DeAndre Yedlin improved drastically in the second half of last season, but Newcastle can make their defence even tougher with a move for Russia right back Mario Fernandes.

The heart of Newcastle’s incredible surge up the table last season was their defence. While the form of the likes of Ayoze Perez, Mo Diame and Jonjo Shelvey certainly played its part, the Magpies are at their best when they are keeping clean sheets, which is why they should move for Fernandes.

The Brazilian born defender now has eight caps for Russia, and his most recent performance against Spain might just be his best of the lot.

Spain certainly weren’t at their best as the hosts sent them packing on Sunday, but it still took some incredible performances in the Russian defence to keep them out, and Fernandes was the pick of the bunch.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”259344″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch JeanClaude Billong quickfire questions”]

The 27 year-old, who plays his club football for CKSA Moscow, touched the ball 83 times in the dramatic win, far more than any other player on his team. This is because they trust him with the ball, and throughout the competition he has been their best attacking outlet down the right flank.

While he can be extremely threatening flying down the right flank, Sunday was all about defending for the hosts, and the CSKA man showed he is excellent at that too.

Despite Spain forcing loads of attacks down Russia’s right hand side, Fernandes stood tall and answered every question they threw at him, making an incredible eight clearances.

He stopped the likes of Marco Asensio and Jordi Alba on multiple occasions, making two impressive tackles and three vital interceptions. He also showed his physical side, winning two aerial duels.

In short, Yedlin has improved massively under Benitez, but Fernandes is more solid defensively and has a better final ball when he gets the chance to drive forward.

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The CSKA man, valued at £14.4m by Transfermarkt, would bring leadership, experience and decisiveness to the right side of Newcastle’s defence, and make the Magpies even more impenetrable than they were in the second half of last season.

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So, Newcastle fans, would you like to see a move for Fernandes? Who else has impressed you at the World Cup? Let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll below…

England Masters comprehensively defeated South Africa Masters by eight wickets to take the Cricket Legends of Barbados International Cup

Cricinfo staff06-Dec-2009
ScorecardEngland Masters were winners of the inaugural Cricket Legends of Barbados International Cup. They comprehensively defeated South Africa Masters by eight wickets with one over to spare to take the Cup and the US$50,000 prize money.Graeme Hick, who was Man of the Series, was at the forefront of the victory with a breathtaking, unbeaten 67. He and acting captain Mark Ramprakash, who chipped in with an attacking 51 not out, put on a wonderful 116 in 14. 2 overs for the third wicket.Ramprakash finished the tournament in grand style, driving through extra cover for a boundary. He hit two fours and one six, while Hick smashed three fours and three sixes.Graham Thorpe made a quick 32 from 19 deliveries with five fours and one six to give the innings the early impetus before he skied a catch to cover.The South Africans were put into bat and made 156 for five. They were reduced to 38 for 3, but Dale Benkenstein (52) and Lance Klusener (43) pulled things around with a stand of 71 in 9.2 overs for the fourth wicket.Benkenstein hit two fours and a pair of sixes, while Klusener lashed two huge sixes in John Emburey’s final over.Pat Symcox (18) and Adrian Kupier (15) and added 33 vital runs for the sixth wicket in 3.1 overs. In the end, another 20 might have made the difference.Fast bowler Devon Malcolm picked up the first three wickets to claim three for 17 from four overs and was named Man of the Match.

South Africa have agreed to a compressed schedule for the tour of India, comprising two Tests and three ODIs in February next year, if the BCCI is able to assure them that the travel and logistics between venues aren’t taxing

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Dec-2009South Africa have agreed to a compressed schedule for the tour of India, comprising two Tests and three ODIs in February next year, if the BCCI is able to assure them that the travel and logistics between venues aren’t taxing. According to the dates sent by the Indian board to Cricket South Africa (CSA), the series commences with the first Test from February 4-8 and the second Test between February 12-16; the three ODIs will be played on February 19, 22 and 25. The BCCI will need to send back the final schedule, with the venues, for CSA’s ratification.CSA has in fact, informed the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) of the schedule sent by the BCCI as well. “We are actually compressing the tour a little bit more than we normally would,” Tony Irish, SACA’s chief, told Cricinfo. “There has been a process of consultation between SACA and CSA on the schedule and though it doesn’t comply strictly with the guidelines, we are happy to compromise in order to ensure that Test matches and ODIs are played.”However, he said CSA was happy to go ahead with the BCCI’s proposal. “At the moment there is probably a day’s less break between the ODIs and we would’ve liked to see two more days of break between the Test matches.”The only condition CSA have set is for the minimum possible travel time between the matches for the team. “We are prepared to go ahead if the logistics are okay,” Irish said. “The day of travel between the matches should not be too long as we have only two rest and practice days. But if we are travelling between one end to other then we will need an extra day of rest.”The standard ICC guidelines for the break days between the Tests and ODIs are not clear and a glance at the prominent series played in 2009 confirms that fact. The Ashes had breaks ranging from three days to 10 days, the recently concluded three-Test series between India and Sri Lanka had a three-day gap between the first two matches and an extra day before the final Test, while in the ongoing Basil D’Oliveira Trophy between South Africa and England, the minimum break is of five days.However, South Africa’s tour of India is an extraordinary case because India want two Tests and three ODIs instead of the originally listed five-match ODI series under the ICC’s Future Tours Programme (FTP).With India becoming the No.1 Test team after their series victory against Sri Lanka, pressure was mounting on the BCCI administrators who had blindly scheduled a multitude of ODIs but only seven Test matches in 2010 which included the yet-to-be finalised two Test series in Zimbabwe.Second-placed South Africa though, agreed to co-operate because they were eager to play more Tests, having played only six Tests this year, including the ongoing Boxing Day Test against England in Durban.

South Australia were set 351 for victory after declaring their first innings 152 behind Western Australia in the hope of manufacturing a result

Cricinfo staff20-Dec-2009
Scorecard
Shaun Marsh’s double of 82 and 108 not out may help his national prospects•AFP

South Australia were set 351 for victory after declaring their first innings 152 behind Western Australia in the hope of manufacturing a result in Adelaide. After a slow second day, things livened up on the third with the Redbacks stopping at 6 for 249 at lunch, with Michael Klinger unbeaten on 109, before Shaun Marsh raced to a timely century as the Warriors posted 2 for 198.The hosts were 0 for 30 after 15 overs at stumps, sitting in the opposite position to last week when they lost to Victoria after controlling the first three days. They can forget that embarrassment with another 321 runs on the final day.Marsh, who scored 82 in the first innings, has been mentioned as a possible batting candidate for the Test team, which may lose Ricky Ponting for Melbourne, and his unbeaten 108 will be noted even though it came in setting up the declaration. The captain Adam Voges chipped in with 58 after Peter George had taken both the wickets to fall.Klinger’s marathon crawl continued during the first session as he moved from his overnight 64 to 109 at lunch. He spent 287 balls and almost six hours working on his innings and it was hard to tell whether he was responsible for holding the game back or keeping his side in it. The captain Graham Manou changed the tempo of the match with his declaration and has a chance to push for six points.

Lisa Sthalekar will appear in her 13th consecutive Women’s National Cricket League final when New South Wales chase their fifth consecutive title

Cricinfo staff27-Jan-2010Lisa Sthalekar will appear in her 13th consecutive Women’s National Cricket League final when New South Wales chase their fifth consecutive title against Victoria at the MCG on Saturday. Sthalekar is the most capped player in the history of the competition and will be a key figure as the Breakers attempt to hit back from their 52-run defeat in the Twenty20 decider in Adelaide last weekend.”We didn’t play to our potential in the final and were outplayed by Victoria,” the coach Richard Bates said. “By Saturday we’ll have had seven days to turn things around and we’ll make sure that we are up for another tough match. We have a very strong team who have been playing some very good cricket over the last month. The players have a lot of faith in each other and are confident heading into this match.”Victoria have retained the 12 that secured top spot on the ladder after the regular rounds. The Spirit are looking for two trophies in a week, but they have not won the 50-over competition since 2004-05. However, the win last Saturday took them to three victories in four matches against New South Wales this summer.”We already had a lot of belief, but winning the Twenty20 final reinforced it – it proves to the girls what they’re capable of,” Victoria’s coach Cathryn Fitzpatrick said. “We’ve got a balanced bowling attack, a strong batting line-up and the best thing is that everyone contributes and chips in when they need to.”New South Wales squad Lisa Sthalekar (capt), Alex Blackwell, Sarah Aley, Sarah Andrews, Kate Blackwell, Sarah Coyte, Alyssa Healy, Sharon Millanta, Erin Osborne, Ellyse Perry, Leah Poulton, Angela Reakes.Victoria squad Rachael Haynes (capt), Emma Inglis, Kelly Applebee, Kristen Beams, Briana Binch, Jess Cameron, Sarah Elliott, Naomi Fullwood, Julie Hunter, Renee Melton, Clea Smith, Elyse Villani.

South Australia were given a huge fright by Western Australia before they escaped with a two-wicket victory at the WACA

Cricinfo staff11-Feb-2010
ScorecardBrad Knowles scared South Australia with 4 for 32, but South Australia sneaked to victory•Getty Images

South Australia were given a huge fright by Western Australia before they escaped with a two-wicket victory at the WACA. Needing only 94 and starting the final day at 1 for 6, the Redbacks relied on two tail-enders to get them home in a nail-biting chase that regularly threatened to go wrong.Western Australia began the morning seemingly without hope, but Brad Knowles’ 4 for 32 kept them excited as the visitors slipped to 5 for 53 and kept losing wickets before Tim Ludeman (12) helped decide the contest with Jake Haberfield. Ludeman and Gary Putland were together at 7 for 76 and Ludeman briefly decided attack was the best option. He hooked a six and slashed a four in consecutive Knowles deliveries to cut the target, but there was still a twist when Putland edged Steve Magoffin behind with three to win.Haberfield ran a bye and then pushed a two over the bowler Michael Hogan’s head to secure the result. The victory lifted South Australia to outright third on the Shield table with 16 points while the Warriors are fourth on 12.After James Smith went late on the third evening, the Redbacks lost Michael Klinger shortly after the resumption as he became Hogan’s seventh victim of the game. Knowles then stepped in to be on a hat-trick after picking up Cameron Borgas (7) and Daniel Harris (17) as the visitors slipped to 4 for 39.Fourteen runs later Knowles struck again to remove Tom Cooper and half the side was gone with 41 still needed. Aaron O’Brien and Dan Christian, the last of the capable batsmen, put on 15 before O’Brien was caught behind off Magoffin and the Warriors roared hopefully again in the next over when Christian became Knowles’ fourth victim.

Northamptonshire have received a No Objection Certificate for Virender Sehwag from the BCCI

Cricinfo staff25-Mar-2010Northamptonshire have received a No Objection Certificate for Virender Sehwag from the BCCI, but his arrival for the Twenty20 in June is still dependent on whether he is selected for India’s one-day commitments in Zimbabwe.There is a thought that India will send a second-string side to contest the triangular series at the end of May while the trip also includes two Twenty20 internationals against Zimbabwe. The English Twenty20 tournament starts on June 1.The other issue facing Northamptonshire is the Asia Cup which has yet to be confirmed in the schedule, but will impact on Sehwag’s availability should it occur in June or July. His NOC from the India board confirms that national duty must come before his county commitments.It was a significant coup for Northamptonshire to secure Sehwag’s signing as they aren’t classed as one of the main forces in the domestic game. He joins a list of high-profile players who are coming to England for the Twenty20 including Shahid Afridi, Herschelle Gibbs, Adam Gilchrist and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Glamorgan’s satisfaction at removing Derbyshire batting star Chris Rogers
cheaply melted in the spring sunshine as Greg Smith marked his 100th first-class
innings with a century

22-Apr-2010

ScorecardGarry Park weighed in with a crucial fifty•Getty Images

Glamorgan’s satisfaction at removing Derbyshire batting star Chris Rogers
cheaply melted in the spring sunshine as Greg Smith marked his 100th first-class
innings with a century.Smith and Garry Park turned 27 this week and the pair celebrated by sharing a
fifth-wicket stand of 156. The home side had been on the ropes at 65 for 4 when Rogers fell for 28, but by the close Smith’s unbeaten 121 had lifted Derbyshire to 285 for 9, a lead
of 13.Although they hit back by taking five wickets in the last session, the visitors
certainly missed the quality and experience of Robert Croft, who was not
selected.His absence was not felt in the morning when Glamorgan claimed four wickets,
but his guile would have presented Smith and Park with more searching questions
in the post-lunch session which belonged to the two South Africans.They had come together when Glamorgan were scenting a decent first-innings lead
after the seamers had landed some early blows. Tom Lungley’s role as nightwatchman ended in the third over when he pushed forward at David Harrison and was caught behind for a single, while Wayne Madsen went in the next over, snared down the leg side for 3 as he flicked at Huw Waters.Waters bowled a good line at Rogers but Derbyshire’s skipper had put the
innings back on track with the help of Paul Borrington when Glamorgan struck
twice in consecutive overs.Borrington had shown good judgement and was unlucky when he was superbly caught
at gully by Dean Cosker for 27 off a short and wide ball from Chris Ashling. But the wicket Glamorgan most wanted came in the 26th over when Rogers was lbw as he tried to work Jim Allenby off his legs.Allenby had been one of Glamorgan’s best bowlers but the all-rounder was not
called on after lunch as Smith and Park batted their team back into the
contest. Smith had pulled Ashling for six but the pair seized the initiative back by
sensible accumulation against an attack which lacked penetration.They added 95 between lunch and tea before they were parted. Mark Cosgrove was the eighth bowler Glamorgan had tried and he delivered by yorking Park, who faced 164 balls for his 61.John Sadler was caught behind for 10 off Cosker before Smith reached his third
Championship hundred off 183 balls and then watched as Glamorgan belatedly took
the new ball and claimed three wickets in 18 deliveries to leave the contest
finely poised.

The only ODI at Sabina Park was barely a contest as West Indies, led by Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 11th ODI century, warmed up for the ICC World Twenty20 with a 208-run win against Canada

Cricinfo staff14-Apr-2010
ScorecardDarren Bravo scored a quick 74 and added 143 with Chanderpaul•DigicelCricket.com

The only ODI at Sabina Park was barely a contest as West Indies, led by Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s 11th ODI century, warmed up for the ICC World Twenty20 with a 208-run win against Canada. Chanderpaul scored 101 to lift West Indies to 316 before the left-arm spinner Nikita Miller took 3 for 15 to limit the tourists to 108.West Indies’ score was built on a strong opening stand of 88 between Chanderpaul and Andre Fletcher, who missed his fifty by two runs. Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo came together for a massive stand of 143 for the second wicket. Bravo was the aggressor in the stand, hitting a quick 74 off 75 balls with six fours and two sixes.Rizwan Cheema gave Canada their long-awaited breakthrough in the 41st over but there was further misery for Canada as a 80% fit Ramnaresh Sarwan made an unbeaten 47 off 26 balls to help take West Indies past 300. Chanderpaul departed in the 42nd over hitting six fours and a six in his knock, but Narsingh Deonarine came in and added a quick 74 with Sarwan to lift West Indies to an imposing total for the minnows to chase.The West Indies seamers – Ravi Rampaul, David Bernard and Darren Sammy – struck quickly to leave Canada reeling at 52 for 6 by the 16th over. Only Umar Bhatti offered some resistance with an unbeaten 32, but in a hopelessly lost cause. The parsimonious Miller conceded only 15 off 9.2 overs and cleaned up the tail.

South Africa will host the next Champions League Twenty20, to run from September 10-26, the tournament’s organisers have announced

Cricinfo staff25-Apr-2010South Africa will host the next Champions League Twenty20, to run from September 10 to 26, the tournament’s organisers have announced. The tournament chairman Lalit Modi confirmed the decision, following a board meeting in Mumbai where it was formally agreed to accept Cricket South Africa’s invitation to stage the event. However Modi, under immense scrutiny over the ongoing IPL mess, was not present at that meeting, which took place at the BCCI headquarters on Saturday.”South Africa is considered an ideal CLT20 host after successfully staging the Indian Premier League and ICC World Twenty20 tournaments in recent years, as well as the strong support shown for its domestic Pro20 Series competition,” said Modi via a press release.The venues and competing teams for the second edition of the Champions League will be announced in the near future, said the tournament management.The first edition of the tournament was held in India last year. South Africa had hosted the IPL in 2009, after the tournament was moved out of India as it clashed with the country’s general elections.The decision puts to rest the speculation that surrounded the Champions League earlier this year. In February, CSA had announced that South Africa had been finalised as the venue for the tournament, only for Modi to quickly clarify – via Twitter – that the statement was inaccurate. Despite the dates for this season’s edition having been announced much earlier, there had been press releases from CSA and the Champions League itself stating that, like in 2009, 12 teams will take part from seven full member countries, including England.Gerald Majola, the CSA chief, had confirmed the news to Cricinfo earlier in the day while Dean Kino, head of the league’s Governing Council, had on Friday stated that a decision regarding the appropriate participating countries was taken each year as policy.The Champions League features the best domestic Twenty20 teams from across the world and is run by by the boards of India, Australia and South Africa with its governing council comprising representatives from each board. Other countries participate in the tournament by invitation, but Pakistan and Bangladesh are the only two Test-playing countries with no presence in the tournament. Pakistan had sent a representative in the first edition of the tournament, which was cancelled in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008. As ties worsened between India and Pakistan and their cricket boards in the aftermath, the PCB was not eventually extended an invitation to the first tournament and since then it has stated that it will not send a team this year after Pakistan players were not included at the IPL auction in January.The dates of this year’s Champions League clash with the end of England’s county season, which finishes on September 16. At the same time, England and Pakistan will be contesting an ODI series that runs until September 22.