harris, with fast and straight bowling. It was the same method Johnson used to remove Smith and, earlier in the day, JP Duminy, who was lbw for 16.Duminy and de Villiers, the heroes in Perth, had steadied with a 56-run stand after Australia struck three times before lunch. The loss of the well set Amla in the fifties for the third time in the series was a big blow. Amla had played well for 59, his best score of the three Tests, only to squeeze a Hauritz offbreak onto his pad and to short leg.It compounded South Africa’s problems after the early departures of Neil McKenzie, who chased a wide one from Bollinger, and Jacques Kallis, who came to the crease needing 16 to reach 10,000 Test runs and will fly home still 12 runs short. Kallis tried to work McDonald to leg and his leading edge popped up towards the middle of the pitch, where McDonald hurled himself to his right to grab a brilliant one-hander that after inconclusive replays was adjudged to have not included a touch of the ball on the ground.It turned out to be one of those days when things just didn’t go South Africa’s way. They lost the match and failed to claim the No. 1 ranking but as they sprayed champagne with the series trophy in hand after the loss, it was a timely reminder that their job was done before this match even began. Besides, any sort of win in the return series in South Africa will give them the No. 1 spot. Unlike in the dying stages at the SCG, time is on their side.