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Seam bowlers continued to dominate on the second day of the Specsavers County Championship match between Gloucestershire and Leicestershire at Cheltenham

ECB Reporters Network21-Jul-2016
ScorecardDavid Payne claimed 5 for 36•Getty ImagesSeam bowlers continued to dominate on the second day of the Specsavers County Championship match between Gloucestershire and Leicestershire at Cheltenham.David Payne finished with 5 for 36 as Leicestershire were bowled out for 218 in reply to the hosts’ 183, having begun the day on 122 for 5. Angus Robson top scored with 62, while Ned Eckersley and Ben Raine made important contributions.When Gloucestershire batted again there was more evidence of swing and seam movement as they progressed to 133 for 4 before rain brought play to a premature conclusion. Skipper Michael Klinger was unbeaten on 43, with Chris Dent having made 34. Neil Dexter claimed 2 for 11 to match his first-innings figures and the home side were precariously placed with a lead of just 98 going into the third day.The morning session saw the pitch still offering plenty of assistance to the bowlers after 15 wickets had fallen on day one. Leicestershire’s remaining batsmen had to show application to gain a slender, but useful first-innings lead of 35.Left-armer Payne took the last three wickets of the innings, sending back Clint McKay, Richard Jones and Charlie Shreck, having bowled without much luck on the previous evening.Robson, unbeaten on 49 overnight, had reached a battling half-century off 148 balls, with nine fours, before falling to Craig Miles, having added 73 for the sixth wicket with Eckersley, who also went to Miles, having faced 106 balls and hit three fours.At one point, Leicestershire looked well placed at 201 for 7, but Payne then ensured their advantage was a small one, wrapping up the tail with three wickets in as many overs.Lunch was taken at the change of innings and Gloucestershire made a solid enough start, with openers Dent and Will Tavare wiping out the deficit. But with the total on 39, Tavare edged Charlie Shreck through to Mark Cosgrove at second slip and departed for 18.Graeme van Buuren made only 3 before being bowled driving at Raine and it was 80 for 3 when Dent fell to a superb low catch by Cosgrove in the slips off Dexter.Hamish Marshall, playing his last Championship innings at Cheltenham before leaving Gloucestershire at the end of the season, also went cheaply to Dexter, edging to Robson at first slip. But Klinger showed his quality by stemming the tide and was unbeaten on 32 at tea, which was taken with Gloucestershire 113 for 4 and leading by 78.Jack Taylor followed his first innings half-century by helping his skipper add a further 20 runs after the break when rain started falling at soon after 4.30pm. It was light drizzle to start with, but when it became more persistent umpires Michael Gough and Graham Lloyd called play off for the day at 6pm.

Zimbabwe left-arm fast bowler Brian Vitori’s bowling action has been found to be legal, following remedial work and a re-test performed at University of Pretoria on June 10

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2016Zimbabwe left-arm fast bowler Brian Vitori’s bowling action has been found to be legal, the ICC confirmed, following remedial work and a re-test performed at the University of Pretoria on June 10.The re-test revealed that the bend at Vitori’s elbow was within the permissible 15-degree limit for all his deliveries. He is now free to resume bowling in international cricket and at domestic tournaments worldwide.Vitori’s action had been reported after the third T20I against Bangladesh in Khulna on January 20, and he was subsequently suspended in February.Vitori, 26, has played four Tests, 19 ODIs and 11 T20Is for Zimbabwe after making his international debut in August 2011.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola isn't the world's best manager, according to former Citizens midfielder Didi Hamann.

Is Guardiola having a good season?

The Spaniard has arguably been the most influential figure of the Premier League era at the Etihad Stadium, inspiring City to a glorious period of success. Having arrived back in 2016, he has gone on to win four league titles, four EFL Cups and one FA Cup in the years since.

Granted, Champions League glory has continued to evade Guardiola at City – he won the competition twice during a prolific spell in charge of Barcelona – but he is surely the main reason among many for the club's success, playing some extraordinary football along the way.

This failure to win Europe's greatest club competition with the Citizens is a stick that is often used to beat the 51-year-old with, but he has the chance to silence the doubters this season, with City's quarter-final against Bayern Munich firmly under control heading into the second leg.

Is Man City boss the world's best manager?

Speaking to German outlet Solinger Tageblatt [via Sport Witness], Hamann appeared be one of those naysayers, assessing Guardiola negatively and saying he isn't the world's leading manager at this moment in time:

"In decisive situations, you need players who make decisions themselves. He takes that away from them. Julian Nagelsmann did that too. Tuchel doesn’t do that.

"Guardiola has not managed anything that others have not managed. Everybody tells you that a Pep Guardiola is the super father of coaches.

"But he was in a Champions League final in ten years with Bayern Munich and Man City – and he lost that himself. And now people tell me he’s the best manager in the world – sorry."

This is a strange take from Hamann, who admittedly isn't exactly shy when it comes to criticising great managers, quite often taking issue with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp down the years.

While City's failure to win the Champions League is clearly disappointing, the job that Guardiola is still doing remains magnificent, with a fifth Premier League title in the space of six seasons coming their way if they can pip Arsenal to the trophy in the next month or so.

Whoever the world's best manager happens to be is clearly a subjective call, but to actively make an effort to downplay Guardiola's achievements seems strange from Hamann, especially given the vast influence he has had on English football in terms of the way so many teams play out from the ball now, among other examples.

Journalist Dominic Scurr has claimed that work on Newcastle United’s training ground is pretty much finished.

The Lowdown: PIF continuing to work off the pitch

Since taking over the club, PIF have set out to totally overhaul what had been a dormant outfit under Mike Ashley with a brand new playing squad on offer to Eddie Howe, which has enabled them to challenge for the top four and hand the players a redeveloped training ground.

Work started over the summer to improve Newcastle’s Darsley Park training base, which hadn’t been touched for several years and wouldn’t have done anything to help persuade players to join the club.

Now that the bulk of the work has been completed at Benton – which was on show when Anthony Gordon signed for the club – it should be a more enjoyable place for the players to be and could help them take that next step up.

The Latest: Newcastle’s updated training ground is pretty much complete

Scurr was asked on the Loaded Mag YouTube channel how the work was coming along at Newcastle’s training ground, and he shared the positive news about developments now being close to completion.

He said: “To my knowledge, the actual building work’s done, there’s just a few internal things there that still need sorting as well. But the restaurant side of things, the stuff that will impact players – the changing rooms and stuff like that – has been completed. There’s just a few more things left to do, as far as I’m aware, anyway.”

The Verdict: Work continues to go on behind the scenes

While making big-name signings is what will get fans and the media excited, the fact that PIF are doing more work behind the scenes to improve Newcastle as a football club – not just the men’s first-team squad – is equally as impressive.

Newcastle have already improved their training ground and announced that they will be creating a new fanzone in the near future behind St James’ Park, which only goes to show how the club’s owners have the fans’ interests in mind.

However, PIF bought Newcastle to win silverware and become a dominant force within football, so they’ll want to see a material return on their investment in the form of trophies or Champions League football as well as improving fan satisfaction.

Stats highlights from the two-Test series between West Indies and Sri Lanka

S Rajesh08-Apr-2008

Going into the fourth day of the Trinidad Test, West Indies were in danger of slipping to their eighth series defeat in a row, and their tenth loss in the last 11 series. Thanks to Ramnaresh Sarwan’s superb 102 and his 157-run partnership with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, though, West Indies swept to the third-largest successful run-chase at this ground, thus denying Sri Lanka their first series win in the West Indies. The result also means Sri Lanka haven’t won an away series against a team other than Zimbabwe and Bangladesh since 2000, when they beat Pakistan 2-1. (Click here for Sri Lanka’s overseas series since 2000.)For Sarwan, it capped an excellent series, one in which he topped 50 in every innings. It was a welcome return to form too – in his last 25 innings before this series, he had only scored one century, and averaged 27.20. His fourth-wicket partnership with Chanderpaul is a West Indian record for that wicket against Sri Lanka, and fell just seven runs short of equalling their highest for the fourth wicket in the last innings of a Test.Overall, Sri Lanka had the slightly better numbers in the series, averaging more runs per wicket, and scoring at a faster rate. West Indies, though, raised their batting standards on the last day of the series to give them their second win in their last five Tests.

The partnership numbers for both teams indicate that both teams had problems with their top-order batting. Marlon Samuels had the lowest average among the West Indians, with 29 runs in four innings, while Tillakaratne Dilshan, Michael Vandort and – more surprisingly – Kumar Sangakkara all had ordinary series for Sri Lanka. (Click here for the series averages for West Indies, and here for the averages for Sri Lanka.)Sri Lanka’s opening pair did a fine job, but West Indies’ second-wicket stand was far better, thanks to Sarwan’s run-fest. Further down the order, the fourth-wicket partnership was a huge one for West Indies – it helped them level the series – while Sri Lanka relied heavily on Chaminda Vaas’ batting prowess at No. 7: their stands for the sixth and seventh wickets were both in excess of 50.

Among the bowlers, this was one series in which Vaas easily outdid Muttiah Muralitharan. Vaas, in fact, had an outstanding all-round series, averaging 19.75 per wicket with the ball and 37.67 with the bat. Murali took as many wickets as Vaas, but each one cost him nearly 33.West Indies’ bowling star was Jerome Taylor, whose 11 wickets at 24.81 took him past the 50-wicket milestone in Tests.Head-to-head contestsThe ability of the West Indies top order to tackle the Murali menace was perhaps the most significant aspect of the series. Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Gayle all handled him with a good degree of success, which made the Sri Lankan attack look far less threatening.Vaas, on the other hand, was more than a handful for Samuels, but he had less success against long-time bunny Gayle, who fell just once to Vaas in 58 deliveries.

Raphael Varane has revealed how he earned Cristiano Ronaldo’s respect, with the Frenchman saying there is “no need to be shy” around the Portuguese.

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French defender moved to Spain in 2011Would not be intimidated by anybodyLanded major silverware alongside CR7WHAT HAPPENED?

World Cup winner Varane completed a dream transfer to Real Madrid in the summer of 2011. Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo had already been at Santiago Bernabeu for a couple of years by that point and was very much the brightest light in Madrid’s galaxy of stars.

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Varane could have been forgiven for feeling a little overawed in such illustrious company, but the classy centre-half merely made a point of making Ronaldo aware of who he was and that he would not be intimated by anybody.

WHAT VARANE SAID ABOUT RONALDO

Quizzed by on whether one of his first interactions with Ronaldo saw him respond with “I’m Rapha” after being referred to as “’Varane” by CR7, the current Manchester United star said: “Yes it’s true, I think that on the field there is no need to be shy. I am someone who is quite reserved outside but on the field you have to make your own place and be respected.”

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That is a mindset that Ronaldo can get behind, as someone who has spent his entire career pursuing perfection. Varane shares a similar desire to win, but added on how even the very best in the business need to learn how to turn energy levels on and off. He added: “That's the challenge for great teams, to succeed in winning while exerting less energy on the pitch. You can't put your full energy into everything when there are games every three days. You can't run a marathon every day. I had periods where we played Clasico, Champions League, Clasico – in a week you feel like you've lived an entire life!”

Bayern Munich will not sack Thomas Tuchel in the wake of their 3-2 loss to Bochum, but CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen refused to offer the board's support.

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• Bayern beaten for third time in a row
• Tuchel under fire after another loss
• CEO says he will be in charge next week

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Bayern found themselves 3-1 down at Bochum in a match that was interrupted on two occasions because of fan protests. Kane managed to pull a goal back late on for the German giants, but he could not prevent his team from losing a third consecutive match. Coach Tuchel has come under pressure amid the reigning Bundesliga champions' miserable run, and reports he is not considering resigning and has been assured that he will not be fired.

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  WHAT DREESEN SAID

  Asked by if Tuchel will be sacked, Dreesen said: "It was clear that this question was coming, it had been looming for some time. I don't believe in these monstrous statements of support for coaches. I've already said something about this, but it's not a question that arises for us today. We have to concentrate on the next games.

  "I know how you want to hear it. I can say it that way too. But these vows of loyalty are usually over after a week, so I say it in my own way. I've said before – and I'll even repeat myself – that's not an issue we're currently dealing with."

  When he was asked if Tuchel will still be in charge next week, Dreesen said: "Of course!"

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  Bayern's misery began when the Bavarian side were outclassed in a 3-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen – in which they failed to have a shot on target – last week. They followed that up with another disappointing performance in the Champions League, losing 1-0 to Lazio in the first leg of their last-16 tie. The loss at Bochum now leaves Bayern eight points behind Leverkusen in the Bundesliga table.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR BAYERN?

  Bayern have another difficult test coming up as they take on RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga on February 24. Leipzig put up a good fight when they came up against Real Madrid in the Champions League during the week, though they ended up losing 1-0, and followed that up with a 2-0 win against Borussia Monchengladbach to keep them fifth in the league.

Karim Benzema is set for crunch talks with Al-Ittihad to clear the air over his future after January links with Manchester United and Chelsea.

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Benzema to remain at Al-IttihadStriker wants clarity on his futureHas been linked with Chelsea and Man UtdWHAT HAPPENED?

The French striker is staying put at Al-Ittihad, at least until the summer. However, with Benzema still feeling unsettled in the Middle East he wants to get clarity about his future before the next transfer window.

According to , the former Real Madrid striker is already engaged in discussions with Al-Ittihad this week, focusing on clarifying their plans ahead of the upcoming summer window.

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Jacobs added that there was neither a formal request nor an approval for Benzema to leave the club in January. Both Al-Ittihad and key figures in the Saudi dealmakers have expressed a desire for Benzema to extend his stay for another season.

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Although Chelse and United were linked to Benzema, there are no concrete offers from any of the English top-flight clubs. Efforts by Lyon to bring Benzema back proved impossible due to the substantial wage cut required. Meanwhile, Ittihad continue to assert that any potential bid from other clubs, including those in the English Premier League, would have been rejected.

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Benzema has a three-year deal with Al-Ittihad until 2026. Although he has scored 12 goals in 20 games, the former French international has often come under the scanner over his performances in the recent past, which has irked the striker.

Although they are the reigning champions, they currently sit seventh in the 18-team division after losing their last three league games before the mid-season break due to the AFC Asian Cup.

RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, who has been linked with Manchester United and Chelsea, has a low release clause that becomes active this summer.

Sesko moved to RB Leipzig in summerHas release clause in current contractStriker of interest to Premier League clubsWHAT HAPPENED?

Sesko snubbed a move to Manchester United in the summer when he left Red Bull Salzburg to join RB Leipzig on a five-year deal. According to , his contract at RB Leipzig contains a release clause of €50 million (£42m/$54m) that can be activated in the summer.

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The news of Sesko's relatively low release clause is likely to be of interest to his admirers. United are in the midst of a disappointing season and could look to overhaul their squad in the summer, particularly as they have a striker shortage. Chelsea have also been linked with a move for Sesko as they look to boost their attacking options.

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Sesko became the youngest player to score for RB Leipzig in the Champions League when he netted against Young Boys in September at the age of 20 years and 111 days.

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Sesko may well be tempted to move on if there is interest in the summer. The youngster is not a regular starter at RB Leipzig currently but has scored seven goals in all competitions for the Bundesliga side so far this season.

Liverpool remain in negotiations with Southampton for midfielder Romeo Lavia, but to the indignation of the Anfield support, progress is moving at a snail's pace with the 2023/24 Premier League campaign just one week away.

Who are Liverpool signing this summer?

The summer transfer market started so brightly for the Reds, with Alexis Mac Allister arriving from Brighton & Hove Albion in a £35m deal before Dominik Szoboszlai was captured from RB Leipzig for £60m.

But progress was hampered when Saudi interest led to the departures of industrious midfield duo Fabinho and – captain – Jordan Henderson.

Read the latest Liverpool transfer news HERE…

Jurgen Klopp's side have since seen two bids for Lavia rejected, the second offer, £41m, still some way below Saints' £50m demand for the precocious engine room machine.

What is Romeo Lavia's style of play?

Lavia has been superb since joining Southampton from Manchester City one year ago in a deal potentially rising to £14m, and his performances on the south coast suggest that he boasts every ounce of quality requisite for success at the very highest level.

The 19-year-old would be a long-term project and the successor to Fabinho's role as the midfield anchor at Anfield, though given his Premier League displays over the past year there will be confidence at Liverpool that he could hit the ground running.

As per Sofascore, he recorded an average rating of 6.80 in the English top-flight, despite the tumult at St. Mary's Stadium and the discordant and disjointed harmony of Southampton's squad, resulting in a 20th-placed finish.

If Klopp succeeds in his pursuit, the £38k-per-week ace will be able to slot seamlessly into the Liverpool centre; the words of The Athletic's Jacob Tanswell corroborate the argument, as he said: in terms of technical quality and tactical understanding, he's more than ready to go right into that Liverpool midfield."

It is his innate ease and presence in the No. 6 role that will consequently allow teammates around him to flourish, with his ranking among the top 4% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for blocks per 90, as per FBref, illustrating his tenacity and determination to stifle opposition transitions.

Szoboszlai would certainly benefit from Lavia's arrival at Anfield, with the 32-cap Hungary captain's creative capabilities requiring steel-clad framework behind him to ensure he can effectively contribute to the offensive efforts.

And the £120k-per-week maestro could aid Lavia in his work too, ranking among the top 11% of attacking midfielders and wingers for blocks and the top 13% for clearances per 90.

Szoboszlai recorded an exemplary average rating of 7.42 in the German Bundesliga last season after scoring six goals and supplying eight assists from 28 starting appearances, creating 2.3 key passes per game, averaging 1.5 tackles per match and completing 83% of his passes.

Lavia is the "absolute monster" – as called by journalist Benjy Nurick – that Szoboszlai needs to thrive in the Premier League, while he can also utilise his own dynamism and defensive application to ensure that the workload is not too great for the teenage talent; it could be a partnership for the ages on Merseyside and Liverpool must ensure that they get this one over the line.