West Indies’ bowling coach had good things to say about his wards, especially legspinner Devendra Bishoo who has found form once again after a disappointing tour of England

Liam Brickhill in Bulawayo22-Oct-2017

West Indies bowling coach Roddy Estwick credited an “outstanding” bowling attack for setting up West Indies’ first-innings lead over Zimbabwe in the first Test at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Estwick, who has worked with the team’s bowlers for the last 18 months, gave special mention to legspinner Devendra Bishoo, who had a quiet tour of England but came to the fore with 5 for 79 against Zimbabwe.”Over the last year the bowling department has been functioning well, so I’m not surprised that we were able to bowl them out under our score,” Estwick said. “The bowling unit has been outstanding all year, and once Bishoo came to the party. I wasn’t surprised we restricted them to this score.”Bishoo, who took just three wickets across two Tests in England, picked up the fourth five-wicket haul of his career and ran through Zimbabwe’s top order with a combination of spin, bounce and accuracy in helpful conditions on the second day.”He didn’t have the best tour of England,” Estwick conceded. “It’s a difficult place to bowl. But if you look [at the last year], he got 30 wickets in that period so he’s been quite successful. He got eight wickets in Dubai on a flat track as well, so he does his job. The bowling unit has been outstanding; you can’t fault them. They’ve been able to stay on the park and stay fresh. It’s been a long year but we keep going and we keep getting teams out.”Estwick suggested that West Indies had taken their cue from Zimbabwe’s first-day bowling effort, when the patience and consistency of the seamers set up the spinners’ demolition. “Obviously we learnt from the way that Zimbabwe bowled in their first innings where they were patient and soaked up pressure,” he said. “We tried to do the same thing, block it with our seamers and try to get wickets from the other end.”West Indies’ lead stood at 148, with nine wickets standing, at the close of play, but in what has been a fast-moving, see-sawing Test match so far Estwick also warned against any complacency. “[The pitch] is going to get a bit more difficult because it’s going to lose pace, and that means strokemaking is going to get difficult. Zimbabwe lost 7 for 53 [58] after lunch, so the game can change very quickly on a pitch like this. We’ve got to try and take the game as long as possible. Bat until lunchtime and then assess from there. You can’t get ahead of yourself on this pitch. There’s a lot of cricket left.”

Leeds United have seen an offer for Bayern Munich goalkeeper Alexander Nubel turned down, according to fresh reports from Germany.

Who is Alexander Nubel?

Nubel is a goalkeeper who first arrived at the Allianz Arena on a free transfer from FC Schalke back in 2020, but the following term, he completed a two-year loan switch to Monaco meaning that he’s only recently returned to his parent club in the Bundesliga, as per Transfermarkt.

During his time with Adi Hutter’s side, the 26-year-old started all 38 games in Ligue 1 and firmly established himself as their first-choice, a luxury he’s never been used with Thomas Tuchel’s outfit whose official number one and captain is Manuel Neuer, hence why the former moved elsewhere to receive more regular game time.

Bild recently reported that the German doesn’t see his long-term future at the club and has made it clear to them that he wants to leave, and it was stated that Stuttgart want to take him on loan whilst the Whites were more so looking to wrap up a permanent deal.

Sky Sports in his homeland soon after claimed that Bayern were set to make a final decision on his future by Monday, and if the following update is to be believed, Daniel Farke and the 49ers have already learned their fate as to whether they were successful in their pursuit.

Are Leeds signing Alexander Nubel?

According to Kicker (via Sport Witness), Leeds, and by extension new owners the 49ers Enterprises, “made an offer” for Nubel worth in excess of €10m (£8m) plus bonuses after learning that Stuttgart had failed in their opening attempt to land him.

Bayern’s shot-stopper is believed to hold a “negative attitude” towards the project in Yorkshire, with relegation to the Championship having not “helped them”, and therefore, doesn't want to make the move. The German giants are claimed to have since resumed discussions and have reached an agreement over a loan move with Stuttgart, therefore meaning that he won’t be going to Elland Road.

Is Leeds missing out on Alexander Nubel a blow for Farke?

Leeds might have to enter the market for a new goalkeeper this summer should Illan Meslier depart, which there’s a strong chance he will having admitted that he would be open to a move to Chelsea, and Nubel could have been the perfect replacement having been hailed “top class” by journalist Josh Bunting.

At Monaco, the 6 foot 3 colossus kept nine clean sheets from 38 Ligue 1 matches last season and he recorded a total of 140 saves from 195 shots on target against, giving him a success rate of 72.8%,via FBRef, a percentage that’s significantly higher than Meslier’s 59.5%, showing that he could have been an upgrade on Farke’s current number one.

Nubel, who has experience of playing in both the Champions League and Europa League, also has an extremely strong range of passing having completed 99.2% of his short dispatches and 97.5% of his medium dispatches so has an eye for picking passes to his outfield teammates, but this is a quality that the boss will have to do without after seeing his approach turned down.

Elsewhere, Jharkhand picked up a bonus point against Haryana through a ten-wicket win

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2017Left-arm orthodox spinner Sijomon Joseph took his maiden five-wicket haul to help Kerala notch up their second win of the season, a 131-run win against Rajasthan in Thumba.Rajasthan were set 343 to win after Sachin Baby’s counterattack – 30 off 16 balls – lifted Kerala’s score from 217 for 2 to 250 for 5 in less than five overs on the morning of the final day. Overnight batsman Jalaj Saxena was unbeaten on 105 when Kerala declared; Sanju Samson couldn’t add to his overnight score of 72, falling in the first over of the day.Rajasthan’s innings was plagued by recurring collapses. They had lost both openers withing seven balls of the start of their innings, before a 63-run stand between Robin Bist (70) and Rajesh Bishnoi (35) brought stability to the innings. But Joseph broke that stand and followed it up with the wicket of Ashok Menaria to reduce Rajasthan to 64 for 4 with more than 70 overs still to play. Nearly 40 of those overs were absorbed by the fifth-wicket pair of Bist and Mahipal Lomror (53) but the former’s wicket brought yet another collapse – they fell from 160 for 4 to 190 for 9. Deepak Chahar and Aniket Choudhary then attempted a final resistance, batting out 62 balls and bringing Rajasthan close to pulling off a draw. But Joseph trapped him in front in the 84th over to seize the win for Kerala.Jalaj, who made scores of 79 and 105* in the game, took two wickets in the second innings to also finish with a ten-wicket match-haul.Jharkhand walked away with a bonus-point win against Haryana in Ranchi, after chasing their 80-run target without losing any wickets.The win was set up by Shahbaz Nadeem, whose six-wicket haul inflicted a collapse on Haryana, who had begun the day on 141 for 4. Overnight batsmen Rajat Paliwal (93) and Rohit Sharma (71) added 107 runs on the final day before Nadeem dismissed the former, seven short of a 14th hundred. Haryana lost the rest of their wickets for the addition of only 48 runs and were bowled out for 296, having conceded a first-innings lead of 217.Jharkhand promoted wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan, who struck an unbeaten 46 off 45 balls and took them home in the company of Nazim Siddiqui (24*).

Gabriel Moscardo's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain has been delayed following the results of the Corinthians midfielder's medical.

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• Moscardo wanted by Chelsea and Barca
• Move to PSG from Corinthians lined up
• But medical reveals foot injury

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The 18-year-old's move to the French capital appeared imminent, after the capital club triggered his €20 million (£17m/£22m) release clause and beat the likes of Chelsea and Barcelona to his signature. According to , Moscardo travelled to Paris for a medical on Friday but tests detected a foot fracture that will now require surgery. As a result, PSG's plans to sign the young midfielder have been put on hold as they await the outcome of that procedure.

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  Despite an agreement being reached in the winter window, the expectation was that Moscardo would join PSG in July. These plans now depend on the outcome of said surgery, which reports will take place in Doha, Qatar, under the agreement of current employers Corinthians. If successful, the capital club could pay an excess of €2 million (£1.7m/$2.2m) in appearance-based add-ons.

• WHAT AUGUSTO MELO SAID

  Despite those financial extras, Corinthians president Augusto Melo has slammed the sale of one of his star players for a cut-price, as he told a press conference on Tuesday (via ): "From the outset, we were against the sale. It's a reality, and I mentioned it at certain meetings. I was not in favour of selling. The players trained at the club will always be a third income. First it will be a shirt, then lace: we want our players to be trained, to give us titles before being valued. He's selling at an incredible price. I had to take part in this negotiation, even though it wasn't something we wanted, but, to give you an idea, if we didn't accept, they would have paid the clause that was cheaper. Why didn't they increase Moscardo's clause? Why didn't they increase it when he was extended?"

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  WHAT NEXT FOR PSG?

  The French giants will await the results of said foot surgery, before seeing if other procedures are necessary for the youngster. If all goes through, it will be a remarkable turnaround for Moscardo, who only made his senior debut back in June. He has represented Brazil's Under-23 side but is yet to make a senior international appearance.

Hundreds from opener Sanjay Ramaswamy and professional Ganesh Satish ensured Vidarbha stretched their first-innings lead to 258 against Punjab on the second day in Mohali.They put on 178 for the fourth wicket before thirties from Apoorv Wankhade and Akshay Karnewar took the score beyond 400. While Ramaswamy was dismissed by Pargat Singh for 161, Satish remained unbeaten on 126. Left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma – who was part of the India Under-19 squad that toured England earlier this year – picked up 2 for 110. On the opening day, Punjab had crashed to 161 all out in 42.2 overs.Bengal took strong strides towards an outright win against Chhattisgarh in Raipur. After piling up 529 for 7 declared, they reduced the hosts to 62 for 5 with fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Ashok Dinda sharing the first four wickets. Offspinner Amir Gani claimed the other wicket to fall, after which Manoj Singh and Abhimanyu Chauhan took Chhattisgarh to stumps without any further damage.Earlier, Sudip Chatterjee, who began the day on 58, completed his tenth first-class hundred and his second in two matches. While Manoj Tiwary (36), who was playing his 100th first-class match and Wriddhiman Saha (27) did not build on starts, Anustup Majumdar and B Amit made fifties to set up the declaration. Shami and Dinda then amplified the advantage with the new ball. Ashutosh Singh, however, counterattacked, hitting 51 of the side’s 80.Himachal Pradesh‘s openers Priyanshu Khanduri and Ankush Bains hit hundreds each in a 237-run stand to pave the way for a 101-run first-innings lead against Goa in Dharamsala. Both batsmen were dismissed in quick succession, but cameos from Paras Dogra (21) and Nikhil Gangta (32*) took the side past 350.Darshan Misal was the only Goa bowler to concede less than three runs an over. On the first day, medium pacer Pankaj Jaiswal picked up four wickets to bowl out Goa for 255.

The England quick sprained his ankle in his fourth over of the day and was ruled out of the second day of the tour match

George Dobell in Adelaide09-Nov-2017England’s Ashes plans have been hit by another setback after Jake Ball was forced off the pitch at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday through injury.Ball, who had emerged as a likely member of England’s side for the first Test, was midway through his fourth over against the Cricket Australia XI when his right ankle buckled in his delivery stride and he fell to the floor.He was able to walk off the pitch unaided but an England spokesman later announced that Ball would take no further part in the second day’s play. His sprained ankle will be monitored over the next few hours before any decision is made about further treatment or the length of his lay-off.The setback comes even before Steven Finn has arrived home. Finn, who in turn was a substitute on the tour for Ben Stokes, suffered a knee injury during training in Perth and was sent home on Wednesday having failed to show any signs of recovery. His replacement, Tom Curran, is due to join up with the rest of the squad in Adelaide on Friday.With Moeen Ali also sidelined through a side injury – he returned to the nets as a batsman on Wednesday – and yet to bowl on the tour, it left Paul Collingwood – England’s 41-year-old fielding coach – dressed in whites and prepared to come on as a substitute fielder as required.It all means that time – and options – are running out for England as they prepare for the first Test which begins in Brisbane on November 23.

Leeds United have already bolstered their backline considerably this summer, yet there remains one more addition they could make to truly forge a formidable defence once again…

Is Taylor Harwood-Bellis leaving Manchester City?

Ethan Ampadu and Karl Darlow marked fine additions to kickstart Daniel Farke's reign, but he will still be far from comfortable going into the new Championship campaign, which gets underway this Sunday.

He will want to build for the future, whilst also ensuring that their Premier League absence is considerably shorter than their last.

In an effort to achieve both of these feats in one fell swoop, the reports linking them with a move for Taylor Harwood-Bellis should have fans thrilled, especially after the exceptional past year the young defender has enjoyed, which has led to such widespread interest.

Read the latest Leeds transfer news HERE…

With Manchester City set to command just £15m for his services, such a deal would represent a no-brainer for the promotion-chasing Whites seeking to put themselves in the strongest position to succeed this season.

How good is Taylor Harwood-Bellis?

To once again raid the Etihad for talent would be to repeat a thorough success of the past, given Jack Harrison was a famous export from the Sky Blues who has gone on to shine at Elland Road.

Despite only joining permanently in 2021, the 26-year-old has featured 206 times for the club due to his near-three-year loan spell, as a mainstay under every boss that has passed through in recent terms.

Although his form might have waned for periods, he has remained one of the few consistent quality assets at the Yorkshire outfit, with his figures seldom letting the side down.

Just last season saw him post 12 goal contributions in the league as they fell to the drop, building on the eight goals and one assist he recorded the year prior. To emphasise his longevity at the club, he even notched 14 goal contributions during their last promotion.

There is no doubting his quality, which Marcelo Bielsa sought to showcase in 2021:

"He’s a player who, when he manages to play at his best version, he has a big influence on our offensive game".

To think, the English trickster was signed for just £11m, marking yet another coup that they could be set to emulate with Harwood-Bellis.

The 21-year-old centre-back has most recently enjoyed a standout year on loan at Burnley, featuring 32 times in the league as they walked to the Championship title.

His 7.21 average rating was the second-best among Vincent Kompany's players, and was buoyed by his 85% pass accuracy, 1.8 interceptions, 1.1 tackles and 3.1 clearances per game, via Sofascore.

Then, after adding one piece of silverware to his cabinet, he then captained the England U21 side to the European Championship, winning the tournament without conceding a single goal.

He truly is a formidable leader, with the figures to suggest he could even surpass Harrison's legacy should he grow into the player his potential suggests he might.

Tony Mowbray, who enjoyed his services whilst at Blackburn Rovers, helped to outline the bright future in question further:

"Taylor has a defensive instinct, a warrior attitude and he’s someone who wants to win headers and tackles. He wants to engage, he’s composed on the ball and has a lot of really good attributes."

If Harwood-Bellis can realise even half the potential that he is gathering with his ever-improving performances, then he would not just emulate but demolish the success enjoyed with their signing of Harrison from City.

Leicester City endured a bitterly disappointing 2022/23 campaign as they were relegated from the Premier League and they are now preparing for at least one season in the Championship.

Who have Leicester City signed this summer?

The Foxes have moved swiftly to make four new additions to their squad in order to bring the feel-good factor back to the King Power following the arrival of Enzo Maresca in the dugout.

Harry Winks, Conor Coady, and Mads Hermansen have all been brought in on permanent deals, whilst a defender in Callum Doyle has joined on a season-long loan from top-flight champions Manchester City.

A centre-forward also appears to be on the agenda for the club before the summer transfer window slams shut as they have been linked with Swansea star Joel Piroe.

How much would Joel Piroe cost this summer?

Football Insider recently reported that it would take a fee of at least £15m, and possibly up to £20m, to snap the lethal Dutchman up from the Welsh outfit, amid interest from Leeds United and Southampton.

If Leicester believe that they need a consistent scorer in order to fire them back to the Premier League then that could end up being a bargain price as the 23-year-old ace has proven himself to be a phenomenal striker at Championship level.

He could arrive at the King Power as a big upgrade on current striker Patson Daka for Maresca, based on their respective form over the last two seasons.

The current Foxes forward scored four goals in 30 top-flight appearances last term and that came after he managed five strikes in 23 league outings during his debut campaign in England.

This means that the Zambia international has found the back of the net nine times in 53 league matches for Leicester to date, which is one goal every 5.89 outings on average, and the club may not be able to afford to wait for him to find his feet this season as any points dropped could be vital in the race for promotion.

How many goals has Joel Piroe scored for Swansea?

Piroe, on the other hand, is coming off the back of two exceptional seasons with Swansea in the second tier.

During the 2022/23 campaign, the left-footed finisher scored 19 goals in 43 games and averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.99, which would have placed him third within the Foxes squad – albeit at a higher level.

That came after the "prolific" – as he was dubbed by EFL YouTuber Benjamin Bloom – striker plundered an eye-catching 22 goals in 45 league battles throughout the previous season, which was his first year in England.

The Swans marksman, who is a year younger than Daka, has proven himself to be a consistent and reliable scorer at Championship level, so his arrival could provide Maresca's side with a significant boost in their efforts to return to the top-flight at the first time of asking.

Daka is yet to prove himself to be someone who the head coach can lean on to produce goals on a regular basis, whereas Piroe would come in as a striker who could hit the ground running and be the focal point for the Italian head coach's team through the middle.

Therefore, the ex-Manchester City assistant could improve his strike force by winning the race to sign the hotshot before the deadline passes.

Glasgow Rangers have agreed on a fee with Feyenoord for striker and long-term target Danilo, Sky Sports report.

Are Rangers signing Danilo?

A number of new players have been signed by Michael Beale ahead of his first full season in charge of the club, and it looks as if Danilo could be the next through the door.

Jack Butland, Leon Balogun, Kieran Dowell and Dujon Sterling have all made the move to Glasgow on free transfers.

Meanwhile, money has been spent on attackers Cyriel Dessers and Sam Lammers, whereas Brighton forward Abdallah Sima has arrived on a season-long loan.

Despite three new additions in the final third the club have lost three attackers from last season in Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent and Antonio Colak, with Rangers receiving money for the latter after he signed for Parma.

Danilo has been a key target in Glasgow, with Beale personally thought to be an admirer of the forward. An opening offer was turned down by the Eredivisie side, who have been wanting more than £5m for the striker, and it looks as if they will get their wish after a new bid was submitted, with all parties involved on course to get what they want.

Sky Sports shared an update out of Ibrox regarding their pursuit of Danilo on Tuesday. They stated that there has been a breakthrough, with an agreement reached between the two clubs which could be worth a total of £6m.

“Some breaking news from Rangers. They’ve had a deal worth £6m accepted by Feyenoord for striker Danilo. The 24-year-old scored 12 times last season and has been the subject of several offers.

“The initial fee being £5.2m before potential add-ons. Personal terms not expected to be a problem, the Brazilian is keen on a move to Ibrox.”

Further reports have claimed that the forward is poised to travel to Scotland early next week to finalise a transfer by undergoing a medical and signing the relative paperwork, with a five-year deal on the cards.

Who is Danilo?

Danilo actually the same agency as Rangers players Connor Goldson, Fashion Sakala, John Lundstram and Rabbi Matondo, so now a fee has been agreed, you’d like to think a move will go smoothly.

The 24-year-old appears to be at the peak of his powers with a career-high €6.5m Transfermarkt valuation and joined Feyenoord on a free transfer last year. Since then, the forward has found the back of the net on 14 occasions in 48 appearances, helping the club to the Dutch top-flight title in the process.

Prior to his stint with his current employers, Danilo was on the books with Ajax and enjoyed a productive loan spell with FC Twente, scoring 17 Eredivisie goals in 33 appearances during the 2020/21 season.

In total, Danilo has scored 87 goals in 175 appearances at youth and senior level, but with a first taste of senior football outside the Netherlands on the cards, it will be interesting to see if he can find the back of the net regularly in Scotland.

The wicketkeeper, who is set to equal Brad Hogg’s Australian record for the most Tests missed between appearances, is eager to use this chance to rewrite the story of his career

Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane20-Nov-2017Tim Paine can’t take a hint. In fact, he can’t take repeated hints over the course of several years.Three summers ago, when Paine was 29, Tasmania looked to the future by choosing the Western Australian import Tom Triffitt as wicketkeeper instead of Paine. Last season, it was the teenage Jake Doran – another import – who took the gloves. And this year, Matthew Wade returned from a decade with Victoria and settled in behind the stumps himself.So where does that leave Paine? In a plot-twist worthy of , it leaves him about to keep wicket for Australia in an Ashes series, seven years after he last wore the baggy green. As head-scratching selections go, this is one of the scratchiest, for Paine has been gloveman in just three Shield games in the past two years and has not scored a first-class hundred since 2006. But there are mitigating circumstances.”It was widely recognised last year in Tasmania that I was the best wicketkeeper in Tasmania,” Paine said in Brisbane on Monday, “it was just that at the time Tasmania had a fair share of battles in Shield cricket and decided to go in a new direction that was clearly a younger direction, so that was just how it panned out.”And the lack of big runs? One contributing factor was the smashed finger that he suffered while batting against Dirk Nannes in an exhibition match in 2010. Rod Marsh was Iron Gloves, but surely no Australian wicketkeeper has had as much metal to contend with as Tim Paine, who now has a plate and seven or eight pins as permanent features of his right hand, repairing the index finger that caused him such trouble after the Nannes blow.”Behind the stumps I was pretty good straight away, it didn’t worry me too much. It hurt a little bit but it didn’t take too much away from me,” Paine said. “But with batting, it really did affect me and you only have to look at my numbers in those few years when I came back. I was battling mentally, I was out there thinking I was going to get hit and if I did get hit I’d never play again. It certainly rattled me a lot.”It was not until he opened up with Tasmania’s sports psychologist, Emma Harris, that Paine was able to move past his batting troubles. And now, a couple of years down the track, he has also found an ally in the new Tasmania batting coach Jeff Vaughan, who has helped Paine rework his batting grip to better suit his pins and plate.”The opportunity has come at a really good time for me,” Paine said. “The past five or six months I’ve really started to bat well again and I’ll go into this Test with some confidence. I played pretty well last week [against England in a tour game], I’ve played Test cricket before so I know what to expect. And I’ve had some success in the few Tests I have played, so I’ll take some confidence from that.”Australia have played 78 Tests since Paine last wore the baggy green, meaning that on Thursday he will equal the Australian record for the most Tests missed between appearances: Brad Hogg also sat out of 78 Tests from his 1996 debut until he returned to the side in 2003.And while Paine admits he was surprised by his recall, he is keen to grab his chance. He turns 33 next month, and if he performs strongly during this Ashes campaign, he could feasibly have several years ahead of him as a Test keeper. Finally, it is a chance for Paine to live up to the high expectations that were placed on him seven years ago.”I’m not here for five minutes, I’m here to make the most of this opportunity,” he said. “To be honest, I’m sick of talking about being the person who hurt his finger and what could have been six or seven years ago. That’s the way I’m looking at this opportunity.”Hopefully I can be sitting in a room like this in two years or three years and we’re talking about the back end of my Test career, not ‘Geez, he could have been a good player back in 2009’. That’s something that’s really exciting for me, is to be able to re-write my story a bit and it’s something I’m really keen to do.”