Al-Nassr suffered defeat in the Asian Champions League as they were beaten 1-0 by Al-Ain in the first leg of the quarter-final.
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Al-Nassr lose 1-0 to Al-AinLaporte sent off for off-the-ball elbowRonaldo and Mane fail to turn upTELL ME MORE
Cristiano Ronaldo's side travelled to the United Arab Emirates with hopes of keeping alive their undefeated run in the competition, however, a toothless performance by the Saudi Pro League side and some brilliance from Soufiane Rahimi condemned them to a 1-0 loss on the night. The Moroccan kept calm as he ran through on David Ospina's goal before rounding the Colombian and slotting the ball into the empty net despite being off balance. Throughout the second half, the hosts remained in control of the game barring one chance that fell Ronaldo's way that drew a spectacular save from Al-Ain's keeper. Former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte was then shown a straight red card in injury time after he elbowed Hazem Mohammad in the back.
AdvertisementGettyTHE MVP
Rahimi remained the outlier in the game for the UAE Pro League side as he played the main part in both attacks that finished up in Ospina's net. The Moroccan played a delightful ball for Kaku in the 22nd minute of the game but the goal was chalked off after an offside was spotted in the build-up. However, it wasn't long before he managed to give Al-Ain the lead with a spectacular run and finish past Aymeric Laporte and Al-Nassr's Colombian keeper. Rahimi almost got onto the scoresheet again in the second half after he managed to slot a perfect finish past Ospina but was adjudged offside.
GettyTHE BIG LOSER
Al-Nassr's superstars remained the main disappointment of the night as they failed to show their top-notch qualities. The game barely showcased any sort of talent from Ronaldo and Sadio Mane as the duo were kept quiet throughout the entire game by Hernan Crespo's side. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner had two main opportunities in the game to score past Khalid Eisa but fluffed his lines with the first one while Eisa made an easy close-range save on the second chance. It was in the dying embers that the Portuguese forward had the best chance of the match but was denied by Eisa again with a spectacular save. Laporte's red card late into injury time pretty much ended the visitors' chances to get anything from the game as Al-Ain started to feel the fatigue in their legs.
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WHAT COMES NEXT?
The second leg of the quarter-final between Al-Ain and Al-Nassr will be played in a week's time when the UAE side travel to Al-Awwal Stadium for their clash on Monday, March 11. The Saudi Pro League side will have to cope without Laporte for the return due to suspension.
Worcestershire, beaten in their first three matches, faced a big Surrey total, but Daryl Mitchell proved they are still full of fight
ECB Reporters Network05-May-2018 ScorecardWorcestershire, bottom of Division One with three defeats from three matches, were left facing another uphill struggle after Rory Burns’ superlative 193 had taken Surrey to a challenging first innings total of 434 at the Kia Oval.On a sunlit late afternoon, however, Daryl Mitchell’s gritty 77 not out from 132 balls showed they still have some stomach for the fight as Worcestershire reached 135 for 1 from 45 overs in reply by the halfway point of this Specsavers County Championship match.Mitchell’s innings was the first championship score of fifty or more made by a Worcestershire top order batsman this season. In their three previous games, only wicketkeeper Ben Cox and all-rounder Ed Barnard had made half-centuries, while opener Brett D’Oliveira had endured successive scores of 1, 1, 3, 5, 3 and 0.When D’Oliveira square drove Sam Curran for four to go to 14 he had more than doubled his run tally from those wretched first six innings of the campaign and he must even have started to feel comfortable when a beautifully-timed stroke off his pads against Rikki Clarke brought another boundary.On 23, however, and shortly after tea, D’Oliveira was leg-before at the start of the 18th over to a ball from Clarke which Surrey’s veteran seamer ran on into his pads.That left Tom Fell (27 not out) to keep Mitchell company until stumps, with the pair negotiating both a testing and pacy six-over spell from Conor McKerr, a tall and well-built 20-year-old fast bowler, and some teasing off spin from the 19-year-old Amar Virdi.Surrey captain Burns batted for just eight minutes short of nine hours, hitting 18 fours from 408 balls of determined accumulation and, eventually, was eighth out as Mitchell hung on brilliantly at slip to a fast-travelling thick-edged cut off fast bowler Charlie Morris.Mitchell displayed wonderful reflexes to pull off a chest-high catch to his right – indeed, the ball seemed almost to have flown past him – but Burns swished his bat in annoyance at missing out on the second double-hundred of his career. He walked off, though, to a standing ovation from a good-sized Bank Holiday weekend crowd.Burns had resumed on 137, with Surrey 278 for 4 overnight, and the left-hander soon saw both Ollie Pope and Sam Curran fall to Joe Leach’s canny seamers, snicking to second slip and bowled through the gate respectively. Then, however, Burns was joined in a seventh wicket stand of 89 by Clarke, who made a good 38 before being leg-before to a Morris nip-backer.Stuart Meaker became 20-year-old slow left armer Ben Twohig’s maiden first-class wicket when he shouldered arms to a well-flighted ball and was bowled, and a brief last-wicket flurry from McKerr and Virdi ended when the latter steered a short ball from Josh Tongue to second slip, where Mitchell again made a sharp catch look easy.
West Bromwich Albion are set to be without one of their senior players for the next couple of months through injury, and an expert has detailed exactly when he believes he’ll be able to stage his comeback.
What's the latest injury news at West Brom?
With Daryl Dike having been out of action since last season with an achilles injury and not expected to return until at least December, Carlos Corberan’s latest blow came in the form of Josh Maja, who has torn some of his ankle ligaments, with the club anticipating that he will be back following the international break in November.
The Baggies boss, however, has been handed a boost over Erik Pieters, who is likely to be available for selection for Saturday’s game vs Preston after being forced off the pitch with muscle tightness during the latest 0-0 Championship draw against Millwall.
Another player currently on the sidelines is Adam Reach, who limped off the field during the 2-2 draw with Burton Albion in pre-season, and having sustained a quad injury, has recently undergone surgery to try and help rectify the problem as quickly as possible.
Despite this, the midfielder still won’t be able to get involved with the action again for a while, with a medical expert having shared the realistic timeframe that the 30-year-old could aim for as a return date.
How long is Adam Reach out for?
Speaking to West Brom News, injury expert Dr Rajpal Brar confirmed that Reach may noy be ready to join in with the first-team until December, whilst noting November as the month that he could start to build up his fitness at the training ground.
“His injury is a recurrence of a quadriceps injury that first occurred in April. It sounds like his return timeline is targeted for somewhere in December so mid to late November for light training could be a reasonable goal. Considering he had surgery recently, he’s likely taking it quite easy for the next coming days.“
West Bromwich Albion midfielder Adam Reach.
How good is Adam Reach?
Whilst Reach was previously dubbed a “top-class pro” by West Brom’s former manager Steve Bruce for the professional manner that he carries himself in, he is yet to make a single appearance this season, albeit that’s not his fault, and it’s unlikely he would be able to stake his claim in the starting squad under Corberan upon his return.
England’s former youth international, who is naturally left-footed, only ranked as the club’s 24th overall best-performing player out of 31 squad members last season, via WhoScored, showing how little of an impact he was able to make when handed the opportunity to play, failing to prove to the boss what he's capable of.
Furthermore, Reach currently pockets £40k-per-week which makes him the highest earner at the Hawthorns, as per Capology, therefore, Midlands chiefs should get him off their books next year, especially with his contract set to expire at the end of the season, and use the spare cash to generate funds for new signings in the future.
Kieran McKenna will have seen enough from his Ipswich Town troops on the road at Aston Villa to think they could still pull off an escape from relegation.
The Premier League relegation favourites managed to pick up a battling point at a daunting away stadium in Villa Park despite Axel Tuanzebe being given his marching orders late into the first half, with the Tractor Boys now hopeful they can surprise Tottenham Hotspur up next at Portman Road.
Ipswich Town'sLiamDelapapplauds fans after the match
McKenna will know any positive result that’s likely to come about will be spearheaded by Liam Delap having another lethal game in front of goal, alongside knowing that Omari Hutchinson has the quality to hurt some of the top-flight’s best on his day.
Hutchinson's positive season so far
After all, both Delap and Hutchinson would combine to devastating effect when Ipswich opened the scoring against Unai Emery’s men to silence the rocked home masses.
The ex-Manchester City man’s flicked finish was a joy to behold for those packed into the away end, but the crucial goal was all the former Chelsea attacker’s work, with Ian Maatsen unable to get a firm grip on the 21-year-old before he then played Delap into space.
This isn’t the only time this season the exciting attacking pair have combined to strike fear into a top-flight defence, with this lightning-quick counterattack against Hutchinson’s ex-employers, Chelsea back in December seeing Delap turn provider for the midfielder to stylishly slot a chance away.
McKenna and Co will hope another Chelsea-like scalp is on the cards when a potentially complacent Spurs side travels to Suffolk, with Hutchinson wanting more goals and assists to justify his high £20m price tag and to keep his team afloat in the Premier League.
But, whilst Hutchinson has that punchy value next to his name, there is another under-the-radar performer in McKenna’s camp that boasts a higher value, having originally cost the Tractor Boys a meagre £1m to obtain.
The "remarkable" star now worth £21m
Ipswich, even if they do succumb to relegation, should be commended come the end of the season for the loyalty handed out to players who have been at the club since their League One days, with the likes of George Hirst and Massimo Luongo who came off the bench versus Villa situated at Ipswich during their third tier stay.
Leif Davis also falls into this conversation of loyal servants who have managed to constantly keep up with the times, with a first-team spot nailed down throughout his three campaign stint to date.
Last season is where the former Leeds United reject would really come into his own in Suffolk, with defence-splitting passes like this assist for Hirst becoming a regular trademark move, as the expansive full-back went on to amass a stunning 21 assists come the end of the jubilant promotion-winning campaign.
Davis’ heroics would even see football pundit Jobi McAnuff label the explosive 25-year-old as “remarkable”, with his constant creativity no doubt helping boost his transfer value all the way up to a bumper £21m, as per Transfermarkt. The £20m Hutchinson, for instance, is valued at around £18m.
Date
Value
Now
£21m
October 2024
£12.4m
March 2024
£4.9m
December 2023
£3.3m
July 2022
£1m
Looking at the table above, it’s clear that Davis’ value could end up rising far above its current £21m value, with the Newcastle-born defender potentially the club’s next big sale – similar to Delap being touted to move away for a steep fee of £40m.
Ipswich will hope they can keep a firm grip on their star number three past this season regardless of his price tag potentially rising higher and higher, having already got three assists out of the 25-year-old this campaign when making the leap up to the top-flight.
McKenna and Co would be facing a losing battle to keep Davis around if relegation was confirmed, but whether he stays or goes, it’s undeniable that the Suffolk underdogs hit gold with this shrewd purchase back in 2022.
Ipswich now showing interest in summer move for "excellent" £12m defender
The Tractor Boys have pinpointed a 25-year-old Championship centre-back as a potential target.
Middlesex women broke records on Tuesday when they stepped out onto the main pitch at Lord’s for the first time in their 85-year history
ESPNcricinfo staff25-Apr-20181:26
Not everyday you get to captain at Lord’s – Edwards
Middlesex women broke records on Tuesday when they stepped out onto the main pitch at Lord’s for the first time in their 85-year history.Former England captain Charlotte Edwards captained the opposition for a T20 exhibition match between Middlesex Women and MCC XI.”It’s long-overdue, the fact that Middlesex women haven’t played here in 85 years is just unbelievable,” said Edwards at stumps.”You just hope that this is now the norm for Middlesex and they get a fixture here every year, be it in this kind of game or a County Championship game”.Natasha Miles, Middlesex captain, added: “We deserve to play here, we put on a good show.”The match also fetched the biggest crowd for a domestic match in England – with 5,000 children in the stands – and follows on from the sell-out crowd for the World Cup final at the same venue last summer.
The Pakistan wristspinner was docked 20 percent of his match fee and handed one demerit point for his send-off to Chadwick Walton
ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2018Pakistan wristspinner Shadab Khan has been fined 20% of his match fee after being found guilty of verbal abuse during the second T20 international against West Indies in Karachi. Shadab’s offence amounted to a Level 1 breach of the ICC’s code of conduct, which also earned him one demerit point.The incident occurred in the ninth over of the West Indies chase, when Shadab dismissed Chadwick Walton. After being taken for 11 runs in his first over by the batsman, Shadab returned to clean him up with a wrong’un off the first ball of his next over. Shadab then followed up by pointing his finger at the departing Walton, and made an inappropriate comment. Shadab, who is Walton’s teammate at Islamabad United, admitted his offence and accepted the sanction proposed by the match referee David Boon.As per the ICC’s code, Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, and a maximum penalty of 50% of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points. This is the first time Shadab has been caught breaching the player code. If he accumulates three more demerit points within a 24-month period, it will translate into suspension points that will earn him a one-match ban.Pakistan are presently hosting West Indies in Karachi, and have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-T20I series. The third and final game takes place on Tuesday.
It has been a difficult couple of years for Everton fans, as they’ve seen their side reach the top of the league in 2020 with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm, to now battling to avoid relegation year after year.
The Toffees haven’t finished in the top half of the Premier League since the 2018/19 season under Marco Silva, and in the last three years, they’ve finished 16th, 17th and 18th.
Last season Everton came their closest to relegation as they only secured their survival on the last day, following a massive 1-0 over Bournemouth.
One of the reasons for Everton’s fall from grace is their poor recruitment under owner Farhad Moshiri – luckily, though, it appears there's a new era on the horizon with 777 Partners signing an agreement to buy the British-Iranian's full 94.1% stake in the Toffees.
Since becoming an initial 49.9% shareholder in 2016, Moshiri has spent £530m on 31 players and by 2022, £130m worth of players have been sold for free.
One of these huge flops was Oumar Niasse, who left Everton for free in July 2020 after signing in 2016.
Prior to the striker's arrival in January 2016, Everton and manager Roberto Martínez had endured a difficult start to the Premier League season, only winning six games out of 23.
Following the poor opening games Everton spent £19m in the January transfer window, with £13.5m being used on the Senegalese forward, making him Everton’s third-most expensive signing at the time, behind Romelu Lukaku and Marouane Fellaini.
After moving to the Merseyside outfit, the 33-year-old was ecstatic to sign for the Toffees.
He said:
"It's a great day for me, a big dream to play in the Premier League and a big dream to play for Everton.
"Everton is one of the best teams in the Premier League and the Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world.
"I know Everton is one of the big clubs here in England with history, the fans and the great players, so I'm very excited and happy to be here.
"I started to watch Everton more since the beginning of October because I had heard about their interest. I was interested to see how they play and how they have good young players.
Why did Everton buy Oumar Niasse?
Before signing for Everton, Niasse enjoyed an impressive spell playing for Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia, where he made 40 appearances, scoring 19 goals and providing 14 assists, meaning he averaged a goal contribution every 0.82 games.
The Senegal international also proved himself in the Europa League by scoring four goals and registering three assists in only six games, this earned him an average rating on Sofascore of 7.22, the highest in the squad.
His attacking prowess was also backed up by his stats as in Europe for the Russian side, per game he had the most shots (3.5), the most successful dribbles (1.5), the second most key passes (1.3) and the second most shots on target (1.3).
What happened to Oumar Niasse after joining Everton?
Niasse suffered a pretty torrid time throughout his four years with Everton as his most successful games in the famous blue shirt came when he played for the U23s, as during his time with them, he played 10 games and scored 12 goals.
However, while playing for the first team he was incredibly disappointing, in his 42 appearances he only managed nine goals and four assists in all competitions, meaning he scored more for the youth teams.
Furthermore, during his first season at Everton Niasse had the 26th-worst Sofascore rating in the Everton squad with 6.54.
While playing under Dutch manager Ronald Koeman, after Martinez's sacking, the striker revealed that he was exiled from the squad and his locker was removed.
While speaking to the Guardian he said:
“It’s sad, it’s really sad.
“And, to be honest, I think I don’t deserve this but what I can do is just keep my head and fight to change things. I’m not going to make a drama over this. I just deal with it.
“I know it’s just one period.
“Koeman said: ‘You have to leave.’
“I couldn’t understand how that decision could have been made after 45 minutes but I just said: ‘OK.’
“I’m in the dressing room with the under-23s but I don’t have a locker.
“The other players have where they put their stuff but I don’t.
“I come with my bag and I just have a place I know. I put my bag down, I train and after, I put everything in my car and go home.
“He took my shirt number, and he told me I wasn’t allowed to be in the dressing room for the first team; that I wasn’t going to train with them. I had to go with the second team.”
Although his career in England did get a little better during the 2017/18 season after Koeman’s exit, as under new manager Sam Allardyce the striker’s Sofascore rating improved to 6.85, the 12th-best in the squad.
This prompted the English manager to confirm in 2018 that Niasse's position had never been stronger.
He said:
“I think Oumar’s position at Everton has never really been as good as it is at the moment.
“He’s put himself in a position to shine and score goals. He’s got goals and assists to his name and he’s starting games on a regular basis.
“Oumar’s grasped that position at the moment, making assists, scoring goals, holding it up well, so it’s made it difficult for me to replace him.”
However, the eight goals he would score for Allardyce that season would be his last for the club as at the end of the 2019/20 season he would be released and since then his career has gone even further downhill.
In February 2022, after a disappointing move to Huddersfield where he didn't play, Niasse joined League One side Burton Albion where he would make just 12 appearances and score three goals before being released just five months later.
It would take the nine-cap international eight months before he found a new club, this time he would join fellow League One side Morecambe for another disappointing spell, where he made just 10 appearances and scored one goal before being released in July this year.
Oumar Niasse's career, via Transfermarkt
Club
Appearances
Goals
SK Brann
4
0
Akhisarspor
40
15
Lokomotiv Moscow
40
19
Everton
42
9
Hull
19
5
Cardiff
13
0
Huddersfield
0
0
Burton Albion
12
3
Morecambe
10
1
Since leaving the English third division side the centre forward is still yet to find a new club, proving what a waste of money he was for Everton.
West Ham United's flying start in the Premier League – taking ten points from their first 12 – can be attributed to their successful summer of spending, using the 105m from the sale of Declan Rice to bring in the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez and Mohammed Kudus.
Instead of splashing their war chest of funds on one big money signing, the Hammers went about their transfer dealings in admirable fashion, spreading their funds on quality additions to fill more than just the void left by the departing Englishman.
While several incomings were brought in to start their new chapter in east London and embark on a season of Europa League football, those youngsters in the Hammers' academy will all have dreams of achieving similar in the coming years, saving the club a lot of money in the process.
Who is in West Ham's academy?
West Ham are a club built on the opportunities provided to players emerging from the youth setup and while Rice is the most notable of those in recent times, this doesn't rule out other talented youngsters making inroads into the first-team.
The biggest of those talents making his voice heard is 18-year-old Divin Mubama, who has been scoring goals for fun in the Hammers's underage groups, leading to opportunities in the first team.
Divin Mubama
David Moyes handed him his debut in the Europa Conference League group stage last season as a trip to Bucharest saw him mark his debut with an assist, and he has since kicked on from there, appearing on three occasions in the Premier League.
Mubama's sharp rise towards first-team contention has paved the way for other youngsters to follow in his footsteps and one of those is Joshua Ajala.
Who is Joshua Ajala?
Much like Rice, who joined the Hammers from Chelsea at 14-years-old, Ajala has made the switch from west to east London this summer and if his journey in claret and blue is similar to the 24-year-olds, West Ham will have unearthed another gem from their London rivals.
Speaking after Ajala signed his scholarship with the club, former West Ham striker and current U16s coach Carlton Cole spoke highly about the youngster, saying: “Joshua is a young forward who has impressed and we’re all excited to see him play in Claret and Blue going forward.”
Since making the switch to East London, the 16-year-old – a 'pacy forward' as per West Ham's official channels – has certainly translated that excitement onto the field, showcasing his character in big moments to the benefit of his team.
Although Ajala would have been disappointed to have not made the starting XI against Arsenal, he responded in fine fashion by coming off the bench – while his team were down to ten men – to rifle in a venomous strike and salvage a point for his team.
He followed that up by dispatching a penalty in a 3-0 victory over Fulham and has since reflected on his tremendous start to life at the club, outlining his aspirations to follow in the footsteps of recent academy graduates, Rice, Mubama and Ben Johnson.
He said: There is a really good pathway to the first team at this football Club and that played a big part in my decision to move here.
“I’ve seen a lot of players progress through the youth ranks from the outside, such as Divin. I know that if I keep working and keep performing that I will have an opportunity to do the same.”
With Ajala desperate to carve his own pathway towards the senior setup, continuing his rate of goal-scoring won't do any harm to his chances of achieving that dream.
Sri Lanka’s head coach said the batsman’s mental state was the biggest contributor to his recent form
Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Mar-2018Omitted from Sri Lanka’s squads towards the end of 2017, Kusal Mendis has not only recovered his Test form this year, he has also produced two outstanding innings in T20. His 53 off 27 and 70 off 42 were match-defining efforts, as Sri Lanka swept the Bangladesh series 2-0 last month. He was not originally meant to be playing those games; only an injury to Kusal Perera saw him enter the XI.It was a breakthrough series for Kusal, because T20 had been a format that had previously confounded him. In eight earlier innings, he had hit a high-score of 22 and made double figures only thrice. Yet in Bangladesh, confidence was writ across his innings, as he manufactured innovative leg-side boundaries, played the ramp shot towards third man with abandon, and swept with striking ferocity. Coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who oversaw Kusal’s re-entry into the national side, and has seemingly begun to coax the player back to his best, said a clear head was responsible for his return to the runs.”Kusal’s mentality is really good these days,” Hathurusingha said. “He knows his game and understands himself better. Our coaches have worked very closely with him, and explained those things to him. He has clarity about what he does now. I think it’s the mental state that’s the biggest factor in his regaining form.”Such his his recent record, Kusal is a forerunner to open the batting against India in the first match of the Nidahas Trophy on Tuesday. But with so many openers in the squad, there is a crush for top three positions. Danushka Gunathilaka, Upul Tharanga, Kusal Perera and Dananjaya de Silva may all be considered for positions in the top three.”Yes, we have a few openers,” Hathurusingha said. “We will open with whoever we feel will play the best. We’ll look at the other teams’ strengths and limitations before coming to that decision also.”Although Sri Lanka have recently showed improvement in Bangladesh, their record against India is woeful. India has won the seven most-recent T20s between these sides, and are ranked third in the world, while Sri Lanka are eighth.”If you go by the rankings, India is the top team in the tournament, so they always start ahead of the other teams,” Hathurusingha said. “Whoever plays for India, it is still a very strong team. We have to start well because we haven’t been doing well at home. With Bangladesh, because of the last series, we probably have a little edge over them mentally.”
Xavier Marshall, who played seven Tests for the West Indies from 2005 to 2009, is in line to make his USA debut after being named in a 14-man squad for the West Indies Regional Super50
Peter Della Penna12-Jan-2018Xavier Marshall, the 31-year-old Jamaican who played seven Tests for the West Indies from 2005 to 2009, is in line to make his USA debut after being named in a 14-man touring squad to Antigua for the West Indies Regional Super50 beginning January 31. Two other noteworthy names who may join him in donning the red, white and blue for the first time are former India U-19 representatives Saurabh Netravalkar and Sunny Sohal, who have also been given squad call-ups.Marshall also played 24 ODIs, averaging just 17.85, and six T20Is for the West Indies after making his international debut against Australia in January 2005. At one time, he held the record for most sixes in an ODI, striking 12 during his career-best 157 not out against Canada in 2008 to break a mark of 11 that had been jointly held by Sanath Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi. His last international came during the 2009 World Twenty20 in a semi-final against Sri Lanka at The Oval. He continued playing first-class cricket for Jamaica until the spring of 2013 before migrating to New York.USA’s 14-man squad
Ibrahim Khaleel (capt/wk), Adil Bhatti, Elmore Hutchinson, Nosthush Kenjige, Jaskaran Malhotra (wk), Xavier Marshall, Prashanth Nair, Saurabh Netravalkar, Mrunal Patel, Nisarg Patel, Timil Patel, Usman Rafiq, Roy Silva, Sunny Sohal
Marshall would not be the first member of his family to play for USA. His cousin, Rashard Marshall, migrated from Jamaica in the early 2000s to New York and rose to prominence in 2006 by striking 90 off 56 balls for a USA Select XI against an unofficial West Indies XI captained by Brian Lara in Brooklyn. He made his official USA debut in 2008 and went on to play 42 one-dayers and seven T20s. Rashard sits sixth overall on USA’s career runs list in one-day cricket but the 35-year-old has not been picked since 2013 WCL Division Three in Bermuda.The younger Marshall is the latest in the pipeline of former West Indies internationals who have had second careers playing for the USA. They include Sew Shivnarine, Faoud Bacchus, Clayton Lambert, Hamish Anthony, Adam Sanford, Neil McGarrell and Jermaine Lawson. His selection comes courtesy of another former West Indies international, Ricardo Powell, who is USA’s chairman of selectors.Netravalkar, a 26-year-old left-arm seam bowler, toured New Zealand with the India Under-19s for the 2010 Under-19 World Cup and gained notoriety in 2014 for developing a cricket player analysis app called CricDecode. He initially came to the USA in 2015 to attend graduate school at Cornell University in upstate New York. He has since moved to northern California where he works for Oracle and has been a regular on the playing circuit for Marin CC in the San Francisco Bay Area, a club which is home to several former USA players.Netravalkar also commutes to Los Angeles to play for Vijayta CC in the Southern California Cricket Association where he is club team-mates with Timil Patel, Mrunal Patel, Nisarg Patel, who have all been retained from the USA squad that toured the UAE and Oman in December. Netravalkar came onto the national selection radar last May when he took 2 for 30 in nine overs playing for an SCCA XI that defeated a USA XI in a warm-up match for the national side in Los Angeles ahead of their tour to Uganda for WCL Division Three.Sohal, 30, came through Punjab’s age group teams before being drafted into the India Under-19s in 2007 for a quadrangular series in Malaysia against Sri Lanka, England and Malaysia. He played 21-first-class matches for Punjab, scoring 1202 runs at an average of 36.42 including three centuries. He was picked up by Kings XI Punjab for the inaugural season of the IPL in 2008 and played 22 matches in four seasons with Kings XI and Deccan Chargers.Sohal’s most productive season was 2011 with Deccan when he scored 249 runs in 11 matches at an average of 24.90 with two fifties including a career-best 62 off 41 balls opening the batting in a win over Delhi Daredevils. But that wound up being his final IPL season. He played just two more matches in state cricket, a pair of one-day matches for Punjab in 2014, before migrating to Maryland where he has been a consistent scorer in the Washington Cricket League for the past several years.Sunny Sohal was a regular in the Deccan Chargers batting lineup in 2011•AFPA fourth debutant in the squad is wicketkeeper-batsman Jaskaran Malhotra. The 28-year-old played age group cricket in India representing Himachal Pradesh from Under-15 level through Under-22s. He played his last representative match for their Under-22 side in October 2011 in the CK Nayudu Trophy. Malhotra made his unofficial debut for USA last August in a pair of 12-a-side exhibitions against Caribbean Premier League sides Jamaica Tallawahs and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Florida.USA’s ability to select so many debutants who are not citizens and have only been residents in the country for a relatively brief period of time was made possible due to a change in the ICC’s player eligibility regulations that was approved by the ICC board late last year. The previous guidelines stated that eligible players must be passport holders or seven-year residents of a country in order to represent a given national team, with an exemption for a maximum of two players in any starting XI who have been resident for a minimum of four years but not yet seven – classified as “deemed national” players – prior to the start of a competition.However, the ICC revised those eligibility guidelines to lower the residency threshold. The new guidelines state that a player becomes eligible to represent a new country after three years of residency. Also, the “deemed national” stipulation – that a maximum of two such players can be selected in any starting XI who have been resident for a minimum of three or four years but not yet seven years – has been eliminated.In order to make room for the new arrivals, batsmen Sagar Patel, Ravi Timbawala, Abdullah Syed and Camilus Alexander plus seam bowling allrounder Japen Patel have all been left out from the 15-man squad that toured the Middle East last month. The batting revamp is a consequence of USA being bowled out for under 110 in three of their five matches on tour. Only two players scored half-centuries on tour – Roy Silva and Timil Patel – with both coming in the final match against Oman.Medium pacer Jessy Singh was not considered despite training with the USA squad through the winter because he has still not been declared fully fit while rehabbing his right knee following reconstructive surgery in August. Fellow fast bowler Ali Khan, who has been contracted with Guyana Amazon Warriors for the past two seasons of CPL, was unavailable due to work commitments at home in Ohio.The squad will depart for Antigua on January 27 ahead of their first match on January 31 against Leeward Islands. USA’s other group stage opponents in the double round-robin tournament are Guyana, Jamaica and English County side Kent.