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Somerset have just launched their Young Cricketers Patron Scheme with the specific aim of giving club members and the general public an opportunity to support Somerset Youth Cricket

Richard Walsh20-Apr-2002Somerset have just launched their Young Cricketers Patron Scheme with the specific aim of giving club members and the general public an opportunity to support Somerset Youth Cricket.Somerset Cricket Development Officer Andrew Moulding told me: "The Somerset Young Cricketers Patron Scheme is simply a `membership’ scheme. Somerset Youth Cricket is seeking to attract Patrons to offset the cost of youth squad matches, the Corner system, associated coaching programmes and school competitions. There are no restrictions on who can become a Somerset Young Cricketers Patron."Andrew Moulding continued: "The scheme is aimed at all supporters of Somerset Youth Cricket. These could be club cricketers, County Cricket Club members, former Somerset players, parents, grandparents, etc. Basically, anyone who wishes to help the next generation of Somerset cricket to flourish can do so by becoming a Somerset Young Cricketers Patron."Mr Moulding concluded: "We would like to think that potential patrons will come forward and support young cricketers from grassroots to professional cricket."The cost of becoming a Somerset Young Cricketers Patron is just £15. In return, as well as supporting a very worthwhile cause which in the past has produced a number of players currently on the staff including Marcus Trescothick, Rob Turner, Keith Parsons and Matt Bulbeck, Patrons will receive their own distinctive maroon tie featuring the Somerset dragon, a Somerset Cricket Board fixture card, a Somerset Cricket Board newsletter (3 per year) and a copy of the Somerset Young Cricketers review which contains details of the seasons performances.Anybody interested in joining the Somerset Young Cricketers Patron Scheme or helping with Somerset Youth Cricket in anyway should contact Andrew Moulding at the Centre of Excellence, The County Ground, Taunton, Somerset , TA1 1JT. (telephone 01823 352266).

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Lille forward Jonathan Ikone ahead of this summer’s transfer window.

What’s the story?

According to The Mirror, Jurgen Klopp’s charges are interested in acquiring the 23-year-old’s signature after helping Les Dogues secure their first Ligue 1 title in 10 years.

The report claimed that Liverpool are preparing a £25m-plus-player deal for Ikone, with Xherdan Shaqiri possibly moving in the opposite direction.

Edwards would be making a mistake

Injury issues to key centre-backs Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip played a big part in the Anfield outfit’s disappointing 2020/21 campaign, but perhaps problems in attack were equally to blame.

While Mohamed Salah continued to put the ball in the back of the net at a consistent rate throughout the recently-concluded campaign, bagging 31 goals in 51 appearances for the Reds, the form of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino dipped considerably.

The duo scored a combined total of 34 Premier League goals in 2018/19, before that total dropped to 27 the following season when Liverpool were crowned champions of England.

However, another sharp decrease to a joint tally of just 20 league goals in 2020/21, alongside the defensive issues which ravished the Merseyside outfit, saw Klopp’s charges finish 17 points behind table-toppers Manchester City.

The duo’s poor displays have led to several star names being linked with a move to Liverpool this summer such as Jadon Sancho, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, but Ikone is certainly not of the same calibre as those star-studded figures.

Although the France international was a regular in Christophe Galtier’s title-winning side, making 37 top-flight appearances as Lille dethroned Paris Saint-Germain, his contribution was hardly eye-catching.

Ikone bagged just four goals and provided a modest total of five assists en route to his first league title, while Burak Yilmaz and Jonathan David shared the bulk of the goalscoring burden for the newly-crowned Ligue 1 winners.

Therefore, signing the 23-year-old would prove to be a big mistake from director of football Michael Edwards. Liverpool need some top-class reinforcements at the top end of the pitch to mount another title tilt, and Ikone just doesn’t seem up to the required standard.

The Reds have been stung before when signing pacey forwards from Ligue 1, with El Hadji Diouf failing to deliver during his time at Anfield after impressing for Lens, and the club’s hierarchy should learn their lesson this time around.

In other news…Bye-Bye Shaqiri: Liverpool must seal swoop for “quality” £18m-rated beast 

Former Charlton manager and Southampton vice-chairman Les Reed believes that Daniel Levy wouldn’t shy away from appointing a young English manager.

It’s approaching the 50-day mark since the Tottenham chairman relieved Jose Mourinho of his duties, but Levy hasn’t yet been able to find a suitable replacement for the Portuguese.

When Spurs were previously in this position, Mourinho was placed in charge less than 12 hours after Mauricio Pochettino was sacked, but the process has been far less straightforward this time around.

Pochettino himself has been in talks about returning to north London, whilst the high-profile likes of Antonio Conte, Hansi Flick and others have all been mentioned about becoming Mourinho’s successor.

But as of yet, Spurs don’t appear any closer to naming their new manager.

Reed, whose only stint in management came during a three-week spell as Charlton boss almost 15 years ago, said that it doesn’t have to necessarily be big name.

Asked whether Levy would potentially look towards either Graham Potter or Scott Parker, who managers that are both young and English, he exclusively told Football FanCast:

“Yes, I do. I think Daniel gets bad press quite a bit. People forget that he did bring in the first director of football in this country, but people seem to think that he’s anti director of football.

“He will always do what he believes is right for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and he will be strong on it. And I think if he felt there’s a young manager out there that could develop and would have the right credentials in the Tottenham way, I think he would be brave enough to do it.”

Despite overnight rain delaying the start of the final day’s play, the result was a foregone conclusion

Anand Vasu22-May-2002Despite overnight rain delaying the start of the final day’s play, the result was a foregone conclusion. The last rites were eventually played out, the West Indies dismissed India for 252 and won the Test by 155 runs. With it, they win the series 2-1.The first man to be dismissed was Ajay Ratra. As expected, West Indies took the second new ball first thing in the morning. After surviving a loud shout for lbw against Cameron Cuffy, Ratra eventually perished in that very fashion. Although the ball was traveling down the leg-side, umpire Russell Tiffin upheld the appeal. Ratra was dismissed for 19, helping to add five runs to India’s overnight score of 237.Javagal Srinath has not inspired much confidence with the bat all series, and the poor run continued. Spending an awkward time at the crease bobbing, weaving and fending in ungainly fashion, Srinath eventually gave Cuffy his second wicket of the day. A ball pitched just outside the off ducking in at the last moment. Srinath, moving away to the leg side as he has done to anything that is pitched slightly short, heard the death rattle as leather hit timber.Ashish Nehra, coming in at number 11, did his best to defend in the hope of prolonging the innings as much as possible. With some clouds in the horizon, there was a possibility of rain. To ask the last man to defend forever is not realistic, however. Nehra did have a wild heave every now and then.Zaheer Khan beat his fellow paceman back to the pavilion, though. Fittingly it was Merv Dillon who took the last wicket to fall. Zaheer Khan (12) slogged Dillon to Pedro Collins at cover and it was all over. Dillon ended with 23 wickets in the series.The West Indies did a lap of honour around the ground – something the fans appreciated tremendously. India’s hopes of winning a series outside the subcontinent will have to wait for another day. They tour England next, and that will be a stern test.For the moment, though, it is the end of this series, one that has been exciting all the way. After being 0-1 down in the series, the West Indies came back strongly. The wickets at Guyana and Antigua did nothing to help achieve results, and the matches there were understandably drawn. India did well to win at Port-of-Spain but were below par at Barbados and here at Jamaica.There were many contenders for the Man of the Series award – Shivnarine Chanderpaul with his invaluable contribution of 562 runs at 140-plus, Carl Hooper with 579 runs at 82.71, Rahul Dravid with 404 runs at over 55 a knock, and finally Dillon with 23 wickets at less than 30 apiece.The adjudicating panel, consisting of both coaches – John Wright and Roger Harper – and commentators Michael Holding and Sunil Gavaskar chose Chanderpaul for the honour. None will grudge him that. When India were last in the West Indies in 1997, Chanderpaul won this award. Once more he drives away a nice car.For his first-innings century and sharp close catches, Wavell Hinds was awarded the Man of the Match award.

Lincolnshire won the toss & batted

Tony North30-Jun-2002Lincolnshire won the toss & batted. Jason Harrison & Richard Howitt made asolid start before the first wicket fell at 39, Harrison trying to pull wascaught by Amin off the bowling of Stanway for 19.Howitt was joined by Dobson & a partnership of 148 saw Lincolnshire in a dominating position when Dobson was run out for a fine 87. Wickets continued to fall until Howitt was joined by skipper Mark Fell producing a partnership of 90 runs with Fell scoring 62 off 40 balls.Lincolnshire declared in the 97th over with the score on 373 for 7 withHowitt undefeated on 153.Buckinghamshire had ten overs to face & lost 2 early wicket before raininterrupted procedures with 3 overs remaining in the day leaving Bucks on 8for 2 wickets.

More details have emerged about Celtic’s move for Sheffield Wednesday youngster Liam Shaw.

The Lowdown: Deal for Shaw tied up

Celtic have already secured the 20-year-old’s services on a pre-contract agreement.

The deal was first reported when Neil Lennon was still in charge at Parkhead, with Shaw, capable of playing in defence or midfield, officially a Celtic player from July 1.

Things could have been very different, though, if Wednesday had just put their hand in their pocket.

The Latest: Shaw wanted £3,000-a-week

According to reliable reporter Alan Briggs, Shaw wanted just £3,000 per week to remain at Hillsborough. The journalist added that midfielder Barry Bannan was signing a new contract with the Owls worth £27,000 per week, and as we all now know, Shaw didn’t get the £3,000-a-week deal he was seeking.

Briggs tweeted:

“The likelihood of Osaze Urhoghide leaving #SWFC is just another example of skewed priorities. When Liam Shaw left, a source told me he wanted only about £3k to stay. At the same time, Barry Bannan was signing a new deal (said the source) for at least £27k.”

The 20-year-old was on just £440 per week after bursting onto the first team scene in Yorkshire prior to penning terms with the Hoops.

The Verdict: Lawwell’s final bargain?

The move was first reported just days before Lennon left Parkhead, so you’d expect that the former manager and Peter Lawwell would have been at the heart of the transfer and offered him terms greater than his current deal.

Lawwell will be retiring from his position as chief executive at the end of the month, so Shaw could well be a parting gift from the 62-year-old.

The youngster made 22 appearances last season in three different positions, so his versatility may come in handy as he continues to develop in Glasgow. It could turn out to be an excellent piece of business by Lawwell and co as they acted quickly enough to get a pre-contract deal over the line earlier this year.

In other news: Celtic star confirms he wants to leave this summer, find out more here. 

Pakistan announced on Sunday that a tri-nation tournament and a Testseries it planned to host later this year will now be played outside thecountry.

AFP01-Jul-2002Pakistan announced on Sunday that a tri-nation tournament and a Testseries it planned to host later this year will now be played outside thecountry.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) ruled out hosting the tri-nation seriesinvolving Australia and New Zealand in August and the Test series withAustralia in October.”The outcome of the ICC [International Cricket Council] meetings, aswell as Director PCB Brigadier Munawwar Rana’s several discussions onthe sidelines of the ICC meeting with President and CEO of theAustralian Cricket Board, is that both tri-series and three-match Testsseries involving Australia would take place at a neutral venue,” a PCBstatement said.Sri Lanka, Kenya, Bangladesh, Tangiers in Morocco, the Gulf and Englandare the likely venues and a final decision is likely to be made bymid-July, the PCB said.The ICC last week ruled out England as one of the options to stagePakistan’s one-day tournament.Australia’s two tours to Pakistan have been thrown in serious doubt overfears of safety for the players in and around Pakistan.New Zealand had to cut short its tour of Pakistan in May after a suicidebomb blast outside their hotel in Karachi. Fourteen people, including 11French naval engineers, were killed in the attack.Another blast outside the United States Consulate earlier this monthleft 11 people killed while security fears persists with severalAl-Qaeda suspects believed to be hiding in Pakistan.”PCB is still pursuing the Aussies to play in Pakistan. Aussies areawaiting clearance from their Foreign Office,” the PCB said.However, the ACB has reportedly yet to receive a positive response fromtheir Foreign office in Pakistan as diplomats from major countries,including Australia, have left the country fearing attacks.According to ICC rulings, a series hit by security problems can bestaged at a neutral venue if both the countries agree.The PCB last week ruled out playing the series in Australia as theircounterparts had offered them only two Tests instead of the scheduledthree in October this year.Cricket has been hit badly in Pakistan since the September 11 attacks inthe US and the crackdown against Al-Qaeda units in Afghanistan sincethen.New Zealand postponed its tour last year only to see the re-arrangedtour cut short by a bomb blast in May this year.Pakistan was forced to play its home series against the West Indies atSharjah in February-March this year after West Indies refused to tourPakistan over security fears.Pakistan’s demands for compensation over losses did not succeed at theICC meeting last week, but PCB claimed the ICC had promised Pakistanadditional one-day matches to recover the losses.

A number of Crystal Palace fans have been reacting on social media after reliable reporter Sam Wallace suggested a move for Nuno Espirito Santo has broken down. 

Palace’s hunt for a new boss appeared to step up a gear on Tuesday after John Percy revealed the club were in advanced talks with Nuno.

The Eagles have been linked with a number of managers in recent months, including Sean Dyche, Frank Lampard and Eddie Howe, but it appeared as if the former Wolves gaffer was Palace’s man.

However, Wallace revealed on Wednesday morning that a potential move to Selhurst Park has broken down with both parties unable to reach an agreement despite extensive negotiations.

It now seems as if it is back to the drawing board for Steve Parish and the Palace hierarchy, who are looking to replace Roy Hodgson ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

Palace fans react

It didn’t take long for these Eagles supporters to interact with Wallace’s post, with many sharing their distraught.

“Worst run club in the league”Credit: @Benteke_SZN”The most typical palace thing ever”Credit: @mattm_92″I’m going to cry.”Credit: @escobond_”we’re actually finished man”Credit: @notconnorlmaov2″Yep, that’s that then.”Credit: @cpfcjude”Oh well say goodbye to all the Portuguese flags”Credit: @samstoreycp

In other news: Many CPFC fans react to links to possible Wilfried Zaha replacement, find out more here. 

Somerset Sabres got their NUL National League campaign back on track at Cardiff today when they recorded a resounding victory over Glamorgan Dragons to earn themselves four valuable points in their fight for division one survival

Richard Walsh03-Aug-2002Somerset Sabres got their NUL National League campaign back on track at Cardiff today when they recorded a resounding victory over Glamorgan Dragons to earn themselves four valuable points in their fight for division one survival.After being put into bat, Somerset lost Matt Wood early but Peter Bowler and Jamie Cox took them onto 34 before Cox was caught by Dean Cosker in the gully off Andrew Davies for 12.Mike Burns came in and hurried the score along until with the score on 58, Bowler was bowled by Darren Thomas for 18. Burns stayed for a little longer but was eventually out for 25 caught by Glamorgan captain Steve James off Thomas.Coming in at 58 for 3 Keith Parsons worked hard to establish himself, and then after being joined by Ian Blackwell brought up the hundred for the Sabres.The demise of Blackwell shortly afterwards bowled by Adrian Dale for 10, brought Rob Turner to the wicket, to share in what was the most productive partnership of the innings for the Sabres.During the course of the next 16 overs Parsons and Turner plundered 81 all important runs from the Glamorgan attack. Parsons brought up his own fifty and Somerset’s 150 at the same time, and hit one big six off Cosker before he was caught at deep mid wicket by David Hemp off Robert Croft for an invaluable 70. Parsons had faced 68 balls, and hit 1×6 and 3×4.Matt Bulbeck came in to join Turner, but six runs later the wicket-keeper was out to a stunning catch by Cosker at wide mid on after he had scored 31.Bulbeck brought up the 200 and then hit two enormous sixes over the longest boundary on the ground, and Keith Dutch added some quick runs before the rains came down to put a premature end to the innings with Somerset on 245 for7. At the close Dutch was unbeaten on 26 with Bulbeck on 24.Chasing a reduced total of 234 from 34 overs Glamorgan got off to a quick start with Croft taking 12 off the first over that was bowled by Simon Francis, who was returning to the side after a long lay off through injury.Ian Thomas set off at a similar pace at the other end, dispatching Bulbeck’s first ball to the boundary, but his success was short lived as he edged the left armer to Turner to make Glamorgan 18 for 1.Croft continued to take chances in an attempt to move Glamorgan into a winning position should the Duckworth Lewis system be enforced but in the third over took one chance too many when he hoisted a ball from Francis to extra cover where Dutch took a diving catch close to the ground.Hemps stay at the wicket was short lived. In the next over from Bulbeck he gave a catch to second slip where Dutch gratefully received the offering, and Glamorgan total had slipped to 29 for 3.Bulbeck struck again in his next over when he trapped the Glamorgan skipper James LBW to make the Dragons 32 for 4. Nine runs later Dale followed his captain back to the pavilion after he skied a ball from Francis into the waiting gloves of Turner.Matthew Maynard and Mike Powell started to look settled and added 17 until Maynard edged a ball to Turner to give Bulbeck his fourth wicket of the innings and reduce the Dragons to 58 for 6.Mike Burns replaced Francis for the 13th over and immediately accounted for Darren Thomas. Two balls later Burns trapped Andrew Davies LBW and Glamorgan were 65 for 8.Burns hit the stumps with the first ball of his next over to dispose of Cosker, but last man Owen Parkin and Powell proved more obstinate.The final pair added 45 until they were eventually parted by Blackwell and Glamorgan were all out for 118 in the 22nd over to give Somerset Sabres victory by 108 runs.Immediately after the game a delighted Kevin Shine told me: "This was a thoroughly professional performance from the boys. The wicket wasn’t easy at the start, but we had good knocks from Keith Parsons and Rob Turner, and then some quick runs at the end from Matt Bulbeck and Keith Dutch."He continued: "Their boys came out at a rate as we knew they would, but Simon Francis and Matt Bulbeck kept their heads and put the ball in the right place and we kept taking wickets. I really am very pleased with today’s result."

Many Everton fans have been left to flock to a big manager update on Christophe Galtier.

As per football journalist and transfers expert Duncan Castles, the Goodison Park faithful have been in contact with his agents over a potential move to the Merseyside club after Carlo Ancelotti left to go and manage Real Madrid.

Galtier has just come off the back of a very impressive Ligue 1 title win over the previously dominant PSG, and former sporting director at LOSC Lille, Luis Campos, has claimed that he has ‘all the qualities’ to coach in English football, and believes that he would be a good choice for the Blues as their next permanent boss.

Nonetheless, the update has certainly drawn a lot of excitement from several Toffees supporters, who see him as the ideal fit to manage them ahead of the new season.

Everton fans on Galtier manager update

These EFC fans flocked to the manager update as it was shared on Twitter:

“I’m all for this…go get him”

Credit: @Snakepl08350140

“Please!!!!”

Credit: @stevekendrew

“I’m all aboard the Galtier train! Someone get him a room with Contract Dave!!”

Credit: @markoos01

“Sign the dotted line Christy”

Credit: @Tiernancusack21

“Please be true.”

Credit: @mattcardus16

“Beg we just do something right and get him”

Credit: @Georgeharper250

In other news, find out what big Everton manager claim has been dropped here!