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Newcastle United’s January business looks set to save the club from relegation as their terrific recent form has sent them flying away from the drop.

The Magpies have only lost one of their last ten Premier League matches and have gone from being in the bottom three to nine points clear of Watford in 18th place in the table.

Chris Wood, Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes all scored on this run, whilst Dan Burn and Matt Targett played their part at the back. All of these players arrived through the door in January and look poised to secure top-flight survival.

Staying in the division will then offer PIF the chance to make the next step and attempt to make signings to push further up the table next season.

Forget Fraser

One area in which they could look to strengthen is out wide. Ryan Fraser has one goal and two assists in his last four matches but is yet to show that he can consistently deliver quality performances over the course of a campaign.

He has two goals and three assists in 23 league games this term, after managing zero goals and two assists in 19 matches under Steve Burce last term. This means that he is yet to prove his long-term value to the Magpies and that is why reported target Moses Simon would be an excellent signing in the summer.

PIF can light up the wings at St. James’ Park by bringing the Nigerian international to Tyneside as he has been in fantastic form for Nantes in recent campaigns.

Since the start of the 2020/21 season, Simon has produced nine goals and 12 assists in Ligue 1, taking his tally to 18 for the club. This term, he has averaged a brilliant SofaScore rating of 7.07 as he has created a whopping ten ‘big chances’ and averaged 2.4 key passes per game for his side – picking up seven assists for his efforts.

Former Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr previously heaped praise on the winger, saying: “I really like this player, he has a foolproof mind.

“He is small (1m68) but he has a big heart. He is very talented technically, physically with his speed, despite his size. With me he can play right back, and he does! He has a lot of strings to his bow.”

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One of those strings appears to be the ability to frighten defenders to death, with the Nigerian described as “unstoppable” for his performances at AFCON by journalist Oma Akatugba and as a “menace” after scoring in Ligue 1.

The flyer is consistently stepping up and putting in top-quality displays and creating openings for his teammates to score and this level of consistency is why PIF must sign him. His statistics suggest that he will be a better option than Fraser out wide over the course of an entire season and light up the wing with his ability to score goals whilst delivering chance after chance for the side to get fans off their seats in excitement.

AND in other news, Fewer touches than Dubravka: NUFC liability with 45% passing should never start again…

Tendulkar recovering from injury
The Indian Premier League is nearly half over but its biggest draw Sachin Tendulkar is yet to play a game because of a groin injury. However, he is optimistic of joining the resurgent Mumbai Indians soon. “I can tell you roughly that I’m targetting the next match [against Chennai on May 14], Sachin said while watching Mumbai play Rajasthan from the sidelines. “If I’m in the middle, I should be able to compete, for if I’m not able to compete, I’ll be letting the team down.”Charu out, Brijesh in
After five defeats, a visibly rattled Bangalore Royal Challengers are wielding the axe. The first victim is Charu Sharma, the CEO of the franchise, who was held responsible for the team’s poor performance. Sources close to the team claim he was asked to step down by Vijay Mallya, the franchise owner, but the team spokesperson however said he stepped down due to “personal reasons.” Sharma has been replaced by Brijesh Patel, the former India Test player and secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association. The players are reportedly shocked by this move. The question is, who’s next?Was slap-gate premeditated?
According to a report in the , Sudhir Nanavati, the BCCI’s commissioner to look into the slapping incident involving Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth, told its sources in the Indian board that the attack seemed to have been premeditated. This was supposedly based on the reaction of the Mumbai Indians’ coach, Lalchand Rajput, immediately after the incident. Navanati, however, denied making such a statement. “The report that appeared in a newspaper is completely false. I can tell you I neither saw him [Rajput] neither clapping nor laughing when Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth from the video footage shown to me yesterday”, Nanavati told Cricinfo.No more games for DY Patil?
The 40 km commute from the team hotel to the DY Patil Stadium in Nerul is getting to the Mumbai players and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has stepped in, suggesting Mumbai’s last two matches – on May 14 and 16 – be moved to the Wankhede Stadium. The franchise owners, Reliance Industries Limited, are yet to confirm the move. Today’s game against Rajasthan Royals, however, stays at the DY Patil stadium.Fat wallets
Players can look forward to bigger earnings once the second season of the IPL gets underway, with the governing council deciding to scrap the $5 million cap on earnings. The move was prompted by the success of the current season, and players can look forward to an increase of upto a massive $15 million. “I can tell you that our players would already be the highest-paid across any sport in the world,” Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman and commissioner, was quoted as saying in .One more chance
Harbhajan Singh, who has been banned for 11 IPL matches for slapping Sreesanth after an IPL match in Mohali, has appealed to the Indian board to give him “one final chance” before taking further disciplinary action against him. “Along with accepting my most sincere and heartfelt apologies over this incident, I would like to appeal to the board’s sense of fairplay and ask for one final chance before taking any disciplinary action against me over this incident,” Harbhajan said a letter to the BCCI. The disciplinary hearing will be conducted commissioner Sudhir Nanavati, who was appointed by the BCCI, in Ahmedabad.

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Bright Matonga: ‘Australia is one of the worst human rights violators in this whole world’ © Zimbabwe Observer

Zimbabwe’s government has reacted angrily to news that John Howard had banned Australia from touring the country in September.In a ferocious outburst, Bright Matonga, the junior information minister, slammed Australia’s human rights record and accused Howard of being part of a “racist ploy”.”The Australians are mixing politics with sport and the decision shows how desperate the Howard government is to isolate Zimbabwe,” Matonga told AFP. “Australia is one of the worst human rights violators in this whole world. Look what they have done to the aborigines and yet they have the audacity to stand up and claim to have the moral authority to condemn us.”This is also a racist ploy to kill our local cricket since our cricket team is now dominated by black players as we slowly transform cricket from being an elite sport. But still we will not lose anything because cricket is not a major sport here.”Matonga was a journalist for the BBC before being summoned back to work for the ministry of information in Zimbabwe. Ironically, BBC reporters are among those banned by the ministry from entering the country.

Cricinfo was unable to get a response from Zimbabwe Cricket as it refuses to answer any questions put to them by us as it objects to our coverage of cricket in the country.

Scorecard

Ian Salisbury is delighted to dismiss the dangerman Darren Robinson and wrap up victory for Surrey before kick-off © Getty Images

Races against time at the Oval on a Saturday have become something of a feature of late. Worcestershire, of course, recently chased down a mammoth 285 inside in 32 overs.Surrey had no fears of killing off Leicestershire today, and they duly removed the last four wickets for 67 runs to complete a thumping win by an innings and 158 runs. But, like the rest of the country, they had another match on their minds.As Ian Salisbury confirmed just as play began: “We want to do it before the football.” In the end they had an hour to spare.He himself made two fairly swift incisions, removing Leicestershire’s vital organ Darren Robinson who feathered through for 106 and then Stuart Broad for 12 with a screaming return catch, held low. By this time Leicestershire were clinging on by a sinew, at 259 for 9.Salisbury then had a hand in the final wicket, catching Mohammad Asif for a duck off Nayan Doshi to wrap up proceedings. Mohammad Akram had made the first cut of the day, removing David Masters for 12, a convincing lbw (292 for 7).Salisbury finished with 4 for 64 from 33 overs and headed in delighted with a job well done and time to put his feet up ahead of kick-off.

Pitch or no pitch, Sachin Tendulkar is happy to be back home in Mumbai© AFP

After the crushing loss to Australia at Nagpur, much of the attention has turned to the pitch in Mumbai. The strip at the Wankhede Stadium has evoked mixed reaction from the various people who have examined it closely.MS Rao, the curator in charge of the ground, said: “I will describe it as a good batting wicket,” to The Indian Express newspaper. “We have meticulously watered and rolled it. It will also have bounce and turn as the match progresses.” He is also supposed to have called it a “typical” Indian pitch.Conversely, Paras Mhambrey, the former India medium-pacer and Mumbai captain, told Mid Day that this was anything but a typical Mumbai pitch. “It is not a typical Wankhede wicket. If this wicket would have been given in Nagpur, which I feel they should have as one has the right to capitalise on home advantage, the series could have been 1-1 and then this match the decider.”Mhambrey recalled a time when he had played an Irani Trophy match on a similar pitch, and said the ball gave the spinners plenty of assistance in that case. “Normally there is something in it [the pitch] for the seamers as well, but this looks a completely different track and the spinners will come into play early.”Mhambrey drew attention to the reddish appearance of the pitch. “You can make out the difference between the main pitch and the practice wickets,” he said.Either way, with an unassailable 2-0 lead with one match to play, the Australians have the edge.

Chief Executive of Cricket NSW David Gilbert has announced the SpeedBlitz Blues squad to play Queensland in a Pura Cup match at the Gabba starting on Sunday February 1st, 2004.

Steve Waugh (c)
Greg Mail
Phil Jaques
Dominic Thornely
Mark Waugh
Brad Haddin
Aaron O’Brien
Stuart MacGill
Grant Lambert
Matthew Nicholson
Stuart Clark
Nathan Bracken (subject to fitness)
Doug Bollinger

Team to be finalised on the morning of the match

CricInfo has recorded an outstanding week of Internet traffic during the first National Bank Series Test match between New Zealand and India at Wellington.According to Hitwise, which measures Internet usage, CricInfo achieved a 92% share of visits to all cricket sites by New Zealand users between December 7-14.Paul Hashfield from Hitwise said: “The site showed a massive increase in category share in the global Sports parent category in the days leading up to the National Bank Tests, and it has now been consistently placed at No 1 for several months.CricInfo commanded more than 15% of all New Zealand visits to the global sports category on Saturday, December 14. This category covers over 1400 sport sites monitored by Hitwise.CricInfo’s own traffic reports show that on the first day in Wellington there were 4.2 million page impressions made, which was more than for all of the second or third Tests against England earlier this year.Preliminary internal CricInfo figures show that there 1.2 million page impressions for the Super Max International, 3.4 million impressions for the Central Districts tour match and 10.2 million for the first Test.

India had set their eyes on a big score against the comparatively weakNetherlands. They eventually ended batting first after being put in by theopposition which very much suited them as I guess they would have battedfirst even if they had won the toss.Indian openers Anju Jain and Anjum Chopra began on a sedate note. WhileJain was more open to the idea of scoring runs, Chopra appeared to getherself tied down with her attempt to play, more often than not, square onboth sides of the wickets. She appeared more cramped for space in theprocess but played a determined innings. Anju Jain appeared to be a victimof a leg before decision, bringing Mithali Raj to the middle.The entry of Raj accelerated the scoring rate to an extent especially onaccount of some very good running between the wickets by Chopra. The101-run partnership for the second wicket between these two laid thefoundation for an onslaught later on. Chopra’s attempt to play in front ofthe wicket came rather late in the innings but she eventually fell in theprocess of lofting one over extra cover.The run rate was none too impressive even after Raj fell but the fourthwicket pair of Hemalatha Kala and Chandrakantha Kaul smashed the Dutchattack to smithereens and when the Indian innings ended, the score read ahealthy 275 for 4 with 75 runs coming in quick time from this partnership.Kala’s innings stood out as a shining example with her 56 runs coming offjust 40 balls. It was not just her score but the authentic andauthoritative manner in which she got those runs that warmed the handful ofspectators watching the match.Kaul (39 off 37 balls), who has been out of touch with the game after hersojourn in England, returned unbeaten, obviously happy with her formalthough it was against one of the babes of the women’s cricket arena. Itis interesting that Netherlands are playing in their fourth World Cup butthe difference in standard between the top five teams and the rest israther vast.Set target of 276, Netherlands never seemed to be in the run. SunitaKanojia, who opened the attack, bowled against the breeze but appeared tobe the best medium pacer insight with her ability to swing the ball awayfrom a right hander which pays better dividends against the moreaccomplished batsmen. But she was decisively unlucky not to be amongst thewickets though she bowled economically.In the end the Netherlands team managed to score 121 for 6 resulting in anIndian victory by a huge margin of 154 runs. But what has been disturbingout here has been the inability of the Indian team to get any team all outin the competition and in the two warm up games prior to it. This is inspite of the fact that all the teams respect the Indian spin attack and themedium pacers have made the initial breakthroughs. May be the think thankof the team needs to address this issue and sort out the strategicallyproblematic areas that may have crept into their game plan.But the defeat of England at the hands of South Africa has made it easierfor India even though it has thrown open the competition and made it harderfor England to qualify for the semi-final. But then it is early days yetand one can’t write away the tenacious England team at this stage.

West Ham United have been handed a potentially huge boost ahead of their upcoming Europa League fixture.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to a claim made by Claret & Hugh, who revealed in a recent post that Declan Rice – who missed the Liverpool defeat due to a virus – has travelled with David Moyes and the rest of the West Ham squad to Sevilla.

The club insider went on to state that, while the midfielder is still a doubt for the Europa League round of 16 clash tomorrow evening, it is understood that the 23-year-old is feeling better than he was on Tuesday.

In the update, Claret & Hugh said: “Declan Rice travelled with the lads but there is no certainty at this stage he will play. Although, we understand he is feeling better than yesterday when he was still under the weather with a mystery bug.

“However, no decision on his involvement can be taken until the squad has been in the country for another 24 hours given the importance of the round of 16 game.”

Hammers will be buzzing

Considering just how vital Rice is within the West Ham side, the news that the England international has travelled to Spain with the rest of the squad – something which leaves open the possibility of the midfielder playing some sort of role in Sevilla – is sure to have left Hammers supporters buzzing.

Indeed, over his 26 Premier League outings in the current campaign, the £75m-rated dynamo has been in the form of his life, scoring one goal, providing four assists and creating two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.7 interceptions, 2.4 tackles, 51.9 passes and winning 5.4 duels per game.

These metrics have seen the £62k-per-week star average a breathtaking SofaScore match rating of 7.20, ranking him by far and away as Moyes’ best performer in the top flight of English football.

Furthermore, the 23-year-old has also been in exceptional form over his four Europa League appearances, bagging a further two goals, in addition to making an average of one interception, 2.8 tackles, 57.3 passes and winning five duels per fixture – with these returns seeing the midfielder average an even more remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.30.

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As such, it is clear to see that even a half-fit Declan Rice would provide a huge boost to West Ham’s chances of leaving the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium with a positive result tomorrow evening – with both Moyes and supporters of the club undoubtedly praying the England ace will be available for selection.

AND in other news: Huge blow: West Ham dealt fresh setback ahead of Sevilla clash, Moyes will be fuming

	Bazid Khan, son of former international Majid, is back after a strong Pentangular Cup © AFP

Umar Gul and Rao Iftikhar Anjum have been recalled for the first two one-day internationals against Bangladesh, but there is no room for Shoaib Akhtar in a near-full-strength Pakistan squad. Three finds from the ODI series against Zimbabwe at home recently – Nasir Jamshed, Sohail Khan and Wahab Riaz – were handed another opportunity to impress, while there was a recall for Bazid Khan after a fine Pentangular Cup.Gul, who travelled to Australia for a medical check-up on a longstanding back problem that prevented him from taking any part in the Test series against India last year, and Iftikhar – who had a poor series against Zimbabwe – return from injury to boost the bowling. With Mohammad Asif ruled out and Shoaib waiting to be cleared by the PCB’s disciplinary committee, Pakistan’s bowling attack also included Sohail Tanvir, Sohail Khan and allrounders Fawad Alam and Shahid Afridi, who make up the spin quotient.Bazid, who played one Test and three ODIs in 2004-05, finished as the Pentangular Cup’s second-highest run-scorer with 522 at 74.57, including three hundreds.In the ODIs against Zimbabwe, Pakistan tried out opener Jamshed and bowlers Sohail Khan – who shot to fame in his debut first-class season by grabbing 91 wickets – and Riaz, among other young hopefuls. Jamshed impressed with 197 runs at 39.40 as did the two bowlers. Both wicketkeepers from that series, Kamran Akmal and Sarfraz Ahmed, have been retained.While announcing the 16-man squad Salahuddin Ahmed, head of the selection committee, said that players such as Yasir Hameed, Yasir Arafat, Faisal Iqbal, Naumanullah, Abdur Rauf, Kamran Hussain, Junaid Zia, Yasir Ali, Umair Khan – who have all performed well on the domestic circuit – would be considered for the next three ODIs.The five-match series runs from April 6 to April 20.Pakistan squad Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam, Bazid Khan, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk).