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It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to suggest that West Ham United are in the midst of a crisis.

What little hope emerged before Christmas has all but disappeared, as Nuno Espírito Santo seems incapable of getting a positive result with this team.

The Portuguese manager has overseen one win in the last nine games, and worse than that, handed Wolverhampton Wanderers their first win of the Premier League season last time out.

Fortunately, the powers that be are seemingly trying to save the season by going big in the transfer market, and if reports are to be believed, West Ham could still bring in someone who’d be an even better addition than Taty Castellanos.

West Ham target better signing than Castellanos

While some fans might argue that it’s too little too late, West Ham are doing what they can to avoid relegation this season by going big in the January transfer window.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

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So far, the Hammers have signed Pablo Felipe from Portuguese club Gil Vicente on a four-and-a-half-year deal and Lazio striker Valentin ‘Taty’ Castellanos on a four-and-a-half-year deal.

There is no denying that the club needed reinforcements, and the two forwards could certainly make a difference in the second half of the season.

However, other areas of the team feel more in need of reinforcing, which might explain why the club continue to be interested in another potential star, someone who’d be an even better addition to the team than at least the former Lazio ace.

At least that is according to Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, who claims that West Ham are still interested in English defender Charlie Cresswell.

The £17k-per-week 23-year-old has been impressing for French outfit Toulouse, and while no contact has been made between the two clubs, the Hammers “are keeping a close eye” on the promising talent.

Were the East Londoners to make a move before the window slammed shut, then, according to older reports, they might have to cough up around £18m for the former Leeds United ace.

It could be a complicated and costly transfer to get over the line, but given Cresswell’s ability and potential, it’s one West Ham should pursue, especially as he’d be a better signing than Castellanos.

Why Cresswell would be a better signing than Castellanos

Okay, fundamentally, there are two key reasons why Cresswell would be a better signing than Castellanos, and the first is what the team needs.

While they certainly haven’t been great, West Ham have not been dire in attack this season.

As things stand, the Hammers have scored 21 goals in the league, which is as many as Sunderland and just one fewer than Crystal Palace and Everton.

Moreover, new signing Pablo has already scored ten goals and provided one assist in 14 games this season.

Therefore, with the former Gil Vicente ace now in the team as well, it seems bizarre to spend so much on the Lazio star who has just two goals and three assists to his name in 12 games this year.

Now, in contrast to the attack, the Irons’ defence has been diabolical so far this year.

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For example, as things stand, the club have conceded a whopping 41 goals, which is unsurprisingly the worst record in the league bar none.

That brings us to the second reason Cresswell would be a better signing: in addition to simply reinforcing a weak point in the team, the Englishman also appears to be a quality player.

Don’t just take our word for it, though, as respected analyst Ben Mattinson described the 23-year-old as a “proper leader at the back” during the summer when he helped England win the U21 Euros.

Moreover, as his underlying numbers make clear, the 23-year-old is a brilliant combination of a modern ball-playing and no-nonsense old-school defender who isn’t afraid to get stuck in.

According to FBref, he ranks in the top 1% of centre-backs in Europe’s top five leagues for actual and expected non-penalty goals and for touches in the opposition’s penalty area; the top 5% for aerial duels won; the top 12% for clearances; and more, all per 90.

Cresswell’s Scout Report

Statistics

Per 90

Percentile

Non-Penalty Goals

0.18

Top 1%

npxG: Non-Penalty xG

0.12

Top 1%

Shots Total

1.21

Top 1%

Touches (Att Pen)

2.44

Top 1%

Aerials Won

3.71

Top 5%

Clearances

7.03

Top 12%

Assists

0.06

Top 16%

Blocks

1.50

Top 17%

All Stats via FBref

Ultimately, while their attacking additions might prove helpful, West Ham should go all out to sign Cresswell, as he would be the most crucial bit of business they do this month.

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Posts ByDominic Lund

Manchester United are now reportedly eyeing a deal to sign a 19-year-old midfielder who’s been compared to Crystal Palace star Adam Wharton.

Man Utd plotting key midfield addition

It’s becoming an open secret that Man United are after a key midfield reinforcement this month and potentially in the summer transfer window. The Red Devils have been caught short in the middle of the park in recent weeks, leaving Ruben Amorim with little choice but to play Lisandro Martinez out of position.

Now, with the winter window open, they’ve already reportedly made enquiries over the possibility of signing Brighton & Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba. The Cameroon star was a summer target and United’s interest has not gone away. Brighton, however, are not keen on selling the 22-year-old midway through the campaign.

Brighton’s stance could force United to look elsewhere if they want to strengthen this month and that could see them turn towards the likes of Ruben Neves.

The Al-Hilal star is likely to be on the move this year after opting out of signing a new deal in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to complete a return to the Premier League.

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He’s one for the future.

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With Man United reportedly among the clubs lying in wait, Neves could provide Amorim with a much-needed solution for his midfield problems. Although, it must be said that United would need to find a way past his potential salary demands fresh from Saudi luxury.

There’s also a number of younger stars on United’s reported shortlist, who would offer more long-term solutions either this month or in the summer.

Man United eyeing move to sign Christos Mouzakitis

According to Sky Sports, Man United are now eyeing a move to sign Christon Mouzakitis. The 19-year-old Olympiacos star may well be a cheaper alternative to the likes of Wharton this year, whilst providing a similar solution at the heart of Amorim’s side.

Como scout Ben Mattinson even went as far as to compare Mouzakitis to Wharton last February in what should only be seen as good news for those at Old Trafford.

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The scout described the teenage star as “powerful” and “tenacious” in a raving review of one of the most promising young midfielders in Europe.

If INEOS can avoid splashing out on Wharton and still sign a similar profile this year, then it would be incredibly solid business. Whether Mouzakitis emerges as their leading target remains to be seen, however.

The Indian board (BCCI) has decided to “infuse new, young blood” in its team of umpires to improve the standard of umpiring in the country – which has come under the scanner in the current IPL tournament – and has asked state associations to nominate four candidates each, including at least two former first class players, to appear for an examination that will be held in July.”We have decided to revive the examination that, I believe, has not been held for a while. The idea is to infuse new, young blood and improve the standard of umpiring here,” Niranjan Shah, BCCI, secretary, told Cricinfo.”The umpires who have done poorly or have been found below average may not be posted in important matches,” MP Pandove, the BCCI joint secretary, said in a press release. The decision to conduct the examination in Mumbai was among the few taken during a meeting of the BCCI’s umpires committee on Monday.S Venkataraghavan, the former India captain and BCCI’s director of umpires, will redraw the list of 30 “best umpires” to be on the board’s Elite panel, based on their performance last season that was assessed through video analysis during matches. The BCCI will also monitor the performance of its Elite panel over the next season to identity and promote potential candidates for the ICC’s panel, Pandove said.Apart from Venkatraghavan, Shah and Pandove, the BCCI’s umpires committee comprises representatives of the five zones and Stanley Saldhana, the game development manager.India have not been represented on the ICC’s Elite panel of umpires since Venkatraghavan retired in 2004. The standard of Indian umpiring has been tested during the current season of the IPL, with the cricket of a much higher profile than in a regular domestic tournament. The shortcomings were shown up by the incident involving Sourav Ganguly and umpire G A Prathapkumar, in which the umpire referred a catch to the third umpire after Ganguly, given out, had complained.

Paul Grayson is Essex’s new first team coach © Essex CCC

Essex have announced a mid-season reshuffle. Mark Pettini, as expected, becomes first-team captain – an enforced move following Ronnie Irani’s retirement through injury. But the first team get a new coach, too, in Paul Grayson.Grayson, a former player, shifts from the second team to the first team, while the club clarified that Graham Gooch would continue as batting coach. Essex had not had a first team coach per se for a couple of years since Gooch changed from head coach to batting coach, so this will be the first season since 2004 that they have had a main coach.Grayson clarified: “When Ronnie Irani was in charge he didn’t really need a regular coach all the time – we always shared it between myself and Graham Gooch – but now that Mark’s got the job he feels that he wants someone with him all the time and I’m delighted to take that role.”John Childs will retain his role as academy director, but also replaces Grayson as second team coach.The vice-captain vacancy will be filled by James Foster. A final decision is that Irani will continue as club captain until the end of the year, but in 2008, Pettini will also take on that mantle.The cricket committee recommended Pettini as captain, and this was endorsed by the general committee, who made the final decision at a meeting on Wednesday.Pettini was the stand-out candidate for the captaincy, a position he has filled since Irani limped out of cricket in June. “It’s been quite nice over the last month or so to have had some time to ease my way into the job,” said Pettini. “Now that it’s official I have the second half of the season to really get stuck into the job and hopefully set myself up for next year.”Captaincy is not something I’ve thought about much over the last few years,” Pettini told the Essex CCC website. “I’ve just been trying to cement my place in the side – but now that chance has been given to me there are certainly some great names that I’ll be following.”I’m confident that I will be up to the task. Everyone has doubts when they start doing something new – particularly something as big as the captaincy – but we’ve achieved some really great results over the last few weeks. There was a period where we won five games in a row with me in charge recently so that gave me a lot of confidence in terms of thinking that I was able to do the captaincy.”David East, the club’s chief executive, said: “He was certainly the choice of the senior players because he is a very popular member of the dressing room. Everyone has been very impressed in terms of the support he has given to the side when he’s been available to do so.”

Richard Caborn, the sports minister, is under pressure to call for a meeting with BSkyB officials to discuss the small audience being attracted to Sky Sports’ coverage of international cricket.This comes after it was revealed that viewing figures for the Tests against Sri Lanka were under a third for those on Channel 4 this time a year ago. The average audience for the Sri Lanka Tests was 200,000 while the comparative figures for the Bangladesh series in 2005 were around 700,000. Critics of the BSkyB deal also point out that Bangladesh were also a less appealing opposition.The Department of Culture, Media and Sport also indicated that the BBC had expressed a desire to hold “serious discussions” with BSkyB to try to negotiate the return of limited coverage to terrestrial TV. The Keep Cricket Free campaign said that the audience figures were proof that the deal with BSkyB had been “misguided”.John Grogan, the MP for Selby, a vociferous advocate of cricket being available for free, said that it was “absolutely unprecedented” for a minister to call in broadcasters to discuss a commercial contract such as this. “This reflects the fact that the viewing figures on Sky have been truly appalling,” he told the Yorkshire Post. “There is still hope that if James Murdoch, head of BSkyB, agrees to negotiate, some of the England-Pakistan series could be on free-to-air television.”A media insider said that the BBC’s move was slightly surprising given that it had not been interested in putting forward any bid when the contract was up for review in 2004. He also questioned whether the BBC would be able to devote the hours needed for the coverage of matches on its main channels, or even if it would be prepared to pay a commercial rate for such coverage.Caborn confirmed in parliament yesterday that he had written to all broadcasters asking them to major broadcasters last month offering to hold a summit, providing they “are willing to negotiate with BSkyB”.

Terry Jenner believes Warne could rattle India© Getty Images

Is Shane in the best phase of his career?
Shane’s best years were between 1993 and 1997, where he took those enormous amounts of Test wickets. However, after his recent 12 months off, the best he bowled in a long time was in Sri Lanka, where he spun the ball and looked very good. Today, he is still bowling better than anyone else has bowled – not spinning the ball as much as he did, as often as he did; but variation, change of pace and a lot of subtleties have come with experience.So has he gone down from the peaks he reached in that purple period you mentioned?
The answer is simple: he underwent a shoulder reconstruction. Prior to that, he spent a lot of time having injections in his shoulder. So, he went through a long stage of not being fully fit and, in a sense, that is the most important part of Shane’s action. Apart from his fingers and wrist, it is his shoulder which he was unable to fully utilize. Then he had the operation, and that took a long time to recover from; in fact, the surgeon who carried out the operation said that it’s common with javelin throwers – and the majority don’t return. So Shane returned, struggled for a while and then just pressed on with his game. And, prior to that, the tendon in his finger had to be operated on – all this in the latter part of the nineties. After that, when he started playing again he dropped a simple catch and broke his spinning finger – which is not a pretty shape now. So he has had to re-adjust the feel of his fingers. He has had several of those injuries, along with the arthroscopy on his knee, all of which have taken some sort of a toll. He hasn’t deteriorated in the true sense of the master of the craft, but injuries have caused adjustments to the way he plays, the way he bowls.Do you fear any further injuries could disrupt again?
I don’t think so. He is 35, very fit and his shoulder is very strong. The only thing that could go wrong now would be accidental, which is like the last injury – the broken finger – a freakish one. That was the second time he had injured his fingers so he had to re-adjust his thinking, and his feel in his fingers on two occasions. That’s a hell of a climb when you rely on the fingers and the wrist to impart the spin on the ball.What are the things you guys worked during the one-year ban?
We worked on alignment, on spinning the ball, on confidence, on not being defensive, but positive and attacking. Generally, we worked on rebuilding his confidence because, after a gap of a year, it doesn’t matter who you are, you still wonder whether you are going to do it like you did before.Do you think those things are working now?
Well, he got those 27 wickets in Sri Lanka, so you will have to say that it worked.

Shane Warne at his peak is an irresistible force© Getty Images

During his pomp he had this ability to drift the ball phenomenally. How come that has stopped?
It depends on the height of his arm. There was a period there, just before his suspension, when his arm was quite low, probably bordering as low as Stuart MacGill’s. And when the arm is down that low he doesn’t get the same sort of action on the ball that allows that curve. When he gets the shoulder in the customary position – which is up and over, and not around – that’s when we see the curve. In Sri Lanka it was curving where he had that lovely action, similar to the one he had back in 1995 that was beautiful to watch.So what are his stock balls at the moment?
It’s still the legbreak – and that will always remain his stock ball. Then there are the natural changes of pace. He has now got the very deceptive slider which is getting him a lot of lbws. That is turning out to be the master ball for him. Then, he just occasionally throws in the topspinner and the googly, because they are still part of his repertoire. And the flipper – he doesn’t nearly as often because it has a lot to do with the broken finger and the hand; it is very much a confidence ball and if you got something sort of that doesn’t feel right then you probably wouldn’t bowl it. But I am still optimistic that he will work out a way of bowling it with this disjointed fourth finger on his hand.Now about India tour: in his six Tests there, Shane has 20 wickets at 52.25. You must have seen the previous two tours, so what he was trying then and what went wrong?
You could say the same about Kumble when he didn’t perform well when he came over here. Then there is the fact that Muralitharan has also struggled in India. Probably you will have to say that, and I don’t use this an excuse but as a statement of fact, on neither occasion that he has toured India has he been at full fitness in terms of the shoulder and the confidence not being there. The first time he was having a lot of injections to get through, and the second time he had the finger operation and was finding his way back. Perhaps this is the time, maybe, to assess him on the best he has to offer because he is fit; it’s only the damaged spinning finger which may temper his repertoire a little bit. He is very optimistic and I am certainly hopeful we can see Warne at his best.What should be his approach this time then?
Exactly like he bowled in Sri Lanka – if he can approach it that way, be attacking, be positive, don’t be defensive: that is the answer. The difficulty, of course, for Shane, is that he won’t have anyone at the other end. However, if you know Warne at all you will know he will carry that load mentally and feel responsible, and again it might temper his aggression. It’s an awkward scenario: he will bowl the overs for his captain, and may bowl more overs than he should but that’s what he will do, that’s the way he is.

It would be a brave man that would suggest Australia could win it. I would like to predict 2-2.

What is the best way to bowl to the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, VVS and Ganguly?
You have to spin the ball. What else can you do? I am sure that will test Laxman, Tendulkar and co. as against when he was there before where he mainly was just pushing the ball through and they were able to read the length and play from there. He has learnt from that; he is 35 and a terrific student of the game and he recognizes that to be successful in India he can’t do what he did on his previous trips.He can only supply what’s in his armoury, which would mean working very hard for his wickets provided someone at the other end can bowl really good spells to keep it tight.That means the lack of a proper spin-partner would have done him harm?
It has made his life difficult for sure. Its not the first time that he has had that scenario. When you think about those 530-odd wickets, and the percentage of wickets he has got in India, for him it’s a challenge. If he can get McGrath, Gillespie and Kasprowicz to keep it tight then I think it’s unlikely that the other two spinners will get much of a look in, unless for some reason the pitches are really substandard. In this case they will be obliged to play a couple of spinners, otherwise Australia will go with only one.Do you think the Aussies should go in with two spinners?
I am not going to say they should because you have one spinner (Nathan Hauritz) who has taken 16 wickets last year at more than 60, and the other one (Cameron White) is just feeling his way. If you went with two spinners then I would say that you would have to go with Cameron White, but again he is very young and inexperienced for those conditions.You said it would do Hauritz more harm if he was picked up?
Nathan Hauritz is a young man, who has, unfortunately, developed his craft in the limited-over game. So what he has to be able to do if he plays a Test match is bowl 20 or 30 overs. And I sense that eventhough they felt that he was the best finger spinner in the country his record is one that makes it difficult. He is only a baby and I don’t think throwing him to the wolves on this tour of India will give him much of a chance in the future. They’ve got to think carefully. But if it’s a poor pitch that will bring Hauritz into the game because he has just got to bowl line and length. And with only one game before the first Test, you would never see these guys (Hauritz only played the game as Warne opted out and White couldn’t figure in the XI). They could be like (Stuart) MacGill, who went there and didn’t bowl a ball.How about MacGill – another miss?
He is the second-best spin bowler in Australia and on that score he should’ve been picked. However, if Warne hasn’t been successful to this point in India then the chance of MacGill striking aren’t good. Also, if you have the two leggies together and it’s not working then it is going to be expensive. So, they are thinking that a finger spinner can tie an end up. In the past you had Colin Miller and Gavin Robertson doing that job and they had some years and some kilometres under their belt. So it’s a difficult scenario. I guess of the 15, twelve will play and the three youngsters are there for experience.

Whenever India play at home the expectations on Kumble are huge© Getty Images

Turning to India, what are the things that have always impressed you about Anil Kumble?
The fact that he has got a giant heart, he never ever wants to give the ball up. I have that strong vision in my mind of him bowling in the West Indies with a broken jaw and bandages all round his face. I saw that on the television; there’s been a lot of other bowlers that haven’t taken the field and here’s Anil Kumble with a broken jaw trying to help his team win a Test match. Then when he was here last summer against a pretty formidable Australian side and they took to him, but he stuck to his game. He didn’t bowl like he did on the previous tour where he put men all around the boundary and tried to be defensive and get them out. And in the end even if got six for 160-odd in Sydney, he was still doing his job. That again stuck in my mind.The other thing was, with the way he bowled in India, it was not possible for that style of bowling to work in Australia. And for him to alter the sequence of his deliveries from his armoury showed that he is clever, and a good learner.Last year in Adelaide you worked with him for a session: what did you dwell on?
I had a terrific hour-and-a-half with him. It was mostly about what I just mentioned above about changing the sequence, bowling more wrong `uns and topspinners, getting his wrong `un more as it spins, use the faster one as a surprise ball and not as a stock ball. We discussed what his stock balls were in India: the quicker slider, throwing the occasional topspinner, wrong `un and also the legspinner that is sort of developing. Out here he reversed that.He was looking to bowl with a lower arm because Shane bowled with a lower arm, and I said to him at that time, “You and Shane are different bowlers. You both have different strengths. Let’s look at your strengths – you have got 300-plus Test wickets bowling a certain way. Just let’s use the sequence of your deliveries differently.” We also talked about alignment, as he gets his feet out of the line a bit – which he was aware of.Has he become more predictable?
He has developed a legbreak which, unless people haven’t been watching it closely, you can see that it actually turns. And the minute it turns and runs away to slip you can’t continue to push up the line and play him like an inswing bowler. I would imagine he might throw in his legbreaks pretty early, which would bring the other balls into the game. Getting used to his slider is only any good if he is not spinning it away from the bat with other delieveries. So, if he bowls the ball that spins away then the slider becomes pretty effective, because they start to play away to cover the spin and may get trapped lbw or bowled through the gate.Any result for the series?
I will tell you what’s important for Australia: we are playing India, and England are touring South Africa. Coming up next year, Australia play England in England. What will be perfect is for both sides to be undefeated when they get to that series, that would make it an absolute blockbuster. Having said that, England have got a better chance of beating South Africa than Australia have of beating India because records don’t lie, as it’s been a battle royal. McGrath being sort of at the end of his career could swing the series. So if McGrath can find one more really good series in him then that would give Warne the support at the other end and Australia can win the series. If both of them aren’t able to do that job then it would be a brave man that would suggest Australia could win it. I would like to predict 2-2.

When Yousuf Youhana filled in for Inzamam-ul-Haq in the pre-match press conference at Peshawar, he brought fresh thoughts and words with him. And, since he does not bear the burden of captaincy, he had the luxury of being more fulsome in his praise of the Indian batting line-up than Inzamam.

Yousuf Youhana: ‘cricket has become very fast-paced and entertaining’© Getty Images

On the relative strengths of the two teams
“Given the quality of India’s batting, there obviously will be some pressure on our batsmen. The Indians possess the best batting line-up in the world, but at the same time, we are also batting well. The fact that we scored 344 chasing 350 for victory in the first match and made 329 in the second game is evidence enough that we are performing with the bat as well. Both matches so far have been pretty close, and I think the teams are quite evenly matched. If their batting is very good, then so is our bowling.”On how India have posted 349 and 317 despite the strong Pakistan bowling attack
“In the first match, we conceded quite a few extra runs and deliveries, and they made the difference in the end. But otherwise, I thought our bowlers did pretty well in the first match. At one stage, India looked like making between 375 and 400, so to keep them down to 349 was a pretty good effort on an excellent batting track, a flat track full of runs.”On the fast pace of cricket today
“Cricket has become very fast-paced and entertaining these days. All around the world, the trend is to make flat wickets, and it is the batsmen who are calling the shots – even in Australia, where teams are regularly making and chasing 300. It’s difficult for me to say exactly what is now a secure score in one-day cricket. After all, if you get off to a good start in the first 15 overs, then if you bat normally and without taking any risks for the rest of the innings, you can easily post 300-plus.”On the game being loaded in favour of batsmen
“There’s not much of a challenge for the batsmen on such surfaces, to be honest. It’s fairly easy to make runs, but there is also a little bit of pressure in the sense that you know that if you make less than 300, you are definitely not safe. As for the bowlers, I can’t talk much about the field restrictions and such because those are not my decisions, they are the ICC’s decisions. But I suppose if a fast bowler were to be allowed to bowl say two bouncers in an over, it could make for a more even contest.”Haroon Rashid, Pakistan manager
On Pakistan’s slow over rate
“The problem seems to have got a little worse in the recent past. We are trying our best to curb extra deliveries, and I can assure you that you will see a lot of improvement in the next few matches. That we have three or four fast bowlers with longish run-ups is no excuse at all. We have noticed that our bowlers have extended followthroughs, they walk very slowly back to their bowling marks, and the fielders aren’t quick to move between overs. Also, when a team makes 350, obviously the ball is disappearing to the ropes so often and has to be retrieved! It’s just a matter of saving a few seconds here and there, and I am confident we will be back on track for the rest of the series.”

The decision by the International Cricket Council not to reschedule England’s cancelled fixture against Zimbabwe has had further repercussions in that English umpires Peter Willey and Neil Mallender have expressed doubts about going to Bulawayo to officiate in the matches there and have been replaced by the ICC.Based on the evidence presented to the ICC by the England and Wales Cricket Board, Willey and Mallender had concerns about their safety if fulfilling appointments in Zimbabwe.Willey was due to partner Dave Orchard in the Zimbabwe versus Australia match in Bulawayo on Monday, 24th February, with Mallender as third umpire. Willey was also to be third umpire for the Zimbawe against the Netherlands game, also in Bulawayo, four days later.Billy Bowden of New Zealand will replace Willey for the Australia match, while Nadeem Ghouri of Pakistan stands in for the Dutch game. Mallender will be replaced by Brian Jerling of South Africa.In announcing the changes, ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said: "Both umpires had separately advised the ICC that if the ECB did not send its team to Harare, they would be reluctant to fulfil their appointments in Bulawayo."Since the cancellation of the England match, they have reconfirmed their decisions that they do not want to stand in Zimbabwe."Willey said: "I advised the ICC some time ago of my concerns and indicated that if my employer, the ECB, did not send its team to Zimbabwe, I would be unlikely to travel to the country."Willey has always been regarded as one of the hard men of the game. Most of his international cricket was played against the might of the West Indies when they were at the peak of their powers because it was known that he would not flinch against their battery of fast bowlers. He is also regarded as one of the best umpires around but refused to allow his name to be put forward for the ICC Elite Panel because he did not want all the travel and time away from home that such an appointment would involve.Both Willey and Mallender will complete their other scheduled appointments. Willey is third umpire for the South Africa v Sri Lanka match in Durban on 3rd March, while Mallender will act as third umpire for the Australia v Namibia game in Potchefstroom on 27th February. He will also stand with Asoka de Silva in the Kenya v Bangladesh game at The Wanderers in Johannesburg on 1st March.

• It was the 1724th ODI in cricket history.
• It was England’s 330th and Pakistan’s 498th ODI.
• It was the 49th match between these two sides. The record now reads :Pakistan 20, England 28, abandoned one.
• John Holder and Mervyn Kitchen were officiating in their 18th and 28thmatch respectively.
• Darren Gough was playing his 50th consecutive match since the matchagainst Australia at Brisbane on 10-01-1999.He became fourthEnglishman to do so after Ian Botham (67), Graeme Hick (55) and DavidGower (50).
• Marcus Trescothick became third Englishman to be dismissed off thefirst ball of a match. Others to achieve this dubiuos distinction forEngland are Barry Roberts (b.Roberts) versus West Indies atScarborough on 26-08-1976 and Derek Randall (c.Lloyd b.Roberts) versusWest Indies at Brisbane on 23-12-1979. In addition, Graham Gooch wasalso dismissed off the first ball in England’s innings (lbw Brandes)at Albury on 18-03-1992,but that was in the second innings of thematch.
• The eighth wicket partnership of 67 runs between Ben Hollioake andDarren Gough was England’s best for this wicket against all countriesobliterating the 62 run-partnership between Darren Gough and DermotReeve against Sri Lanka at Faisalabad on 09-03-1996. This alsoequalled the record partnership for eighth wicket by any side againstPakistan. Kenya’s Deepak Chudasama and Thomas Odoyo had also added 67runs at Nairobi (Aga) on 02-10-1996. Incidentally the previous highestpartnership for England for eighth wicket against Pakistan was apaltry 29 runs between Ronnie Erani and Robert Croft at Edgbaston on31-08-1996. Just for the record,the previous highest for England foreighth wicket in England was 55 runs between John Lever and Chris Oldagainst Australia at 04-06-1977.
• Gough’s innings of 40* is the highest by an English batsman at numbernine. This obliterated Martin Bicknell’s 31* against Australia atPerth on 09-12-1990.Incidentally West Indian Michael Holding holds therecord of playing the highest innings at this position with 64 againstAustralia at Perth on 05-02-1984.
• Gough now has an aggregate of 189 runs (ave.15.75) in 18 innings whilebatting at number nine – maximum for England. He surpassed Phil deFreitas’ tally of 151 runs (ave.15.10) from 20 innings. Just for therecord, Australia’s Shane Warne has scored maximum runs at thisbatting position – 421 runs (ave 14.03) from 47 innings.
• Waqar Younis (7-36) achieved the second best bowling performance inODIs. Only Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan with 7 for 30 againstIndia at Sharjah last year has better figures in shorter form of thegame. Waqar also bettered Aaqib Javed’s Pakistani record of bestbowling in one day internationals. Javed took seven wickets for 37runs against India at Sharjah on October 25,1991. Waqar also putWinston Davis’ seven for 51 in to shade – the previous best figures bya bowler on English soil. He also eclipsed Australia’s Garry Gilmour’ssix for 14 – the previous best figures against England. Theaccompanying table lists the best bowling figures in a one-dayinternational :

Figures	Balls	RpO	Bowler	Countries	Venue	Date
7-30	60	3.00	M Muralitharan	SL v Ind	Sharjah	29-10-2000
7-36	60	3.60	Waqar Younis	Pak v Eng	Leeds	17-06-2001
7-37	60	3.70	Aqib Javed	Pak v Ind	Sharjah	25-10-1991
7-51	63	4.86	WW Davis	WI v Aus	Leeds	12-06-1983
6-12	37	1.95	A Kumble	Ind v WI	Calcutta	27-11-1993
6-14	72	1.17	GJ Gilmour	Aus v Eng	Leeds	18-06-1975
6-14	60	1.40	Imran Khan	Pak v Ind	Sharjah	22-03-1985
6-15	54	1.67	CEH Croft	WI v Eng	Kingstown	04-02-1981
6-18	60	1.80	Azhar Mahmood	Pak v WI	Sharjah	19-10-1999
6-19	50	2.28	HK Olonga	Zim v Eng	Cape Town	28-01-2000
6-20	60	2.00	BC Strang	Zim v BD	Nairobi Aga	14-10-1997
6-23	54	2.56	AA Donald	SA v Ken	Nairobi Gym	03-10-1996
6-26	60	2.60	Waqar Younis	Pak v SL	Sharjah	29-04-1990
6-29	59	2.95	BP Patterson	WI v Ind	Nagpur	08-12-1987
6-29	58	3.00	ST Jayasuriya	SL v Eng	Moratuwa	20-03-1993
6-30	58	3.10	Waqar Younis	Pak v NZ	Auckland	13-03-1994
6-35	60	3.50	SM Pollock	SA v WI	East London	24-01-1999
6-39	71	3.30	KH MacLeay	Aus v Ind	Nottingham	13-06-1979
6-41	58	4.24	IVA Richards	WI v Ind	Delhi FSK	23-10-1989
6-44	60	4.40	Waqar Younis	Pak v NZ	Sharjah	23-11-1996
6-49	60	4.90	L Klusener	SA v SL	Lahore	06-11-1997
6-50	54	5.56	AH Gray	WI v Aus	Port-of-Spain	09-03-1991

• Waqar’s figures are now the best by a captain in ODIs. The previousrecord was on the name of West Indian Viv Richards who took six for41 against India at Delhi on 23-10-1989. The following table liststhe best bowling figures by a captain in a ODI match :

Waqar Younis	7-36	Pak v Eng	Leeds	17-06-2001
IVA Richards	6-41	WI v Ind	Delhi	23-10-1989
GS Chappell	5-15	Aus v Ind	Sydney	08-01-1981
Wasim Akram	5-15	Pak v Zim	Karachi	24-12-1993
Wasim Akram	5-16	Pak v SA	East London	15-02-1993
GS Chappell	5-20	Aus v Eng	Birmingham	04-06-1977
ST Jayasuriya	5-28	SL v Aus	Galle	22-08-2000
Asif Karim	5-33	Ken v BD	Nairobi Gym	10-10-1997
SC Ganguly	5-34	Ind v Zim	Kanpur	11-12-2000
IVA Richards	5-41	WI v NZ	Dunedin	18-03-1987
Kapil Dev	5-43	Ind v Aus	Nottingham	13-06-1983

• Alec Stewart, by holding four catches in Pakistani innings, created anew record of most dismissals by an English keeper against Pakistan.The previous record was of three dismissals made on seven occasions(thrice by Stewart himself).
• The two wickets in this match has taken Darren Gough’s tally ofwickets to 147 from 94 matches making him the most successful bowlerfor England. Gough eclipsed Ian Botham’s record of 145 wickets from116 matches.
• Alec Stewart conceded the match due to pitch invasion by crowd. It wasthe second instance of a side conceding the match. The only otherinstance took place more than 22 years ago when Indian captain BishanSingh Bedi called his batsmen from the field when 23 runs were neededfrom 14 balls with eight wickets in hand in protest against thepersistent short pitched bowling of Sarfraz Nawaz whose fourconsecutive bouncers were not called wide. Though the World Cup matchbetween India and Sri Lanka at Calcutta on 13-03-1996 had to beabandoned due to crowd disturbance when India was 120 for eight inreply to Sri Lanka’s 251 for eight , the match was awarded to SriLanka by default by match referee Clive Lloyd.
• The defeat in this match has extended England’s streak of consecutivelosses to 10. The defeat was also England’s fifth in consecutivematches at home soilits worst performance. England had lost fourmatches in a row from 18-06-1975 to 31-08-1976.
• Waqar Younis was winning his 14th Man of the Match awardfirstagainst England in 13 matches.

Newcastle United’s owners showed in the previous January transfer window just how capable they are of being active in the market and spending money on bringing new players to the Tyneside club.

With the upcoming summer transfer window on the horizon, it seems as though a big twist has emerged over one potential deal that could take place for Newcastle once the current season ends.

What’s the latest?

According to a recent report from Football Insider, the Magpies are in pole position to sign defender Sven Botman from Lille for around £30m this summer even though he has apparently already agreed personal terms with AC Milan.

The Toon were linked with a move for the centre-back during the previous winter transfer window but couldn’t get a deal over the line.

Since joining the French club back in the 2020 summer transfer window from Ajax’s U21 side, the 22-year-old has made 75 appearances for Lille across all competitions, chipping in with three goals and two assists.

With an average of 4.5 clearances per game in Ligue 1 this season, more than any other Lille player, the Dutchman could be a big asset for the Toon and strengthen their back line.

Labelled as a “golden boy” by Francesco Miniero, the director of Botman’s agency in Italy, the defender would certainly be a special deal for PIF to pull off, who will surely be happy at being at the front of the line to sign the youngster.

Even though Eddie Howe’s side haven’t conceded more than one goal in any of their 12 previous games across all competitions, adding the Lille star, who is currently valued at £27m according to Transfermarkt, to their ranks would definitely make the team stronger at the back, even after they already added some depth to it in January with the arrivals of Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier and Matt Targett.

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

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Moving forward, if Newcastle were able to snatch Botman out of Milan’s hands and finally get their target after missing out on him in January, this would certainly please a lot of Toon fans and further increase the reputation of the club’s owners and their ruthlessness in the transfer market.

In other news: NUFC eye £49.5m-rated “phenomenon” who’s a “work of art”, he’d ignite St James’ Park…