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Dean Minors, the Bermuda wicketkeeper, has announced his retirement from all cricket after being dropped from the squad for the World Twenty20 Qualifiers in UAE next month

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2012Dean Minors, the Bermuda wicketkeeper, has announced his retirement from all cricket after being dropped from the squad for the World Twenty20 Qualifiers in UAE next month.Minors, 42, had earlier been lured out of retirement by Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) to bolster the national team ahead of last July’s Americas Division One Twenty20 Tournament in Florida. However, he had told the BCB that he couldn’t commit to training because of his day job as a teacher.”I explained to them that my first priority would be to my work commitments,” Minors told the . “And after giving the national team 20 years of service and then on top of that come out of retirement to assist I thought I would’ve been given a bit more flexibility.”In the last few weeks leading up to the tournament I was even trying to work overtime to allow myself to train extra so there was a lot of manoeuvring on my part to make time and make myself available because of the importance of this tour. But of course it was not meant to be and I just wish the team the best of luck in Dubai.”Minors said it was time for a new wicketkeeper to step into his role. “After the team (Twenty20 squad) was announced something came over me and I just thought it was time to retire. I can’t go on forever and I think it’s time for wicketkeepers like Jason [Anderson] and Jekon [Edness] to step up.”Minors is contemplating staying with cricket through umpiring. “The suggestion came from Clay (Smith). he was saying why not consider umpiring because of the shortage of umpires,” Minors said. “I just want to help raise the standard (of cricket) and if I can do that through umpiring then I am more than willing to stand in the middle and do what I have to do.”

Wolverhampton Wanderers will look to get their push for European football back on track as they host Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League this afternoon.

With just five matches to go, Wolves are still firmly in contention of securing a place in one of the continental competitions for next season, with Bruno Lage’s men three points behind seventh-placed West Ham United whilst having a game in hand.

However, three defeats in their last four matches have seen the Old Gold suffer a major blow in the race for Europe, and they can no longer afford any slip-ups.

Getting back on track with a victory against the Seagulls today is crucial, but who will start for Lage’s side? Here is how Football FanCast expects Wolves to line up this afternoon:

Wolves XI – Sa; Boly, Coady, Saiss; Semedo, Dendoncker, Moutinho, Jonny; Hwang, Neto, Jimenez

We anticipate just one change from last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Burnley, which sees Fabio Silva replaced by Pedro Neto, with Raul Jimenez leading the line against Graham Potter’s side.

Silva has seriously struggled to make an impact this season and the £35m fee they paid for him in 2020 is still yet to be justified.

Labelled a “hindrance” by Wolves journalist Liam Keen earlier this season, the 19-year-old is yet to score in the current campaign, despite making 24 appearances across all competitions. Lage has tried to play the Portuguese youngster in the same line-up as Jimenez, but Silva’s sorry goal return shows that it hasn’t worked.

In his place comes Neto, who is still being managed carefully having recently returned from a serious knee injury. The 22-year-old returned to the side in late February after a ten-month spell on the sidelines but has started just one match since.

With Neto having been declared fit enough to be involved for Wolves for the past two months, Lage must now unleash the £39k-per-week winger, who Jamie Carragher described as a “superstar” last season after scoring five goals and providing six assists.

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Quality in the final third has been severely lacking for the Old Gold this term, with only four teams scoring fewer Premier League goals, and Lage will need to find a solution to his team’s woes in front of goal. Involving Neto would certainly be a worthwhile test of his ability to address Wolves’ lack of bite in attack.

Although victory will most likely keep Wolves eighth due to West Ham’s superior goal difference, it is vital that Lage’s men keep breathing down the necks of the Hammers and Manchester United.

AND in other news: Forget Marcal: Lage could sign perfect Wolves upgrade in “tremendous” £35k-p/w “beast”

Sri Lanka Women’s new-ball pair of Eshani Kaushalya and Nisansala Prabodani tore through the Bangladesh Women line-up, setting up a comfortable six-wicket win as the hosts swept the one-day series 3-0

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2011
ScorecardSri Lanka Women’s new-ball pair of Eshani Kaushalya and Nisansala Prabodani tore through the Bangladesh Women line-up, setting up a comfortable six-wicket win in Kurunegala as the hosts swept the one-day series 3-0. The top five Bangladesh batsmen fell early, all of them bowled, three falling to Kaushalya and two to 15-year old Prabodani.At 24 for 5, the Bangladesh lower order did well to eventually get them to 148 as they batted out their 50 overs. Suktara Rehman and Chamely Khatun were chiefly responsible for getting Bangladesh as far as they did.Sri Lanka lost a couple of early wickets and were 34 for 2 at one stage. Prasadani Weerakkody and Sandamali Dolawatta steered them to 80 before Shashikala Siriwardene settled matters with a quick 40.

A 3-2 victory and a Man-of-the-Series award concluded a four-day period that couldn’t have gone much better for Cook

Andrew McGlashan at Old Trafford09-Jul-2011If Alastair Cook really meant it when he said he wasn’t motivated “to prove anyone wrong” then he has a strange way of going about things. A 3-2 victory and a Man-of-the-Series award concluded a four-day period that couldn’t have gone much better for Cook.A series defeat against Sri Lanka, the World Cup runners-up, wouldn’t have been calamitous for Cook, especially if he’d made the runs he did, but the pressure would have been increased a few notches. Now, though, he has his second one-day trophy as ODI captain, following the win in Bangladesh last year, and can look forward with confidence to the challenges ahead, after a period back under Andrew Strauss’ leadership in the Test team.While showing that he can translate his Test batting form into the one-day game with 298 runs at a strike-rate of 96.75 in the series, Cook also displayed, during the deciding game at Old Trafford, his tactical acumen in the field. With three frontline quicks and two spinners to rotate while defending 268 there wasn’t much room for a wrong call, particularly after Sri Lanka twice recovered through Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews; but Cook got it all right.That came right down to giving Jade Dernbach, preferred to the struggling Stuart Broad, the 49th over, with 17 needed off 12 balls after Lasith Malinga had launched James Anderson for a six. Dernbach was in just his fifth ODI but pulled out his trademark slower ball which Mathews spooned to short third man, and then gave Malinga a taste of his own medicine with a swinging yorker.”He has bowled really well at the death, and one of the main reasons he’s been brought into that side is because of the skills he has – and you saw it at the end there, a slower ball followed by a yorker,” Cook said. “We need everyone to be able to do that. He’s bowled very well in pressure situations and in Powerplays.”That’s the first time I’ve had a really tight scenario in my eight games as one-day captain, and I thought we handled it well. The way we committed to what ball we wanted to bowl and were very clear in how we want to bowl was very pleasing.”At the start of the 35th over it appeared Cook was about to give Kevin Pietersen an over to give him some leeway later in the innings. But Sri Lanka took the batting Powerplay and Cook opted to return to Tim Bresnan and Dernbach. The visitors made 37 runs and didn’t lose a wicket, but Cook was confident England could hold on with Graeme Swann and Samit Patel having overs left.”Once we got through that Powerplay and they still needed seven-and-a-half an over and we had five overs of spin, I was quite confident. But we needed to get Mathews.”It was also a match which showed how vital it is to use up 50 overs after a collapse because the 15 runs added by Anderson and Dernbach off the final 11 balls of England’s innings proved the difference. “From the position we got ourselves into, 213 for 3, we would have liked 280 or 290,” Cook said. “But we are being critical – because 270 on that wicket was a very good score – and that little partnership at the end got us there.”Even though Cook has insisted there are no personal agendas for him there was more than a hint of satisfaction at what had been achieved, especially in the light of the growing criticism after England’s performance at Lord’s last week.”Everyone was writing us off, and we’ve played well in these past two games in all conditions; on spinning wickets and flat wickets,” he said. “When you pull on an England shirt, people are always going to have their own opinions.”I don’t do it to prove anyone wrong. I do it for the satisfaction that we got in that final half-hour of the game, and you can’t replicate that. That’s why you play the game. I think the most pleasing aspect is the way we fought back from 2-1 down in the series.”

Shaminda Eranga, the fast bowler, has a strong chance to make his Test debut for Sri Lanka in the second Test that begins tomorrow in Pallekele, as left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara struggles with a knee problem

Daniel Brettig in Kandy07-Sep-2011Shaminda Eranga, the fast bowler, has a strong chance to make his Test debut for Sri Lanka in the second Test that begins tomorrow in Pallekele, as left-arm seamer Chanaka Welegedara struggles with a knee problem. Eranga, 25, had impressed during his appearances on the ODI-leg of this tour, and Australia were a little surprised not to see him in the XI for the first Test in Galle, which the hosts lost by 125 runs.Welegedara had trained gingerly on Wednesday, and his place in the side will hinge on a fitness test scheduled an hour before the Test begins. Ajantha Mendis is also likely to be included in the Sri Lanka XI in place of Suraj Randiv.”[Mendis] is in the 13, we have not picked the final XI,” Sri Lanka’s captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said. “Welegedara is having slight knee pain and we have to assess his fitness tomorrow morning and then make a decision.”Sri Lanka’s readiness for the contest has been questioned after the Galle Test, with former captain Arjuna Ranatunga saying that while the hosts look the stronger side on paper, Australia were more committed. Dilshan said his team had built up a more positive mindset while training in Pallekele, and was now ready to fight for a series-levelling victory.”In the last two days we’ve had good training sessions, everyone is ready to play their part in this match. I think we have the confidence [to bounce back], everyone is good mentally.”A potential ally for the hosts is the pitch in Pallekele, which seems to display none of the ill-will of the Galle surface, allowing Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene to harbour thoughts of dominating with the bat. Australia’s defeats in the last Ashes, Sri Lanka would recall, came as a result of the weight of runs pressed upon them by England’s batsmen.”It looks a good wicket, especially for the batsmen. I think for the first three days it will be good for batting and then it will start turning,” Dilshan said. “In Galle I lost the toss, batting in the second innings was a little hard, but this is a different wicket.”Dilshan’s own performance in the first Test placed him under heavy scrutiny, but he has no intention of changing his attacking methods. He is looking forward to improving his productivity though, and the memory of his blistering century in the first Twenty20 international of the tour at this venue could put his mind in the right space.”I do need to put some runs on the board, especially at the start. The start is really important,” Dilshan said. “Definitely this wicket will help the batsmen – all the batsmen can take advantage and score some runs.”We have talked about what happened in the last match. This is a new match, a new wicket, new conditions. We’re looking forward to coming in with new tactics.”

Duncan Fletcher may have coached the England team for eight years but there’s still a “hell of a lot” about them that he “doesn’t know at all”, offspinner Graeme Swann has said

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2011Duncan Fletcher may have coached the England team for eight years but there’s still a “hell of a lot” about them that he “doesn’t know at all”, offspinner Graeme Swann has said. Fletcher was named India’s new coach, replacing Gary Kirsten, and his first assignment is likely to be the tour of England later in the year.Swann, who was not in Fletcher’s good books when he first played for England in 2000, said any presumptions from the coach about knowing it all about England had the potential to backfire.”Fletcher knows a few of our players better than some other coaches would,” Swann told the . “But there’s a hell of a lot of our team he doesn’t know at all. I think that will work to our advantage, because he might be trying to double guess us a little bit and come a cropper.”Swann made his ODI debut on the tour of South Africa in 2000, when Fletcher was coach, but lost favour with the team due to his off-field behaviour. He played his first Test almost eight years later. “If I was a coach 10 years ago, I don’t think I would have picked me, and I wouldn’t have particularly liked me being on that tour,” Swann said. “If you’re my sort of character, you soon become quite irksome to the people around you if you’re not backing your talk up on the field.”I was just a young upstart tourist, and it was a good job I didn’t play because I wasn’t good enough. I’d probably have been found out and cast aside for good, and never been given my eventual second chance.”There are several players in the current England set-up who’ve either not played under Fletcher or done so only occasionally. Jonathan Trott and Steven Finn made their debuts after Fletcher left, while Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan and even Swann gained prominence much later.”It’s nice for him to come back to England, because he’s got a fine record with the England team,” Swann said. “Now he will get a chance to pit his wits against this new England side during the summer. Technically, though, I don’t think it helps him much to know a few of our players, because there’s so much footage available that you can work anybody out.”Even James Anderson, who Swann believes could be the key against India, played only 16 of his 57 Tests under Fletcher. “If the ball swings like it did last year and Jimmy bowls as well again, there’s no team in the world that can touch us,” Swann said. “I think we will give India a very good run for their money, if not beat them.”

James Foster, the Essex captain, has been banned for two matches after a spate of disciplinary problems at the county who have also been fined £5000 by the ECB

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2011James Foster, the Essex captain, has been banned for two matches after a spate of disciplinary problems at the county, who have also been fined £5000 by the ECB.The ECB have a system of penalty points in place when a player breaks the code, but the Cricket Discipline Commission Panel criticised Essex for failing to take quick enough action following reports by umpires of misconduct over the last year and found Essex guilty on “five or more separate occasions of fixed-penalty offences in a 12-month period.””We are disappointed that Essex had taken no prompt action,” a statement said. “No management policy to safeguard against potential future incidents is in place.”They were especially critical of Foster’s role in failing to curb the problems. The most recent incident of the ECB imposing penalty points on an Essex player was against Foster for serious dissent in the Friends Life t20 match against Surrey on June 13.”The regulations make it absolutely clear that the captain is responsible for discipline on the field and ensuring no repetition occurs,” the statement continued. “We have taken into account the penalty imposed by Essex on the captain for his misconduct but in our view the captain’s responsibilities are great and we conclude that taking all the mitigation into account the correct penalty is an immediate two-match suspension.”Essex have accepted the punishments handed down but believe actions put in place by the club have not been taken into account by the panel.”We are however disappointed that the actions taken by the club following umpires’ reports on misconduct of players have been ignored by the disciplinary committee,” the club said. “We should like to clarify that we do take any breaches of discipline very seriously and have an internal process to deal with them. If a transgression is reported to us we investigate the circumstances of the offence and if considered appropriate we take robust action against the offending player.”The captain and the players have all been reminded that while we recognise the need to play with passion and intensity they have a responsibility to uphold the traditions of the game and operate within the regulations and in the spirit of cricket.””The club has every confidence in James and his abilities as captain,” they added. “In his long career he has had an unblemished disciplinary record with the ECB, and both James and the club now wish to draw a line under these unfortunate incidents.”Essex have to make a further £300 contribution towards the costs of the hearing and Foster will miss the Friends Life t20 fixtures against Hampshire and Glamorgan. With Essex currently fourth in the South Group and battling for a quarter-final spot his absence comes at a vital time for the club.

Celtic should make it ‘a priority’ to secure a new contract for Tom Rogic, according to journalist Andy Newport. 

The lowdown

The Australian midfielder joined Celtic in 2013 in a £432,000 move from A-League outfit Central Coast Mariners. He has gone on to make 254 appearances for the club, winning the Premiership six times and racking up 10 cup medals as well.

The 29-year-old has now entered the final 18 months of his £15,000-per-week contract at Parkhead.

He has been in fine form of late, with eight goals and assists in his last seven appearances. On Sunday, he scored twice as Celtic routed Motherwell 4-0 to remain top of the Premiership.

The latest

As part of The Daily Record’s ‘Monday Jury’, Newport and his colleagues were asked how important it was for Celtic to renew Rogic’s deal.

He duly replied: “There were plenty ready to write Rogic off last season but he’s always been one of the most gifted players in Scotland and Postecoglou’s arrival has brought him back to his best. At 29, he’s still got a few more years at the top left in him so a new deal should be a priority.”

Newport’s colleague Michael Gannon added: “It would be handy for Celtic to have an insurance policy for the Aussie as there are bound to be clubs looking at him again. He looked done at Parkhead but is now on another level.”

The verdict

Rogic’s upturn in form during the 2021/22 campaign has been striking. Last term, he only managed two goals and five assists in 31 appearances across all competitions, but he has doubled that goal contribution output (five goals, nine assists) in just over half a season under Ange Postecoglou.

Gannon’s statement that the 29-year-old ‘looked done’ at Celtic before his compatriot took over as manager illustrates Rogic’s turnaround in fortunes, as does Newport’s observation that ‘there were plenty ready’ to write him off.

Having responded superbly, the Australian deserves to be rewarded with improved terms, keeping him at Celtic for his remaining years at the top of his game.

In other news, Kieran Devlin has hailed one Celtic player’s ‘astonishing’ performances

Rangers have been hit with a big injury setback over Ibrox gem Kemar Roofe…

What’s the latest?

The Gers centre-forward was not deemed fit enough to make the matchday squad for the Light Blues in their Europa League semi-final clash on Thursday night.

It had been reported by The Scottish Sun that Gio van Bronckhorst was expecting the striker to be available for selection, as the forward was winning the race to feature in the game before ultimately missing out entirely.

Van Bronckhorst will be fuming

The Gers head coach will be fuming because it is a frustrating setback for the Jamaican forward. If the initial Scottish Sun report is to be believed, that means Roofe suffered a setback ahead of the clash with RB Leipzig and it remains to be seen when he will be able to return.

Football Scotland reporter Mark McDougall dubbed it a “huge blow”, and that is what it may be for the Gers heading into the final few weeks of the campaign.

Whilst it did not have a major impact against Leipzig, as Rangers beat the German side 3-1, one swallow doesn’t make a summer. Indeed, the Gers had failed to score more than once in two of their three matches without Roofe prior to that game.

The 29-year-old has popped up with some important goals for the team throughout the season. Up there with the best of them was his match-winning strike against Braga in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals, with the attacker scoring twice in four European starts this term.

He has also caught the eye in the Premiership of late. The striker has four goals and one assist in his last four appearances in the league, taking him up to 10 goals in 21 outings in the Scottish top flight. This shows that he has the ability to make a big impact at the top end of the pitch with his knack for goalscoring, and that is why losing him is a big blow.

Rangers have the Europa League and Scottish Cup finals coming up this month, against Eintracht Frankfurt and Hearts respectively, and they will need as many of their best players available as possible to give them the highest chance of winning silverware.

Therefore, Van Bronckhorst will be gutted by this latest blow to Roofe and will surely be hoping that the ex-Leeds marksman can recover in time to feature in Seville.

AND in other news, Forget Lundstram: Rangers’ £5.4m-rated “absolute baller” got Ibrox “rocking” yesterday…

New Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is keen on signing Christian Eriksen for nothing this summer, according to The Daily Star.

The Lowdown: Eriksen in demand

Eriksen, who has been labelled a ‘superstar’ by Graeme Bailey, returned to the Premier League in January after signing a short-term deal with Brentford.

The 30-year-old has made seven appearances for the Bees, contributing to three goals. Brentford have won five and drew one in the six games he has started, which has resulted in six English clubs showing an interest in his services. He is out of contract at the end of June, and a move to Old Trafford to work under Ten Hag has now been mooted.

The Latest: United join the race

The Daily Star shared a story regarding Eriksen late on Saturday evening, revealing the Red Devils are now interested in the attacking midfielder.

Ten Hag believes Eriksen, who trained with him at Ajax earlier this year, will be the perfect signing to kick start a major Old Trafford rebuild.

The Verdict: Smart move?

Ralf Rangnick believes up to 10 players could arrive at the club this summer, so United chiefs need to be wise in the market.

Therefore, picking up Eriksen for free could be an extremely shrewd move. The Denmark international has contributed to 121 goals in 233 Premier League and has shown in recent months he still has he quality to star in England.

United may also be left with just Bruno Fernandes as their only senior attacking midfielder, should Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata leave when their contracts expire at the end of June, so adding Eriksen to the mix could be a wise call.

In other news: ‘First signing of the Ten Hag era will most likely be’ – Journalist breaks major Man United news.