All posts by h716a5.icu

Leeds United are still searching for their next manager to lead the squad in their Championship campaign next season, and it has been reported that the search will enter its final stages this week ahead of making a decision.

The Whites parted company with their third-appointed manager of the season Sam Allardyce after suffering relegation from the Premier League last month and will be looking for the perfect manager to achieve automatic promotion over the 46-game campaign next season.

Former Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers was one of the hottest prospects for Leeds and had been heavily speculated with a move to Elland Road, however, on Sunday evening it was confirmed that the 50-year-old coach will return to Scotland where he will reunite with Celtic upon agreeing a deal.

As a result, that ship has sailed for the 49ers, and now they must focus on other candidates who can provide the experience needed, improve the performances and boost the confidence of the Leeds squad, with a number of options still available on their short-list.

One coach who has been touted with a move to West Yorkshire and, like Rodgers, is Premier League proven is former Brighton and Hove Albion coach Graham Potter, who was sacked by Chelsea at the beginning of April.

Would Graham Potter be a good fit for Leeds?

There is no doubt that Potter is one of the most respected English managers in the game right now as his work at Brighton in developing the club into a Premier League established side is widely recognised.

Over his 143 fixtures in charge, the 46-year-old coach – hailed a "genius" by journalist Sam Morton – tallied up 43 victories and 43 draws, accumulating 172 points during his time on the south coast, which is an impressive achievement.

Even more impressive is Potter's ability to get the very best out of young and upcoming talent, playing an important role in the development of Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister, Marc Cucurella, Leandro Trossard, Adam Webster and Tariq Lamptey – with all but Mac Allister being signed during Potter's reign.

As a result, the Englishman could be the perfect coach to polish and get the very best from the budding talent at Elland Road with the club boasting a number of exciting young players including Wilfried Gnonto, Joe Gelhardt, Crysencio Summerville and Tyler Adams.

With that being said, it would be a no-brainer to appoint Potter if the opportunity presents itself this summer as his experience would not only improve Leeds' chances of promotion but could seriously improve the young prospects at the club with a bright future ahead of them.

Australia will wait until the morning of the Test in Hobart before deciding who to choose between Mitchell Marsh and Callum Ferguson

Daniel Brettig in Hobart11-Nov-2016Mitchell Marsh’s immediate Test future hinges on the vagaries of Hobart’s weather, as a pressured Australia wait until match morning before naming their XI to face South Africa at Bellerive Oval.In a scenario that echoes the prelude to the fateful fourth Test of last year’s Ashes series at Trent Bridge, the selectors Rod Marsh and Darren Lehmann are waiting until the last possible moment to name their team, leaving the captain Steven Smith unable to announce his line-up, as is customary, on match eve.Marsh is likely to play as a fifth bowling option should Hobart’s weather forecast clear up and allow play on the first two days. However if the current prognostications hold true and rain blights Saturday and Sunday, Callum Ferguson will be set for a Test match debut as a sixth specialist batsman alongside four bowlers.”We’ll wait and see what happens in the morning with the weather,” Smith said. “You might not need to have that extra bowling option if there’s going to be lots of rain around and the bowlers are going to get some adequate rest with that. There’s possibilities that we could go in with six genuine batsmen but we’ll wait and see in the morning when we can have another look at the wicket and what the weather’s doing.”South Africa’s captain Faf du Plessis said any signs of Australia abandoning the balance provided by an allrounder was going to be helpful to the visitors, who have fought their own team balance battles in the wake of Jacques Kallis’ retirement.”Allrounders are fantastic to have in your team, we had Jacques Kallis playing for us for all those years and it just makes the balance of the side so much easier,” du Plessis said. “So I suppose they are looking at our team and what we are doing playing specialist batters and specialist bowlers, so it would also be nice to have an allrounder as well. So if they are changing it then that means that is a weapon that they do have in their team and if they change that, then that’s good for us.”Even if Marsh does play, it appears likely he will be demoted in the batting order to No. 7, swapping places with the wicketkeeper Peter Nevill. That change would grant Nevill the same commission he holds with New South Wales as a top six batsman, while also allowing Marsh to play with more freedom at seven. “Yeah it’s possible,” Smith said of that change. “It just depends on which XI we end up with for where guys will bat. We’ll wait and see with that one.”Smith admitted Australia’s confidence levels may have dipped over the course of four consecutive Test losses, the sort of sequence that has historically cost the job of the captain or the coach. “I guess it’s a tough one, we obviously haven’t played overly well in the last little while,” he said. “We’re finding ways to get ourselves in positions where we should be able to drive the game, but we’re not executing well enough in those moments to take the game away.”We’re getting in those positions, which is a positive, but we need to find a way to make sure we really nail a team when we get on top of them. We’re letting oppositions back into the game too easily. That’s one thing we’ve talked about here, if we get in front of the game – make sure we take the game away from them and don’t let them back in.”To that end, Smith said he was looking to see members of the team take the game on at critical times, mirroring the efforts of Kagiso Rabada, JP Duminy and Dean Elgar in Perth. “I think that’s something that Australia has done very well in Australia for a long period of time,” Smith said. “We’ve been able to score big first-innings runs and identify those moments when we can take the game away from an opposition, and we’ve been able to do that.”We just haven’t been doing it of late, that’s something we’ve got to turn around. We have to identify those moments first of all and then when we do that, we have to execute well enough to take the game away from the opposition. That’s one thing we really need to work on.”One intriguing element of this week has been the presence of Australia’s former batting coach Michael Di Venuto in Hobart. Despite a strong record and robust rapport with the players, Di Venuto quit earlier this year to become coach of Surrey after being reportedly declined a request for a pay rise from Cricket Australia. He was replaced by Graeme Hick, but Smith said Di Venuto had been taken back into the confidences of the batsmen this week.”It’s nice to have him back around the group for a week in his hometown,” Smith said. “He’s a magnificent batting coach and I know he’s really enjoying his time at Surrey at the moment as head coach. That’s fantastic for him. It’s nice to have had him around and have a little bit of a chat face to face about batting and what’s going on with all that.”A few of the boys have had some throws from him, which has been great. He’s an outstanding batting coach and it’s great to have had him around to work with this week and be able to talk some good stuff about batting.”

There is no hiding away from the disappointment of Chelsea's 2022/23 campaign as the club failed to qualify for any European competition next season.

Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard all had turns in charge of the Blues throughout the year but Todd Boehly's ruthless use of his axe did not yield results as the term ended in a 12th-placed finish in the Premier League.

Mauricio Pochettino has now been appointed as the new manager to lead the team forward and the Argentine coach now has a full summer transfer window to make any changes that he wants to make to his squad.

One player who must be replaced in the coming months is central midfielder N'Golo Kante, who is set to sign an £86m-per-season deal with Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ittihad upon the expiry of his contract at the end of June.

Who could replace N'Golo Kante at Chelsea?

Pochettino could land a dream long-term replacement for the Frenchman by striking a deal to sign the "exciting" – as he was hailed by journalist Dan George – Romeo Lavia from Southampton, who is a reported £50m-rated target for the Blues.

The Belgium international, who was once dubbed a“diamond” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, could be an excellent addition to the squad after his impressive first year in senior football with the south coast side, in spite of their relegation to the Championship.

He played 29 times in the top tier of English football and won 56% of his duels and completed 86% of his attempted passes, which shows that the midfielder was strong in his physical contests, despite being 19, and was a reliable passer for his side.

Meanwhile, the Chelsea ace completed 82% of his passes and won 59% of his battles for the Blues in the division, suggesting that there is a huge difference between the two when it comes to their efficiency in competing for the ball.

Over the last 365 days, Kante has averaged 3.57 tackles and interceptions per 90 in the Premier League and in European competitions. Lavia, meanwhile, has averaged 3.77 per 90 for the Saints in the top-flight, proving that both players are able to cut out opposition attacks multiple times each match.

They also both rank in the top 11% of players in Europe's top five leagues over the last 365 days for blocks made per 90. Indeed, they are both midfielders who track back and are willing to put their bodies on the line to prevent their goalkeeper from being called into action.

Therefore, Pochettino could land the perfect successor to Kante by signing Lavia.

He is 13 years younger than the Frenchman and it's clear that the Saints star is a talented teenager who has already shown immense promise in the Premier League as a holding midfield player.

Hearts head into a new era, with Steven Naismith being appointed as their new full-time manager until 2025, although he won’t be allowed to use that title just yet.

The Scot doesn’t have the required Pro Licence qualification to be able to manage in European competition, therefore Frankie McAvoy will have the title of head coach, with Naismith acting as the technical director, for now at least.

The former Scotland international will still be going about his business as usual, and he will be determined to build a squad which can secure a better finish than the fourth place they ended up last term, while qualifying for the Europa Conference League group stages for the second year in a row.

To do this, the 36-year-old will have to add some quality to his first team, and recently released Scott Arfield could be the ideal person to give the squad a boost according to former Hearts' winger Neil McCann.

He told BBC Sportscene (via Football Scotland): "I love Scott [Arfield]. I think he has been a magnificent servant coming up from Burnley. He wasn't at the starting point of his career. People might have said he was on the way down but I think he has performed brilliantly.

"He would be another super signing for someone like Hearts or Aberdeen maybe.”

Could Hearts sign Scott Arfield?

The 34-year-old admitted that he plans on playing until he is 40 and considering he made 43 appearances for the Rangers last term, registering ten goal contributions – nine goals and one assist – it certainly suggests he has plenty more to offer.

Indeed, with his relentless work rate and ability to score the occasional goal, the £10k-per-week midfielder could be perfect slotting in behind Lawrence Shankland during the 2023/24 campaign.

Arfield created two big chances and made 0.5 key passes per game for the Ibrox side last term, yet he averaged just 34 minutes a game, starting only seven league matches and there is no doubt these numbers would have been better had he played more.

Shankland was Hearts' top scorer with 24 goals, while also ranking first in the squad for overall Sofascore rating (7.11/10), shots on target per game (1.4) and scoring frequency (a goal every 127 minutes), pushing the club into the European places with his impressive strike rate.

Journalist Jordan Campbell lavished praise on the Canadian following his cameo against Hearts last November, saying: “Scott Arfield has added a lot of personality to the team since coming on. Cajoling teammates, pressing with intensity, trying to link things.”

If he could bring these qualities to the Jambos next season, he and Shankland would link up well.

Indeed, Arfield would be at ease doing the legwork while giving the 27-year-old plenty of ammunition to repeat his goal-scoring antics from recent years.

As such, the 5 foot 10 gem could be a shrewd piece of business for the new boss. Naismith, it’s over to you.

Haseeb Hameed has been urged not to rest on his laurels following the impressive start to his Test career

George Dobell01-Dec-20163:08

Compton: Root should be a permanent No. 4 for England

Haseeb Hameed has been urged not to rest on his laurels following the impressive start to his Test career. While praising Hameed’s “remarkable” second-innings half-century in Mohali, Joe Root also encouraged his young colleague to respond to his early success by working ever harder.Having received widespread acclaim at the end of the Mohali Test – not least from India’s captain, Virat Kohli – Hameed now returns to England for an operation on his hand following a serious break of his little finger. But any danger that he might let the praise go to his head – and, to be fair, it doesn’t seem as if there was much danger – will have been dispelled by Root’s gentle words of warning and encouragement.”The only advice I gave was, make sure you don’t go back to county cricket at the start of the summer and rest on your laurels,” Root said. “Don’t think: I’m a Test cricketer now.”It’s an opportunity to prove to everyone in county cricket that you are there for a reason. You have opportunities to make some really big scores, to keep learning and to keep improving. He has the opportunity to put the good work he has done in India into his game and continue to develop the way he has done.”Root’s words are both well-intentioned and wise. As he found after an encouraging start to his own career, Test cricket is hugely demanding and the pain of being dropped at the end of the Ashes tour of 2013-14 continues to motivate him.So while Hameed’s start has been exciting, Root wants him to be ready for the challenges ahead and to know there is much, much more to achieve. He also warned that more will be expected of Hameed now and that will bring different challenges.Still, Hameed returns to England having made an excellent impression. It is not so much the runs he scored – two half-centuries in six innings does not look so special, after all – but the composure with which he batted under pressure and in conditions in which his colleagues have struggled. Aged 19, he already looks one of the more composed batsmen in the side.”The way he played with a broken hand the other day was remarkable,” Root said. “For such a young lad to show composure, to manipulate the strike and also hit some of the best spinners in the world for boundaries was very, very impressive.”For a 19-year-old lad to come into this environment and be so composed and mature… You watch him practice, and you would think he had played 60 or 70 games. It’s great to see someone come in with that attitude and hopefully, that stays with him for a long time.”He will have different expectations in the future and that might be a different challenge. But he has got a very good head on his shoulders and he should be proud of what he has done so far. Now it is about managing those expectations and being realistic: it’s going to take time to keep developing and it might not always go how he wants. But sometimes you have to have those little tumbles to get right to the top. I’m sure that if he does have some hard times, he’ll get through it.”It is revealing to study Hameed’s dismissals. Of the five of them, one was a run-out (for which he was largely blameless), one came as he tried to up the pace in a bid to set up a declaration in Rajkot, one came when he was the victim of a shooter in Vizag – a truly unplayable ball – and another came when he received a delivery that reared off a length in Mohali. There were one or two signs of weakness, mainly against the short ball, but his figures do not flatter him. He looked assured, elegant and ready.The ECB undertook some research a few years ago that underlined the impression that players who do well do so at the start of their Test career.There are notable exceptions either way, of course – Graham Gooch suffered a ‘pair’ on debut; David Lloyd had an average of 260 after two Tests – but it might be telling that, of the last England side to reach No. 1 in the Test rankings, four of the batsmen (Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior) made centuries on debut and two others (Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell) made half-centuries. One of the bowlers (James Anderson) took a five-for on Test debut, too, while another (Graeme Swann) too two wickets in his first over.The confidence of those early experiences may well have laid the path to subsequent success. Whichever way you look at it, Hameed would appear to have a bright future.

USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake says a poor bowling performance was the main reason his side fell to Denmark by four wickets on Wednesday at WCL Division Four in Los Angeles

Peter Della Penna in Los Angeles 04-Nov-20162:06

‘It’s all about how we come back’ – Dassanayake

USA coach Pubudu Dassanayake gave credit to Denmark’s death bowling unit, saying their ability to bowl yorkers at the death saved them 30 runs in the final four overs that was a turning point in USA’s four-wicket loss on Wednesday at WCL Division Four. Dassanayake believes it is something USA must learn from when preparing to take on good teams in tournament play.”The major difference is that our bowlers didn’t bowl well and especially the main bowlers, our spinners,” Dassanayake said. “It was a decent batting track but defending 260 I would never doubt it but we bowled pretty badly. Having said that, Denmark bowled really well at the end. Almost every ball was a yorker and they defended about 30 runs in that period because of the way that they bowled. A lot of credit to them but it’s and eye-opener for our bowling department and at the death overs how we’re going to handle it if that situation comes again.”One area to come under scrutiny is not just USA’s poor bowling performance but the bowling strategy itself. USA captain Steven Taylor pulled specialist left-arm spinner Danial Ahmed from the attack after just one over for nine runs and didn’t use him for the rest of the game, the second time Taylor has done so in the tournament and instead opted to use himself and Alex Amsterdam to fill out those overs with part-time offspin. Taylor finished with 3 for 46 in ten overs while Amsterdam took 0 for 32 in seven.Ahmed bowled a superb spell of 0 for 29 in ten overs a day earlier against Oman and though he is wicketless so far in the tournament, he has had numerous chances put down off his bowling. Ahmed’s overall economy rate for the tournament is 4.27 and Dassayanake says he has confidence in Ahmed heading into the Jersey match.”I haven’t thought about any changes yet for Friday,” Dassanayake said. “We know Danial’s capability. Against Oman the way he bowled ten overs really contributed a lot to win that game. We have to keep building confidence in him. We’ll meet and see our best combination for Friday and come back with it. The things I have with the reserves, Jessy and Prashanth as bowlers, there are lots of options for me to select. I’m not blaming Danial, especially I don’t think anyone can blame him today because he only bowled one over. It’s just about giving that confidence to him and come back hard on Friday.”However, Dassanayake didn’t rule out other potential changes. Ali Khan has been bowling the last two games with a hamstring strain while Ravi Timbawala has been troubled since the first match of the tournament with a right thumb injury. Jessy Singh bowled well in the first two games of the tournament for USA before making way for Khan while hard-hitting Abdullah Syed is waiting to make his debut as a batting reserve.”We have to look into our injuries,” Dassanayake said. “Ravi is struggling with his thumb. Ali from the beginning had the hamstring injury but slowly he is getting better. There are a few other niggles. Still again we will assess all the injuries and see who is the best XI available for Friday.”Dassanayake remains bullish on USA’s chances of promotion despite the loss to Denmark. USA sits at 3-1 in a three-way tie for first place with Oman and Denmark, though USA has by far the best net run rate, which is the tournament tiebreaker. USA comes up against Jersey on Friday at Wong Cricket Field, a team currently 1-3 in the tournament whose only victory so far has come against winless Italy. A win for USA will clinch promotion to Division Three and set up a potential rematch in the final against Denmark, who take on Oman in a virtual semi-final at Severn Cricket Field.”When you lose it’s tough to take but still I am comfortable to say that USA is the best team in this league,” Dassanayake said. “It’s just one bad session we had in the evening. With my experience in World Cricket League, it always happens in these tournaments at this level. It’s all about how we come back hard on the next day. Everybody has to stay cool and come back and do their best on Friday and I’m pretty confident what we’re going to do. No one is panicking in our group. We have lots of confidence to get through this tournament. It was just a bad half day.”

At the tender age of just 14, Chelsea decided to release a budding young prodigy.

At the time, not much would have been made of that decision. Many an academy prospect will get dumped at a young age and go on to enjoy careers away from the game.

However, the boy in this case has made those at Cobham eat their words; Declan Rice.

Once upon a time, he was deemed too small and so off he went in search of a club that valued him more dearly. That happened to be West Ham United, the side he has gone on to captain to a European final this season.

The midfielder has also reached the final of the European Championship as a mainstay of Gareth Southgate's England squad.

Inevitably, the 24-year-old has been linked with a return to Stamford Bridge but Chelsea's London rivals, Arsenal, are thought to now be the favourites to secure his signature. However, what if Todd Boehly and co could bring a very similar player to west London this summer?

Well, a deal could well be on the table for a certain Moises Caicedo.

What's the latest on Moises Caicedo's future?

The Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder was coincidently linked heavily with the Gunners back in January.

The Ecuador international handed in a transfer request in a bid to secure a move away but it ended in disappointment. Instead of moving then, Roberto De Zerbi promised a switch at the end of the campaign, something he now looks set to seal.

Arsenal remain interested in the £90m man, yet Chelsea are now believed to be at the front of the queue. That's according to one VBETnews journalist who took to Twitter yesterday to say:

"Chelsea are frontrunners in the race to sign Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo."

The news comes amid a busy period of transfer activity for this season's underperformers who also appear to be close to landing Manuel Ugarte from Sporting CP, with the player reportedly favouring a move to Mauricio Pochettino's outfit.

Who does Moises Caicedo play like?

According to FBref's similar players model, Caicedo is comparable to the likes of Thiago Alcantara, Jorginho and Nemanja Matic.

However, it's the player that falls fourth in this statistical comparison that will set pulses racing at the Bridge; a certain Rice.

That will arguably come as no surprise given the position they play on the pitch, but it outlines them as two assets willing to impact games in a whole manner of ways.

The first similarity to note is their tough-tackling nature with Caicedo winning 1.43 tackles per 90 this season compared to Rice's 1.04. They make an almost identical number of blocks too, proving their ability to be in the right place at the right time more often than not to close down a shooting opportunity. The former makes 1.23 to the latter's 1.24 per 90 minutes.

That ability to read the game is aptly summed up the number of interceptions these two midfield warriors make with the Brighton ace registering 1.60 per 90 to the West Ham captain's 1.73.

Although Rice is more of a marauder, making 2.42 progressive carries every 90 to the Chelsea target's 1.09, they are similarly active in the final third, with the former registering 2.75 shot-creating actions to the latter's 2.52.

What this all outlines is that they are incredibly combative in central areas, boasting the ability to grab the game by the scruff of the neck in every third of the pitch.

Chelsea may well rue their decision to let Rice depart ten years ago but in the Brighton "revelation" – as he was dubbed by Jamie Redknapp, they could finally make up for that hurt.

It will cost a pretty penny to prise him away from the south coast but it would surely be worth it.

Leeds United are considering making West Brom boss Carlos Corberan their next manager this summer, according to an update from reliable journalist Phil Hay.

Is Corberan impressing at West Brom?

On Friday, it was confirmed that the Whites had parted company with Sam Allardyce, with the veteran unable to keep them in the Premier League during the latter part of the season. The hunt is now on to find the right replacement before the start of the 2023/24 campaign, in what represents a vital appointment.

There has been a lack stability on show since Marcelo Bielsa's departure, with Jesse Marsch, Javi Gracia and Allardyce all flattering to deceive, so a long-term addition needs to come in this time.

Someone who has been linked with taking charge at Elland Road in the recent past is Corberan, who was once in charge of Leeds' Under-21s, spending three years there between 2017 and 2020. He is now at West Brom, however, and is doing an impressive job, having come close to getting into the Championship play-offs last month.

He inherited a Baggies side who were floundering near the bottom of the table, but the progress he has made in a short space of time sums up his quality as a manager.

Could Corberan take charge at Leeds?

According to The Athletic's Hay, Corberan is again a potential target for Leeds this summer, with Brendan Rodgers also getting a mention in the report:

"Brendan Rodgers, out of work after leaving Leicester City in mid-April, shortly before their own relegation on Sunday, appeals but it is feasible he will also receive offers from Premier League sides.

"Leeds’ former under-21s coach Carlos Corberan, now in charge at Championship club West Bromwich Albion, has been looked at before and is being again.

"But Leeds, as yet, are not in a position to make a final choice."

Corberan could certainly be an encouraging choice as Leeds' new manager, coming in as someone who is still young and full of fresh ideas. Renowned Spanish journalist Guillem Balague described him as "exciting" upon his appointment at West Brom and he has often adopted a direct and attacking style of play in a 4-2-3-1 formation at the Hawthorns.

He could view the chance to move to Elland Road as a step up, considering the size of the club and especially as he already knows the club so well. Brendan Rodgers is also a strong option, but he may be unwilling to go down to the Championship, as Hay alludes to.

After Bangladesh’s tight win over Afghanistan in the first ODI, Shakib Al Hasan said that the team now have the belief that they can win ODIs even when circumstances are not always in their favour

Mohammad Isam26-Sep-2016After Bangladesh’s tight win over Afghanistan in the first ODI, Shakib Al Hasan said that the team now have the belief that they can win ODIs even when circumstances are not always in their favour. At the same time, he added that the side must improve its body language and fielding for a better performance in the rest of the three-match series.”I think the turning points were when I conceded one run [in the 47th over] and, before that, the breakthrough I made [in the 41st over] when they were getting a big stand,” Shakib said. “Actually our job is not to think; our job is to do it. We have to keep believing that we can win this game, and that belief was there. Because we were playing after almost a year, it was difficult for a while. It was in the body language. Our fielding wasn’t that good. This will get better soon.”The most important practice is to stay in the game and to play the game. No matter how much you run or practice, match fitness is something else altogether. When you keep playing matches, things become a lot easier. No matter what situation you try to create at practice, it won’t reach that level.”Mahmudullah, who scored 62 and added a brisk 40 with Shakib for the fourth wicket, said that Bangladesh ought to have beaten lower-ranked Afghanistan far more convincingly than they did. However, he noted that the side is gradually starting to win more close games.”I think that in such a situation, we should definitely win the game. With all due respect to Afghanistan, we should have won the game a lot earlier considering the difference in our rankings. We have lost a lot of close matches due to small errors. I think that is slowly starting to change.”Mahmudullah also rued his own untimely dismissal, perishing to a miscued slog sweep off Mohammad Nabi; he had wanted to bat till the last three overs before cutting loose.”I wasn’t thinking about the century. I was just trying to take advantage of the wicket, as the ball was coming on to the bat nicely in the last Powerplay. I wanted to stay till the 48th over and then go for the big shots but I picked out the one extra fielder they had outside the circle. I should have carried on a little while longer.”Bangladesh’s defence of 265 was made trickier by the rusty form of their returning quicks, Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hossain. Taskin was returning to international cricket for the first time since his suspension for an illegal action in March. Rubel was playing his first ODI since July 2015. Both bowlers were expensive in their initial spells, before improving thereafter. Shakib said that it was a struggle for them to play after a long break, but praised the way they pulled it back towards the end.”Rubel returned from injury and Taskin returned from suspension, so it was difficult for both,” he said. “At the start they didn’t do well but in the last three overs, they were solid.”

Australia captain Steven Smith will miss the remainder of the tour of Sri Lanka – three ODIs and two T20Is – as he returns home to rest ahead of the 2016-17 season

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo 24-Aug-2016Australia captain Steven Smith will miss the remainder of the tour of Sri Lanka – three ODIs and two T20Is – as he returns home to rest ahead of the tour of South Africa. David Warner will lead the side in the rest of the fixtures in Sri Lanka. Smith revealed the development at the end of the second ODI in Colombo, which Sri Lanka won by 82 runs to level the five-match series at 1-1.”I hate missing cricket, but in the long run it will do me a world of good,” Smith was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia on Twitter. “The schedule is very busy. I still want to take on the role in all three formats and do it to the best of my ability.”Australia have lost four of their five international fixtures on tour so far, but Smith suggested his early departure had been considered since much earlier in the tour. Australia’s last match in Sri Lanka is a T20 international on September 9. Their tour of South Africa begins on September 27 with an ODI against Ireland in Benoni, after which they play five ODIs against South Africa.”We spoke about it at the start of the Test series,” Smith said. “There is the South Africa series next, and a big summer with six Test matches and a few one-dayers against New Zealand in between, before we go to India. So it was talked about – to try and give me a little break at some point. We had a few discussions – myself, Darren Lehmann and Rod Marsh, who also consulted with the other selectors. It took a bit of convincing to get me over the line.”Smith, who is Australia’s captain across all formats, said the role remained manageable despite the team’s busy schedule. He has captained in 42 international matches – including in 11 Tests – over the past year, in addition to playing in the IPL, most recently for Rising Pune Supergiants. He did not rule out taking his break from cricket during the IPL, but was quick to suggest the tournament was a valuable experience.”For me, I’ve got a lot of time for the IPL,” he said. “I think it’s been a great learning curve for me. I think I’ve learned a lot about the way I play, particularly white-ball cricket, from the IPL. Playing a lot of back-to-back games I think you learn a lot about yourself as a player. I’ve certainly got a lot of time for the IPL in that respect. But captaining Australia is a lot of hard work and takes a lot of time. At some point, maybe it could give. For now, I want to continue trying to play everything that I can.”Cricket Australia’s national selector Rod Marsh said in a statement: “Steve has a large amount of cricket coming up in the next 12 months and we wanted to find a time for him to freshen up and these last five matches provide a good opportunity to do so.”Regardless of the results of the first two matches our plan was always for Steve to take a break and refresh ahead of the ODI Series against South Africa next month.”Smith’s replacement Warner has not captained Australia in any format, and now takes charge in a tour in which he has been in indifferent form.”This is a great leadership opportunity for David, he has really embraced his role as vice-captain and we are confident he will do a great job in Steve’s place,” Marsh said.