Pundit Frank McAvennie has now unleashed on Everton after they posted their financial accounts.

The Lowdown: Accounts published

The Goodison Park faithful have now published their official accounts for the 2020/21 season on their website.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/everton-news-3/” title=”Everton news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

They have recorded a total loss of £120.9m, with some of that down to the financial impact of the global pandemic.

However, the Merseyside club have remained in a secure position thanks to Farhad Moshiri, who has given them more than £600m since he first bought shares in 2016.

The Latest: McAvennie reacts

Speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie has unleashed at the Toffees over their financial losses, and the 62-year-old added that relegation from the Premier League is now a ‘real worry’:

“You can spend all the money in the world but it’s the decisions that are letting them down.

“Hiring Benitez was such a huge mistake, no amount of money can help when you do that.

“A lot gets made of that hire but the transfers have been pretty bad too.

“Everton need to invest in people who make football decisions, people who know what they are doing because the current guys are clueless don’t know what they are doing.

“They are such a big club and I don’t want them to get relegated.

“But you look at the club’s position and it’s a real worry.“

The Verdict: Relegation catastrophic

If the Blues were to go down to the Championship, it would be nothing short of a catastrophe.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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They are already recording big financial losses, and without the security of wealth that the top flight brings through the likes of TV deals and sponsorships, they could be in real trouble come this time next term.

Of course, whether the pandemic will have as much of a financial impact is another question, but relegation still seems unthinkable at this moment in time, and so Frank Lampard and his team must push all the way to make sure that they stay up.

In other news, find out what ‘massive’ update will now have EFC ‘buzzing’ here!

Newcastle United enter the Christmas period as an inconsistent outfit, with their recent Premier League draw against Chelsea keeping them in the bottom half of the standings.

A two-goal lead after Nick Woltemade’s quick brace was not enough to seal three points at St. James’ Park, and with away form still leaving so much to be desired, there are real problems for Eddie Howe to solve.

These are more than just a few wrinkles across the Magpies’ fabric. There are systematic issues to overcome.

While defensive issues abound, with injuries piling up and United now without a clean sheet in ten top-flight fixtures, there’s a sense that attacking additions might be needed too, especially on the right flank.

Why Newcastle need a right winger

Newcastle solved their interminable right-sided problem this summer when they signed Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest for £55m, but the Sweden international has been anything but effective this season.

Elanga’s Last Two Premier League Seasons

Stats (* per game)

24/25

25/26

Matches (starts)

38 (31)

17 (7)

Goals

6

0

Assists

11

1

Shots (on target)*

1.1 (0.6)

0.5 (0.2)

Pass completion

78%

79%

Key passes*

1.3

0.5

Big chances created

9

1

Succ. dribbles*

0.7 (39%)

0.2 (17%)

Ball recoveries

2.3

0.9

Tackles + interceptions*

0.7

0.5

Duels (won)*

3.0 (45%)

1.5 (33%)

Data via Sofascore

He’s regressed. Big time. Luckily, Jacob Murphy continues to play an industrious role, but his potency has been severed along with the link to Alexander Isak, and it’s looking more and more likely that Howe will need to convince PIF to dig into their pockets once again.

According to TEAMtalk, Newcastle are long-term admirers of Jarrod Bowen and would be ready to bid for the West Ham United talisman if he were to become available in 2026.

Irons owner David Sullivan is desperate to keep his club’s captain and has made it clear that he is not for sale this January, though it’s felt a £100m fee would be enough to get the deal done.

That, of course, is a huge sum, and one that suitors would not be happy to pay.

Why Newcastle should sign Jarrod Bowen

Howe and Newcastle have had Bowen on their radar for several years, and with relegation-threatened West Ham potentially skipping from the Premier League this season, there might just be a chance to secure the 29-year-old’s signature.

Bowen is no spring chicken, but he’s one of the most experienced wingers in the Premier League and has been a shining light in an otherwise dim Hammers system, their top scorer with five goals from 17 matches this season. It’s pertinent to note that he has only missed two big chances, as per Sofascore, and given his positional skill and ability to arc inward and into the danger area.

His kind of clinical quality would see him slot right into Newcastle’s starting line-up, shoving Elanga to the sidelines. The 23-year-old is only firing on goal once every two matches this season, and he’s hitting the target even less.

As per FBref, the £150k-per-week star ranks among the top 9% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for non-penalty goals scored per 90, and that tells a convincing tale of Bowen’s expertise and how he might thrive in a Newcastle set-up with a greater capacity to fire on all cylinders.

Subscribe for in-depth Newcastle transfer and tactics Curious how Newcastle could reshape their squad? Subscribing to the newsletter offers expert analysis on right-wing options, potential Bowen interest, data-driven player profiles, transfer rumours and broader Premier League insights to deepen your understanding. Subscribe Subscribe for in-depth Newcastle transfer and tactics Curious how Newcastle could reshape their squad? Subscribing to the newsletter offers expert analysis on right-wing options, potential Bowen interest, data-driven player profiles, transfer rumours and broader Premier League insights to deepen your understanding.

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But Bowen isn’t only a sharpshooter. He’s a “superstar”, as has been noted by writer Paddy Keogh. The Three Lions man has averaged 1.5 dribbles and 4.6 duels per league game this year, and he has long been well regarded for his ability as a playmaker, capable of whipping in mean crosses and using his intelligence to link up with strikers in the box.

There’s no question that Bowen is a cut above Elanga, who simply hasn’t been at the races since joining during the summer. And considering the inconsistent form the Tyneside club find themselves embroiled in this year, this could be a statement signing to propel Howe’s project back into the ascendancy.

Related Better signing than Woltemade: Newcastle struck gold on star who is "back"

Newcastle United continue to strike gold with this star, who is arguably an even better signing than Nick Woltemade.

Posts ByKelan Sarson

Just six days into their new cricket season, this South Australian team certainly seems to like close finishes. Last Sunday, they narrowly lost a game they could easily have won; today, they won a game they could easily have lost. Whoever said cricket was a funny game wasn’t really far off the mark.”I hope we don’t have too many more of these close ones; I could die of a heart attack,” skipper Darren Lehmann said after the last-gasp four-run win over Tasmania in the teams’ Mercantile Mutual Cup clash at the Adelaide Oval today.”We batted well early after being sent in and really I would have been delighted with 200 given how tough it was at the start”.Lehmann also praised Jeff Vaughan, who for the second consecutive game passed fifty.”It’s been a great start for him and most of the batters who have all got runs and are all in form.”Chasing a run rate of 5.80 per over to achieve victory in the rain-reduced contest, the Tasmanians were cruising at 1/194 in the thirty-fifth over, with Michael DiVenuto and Ricky Ponting in full flight.However, the reintroduction of Paul Wilson to the attack saw the demise of Ponting (68) after a great partnership of 137 for the second wicket with eventual Man of the Match DiVenuto. This was a turning point in the game as Wilson, who was clearly the best bowler in the match, returned to the attack just as things seemed to be getting out of hand for the home side.Ponting virtually played second fiddle to DiVenuto during his innings. But his support was vital to the experienced left hander whose innings blossomed the further it progressed. DiVenuto’s masterly effort, which included ten fours, was the highlight of the day’s proceedings in a match which saw both sides bat with vigour against bowling that looked light on in preparation at best.Divenuto was unlucky to be dismissed to say the least. With ten needed for victory off the last five balls, his downfall was due to a sensational piece of work by SA wicketkeeper Graham Manou. In the one action, Manou took a wayward return from Ryan Harris from third man and then hit the stumps with a mid-air throw with the gloves still on. Had Divenuto made his ground, the Tigers would have required just a further eight off the final four balls. In the end, nine off four with a new batsman on strike proved just too many.South Australia’s bowlers, like their Tasmanian counterparts, appeared a little underdone. Jason Gillespie’s first three overs went for twenty-one as he bowled too short. Brett Swain managed to pick up the vital early wicket of Jamie Cox (21) but looked like he needed the run. And the fairy tale start for Harris came to an abrupt halt as he conceded thirty-five runs from five overs at the Cathedral End.It was left to Wilson to halt the rapidly increasing run rate with seven accurate overs which cost a mere twenty-three. His eventual figures of 1/31 from nine overs were like a shining light on a cold, windy and overcast day.Earlier, South Australia had made the best of the conditions to register 6/248, with all of the batsmen making valuable contributions. David Fitzgerald made a workmanlike 46 but shared in a steadying partnership of ninety-seven for the second wicket with Chris Davies (54), a man who is continuing to take a liking to the shorter form of the game.These two were joined in the eighth over after Greg Blewett dragged one onto to his stumps after making just eight. After the Fitzgerald/Davies stand, the in-form duo of Lehmann (44) and Vaughan (57) smoked the bowling in the late overs, adding a century stand in the space of just fourteen overs to take the Redbacks to their eventual total.For Tasmania, Brett Geeves (1/31 from nine) on debut performed very well, as did David Saker (1/38 off nine) and Damien Wright (0/32 off nine), who each bowled tightly in the early stages.South Australia now journey to Perth for a day-night match on Friday against a full strength Western Australian outfit, an assignment which holds no fears for Lehmann and his young Redbacks.”It will be a great test against a full strength WA side but we beat them last year making over 300 so we’ll be confident.”

	Virat Kohli is confident over India’s chances at the Under-19 World Cup © Martin Williamson

Virat Kohli, the captain of India’s Under-19 squad for the World Cup, may still be in his teens but he’s already aware of the kind of spotlight an Indian cricketer faces when playing on the international stage. As the team prepared to depart for Malaysia, Kohli said India were “expected to be favourites” and hoped to fulfill those expectations – backed by a strong batting line-up and a bolstered attack – during the 15-day tournament.The squad spent the last week at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, fine-tuning their preparations under the guidance of Dav Whatmore, who will be their coach for the tournament. Kohli said the team had worked hard on their fielding skills, which he felt needed to be improved, during the camp and the time spent together had helped build team-spirit.India have had a successful run in the lead-up to Malaysia. They won a Youth Test series in South Africa 1-0 as well as a triangular limited-overs tournament involving South Africa, who are grouped with India in the World Cup, and Bangladesh. The batsmen performed impressively in the tri-series, with Kohli, Saurav Tiwary, Tanmay Srivatsava and Manish Pandey all averaging above 50.”We have a deep batting line-up and most often our No.7 and No.8 batsmen have not had a chance to bat on the last two or three tours. So batting is a big strength,” Kohli said. “The fast bowling was lacking on the last tour so we’ve got more fast bowlers to strengthen that area.”India’s group also includes West Indies and Papua New Guinea and their practice-matches before the main tournament kicks off will be against two teams Kohli considered among the toughest in the competition – New Zealand and England.”We know most of the England team and the New Zealand team, which are the difficult teams. We don’t know much about Pakistan because I think the team has changed. But we’ve seen South Africa, England and New Zealand which are the strongest teams, so we know about them.”For most of the team, the World Cup will be their first experience of playing in front of a television audience. Kohli, however, said that thinking about factors such as television would only add to the pressure. “You don’t have to think about it much,” Kohli said. “We just have to play like we have been playing on the last four or five tours. We’ve been winning all the tours so we would like to keep up the winning streak.”While Kohli and his team-mates are thinking of the immediate future, and how it could be the launching pad for future international careers, their coach is able to look at the larger picture. The challenge, Whatmore said, was to “create the right pathways and competitions for the youngsters to come through.”

ScorecardAlex Blake limited the damage [file picture]•Getty Images

Kent slumped to a disappointing 51-run home defeat in the Royal London Cup with more than 12 overs to spare to allow Lancashire – the team they will meet in next Saturday’s NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final at Canterbury – to land a resounding win.In seemingly ideal batting conditions, they made a complete hash of their target of 259 virtually from ball one and but for Alex Blake’s belligerent 89, would have fallen woefully short .Joe Denly was first to go, driving hard at a wide one from Kyle Jarvis to be snaffled at slip without scoring. Daniel Bell-Drummond (30) appeared well set until a Jordan Clark yorker ricocheted via the back pad onto the base of off stump.Sam Billings, driving on the charge at slow left-armer Stephen Parry, picked out Steven Croft at short extra cover then Sam Northeast (36) fenced at one from Clark to be caught behind.A ‘yes, no, sorry’ moment between Darren Stevens and Fabian Cowdrey ended with both batsmen stood at the non-striker’s end and Cowdrey’s run out , with Stevens soon to follow, made matters worse.Matt Coles heaved across the line against James Faulkner to spoon a catch to mid-on, then James Tredwell became the second run out victim when Petersen’s direct hit from point left him short of his ground.Alex Blake moved to 49 by taking 17 off four successive balls from Parry, only for Mitch Claydon to chip back a return catch and leave Kent nine down.After a 41-ball 50 with three fours and three sixes, Blake added a further three maximums in racing to 89 before being bowled when attempting a slog sweep against Faulkner.Batting first after losing the toss Lancashire’s top order struggled on a white pitch that, possibly through early morning dew, offered some early lateral seam movement to Kent’s new ball attack.Ashwell Prince got off the mark with a sweetly-timed push against Mitch Claydon in the third over but, without addition, nicked an ambitious drive against Coles to James Tredwell at second slip.In Coles’s next over Karl Brown feathered a tentative push through to the keeper Billings to leave Lancashire in trouble at 25 for two at the end of their first 10-over powerplay.Claydon gave way at the Pavilion End to Matt Hunn, who, with his second ball, had Alviro Petersen caught down the leg-side by a tumbling Billings as the South African right-hander aimed to glance.Kent should have claimed a fourth victim in the 23rd over when Liam Livingstone’s top-edged sweep off Tredwell sailed to deep mid-wicket where, somewhat inexplicably, Denly allowed a simple chance to slip through his grasp and over the ropes.Livingstone, in form of late for his Lancashire League side and the county second string, took advantage by reaching his maiden 50 for the Lancashire first team from 56 balls and with two sixes and three fours.Livingstone and Croft added 100 inside 20 overs with Croft reaching his half-century from 76-balls with only three fours but their 112-partnership ended soon after when Croft was caught low by a diving Stevens at point to give Hunn a second fortunate wicket.Livingstone was only nine short of his hundred when he toe-ended a return catch to the bowler, Stevens, when attempting a ‘Dilshan scoop’, then Faulkner wafted across the line of a full one from Coles to go leg before.After a cracking 35-ball 50 with eight fours, Alex Davies holed out to deep cover off Stevens and Parry was caught behind against Coles after throwing the kitchen sink at an attempted drive. Coles, the pick of the home attack, finished with 4 for 34.Clark skied to long-off to give Claydon his first wicket in the penultimate over but, given the conditions, Lancashire’s total of 258 for 9 still looked a below par score.Livingstone said : “It’s a massive win for us because we came here knowing we needed victory to keep ourselves in the competition. I’ve tried to change a few things with my technique and it would seem that work is starting to pay off. We know we’re playing Kent again here next week so I’d like to think I’ve given myself the best chance of playing in that one too.”Blake admitted: “Although we were only 50 short it felt like a lot more somehow. We need to win every game we can in this competition and that defeat means we’ll probably need to win our two remaining matches.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
1:02

‘Ashwin was willing to pitch it up fuller’

Sri Lanka is not a place where you want to lose the toss as an opposition captain. Over the last 14 years, only two visiting captains have managed to win despite losing the toss. Virat Kohli raised the possibility of becoming the third after R Ashwin registered the best figures for an India bowler in the first innings of an away Test to bundle the hosts out for 183. India stumbled in response initially, but Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli steadied them with an unbroken 100-run partnership.On a pitch that offered turn and bounce as early as the first session, this toss was all the more important to win, which is what will rankle the home captain Angelo Mathews the most. Not only did he win the toss, he also showed the others with his 64 that it was possible to bat on this pitch. There was little resistance from the other end – Dinesh Chandimal’s half-century was a charmed innings and included a drop on 5 – as Ashwin ran away to his fastest five-for in Tests, also his second in two Tests and the best figures by an Indian in Sri Lanka. Had India taken all their catches – to go with two excellent ones by KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma – Sri Lanka would have been bundled out for much less.It took Ashwin only 63 balls to reach his fifth wicket, and left-hand batsmen in particular were easy pickings for him. He took out four of them, including Kumar Sangakkara for 5 in his penultimate Test, in 30 balls. As well as Ashwin bowled, a six-wicket haul in 82 balls for a visiting spinner on day one should worry the batting side. Ashwin, who has been through tough times in away series in the last two years, will gladly take it. He will also be glad that by the time he came on to bowl in the 12th over, India’s quick bowlers had already softened Sri Lanka up.It did not start all that well for India, though, as ordinary slip catching reared its head again, with Dhawan dropping Kaushal Silva at first slip in the fourth over. Kohli will be glad his quick bowlers responded with pace, bounce and hostility to send back the openers. Dimuth Karunaratne edged while fending a bouncer from Ishant Sharma, and Silva was given out caught off the arm guard as he went to hook Varun Aaron. Dhawan redeemed himself with a diving catch, but DRS would have made for an interesting decision.R Ashwin collected 6 for 46, the best figures by an Indian in Sri Lanka•AFP

That brought in Sangakkara in the eight over. At the end of the first hour, Kohli went to Ashwin, and the procession continued. In his first over, Ashwin beat Sangakkara in the flight before a freak dismissal sent the celebrated veteran back. The third ball that Ashwin bowled was short of a length, and drew a defensive shot from Sangakkara, which went fast towards Rahul at silly point. Rahul stayed low, pushed his hands in the general direction of the path of the ball, and it stuck in his fingertips. This was no edge, and nor did it come off the pad to soften the impact.Lahiru Thirimanne looked to block, and captain Mathews – playing his 50th Test – looked to hit a few shots to get the close-in fielders out of his face. Having come together at 27 for 3, they doubled the score before Thirimanne fell to an Ashwin beauty. Until then Thirimanne had faced only four balls from the offspinner, and had looked really comfortable facing only one of them. The fifth one, though, was perfect: nicely flighted, dipping short of Thirimanne’s reach, and then turning away to take the edge on a tame push. Poor Mubarak got to face only Ashwin, and the seventh such delivery did not turn, bounced and resulted in a bat-pad catch. Mubarak’s duck made it 60 for 5, and the only consolation for the hosts going into lunch was that their last recognised pair were both right-hand batsmen: Mathews and Chandimal.Soon after lunch, the consolation ended. Ishant bowled beautifully and drew Chandimal’s edge with one that held its line, but Wriddhiman Saha dropped an absolute sitter. What is more disturbing for India is that Saha is showing a bit of a tendency to drop the easier ones. That was not the only time India took the eye off the game. Ashwin, 6-1-15-3 now, was taken out of the attack for the other offspinner Harbhajan Singh. It would have been okay to give the fifth bowler a chance had Kohli not persisted with Harbhajan for too long. While Harbhajan showed no patience, often bowling round the wicket, often too straight, Kohli showed remarkable patience as Mathews and Chandimal added 79.While Chandimal’s effort was charmed, Mathews played a calculated and clever innings. He attacked only to get the fielders out, and then picked the ones and twos easily. Finally Kohli gave in, and gave Ashwin the end he had taken the three earlier wickets from. The pay-off was immediate, but it needed an exceptional catch from Rohit. In his second over back, Ashwin got one to dip on Mathews, but the bat-pad looked destined to loop over forward short leg’s head. Rohit, though, sprung up, got a hand to it, and ended up deflecting it back towards the wicket. He then dived back against his momentum, and took it one-handed.The floodgates now opened. Only a breezy 24-run stand between Chandimal and the adventurous Rangana Herath – who scored 23 off 24 – resisted India’s march. The innings ended when Herath had had one slog too many, but his real job was only about to begin.Before Herath and Tharindu Kaushal were asked to do their job, though, Dhammika Prasad and Mathews got rid of Rahul and Rohit. The rest of the bowling, though, failed to test Dhawan and Kohli for long enough. Dhawan and Kohli were prepared to defend and wait for loose balls, which Kaushal in particular provided readily. Dhawan, who scored a hundred in his last Test, went past 50 by stumps, and Kohli looked set to do so. More importantly, India could entertain thoughts of batting only once.

Stuart Broad has hailed this summer’s victory over Australia as “the most special Ashes win I’ve been involved with”, but says that England know from bitter previous experience not to let their focus slip when they return to Test action against Pakistan in the UAE next month.Broad, whose career-best haul of 8 for 15 on the first morning at Trent Bridge was the defining moment of the summer, is one of four survivors from the England team that travelled to the Emirates in January 2012 as the No.1-ranked Test team in the world, but finished up on the wrong end of a 3-0 whitewash.Despite competing with the ball on that trip, with Broad himself topping the averages with 13 wickets at 20.46, England struggled with the bat in each of the three Tests, being dismissed for fewer than 200 in four of their six innings. In the second Test in Abu Dhabi, they were set 145 for a series-levelling victory but were shot out for 72 by Pakistan’s spinners, Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman.”[It’s a] really tough [challenge],” Broad told ESPNcricinfo. “But we have got guys of experience who have toured there before. Myself, Jimmy [Anderson], Belly, Cooky, we know the challenges we’ll face there, we know we’ll have to spend long times in the field to create pressure to take wickets and bat a long time.”In addition to winning the Ashes, England have won plaudits this summer for the approach they have taken to their cricket, with a new positive attitude reaping dividends across all three formats.Nevertheless, England’s Test record remains erratic, with four defeats in their last nine outings against West Indies, New Zealand and Australia. In particular, the nature of their two crushing defeats in the Ashes – on the slower, less seam-friendly surfaces at Lord’s and The Oval – doesn’t bode well for the challenges to come.”The biggest skill as an international cricketer is adapting to conditions,” said Broad. “Not every wicket you can go out and play hugely positively on.”I’ve not played at Sharjah [the venue for the third Test], but the wickets in Dubai and [Abu Dhabi] offered a tiny bit of seam but very slowly so we just bowled really straight.”But as a batting unit I remember we just got bowled and lbw a huge amount, which is not what you’d expect from world-class players. So that’s something we’ll have to learn from as a batting unit, to make sure we are playing straight, and look to get big runs because that’s what will determine the UAE trip, big runs on the board.”Broad is mindful of England’s tendency in recent years of following notable series wins with disappointing follow-ups – a pattern that was set in motion with a 2-0 defeat against Pakistan in 2005 following the euphoria of that summer’s Ashes, and continued two winters ago with the 5-0 whitewash that followed straight on from England’s successful home campaign against Australia in 2013.However, he believes that the current England team is at a different stage of its development to previous outfits, and credits Andrew Strauss, the team director, with instilling a new ethic that will help them to retain their focus throughout a tough winter that also includes a Test series against South Africa in December and January.”I think when Straussy came into the job, he had a long-term vision,” said Broad. “Obviously we had a huge goal to win the Ashes this summer but it’s further than that. We want to be a team that the fans enjoy watching, our style of cricket has changed, we are playing a style that people will want to tune in and watch and come to the ground and see.”We want a style of play that will take us a long way with the fans but also get us to the top of the world, and I think we are developing that. Obviously our inconsistencies have been well documented – win, lose, win, lose – but that keeps you on your toes and makes you want to improve when you are training.””There’s a huge goal this winter,” he added. “I’ve not been involved in a Test series win against South Africa, and we got beaten heavily in the UAE last time. There are a lot of goals and a lot of motivation for a lot of success this winter, and when you have a young squad and guys who are desperate to succeed, you can take the team a long way.”Broad, who was not involved in the one-day series against Australia, has been enjoying a rare period of down-time since the Ashes, with a chance to reflect on a remarkable summer in which England’s success was closely linked to his personal achievement. His 21 wickets at 20.90 enabled him to become only the fifth England bowler to claim 300 in Tests.”It was extra special because we weren’t expected to win,” said Broad. “Australia came into the series with such form and dominated the World Cup. If you read all the newspapers and saw all the predictions before it started it was Australia, Australia, Australia.”It was a whole team effort, a group of guys who threw themselves in the series. That’s why it felt so special. We have an end goal to be the best in the world in Test match cricket. That might be a few years away but we know we have the talent in changing room to reach that.”

ScorecardA day after he was included in the Test squad for the tour of Australia as a replacement for the injured Corey Anderson, allrounder Mitchell Santner blitzed an unbeaten 70 off 43 balls to set up a match-winning total for New Zealand A against Sri Lanka A at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval. After Santner led his team to 299, the New Zealand A attack routed the visitors in 25.4 overs to sweep the series 4-0 with a 172-run victory.New Zealand A made a rapid start after choosing to bat, their openers adding 76 in ten overs, when Michael Pollard was out for 32 off 30 balls. They then lost wickets before they could get a sizeable partnership going and their position had eroded to 168 for 4 in the 32nd over. That was when Santner began his game-changing innings, smashing five fours and four sixes. He added 98 with Henry Nicholls, and then put on 33 off 11 balls with Tom Blundell, who made 18 off 9.Sri Lanka A were never in the chase. Danushka Gunathilaka was the top-scorer with 39, and Ashan Priyanjan was the only other batsman to make it past 20. Neil Wagner, Matthew Quinn and Jacob Duffy took two wickets each to dismiss the visitors for 127.

They have had a tough time on this tour but Kenya has finally won agame. In an all- African clash they defeated Namibia by 54 runs at theBOI ground in Negombo. It wasn’t all plain sailing though for theKenyans, who had let the Namibians back into the game after reducingthem to 74-6.Kenya who batted first after their captain, Muhamad Sheikh, won thetoss for only the second time in this tournament, were all out for 220and then bowled out the Namibian’s for 166.Despite scoring their highest score of the tournament, the Kenyanswill have still been disappointed with the score. A good battingpitch, a fast outfield and some pretty ordinary bowling by theNamibians should have resulted n a final total in excess of250. However, as they have throughout the tournament, some of the mainbatsmen were guilty of throwing their wickets away cheaply.Anitkumar Bhudia (30) started the innings well for the Kenyans and inpartnership with Shiekh (26) had taken the score to 64-1. When Sheikhthen threw his prized wicket away with a lazy drive at a wide ballfrom Ludick Kenya began a now familiar collapse.Reduced to 106-5 it looked as if the Kenyan’s were in for anotherdepressing day. However Collins Omondi (42) and the young MauriceOuma (44) rescued the innings with some sensible batting. Althoughguilty of not putting all the bad balls away they both milked thespinners well in a stand of 91. When they were dismissed the Kenyaninnings went into a spectacular free-fall and were bowled out for 220.In reply the Namibians started confidently and appeared to berelatively untroubled by the Kenyan bowlers. However the replacementof Vijay Kalyan with the medium pace of Bhudia in the seventh over gotKenya the breakthrough, albeit in a rather unexpected way with totalconfusion breaking down into a victorious sprint by Bhudia to thevacant batsmen’s end. Swanepoel (12) immediately followed hisopening partner when he was caught behind off the same bowler.In direct contrast to the indifferent body language that the Kenyansthat have displayed throughout most of this tournament, they were nowbuzzing. Sensing victory, they vocally goaded one another on. Everygood delivery was greeted with excited clapping and shouts ofencouragement as Namibia collapsed to 74-6.However the Kenyans relaxed and expected the Namibians to give inmeekly. They had underestimated the talents of Pieter Burger (69). Atall batsman, who strokes the ball in a relaxed fashion and with goodbalance, played himself in and then started to attack the Kenyanbowling.The fielders became very quiet as Burger carried his team to within 60runs of the Kenyan total. A good piece of fielding on the third manboundary by Halai dismissed his partner, Tobie Verwey (14).The dismissal marked the end for the Namibian’s as the final fourwickets fell for just five runs.

Cardiff University upset the formbook with an impressive four wicket win in the St Helens lions den that has seen so many memorable Varsity occasions. With about 2,000 less supporters to contend with, the probing medium pace of the Cardiff bowlers proved to be the right ingredients for the slow track.Whilst the Swansea batsmen could reasonably point out that they got themselves in, the scorebook also points out that they got themselves out. The regular fal of wickets was only arrested by the efforts of Jennings and Smith who’s 41 run partnership provided the platform for a late over assault. Alas Peter Talbot had other ideas as his 4-15 spell finished off the good work started by Gosling 2-28 and Weeks 2-19.To underline the impression that this was not going to be an easy day for batting, Cardiff were soon reduced to 4-2, as Adam Davies ripped through Talbot’s defences with one that nipped back and Heyes won an lbw against a distraught Petheridge. Mike Horwell and Nils Jorgensen transformed the game with a 72 run partnership that not only saw off Swansea’s spearheads but also exposed the lack of penetration from the rest.With Horwell grinding away and picking off the spinners when roused, the desperate re-introduction of Heyes and Davies not only arrested the scoring rate, but suddenly starting eating into the wickets total. Suddenly at 128-6, the panic bells rang, but two fours in quick succession from McCullough and Harris eased the jitters.