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Mohammad Yousuf, the Pakistan batsman, has pulled out of the upcoming Faysal Bank T20 tournament, citing personal commitments. Allrounder Abdul Razzaq will take over the captaincy of Lahore Lions from Yousuf.”My decision was purely based on my personal commitments,” said Yousuf. “I don’t know why [people are] portraying my ouster negatively but I can confirm that I am fit and still have the passion to play cricket.”Reports have surfaced from time to time suggesting that Yousuf has taken a silent retirement from all formats – and not for the first time – following the PCB’s snub to him when handing out central contracts for the second half of the year. However, Yousuf has confirmed that he doesn’t have any immediate intentions of retiring.Yousuf, 37, a veteran of 90 Tests and 288 one-day internationals, last played for Pakistan in 2010 against South Africa, returning home midway due to fitness issues. “My fitness is no more a concern and if anyone wants to test my fitness level I have no issue as I been playing county cricket and recently returned after playing league cricket.”The Lahore City Cricket Association (LCCA) called Yousuf’s decision to pull out a ‘disappointing one’. “This is purely his own decision, we wanted him to play,” LCCA president Khawja Nadeem said. “He was in the Lahore squad after [he agreed to play] and now he withdraws for personal reasons. The decision he conveyed today [Thursday] cited his personal commitments and nothing else. It’s obviously disappointing news for us to miss a veteran batsman in our squad but still we have variety of batsman in our line-up. After Yousuf, now [Abdul] Razzaq wil captain the side.”Yousuf, scored 72, 109, 68 and 74* in four of his last six innings for Warwickshire on the English county circuit in May. Last year he left WAPDA and joined Lahore after a fallout with team-mate Rana Naved-ul-Hasan. However, WAPDA’s head of sports, Naveed Akram Cheema, still remains optimistic about Yousuf’s return to the department side while another department ZTBL are keen to have Yousuf for the upcoming season.

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Envolvido na negociação de Luiz Fernando no início deste ano, Vinícius Tanque foi parar no Atlético-GO por empréstimo, assim como o volante Fernandes, porém o atacante pediu para deixar o Dragão antes do início da Série B, após seis jogos no Goiano.

Assim, a cria de General Severiano retornou ao Rio de Janeiro no fim de março, ainda vinculado ao Glorioso – até 2020. No entanto, Alberto Valentim não o tem nos planos e, por isso, Tanque iniciou um processo de treino à parte, com o personal trainer Edu Oliveira, em seu condomínio, enquanto aguardo um novo empréstimo para o segundo semestre deste ano.

– Os treinos ocorrem três vezes por semana. Faço com ele exercíciosde mobilidade articular, alongamento, fortalecimento do core, além de exercícios de coordenação motora, potência muscular e força, tudo voltado para o futebol. Dentro de alguns trabalhos, a bola complementa para o Vinícius treinar passe, domínio, cabeceio epropriocepção (capacidade em reconhecer a localização espacial do corpo, sua posição e orientação sem a visão) – explicou Edu, em contato ao LANCE!.

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Já emprestado pelo Volta Redonda, Vinícius Tanque, de 23 anos, tem postado alguns exercícios na quadra de seu condomínio nos últimos dias. O primeiro ano no profissional do Botafogo foi em 2015, período no qual havia se destacado no time sub-20, quando marcou21 gols em 18 jogos. Já no profissional, ao todo, soma 39 partidas e quatro bolas na rede.

No negócio com o Atlético-GO, cabe destacar, Tanque teve40% de seus direitos econômicos repassados ao clube rubro-negro. O trajeto emGoiânia desandou e, na volta ao Botafogo, não viu espaços no atual elenco de Valentim, sobretudo pela presença de três centroavantes: Kieza, Brenner e Aguirre.

Lancashire revived their hopes of qualifying for the Clydesdale Bank 40 semi-finals with a dramatic last-over win against Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford

22-May-2011
ScorecardLancashire revived their hopes of qualifying for the Clydesdale Bank 40 semi-finals with a dramatic last-over win against Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford.Chasing a revised target of 147 from 27 overs, Chris Read looked to be guiding the visitors to victory with a half-century as his side needed just 20 from the final four overs.But England bowler Sajid Mahmood returned with a stunning spell to claim two crucial wickets. Spinner Stephen Parry then took two more in the final over as the Lightning won by four runs on Duckworth/Lewis after bowling Nottinghamshire out for 142.After Lancashire made 145 for 8 from their 27 overs, Nottinghamshire started their reply badly.Mahmood struck with his third ball as he bowled Rikki Wessels for a duck. Hogg claimed the wicket of Akhil Patel, who was caught at point by Steven Croft without scoring.And Adam Voges became the third Outlaw to go for a duck when he edged Mahmood to wicketkeeper Gareth Cross. Hogg then bowled Ben Phillips, leaving Nottinghamshire 24 for four.Alistair Brown kept them in the game with 22 off 23 balls before he was bowled by Simon Kerrigan. Read and former Lancashire player Steven Mullaney looked to have put their side in control, putting on 48 for the sixth wicket.And even when Mullaney was caught by Luke Procter off Farveez Maharoof’s bowling for 22, the Outlaws needed just 46 to win from eight overs.But Mahmood changed the game. He returned to bowl a wicket maiden, with Sam Wood lofting him to Croft for eight. And in his next over he bowled Read for 59 to leave Nottinghamshire needing eight off the final over. Parry then had Paul Franks caught by Paul Horton and wrapped up the Lightning’s second win in five games by bowling Andre Adams off the penultimate ball.Earlier Croft’s 41 from 40 balls was the backbone of the Lightning innings. After rain reduced the game to 30 overs, Stephen Moore was first to go, caught by Wessels off Darren Pattinson for four.Franks then bowled Karl Brown for six before a heavy downpour reduced the game to 27 overs.Croft and Horton upped the rate after the break, putting on 50 in 52 balls. Wood, however, bowled Horton for 37 then trapped Maharoof lbw next ball.Adams returned to the attack to trap Croft lbw in the 20th over and two more wickets in successive balls saw Lancashire reduced to 125 for seven as first Mahmood was run out after a direct hit from Mullaney and then Cross was caught at backward point by Pattinson off Adams for 21. Procter was run out in the penultimate over for 5.

Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir have filed appeals against their bans from the game with the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.Butt and Amir, along with Mohammad Asif, were found guilty of orchestrating three pre-planned, deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s Test against England last August. The trio, who were provisionally suspended by the ICC in September, were given sanctions ranging from 5 to 10 years by an independent tribunal headed by Michael Beloff QC after a full hearing in Doha, Qatar in early January, with the verdicts being handed down on February 5.”Today my legal team served a statement of appeal upon The Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) to appeal against the Tribunal’s findings in relation to the Lords Test and the sanctions imposed at the recent Hearing in Doha. Full Grounds for the Appeal will be lodged in due course,” a statement from Butt’s lawyer, Yasin Patel, said.As captain at the time, Butt received the stiffest sentence, though the ban comes with a suspended sentence of five years. On the day the verdict was announced, Patel had indicated that the tribunal’s recommendation to the ICC to revisit sanctions in their code was encouraging. “The tribunal’s hands were tied by the ICC’s code to a five-year minimum,” he said. “Mr Butt is encouraged that the tribunal advised the ICC to change the code or revise the minimum term.”Butt also confirmed that he would appear at a London court on March 17th for a hearing into the criminal charges he faces – along with Asif and Amir – into the same incident.Amir was given a straight five-year ban with no suspended sentence and had indicated his intention to appeal on the day the judgments came. “We have filed an appeal against the ban [on Friday],” Shahid Karim, Amir’s lawyer, said. “The process is now set into motion. We have challenged the judgment on various grounds.”Asif has so far not said whether he will file an appeal.

A round-up of the first day’s action from the World Cricket League Division Three tournament in Hong Kong

Liam Brickhill22-Jan-2011

United States of America got their Division Three campaign off to a winning start, a dominant batting performance sealing a seven-wicket win over hosts Hong Kong at Kowloon Cricket Club.USA captain Steve Massiah was the chief architect of their win, contributing to his team’s efforts at crucial times. His first success was to call correctly at the toss on a cold, grey morning. Seamer Kevin Darlington struck twice in his opening spell, removing Courtney Kruger and Hussain Butt inside the first 10 overs.After a brief rally, 16-year-old Mark Chapman and Irfan Ahmed departed to leave Hong Kong tottering at 59 for 4 before opener Roy Lamsam and Nizakat Khan repaired the damage with a 99-run stand. Enter Massiah, swooping to run Lamsam out for 83. Despite a flurry of wickets, Hong Kong captain Najeeb Amar defied the Americans with a no-holds-barred 63 that included six sixes and carried his side to a competitive 256 for 9.Massiah and wicketkeeper Carl Wright weathered the loss of Orlando Baker early in USA’s chase to put together a decisive 109-run partnership in quick time. Massiah was content to play the anchor role in their stand, with Wright thrashing seven fours and six sixes in his 82 before offering legspinner Khan a caught-and-bowled chance in the 32nd over.Massiah then stepped up the tempo significantly with Sushil Nadkarni his partner at the crease. With Nadkarni adding 38 at better than a-run-a-ball before he was dismissed, Massiah’s well-paced innings couldn’t quite reach three figures as he finished on 97 not out when victory was reached with an over and a half to spare.”It’s fantastic to start the tournament off with a victory and we had some solid batting performances today with Carl Wright and myself contributing to our victory,” said Massiah, who was named Man of the Match. “However good it feels to start with a win we definitely cannot rest on our laurels. Tomorrow we’re playing Denmark and they’ll be looking for a win after losing to Italy today, we can’t afford to lose focus.”Italy’s batting performance against Denmark was similarly impressive, Peter Petricola putting in a match-winning all-round performance to set up a seven-wicket win for the Italians at Hong Kong Cricket Club.Alessandro Bonora’s side limited Denmark to 227, Petricola effecting a run out and picking up two wickets with his medium pace. Rizwan Mahmood’s half-century formed the backbone of Denmark’s innings, and although four of the top seven batsmen got starts none were able to really push on as Dilan Fernando’s seamers also resulted in three wickets.With the sun slowly beginning to break through a heavy bank of cloud as Italy began their chase, openers Andy Northcote and Damien Fernando combined to make 87 runs at a steady pace before Fernando was trapped in front of his stumps for 45. Denmark chipped away to reduce Italy to 130 for 3 but Petricola and Damien Crowley fought back in impressive style, both reaching unbeaten half-centuries to seal the result in the 45th over.”It’s obviously great to win on the opening day of the event and carry on the good form I had in Italy last summer,” said Petricola. “We were a little bit scratchy to begin with but we stepped up to the plate with a few good performances to get us over the line but today was by no means a complete performance by us.”The Danes are a solid side and are very competitive while also playing with good spirit. They definitely challenged us as a side. They were good but at the end of the day we gave a good enough performance to walk away with the important winning points on day one.”In the third game of the day, at Mission Road, Rarva Dikana’s Papua New Guinea opened their tournament with a 39-run win over Oman despite a hard-fought century from Omani captain Hemal Mehta. His innings was not enough to help his side recover after Hitolo Areni knocked the stuffing out of their top order with an early hat-trick.PNG had Chris Kent and Kila Pala to thank after their half-centuries prompted a recovery after a top-order collapse had reduced the side to 27 for 4, Hemin Desai’s seamers doing the bulk of the damage as he ripped out three of the top four and eventually finished with figures of 4 for 50. Kent struck 68 before being caught and bowled by Mehta while Pala struck a run-a-ball 77 as PNG reached 248 for 9.With a competitive total set, PNG set about dismissing the Omanis in style with Areni leading the way with a stellar performance. The 30-year-old fast bowler started by dismissing Deep Trivedi, with wicketkeeper Jack Vare snaffling a catch behind the stumps, while the second two wickets of Adnan Ilyas and Sultan Ahmed came from some nifty fielding at first slip by Dikana.Mehta made a valiant effort in an attempt to save his side from defeat, striking the first century of the tournament, but his hard work was in vain as the side fell short of the target by 39 runs and PNG’s bowlers cleaned up the tail.”I’m really pleased to have taken a hat-trick today and to help my side to our first win of the tournament,” said Areni. I’ve recently broken back into the national side and it feels good to see my hard work paying off today but it was very much a team effort today.”We’ve another game tomorrow and we can’t rest on today’s win, we need make sure we carry this through and hopefully I can continue to contribute to help us win.””We had a great start against PNG and then we dropped two catches in a span of three overs which made the difference in the first innings where they managed to get a long partnership in place,” explained Mehta”I have to say our bowlers did work hard today to try and limit the runs, with Desai and Ranpura our seamers taking four wickets to dismiss most of the top order. But we let things slip to allow them to set up their major partnership and wickets only began to fall again after our spinner Khalid Rashid stepped in.”The partnership myself and Vaibhav Wategaonkar built was decent and if we’d had another two players contribute 30-odd runs each alongside myself things may have turned out differently. Areni put us on the back foot when he took three key wickets and unfortunately I couldn’t steady the ship on my own.”The tournament continues on Sunday, with Oman playing Hong Kong at KCC, Italy facing PNG at HKCC and USA taking on Denmark at Mission Road.

ScorecardAndre Russell was in his element, snaring 6 for 45, but the rest of the Jamaican side was not•WindiesCricket.com

Barbados were forced to dig deep after an incisive spell from Andre Russell, but their lower order and bowlers raised their game to trump Jamaica by 58 runs at Sabina Park, and set up a final showdown against Leeward Islands on Sunday.Russell, who was included in the recently named West Indies squad for Sri Lanka, was in his element from the moment Jamaica chose to field. He trapped Dale Richards in front with his first ball before getting Ryan Hinds to edge behind in his second over. Jason Haynes and Kirk Edwards attempted to see off Russell’s hostility, but the seamer struck again in his fifth over, Haynes departing for 14 off 29 balls.Barbados recovered once Russell was taken off the attack, with Jonathan Carter joining Kirk Edwards in an counterattack. Carter dominated the stand of 82 for the fourth wicket before Odean Brown dismissed Edwards for 34 in the 25th over of the innings. Carter slammed three sixes and as many fours in his 59 which came at better than run-a-ball, but when Chris Gayle sent him back in the 26th over, Barbados were in trouble again, at 128 for 5.Dwayne Smith, however, seamlessly took over the aggressor’s baton from Carter, while the lower order played around him. Smith struck 55 off 50 balls, and though Russell returned to pick three wickets and finish with 6 for 45, Barbados’ tail refused to fall away. Kemar Roach and Tino Best, the Nos. 10 and 11, added 34 runs to lead their side to a respectable 249 for 9. Jamaica’s cause was not helped by the indiscipline of their attack, which conceded 23 runs in wides and no-balls.Jamaica’s chase suffered from the inability of their top order to convert starts into meaningful innings. Openers Chris Gayle and Xavier Marshall hit four fours and two sixes between them, but could only contribute 36 runs. Danza Hyatt also failed to make an impact, and from 65 for 3 in the 12th over, it was left to Brendan Nash to steer the relatively lean Barbados middle order. The pressure on him increased after Tamar Lambert and Carlton Baugh were found out in the middle overs, with spinners Ryan Hinds and Sulieman Benn settling into miserly spells.Lambert and Baugh used up 37 deliveries for the addition of seven runs, and Nash’s own struggles to keep the scoreboard ticking meant Jamaica steadily lost steam. Hinds struck intermittent blows along with Javon Searles, and at 148 for 6 in the 36th over Barbados had assumed full control. Even their reciprocal generosity with wides and no-balls – they conceded 25 in all – could not redeem the host’s chase. Nash’s crawl to a half-century merely delayed the end as Jamaica folded nine short of the 200-run mark, in the 44th over.

Tim Spiers has now given his reaction to the news that Wolves have given Luke Cundle a new deal.

The Lowdown: Cundle deal confirmed

The Midlands club confirmed earlier this week that they have given Cundle a new four-year contract at Molineux, putting a lot of faith in the 19-year-old.

The central midfield player has made four senior appearances in total so far this season, including his first Premier League start in the 2-0 win away at Tottenham Hotspur last month, and so has now been rewarded for his efforts.

The Latest: Spiers reacts

Taking to Twitter, The Athletic journalist Spiers has now given his reaction to the news of Cundle’s contract, adding that they have been looking to renew it ‘for a while’:

“Good to see Luke Cundle get a four-year deal having broken into the squad.

“Club have been looking to get that done for a while.”

The Verdict: Pathway there

As Spiers has claimed, the progress that Cundle has made shows that there is not just a pathway for him into the first team but other youngsters as well.

Of course, with Joao Moutinho now 35 years of age and Morgan Gibbs-White being sent out on loan to Sheffield United, playing in the middle of the park provides an opportunity for Cundle, which he has taken so far having been rewarded with the contract.

The Englishman has actually averaged the best pass success rate and most through balls per game out of any of his teammates in the top flight this term, albeit only playing 85 minutes in the division (WhoScored), and Bruno Lage will no doubt be happy with the decision to give him a new deal.

In other news, find out what big update has now emerged involving this ‘sensational’ Wanderer here!

Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir have hit out at the ICC following the governing body’s decision to uphold their provisional suspensions from international cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2010A day after the ICC turned down their appeals against provisional suspensions from international cricket Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir hit out at the governing body’s decision, reached after a two-day hearing in Dubai this weekend. The players’ comments appear to be in contrast to those made by Aftab Gul, Butt’s lawyer, who said yesterday they were satisfied with the hearing and just not its decision.The pair returned to Lahore on Monday and spoke to reporters at the airport, claiming that the ICC had treated them unfairly. But as the day wore on, Butt appeared on several TV channels, intensifying his attack against the decision reached by Michael Beloff, the ICC code of conduct commissioner, and built up claims of “a conspiracy” against the players and Pakistan.The root of their discontent was the the ICC and the hearing itself. “They listened to us but it felt as if their decision had already been made from before,” Butt said. “It was not based on a single piece of evidence. There was no evidence that established that we had some agreement with Mazhar Majeed. After a 12-hour hearing the only so-called evidence they had was the same , a leading channel, to explain the contents of the video, an agitated Butt asked, “You are asking me questions but you tell me where am I in this video? These things have to be proven when you talk about such charges, you cannot base it on just suspicions. It is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. I am not here to convince you, did he say on video that I had done something? Of course I am denying all this. I feel like I am talking to the English media.”Amir echoed similar concerns. “Before leaving for Dubai we felt the case will be in our favour, but when he gave the decision it looked as if he had written the decision before,” he told reporters at the airport. “We went for the truth but this could be a conspiracy against Pakistan, to tarnish Pakistan’s reputation.”The PCB has distanced itself from the defence of the players, insisting that it is up to them and their lawyers to resolve the matter. They have prevented the players, including Mohammad Asif who has withdrawn his appeal, from using board facilities such as the National Cricket Academy for training. But now, the pair insist, it is time for authorities to get involved.”It [the PCB distancing itself] wasn’t expected,” Butt said. “Nobody from the PCB has even called us so I don’t know what is going on there. But I think now is the time for even the government to get involved as well as the PCB because it isn’t just about three players. This is Pakistan being cornered.”Butt and Amir have been suspended from international cricket, along with Asif, since September 2. They are not permitted to appeal against the latest verdict and they will now appear before an independent anti-corruption tribunal that will look into the actual charges and give a verdict on whether the players are innocent or guilty.No date has been set for the full hearing despite a request by the players to do so. “We’ll carry on, we’ll wait for the hearing,” Butt said, “They haven’t given us a date even though we asked for it.”Taffazul Rizvi, the PCB legal advisor has criticised the pair’s attack on the arbitration. “It was highly inappropriate of the players to cast doubts on the impartiality of the tribunal after the short order had been announced,” he said.

Chelsea have joined Liverpool in the race to sign Celtic youngster Ben Doak, according to reliable reporter Kieran Devlin.

The Lowdown: Place on the bench

The versatile 16-year-old is yet to pen professional terms at Parkhead and was recently linked with a move to Anfield.

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The Reds are thought to be looking at a compensation deal for the teenager, who made the bench against St Johnstone prior to the winter break.

He was back involved in the matchday squad on Wednesday night for Celtic’s 2-1 win over Hearts and is now catching the eye of Chelsea.

The Latest: Devlin’s claim

Devlin ran a Q&A on The Athletic for Celtic’s match against Hearts last night.

One fan wanted to know more about Doak after seeing him named on the bench, with another supporter believing he was included ‘because Liverpool are trying to sign him so a place on the bench maybe makes him commit to the club’.

Devlin responded to that comment, revealing that Chelsea are also ‘in for’ Doak as he said: “It’s this yes, Chelsea in for him too. Bit of a political move.”

The Verdict: Fingers crossed

As Devlin claims, Ange Postecoglou may well be including Doak in the matchday squad in a bid to tempt him to sign a long-term deal with the club.

Should that be the case, the Hoops hierarchy will be hoping it works, as the 16-year-old is clearly a player held in high regard, with officials from both Stamford Bridge and Anfield keen on his services.

The next few months could be crucial with regards to Doak’s future, but featuring regularly in Postecoglou’s matchday squads might just tip the balance in Celtic’s favour.

In other news: ‘Ambitious’ Celtic ace may now seal late exit to join relegation-threatened side. 

Ricky Ponting might be able to teach Shahid Afridi something about rebuilding. Or Salman Butt. Or whoever captains Pakistan next. For the past couple of years, Ponting has been restructuring his side, if not from the ground up then close to it. And now, he’s confident that he has the team required to take Australia forward.Just as Pakistan are now facing life without Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan – and the soon-to-retire-again Afridi – Australia have had to find replacements for their stars in recent seasons. Since the start of 2008 baggy greens have been handed to 17 new players, including Tim Paine and Steven Smith at Lord’s this week, and finally the results are beginning to flow.They’ve now won seven consecutive Tests, and 13 in a row against Pakistan, which is a record for any country over any other nation. Ponting is optimistic about the progress his side has made, and with Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris all hoping to be fit in time for the Ashes, he is pleased with the position the Australians have reached.”It’s not about rebuilding now for us,” Ponting said after the 150-run win at Lord’s. “I feel that we’re through that and once we get all our guys back to full fitness we’re going to put a really formidable side on the park, which is a really good sign for us. Seven straight now and that’s 13 straight against Pakistan, which is another good record to have over them.”Things are coming together nicely. Without being silly, we’ve all got one eye on stuff that’s happening later in the year and these steps this week have been good ones in the right direction as far as keeping on improving our Test cricket. We’ve got a few more Tests to play yet, but things are going well for us.”One of the most impressive aspects of their Lord’s triumph was the emergence of Paine and Smith, who proved themselves to be of Test standard. Despite being outshone by the six-wicket haul from the part-time spinner Marcus North, the team’s designated No. 1 slow bowler Smith showed promising signs by collecting 3 for 51.Steven Smith also impressed Ricky Ponting during his first outing in Test cricket•Getty Images

The ball that would have excited Australia’s selectors the most was a delivery that deceived a well-set Kamran Akmal, a quicker, fuller ball that turned and surprised the batsman to get through his defences. On the final day, Ponting had trusted North ahead of Smith due to the presence of two left-handers at the crease, but he said he could not have asked for any more from the debutant.”He bowled a lot better today than he did in his first spell yesterday,” Ponting said. “He will just continue to grow with confidence and he will put more work on the ball as a result of that and he is just a great kid to have around the side. His enthusiasm is terrific and we did not see the best of him with the bat this game. He is a highly talented batter as well.”Paine delivered an even more professional debut. He was cool-headed in making 47 in the second innings and he was clean and agile behind the stumps, finishing the game with five catches and a stumping. The leg-side effort to remove Butt, who had 92 and was Pakistan’s best hope, was particularly encouraging.North drifted his first delivery past the batsman’s pads, Butt advanced and missed the ball, and like a flash Paine had whipped off the bails. It completed what Ponting called an outstanding debut from Paine, who in four days has gone a long towards securing his place as the long-term No. 2 gloveman behind Haddin.”His work behind the stumps was very sharp,” Ponting said. “It was a great stumping today, one sliding down the leg side behind a left-hander is always a hard one to take. That was a big moment in the game, really. Butt was playing beautifully and they’re the sort of chances you hope your keeper or any of your fielders take. I thought he had an outstanding debut, as did Smith.”It’s that sort of depth that has Ponting looking forward with confidence. The rebuilding is complete, now the finishing touches are being applied.