Matt Turner admitted that the USMNT could have done "some things" better during their Copa America victory against Bolivia.
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After falling by the wayside last season and missing out on this year's edition of the Champions League, Liverpool supporters would be forgiven for a sense of consternation, but worries have been blown away.
Indeed, Liverpool top the Premier League table after 20 matches and look reborn after wholesale changes were made to the midfield during the summer transfer window.
All confirmed Premier League done deals: January transfer window 2024
With the January transfer window coming towards its conclusion, FFC has all the info for tracking your club’s winter transfer activity.
By
Luke Randall
Feb 1, 2024
Jurgen Klopp's side will likely use the January transfer window to strengthen, and while the backline should receive priority following Joel Matip's season-ending ACL injury last month, reinforcements could be targetted across the pitch.
Mohamed Salah, for example, is now absent for around a month as he heads off to the African Cup of Nations, and with this in mind, Liverpool are monitoring an exciting talent on the right flank.
Transfer insider Rudy Galetti reported last month that Liverpool are interested in a move for PSV Eindhoven winger Johan Bakayoko, with the journalist revealing that the 20-year-old is "strongly appreciated" by the Anfield side.
Tottenham Hotspur are also credited with an interest, with Brentford failing with a £34m approach to sign the prodigy in the summer too, but Klopp will be confident in securing the player if he chooses to advance Liverpool's interest.
While Spurs are eyeing a new winger this month, it doesn't feel likely that the Eredivisie leaders would sanction his sale at the season's midpoint.
Most effective down the right channel, Bakayoko is a pacy and direct winger with bundles of creativity to supercharge his teammates as they search for goals.
Described as an "essential piece of this magnificent PSV team" – who has incredibly won all 16 league games this term – Bakayoko has cemented a spot as a starring member after breaking into the senior set-up during the 2022/23 campaign, scoring five goals and supplying five assists from 17 starts in the Eredivisie.
Also praised for his "electric" style, the nine-cap Belgium international has averaged 2.7 key passes and 3.3 dribbles per game this year, as per Sofascore, supplying 13 assists across all competitions.
Well, Bakayoko has been described as having "elements of Luis Diaz" in his game by journalist Jack Collins, and it's clear to see why such a correlation in style could be made.
|
Luis Diaz: Premier League 21/22 vs 23/24 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stat (per game) |
21/22 |
23/24 |
|
Matches played |
13 |
19 |
|
Goals |
4 |
3 |
|
Assists |
3 |
1 |
|
G/A Rate |
0.54 |
0.21 |
|
Touches |
51 |
35 |
|
Key passes |
1.5 |
1.2 |
|
Pass completion |
88% |
82% |
|
Dribble success |
2.4 (63%) |
1.4 (51%) |
|
*Sourced via Sofascore |
||
As the table delineates, it's pretty stark, with Diaz underperforming across nearly every metric this season; while he's clearly been affected by last season's knee injury and the off-field personal struggles last autumn, Klopp will be desperate to see improvements over the coming weeks.
It's only natural that these issues would hamper the Colombian's form, but there will come a point where he must rekindle his verve and prove himself as a starring member of a Liverpool side chasing silver-laden success across multiple fronts.
With the talismanic Salah's departure to play at the African Cup of Nations with Egypt – which will likely rule him out until February – now upon the Anfield side, Diaz's return to first-rate form is paramount to ensure the Reds continue to set the pacer in the Premier League title challenge.
This said, Diaz remains a wonderful, fleet-footed winger with a penetrative style that has established him as one of the best in his position across Europe, and if Liverpool could get their hands on an ace of similar qualities it would only bode well for the chances of success over the coming years.
As per FBref, Bakayoko ranks among the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers across divisions similar to the Dutch Eredivisie over the past year for assists, the top 5% for shot-creating actions, the top 1% for progressive carries and the top 2% for successful take-ons per 90.
With a clear prowess within his for ball-carrying and creativity, Diaz's profile could be emulated on the red half of Merseyside, with the Liverpool star called a "livewire" by journalist Peter Hall, which captures the essence of his performance – at its apex – succinctly.
Of course, Bakayoko plies his trade on the right, the alternate flank to Diaz, and thus could not really be considered a replacement; instead, perhaps the starlet could be the long-term successor to Salah's place in the frontline.
To be honest, replacing Salah, aged 31, has got to be one of the most daunting tasks of Klopp's reign on Merseyside, but whenever he does depart the club, it is a problem that will need a solution.
Signing from AS Roma for £34m in 2017, the Egyptian has been the imperious focal point to spearhead the club's feats, plundering 204 goals and 88 assists over 332 fixtures.
For the current campaign, just the 18 goals and nine assists from 27 outings to turbo-power Liverpool's pursuit of the Premier League trophy, business as usual.
Bakayoko, it would seem, doesn't offer the same innate predatory instinct but that should by no means be a deterrent; the youngster is certainly not averse to scoring goals and this could be nurtured over the coming years, all the while maintaining the world-class potential in his playmaking ability.
Given that replacing Salah's goals on the wing directly is a near-impossible task, perhaps it would be wise to tweak the system and let Bakayoko supplement the frontline for years to come – something that could perhaps be beneficial to striker Darwin Nunez, given the Uruguayan's connection to Salah.
Given the relative sparseness in depth on Liverpool's offensive right side, there's no reason why Salah and Bakayoko could not thrive in the same score of players, with the PSV star knowing that eventually, he will receive his opportunity to stake a claim for first choice.
يواصل مسؤولو نادي الزمالك سعيهم لانتقاء العناصر المميزة خلال فترة الانتقالات الصيفية الجارية من أجل تدعيم صفوف فريق الكرة الأول.
وعلم “بطولات” أن نادي الزمالك أنهى رسميًا اتفاقه مع اللاعب البولندي كونراد ميشالاك من أجل ضمه بداية من الموسم المقبل.
رئيس رابيد الروماني: صفقة بوبيندزا لم تكلفنا 800 ألف يورو
وحضر ميشالاك إلى مصر من أجل الخضوع للكشف الطبي والتوقيع علل عقود انضمامه للفريق لمدة موسم على سبيل الإعارة.
ووفقًا لمراسل “بطولات” فإن نادي الزمالك نجح في قيد اللاعب في قائمة السوبر الإفريقي التي تغلق اليوم.
وكان “بطولات” قد أشار في وقت سابق، أن اللاعب كونراد ميشالاك سيصل اليوم الخميس من أجل إتمام انتقاله للفريق الأبيض.
قد يصل الخميس.. الزمالك يضع الرتوش الأخيرة على صفقته الصيفية الخامسة
يذكر، أن الزمالك نجح في ضم 4 صفقات خلال الميركاتو الصيفي، وهم المغربي محمود بنتايج والفلسطيني عمر فرج، ومحمد حمدي الظهير الأيسر قادمًا من إنبي، وأخيرًا السنغالي سيدي ندياي لتدعيم الهجوم.
ويستعد الزمالك لمواجهة مرتقبة في كأس السوبر الإفريقي، أمام الغريم التقليدي الأهلي، وذلك يوم السابع والعشرين من سبتمبر الجاري.
ويخوض الزمالك مباراة السوبر باعتباره بطلًا للكونفدرالية، أمام الأهلي بطل دوري أبطال إفريقيا، على ملعب المملكة أرينا بالسعودية.
Wolverhampton Wanderers could be set to open their chequebook in January and journalist Dean Jones has been reacting after hearing one man could now potentially move to Molineux.
For long periods, the summer transfer window looked as if it would be an unfruitful one for Wolves as they battled with the harsh realities of Financial Fair Play restrictions, which, in turn, led to Julen Lopetegui leaving the building before subsequently being replaced by Gary O'Neil.
Nevertheless, a late flurry of activity meant that Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Santiago Bueno, Enso Gonzalez and Tommy Doyle joined Matheus Cunha, Tom King, Matt Doherty and Boubacar Traore in the West Midlands and their arrival has helped O'Neil to provide stability at Molineux.
Wolves player who isn't "good enough" highly likely to leave in January
The Old Gold are expected to sanction the sale of one of their out of favour stars in the coming weeks.
By
Chloe Chadwick
Dec 16, 2023
Sitting comfortably above the divisions' most prominent strugglers, Wolves have produced some impressive results this campaign, defeating the likes of Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and high-flying Everton; meanwhile, O'Neil's side have been unlucky not to take more points than they currently stand on.
Looking ahead, January could be a big month for the club after they evaded future Financial Fair Play restrictions by selling off £140 million worth of talent in the summer window, which may give Wolves some much-needed room for manoeuvre to bring in quality reinforcements.
One man who has been linked with a move to Molineux next month is Burnley midfielder Josh Brownhill, who the Old Gold are believed to be preparing a £7 million swoop for in January. Crystal Palace, Fulham and Leicester City are also keen on the Warrington-born ace, who is out of contract in the summer of 2024, though Burnley are expected to take up a 12-month extension clause present in his terms.
In light of Wolves' interest in Brownhill, journalist Jones has admitted that it "be a great signing" if reports claiming the 27-year-old could move to Molineux in January were true.
|
Josh Brownhill's key statistics – Premier League (Sofascore) |
|
|
Accurate passes per game |
29.4 (81%) |
|
Interceptions per game |
1.4 |
|
Tackles per game |
1.8 |
|
Clearances per game |
1.2 |
|
Scoring frequency |
413 minutes per goal |
|
Average match rating |
7.06/10 |
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the reporter stated: "Brownhill gets linked with many clubs and doesn't tend to move. So, I think that's the main reason that I'd have scepticism about it. I think he'd be a great signing in an O'Neil team. If he were to move on, I think this is the sort of thing he should consider. Off the top of my head, I think he might have even been looked at by O’Neil when he was at Bournemouth.
"So, it wouldn't surprise me if the links to Wolves were true. But we'll have to see whether the player’s got any desire for something like this to happen."
Brownhill has been a bright spark for Burnley this term in Vincent Kompany's engine room, registering three goals and one assist in 17 appearances across all competitions (Brownhill statistics – Transfermarkt).
If the Clarets' problems continue to deepen, Wolves may hope to put across a compelling case to Brownhill to move to the West Midlands as he weighs up his future at Turf Moor, making this one to watch.
A “celeb-fest” is being predicted when Wrexham face Birmingham in League One, with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney coming up against Tom Brady.
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Red Dragons promoted into third tierBlues dropped out of the ChampionshipPotential for famous faces in the standsWHAT HAPPENED?
The Red Dragons and Blues have been heading in opposite directions of late, with promotion and relegation in 2023-24 ensuring that they will be competing in the same division next term. Wrexham are on the rise, having bounced up from the National League, while Birmingham are in the third tier for the first time in 30 years.
AdvertisementGetty/GOALTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Reynolds and McElhenney have made a point of attending Wrexham matches on a regular basis, often bringing famous friends along with them, while NFL legend Brady can occasionally be spotted at St Andrew’s. There is the potential for them to go head-to-head in the executive box during the 2024-25 campaign.
WHAT GOULDING SAID
Chris Goulding of the podcast can see that happening, telling of Brady’s involvement as an investor and chairman of the advisory board in the West Midlands: “The shares really feel like just a token. His friendship with Tom Wagner seems more like the reason for his involvement. Whether his sporting prestige can have any meaningful adaptation remains to be seen. I’m not sure he’ll be making too many visits to the club next season when we’re hosting the likes of Cambridge and Exeter, but you have to wonder if the visit of Wrexham might be a celeb-fest.”
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Wrexham and Birmingham will discover when their paths are due to cross when the EFL fixtures for next season are released on June 26. Both sides are being tipped to go well in League One, with promotion to the Championship very much in their thoughts.
Troy Cooley will step into the role for the series against India and Pakistan before a new appointment is made for the World Cup and Ashes
Daniel Brettig06-Feb-2019Tensions within the Australian team have been laid bare by the assistant coach David Saker’s decision to resign his post effective immediately, leaving the head coach Justin Langer and interim team performance chief Belinda Clark to search for a new pace-bowling coach a matter of months from the World Cup and the Ashes.Troy Cooley, the National Cricket Centre coach and former England and Australia bowling coach, will fill the role on an interim basis for the limited overs tours of India and the UAE against Pakistan that will serve as preparation for the World Cup, leaving open the question of who will best slot into the Langer regime after a season in which the head coach has, by his own admission, learned a great deal about the pressured realities of the jobSaker, who had been part of the Australian set-up since 2016, had stayed on alongside Graeme Hick and Brad Haddin as assistant coaches in the wake of Darren Lehmann’s resignation following the Newlands ball tampering scandal. After initial indications that Langer may choose his own support team the trio stayed on throughout the home summer, either side of the chief executive Kevin Roberts’ decision to remove the head of team performance Pat Howard, who had hired Lehmann, Saker, Haddin, Hick and Langer in the first place.However, it has not always been a happy marriage, in particular during the Sydney Test when Australia’s pace bowlers and the captain Tim Paine had an on-field disagreement as to how to bowl to India on the first morning. Langer was unhappy with this state of affairs, leaving Saker to deliver an out-of-character spray to Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins before saying publicly that he had done so.Later, during the final Test of the summer against Sri Lanka in Canberra, Starc made it plain that he was now following the instructions of the New South Wales bowling coach Andre Adams rather than Saker, and Langer said Saker had indicated his intention to resign the day after the series ended, though he is believed to have made his unhappiness known for some months.”[There were] numerous reasons. We shook hands and had a hug the day after the Test match and just realised,” Langer said in Perth. “He’s got a young family, he’s been on this circuit for some time now and we just realised it was the right time for him to step away. Starting to realise it is very hectic that and just the right time with the World Cup and the Ashes you’ve got to have your heart 100% in it, if it’s not it’s too hard a business, so we shook hands, had a hug and now we’ll find the next replacement for him.”He and I have had a lot of conversations over the last six to nine months so it’s not really a surprise to be honest. In a perfect world it would be cleaner, but the world’s not always clean and works exactly how you want it to work. We’ll look at this for the World Cup and the Ashes and then beyond. We’ve got to get the right person, whether a selector or coach or whoever comes into the team. It’s going to be quite an exciting time.”Saker’s unvarnished views about the way things had played out on the opening day in Sydney included the strong intimation that Langer had been equally unhappy with the bowlers’ work. “I think the bowlers wanted one thing, Tim wanted one thing,” Saker told . “That’s not been the case as the general rule but when you were watching from the sideline you could see there was some confusion.”Last night we talked quite heavily about the day, more because we thought it was a really disappointing day and we just wanted to get our point across. Some of it was quite aggressive and that’s not like me usually. I was quite animated, and I know I was not the only one. JL wasn’t happy. The bowlers know that.”Starc, meanwhile, had gone through a season of struggle where he had worked at length with Saker on trying to get the ball swinging as consistently as possible, before breaking away from that approach to concentrate simply on bowling as fast as possible. “Before the Sri Lanka series, I had a really nice session with Andre Adams who is at New South Wales,” Starc said. “And talking to a few people quite close to me who I have worked with over recent years.”Putting the rest of the coaching and the other 450 coaches I’ve had over the past three weeks to the side and going back to know what I know best. I am my own best coach and I know what’s best for me. I’ve done a bit of work throughout the year with Andre at and it was great to talk to him about getting that feeling back.”Langer said that the complexities of his job were becoming clearer to him by the day. “There’s great scrutiny and after being in the business so long, if I’ve felt it a bit at times this summer I can only imagine what the younger players feel,” he said. “It’s not just teaching them about the skills of the game but also how to deal with the distractions is a really big part of it.”They’ve always been there and I think that the great players and the champions of the game learn to deal with distractions but I’m getting smarter and wiser by the day I reckon. We’ve got to keep trusting our instincts, trusting our experience, in a lot of cases we’ve got a lot more experience and understanding of what’s going on than I’d say 99.9% of the population.”I’ve been living it for 25 years, probably longer, Greg Chappell and Trevor Hohns have been living it for a very long time and we live it every single day, so there’s lots of different opinions, that’s okay, but if I was swayed by all those opinions I’d probably go crazy.”
Pakistan fought back after being bowled out for 181, reducing South Africa to 127 for 5 at stumps
The Report by Liam Brickhill26-Dec-2018The Boxing Day Test match moved rapidly forward on a frenetic first day in Centurion, South Africa and Pakistan’s seam attacks trading blows on a surface that offered encouragement for the quicks. After the early celebrations for Dale Steyn’s ascent to the top of South Africa’s Test bowling records, Duanne Olivier starred with a career-best 6 for 37 and Babar Azam’s fluent 71 in his first innings on South African soil was the only innings of substance as the visitors folded for 181.Whatever advantage South Africa had gained with the ball was swiftly put in perspective when Pakistan’s bowlers cut a swathe through the top order. A 69-run stand between Theunis de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma repaired the innings somewhat, but a deficit of 54 remained when stumps were called with the match in the balance.The hype on Wednesday morning had been focused around Steyn’s attempt at surpassing Shaun Pollock’s 421 Test dismissals – one that has been drawn out over the past year as Steyn fought his way back to full fitness. But once the game was under way, the wait wasn’t long and with his 19th delivery Steyn found the outside edge of Fakhar Zaman’s bat to move to 422 and break a record that has stood for a decade.Steyn’s emotion at the milestone was clearly evident. There were no crazy eyes, and no chainsaw celebration, but he was embraced by his team-mates and raised aloft by Kagiso Rabada as Tina Turner’s was belted out over the ground’s PA system. As he had promised, Steyn didn’t waste too much time settling and getting back to his mark to focus on taking the next wicket. He didn’t get another, but Olivier’s efforts rattled Pakistan thereafter.ALSO READ: Duanne Olivier, South Africa’s ‘other bowler’ who stole the showOlivier came on as the change bowler after the first hour and soon struck in consecutive overs to start Pakistan’s wobble. His first dismissal was fortuitous, the ball ricocheting off Shan Masood’s thigh pad and then glove and onto the stumps, but there was nothing lucky about the in-dipper that trapped Asad Shafiq in front of his stumps in Olivier’s next over.After lunch, Olivier dug one in at Azhar Ali to force a skewed edge that de Bruyn snaffled brilliantly, diving to his right from third slip, and half the visiting line-up was back in the change-room with just 86 on the board. Sarfraz Ahmed could not last the first over he faced, poking tentatively at a back-of-a-length delivery from Olivier to send an inside edge onto his stumps, and Mohammad Amir was given a thorough working-over before Olivier slipped a full one through his defences to collect his fifth.Olivier’s speeds matched those of his illustrious team-mates throughout: he operated consistently in the 140s and bowled as fast as 146kph as he vexed the tail, Amir being struck a stinging blow that immediately brought up a purple bruise on the little finger of his right hand before he had his stumps disturbed.Pakistan were seven down before reaching 100 yet on the board when Amir fell, but vitally Babar was still at the crease and he rose to the situation to shepherd what remained of the tail. Babar was the only visiting batsman to play the pull with any authority, and also took Steyn on in thrilling fashion in the afternoon.Babar’s riposte to Steyn’s return to the attack for a third spell in the 39th over was a flurry of attacking strokes that mixed venomous intent with a silken touch. Babar generally kept the ball along the turf with controlled aggression, but there was remarkable freedom in his strokeplay as he spanked Steyn out of the attack with 10 fours in four overs.Mohammad Amir celebrates•AFPInvigorated by the battle with an increasingly wide-eyed Steyn, Babar raced to a 58-ball fifty, surviving a desperate review for caught behind when the ball had only flicked his trouser pocket. After Steyn had been removed from the attack, it was Rabada who finally got the better of Babar, a rare poor shot resulting in an edge to Faf du Plessis at first slip. Hasan Ali swung gamely for his 21 not out, but Shaheen Afridi feathered an edge to give Olivier his sixth wicket and bring the innings to an end.At that point, it was advantage South Africa, but a touch of variable bounce as early as the second session would not have escaped the attention of Pakistan’s bowlers and Hasan and Amir bristled in their new-ball spells. Hasan nipped one off the seam to trap Aiden Markram in front in the sixth over after tea, but it was the combination of Amir and Afridi that pressed the game forward.Amir’s return for a second burst brought immediate reward, the ball flying off the leading edge of Hashim Amla’s bat to be caught by Babar at gully. Afridi then found the edge of Dean Elgar’s bat even as he tried to shoulder arms, and with his very next delivery got one to spit off a length, taking the shoulder of du Plessis’ bat as the South African captain fell for a golden duck.South Africa were in serious strife at 43 for 4, and Bavuma and de Bruyn had to contend with a cauldron of pressure in the middle. They responded in fine style, gritting out the early exchanges before the runs started to come and the pressure eased. Their concentration was unfazed by a short stoppage for a passing shower, and de Bruyn greeted Yasir Shah’s introduction with a pull for six when the legspinner dropped short.Bavuma added back-to-back fours of his own off Yasir, the second of which brought up the fifty stand, and then shimmied down the track, slapping a drive through cover to bring up the team’s 100. Yasir leaked 24 from his first four overs, and Sarfraz once again turned to Amir in fading afternoon light.He broke through once again almost straightaway, catching de Bruyn in two minds at the crease to find the edge, and parity was restored once more with South Africa’s innings in the balance at 112 for 5. The focus returned to Steyn, now with bat in hand after being shunted ahead of Quinton de Kock as nightwatchman. He sliced two streaky boundaries, but survived to fight another day alongside Bavuma, who was unbeaten on 38.
The new book Ground Rules contains in-depth chapters on the great cricket grounds of the world
12-Nov-2018The new book Ground Rules contains in-depth chapters on the great cricket grounds of the world. In this exclusive excerpt Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper, looks at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo, the venue for the final Test against Australia on March 24:
Kumar Sangakkara: “The SSC has been good to me”
© Getty Images
England has Lord’s, Australia has the MCG, and Sri Lanka has the Sinhalese Sports Club, the SSC. The history is not as long, and the names that figure in the annals of the ground’s history are fewer – but for Sri Lankans, the SSC is the home of cricket.It is where the game was nurtured, through schools matches and through club games, and, although it cannot claim to be the first Test ground in Sri Lanka, it can claim seniority by dint of having staged more Tests than any other.My own association with the ground began as an 18-year-old when I turned up to play for Kandy against Colombo in the Under-19 district final. Apart from a few friends and some loyal family members, the ground was pretty deserted, but it was still impressive. To walk out to the middle was to imagine what it would be like to play in a Test match there; to take strike was to imagine how it would feel to make a hundred. Since that day, I have been fortunate enough to play Test cricket at the SSC and I did indeed make a Test hundred there.The cricket history of the stadium goes back over a century to the days when Sri Lanka was Ceylon. In 1899 a cricket match between a Combined Schools XI, drawn from three schools – Royal, St Thomas’s and Wesley – belonging exclusively to the majority Sinhala community of Ceylon, and Colts CC, a leading club, resulted in an unexpected one-run win in the first innings for the Schools. This single-run victory created a sensation, as school cricket was the centre of attraction at the time, and it was to remain so for the entire pre-Test era, with newspapers constantly carrying lavish praise of schoolboy achievements.The Sinhalese Sports Club was established in 1899 and, in 1900, acquired the lease on land at Victoria Park, comprising sandy soil covered with cinnamon trees. The club was not short of development funds as it began to be patronised by the wealthiest of the Sinhalese, and the club duly unveiled its first turf wicket in 1917. Club membership was limited to Sinhalese men and, as in all Ceylonese clubs, the members imitated the British in every way from their mode of dress to the grammatical correctness – with a bit of slang thrown in – of their spoken English. They organised regular ballroom dancing, drank scotch and took great pride in their secondary education at leading Anglican missionary schools. They were also most particular in their use of fork and spoon instead of the fingers when eating the staple rice and curry. Arjuna Ranatunga, a man from a typical Sinhala background who went on to captain Sri Lanka in 56 Tests, once remarked in a television interview how uncomfortable he felt at the start of his career with the alien table manners of the SSC.Originally, half-a-dozen workers attended to the duties at the ground. The numbers have now trebled, with much more care being taken to maintain the playing areas to international standards. The lawns and flowerbeds are manicured to give the premises the look of quality. Ranil Abeynaike, the club’s curator, tells a story about the inherent dangers for the groundstaff: “The eastern side of the field was once not used for cricket and was neglected. It was a breeding place for the creeping, crawling and flying types, from vicious vipers to cobras, water monitors, iguanas and tortoises and many species of birds. There was only one incident of a human being falling victim to these creatures – a labourer sitting on a curled-up viper.”And you wonder why I became a wicketkeeper.On February 17, 1982, Test cricket came to Sri Lanka. It was the dawn of an exciting new era and, after a slow start with just two Tests played there in the first six years, the SSC has emerged as the leading ground on the island. In its relatively short history, it has certainly staged some memorable matches. Some of them Sri Lanka won; others we lost. One of our victories, against Bangladesh in the Asian Test Championship in September 2001, gave the SSC a special place in the history books, as the Bangladeshi batsman Mohammad Ashraful became the youngest man to score a Test hundred – perhaps that should be boy, because he was one day short of his 17th birthday when he made his 114.One of the defeats, however, came in August 1992, in a match that might be said to have changed the course of cricket history. Sri Lanka dominated the game, bowling Australia out for 256 and then piling up a massive 547 for 8 dec. There were hundreds for Ranatunga, Asanka Gurusinha and Romesh Kaluwitharana. The Australians batted better in their second innings, with everyone getting into double figures, but the target for Sri Lanka was only 181. The pitch was taking spin, but it was still very gettable.At 127 for 2, Sri Lanka looked home and dry. Then Aravinda de Silva fell to Craig McDermott for 37, Ranatunga followed soon after, and panic set in with wickets tumbling at regular intervals. Only Gurusinha held firm but he could do nothing when Allan Border tossed the ball to a chunky bleach-blond legspinner. Having been caned all around the SSC in the first innings for a return of 0 for 107 in 22 overs, Shane Warne responded by taking the last three wickets for no runs in just 13 balls. Australia won by 16 runs, and the Warne legend was born.Sri Lanka beat England in a one-off Test there in 1992-93, but we had a less happy experience when England came back in 2000-01. This time Graham Thorpe made 113 and we slipped to 81 all out in our second innings. England needed just 74 to win, but we almost did an Australia on them, as we took six wickets before Thorpe took them over the winning line. Maybe if we had had another 30 runs we would have won that one too.Since that game the SSC has been good to us, as we have won five in a row there, three of them by an innings. Muttiah Muralitharan has had a lot to do with this success. He is easily the highest wicket-taker at the ground, and has taken five wickets in an innings seven times, with a best of 8 for 87 against India. With Murali, however, it is not just that he takes so many wickets; it’s the aura that he brings with him to the team. We know going into a Test that the opposition are scared of him; many of the world’s top batsmen do not have a clue how to play him. It seems to be only the left-handers who get to grips with him. Thorpe is one example, but Andy Flower and Brian Lara are others who have tamed him at the SSC.As a Tamil within Sri Lanka he is also a unifying force, doing more for the peace process than any politician ever will. When Murali bowls, he bowls for the whole of Sri Lanka, and people from every corner of society, never mind their political beliefs, are behind him. As for questions about his action, I have no doubt that he is absolutely legal. To me he is a clean bowler and a great one. With all due respect to Warne, I believe Murali is the greatest spinner in the world. His figures speak for themselves, but they are doubly impressive when you consider that he has not had the back-up firepower that Warne has had with Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and so on.Another bowler who has enjoyed himself at the SSC is Chaminda Vaas, a much-underrated left-arm swing bowler, who earned a place in the history books with 14 for 191 in our ten-wicket defeat of West Indies in 2001-02.
There is also a special leatherbound edition of Ground Rules
On a personal note, the SSC has been good to me. My first Test there was against South Africa in 2000. It happened to coincide with Ranatunga’s last Test, so it was a very special occasion. I did not make many runs, but after batting at No. 6 in the first two Tests, I was promoted to No. 3 in the second innings. It was the real start of my run in the team. And yet, amid all that, my abiding memory will be of Arjuna tucking into pork chops for his lunch. Usually we had rice, lentils or salad for our lunch, but Arjuna had requested pork chops and Chinese food and, because it was his final Test, the team physio, Alex Kountouri, complied. I don’t think I ever saw Arjuna quite so happy.Having achieved one schoolboy ambition by playing for Sri Lanka, I was fortunate enough to fulfil another when, on December 28, 2001, I completed my first and, as I write, only Test century at the SSC. It came at the expense of Zimbabwe, and the best thing about it was that it led to an innings victory and ultimately a 3-0 series win. I made 128 and loved every moment of it. Sometimes, as a batsman, you have days when you know it is going to be your day and this was one of those, as I dropped into a rhythm right from the start. Conditions were perfect; the outfield was like glass. When I reached three figures I did not really take in the achievement. I was too involved in the game at hand and going on to make enough runs to put Zimbabwe under pressure. It was only when I was back in the pavilion, and then when the game was over and I was able to have a few days away from the cricket, that I was able to digest it.I thought about this game and my part in it and then began to think about some of the others who have made Test hundreds at the SSC. It made me realise how privileged I am to have been a small part in the wonderful jigsaw that makes up the history of this great ground.Ground Rules, which also includes chapters by Steve Waugh, Sourav Ganguly, Andy Flower and Christopher Martin-Jenkins, is published by Dakini Books. To order a copy click here.SPECIAL OFFER There is also a limited number of leatherbound copies available, signed by Steve Waugh. Click here for details.
Even with the long-awaited Test championship now taking some sort of shape, there continues to be doubt around the future of five-day cricket. With a T20 league happening virtually every month of the year, with franchises willing to pay obscene sums for all-round talent, the fears of players choosing club over country are no longer rooted in a subterranean reality. West Indies perhaps struggle with this the most, but their captain Jason Holder has seen positive signs from the next generation.”Just a couple of days ago, we were sitting down in the dressing room to chat as part of a group. For me personally, it is a thing of joy and pride to play Test cricket,” Holder said at the pre-match press conference in Rajkot.”Of all three formats, Test is my favourite format and it was shocking for me but it was really good to see most if not everyone saying the same thing. And in recent chats as well around the CPL and even prior to the CPL, the amount of young players who are eager to play Test cricket is remarkable.”There’s been a craze that Test cricket is dead around the world but if you have young players coming through such as the ones in the Caribbean who are really looking forward and really want to play a Test match for West Indies, if that goes around the world, I’m sure Test cricket will be here for a very very long time. Personally again, it’s the best format. It’s a test of character and to be successful on this stage, it says a lot of your character and it says a lot about yourself as a person.”That desire will be useful as West Indies, ranked ranked No. 8, take on India, who are at the top of the table and are experts at winning at home. Holder felt there were ways to bridge that gap and has high hopes of his team doing so, if they followed a few simple steps.”All our batters have to have a gameplan and know how you’re looking to score, and how you’re looking to make runs against this quality attack in their own backyard. One of the things I spoke about is patience. We’ve got to be patient but not only that, we have to capitalise on any loose delivery or any opportunity to score. I think looking to score is evident and should be one of our main gameplans. Whenever you play any game of cricket, you have to be positive and get runs on the board. Not being reckless but you’ve got to have a clear gameplan about how you’ll go about facing the Indian attack.”West Indies come to India on the back of a successful home season – they beat Bangladesh 2-0 and drew with Sri Lanka 1-1 – but the last time they won a series here was in 1983. Holder stressed that the their biggest focus was on playing good cricket – “because that is the only thing in our control” – but he did put the onus on his batting line-up to do what needs to done.And in that sense the likes of Kraigg Brathwaite, who is among the top five run-getting openers in the last two years, Shai Hope, who helped pull off one of West Indies’ greatest ever Test wins last year at Headingley, and Roston Chase, who defied India in 2016 and almost did the same to Pakistan last year, become crucial.”These are the guys we’ll be looking to carry our batting,” Holder said. “Guys like Kraigg Brathwaite who’s been around for a long time and has had success as well and I’m sure Roston and Shai, they’ve probably had an up-and-down period the last couple of months, but they’ll be looking to turn things around. We’ll lean on them and myself and Shane Dowrich, who’s been doing well too, to get us through.”Only five members of the West Indies squad have played Test cricket in India – Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach and Devendra Bishoo and one of them is out of contention for Rajkot. But Holder felt there was a way to overcome that disadvantage.”I’m sure many of the guys have had random conversations with players who’ve toured here before. Not only past West Indian players but players around the world in general. The luxury we have is that we’ve just had the CPL which obviously has international players. From the Barbados Tridents team we had Steven Smith and I’m sure at some point the players leaned on them for some guidance and expertise on how to be successful playing in Indian conditions. It’s about sharing as much information as possible. We obviously watch a lot of footage in this day and age as well and it’s just about about picking the bits and pieces that we require to make a complete gameplan.”