Mark Ramprakash has turned down an offer to join the Indian Premier League, according to a report in The Times.Ramprakash, whose contract with Surrey expires at the end of the 2009 season, was approached by the Rajasthan Royals to plug a two-week gap left by the late arrival of Graeme Smith but the move was rejected after consultation with county officials.”There are bound to be other approaches and not just to Mark,” Paul Sheldon, Surrey’s chief executive, told the newspaper. “We are looking at the possibility of 12-month contracts but we don’t want to prevent any of our players from extending their earnings out of season provided that offers come from officially sanctioned leagues and the dates do not conflict with commitments to Surrey.”We have to be open-minded. We are hoping that the IPL might take place in future in March or October, in which case the opportunities would obviously increase.”

Scorecard

	Aaron Redmond made 64 in the second innings to follow up his 146 earlier in the match against England Lions © Getty Images

Aaron Redmond completed an impressive build-up to the first Test against England with 64 to go alongside his first-innings 146 as the New Zealanders secured a draw against England Lions at The Rose Bowl. Redmond added 150 with Jamie How before Adil Rashid caused a brief flutter with three quick wickets.Robert Key declared to leave a target of 368 off 75 overs, but that was never really in the equation. Unlike in the first innings the Lions attack couldn’t make any inroads with the new ball as Matthew Hoggard went wicketless in a six-over spell the day he was recalled to the England squad.Redmond and How made steady progress on an easy-paced pitch and the Lions quickly turned to the spin pair of Rashid and Graeme Swann. How’s 74 was an important innings after a duck in the first innings and two single-figure scores against Essex last week. Redmond, however, is striking form at just the right time with New Zealand’s top order set for a testing time at Lord’s.He reached his fifty with a slog-swept six off Swann and had time to complete a second century when he lofted Rashid to Hoggard. His wicket prompted a small stumble by the New Zealanders as Rashid enjoyed his most productive spell of the match. Rashid had How stumped before trapping Ross Taylor for a fourth-ball duck; Taylor’s four innings since arriving for the tour from the IPL have been 17, 4, 5 and 0.Despite the flurry of wickets there wasn’t time for the Lions to make a serious charge at victory, even though Chris Tremlett trapped James Marshall lbw shortly before the match ended. Key could have given his bowlers a few more overs to dismiss the tourists on a surface where runs only flowed quickly when Luke Wright was at the crease on the first day, and briefly on the final day when the Lions flung the bat. However, except when New Zealand took five wickets between lunch and tea on the opening day, wickets hadn’t fallen in a rush. With the England squad already named, the pace bowlers won’t have wanted to over-exert themselves with more Championship matches next week for their counties.Michael Carberry was able to resume his century following the early departure of Rashid in the morning session. He had to retire hurt on the third day after pulling up with severe cramp during the celebrations for his hundred, but he only added a further eight before being caught behind off Tim Southee. Swann flung the bat with good effect in his 41-ball 51 while Tremlett also added quick runs.The major positive to come out of the match for the New Zealanders is the performance of Redmond. The opening position has been a long-standing problem, but Redmond’s resilience suggests he won’t be pushover come the first Test and he has a good chance of surpassing his father’s one cap. Chris Martin also found some useful rhythm in both innings, but some of the other batsmen, notably Taylor, Daniel Flynn and Jacob Oram are short of time in the middle. There are also lingering concerns over Daniel Vettori’s finger, although the motivation of leading his team at Lord’s should allow him to overcome the pain barrier.

	Ramnaresh Sarwan again perished after being unable to resist the temptaion to pull (file photo) © AFP

Double impact
One of Sreesanth’s gifts as a fast bowler is his ability to move the ball both ways and he showed off his skill with great effect in the first over of the match. He seamed the first two balls away from Wasim Jaffer, brought the third back into the right-hander, and then took the fourth away once again. The mixture left Jaffer addled and he poked inside the line at the fifth delivery, which moved away from him and took the outside edge to the wicketkeeper. Cameron White was perhaps expecting an outswinger the very next ball and drove away from his body, Sreesanth threaded the bat-pad gap with the inswinger and uprooted middle stump.Not quite Jonty
Both teams were abject in the field today with several lapses resulting in boundaries but there was one offender who stood out prominently. Punjab’s VRV Singh began the match with two poor throws from the deep, one of which conceded overthrows, but his fielding was about to get much worse. Later on he let a cut from Dravid slip past him at short third man, a lapse which prompted Yuvraj Singh to move him to short fine leg. Later in the over a leg side delivery slipped past the wicketkeeper and VRV was unable to run quickly enough to save the boundary.Communication breakdown
A seaming pitch and two early wickets meant that the situation was tailor-made for the steady styles of Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid. While Dravid responded with a gritty innings, Kallis was a victim of an awful mix-up. He was sent back to the non-striker’s end by Virat Kohli after he had nearly completed the single and was hopelessly stranded.Duck hunting
There were as many as five zeroes in Bangalore’s innings. The first three wickets were all ducks – Jaffer and White falling off successive deliveries before Kallis was also run out before he could score. Praveen Kumar was the next duck, edging his second ball off Piyush Chawla to Uday Kaul while Zaheer Khan lasted one delivery, getting bowled through the gate a Chawla googly.Many times bitten, never shy
Ramnaresh Sarwan has lost his wicket several times in the past – in Tests and ODIs – to the miscued hook or pull. Today he resisted the urge when Praveen Kumar bounced him the first time and just about managed to sway out of the way. When faced with a second bouncer the very next ball, Sarwan went for it, aiming for the deep-square leg boundary. He didn’t get on top of the bounce and edged a catch to the wicketkeeper.A fitting end
One run to win, several balls remaining and Anil Kumble ends Bangalore’s misery with a wayward delivery down leg side. It summed up his, and Bangalore’s, night. Kumble had begun well, conceding three off his first over but finished with 0 for 36 off 3.2. Bangalore were shoddy in all departments: they failed to assess the conditions quickly while batting, ran shoddily between the wickets, and bowled and fielded poorly while defending a below-par total.

The Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA), during an internal meeting today, has formed 10 sub-committees that will work under court-appointed observer, former Justice Mukul Mudgal, in regards to the organisation of the fourth Test between India and South Africa. Justice Mudgal will be going to the Feroz Shah Kotla at 11am on Saturday morning for his first meeting with senior DDCA officials.”Today we have formed the 10 sub-committees that will be working for the smooth conduct of the Test match. Each committee will have a chairman and also have three-four members,” DDCA treasurer Ravinder Manchanda told PTI. “Tomorrow Justice Mudgal will be coming to Kotla for inspection and first meeting with the officials. We have asked all our executive committee members to be present.”However Manchanda said that they are yet to finalise the names of the members in each committee. “We will fill up the names by tomorrow. We will need tosee what Justice Mudgal advises,” he said. “We will certainly obey and follow his instructions.”

Match facts

January 15, 2016
Start time 1900 local (0600 GMT)1:42

Pakistan’s well-rounded pace attack could pose New Zealand with a sterner test as both teams would look to fine-tune their preparations for the World T20

Big Picture

New Zealand have batsmen in a record-breaking mood. Pakistan are hoping reignite their T20 game after losses against England. There is a World T20 in two months. But none of this is as compelling as the return of one of cricket’s exiles. Friday will mark a major step in Mohammad Amir’s quest for redemption.Every no-ball he delivers over the next few years will probably bring to mind that infamous second day at Lord’s, in 2010. But he seems a little more mature now. In this recent interview, Amir spoke of having a fast bowler’s anger “in the blood”, yet of having accepted the fact that even his team-mates have a right to express displeasure at his inclusion. He spoke of “learning about life” during tough times, and of wanting to convince his critics, and win over fans.Most of all, he spoke of having changed, only, let us hope that does not extend to his bowling. He had been one of the world’s most absorbing talents during his brief pre-fixing career. Pakistan fans will remember sublime Test spells in England, in Leeds against Australia, and at The Oval against England. Or his superb use of the short ball in the first over of the 2009 World T20 final, where tournament top-scorer Tillakaratne Dilshan was first subdued, then overcome. In a brush with top-level T20 cricket at the Bangladesh Premier League in November, the skill in Amir’s wrist, and the rhythm in his legs seemed not to have deserted him. Unlike the many volcanoes in Auckland’s city limits, Amir’s dormant days are finally over.There are trials to come, beyond the fast bowler’s usual plight of having to stay fit and take wickets. A major tour of England in the middle of the year promises to be a media circus, and on that front at least, New Zealand has been a relatively relaxed place in which to begin his reintegration. Maybe when he starts to bowl again, if he bowls just like he used to, cricket may find it easier to forgive him.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)

 New Zealand: WWWLW
Pakistan: LLLWW

In the spotlight

Corey Anderson is still playing as a specialist batsman as he continues to recover from back injury, but he has been handed a new role with the bat. Moved up to no. 4 in the order, he is now charged with batting freely, and maintaining the top order’s momentum, as Ross Taylor – when he plays – is expected to provide insurance at no. 5 . Anderson is an increasingly versatile player, but his progress in an unfamiliar role in this series may determine whether New Zealand stick with this top order combination for the World T20.With Umar Gul having had injury problems, and played only one T20 in the past year, Wahab Riaz appears the de-facto leader of the Pakistan attack. He had had a southern summer of resurgence last time he was in these climes, taking 16 wickets at 23 at the World Cup. One of his better spells had come at Eden Park, during Pakistan’s fervent defence of 232 against South Africa. It may be up to Wahab to set the example in bowling those slightly shorter lengths that are generally more successful at the venue.

Teams news

Legspinner Todd Astle would prefer to make his T20 debut in a larger ground, but he may play in the team over Mitchell Santner, whom New Zealand have already had a look at. Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan and Trent Boult are also playing for three spots between them. Tom Latham may play for the rested Ross Taylor.New Zealand (probable): 1 Kane Williamson (capt), 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Colin Munro 4 Corey Anderson, 5 Tom Latham, 6 Grant Elliott, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Todd Astle, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Trent BoultAnwar Ali and Gul are likely competing for one place. If Pakistan prefer experience, there’s little doubt as to who they would choose. Sohaib Maqsood was hit in the neck at training, but is expected to be fit to play.Pakistan (probable): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Sohaib Maqsood, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Anwar Ali/Umar Gul, 10 Wahab Riaz, 11 Mohammad Amir

Pitch and conditions

The drop-in pitch at Eden Park is usually full of runs, but can turn, at times. The weather is expected to be dry, if a little cloudy, with temperatures around 20 degrees Celsius.

Stats and trivia

• Amir took 14 wickets at an average of 12.64 and an economy rate of 5.56 in the Bangladesh Premier League in November-December last year. He has 23 wickets in 18 T20 internationals.
• The first T20 at Mount Maunganui is the only occasion in which Corey Anderson has batted in the top four in 11 T20 innings.
• New Zealand have played 11 T20s at Eden Park, and won six of those games.

Quotes

“I would say you’d like 100-metre boundaries, but I guess that presents its own challenges. If you restrict you can create chances to take wickets. In this format you know anything is possible.”
“Before coming here we had a fitness camp as well, for a couple of weeks. Everybody worked really hard. If you have a hard fitness training camp, what it does is bring us all together. That’s important for any side. It helps to understand each other more. All the juniors and the seniors – it’s no different at the moment. We’re all pumped up and trying to give 100 per cent.”

Twice, the captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz got Bangladesh Under-19s back into the semi-final against West Indies Under-19s. But when he came to bowl his last over, with West Indies needing just eight runs off 18 balls, he was tasked with scripting a miracle. There was not to be any, as he gave away one run in his over, took the cap from the umpire and slowly walked towards Mohammad Saifuddin, who eventually conceded the winning runs.Mehedi was one of those Bangladesh players who did not sit down on the floor after Shamar Springer hit the match-winning four. Instead, he pulled a few of his team-mates to their feet, and when all of them were slowly walking towards the on-coming West Indies players to shake hands, the Shere Bangla National Stadium gave them a standing ovation.Mehedi had been the face of Bangladesh Under-19s side all tournament. His calmness under pressure, and his ability to bring the team out of trouble had touched one and all.From 88 for 4 with the set batsman Joyraz Sheik just dismissed, Bangladesh could have folded quickly, but Mehedi held on, adding 85 runs for the sixth wicket with Saifuddin. He rode out the pressure period and found a boundary whenever the West Indies bowlers tried to put together a cluster of dot balls. With the ball, Mehedi bore the brunt of Gidron Paul’s early bashing but kept himself on until he removed Pope in the seventh over.Bangladesh were still in the game at that stage, but it was not to be their day. Despite Mehedi’s 60 off 74 balls and the two early wickets, Bangladesh could not really find a way to beat West Indies. The crux of the trouble was not the West Indies fast bowlers’ early verve, but the way the hosts only made 30 runs in the last five overs and lost four wickets, including those of Mehedi and Saifuddin, before the pair could start the final assault.Mehedi later said that 20 more runs towards the end of their innings would have made the difference, though he stood by the decision to bat first.”The wicket was slow. We don’t play under pressure at this level of cricket,” he said. “We thought if we score 240-250, it would be difficult for any opposition. We were short by 20 runs. When Saifuddin and I got out at that time, the runs dropped down. That’s where it went wrong for us. If I was there till the end, we could have reached 250. We had to take risk as we had six wickets in hand in the last five overs. We went behind the eight-ball as soon as Saifuddin got out the next ball to my dismissal.”Mehedi rued the extra runs mainly because of the way Saifuddin kept bowling those yorkers. He was proud of how Saifuddin kept Bangladesh in the game with his yorkers but realised that unless the West Indies batsmen went after him, they would not be effective. “He does bowl good yorkers but since we were defending a low total, it wasn’t working because they were not trying to go after him.”Their attacking start reduced the pressure that was on them at the start of the chase. Had the spinners bowled better, we would have stopped them,” he said.Mehedi said that his team learned how to handle pressure at a young age, particularly playing in front of a large crowd and handling expectations. “As much as we say there’s no pressure, there is some at the U19 level. We never played in front of such a big crowd.”We had the pressure from the expectation that we have to win the semi-final. We are still very young. We have to manage all this, and now that we have seen such situations, played in front big crowds, we will manage it well next time.”Mehedi’s side may have been the first from Bangladesh to reach the last four of the competition, but he hoped that the team would improve even further in the next World Cup.”The third-place match is also important as it would mean we would be among the top five Test-playing nations in this competition. Mushfiq bhai’s team were fifth, and after us, the next generation can better our result.”

Harry Redknapp has rubbished rumours that he would be willing to sell Luka Modric to any club, for any price:

“There’s no chance of it happening at all. Luka’s key to everything that’s happening at this place. Everybody knows what I think of him. And if you want to move on to higher levels you don’t start flogging off your best players – to anyone.” –The Sun

I didn’t think the news needing announcing but apparently Ferguson’s ‘friendship’ with Redknapp could have had a deciding factor on the player’s destination. It’s difficult to imagine Redknapp selling the Croat to any bidder in this transfer window considering the importance of retaining, whilst adding to, a squad that is pushing to be in the Champions League group stages come the beginning of next season.

It was rumoured that United may be tabling a £25m bid for Modric in an attempt to add some desperately needed creative influence in midfield. But the 24 year old has himself hinted that he would prefer to be part of the future at White Hart Lane:

“I thought at the time, ‘this is a big thing for us’. If we qualify for the group stages of the Champions League I’m sure this club will go on to another level.”

Although what players say can rarely be given credence anymore considering the transfer climate it is safe to assume that Redknapp will certainly not allow the diminutive attacker to be sold as his squad prepares to battle it out with Europe’s best.

With the door publicly and proverbially closed on United it leaves me wondering who Ferguson can look to capture and reignite the variety of Old Trafford’s attack. David Silva remains an option, although the noises from Spain are now suggesting some reticence to the notion of selling. Wesley Sneijder is another man who, despite having the best debut season possible with Inter, may be available given Mourinho’s departure (and the likelihood of one or two high profile names following him to the Bernabeu).

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But with the World Cup only a mere fortnight away there remains plenty of time for players to enhance (or degrade) their reputations.

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Tottenham’s Robbie Keane has reportedly been targeted by Martin O’Neill and the Villa boss is supposedly eager to sign the striker in the summer window. Weekend reports stated Harry Redknapp would want Gabriel Agbonlahor in exchange for the Irishman. So, if the deal was to ensue this summer, which club would benefit most, Spurs or Villa?

Keane has failed to hit the heights since his Spurs return and failure to secure a regular first team start prompted a loan move to Scottish giants Celtic in February. 16 goals in 19 games saw Keane recapture some form, but it remains to be seen whether Tottenham will give him another opportunity next season to prove he has a future at White Hart Lane.

The weekend reports suggest that Spurs have valued Keane at approximately £12 million; a fee that the NOTW suggest Villa are after for Agbonlahor. Redknapp is looking to add to his current squad this summer, as he plans his assault on the next season’s European and the domestic competitions, and Agbonlahor’s pace will certainly add a different dimension to the Tottenham attack. It remains to be seen if O’Neill would be tempted to part company with Agbonlahor in any swap deal, or whether a straight cash move for Keane would be the preferred option.

The 23-year-old Villa forward appeared 41 times, whilst bagging 16 goals in all competitions for his club this season. Agbonlahor is not known to be a prolific striker, far from it, but his explosive pace no doubt causes the opposing defence some major problems.

So with that in mind, which club would profit most from the proposed transfer this summer?

Having looked at both players’ statistics last season, it’s clear to see that Keane’s goal ratio is far better than that of the Villa striker. The Spurs man goal ratio stands at 1 goal in every 2 games, where as Agbonlahor’s is 1 goal every 2.5 games.

The Villa no.11 unquestionably possesses more pace than Keane, but the Spurs man is a far better finisher without a doubt. Many will question Agbonlahor’s quality when bearing down on goal, but these critics must take into consideration that the Englishman is still young and learning the trade. At 29 years of age, Keane bags more experience and as such has a vaster knowledge of the game than that of the Villa striker. Both players share European experience but of course not at the highest level.

If you were to ask the neutral fan on who the better striker is, and as such, which club would benefit most from the possible move, the result may prove to be a fairly unanimous one.

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Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber hopes to keep Landon Donovan in his homeland for the rest of his career, dashing Everton's hopes of signing their former loanee.

The 28-year-old forward impressed while on loan with the Toffees last season, but a permanent deal for the LA Galaxy ace looks increasingly unlikely.

Garber commented:"He's become a real football hero.

"MLS needs football heroes and we have a great American football hero playing for us in LA, holding the torch for the sport in our country and that's very important.

"I don't believe that it's something we can do without.

"Landon proved in England last year on loan and he proved in South Africa that he's a world-class player and he's also proved that he loves our league and really has accepted the mantle of really being one of the leaders of the sport.

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"It is my hope and my expectation that we will have him for the rest of his career, because I think the contributions that he makes are invaluable to our future success."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Owen Hargreaves persistent injury problems have alerted Sir Alex Ferguson to the possible availability of the Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra. The 25-year old Frenchman may be deemed surplus to requirements at the Madrid club following Jose Mourinho’s purchase of the German midfielder, Sami Khedira. Injury concerns and the need for new blood in midfield have led to reports that Manchester United are preparing a bid for the French international.

The player who was spared the ignominy of being included in France’s 23-man World Cup squad due to a stomach condition, arrived in West London in 2005 amid talk of being the new Makelele. However a lack of first team opportunities saw the midfielder leave Chelsea for Arsenal where he was largely outshone by Mathieu Flamini. Dissatisfied with his lack of playing time once more he moved to Portsmouth where he was finally able to showcase his combative style of football. The player felt the move was vindicated as he helped the south coast club win the FA Cup for the second time in their history and won a place in France’s Euro 2008 squad. His consistent performances at Fratton Park did not go unnoticed especially by the former Tottenham boss Juande Ramos. When the Spaniard arrived at the Bernabeu for a brief sojourn as manager he identified Diarra as the man to provide some defensive resilience to balance the side’s attacking flair.

Soon after arrival there in January 2009, Diarra won the support of the fans due to his exceptional work rate and presence in midfield despite his size. He is accurate and strong when tackling allowing him to come away cleanly with possession of the ball. The player is not known merely for his defensive qualities as once in possession he has the ability to set the tempo of the game, distributing long range passes and quick incisive ones too. These considerable and varied qualities have seen him deployed in varying positions, including at right back for Los Blancos.

With injury concerns and the need to refresh their midfield in the coming years, could Manchester United be tempted to snap up Diarra? His industrious agent would surely be only too happy to facilitate another big money move for him but there are questions over his potential place in United’s midfield. Sir Alex Ferguson does not have a reputation for being a tinkerman but the United boss shuffles the pack in terms of personnel and formations more than most. Diarra would therefore be sure of a role in their midfield but it is unlikely he would be the fulcrum of the side. The Real Madrid player may find his chances limited by the ever improving Darren Fletcher. The Scottish international has been a revelation at Old Trafford in recent seasons winning the confidence of his manager and playing regularly in the biggest games. His commanding displays have allowed him to control the midfield, neutralising even the most skilled players whilst charging from box to box assisting goals and scoring them too. Despite the all-round skills of Fletcher and Diarra the manager may feel that deploying two players of the same ilk would sap creativity in midfield.

Diarra’s qualities would make him an asset to any club and the player is to be admired for his desire not to be a bench-warmer. His chances at Madrid have recently been restricted by the World Cup winning Xabi Alonso. While he would provide strength and quality to United’s midfield he may find himself in a similar position up against Fletcher whose stock continues to rise in Manchester.

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With the PL season nearly upon us, let’s see the WAGS that will be keeping the players on their toes. Click on image to VIEW gallery

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