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Doug Bollinger claims he’s loud and obnoxious but that hasn’t stopped him slipping completely under the radar of the West Indies camp. Bollinger will take the new ball against Chris Gayle and Adrian Barath in the second Test at the Adelaide Oval and is certain to let the visiting captain know who he is after Gayle revealed on the day before the match that he hadn’t looked into Bollinger’s credentials.”Two left-armers – we’ll see how well we can go about it,” Gayle said, when asked about facing Bollinger and Mitchell Johnson. “What’s the other guy’s name? Bollinger? Bollinger. This will be the first time I am going up against him. It’s a challenge. I haven’t seen much of him to be honest with you. I’m sure we’ll get some clippings and take a look at him and see what we can make of him.”Most people don’t quite know what to make of Bollinger, who has come in to the side to play his second Test after Ben Hilfenhaus was ruled out with a knee problem. Hilfenhaus was the Man of the Match at the Gabba, where he collected five wickets for the game and made key top-order breakthroughs in both innings.Gayle wouldn’t mind seeing the back of Hilfenhaus, who in both innings trapped him lbw with deliveries shaping back in to the left-hander. It’s an angle that Gayle is vulnerable to early in his innings but Ricky Ponting still felt his attack had the ability to target Gayle’s stumps early in the innings, even without the swing of Hilfenhaus.”The left-armers can still do that,” Ponting said. “That angle that the left-armers create actually does bring the ball back in towards the stumps. If Mitch and Doug aren’t actually bowling genuine outswingers to him then the ball is always going to be pitching in and around off stump and straightening back that way. That’s similar to the way we got him out at the Gabba. We did get him out trying to bowl really straight to Chris at the Gabba and there’s no doubt that we’ll do something pretty similar here.”The addition of Bollinger to Australia’s attack robs it of only a small amount of Test experience, while the visitors have lost Jerome Taylor, their most qualified fast man, to a back injury. West Indies’ green line-up provides Australia’s batsmen with an excellent opportunity at a ground that is always hard work for the fast bowlers. After five Australians made half-centuries in Brisbane but none converted them to hundreds, Ponting was keen to see some bat-raising and helmet-kissing.”One thing we didn’t quite nail last week was the amount of guys that got off to starts and didn’t go on and get the big hundred,” Ponting said. “We’ve spoken about that in our team meeting this morning and it’s something that we want to improve on. We all know how good a wicket this can be to bat on once you get in and get set so with an inexperienced attack, we’d like to think that the experience in our batting should be able to get us through and we should be able to make some big runs in the game.”The one man who did miss out completely in Brisbane was Shane Watson, who is still trying to prove that he can be a long-term Test opener. His duck in Brisbane looked particularly bad because he was trapped leaving a delivery that cut back into him, and Ponting said although Watson was vulnerable to lbws early in his innings, he was confident the allrounder could turn things around in Adelaide.”It hasn’t only been in Test cricket, he’s been out a bit in one-day cricket as well lbw,” Ponting said. “He’s very much aware of that. He works on that all the time. The one up at the Gabba the other day is probably an unusual lbw in the fact you let one go that nips back on you early on. I don’t think there was too much technically wrong with what he did last week. With a good batting wicket here and an inexperienced attack hopefully he’s one of the guys that can make some big runs for us.”While Australia will be looking to Watson and Co to provide the runs, West Indies will rely heavily on their experienced men Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, who is likely to return from a back injury, and Gayle. The West Indies captain just has to hope that the name that troubled him – “Bollinger?” – isn’t written beside his own on the scorecard too early in the innings.

Liverpool had no issue in keeping their unbeaten run in the Champions League going after last night’s 2-0 victory over FC Porto at Anfield.

Goals from Thiago Alcantara and Mohamed Salah secured the win for Jurgen Klopp’s side in front of their home fans after convincingly beating Arsenal 4-0 at the weekend in their previous Premier League fixture.

However, one player that started in midweek that did not take the opportunity to shine with both hands was Takumi Minamino.

Despite playing the full 90 minutes of the game against the Portuguese club, Minamino only managed to have 33 touches of the ball, which was fewer than the 51 touches Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker had throughout the game.

In addition to this, Minamino failed to have much of an attacking impact as well, despite starting through the middle in between Salah and Sadio Mane.

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The Japan international failed to register even one shot at goal, only completed one of the two dribbles he attempted, make just 14 accurate passes and get caught offside on two occasions.

Minamino also managed to win just 35% of the 14 duels he was involved in and lose possession of the ball on nine occasions, ultimately earning himself a rather uninspiring overall match rating of 6.7/10, making him the lowest-rated Liverpool player that started the match according to SofaScore.

Given how Minamino scored in the 4-0 win against Arsenal after coming off the bench to replace Diogo Jota who picked up a knock to the knee against the Gunners, it’s easy to see why Klopp gave him the chance to shine from the start.

However, looking at his performance, it’s safe to say he didn’t fully use this opportunity to really stake a claim for a place in the team next time around for their upcoming Premier League clash against Southampton at the weekend.

With Roberto Firmino still out with a hamstring injury, it’s likely that Minamino will get the chance to prove himself again in the coming weeks and months for Liverpool and when he does, he will have to make sure he puts in a more assured performance than the one he delivered against Porto.

Otherwise, questions may start getting raised about his suitability to play a prominent attacking role in this team on a regular basis.

In other news: Edwards must avoid LFC catastrophe on £100k-p/w “wild animal”, Klopp would be furious – opinion

John Wright, a prominent name doing the rounds for New Zealand’s next coach, will work with the national side briefly ahead of the first Test against Pakistan

Cricinfo staff20-Nov-2009John Wright, a prominent name doing the rounds for New Zealand’s next coach, will work with the national side briefly ahead of the first Test against Pakistan. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan said that Wright, currently with the Invitation XI playing the touring Pakistanis in Queenstown, would pop in to be with the side.”But there is nothing more to be read into it than that,” Vaughan was quoted as saying by the . “He will be there helping out and before the game begins he will be heading off to continue his elite coaching work.”Wright had done a similar stint with New Zealand last year when West Indies played in Dunedin.Vaughan said that NZC had spoken to the internationals to have returned from the limited-overs fixtures against Pakistan in the UAE ahead of zeroing in on a coach. “What was gratifying was that the feedback from the tour was resoundingly positive, which gave me a sense of assurance that we did not need to rush our decision,” he said.Vaughan was hopeful of deciding on a replacement by February, when Bangladesh visit ahead of Australia. “It is a matter of looking twofold, assessing what the team’s needs are under the current environment and also what is sustainable into the future,” he said.

Wolverhampton Wanderers look to have been handed a boost regarding the return to fitness of Ruben Neves.

What’s the latest?

In recent photographs published on the Wolverhampton Wanderers website, the central midfielder, who only managed to feature for one minute of the 1-1 draw with Leeds United last weekend as a result of a knock picked up in the days leading up to the fixture, can be seen taking part in full training with Bruno Lage’s first-team squad – something that would suggest the Portugal international has now recovered from his injury.

Lage will be buzzing

Considering just how important a part of the Wolves side Neves has proven himself to be in recent seasons, the fact that the midfielder looks as if he will be available for selection for the visit of Everton on Monday evening is sure to have left Bruno Lage buzzing.

Indeed, over his nine Premier League appearances so far this season, the £37.8m-rated man has scored one goal and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.2 shots and making 1.4 key passes per game.

The 24-year-old has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of 0.6 interceptions, two tackles, 1.4 clearances and winning 3.7 duels per fixture.

These returns have seen the £50k-per-week midfielder average a SofaScore match rating of 7.21, ranking him as Wolves’ second-best performer in the top flight.

As such, it is clear to see that Neves is a crucial player within Lage’s first-team squad, and his return to full fitness will undoubtedly provide the 45-year-old manager’s chances of picking up a positive result against Everton with a rather significant boost – something that Lage will undoubtedly be desperate for after the disappointment of dropping two points in the dying stages of the Leeds game last time out.

In other news: Shi must avoid Jan disaster on “undefendable” £46k-p/w ace, Wolves fans would be livid

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left buzzing as international news emerged involving Fashion Sakala.

As shared by the club’s official Twitter channel, the striker helped himself to a hat-trick for Zambia in their World Cup qualifying match against Mauritania on Saturday afternoon.

It adds to the treble that he scored in the 6-1 win at Motherwell in the Premiership a fortnight ago, continuing his rich vein of recent form.

Sakala was a summer arrival from KV Oostende and has so far managed to score four goals and provide one assist in nine Premiership matches (Transfermarkt).

He has become a fan favourite at Ibrox already already, as Gers supporters have created a new song for him, and many were certainly pleased with the news of his latest hat-trick.

Rangers fans on Sakala’s hat-trick

These Rangers fans buzzed as the news of Sakala’s hat-trick was shared on Twitter:

“Things you love to see”

Credit: @ArgyllWarrior

“Our boy is ripping it up”

Credit: @Made_In_Ulster

“He’s on fire”

Credit: @KyleMcQuade93

“This cheered me up a bit”

Credit: @Dn3Rover

“Best tweet of the day so far Mr Rangers, but there’s still time for something really really special”

Credit: @Valerie33087475

“Love it”

Credit: @Mikey1872786

In other news, find out which Gers star is attracting Premier League interest

Despite Liverpool heading into their latest Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid in rather good form having managed to not lose a single game across all competitions this season and putting five goals past Watford in their latest Premier League game, there are some concerns for Reds manager Jurgen Klopp ahead of the midweek match.

What’s the latest?

As well having Thiago Alcantara and Harvey Elliott out with injuries, it seems as though Klopp will have to make do with another one of his midfield options being unavailable for their midweek clash.

Even though he trained with the rest of his teammates on Monday, it has been confirmed that Reds midfielder Curtis Jones will not be included in the squad to face Atletico due to an injury he picked up during the recent international break with the England U21 side, which Klopp will not be happy with at all.

As a product of Liverpool’s youth academy, Jones made his senior debut for the Merseyside club back in January 2019 in an FA Cup defeat against Wolves. Since then, the 20-year-old, who is currently valued at £27m according to Transfermarkt, has made 53 appearances for Klopp’s side across all competitions, scoring eight goals and providing nine assists along the way.

So far this season, Jones has made six appearances for Liverpool across all competitions, scoring one goal and providing three assists in the process, not only proving himself as a fairly regular senior midfield option for the Reds, which is why his latest injury issue would make him a big miss for the team in midweek given the other injuries they currently have in that area.

His form in their last Champions League match, supplying two goals v Porto, also proves why Klopp will be gutted to lose him.

In terms of who the manager could turn to for the match against Atletico to cover for Jones’ absence, we feel he could either stick with the likes of Naby Keita and James Milner who started against Watford at the weekend or bring in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who came on as a substitute in the second half of the match against the Hornets.

Either way, given the uncertainty of when exactly Thiago and Elliott will be back fit again, Klopp and everyone else at the club will undoubtedly be hoping that Jones will be able to get back to full fitness as soon as possible to offer the side an extra midfield option

In other news: Klopp starts Fabinho, £120k-p/w gem axed in 2 changes: Predicted Liverpool XI v Atleti – opinion

West Ham United return to Europa League group stage action later this evening as they host Austrian outfit Rapid Wien at the London Stadium.

David Moyes and his side will be buoyed by their last-gasp victory over Leeds United on Sunday afternoon after their fine form in 2021 continued.

The Irons kickstarted their quest for European glory with a bang two weeks ago, defeating Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb 2-0 in their own back yard and one of the standout performers from that game must start in east London tonight.

Issa Diop has often struggled for consistency since arriving in a then club-record £22m deal from Toulouse in June 2018.

But his recent performances, whenever given a chance to start, have been rather impressive.

Once described a “monster” by former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho, the 24-year-old centre-back has been restricted to only 15 league starts since the start of the 2020/21 campaign, as per Transfermarkt.

In Croatia, the French colossus recorded a squad-high three interceptions, constantly putting a stop to the opposition’s attack. They weren’t taken lightly considering the same players who knocked Spurs out of the Europa League last season.

He also registered two tackles, one clearance and one block as he arguably outshone match-winner Michail Antonio, as suggested by Football FanCast at the time.

Diop then followed up this display with another stunning outing, this time against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup.

Irons assistant manager Stuart Pearce waxed lyrical about him after the game (via The Athletic):

“But I thought Diop was absolutely magnificent. The longer the game went on the more of a colossus he looked at the back and he’s still in relative terms, a very young man for a central defender so we’re absolutely delighted to have Issa at this club.”

Kurt Zouma’s arrival at the club this summer has seen the fellow countryman slip down the pecking order but with both Angelo Ogbonna and Craig Dawson getting older and older into their 30s, he will be needed in the future.

He will also be called upon should either of the aforementioned trio pick up any injuries across the current campaign, so handing him further game time in an encounter like this could be super beneficial. It could be a game-changer for the rest of the season.

The £16.2m-rated beast must start at the London Stadium tonight.

AND in other news, Newman can end West Ham striker hunt with £18m-rated “goal king” scoring every 83 mins…

Ricky Ponting has praised Michael Hussey after he showed signs of exiting a rough patch in Australia’s first-up win over South Africa

Cricinfo staff04-Apr-2009

Ricky Ponting has praised Michael Hussey after he showed signs of exiting a rough patch with a valuable half-century in Australia’s first-up win over South Africa. Hussey has been out of touch for most of the season but stood up with 83 from 79 balls to steer his side to 286 for 7 in the 141-run success.”It’s been a difficult few months for him,” Ponting said after the match. Despite Hussey’s difficulties, Ponting said the batsman’s focus had not changed.”You wouldn’t know with him,” Ponting said. “He just continues to work hard, enjoy his cricket and enjoy the hard work. It was great to see him get those runs on the board again.”When he went out to bat it was a really crucial moment in the game. For him to get 80-odd will hopefully give him confidence for the rest of the summer.”Nathan Hauritz, the offspinner, then grabbed a rare opportunity to take 4 for 29 as South Africa crumbled to 145. James Hopes and Mitchell Johnson also grabbed two wickets each in a performance that pleased Ponting.”We just made an over-par score on that wicket,” Ponting said. “It was going to be a competitive score but the guys bowled exceptionally well. Hauritz was terrific and Hopes was very, very good and Mitchell was good as well.”Graeme Smith scored 52 from 56 deliveries on his comeback from a broken hand, but his team could not build on the strong start. “Australia were better in all departments,” he said.

Crystal Palace secured their first win under new manager Patrick Vieira in emphatic fashion over the weekend, seeing off Tottenham Hotspur 3-0.

A brace from summer signing Odsonne Edouard following his late introduction and Wilfried Zaha’s return to form stole the headlines at Selhurst Park, but it was arguably their defensive showing that really showed the most promise.

The Eagles began 2021/22 with a disappointing defeat away at Chelsea when they conceded three goals without reply, yet there’s been plenty of improvements since.

An overhaul of the first-team squad saw experienced centre-backs Gary Cahill, Scott Dann and Mamadou Sakho depart south London over the summer as Vieira opted for a more youthful approach.

In their place arrived 21-year-old Marc Guehi and 25-year-old Joachim Andersen from Chelsea and Lyon, respectively.

Andersen was unavailable from the off for the curtain-raising loss at Stamford Bridge, and his introduction into the starting XI had an instant impact, with Palace holding newly-promoted Brentford to a goalless draw the following week.

Although West Ham United managed to get two strikes past them in another closely contested draw, Saturday’s magnificent display saw Palace pick up their second clean sheet of the campaign, something they only managed to do on eight occasions in the entirety of last term.

And the blossoming partnership between Guehi and Andersen is largely to thank for that. The £28.8m-rated duo appear to have a natural understanding of each other’s game after only a few appearances alongside each other, illustrated by their impressive underlying numbers.

In his four league outings, Guehi has averaged one tackle per game, 0.5 interceptions and 3.8 clearances, whereas his Danish colleague has managed 0.8 tackles, 0.8 interceptions and two clearances, as per SofaScore.

But they’ve both also show promise with the ball at their feet. Palace’s England Under-21 international defender has achieved a passing accuracy of 88%, losing possession just 8.8 times, compared to Andersen’s highly respectable tallies of 84% and 10.5.

Keeping the two new arrivals fit could be crucial to the capital club’s success this season and Vieira will be desperately hoping they continue to produce some dominant displays on a regular basis, providing a solid foundation for his promising Palace side to build on.

And, in other news…Get it done: Parish must sanction Palace swoop for £6.3m-rated beast, Vieira needs him 

A number of Liverpool supporters have been left hugely frustrated after Naby Keita was ruled out of Saturday’s clash with Brentford.

A much-changed Reds side picked up an impressive Carabao Cup win at Norwich City in midweek, but attention now turns to Premier League action.

On Saturday evening, Jurgen Klopp’s men make the trip to Brentford, for what could be a potentially tricky game in west London.

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Liverpool are already without Harvey Elliott and Thiago in midfield, and it now looks as though the injury-prone Keita is going to miss out as well.

Providing an injury update on Thursday [via the club’s official Twitter account], Klopp admitted that the Guinean was unlikely to be available at the Brentford Community Stadium, later confirming he is out the following day.

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Liverpool fans react to Keita injury update

These Liverpool fans took to Twitter to react negatively to the news, as Keita continues to struggle in the injury department.

“Mad how kicking the grass can injure you for longer than a week”

Credit: @Kloppppp

“Naby getting creative with injuries. Kicking grass is a new one”

Credit: @FillyKris

“Keita OUT”

Credit: @Relvasss

“I’m done with Keita”

Credit: @MrPolo_

“Naby kicked the floor in a league cup game and now he’s out. Unbelievable”

Credit: @6times2019__

“He stubbed his toe. Sell him ASAP”

Credit: @OriginalOLAJ

In other news, some Liverpool fans are excited after a significant club announcement. Read more here.