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The former West Indies and Kent cricketer, Hartley Alleyne, an acclaimed coach at St Edmund’s School in Canterbury, is to have his case reviewed by the Home Office. Alleyne still faces imminent deportation after being refused a work permit but now the Home Office could yet allow him to stay.Alleyne, who completed an NVQ in sports coaching to satisfy immigration officials, is being backed in his bid to stay in the country by Canterbury’s MP, Julian Brazier, who branded that decision “appalling” and “utter madness”. Brazier confirmed he had received a letter from Home Office minister Liam Byrne announcing a review.”I welcome the fact that they are reviewing the case again,” said Brazier. “I will continue to press for a successful outcome for this most deserving man.”Alleyne, who has lived in England for 29 years, sayes he has been boosted by the latest development: “This news has brought a smile to my face,” he told the . “I only hope that the Home Office officials who will be reviewing my case can find it in their hearts to let me stay here and allow me to continue what I love doing and that is coaching kids.”His original application, in 2005, was turned down because he did not hold an NVQ Level 3 coaching certificate. He then obtained the qualification while working as a sports coach and resident boarding assistant at St Edmund’s School in Canterbury. His application was, however, rejected.He has an English wife and three children. “To me England is my home,” he said in September, “and Barbados is a place that I return to every now and again for a holiday. I have given so much of myself to this country and have helped to teach kids cricket and help them make a good start in life.”

Giles has been replaced by Jamie Dalrymple © Getty Images

Ashley Giles, the England left-arm spinner, has flown home to England and will play no further part of the Ashes following news that his wife, Stine, is suffering from a brain tumour.Jamie Dalrymple, the Middlesex allrounder, has been drafted in from the England Academy in Perth. He is the second Academy player to join the senior squad after Ed Joyce replaced Marcus Trescothick who flew home at the beginning of the tour.”The news came to me [last night] that his wife had a bit of a problem,” Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, said. “And it was confirmed that it could be a potentially very serious problem, so he asked to go home. Our thoughts and sympathy are with him and he flew out this morning. We’ve called up Jamie Dalrymple and he’ll join up with us on the Melbourne leg.””I’ve been involved with England for seven years and I rate him probably the most professional cricketer I’ve dealt with in England, or in the top three,” added Fletcher. “He really wanted to play, he got upset when he wasn’t, but he came back and took the flak. And so this news must be hard, but he handled it very very well. When he left last night, we wished them well, and hope everything turns out fine for the family.On a day when England’s Ashes hopes were brutally extinguished this is a further blow to their morale.

Ahmedabad has been chosen as the venue for the third Test between India and Sri Lanka, after Kanpur opted out of the race. This also means Mohali, and not Ahmedabad, will host a Test against England. This was decided after a meeting of the Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee in Mumbai.According to the original schedule, Kanpur was slated to host the third Test against Sri Lanka from December 18 to 22. However, with the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association, which hosts matches at Kanpur, and the municipal authorities, who actually own the Green Park ground, involved in a dispute, the third tie has been moved out of Kanpur.This also means that, according to the rotation policy followed by the Indian board to allot matches, Mohali will now get the Test against England which was originally scheduled to go to Ahmedabad. The one-day international between India and England which was supposed to be played at Mohali will now be shifted to Jamshedpur.Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, also announced that the Asia Cup tournament, scheduled to be held in Pakistan from February 16-28, had been called off. The Indian board had made the request to postpone the tournament due to the team’s packed itinerary. Pawar said that the tournament will be held at a “mutually convenient” date.

Former Test batsman Martin Love has been left out of Queensland’s one-day cricket side after struggling to return from a finger injury. Love returned to the Bulls outfit in the Pura Cup loss to Victoria this week but failed in both innings and the selectors want to see him have more match practice to get back into form.Wade Seccombe, the wicketkeeper, and allrounder James Hopes have both been named in the team to play Tasmania on January 2 but must first pass fitness tests. Seccombe has been sidelined with a broken foot while Hopes has a severely bruised hand that restricted him during the 156-run loss to Victoria at the Gabba.Queensland squad
Jimmy Maher (capt), James Hopes, Shane Watson, Andrew Symonds, Clinton Perren, Craig Philipson, Brendan Nash, Wade Seccombe, Andy Bichel, Ashley Noffke, Nathan Hauritz, Shane Jurgensen.

Sri Lanka’s attorney-general has ordered the arrest of Thilanga Sumathipala, the cricket-board president and the chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom, for alleged passport fraud, according to newspaper reports on Saturday.According to The Island newspaper, the attorney-general’s order, issued on Thursday night, follows a criminal investigation into Sumathipala’s involvement with an underworld gang leader called Dhammika Amarasinghe.The CID investigation was prompted by a series of newspaper articles during recent weeks published by another newspaper, the Sunday Leader, which alleged that Sumathipala had helped Amarasinghe obtain a fake passport.Sumathipala was also alleged by the newspaper, which passed on evidence to the police, to have authorised the use of cricket-board funds to help finance Amarasinghe’s trip to the UK to watch the 1999 World Cup.Sumathipala has strenously denied any involvement with Amarasinghe, claiming that the allegations are merely a cynical and malicious attempt to smear his reputation. Amarasinghe, currently being held in remand, stands accused of several contract killings and attempted assassinations, including the attempted murder of the Sunday Leader‘s editor Lasantha Wickramatunge in 1998.The attorney-general’s decision to issue a warrant for Sumathipala’s arrest followed the receipt of a CID report last week. Detectives visited his residence at midnight on Thursday but his whereabouts remained unknown on Friday night.Sumathipala was elected as board president for a third term in June, after winning landslide support among the member clubs that make up the board.

Chickenpox victim Nathan Bracken could play for New South Wales against Victoria later this week – but at least one of the Blues’ ailing batters might miss out.Paceman Bracken bowled only eight overs in South Australia’s second innings of the four day Pura Cup cricket match which ended in Adelaide yesterday.With fellow quicks Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath on international one day duty, the faltering Blues badly need Bracken on board for the Pura Cup match against the Bushrangers starting in Sydney on Friday.Bracken, who was diagnosed with chickenpox on day three of the game in Adelaide, should be named in the NSW team on Tuesday, though a shadow player willbe put on standby.”He (Bracken) will be under some scrutiny until probably as late as Thursday night before the game,” NSW chairman of selectors John Benaud said.”At this stage, the suggestion is that he should be fit, that it is a mild dose of chickenpox so we can only wait and see on that.”Bracken’s illness was the latest setback for an NSW team which struggled over the last two months after making a strong start to the season.Benaud said middle order batsman Graeme Rummans and Matthew Phelps were exerting pressure on a misfiring Blues batting line-up that included an out of sortsMichael Slater.While much had been written about the ex-Test opener’s lean trot, Benaud said the discarded international wouldn’t be treated differently to any other player.”Just because he is a former Test player, I don’t think that really changes the equation at all – he’s just another member of the team who is under pressure,” Benaud said.NSW emerged without a point from its last three Pura Cup games and looked likely to drop to fourth place after the current round.In the ING Cup one day tournament, early season pacesetter NSW dropped to third after losing three of its last four fixtures.NSW dropped Darren Lehmann three times during his quick-fire century in Adelaide and Benaud was also concerned about a batting line-up which struggled with the exception of youngster Michael Clarke.Benaud stressed NSW was still very much in the hunt for finals spots in both formats but acknowledged the Blues needed to improve significantly following its 67 run outright loss in Adelaide.”We need to lift our game fairly substantially. I think our fielding and batting in the last game it would be fair to say was ordinary,” Benaud said.

On Sunday, the last day of the North Zone Ranji Trophy tie betweenServices and Haryana at the Air Force Station Ground in New Delhi, thefinal result was a draw in spite of a stunning batting display byHaryana captain Parinder Sharma.Services started the day on 312/9 in their first innings trailingbehind Haryana’s first innings score of 389. In the fourth over of themorning Services were all out for 327 giving Haryana a lead of 62.Haryana wanted to force an outright victory and went on the offensive.Their second innings was a kamikaze effort. Captain Parinder Sharmahit a whirlwind unbeaten 103 off 72 balls including 12 fours and asix. Wickets fell at the other end like nine pins but Parinder Sharmawas riding his luck to glory.S Dalal (20) and Jasvir Singh (25) were the only batsmen to giveParinder some kind of support. As soon as Parinder reached his centuryHaryana declared their second innings on 176/8 in 26.2 overs.Services had their task cut out. They were set 239 in 56 overs for awin. The match was poised for a close finish. So it did. At closeServices were 152/7 clinging on to dear life. Haryana tried their bestto force the issue through Pankaj Thakur 2/45 and Amit Mishra 3/69.Services owe their three points to Harish Bhaskar (30) and SarabjitSingh (51). Haryana collected five points thanks to their firstinnings lead.

Kasun Rajitha, a 22-year-old seamer from Badureliya Sports Club, has been picked in both the four-day and one-day squads for Sri Lanka A’s tour of New Zealand in October. Rajitha has played only seven first-class matches, and has taken just six wickets at an average of 81.83 in the Premier League Tournament. However, match figures of 7 for 106 in the recent tour match against the Indians have helped earn him a place in both squads.Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay and opening batsman Dhananjaya de Silva, who debuted in the recent T20 series against Pakistan, also find places in both squads. Seamer Lahiru Gamage, wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella, and middle-order batsman Kithuruwan Vithanage, who have all played for Sri Lanka in the past, also feature in both squads. Batsman Ashan Priyanjan has been named captain of both teams.Vishwa Fernando, the 23-year-old left-arm seamer who is in the Sri Lanka squad for the ongoing Test series against India, has been named in the four-day squad only. Chamara Kapugedara, meanwhile, is in the squad for the one-dayers.Left-arm chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan, who has been among the top five wicket-takers in to successive domestic seasons, and had also been in a Sri Lanka ODI squad last year, does not find a place in either squad.Sri Lanka A play four unofficial ODIs and two unofficial Tests against New Zealand A. Their tour begins in Lincoln on October 1, with two warm-up encounters against New Zealand Cricket’s winter training squad.Sri Lanka A unofficial Test squad: Ashan Priyanjan (capt.), Dananjaya De Silva, Udara Jayasundara, Minod Bhanuka, Niroshan Dickwella, Roshen Silva, Asela Gunaratne, Angelo Jayasinghe, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha, Nisala Tharaka, Lahiru Gamage, Jeffrey Vandersay, Amila Aponso, Kithuruwan VithanageSri Lanka A unofficial ODI squad: Ashan Priyanjan (capt.), Dananjaya De Silva, Dhanushka Gunathilaka, Shehan Jayasuriya, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Niroshan Dickwella, Dasun Shanaka, Chamara Kapugedara, Lahiru Madushanka, Chaturanga De Silva, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lahiru Gamage, Kasun Rajitha, Binura Fernando, Nisala Tharaka

Everton have made a name for themselves when it comes to disastrous transfers ever since Farhad Moshiri took over as the owner at the club, with over £500m spent on players and absolutely no return on investment when you consider that the Toffees find themselves in a relegation battle this season.

Although Moshiri will definitely have regrets on some of the players he has already spent millions on, there are opportunities missed to sign players who have gone on to have a fantastic career elsewhere, and one of the biggest howlers was not securing the signature of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Sam Allardyce told the talkSPORT Breakfast Show that he wanted to sign the former Arsenal goal machine back in 2018 when he was the manager at Goodison Park;

“Aubameyang was desperate to come to the Premier League and we didn’t really know if it was definitely a yes [to Everton] or not – but it was probably not.

“Whether that could have happened or not, we never got that far.

“It was always going to be too much money for January, because of what the club spent previous to me arriving.”

The striker, who scored 68 Premier League goals has been hailed a “genius” by Jose Mourinho, and eventually signed for the Gunners in a deal worth £56m from Borussia Dortmund. The rest was history as he became a Premier League golden boot and FA Cup winner during his time at the London club.

When you compare the Gabon born striker’s Premier League attacking statistics (via Premier League website) with current Toffees striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Aubameyang would have clearly been the better striking option for Everton, out-achieving the 26-year-old attacker’s Premier League career so far with two seasons less in the league.

Aubameyang’s superior attacking output could have potentially saved the Toffees from several campaigns of struggles, especially this season when you consider the situation the club has found themselves in.

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It’s something that can definitely be partially blamed on the lack of goals and chances created in the attacking line so far with the side only scoring 29 times compared to the 47 strikes they have conceded already.

With reports of Calvert-Lewin potentially on the move this summer it could be an opportunity for Moshiri and Lampard to find their next Aubameyang who can offer a consistent output of goal involvements, and ultimately improve their chances of thriving in the top half of the table once again should they survive their relegation challenge in the remaining months of the season.

In other news: Forget DCL: Everton must keep “terrible” £110k-p/w “huge liability”, Lamps needs him

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Daniel Vettori top scored with 83 in New Zealand’s first-innings total of 192 © AFP

South Africa A, inspired by Friedel de Wet’s 6 for 50, gained a first-innings lead of 251 over the New Zealanders but chose not to enforce the follow-on on day two of their four-day game in Potchefstroom. Instead they pushed to build on the lead and closed the day at 20 for 2.Resuming at the overnight score of 350 for 4, South Africa A batsmen Neil McKenzie and Morne van Wyk added 28 more before Daniel Vettori trapped van Wyk leg-before for 34. McKenzie looked set for his maiden first-class double-century when Jacob Oram had him caught behind for 182. The last three fell with only 11 added to the total, but McKenzie’s 224-run stand with Boeta Dippenaar on the first day had ensured that New Zealand were under enough pressure when they came out to bat.The pressure increased as Charl Langeveldt bowled Michael Papps for 1 in the third over. It got worse from there as de Wet and Lonwabo Tsotsobe removed the next five batsmen in 17 overs as New Zealand collapsed to 63 for 6. Vettori, who had taken three wickets in the first innings, prevented New Zealand from being bowled out under 100 as he hit 83 off 74 balls. He added 91 with Ross Taylor, who with 36, was New Zealand’s second-highest scorer as they were bowled out for 192.McKenzie was again at the crease when stumps were called along with Tshabalala, the nightwatchman, after Chris Martin dismissed the openers inside six overs.