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Durham have been relegated from the top flight of the County Championship, with Hampshire staying up in their place, after being hit with a penalty for receiving financial support from the ECB during the 2016 season

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2016Durham have been relegated from the top flight of the County Championship, with Hampshire staying up in their place, after being hit with a penalty for receiving financial support from the ECB during the 2016 season. They will begin 2017 in Division Two with a 48-point penalty in return for a £3.8m bailout.The club has accepted it will no longer be allowed to bid to host Test matches at Chester-le-Street, although they will be eligible for ODIs and T20 internationals. Durham will also start next season with -4 points in the NatWest T20 Blast and -2 points in the Royal London Cup; hand back non-player related ECB prize money for 2016; and be subject to a more closely controlled salary cap until 2020.The financial aid package, which has been agreed between the ECB and Durham’s board, is aimed at allowing the club to cover its operating costs, settle a proportion of outstanding debt and focus on restructuring.”We’ve been working with Durham County Cricket Club throughout the year on how best to address their financial issues; we welcome the club’s willingness to review its business model and management structures,” Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive, said.”There is no doubt that a strong, financially robust Durham has a vital role to play in developing England talent, enriching our domestic competitions and underpinning the wider growth of the game in the north east.”The financial package and associated conditions approved by the ECB Board reflect the unprecedented seriousness of Durham’s financial situation. To help them through these difficulties and continue as a first-class county, this had to be addressed with immediate, practical financial assistance. We also have a wider responsibility to the whole game and need strong deterrents in place to preserve the game’s integrity and financial stability.”Durham have made a strong contribution to the game as a first-class county, through domestic competitions, local participation and producing fine England players. We now look forward to working productively with the new Board of Directors in the restructured company and supporting a healthy future for Durham and the game in the north-east.”After enduring a troubled campaign on and off the field, Durham appeared to have secured their Division One status with back-to-back victories in their final two games of the season, over Surrey and Hampshire, who finished 45 points behind them in eighth place and were initially relegated alongside Nottinghamshire.However, to retain their viability, Durham had to call upon assistance from the ECB – including an accelerated annual fee payment of £1.3m, as well as the rescheduling of their £923,000 staging fee for the second Test against Sri Lanka in May – to help service debts to the local council, believed to be in the region of £5-6 million.The ECB spent the past week considering whether a sanction should be imposed. A points deduction was eventually deemed to be the only realistic option available to the board, given that a financial penalty would merely have exacerbated the club’s issues.”We are clearly disappointed at the position we are in and the sanctions we have accepted, particularly for the players and staff who have worked so hard to keep us in the first division,” David Harker, the club’s chief executive, said.”However, we continue as a first-class county, will host international cricket and have a platform to stabilise and develop Durham County Cricket Club. It is important that the club addresses its serious financial challenges and puts the business on a sustainable footing and therefore we have had to accept the conditions offered by ECB.”Other counties have faced serious financial challenges but have been able to find other solutions including private investors without this reliance on ECB. We will continue to work with the ECB to promote cricket in the North East and are committed to securing a successful sustainable future for Durham.”There is no suggestion of financial impropriety at Durham, and other Test-match grounds have accrued greater debts in the course of modernising their venues. However, the club’s remote location has made it harder to diversify and generate the sort of revenues that keep their rivals solvent.The club, which won the County Championship three times in six seasons between 2008 and 2013, has proven itself to be one of the most successful counties in terms of producing England players, with Ben Stokes and Mark Wood among the most recent examples. However, in a sign of potential struggles to come, they have lost two of their most influential batsmen of recent seasons, with Scott Borthwick and Mark Stoneman choosing to move to Surrey.In a statement, Hampshire said that the club “deeply regrets the situation that Durham finds itself in and sends its sincere sympathies to the club, its players, staff and of course its loyal supporters”.The club chairman, Rod Bransgrove, added: “I also fully endorse the support of ECB in helping one of its 18 first-class stakeholders to survive in the long-term and am satisfied that the sanctions imposed as a result of Durham’s circumstances are fair and have been well considered. Of course, the fact that Hampshire benefit from all of this is fortuitous for the club and will give us all a great boost as we plan for next summer.”Given the unprecedented list of injuries that we faced this year, I believe that we will not discredit the first division next season and I am very much looking forward to seeing what the 2017 campaign will bring with a full-strength and enhanced Hampshire squad.”

A washed out first day in Christchurch is unlikely to prompt wholesale changes in strategy, because there is still “plenty of time left in the game”, New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan said

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Christchurch17-Nov-2016

“Batsmen have to commit to the style and game plan that they want to follow through with and they have to make good decisions.”•Getty Images

A washed out first day in Christchurch is unlikely to prompt wholesale changes in strategy, because there is still “plenty of time left in the game”, New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan said. Not even the toss was possible on Thursday, which means neither team has yet named their XI.Play is now set to begin half an hour early, for the following four days, as long as weather permits. A minimum of 98 overs is scheduled for each of these days, when usually, only 90 are expected to be bowled.”There’s not a lot of overs lost even though we lost the whole day today,” McMillan said. “We haven’t named our XI, and there are probably discussions on that tonight, but I don’t think too much has changed.”Though a day of rain may make an already green Hagley Oval surface even more conducive to seam movement, McMillan hoped the recent proliferation of greentops in New Zealand will have equipped his batsmen with the means to cope.”I think it’s fair to say looking at that surface that the toss will be important,” he said. “I think with the pitch being under cover today with the rain about, that first session tomorrow (Friday) is certainly going to be challenging. Hopefully, though, there’s enough movement for a couple of days, so that the team that wins the toss doesn’t have so big an advantage. I think there’s going to be enough for both teams in the first innings.”These are conditions that we’ve been in quite a lot over the last few years. We’ve batted first on a number of pitches that looked very similar to the one out there, and we’ve done it well. It’s nothing new to us but we still know that we have to get things right against a very good Pakistan attack.”McMillan had been charged with helping New Zealand’s batsmen – who were battered in India – regain some confidence ahead of the long home season. He said the top order had prepared specifically for the Pakistan attack, with special attention given to combating the left-arm angle that Mohammad Amir, and perhaps Rahat Ali, will provide.”I want to see the batsmen commit to their own personal game plan,” McMillan said. “We’ve done some good work over the last two days in the nets. Both sets of fast bowlers are licking their lips and are pretty excited I think by what’s on offer. I think they have to commit to the style and game plan that they want to follow through with and they have to make good decisions. They have to be nice and precise the way they go about it. If they do that, there’s a reasonable chance they can come out with some success.”

Everton are interested in a deal to bring Inter Milan forward Joaquin Correa to the Premier League, according to reports.

What's the latest on Correa to Everton?

The Toffees could be forced to sanction a mass exodus of some of their most prized assets should they suffer relegation, but with Dominic Calvert-Lewin being monitored by Arsenal and Neal Maupay wanted by Salernitana, Sean Dyche will need attacking reinforcements regardless of his side’s status.

The Argentinian international’s deal at the San Siro isn’t set to expire until 2025, but having made just seven starts in 30 Serie A games this season, has fallen significantly out of favour under Simone Inzaghi and could therefore be looking for a move elsewhere in the summer.

TuttoMercatoWeb journalist Niccolo Ceccarini recently claimed that the Goodison Park outfit have already “carried out some surveys” on the 28-year-old and they must have liked what they discovered because it appears that they are now weighing up an approach.

According to Italian outlet Inter Live (via Sport Witness), Everton, alongside top-flight rivals West Ham and Aston Villa are all “interested” in signing Correa ahead of the 2023/24 term.

The Merseysiders will “hopefully” be able to move and negotiate a deal for the striker, whose club are open to selling him should they receive a fee of €15m (£13m), a sum that Farhad Moshiri could meet “without problems”. Inter's attacker and his camp, however, believe that he is “worth less” which could have been said to force through an exit as quickly as possible.

Should Everton splash the cash on Correa?

Correa might have fallen down the pecking order at Inter but he would make a hugely positive impact at Everton so they should 100% dig deep to wrap up this absolute bargain of a deal in the summer.

The World Soccer Agency client has 102 goal contributions (63 goals and 39 assists) to his name since the start of his career and ranks in the 99th percentile for pass completion by strikers in Europe's top leagues, highlighting not only his prolific form in the final third but also his strong link-up play with his teammates.

The 6 foot 2 colossus would further add wonderful versatility to the squad having previously operated in six different positions, including anywhere across the frontline, and knows what it takes to be successful having won six trophies at both club and international level, alongside competing in both the Champions and Europa League.

Finally, Correa has been lauded a “formidable” player by his manager Simone Inzaghi and so it would be a massive coup for the board should they be able to get this deal over the line during the upcoming window.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta may have just performed a U-turn over selling defender Kieran Tierney as a report shares some exit news out of the club.

Who could leave Arsenal this summer?

The Premier League title-chasers are flying high and currently on course to beat champions Man City to their first triumph in nearly 20 years. Owing to the incredible job Arteta has done in north London, their failed pursuit of a top-four finish last season now feels like a distant memory.

Indeed, the Gunners are currently eight points clear at the top of the table, and while City have a game in hand, Arteta's side are still firmly in the driving seat. However, as is inevitable, some fringe players have been unable to contribute as regularly as they'd like – prompting links with a move away from the club.

The likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Rob Holding, for instance, have been mentioned as possible candidates for the chopping block – as well as the likes of Folarin Balogun and Nuno Tavares, who are both currently out on loan away from the Emirates.

Tierney was also thought of as a possible exit but it appears Arteta has changed his mind about the player.

Reliable reports have suggested recently that the Scotland international could leave and Arteta 'won't stand in his way' (Northern Echo), but a new claim has revealed that Tierney could now stay beyond this summer.

Football Transfers states Arteta is now 'reluctant to sell' the former Celtic star and 'would like to keep' him alongside Holding, Smith Rowe and Balogun. It's added that Tierney is 'important' to Arsenal's manager as there is a belief both Takehiro Tomiyasu and Tavares are not viable alternatives to Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back.

Should Arsenal keep Tierney?

Despite finding regular minutes hard to come by, thanks in part to injuries and the form of Zinchenko, we believe he could still play a role for years to come – with Sir Alex Ferguson even once calling Tierney 'phenomenal'.

The defender was actually a regular figure under Arteta last season, starting 22 league games and ranking among their top seven best-performing players by average match rating (WhoScored).

Tierney has chipped with three assists over the 21/22 domestic campaign, and while that might not seem like a mind-blowing number, it was actually the fifth-highest return in their squad (WhoScored).

Even as more of a rotational option, the player is a solid Zinchenko alternative to call upon, yet it remains to be seen whether Tierney would be satisfied with such a role personally.

New Zealand began with six wicket standing, but lasted only a little bit after lunch as Austrlia’s bowlers swung them out for an innings-and-52-run victory

The Report by Daniel Brettig14-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:38

Farrell: Test was decided on the first two days

Emphatic doesn’t quite do it justice. Unrelenting throughout, Australia put on another exhibition of high quality bowling to seal a vast victory over New Zealand and place one hand on the ICC Mace awarded to the world’s No. 1 Test team. A deflating result for the visitors in Brendon McCullum’s 100th Test was only a tail-end flurry short of New Zealand’s heaviest ever loss at home to Australia.Having set up the match with expert use of seaming early conditions on the first morning, Australia’s bowlers asked quite different questions on the fourth morning. Mitchell Marsh, Josh Hazlewood and Jackson Bird all used reverse swing to good effect, while Nathan Lyon homed in on a footmark outside the right-handers’ off stump to gain sharp spin. The absence of Peter Siddle, resting a back complaint, was well compensated for.Steven Smith will be a most contented captain, having overseen a performance in which many questions about this team have been answered. They chose the right XI for the conditions, they bowled impressively, and most importantly batted with command even after Joe Burns and David Warner were out cheaply with the ball still new on day one. New Zealand will be left to wonder over the significance of the “no-ball” that reprieved Adam Voges early.Henry Nicholls endured longest for the hosts, on the way to making the highest score by a New Zealand debutant batting at No. 4. But his dismissal on 59 by Bird left the tail exposed to the bounce and conventional swing of the second new ball. Southee and Trent Boult entertained another strong Basin Reserve crowd with a late flurry against Lyon, but it was merely a parting shot.Having lost McCullum from the last ball of day three, New Zealand’s chances of survival were slim, and they narrowed further when the 63-over old ball began bending in both directions. Corey Anderson struggled with the ball moving away from him around the wicket, but after a few play and misses Smith directed Marsh to go over the wicket and try to straighten one down the line.Two balls into the tactic, Marsh pitched one in line and swung it back to pin Anderson in front. Like McCullum he reviewed, but it was a futile gesture for a delivery crashing into middle and leg.BJ Watling arrived and his first ball from Lyon hit the aforementioned footmark and narrowly missed spinning back to strike the off stump with the batsman offering no shot. Lyon took note of this, and it was not long before he delivered a slightly flatter delivery on the same line that had Watling playing back, fatally. The turning ball was through him in an instant.Nicholls had absorbed all this pressure, but Bird’s decision to send one down at a full length made the difference, coaxing the batsman into a flick across the line. Again there was some swing, and the ball flicked off the pads into the stumps. At this, the Australians took the second new ball, and a Hazlewood lbw review against Doug Bracewell was declined due to a lack of conclusive evidence before the interval.Hazlewood had his due reward soon after resumption, when Bracewell was struck in front: this time there was no bat to confuse the issue. Southee’s blows dented Lyon’s figures somewhat, but the bowler was content to keep tossing it up in expectation of a miscue, which was exactly what happened.Mark Craig and Boult entertained for a time also, but in playing so freely they did nothing so much as underline how well the Australians had bowled to the batsmen. A match over in fewer than four days had taken place on a pitch that would still be good for batting on day five. In pursuit of Test cricket’s top perch, Smith’s men had played to a very high standard indeed.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano has handed Manchester United a transfer blow as Frenkie de Jong is “happy” at Barcelona and has yet to say anything to suggest he wants to leave.

What’s the latest on Frenkie de Jong to Man United?

It’s no secret that the Red Devils were very keen on bringing the midfielder to the Premier League last summer but no deal ever came to pass.

Even so, it seems as though the club will go back in for De Jong once more at the end of the current season with The Guardian recently reporting about a renewed transfer interest.

What’s more, reports suggest that Barca may have to sell a number of players in the summer if they want to be active in the upcoming window amid their own financial difficulties.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano explained: “We know how Erik ten Hag is a big fan of De Jong, he’s always been a big fan; this is not changing. Erik ten Hag would love to have Frenkie de Jong with him.

“But the reality as of today is that Frankie has not communicated to anyone, to Barcelona or to anyone, that he wants to leave and he wants to be on the market.

“Frenkie’s happy with Barcelona. He’s playing, he’s an important player for Xavi. So at the moment, the situation is under control.”

What do the De Jong links mean for MUFC?

In the past, it seemed as though De Jong was pretty happy to turn down any advances made by Man Utd in favour of staying put and proving himself in La Liga.

In fairness to him, it seems as though he’s done just that this term having played in all but two league games this season, starting 18, as Barca look set to win the title thanks to the nine-point lead they currently have over Real Madrid.

However, the midfielder does have a relationship with Erik ten Hag, having made 59 appearances for the coach when they were both at Ajax – so perhaps his arm could be twisted.

Still, it sounds as though De Jong has his mind firmly focused on Barcelona right now, so it’s probably not worth United fans getting their hopes up just yet.

In T20s, the batter wins on some days, and the bowler on others; with Kuldeep these days, the batter usually loses

Karthik Krishnaswamy26-Jun-2024It isn’t always easy to apportion credit when a bowler takes a wicket in T20s. At first glance, Mitchell Marsh c Axar Patel b Kuldeep Yadav, on Monday morning in St Lucia, was one of the many thousands of T20 wickets that simply happen because the pace of the game requires batters to take constant risks that don’t always come off.At first glance, the wicket belonged almost entirely to the catcher, Axar timing his jump perfectly at deep square-leg and plucking the ball out one-handed, at full stretch over his head. It certainly wasn’t a ball from Kuldeep, in the sense that he probably missed his length and ended up dropping shorter than intended.Everything leading up to that moment, though, contributed layers of to that ball, amping up the likelihood that it would create a wicket-taking chance.Related

• Rohit praises India's 'calmness' after win against England in semi-final

• Tactics board: Bumrah, Archer and Kuldeep overs will be pivotal

• Kuldeep relishes Caribbean conditions as Super Eight specialist

• Kuldeep: 'Bowlers must show courage' against aggressive batting

The shot Marsh played is best described as a pull, but watch it again, and it becomes clear from his back lift and the way he sets himself up at the crease that it began life as a sweep. This was the eighth ball Marsh faced from Kuldeep on the day, and he had already attempted sweeps or slog-sweeps against three of them. This doesn’t include another proto-sweep that turned into a different shot entirely – the first ball of this very over, in fact, which Marsh had clipped for a single to long-on when Kuldeep, sensing that the sweep was coming, had fired a 90.5kph delivery (the quickest of his spell so far) – right up at the batter’s feet.The three sweeps Marsh had been allowed to play had brought him no runs. Twice Kuldeep had been too quick and full for a clean connection, and on one occasion he had dangled the ball away from the hitting arc, slower and wide of off stump, and beaten his bat, producing a third-umpire referral for a stumping.Kuldeep knew Marsh was itching to sweep him, and he wasn’t going to let him. The seven balls that preceded the wicket ball were all either quick and full and at leg stump, or slower and wide of off, the latter type either wrong’uns or sliders out of the front of his hand. When he wasn’t sweeping, Marsh was having to be content with singles off slaps to the off-side sweeper or flat-bat hits down to long-on.If Marsh wasn’t so intent on sweeping, he may have been better placed to deal with the wicket ball – better balanced, certainly, to get more elevation on his pull or place it wide of the boundary fielder.But sometimes, this is what one-on-one contests in T20s are like, particularly in conditions like those in St Lucia with a strong wind blowing across the ground: a batter chooses the areas he wants to target, and the bowler knows it, and uses all his skills and wiles to try and cut off those shots. The batter wins on some days, and the bowler on others.With Kuldeep, though, it’s increasingly rare that the batter wins, no matter what the format is and what the conditions are. Two months ago in the IPL, when Sunrisers Hyderabad ran away to the biggest powerplay score in T20 history against Delhi Capitals, it didn’t feel entirely against the run of play when Kuldeep came on and took two wickets in the seventh over. He didn’t get them off balls as we traditionally understand them, but if you’re looking to smash the daylights out of everything, your life is just that little bit harder against a bowler who generates more drift and dip than most spinners, varies his pace and trajectory more adroitly than most spinners, has a more intuitive understanding of batters’ intentions than most spinners, and better control and more variations to boot.0:59

Manjrekar: Kuldeep riding a wave of confidence

It’s quite something that Kuldeep, with all the above-mentioned tools at his disposal, didn’t feature in any of India’s first-round group games at the T20 World Cup 2024, but that’s just life as India’s best spinner when they need to play four quicks, because their other spinners are excellent bowlers too, and happen to offer a lot of value with the bat. Over the course of the USA leg of this tournament, Kuldeep experienced the T20 version of a feeling R Ashwin has experienced for large swathes of his Test career.But the USA leg is done, and Kuldeep was always going to be a key member of India’s line-up, and one of their trump cards, when the action shifted to the West Indies. And so he has been: in three Super Eight games, he’s taken seven wickets at an average of 10.71, while going at just 6.25 per over. And if those numbers don’t look extraordinary in a bowler-dominated World Cup, here’s a better one: according to ESPNcricinfo’s impact ratings, he’s averaged 53.8 bowling impact points per match so far at this World Cup. Jasprit Bumrah, who’s bowled like he’s from another planet, has gone at 42.7.This, of course, isn’t to say that Kuldeep has bowled than Bumrah or anything of that sort. What those numbers do say, however, is that India have a mind-blowingly good attack, quite likely the best of this tournament.This, of course, was true even last year at the ODI World Cup, and November 19 still turned out the way it did. There are no guarantees, certainly not in knockout games, and India have experienced this time and again over the last so many years and so many global events.Kuldeep Yadav was always going to be a key member of India’s line-up, and one of their trump cards, when the action shifted to the West Indies•ICC/Getty ImagesIt doesn’t diminish how good they are, but their players probably feel some sense of unfulfillment, like a subcutaneous itch that their nails can’t quite get at. And leading up to June 27 in Providence, Guyana, some of them may also feel like they have a point to prove.The India of 2024 are, in both structural and personnel terms, a significantly better T20 side than the India of Adelaide, November 10, 2022. They are no longer hampered by the depth issues that turned them into a diffident, risk-averse batting unit in 2022, and they are a far better bowling side with Bumrah – who missed that World Cup with a back injury – and Kuldeep – who wasn’t selected for the tournament, and wasn’t yet the fully rounded bowler he has since become – in their ranks.Kuldeep didn’t feel the sting of that semi-final defeat, but not being part of it would have hurt, and it may have meant something to him that it was England that knocked India out. It had been England that had left Kuldeep with figures of 1 for 72 in Birmingham in 2019, causing India to veer away from their twin-wristspinner ODI strategy and leave him out of their XI for their semi-final against New Zealand.All that is firmly behind Kuldeep now, and he’s already given England more than a glimpse of how good he has become in the years since. There was this, for instance:

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And there was a Test series earlier this year that Kuldeep dominated, his selection the foremost catalyst for India going from 0-1 to 4-1. If any scars remain from Birmingham, 2019, they are probably exceedingly faint.But if Kuldeep is already well on his way to asserting himself as one of the world’s leading all-format spinners, he still has a bit of distance left to cover. There’ll be a lot less of it if Providence is on his side, and India’s, on Thursday morning.

For Sajeewa Weerakoon, the road to international recognition is still some distance away

Sa'adi Thawfeeq16-Sep-2005For Sajeewa Weerakoon, the road to international recognition is still some distance away despite the number of times he has produced match-winning performances for the Sri Lanka A team. The orthodox left-arm spinner from BRC has been knocking on the door and
sounding out the national selectors with a kind of consistency that no other cricketer in recent times has managed.There have been cricketers who have got into the national side with marginal performances compared to what Weerakoon has produced. But that is why they say you need an element of luck in cricket. What is blocking Weerakoon’s entry into the national side is the presence of spinners of his type who are already there and have established themselves.Left-armer Rangana Herath is one of them. He is a contracted player with Sri Lanka Cricket. Then there is also Sanath Jayasuriya, who is the third-highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka in Test cricket with 92 wickets. Although currently hors de combat, he is expected to
resume bowling shortly. With two left-arm spinners already in the side to support the offspin of Muttiah Muralitharan and with legspinner Upul Chandana also available for selection, Weerakoon finds his entry into the national side blocked despite clamour from the cricketing public and certain sections of the media for his inclusion.Anura Tennekoon, the former Sri Lanka captain said: “Sajeewa has shown consistency in his bowling. You couldn’t ask for anything more than that from a bowler or a batsman. To me the hallmark of a good cricketer is consistency. It shows that he has some ability in him.”As manager of the A team, Tennekoon has watched Weerakoon in action at close quarters and his assessment of his bowling is interesting. “Compared to other spinners he is quite tall and he is able to make use of his height to get that extra bit of bounce. He bears close resemblance to another former Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Ajith de Silva who was also quite tall.”Sajeewa bowls a nagging line and length and uses the extra bounce. So far he has performed on pitches that has given him some kind of assistance. His real test will come when he bowls on flat surfaces. If a batsman or bowler performs consistently he should be given due recognition sooner or later.”Weerakoon, 27, a product of St. Aloysius College, Galle, shot into prominence when he picked up the best bowler’s award taking 50 wickets in the Premier trophy tournament last season. Prior to that, he had played in two matches for Sri Lanka A against Pakistan A in 2002 and taken seven wickets, before being overlooked until this year when he was included in the squad against the A sides of England and Pakistan. However, he was not
picked for any of the matches as spinners Malinga Bandara and Suraj Mohamed were preferred over him.With Bandara going away to represent English county Gloucestershire, Weerakoon once again came into prominence. He has not missed out on the opportunity given to him. In three unofficial tests against West Indies A, he captured 26 wickets at a cost of 14.07 to steer Sri Lanka A to a 2-1 series victory. He has extended this brilliant piece of bowling to
the ongoing series against South Africa A, where he took a match bag of 13 wickets for 106 to subject the tourists to a six-wicket defeat inside three days at the NCC grounds last week.Weerakoon picks the majority of his wickets by taking the ball away from the batsmen towards the slips. He also uses the arm ball for variation. Lalith Kaluperuma, the chairman of selectors, said: “Of all the A team players in the past year or so, Weerakoon has shown the most promise. He had done well and he is in our short list.”We can’t just rush him into the national team because only eleven can play. The team has got to have balance. An opportunity must come to include him. In the meantime, he must continue to perform. He has a good future and should make it to the side very soon.”With a tour to India coming up later this year, Weerakoon should keep his fingers crossed and performing, while hoping for the break that will launch him into international cricket.

Chelsea are set for a short pre-season after winning the Club World Cup final, with just five weeks separating their 3-0 win over PSG in New Jersey and their first Premier League game of 2025/2026 against Crystal Palace.

Chelsea hold talks with £100k-per-week England star this week

Enzo Maresca is prioritising one key area.

ByEmilio Galantini Jul 17, 2025

They have scheduled just two pre-season matches as a result of their CWC triumph, needing to fit a holiday in for both players and staff after what was a successful but very long campaign.

Cole Palmer

7.33

Moises Caicedo

7.02

Enzo Fernández

6.95

Nicolas Jackson

6.88

Noni Madueke

6.82

via WhoScored

Chelsea will take on both Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan on August 8 and August 10 respectively, but as things stand, these are the only friendlies they’ll play before facing Palace in the top flight a week later.

It remains to be seen how Enzo Maresca’s side will fare given their minimal preparation, but the Italian did get a chance to try out new tactics during their CWC campaign in the US.

He also managed to give some of his major summer signings a run-out. Joao Pedro seriously impressed at the tournament in particular, scoring three goals in three CWC games, including a brace in their semi-final against Fluminense and a goal in the final against PSG.

Despite Chelsea’s need to sell players and balance out the squad due to a pact with UEFA (Kaveh Solhekol), Maresca could still add more fresh faces before their new season kicks off against Palace.

This will be dependent on departures (Simon Phillips), but perhaps Djordje Petrovic’s £25 million move to Bournemouth has freed up space for AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan to come in.

The France number one was a serious target for Chelsea earlier in the window, and they tried to complete a deal for him before competing in the CWC. However, Milan and Chelsea failed to find an agreement, despite Maignan’s eagerness to join.

Despite reports to the contrary, Chelsea could go back in for Maignan before deadline day on September 1, with Robert Sanchez also told he’s free to find a new club away from Stamford Bridge (Graeme Bailey).

Mike Maignan very keen to join Chelsea, he's a top target

TEAMtalk have another update on the situation this week, claiming Maignan remains a top target for Chelsea.

The 30-year-old is also “enthusiastic” about joining Maresca’s side this summer, even if negotiations previously failed, with the main roadblock being Milan’s £22 million asking price – a figure deemed too high by Chelsea considering both his age and his contract situation.

However, given Maignan’s pedigree as one of world football’s most commanding shot-stoppers, £22 million is surely a price worth paying – especially if they sell Sanchez.

Every title-winning side in history have one thing in common – the presence of a world-class keeper. Maignan, who’s been lavished with praise by his fellow top-level players, arguably stands out as the best option by far this summer.

“He is physical, quick, he has clean technique. He is very strong. He is one of the best in the world,” said Liverpool keeper Alisson about Maignan’s quality.

“The quality of goalkeepers has really increased – Mike Maignan is within this elite.”

Wrexham have confirmed that Jake Bickerstaff has joined Accrington Stanley on loan for the rest of the season.

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Bickerstaff joins Accrington StanleyPart of a clearout at the club Will not be allowed to play against Red DragonsWHAT HAPPENED?

Bickerstaff has left on loan for the rest of the season as part of the clearout at Wrexham as they can only register 21 players. With the signings of Luke Bolton, Jack Marriott and Luke McNicholas and the return of Scott Butler from his loan, they needed to offload a few players.

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In his 15 appearances this season, including eight starts, centre-forward Bickerstaff has scored twice. He scored his first EFL goal during the club's win over Walsall in August and then got his second the following week as they drew 5-5 with Swindon Town. In 28 games throughout his Red Dragons career, he has scored six goals.

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Wrexham have also announced that the striker will not be allowed to play against Phil Parkinson's side as the club has included a clause in the contract with League Two rivals Accrington.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR BICKERSTAFF?

It is not known if the 22-year-old will be in action with Accrington in their next game when they take on Grimsby Town on Saturday, February 3. They will play against Wrexham on March 3.