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*Trent Bridge to host Twenty20 Cup Final*The pop world and cricket joined forces today when the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced the music line-up for county cricket’s revolutionary Twenty20 Cup competition.Established bands ‘Atomic Kitten’ and ‘Mis-Teeq’, as well as emerging Irish boy band ‘D’Side’, will play in front of live audiences at Twenty20 Cup matches while a re-mix of 10CC’s ‘Dreadlock Holiday’ has been selected as the theme tune for the tournament.Atomic Kitten, the all-girl band with a string of top 20 hits, will play at the Finals Day to be held at Trent Bridge on Saturday 19 July – the first time that a pop band has ever played at a major domestic cricket final in the UK. Supporting Atomic Kitten will be ‘United Colours of Sound’, who have re-mixed the old 10CC song ‘Dreadlock Holiday’ to become the signature tune of the competition.Mis-Teeq, meanwhile, will entertain spectators on the opening day of the competition, Friday 13 June, at the Hampshire v Sussex match at the Rose Bowl. They will be supported by D’Side and United Colours of Sound. A capacity 9,000 sell-out is anticipated for the match, which will be televised live by Sky Sports.Stuart Robertson, ECB Marketing Manager, said, “We fully expect capacity crowds at both the Hampshire v Sussex match and the Finals Day, not to mention many of the 45 group matches.”Ticket information

• Tickets are now available for all Twenty20 Cup matches and details can be found at www.ecb.co.uk/twenty20
• Tickets for the opening game at the Rose Bowl can be bought today. Tel. 0870 243 0291. Ticket prices are £15 for adults and £10 for under sixteens.

Band information
Mis-Teeq – made up of three girls Alesha 23, Sabrina 23 and Su – Elise 20 – are a UK garage / R’n’B band who have had four top ten singles to date. Their debut album Eye Candy, reached number five in the album charts earlier this month. The band won the ‘Best Artist’ award at last year’s UK Garage Awards.Atomic Kitten – the Liverpool trio have had 11 hit singles to date including one of the biggest hits of 2001 ‘Whole Again’ taken from their number one debut double platinum album ‘Right Now’. The girls became the UK’s biggest female act of recent years when they simultaneously held number one spot on both the singles and album charts, a feat only ever achieved by a female artist before by the Spice Girls. Their current album ‘Feels So Good’ has sold in excess of 600,000 copies.D’Side – are already following in the footsteps of two other famous Irish five-piece boybands (Westlife and Boyzone) by launching their career by winning ‘Best New Act’ at the Smash Hits Awards. Their debut song, ‘Speachless’, went into the top 10 last Sunday.Twenty20 Cup – background information
The Twenty20 Cup, the first brand new competition for county cricket since 1973, replaces the old Benson and Hedges Cup. It is cricket on fast-forward – 20 overs-a-side bouts contested over just two hours 45 mins and staged during the longest summer evenings in June. (Opening matches are on Friday 13 June). With games generally starting at 5.30pm, the action is conveniently timed for the post-school and office audiences.The 18 First Class Counties are split into three regional groups of six teams each, with the three group winners and the best runner-up progressing to a Finals Day at Trent Bridge on Saturday 19 July. Aside from the on-pitch action, off-the-field entertainment will include live bands, replay screens, BBQ zones and karaoke machines, with musical instruments and fancy dress codes encouraged to help create the perfect evening out.A new prize money structure will be implemented to encourage both team victories and individual performances. The Twenty20 champions will receive £42,000, the runners-up will get £21,000 and the losing-semi-finalists £10,000. Extra incentives will also be made to the best performing individuals with cash prizes of up to £1,500 going to the best performing batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders.npower is the first official partner of the Twenty20 Cup. More official partners are anticipated.Match details and ticket information can be found at www.ecb.co.uk/twenty20

Australia ended their triumphant Ashes summer with a convincing win over England at the AMP Oval today by an innings and 25 runs to record a resounding 4-1 series victory.A near capacity crowd turned up to see England try and stave off defeat, but instead watched Australia’s bowlers snaffle up the nine wickets required for victory, with Glenn McGrath and man of the match Shane Warne again posing the biggest challenges for the Englishmen.McGrath picked up the last duo of Jimmy Ormond and Phil Tufnell to finish with 5-43 and topped the bowling for the series with 32 wickets. His leg-spinning partner took a remarkable 11 wickets in the match – the first time, surprisingly, he has taken ten wickets or more in a Test outside Australia. He ended the series just one wicket behind McGrath with 31 wickets, this last match producing 11-229, as he overtook Curtley Ambrose’s 405 Test wicket haul.The ninth wicket partnership between Darren Gough and Jimmy Ormond survived 19 overs and put on 58 runs including some powerfully struck drives from the Yorkshireman who produced his best score since he made a half-century against Australia at Sydney in 1995, 49 Test matches ago.It was an entertaining stand, which kept the crowd enraptured and postponed the Australians’ victory celebrations. But after playing with defiance in his first Test, Ormond, who was growing in confidence, edged the ball behind to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.His place was taken by Tufnell, who received a standing ovation and some enthusiastic applause but the Middlesex spinner faced one bouncer from McGrath and was then caught by Warne at first slip with the next delivery to complete what had been inevitable from early on in the day.The last wicket fell at 3.32pm and it brought to an end an excellent npower Ashes series, which proved to be an uneven contest between a developing side and what could go down in history as the finest cricket team ever.Glenn McGrath was chosen as Australia’s man of the series by England coach, Duncan Fletcher, while Mark Butcher was selected by Australian coach John Buchanan, who also praised Andy Caddick’s efforts.Afterwards Nasser Hussain commented: “I have been very proud of my team in the last couple of games and even before then they have showed a lot of character.”As coach Duncan Fletcher said to us in the dressing room, we have got someyoung lads that have come in and there is no point looking anywhere else apartfrom them Australia for the standards that are required.”Steve Waugh was, naturally, delighted with the win.”We did play very good cricket, there is no doubt about that,” he admitted. “Weplayed well from day one. We batted superbly, bowled very well and our fielding was probably the only one that was down a little, but overall it was a great performance by all the guys.”

Tom Cairney has been touted as a transfer target for numerous clubs this summer, including West Ham United.

It is easy to see why the midfielder is wanted given his impressive performances for the Cottagers over the last few seasons.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”269481″ player=”12034″ title=”Five talking points from the World Cup last 16″]

During the 2017-18 campaign, Cairney scored six goals and created five assists in 37 appearances for Fulham.

Now that the club are back in the Premier League thanks to their playoff final win over Aston Villa, it is understandable that they want to keep hold of one of their best players.

How far will England get in Russia? Tell us now and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.

On Thursday, the club announced via their official website that Cairney has signed a new five-year contract, which means that West Ham and co have missed out on a potential new signing.

Judging by the reaction on social media, the Hammers’ following are not too cut up about it, and perhaps that is because Jack Wilshere is believed to be on the verge of moving to the London Stadium.

According to Sky Sports News, the midfielder is close to agreeing a deal after ending his 17-year spell at Arsenal.

Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..Comment from discussion West Ham target Tom Cairney reportedly signs new 5-year deal with Fulham..

With Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side having been unceremoniously dumped out of Europe by Bodo/Glimt last week – an outcome that was partly due to the 56-year-old Bhoys boss fielding a weakened side in the second leg of the tie – the Greek-Australian manager would undoubtedly have been hoping for a dominant performance and result in Sunday’s Premiership fixture against Hibernian in response.

However, after requiring a late Giorgos Giakoumakis winner against bottom of the table Dundee FC last weekend, the Hoops once again struggled to refind the form that saw them comfortably dismantle Rangers at the beginning of the month against Hibs, with the fixture at Easter Road ending 0-0.

Indeed, rather than looking refreshed after being handed a rest against Bodo/Glimt, the vast majority of Celtic’s starters turned in tired performances against Shaun Maloney’s outfit, with Daizen Maeda, Liel Abada and Tom Rogic all having afternoons to forget in Edinburgh.

Although, it will undoubtedly be the latter of this trio most disappointed with his display on Sunday, as the Australia international once again failed to offer his side anything in the middle of the park.

Postecoglou must axe Rogic

Despite having arguably been one of Postecoglou’s most impressive performers in the first half of the season, Rogic has seen his form rather dramatically fall off in recent weeks – averaging a well below-par SofaScore match rating of just 6.47 over his three appearances prior to the Hibs clash.

And, after once again being handed a start ahead of Matt O’Riley in one of the two more advanced roles in Celtic’s three-man midfield, Rogic failed to prove he was deserving of his starting berth in the Bhoys XI over his 58 minutes on the pitch on Sunday.

Indeed, the £1.35m-rated midfielder enjoyed just 28 touches of the ball – the second-lowest of any of Celtic’s starting outfielders – completed a mere 10 of his 15 attempted passes, failed to find his man with his two attempted long balls and his one attempted cross, lost five of his nine duels and gave away possession on 11 separate occasions – meaning he lost the ball with every 2.5 touches he had.

These returns saw the £21.5k-per-week Aussie earn an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of just 6.5, while The Celtic Way awarded the midfielder a five in their own player ratings, as well as stating of the 29-year-old’s display:

“The Aussie has looked out of sorts recently and was relatively quiet in the opening 45 and he also copped a booking more out of frustration than anything else with a mistimed challenge. He was given just 12 minutes of the second half before he made way for O’Riley.”

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As such, considering just how poor the player who David Turnbull claimed is “up there with the best” has been in recent weeks, Postecoglou simply must axe Rogic from his starting XI against St. Mirren this Wednesday, as a repeat performance of his Bodo/Glimt and Hibs displays could well cost the Bhoys dearly in what is an extremely tight Premiership title race.

In other news: Huge blow: Ange drops fresh 5-word injury update, Celtic fans will be devastated

	The likes of Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith may be delayed in joining their IPL franchises © AFP

South African players are unlikely to participate in the Indian Premier League tillApril 25th, as they will be involved in the Standard Bank Pro20 matches in SouthAfrica. The franchises were informed of the development by the IPL governing councilin a meeting held in Mumbai, where a host of administrative issues surrounding the league were discussed.Ten South African players have been signed on by the eight IPL franchises, and a few of them, depending on how their domestic teams fare in the Pro20, might join their IPL teams after the tournament ends on 25th.However, a franchise representative was confident the players would beavailable for the full duration. “The decision is not final as yet. We are in the process of talking to the players, their teams and the board and we will work something out.”In among other things that were discussed in the meeting, each franchise has been allotted a liason officer from a South African agency, which was involved with the ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa, who will travel with the teams and oversee the security preparations.The meeting saw a host of experts from the consulting firm IMG counselling the franchises on the issues ranging from security, accredition, ticketing, and movement of officials across grounds, and entertainment guidelines. “Not many of us [franchises] have prior experience in organising games and this meeting was very helpful in that regard,” a franchise representative said.

Brian Lara has farewelled international cricket but has not ruled out continuing to play at first-class level © Getty Images

Brian Lara believes West Indies will now have a chance to rebuild their ailing fortunes without being overshadowed by his presence. Lara, who will be watching the team take on England at Lord’s, hopes a largely youthful squad led by Ramnaresh Sarwan will thrive away from the glare of publicity he generated.”After 1995 we sort of went downhill,” Lara said. “It doesn’t matter how many runs one person puts together. We want to get partnerships and get 400 runs on the board. One person can’t get 400 runs on the board if there is nobody at the other end.”Maybe the disparity between my achievements and how the other guys were looked upon was a problem. My expectation is that the team raise a bit and rally round Ramnaresh Sarwan. You don’t need a group of superstars, you need a team working together to bring you better results.”Lara said it would feel strange to be at Lord’s and not be taking the field. “I saw the covers and the greenery and it was tough,” he said. “Thursday will be emotional for me. But at the end of the day it’s not the reason I play cricket because I want to play at Lord’s. I really want to see West Indies do well. We’ve got to move on.”However, Lara said he hadn’t given up on the idea of playing first-class cricket. “I’m still physically fit and still capable of playing so I’m not going to rule that out,” he said. “I am not going to put on 10 or 15 pounds and forget about the game.”Lara said his international retirement had been hastened by West Indies’ early World Cup exit. “I thought we were making a lot of strides in the one-day game, getting to the ICC [Champions Trophy] finals in 2006 after winning it in 2004 was a stepping stone,” he said.”I thought I can exit and continue to play Test cricket which honestly is the game I love the most. We went a bit backwards and physically I don’t know what else I could have done to really make a difference.”Lara said the key problem was the domestic set-up in the West Indies which didn’t convert youthful talent into Test match standard players. “I still believe West Indies has the best Under-15, Under-19 talent,” he said. “It’s just the infrastructure doesn’t go hand in hand with that and international cricket. That’s where the problem lies.”Should anyone at Lord’s need reminding of Lara’s achievements all they have to do is visit the MCC Museum behind the Pavilion where a special exhibition charting his career is being staged. Among the exhibits is the bat with which Lara scored 213 against Australia at Kingston.Also included is the bat with which he made 375, then the record Test score, against England at Antigua in 1994. The bat has been signed by his then team-mate Curtly Ambrose: “375 not enough Brian”. However, the bat with which he scored 277 against Australia in Sydney in 1993 is missing. “At age 23 I don’t know what I did with that bat,” Lara said. “Maybe we can have an international request to have it back.”

Virender Sehwag showed his worth with the ball in the first Test but his appealing cost him © Getty Images

Virender Sehwag has been fined 20% of his match fee for excessive appealing during the tense final stages of the drawn first Test between India and West Indies in Antigua.Sehwag was found to have breached section 1.5 of the ICC Code which relates to “the practice of celebrating a dismissal before the decision has been given”. He removed Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin on the final day as West Indies hung on by one-wicket to save the match.All level one breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee. The charge was brought by the umpires Asad Rauf, Simon Taufel and Billy Doctrove.Jeff Crowe, the match referee, reached his conclusion after a hearing attended by Sehwag, the Indian coach Greg Chappell and the umpires following the conclusion of the Test.

Close South Africa 369 for 2 (Smith 200, Kirsten 113*)
scorecardGraeme Smith converted his maiden Test century to a superb 200, and Gary Kirsten became the first man to score centuries against all nine Test-playing opponents, as South Africa christened Buffalo Park, the 85th and newest Test venue, with a feast of runs. The pair added 272 for the second wicket, as Bangladesh, who won the toss and chose to field, suffered a long and fruitless day in the sun.Kirsten had a point to prove after his omission from South Africa’s one-day side, and after making a rare appearance at No. 3, he peppered the arc between point and long-off with exquisitely timed drives. He quickly celebrated his return to international cricket with a 58-ball half-century, and took no time to settle into a rhythm, opening his account with three boundaries in an over off Tapash Baisya – one of which was a slightly fortuitous under-edged cut to fine leg.At the other end, Kirsten’s doppelganger Smith was in equally commanding form. Both men are left-handed, with a tendency to drive away from the body, and such was the frequency with which the ball clattered over the ropes at extra-cover, that it was hard to distinguish the two. Smith, though, was the only man to give a chance, when on 111, he edged Alok Kapali between keeper and slip for four. On reaching three figures, he looked slightly sheepish to have fulfilled a lifelong ambition in such hollow circumstances, but there was no disguising his glee when he posted his double century. Sure enough, the surfeit of emotion did for him, and within two balls he had lofted Sanwar Hossain to mid-on (359 for 2).The only other scalp fell in the morning session – Herschelle Gibbs, who had looked in sumptuous form until he who cut loosely at a wide delivery from Baisya and scooped the ball to Tushar Imran at extra cover (87 for 1). After a measured start, with a mere 20 runs coming from the first seven overs, he had launched Baisya over midwicket for six, before driving him emphatically down the ground for four, and though he dutifully shouldered arms to much that came his way, when he chose to play a shot, it was never with anything but the very middle of the bat.Bangladesh’s bowlers were spirited as ever, but lacked the necessary penetration. Baisya and Talha Jubair bowled with optimistic hostility, and beat the edge on occasions, and Mohammad Rafique found some handy drift with his staccato round-arm spin. By the end of the day, however, they had been reduced to a rabble. Yet another dispiriting trouncing is only a matter of time.South Africa 1 Herschelle Gibbs, 2 Graeme Smith, 3 Gary Kirsten, 4 Jacques Kallis, 5 Ashwell Prince, 6 Martin van Jaarsveld, 7 Mark Boucher (capt & wk), 8 Claude Henderson, 9 David Terbrugge, 10 Makhaya Ntini, 11 Nantie Hayward.Bangladesh 1 Al-Sahariar Rokon, 2 Javed Omar, 3 Habibul Bashar, 4 Sanwar Hossain, 5 Tushar Imran, 6 Alok Kapali, 7 Khaled Mashud (capt & wk), 8 Mohammad Rafique, 9 Tapash Baisya, 10 Talha Jubair, 11 Manjural Islam.

Murali’s dance of destruction after reaching the 500-wicket mark© Getty Images

Muttiah Muralitharan, playing in his hometown, snapped up 4 for 48 and brought up the 500-wicket landmark when he bowled Michael Kapsprowicz through the gate with an offbreak that spun sharply back through the gate. Muralitharan’s contribution helped Sri Lanka bowl out Australia for 120, a record low against them.Muralitharan will now race with Shane Warne (501 wickets) to Courtney Walsh’s 519-wicket world-record. Both bowlers may not be able to attain it in this series, although there is an outside chance that they could overhaul it. So Muralitharan looks destined to break the world record during Sri Lanka’s two-Test tour to Zimbabwe in April.Hashan Tillakaratne praised Muralitharan before the second Test: “Murali is a great cricketer and a great team-man. He has done Sri Lanka proud and won so many matches for us. I don’t know where we would be were it not for his bowling.”Muralitharan, the only Tamil in the Sri Lanka team and the son of a successful biscuit manufacturer, first played for Sri Lanka against Australia in 1992, taking three wickets in his first Test. His career was later plagued by controversy after being called for throwing on tours to Australia in 1995-96 and 1998-99.But although his unique bowling still attracts suspicion in some quarters, he was cleared by the ICC after extensive, high-tech biomechanical analysis by three separate research institutes, including the University of Western Australia and the University of Hong Kong.Those studies concluded that his helicopter-wristed and locked-elbow action produced the “optical illusion” of throwing and did not contravene the game’s laws. Muralitharan has a congenital deformity that prevents him from fully straightening his arm and a super-flexible wrist which is responsible for generating prodigious spin.

There is no rest for the wicked or the all-conquering Australian cricketteam.Less than 48 hours after retaining the World Cup, the majority of theAustralian players were already counting down the hours at home beforedeparting for the Caribbean.A weary, hungover but still jubilant national team touched down in Perthfor its only public celebration in front of about 7,000 people atForrest Place.Such is the shortage of time it was decided to hold the one-offreception in Perth so players could spend more time off with familiesand friends.The players depart for the West Indies on Monday and will have hadalmost 37 of 40 weeks on tour at the conclusion of the two-month tour.The hero of Sunday’s World Cup final and newly-appointed Test vicecaptain Ricky Ponting said the grinding workload was tough on theplayers after the two-month African journey.”But saying that we’ve been there and done it all before – we’ve beenused to this sort of programming now for the last three or four years,so it’s not too much of a shock to us,” he said.”But there is no doubt that everyone here would like to have a few moredays at least at home to see their families and friends.”Ponting said Test warhorses in captain Steve Waugh and opener JustinLanger would add spark to the side having spent their energies in statecricket over the past couple of months and not the World Cup.The Australians will have plenty to play for in the Caribbean afterBrian Lara’s heroics ensured the four Test series was locked at 2-2 in1999, in Waugh’s first outing as national captain.”We probably went over there expecting to win pretty comfortably lasttime and we were really tested in a couple of games by Lara,” he said.”He really changed the course of the whole series last time.”So I’m sure Steve is looking forward to playing again and Justin(Langer) has had a few weeks off as well, so those guys coming back intothe side will drag all the rest of us along with them I’m sure.””We’re all looking forward to putting the white clothes back on.”Meanwhile John Buchanan, who will be making his first tour of the WestIndies as national coach, said he didn’t think he would have anytroubles getting the players up for the West Indies despite thegruelling set of fixtures.”I think the bottom line is that’s the essence of this team, and theseplayers, that they are able to confront whatever the situation andperform exceptionally well so I don’t see that being any different oncewe get there.”Unlucky paceman Jason Gillespie, who had to pull out of the Australianteam midway through the World Cup, said he was recovering well from afoot injury.The South Australian expected to be fit in time for the opening Test ofthe four-match series starting April 10 in Georgetown.