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Leewards fast bowler Adam Sanford has been called into the West Indies squad as a replacement for Omari Banks, who had to pull out of the tour with a back injury. Sanford made the last of his seven Test appearances in 2002 against New Zealand.Banks had a cortisone injection to counter inflammation in his lower back last week, but after no improvement, the team doctors advised him to rest the injury for the next three months.Banks is the third player to return home with injury. Jerome Taylor was the first casualty, also with a bad back, and Marlon Samuels will miss the tour with a knee injury.The first Test starts on December 12 at Johannesburg.

The XXXX Queensland Bulls’ “department of youth” tonight welcomed itslatest admission with the elevation of 19-year-old left-armer pacebowler Scott Brant to the team for the Pura Cup match starting tomorrowin Adelaide.Brant was rushed into the twelve following a foot injury to allrounderJames Hopes at training in Adelaide today.The Bond University sports management student was called out of alecture and made the dash from the Gold Coast to Brisbane to catch thelast flight to Adelaide.Hopes will stay on in Adelaide to receive treatment and remains incontention to play for the Bulls in their vital ING Cup match againstthe Southern Redbacks on Sunday.The Zimbabwean-born Brant, who turned 19 on Australia Day, was set tomake his 2nd XI debut for the Queensland Academy of Sport later thismonth in Canberra before the SOS came from Adelaide.He bowled an impressive spell for Norths in the Final of the K&RPlumbing One Day competition on Sunday, taking 3-34 from 10 oversagainst Valley.A member of the Australian Under-19 train-on squad, Brant was unable toplay in the World Youth Cup won by Australia last week as he had not metthe ICC residential qualifications to represent his adopted country.Brant has played for the Australia Post Queensland Under-19 team for thepast two season after he and his mother, brother and two sisters movedto Brisbane from Zimbabwe three years ago.Brant is set to make his first class debut tomorrow if Bulls coachBennett King and captain Jimmy Maher opt to use him to fill the thirdpace bowling spot behind Joe Dawes and Ashley Noffke.XXXX Queensland Bulls v Southern Redbacks, Pura Cup, Adelaide Oval,Wed-Sat: Jimmy Maher (c), Jerry Cassell, Martin Love, Brendan Nash,Andrew Symonds, Lee Carseldine, Wade Seccombe, Nathan Hauritz, AshleyNoffke, Scott Brant, Joe Dawes, Matthew Anderson (12th man to be named).Southern Redbacks: Greg Blewett (Capt) Nathan Adcock, Chris Davies,David Fitzgerald, Ben Higgins, Ben Johnson, Brad Young, Mike Smith,Graham Manou, Peter McIntyre, Paul Rofe, Mark Harrity (12th man to benamed).

A sparkling 107 by Sri Lankan wicket keeper batsman, Romesh Kaluwitharana, enabled Colts Cricket Club to register a 17 run victory over CCC at Maitland Crescent today. It was their third successive win in the Premier League Limited Overs Tournament this year.After being put in to bat, Colts CC Openers, Chaminda Mendis (72) and Romesh Kaluwitharana (107), put on a188 run partnership to compile up an imposing total of 265/9 in 50 overs.Kaluwitharan returned to form after a disappointing performance in Sharjah with the bat. He batted in his normal aggressive manner and scored his runs from just 120 balls, hitting one six and nine fours over the thick outfield.After the dismissal of Kaluwitharana, with the score on 188 runs in the 35th over, Colts lost their momentum losing three quick wickets: Sajith Fernando, Dulip Samaraweera and Eric Upashantha.Jeewantha Kulatunga (38) and Duleep Samaraweera (20) then chipped in to give Colts a final score of 265 runs in 50 overs. Indika Gallage and Hemantha Boteju accounted for two wickets each.In reply, CCC were required to chase the runs in just 48 overs because of a slow over rate. They lost Bradman Ediriweera early in their innings wth just two runs in the board. Wicket-keeper batsman Indika de Silva top scored with 61 from 55 balls. Michael Vandott (43), Hemantha Boteju (42*), Damitha Hunukumbura (34) and Roshan Mahanama (32) were all among the runs but failed to covert their good starts into the needed match winning innings. They were eventually dismissed for 248 runs in 47.3 overs. Sajith Fernando, Kaushalya Weeraratne and Dinuk Hettiarachchi captured two wickets apiece.

Former Test fast bowler Mark Gillespie has been cut from Wellington’s contract list, but both Gillespie and Wellington coach Bruce Edgar have left the door open for a possible return. New Zealand’s six major associations have announced the players offered first-round domestic contracts for the 2015-16 summer, with Gillespie one of several former internationals missing from last year.Wellington have lost former captain James Franklin, whose Irish ancestry has allowed him to sign as a local player for Middlesex, meaning if he was to play for Wellington it would need to be as an overseas player. Brendon Diamanti is gone from Canterbury’s list, while Wellington fast bowler Andy McKay, Otago batsman Aaron Redmond, Central Districts batsman Jamie How and Northern Districts fast bowler Graeme Aldridge have all retired.Gillespie, 35, has made no decisions on his future, but last summer played only three Plunket Shield matches for 11 wickets at 27.63. New Wellington coach Bruce Edgar said that although Gillespie was no longer contracted, he still had some hope of being selected during the season.”We believe that Dizzy was off the pace last season and that he’s slipped down the order behind other more effective bowlers,” Edgar said in a statement. “That said, we want to work with Dizz to get him firing in time for the season. If that happens, then he’s available to be selected like any other player and I’m sure he’ll give it everything he’s got.”Gillespie this week told : “I’ve made no decisions regarding my future. As far as I’m concerned, not getting a contract does not mean I am no longer a cricketer.”In other moves, Jesse Ryder has completed his return to Central Districts from Otago, as reported last week. Otago have been particularly active in their recruiting, with Neil Broom returning after one season at Canterbury, Anaru Kitchen and Warren Barnes having joined from Auckland, and Brad Wilson having moved from Northern Districts. Anurag Verma has moved from Northern Districts to Wellington.Franklin is not the only player who has moved on due to county commitments: Central Districts allrounder Kieran Noema-Barnett is gone from their list after signing as a local player with Gloucestershire.Several players have disappeared from the domestic lists after gaining New Zealand Cricket contracts, including Central Districts’ Doug Bracewell, Northern Districts’ Mitchell Santner, and Wellington’s Grant Elliott. Colin Munro is back on Auckland’s list after losing his national contract, while Ish Sodhi has reappeared on the Northern Districts list for the same reason.Other notable additions include well-known coach Bob Carter’s son Leo Carter, who has signed with Canterbury; Kane Williamson’s cousin, the batsman Dane Cleaver, who has joined Central Districts; and Brisbane-born spinner Alecz Day, who has signed with Wellington and qualifies due to his mother being from New Zealand.The contracting process involves nine to 14 players being offered deals as part of the first round, with the remainder of the 15-man squad to be confirmed by August 10.Auckland Michael Bates, Brad Cachopa, Colin De Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Donovan Grobbelaar, Michael Guptill-Bunce, Shawn Hicks, Colin Munro, Tarun Nethula, Rob Nicol, Robert O’Donnell, Glenn Phillips, Matt Quinn, Jeet RavalCanterbury Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Leo Carter, Andrew Ellis, Cameron Fletcher, Peter Fulton, Roneel Hira, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Johnston, Cole McConchie, Ryan McCone, Henry Nicholls, Edward Nuttall, Logan van BeekCentral Districts Tom Bruce, Dane Cleaver, Greg Hay, Marty Kain, Andrew Mathieson, Ajaz Patel, Seth Rance, Jesse Ryder, Bevan Small, Ben Smith, Kruger van Wyk, Ben Wheeler, George Worker, Will YoungNorthern Districts Cody Andrews, James Baker, Jono Boult, Dean Brownlie, Joe Carter, Anton Devcich, Daniel Flynn, Brett Hampton, Jono Hickey, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Bharat Popli, Tim Seifert, Ish SodhiOtago Warren Barnes, Nicholas Beard, Michael Bracewell, Neil Broom, Derek de Boorder, Jacob Duffy, Ryan Duffy, Josh Finnie, Anaru Kitchen, Michael Rae, Hamish Rutherford, Craig Smith, Sam Wells, Brad WilsonWellington Brent Arnel, Brady Barnett, Tom Blundell, Alecz Day, Dane Hutchinson, Matt McEwan, Stephen Murdoch, Ollie Newton, Michael Papps, Jeetan Patel, Michael Pollard, Matt Taylor, Anurag Verma, Luke Woodcock

Richard Hughes has now been put on red alert in the race to sign Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk successor ahead of Real Madrid, according to recent reports.

Liverpool on red alert in race to sign VVD heir

The Reds have had a centre-back problem ever since missing out on Marc Guehi on deadline day. Left with just Ibrahima Konate, Van Dijk and the injury-prone Joe Gomez to choose from, Arne Slot has seen his side suffer defensively and forced to adopt a more pragmatic approach in recent weeks.

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Liverpool are looking to continue their sweeping rebuild with an ambitious target in 2026.

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It’s a problem which could become worse before it gets better, however, with Ibrahima Konate still on course to leave the club as a free agent at the end of the season. It would leave Liverpool with just two senior central defenders and desperately needing to secure Guehi’s signature.

To that end, recent reports have claimed that Anfield chiefs are ready to make an offer to sign the Crystal Palace defender in hopes of beating the likes of Real Madrid to his signature next year.

That would at least replace Konate before their Van Dijk problem emerges. The Liverpool captain has less than two years remaining on his current deal and is likely to bring an incredible Anfield spell to an end when next season concludes.

His exit will hand the Reds an impossible task. Van Dijk has been one of, if not their most important players of their most successful Premier League era and there is arguably no one like him in European football.

Nonetheless, those in Merseyside are certainly willing to give it a good go. According to TeamTalk, Hughes is now on red alert in the race to sign Alessandro Bastoni.

£66m Bastoni could replace Van Dijk

Liverpool are reportedly among the clubs to be contacted by intermediaries about a potential move to sign Bastoni in 2026. Sources told TeamTalk: “Alessandro is happy at Inter, and in Italy, but at 26, there is the belief he might look to try his hand abroad. He is at the top of his game, and not many in the world currently compare to him.”

In terms of price, Liverpool will have to splash the cash once again if they want to sign the Italian from Inter Milan, given that the Serie A giants have set their price-tag at a hefty £66m. That fee would quickly look like a bargain if Bastoni became the heir to Van Dijk’s Anfield throne, however.

League stats 25/26

Bastoni

Van Dijk

Minutes

1,223

1,440

Progressive Passes

80

110

Tackles Won

25

5

Ball Recoveries

51

32

When compared to Van Dijk it’s easy to see why Liverpool have their sights set on Bastoni. The Italian has that unique composure in possession combined with a more aggressive nature off the ball than the Anfield captain.

The ongoing war in the north of Sri Lanka seems to have had the least effect on Sri Lanka Army who produced an outstanding performance over the weekend to record their third successive win of the season and take over the top position in Tier B.With Tier A clubs being given a weekend off because of the country’s 60th Independence Day celebrations which fell on February 4, clubs in the other tier came to the limelight with Army being the only club to record a win out of the five matches. They beat Lankan Cricket Club by three wickets chasing 242 in the fourth innings in Panagoda.Army’s match-winners were two 22-year-old bowlers who produced career-best returns Ajantha Mendis, the right-arm slow-medium bowler, accounted for seven Lankan batsmen in the first innings for 37 runs and in the second innings, legspinner Seekuge Prasanna took 6 for 76 as Lankan was dismissed for 164 and 283.The only resistance came from Yasas Tillakaratne, brother of former Sri Lanka Test captain Hashan Tillakaratne. Yasas who spends a good part of his time playing in the English leagues made a rare appearance for his club to score only his fourth hundred (121) in a first-class career spanning 15 years. However, it was not good enough to stop Army from advancing to the top of the table.In a high-scoring game at Havelock Park,identical centuries by the Burgher Recreation Club pair of Dilan Sandagirigoda – scoring his maiden hundred in only his third first-class match – and Dilum Harischandra, with a hundred on his first-class debut were not good enough to stop Saracens Sports Club from collecting valuable points on the first-innings lead. In reply to Burgher’s 418 for 8 declared, Saracens were boosted by a 132-run seventh-wicket stand between Sachithra Serasinghe (118),who also made his maiden first-class century and Ravindra Karunaratne (52) replied with 484 to move to third place in the standings.Panadura Sports Club lost their position at the top of the table when they were deprived of victory by Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club’s last-wicket pair at the Panadura Esplanade.Set 403 for victory, Sebastianites lost their ninth wicket at 283 and looked in danger of defeat. But their tenth-wicket pair of captain Primal Salgado (49*) and Suranjana Rajitha (3* off 32 balls), playing in only his third first-class game, hung on for 11.3 overs to deprive Panadura a win.

Yuvraj Singh, expected to be out of action till the World Cup, could make a return of sorts as early as the home one-day series against West Indies. Yuvraj, who has been training in Mumbai in the Bandra Kurla Complex, at the same time as the finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the zonal under-19 tournament, could make a comeback as soon as the second half of the four-ODI home series against West Indies.”He is in the final phase of rehabilitation. He is doing light fielding, functional agility, netting,” Mithun Joshi, sports physiotherapist and son of the board’s medical expert Dr. Anant Joshi, wrote in a report to the Board of Control for Cricket in India. “It is likely he will be able to return to light Twenty20 style match play by the 19th of this month. He could be with the team for the preparation for the West Indies series and be available to play in the latter part of the one-day series against West Indies, or for the series against Sri Lanka.”Yuvraj had recently practiced against a bowling machine, and was doing light exercises. He has been out of cricket since the middle of the Champions Trophy, when he tore a ligament in the knee in a pre-match training session at Mohali, while playing , a traditional Indian game, as part of warm ups.”There was never any pain,” an audibly elated Yuvraj told Cricinfo over the phone from Mumbai. “From the beginning it was never a question of pain. It was bone bruising because of the ligament tear. Obviously there is discomfort in using crutches, wearing a brace but it was not about pain.”It’s hard to come back so quickly without surgery. I have really worked very hard over the last 40 days,” said Yuvraj. “The problem is that it plays on you mentally, especially when fielding. You’re wondering whether you might get a recurrence of the injury and that could put you out for a long time.”Assessing his own fitness, Yuvraj concurred strongly with the doctors’ judgement. “Actually in plain terms I’m about 90-95% fit at the moment,” he said. “But it’s always different being in a match situation. It’s just about getting some match practice under the belt. Hopefully I can play three or four practice matches, and then if all goes well declare myself fit and eligible for national selection.”

Pakistan have included the uncapped opener Raffatullah Mohmand in their 18-man squad for a training camp ahead of the series against India. He replaces the dropped Hasan Raza while there is also no place for Mushtaq Ahmed.Mohmand, 29, scored 444 runs including three hundreds in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy last year and has caught the eye of Inzamam-ul-Haq. He also scored an impressive 55 against England in the warm-up match ahead of the one-day series in December.There are also recalls for the fit-again paceman Umar Gul and opener Yasir Hameed, who made 57 against England in the final one-day international. Gul played the last of his five Tests against India two years ago before being sidelined due to a back problem.Abdul Razzaq makes it into the squad despite fears that he would miss most of the Test series after being admitted to hospital with a serious chest infection.Pakistan squad Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Arshad Khan, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Asim Kamal, Yasir Hameed, Raffatullah Mohmand

Graeme Smith, the South African captain, has backed Ray Jennings to be the permanent coach of the team. The United Cricket Board of South Africa, which is currently advertising the post, will consider Jennings, if he reapplies. However, Jennings said that he would reapply only if his team wanted him to.”Jet (Ray Jennings) is very important, but we will have to wait and see what the United Cricket Board of South Africa decides. It is a difficult situation at present,” said Smith. “I think Ray is also enjoying his position more now. It is always easier when you win.” After a humiliating loss 1-2 in the Test series against England, South Africa salvaged some pride by winning the one-day series 4-1.Jennings was appointed the temporary coach of the team before the tour to India last year, and had come under pressure after the series loss to India and England. He re-iterated that the support of his players would play a big part in his interest in pursuing the position further. “It does not help if I waste my time and energy and the people around me do not support me,” Jennings said. “I will talk to the players in the next two or three weeks and ask them, because I am still in the dark at present.”

The 15 cricketers representing Sri Lanka ‘A’ who left on a five-week tour of India on Saturday will have the home series against England very much on their minds.The reason for such thinking can be explained by the fact that they have been told by Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors, that anyone performing outstandingly well will be given due recognition for the England Test series starting on December 2. Kaluperuma emphasised when the team was picked 10 days ago, that in the event the national team needs any replacements during the England series, players who are in form in India will be given due consideration.That comment by Kaluperuma is encouragement enough for the players to perform well. “Touring India is not easy. We expect to play tough cricket. If anyone can score runs and take wickets in India he has to be good,” explained Hemantha Devapriya, Sri Lanka A’s coach. "Our strength is batting and we have a few batters who can fill the middle-order slot in our national team with good performances here.”Among those who are vying for places are Jehan Mubarak, a beautifully balanced player who scored centuries in South Africa and Kenya during Sri Lanka ‘A’s recent tour, skipper Naveed Nawaz and Lanka de Silva, who batted with tenacity. All of them have had a brief taste of Test cricket some time during their careers.The tour also affords wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene to make amends for his batting failures in South Africa and Kenya and prove to the selectors that he can get useful runs at the highest level. “Prasanna is the best wicketkeeper we have today," said Devapriya. "He kept beautifully on the African tour. It is very unfortunate that he cannot combine his high level of wicket-keeping with some runs on the board.”Devapriya said the bowling was a bit inexperienced and a lot of their success on the tour would depend on how well they bowled. That Kaushalya Weeraratne is the most experienced of the fast bowlers tells a story of how green the attack looks. Others in support are Tharanga Lakshitha, Lasith Malinga and Umesh Wijesiriwardene.To persist with left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who was one-time Muttiah Muralitharan’s spin partner, is an indication that he is still the best spinner available apart from the banned Kaushal Lokuarachchi. Apart from his lack of height which at times is a disadvantage, a lack of confidence has been his main concern.Batsmen Nuwan Shiroman and Anuska Polonowita and off-spinner Chamara Mudalige are being rewarded for their performances in the Premier trophy competition.Sri Lanka ‘A’ will play four first-class matches against India ‘A’ and then participate in the ACF ‘A’ team one-day triangular with Pakistan and India. Kaluperuma said that changes will be made to the team for the one-day competition.Sri Lanka A tour party Naveed Nawaz (capt), Lanka de Silva (vice-capt), Ian Daniel, Tharanga Paranavithana, Nuwan Shiroman, Jehan Mubarak, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Anushka Polonowita. Thilina Kandamby, Kaushal Weeraratne, Rangana Herath, Chamara Mudalige, Tharanga Lakshitha, Lasith Malinga, Omesh Wijesiriwardene, Officials: Nuski Mohamed (manager), Hemantha Devapriya (coach), Chris Clark (physio).