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Rangers midfielder Aaron Ramsey may have played his last game for the Ibrox club, journalist Pete O’Rourke has claimed.

The Lowdown: January loan move

The 31-year-old arrived at Ibrox in January after making a short-term loan switch during the winter transfer window.

Disappointingly, various injuries and moments to forget saw the Welshman limited to just nine starts in all competitions for the Gers,  only five of which were in the Premiership.

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The Latest: Ramsey touted for Rangers exit

The Juventus midfielder’s arrival at Rangers looked a real coup at the time for the Light Blues, with Ibrox chief Ross Wilson hailing Ramsey’s “wonderful character” upon coming to Glasgow, but the loan deal ultimately proved to be underwhelming for the Wales international.

As a result, O’Rourke thinks that the 31-year-old may have played his last game for the club, telling GiveMeSport: “I’m sure Aaron Ramsey looked like he enjoyed his time at Rangers.

“But a deal would have to be subsidised because of his wages at Juventus if Rangers were to bring him back. As it stands right now, it looks like he might have played his last game for the club.”

The Verdict: What went wrong?

Ramsey’s lucrative move to Serie A side Juventus shares similarities to that of his short-term loan switch to Rangers, as the Welshman’s struggles to keep himself fit overshadowed his performances on the pitch. Manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst even acknowledged the 31-year-old’s “quality”, but also admitted that the midfield wizard occasionally had a “difficult” time of it in Glasgow.

In fact, the midfielder was ranked just 14th out of the entire Rangers squad for his performances in the Premiership (via SofaScore), while his last (and telltale) contribution in blue may well have been the agonising penalty miss in the shoot-out defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final.

Therefore, it indeed seems unlikely that we will see Ramsey in a Blues shirt again next season.

In other news: One Rangers man is reportedly close to signing a new contract

Frank Lampard has endured a horrific start to his Everton tenure so far, losing nine out of his 16 matches and winning only six times as his side have slipped further down the table, even occupying a place in the bottom three.

Relegation is a genuine possibility and, unless there are some heroic performances over the next couple of weeks, then the Toffees could well drop out of the Premier League for the first time.

A 1-0 victory over Chelsea last weekend could well be the start of a daring escape from the drop, and with a trip to Leicester to come on Sunday, there may be a glimmer of hope for Everton.

Lampard also confirmed some good news during his pre-match press conference.

Speaking about the availability of players for the visit to the King Power Stadium, the 43-year-old said: “No changes for us.

“We had a pretty good week with recovery for the lads, a couple of little niggles but hopefully we will be the same as we were (for Chelsea).”

Lampard & Everton fans will be happy

This will be music to Everton supporters’ ears, as they need all the positives they can get at the moment, and any further injuries could derail the much-needed momentum from triumphing against Chelsea.

The Toffees have been hit with a string of injuries throughout the campaign, with the likes of Tom Davies, Yerry Mina and Andros Townsend all hit with various spells out of the team and continuing to be sidelined.

This hasn’t helped matters but it cannot be used as an excuse for for a season which started off with so much hope but has sunk into a chaotic mess, and mere Premier League survival will not satisfy the fan base, who surely deserve better than a last-ditch scrap for their top-flight lives.

Everton face five cup finals between tomorrow and 22 May and they simply need to focus on one match at a time, starting with the trip to the King Power Stadium. At least Lampard’s revelation of no further injuries will offer a boost for him and the supporters ahead of the Leicester clash.

AND in other news, Everton given green light to sign “undefendable” £50m gem, it’s bye-bye Richarlison

During the final game of the season, we savour every ball, every leg glance, every smart stop in the field – a tug on a cap tugs the heart

Paul Edwards in Taunton24-Sep-2019This is a time of year when folk who love their cricket would like to time to dawdle.In late spring or summer’s full blazon we are content that matches unfold at their usual pace as the season takes shape. But during the final game we savour every ball, every leg glance, every smart stop in the field. A tug on a cap tugs the heart. There is no help for the condition and we do not want one. We treasure every over, even if it is bowled by Simon Harmer who, by the end of Tuesday’s play, had bowled 595.5 of them in this year’s Championship and taken 83 wickets while doing so.No slight whatever should be inferred. Harmer is a supremely skilful craftsman whose loyalty has been firmly pledged to Chelmsford. His offspin bowling helped Essex to the title in his maiden season and he is now well set to take them to another.He is a big man and strong of frame. A cricket ball is a marble in his gigantic hands and that helps him impart spin. But there are subtler skills beyond the control of length and line: the ability to bowl over or around the wicket to right- or left-handed batsmen for example, and to over-spin the ball so a batsman may be deluded into thinking that it will land nearer to him than it eventually does.Of course we have barely begun our investigation of the spinner’s arts. Yet as one sat in the Sir Ian Botham Stand before lunch on a suddenly blue afternoon and watched Harmer test the almost equally skilful Tom Abell, the battle seemed as engrossing as when one first saw a similar struggle so many summers ago.Tom Abell frustrated Essex•Getty ImagesThe brown-stoned towers of St James and St Mary Magdalene were half-silhouetted against John Clare’s woolsack clouds. There were even a few minutes of warmth. The locals encouraged Essex’s bowlers to get on with it and they applauded every run however it might have been obtained. Harmer returned to his mark and began a ten-step approach to the crease which ends with an rhythmical swirl of arms and the easiest of actions.Something comparable to Harmer’s skill was noticed by the great essayist William Hazlitt in his classic 1821 essay :In truth, though, this was not Harmer’s best day of the season. He took three wickets, including that of Abell, to complete his tenth five-wicket haul of the season but he was roughly treated by Roelof van der Merwe and finished with 5 for 105, hardly the figures of a main spinner on a helpful wicket.Yet he is only 30 years old and therefore in his prime. Retirement is beyond sight in the distance. For other cricketers the end of a season ushers in a new set of challenges. Suddenly their familiar skills have left them and it is time to go. Marcus Trescothick reached that stage much earlier this summer and one of the most reassuring aspects of his comments to the media on Monday was his acceptance of fate.ALSO READ: ‘The time is definitely right’ – TrescothickThe consequences of playing again when the eye and the skills are gone was recorded by David Foot in his essay on the tubby Somerset slow left-armer, Horace Hazell, who bowled to his hero Walter Hammond over four years after one of England’s greatest batsmen had retired.Foot omits the relevant line of the scorecard. It reads:Hammond b Hazell 7No one wants the cricket season to last all year. That would reduce county cricket to the level of top-level football, which has turned a very fine sport into a consuming leviathan. But late September carries an even sharper poignancy when it is accompanied by the departure of our favoured sons. “Ah Tres,” Somerset supporters will say to their children, “you should have seen Tres.”

It has been an odd month in cricket

Andrew Fidel Fernando02-Nov-2017The lapsed villain
Reports from New South Wales have suggested this month that former international umpire Darrell Hair, who had lorded it so stubbornly over several controversial incidents, pleaded guilty to stealing from the liquor store he was working at. Apparently, this was in order to fund a gambling habit that had spun out of control. The news was particularly startling for Sri Lankans (and perhaps Pakistanis) of a certain generation, because it humanised the man who had been among their foremost childhood villains. It was like discovering Darth Vader put out of action by a hip replacement, or that Hannibal Lecter no longer eats his victims because his teeth had started to fall out.The non-war
In the build-up to the Ashes, David Warner was roundly criticised for comparing the coming series with England to “war”, in addition to suggesting he would “dig deep” to develop “hatred” of the opposition. Apparently, Ashes sledges now cannot be one iota more inflammatory than abuse based on opposition players’ legitimacy of parentage, choice of preferred species for sexual relations, promiscuousness of spouse, stupidity of offspring, and gingerness of their hair. I suppose a line had to be drawn somewhere.The straight face
Chris Gayle won his defamation suit against Australia’s Fairfax Media, but the best line of the case surely goes to Gayle’s friend Donovan Miller, who without flinching told the court that Gayle had become reserved “and scared, especially [around] females” since the 2015-16 Big Bash League. It is unclear if he is referring to this condom ad in which Gayle cannot stop cowering amidst a gang of cheerleaders or this Instagram post in which Gayle appears to have been frighteningly ambushed by a posse of swimsuit-clad models.The victims of historical irony
For two decades, the Barmy Army’s go-to chant down under was one that preyed on Australia’s history as a British prison colony. Even when their cricketers were being resplendently shamed 5-0, England fans may have felt they could draw themselves to their feet, wipe the tears from ruddy cheeks, and croak out a sobbing rendition of “they’re the convicts over there”. The world, however, has been upended in 2017. Team England has left for the Ashes without Ben Stokes, who is suspected of exactly the sort of action that would have seen him transported to Australia in past centuries. As one of their own players now stands accused of antisocial behaviour, could it be possible that when groups of England supporters sit shirtless in sunny Australian stands, painted lettering upon flabby chests, lips foamed from the ninth beer of the day, they will reflect they are not intrinsically a more refined species of human being than the natives?”We essentially beat Pakistan in their own game”•Getty ImagesThe pitch scandal
The spectre of corruption was raised again in October, most notably with the allegation that Maharashtra Cricket Association curator Pandurang Salgaoncar had given pitch information to people posing as bookies, ahead of India v New Zealand ODI in Pune. However, it was not the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) – whose job it is to stamp fixing out of the game – that presented evidence against Salgaoncar. The issue was brought to light by an Indian TV channel, just as the 2010 Lord’s spot-fixing scandal had been the result of a media-driven exposé. All of this highlights long-held concerns about what the ACU actually does, apart from, as in this case, allow international matches to go ahead unhindered on what was apparently a suspect pitch.The tough act to follow
Commiserations are due to Cricket South Africa. One month after the IPL bagged what was effectively the biggest television rights deal in cricket, CSA was forced to postpone the 2017 T20 Global League, thanks partly to an inability to land a decent broadcast deal. This must have been like watching Michelangelo sculpt the famous statue of David before stabbing yourself with the chisel.The altruist
Particularly irked at this cancellation was would-be GLT20 star Kevin Pietersen, who tweeted: “I feel so sorry for all the youngsters who were going to learn & earn out of this comp!” Yes, what a pity for… “the youngsters”. We can have no reason to doubt that Pietersen’s immediate worry was for the younger players’ loss of earnings, based of course on his career, which was most distinguished by the concern he displayed for people other than himself.The collapsathon
If Pakistan are the classical masters of the batting collapse, Sri Lanka have in recent years perfected their own equally dramatic version: the neo-collapse. Their two-Test series early in the month, became, at times, a festival of batting incompetence. When Sri Lanka went into the third innings of the first Test with a three-run deficit, for example, they hurtled comically to 138 all out. They should have lost the match had they not been out-collapsed by Pakistan, who were all out for 114 less than a day after they had made 422 (in the first innings). The second Test was almost as extraordinary. Sri Lanka crashed to 96 all out after claiming a 220-run first-innings lead. Though at times in the chase Pakistan seemed like they had the measure of a big total, they lost 5 for 52 and 5 for 23, with a 173-chase in between.

ESPNcricinfo staff03-May-2016Shahbaz Nadeem’s double-strike in the fourth over sent Smith and Aaron Finch packing, leaving Lions on 24 for 3•BCCISuresh Raina chipped in with 24 and added 51 for the fourth wicket with Dinesh Karthik as the pair tried to rebuild•BCCIKarthik then added 52 for the fifth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja and reached his half-century off 42 balls•AFPJadeja had a reprieve as Nadeem put down a difficult chance at midwicket when the batsman was on 22•BCCIKarthik fell soon after, for 53, castled by Mohammed Shami. Lions were on 127 for 5 with 15 balls to go•BCCIJadeja applied the finishing touches, and his unbeaten 36 off 26 balls lifted Lions to 149 for 7•BCCIDaredevils’ bowlers hunted in a pack. Zaheer Khan led from the front, picking up 1 for 27 in four overs•BCCIDaredevils’ openers, Quinton de Kock and Rishabh Pant, got the team off to a flyer, blazing away to 115 in 13.3 overs•BCCIPant, picked in place of Shreyas Iyer, made his chance count and biffed 69 off 40 balls, his maiden fifty in limited-overs cricket•AFPJadeja broke the stand by dismissing Pant and de Kock fell to a slog off Shivil Kaushik with Daredevils 29 away from a win•BCCIEven with Daredevils just eight away from a win, McCullum was as committed and acrobatic as ever•BCCIBut JP Duminy and Sanju Samson avoided further hiccups, sealing the eight-wicket win in 17.2 overs•BCCI

Weekend trips out of Brisbane will take you to surfing paradises and shipwrecks. And watch out for hippies

Will Macpherson08-Feb-2015The state of Queensland is vast. There’s no two ways about it. It takes something ridiculous like 20 hours to drive from Brisbane or the Gold Coast at the southern end up to Cairns, which is still another 24 hours from Jardine River up top. Even flying takes more than two hours.Fortunately, however, when visiting Brisbane for the World Cup, big needn’t mean unmanageable. Here are three trips – all a manageable distance from the state capital. The World Cup games at the Gabba have been socially spaced four days apart, so hire a car (or hop on a bus) and spend a night or two in these spots. Soak up the sun and revel in the opportunity to enjoy the sea air, sea breeze and seafood.Noosa
First, we’re heading 130km north of Brisbane, to Noosa. This is where Aussies holiday: well-to-do Brisbanians have houses and many cruise up on the weekend all year round. The name Noosa comes from the Aboriginal word , meaning shadow, and until the 1980s there weren’t too many folk casting shadows alongside the grand conifers that surround the town and give it its name. Before then, it was a quiet hangout for surfers, hippies and a handful of locals, and was reachable only by dirt track. How times have changed.Now Noosa is a smart, sprawling holiday destination of expensive restaurants and cute boutiques. Hastings Street, which runs parallel to the water between the natural glories of Noosa National Park (more of which later) and Noosa Spit Recreation Reserve is the centre and symbol of the town’s redevelopment – a flash, low-rise, palm-lined boardwalk of a street that you need to ready your credit card for. Stunning luxury apartments are rife; some of the grub – particularly the shell-fish: Moreton Bay bugs and oysters (try Sails Restaurant) – is second to none; and the people all seem smart, well-coiffed, friendly and active. A wander through town receives a veritable volley of “g’days”.The answer to why this transformation has happened lies in Noosa’s natural resources. The town that has emerged is essentially a meeting of three or four smaller neighbourhoods with lovely creeks and little lakes emerging all over the place. The National Park is stunning; beaten paths running through thick woodland with the sea coming into view, the sound of rosellas singing overhead and the sight of koalas slacking in gum trees. The ocean is perfectly blue, whether viewed from on high on the Park’s rocks or up close from one of the dreamy, creamy beaches, many of which have handy surf too. If you’re lucky you’ll catch a glimpse of a whale or a turtle, and there are enough dolphins to go round. Even the drive up from Brisbane, especially if you take the short detour through the Glass House Mountains, is utterly glorious. On arrival, Noosa Flashpackers is an excellent budget accommodation option, while Alaya Verde is a rather more expensive choice but an extremely comfortable stay. Bistro C was the best coffee I sipped, and I had an excellent breakfast too, and Season has a beautiful beach view. For dinner, grab fish and chips and eat on the beach.Noosa’s development is tasteful and classy, big on beauty, short of the gauche high-rises of Gold Coast and Surfer’s Paradise, and not entrenched on the East Coast backpacker route. As a result, it’s no party town – the best way to enjoy it is with early mornings and early nights, sundowners, swimming and seafood, slowing down and settling in. Noosa is little known outside of Australia and part of its curious glory unquestionably comes in its reputation as a little mature, bookish and quiet. Noosa may have been reborn but it has certainly not been ruined.A flock of great-crested terns at Fraser Island•UniversalImagesGroupFraser Island
The other two locations on this list are about flexibility, about setting your own agenda and indulging in a little “you time”. But a trip to Fraser Island is done best on a tour, where you’re looked after. You can do such a tour in high-end splendour or on a budget as a backpacker, for just a single night or as long as you like. There are eco-friendly resorts, campsites, self-contained villas, hotels and specific tour accommodation. For the best backpacker packages try Cool Dingo, where you’ll zoom around the island in a 4×4 and stay in cute lodges. If you’re looking for high-end luxury, Kingfisher Bay Eco Resort & Village is the island’s most luxurious place to stay.Fraser can be accessed via boat from Hervey Bay (ferry 30 mins) or, more conveniently from Brisbane, beautiful Rainbow Beach (ferry 10 mins), which is about two hours north of Brisbane. You can take your own car to Fraser, but it’ll need to be sturdy enough to deal with rough terrain.Fraser’s a place that is different in many other senses, too. It’s unique, in that it’s the world’s largest sand island and one of only four World Heritage sites in Australia, alongside Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef and Kakudu. The island is ringed by white beaches (including the famous 75-mile one that runs the length of the east side), is full of thick woodland, and dotted with over 100 freshwater lakes. The wildlife is varied, with 354 species of birds (including 18 birds of prey), snakes and dingoes (the only pedigree ones left) on land, and turtles, whales, dugongs, stingrays and sharks in the waters around.The island’s Bushwalks are well-marked and varied and take you through lush rainforest and past all sorts of flora and fauna, tall trees and wide trunks. Keep your eye out for that wildlife, though. The beaches are spectacular, but due to the presence of those sharks, it’s not advisable to swim, so head to the lakes, which are of varying size and depth and are always nice and warm (and safe). You can also swim at stunning Champagne Pools, drive up and down beach and check out the spectacular shipwreck. The views out onto the ocean and its wildlife from Indian Heads are second only to one: the vantage point you get from a plane. A 15-minute flight is not the price you’d expect ($75) and offers spectacular views of the island’s lakes and the ocean’s wildlife from above.Byron Bay
Finally we’re headed south and across the New South Wales border to Byron Bay. It’s known as surfing’s promised land and the easternmost point of Australia and for the beautiful lighthouse that marks the headland at that point. It’s a place that people go to rest and to heal, to chill out and wind down. It’s known for its strong links to hippie culture – dreadlocks, VW campers, tie-dye, and perhaps even a whiff of marijuana.People relax at Byron Bay beach•Getty ImagesIn 2015, Byron Bay has all of those things. The surf is great and the sun and sand are wonderful too. The locals will tell you the best beaches to catch the surf are the Wreck, the Pass and Belongil Beach, while Wategoes is a great place to paddleboard. The lighthouse and the walk up to it are beautiful, and the views afforded at the top out onto the vast expanse of the Pacific are as special as any in Australia. Again, dolphin and whale sightings are two-a-penny when the season fits.The hippies are in town, sitting out back of their campers, their wind chimes ringing away, sipping beer and braiding their hair. And the place is crawling with backpackers. All of the above and its reputation for the easy life and wild social scene make Byron Bay arguably the crucial stop on the East Coast pilgrimage from Cairns to Sydney (or the other way).But there’s much more besides. Byron has undergone a peculiar rural gentrification. It still feels a tiny town, but it’s jam-packed; there are heaps of hostels and campers but amazing apartments and high-end hotels and B&Bs too; fine dining and a typically trendy coffee scene have landed. The people are a mix of cashed-up retirees, pure hippies, holidaying city types and travellers from all over the world. The charm, thankfully, hasn’t been lost.For brunch, Byron’s favourite meal, I headed to the brilliant Bay Leaf Café, an open, wedge-shaped place with excellent, fresh food and good coffee, and Dip and its huge servings. The Coffee Doc and The Roadhouse are good for caffeine-filled pit-stops. In the evening, One One One provides a café feel and restaurant-quality food, which is just right in Byron. Try Byron Bay Brewing Company for a little alcohol education, top beer and a relaxed bar.Explore, too. The beautiful beaches aren’t just in the town, so head up and down the coast. Further inland has some fantastical landscape – a world of parched green dales, rainforest and waterfalls. Many of the backpackers will head to the commune-style town of Nimbin in a multi-coloured van to smoke pot, play hippie and Instagram it all at the end. Skip Nimbin – hop on a public bus and try Bangalow instead. There’s a wonderful monthly market in this classic, sloped, 19th century one-street township. It’s all verandahs, diddy shops and quaint eateries: a great place to just watch the world go by ever so slowly, to dine al fresco and to bury your head in a book.

Few of Australia’s recent losses will hurt like the one at Chester-le-Street, because they know – they – they should have won it

Brydon Coverdale at Chester-le-Street12-Aug-2013LLLLLLDL.That’s not the name of an obscure Welsh town, that’s Australia’s record in Tests since the start of this year’s tour of India. Stretch it back to the start of the Australian summer and it’s a little healthier, but not much: DDLWWWLLLLLLDL. The victories were all against Sri Lanka, a team that has never won a Test in Australian conditions. Australia were on top in all three draws, against South Africa and England. Some losses have been comprehensive, others close.Australia seem to have forgotten how to handle the pressure moments, the tight contests. Perhaps it is not so much that they have forgotten but that they’ve never known, for besides Michael Clarke, none of this current outfit have ever really known extended Test success. The coach, Darren Lehmann, played in 27 Tests and only five weren’t wins. Compare that to a man like Steven Smith, who has played in only two victories, both early in his career, from 11 Tests.Winning is a habit. Get a few successes on the board, especially against quality opponents, and especially in close finishes, and you start to trust that it can be done. Shane Warne often talks about believing it is possible to win from anywhere; Clarke’s men appear petrified that they can lose from anywhere. How else to explain their collapse after tea at Chester-le-Street? Few of their recent losses will hurt like this one, because they know – they – they should have won it.The target of 299 was a challenge, certainly, but Chris Rogers and David Warner made Australia’s highest opening stand in a Test chase in 18 years, reaching 109 for 0. Even after Rogers fell, Australia were still comfortable at tea, at 120 for 1. Then the doubt crept in. The fear. The knowledge that this match was there to lose, a 2-1 scoreline was theirs to give up. And dutifully, they handed England the momentum, their wickets and a series win.At 5.26pm Usman Khawaja departed, Warner at 5.44, Clarke at 6.10, Smith at 6.22, Shane Watson at 6.29, Brad Haddin at 6.39. Then the bowlers tumbled too, but it wasn’t their fault. In the final session Australia lost nine for 104. England’s bowling improved – Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan bowled in tandem, keeping things tight, bringing the batsmen on to the front foot instead of offering up the short-of-a-length stuff they had delivered before tea. But they weren’t nine-wickets-in-a-session good.That Australia collapsed again is almost not a story, for it has happened so often in recent years that it is the norm. But to collapse when the openers had laid such a strong foundation is almost more galling. And how many of the batsmen could say they were done by great balls? Clarke missed a super delivery from Broad that angled in and nipped away just enough, but Watson and Haddin essentially just missed straight deliveries.They were the two senior men in the lower middle-order. They had to show more resolve, respect the good balls and wait for the bad ones. Rogers had given them the template. Smith tried to do that, go after a short ball, but wasn’t good enough to middle it and played on instead. Khawaja was typically elegant, but elegant doesn’t win Test matches in tight situations. Fight does. Hunger does. Sheer bloody-mindedness does.It raised the question – again – of whether Australia’s batsmen are good enough for Test cricket. It goes without saying that Clarke is, and Rogers has shown in this series that he has the necessary technique and determination. Warner played a mature innings here but too often is careless. Watson is the No.6 and allrounder because there is nobody better. Smith and Khawaja have both shown signs of being Test batsmen but inspire little confidence in tight spots.For all of them, this was an opportunity. This was a chance to stand up in a challenging situation, to deliver a victory for their struggling team. Rogers and Warner did the hard work early. Nobody matched them. It leaves the selectors in a difficult position, for they cannot keep picking men who fail under pressure. Phillip Hughes and Matthew Wade could be considered for The Oval Test, but where are the other batsmen applying the pressure?”I think we are picking the best players,” Clarke said after the loss. “Everyone says rebuild, rebuild, rebuild, but you need guys in first-class cricket making runs to take someone’s slot. We have to continue to show faith in these guys – it takes time playing against good opposition. We just played South Africa in Australia, we are playing England here then England in Australia, then we go to South Africa – we are playing the best oppositions in the world. I think the selectors are doing the best they can to pick the best sides.”Clarke has had plenty of practice answering difficult questions after losses, but in the post-match press conference he looked drained of all his spark. He paid credit to Broad for his fine bowling, claimed responsibility for his own dismissal and not leading by example, and tried his best to back his men. Ultimately, though, his mood could be summed up by one answer: “It’s extremely disappointing – I guess I know now what it feels like to lose an Ashes series as a captain.”Losing matches, losing series – it’s all becoming far too familiar a feeling. When he retired after the series win over Sri Lanka during the home summer, Michael Hussey handed custodianship of the team victory song to Nathan Lyon. That was seven months ago. Eight Tests ago. Lyon is yet to lead the beer-soaked choir.The words are easy to remember, how to win a Test match not so much.

ESPNcricinfo looks back at the players who helped Pakistan to a famous whitewash over England with the spin bowlers and a fine captain to the fore

George Dobell07-Feb-2012Mohammad Hafeez 7/10
Technically correct, patient and disciplined, Hafeez dealt calmly with a testing England seam attack – they dismissed him only once in the series – but was troubled more by Monty Panesar’s left-arm spin. He made a polished 88 in the first Test to give his side a strong platform and weighed in with useful contributions in a low-scoring game at Abu Dhabi. He also claimed five wickets – all of them left-handers – at an average of just 16 with his miserly offspin. England could barely hit him off the square and he conceded fewer than two runs an over.Taufeeq Umar 3
A series of diminishing returns. Looked disciplined and solid in making 58 in his first innings of the series, but was subsequently unsettled by James Anderson’s inswinger and drawn into a series of unwise pokes outside the off stump. He only made only 29 runs in his next five innings.Azhar Ali 8.5
A breakthrough series for a 26-year-old who could go on to be Pakistan’s Test captain. Certainly Azhar demonstrated a temperament that might have been tailor-made for Test cricket. He also showed a tight technique and a welcome aptitude to shine under pressure. The highlight was his marathon effort in Dubai, but he also produced a match-turning innings of 68 in Abu Dhabi. No-one on either side batted for longer or came within ten of his series average of 50.2.Younis Khan 7.5
He may only have contributed one innings of substance to the series, but what an innings it was. Dripping with quality and class, Younis’ century in Dubai changed the course of a game that Pakistan – bowled out for 99 in their first innings – might easily have lost. He looked in decent touch for the rest of the series, but never went on to register a significant score.Misbah-ul-Haq 8.5
How can we evaluate Misbah’s influence on the team? It clearly extends far beyond making runs; important as they often were. Misbah sets the tone for Pakistan, on and off the pitch, coaxing the best from his team and ensuring calm professionalism pervades whether winning or losing. It would be easy to characterise him purely as a dour, obdurate batsman – and there were certainly periods during his vital half-century in the first Test where those qualities stuck out – but he also showed his selfless, intelligent side with his calculated attacking at Abu Dhabi that brought him four sixes. He may have to watch one weakness with the bat, however, as England soon worked out that, for all his discipline outside off stump, he is a likely lbw victim. He fell that way in all five innings. Despite all the team’s success, some still dislike Misbah. They accuse him of being boring. Maybe, though, after everything that has happened in Pakistan cricket over the last few years, a little bit of boredom is not such a bad thing?Asad Shafiq 6.5
Played a large part in the victory in Abu Dhabi – in a low-scoring game his contribution of 101 runs in total was highly significant – and top-scored with 45 in the first innings rout in Dubai. He showed with his dismissal in the first innings in Abu Dhabi – heaving across the line due to a lapse in concentration – that he is not the finished article, but he displayed enough talent to suggest he should have a long future at this level.Adnan Akmal 6.5
An accomplished keeper who, but for one out of character mistake on the last day of the series, kept neatly to spin and seam alike. He still has some work to do on his batting – he contributed only one meaningful innings as a batsman and may be a place or two high at No. 7 – but this is a man who could represent Pakistan for much of the next decade.Saeed Ajmal was the leading bowler during the series•Getty ImagesAbdur Rehman 8.5
A vastly underrated cricketer. Rehman may not have much mystery, but he has excellent control and a wonderful ability to change his pace quite extravagantly without any obvious change in his action. He finished the series with 19 wickets at 16.73, including his first two five-wicket hauls in Tests. Ajmal ended with more wickets, but how many came partially as a result of the pressure built by Rehman who simply hardly bowled a poor ball? It is hard to think of a better spin partnership in contemporary world cricket. His problems with the bat – and he struggled horribly against Graeme Swann – will be over-looked if he continues to bowl like this.Saeed Ajmal 9
Masterful. With 24 wickets at 14.7 apiece, Ajmal tortured the England batsmen. As if his doosra was not enough – and it was more than enough for Ian Bell, who fell to it four times – he also displayed superb control and a host of other, subtle variations. Sometimes it was the ball that spun that caused England problems; sometimes it was the ball that went straight on. His 7 for 55 in the first Test set the tone for the series and unsettled several England batsmen. He may even have ruined a couple of illustrious careers.Umar Gul 8
An unsung hero in a side built around spin, Gul still enjoyed an excellent series. Wholehearted, strong and fit, Gul gave his side an edge with his committed seam bowling and at times troubled the England batsmen as much with his pace as his consistent line and length. Fully deserved his last day burst of four wickets.Aizaz Cheema 4
In years to come, the identity of the second seamer in the famous victory in the third Test might make a searching quiz question. With just one wicket in his two Tests, it could seem that Cheema was almost an irrelevance. He actually bowled pretty well without much fortune and supported Gul and the spinners better than the figures suggests. He beat the England openers frequently.Junaid Khan 2
On the face of things, Junaid had a shocker: he made a pair in his only Test and dropped an easy catch. He actually bowled very well in his limited opportunities – he beat Trott on several occasions -and, on more helpful pitches, will surely enjoy better games. His fielding does have to improve, though.

The confidence with which Yuvraj Singh batted on the fourth evening went a long way towards eliminating the slim possibility of an Indian defeat

S Aga22-Dec-2008
The run-flow had slowed to a trickle before Yuvraj injected some momentum © AFP
Yuvraj Singh’s year started ignominiously, with a sleepwalking performanceat the Sydney Cricket Ground. When he was dropped ahead of India’s famousvictory in Perth, no one raised a voice. One of the prodigals of theIndian game had been given his chance, and he had blown it. What adifference 12 months makes, though. With Sourav Ganguly now gone, and havingplayed his part in the most remarkable of run chases in Chennai, Yuvrajdoesn’t need to look over his shoulder, and the confidence with which hebatted on the fourth evening went a long way towards eliminating the slimpossibility of an Indian defeat.Home turf hasn’t meant happy hunting ground for Yuvraj. This is his thirdTest at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium and the 27 he made in thefirst innings was his highest score. When he came to the crease midwaythrough the final session, India were just 231 ahead, and the Englishbowlers had slowed the run flow to a trickle.After his repeated run-ins with Kevin Pietersen, who stood at leg slipwhile Yuvraj took guard, there was also the prospect of a few verbalgooglies being tossed his way. Yuvraj says he looked forward to it.”Sometimes it fires you up, sometimes it backfires,” he said. “When youare chatted to, it makes you stronger, more focused. I really don’t mindthe chat.”I actually look forward to it because I think it brings out the best inme. It backfired in the first innings in Chennai, in the second it made mestronger. It’s healthy competition out there, no bad-mouthing. Both theteams are trying to punch the opposition to win the game, so it’s healthycompetition.”Healthy or not, it spurred Yuvraj into playing some fine strokes. Therun-blockade was eased, and India finished the day in an extremelycomfortable position. “It depends on the weather tomorrow,” Yuvraj saidwhen asked about the prospects of an Indian victory. “There’s adisadvantage there because of the weather, we could lose a couple ofhours. Hopefully, we’ll get the maximum possible overs and we’ll be ableto get some runs and bowl them out.”Given the two stunning chases cricket has seen over the pastweek, there were no thoughts on what constituted a safe target. “On thelast day, any target is difficult to get,” he said. “For us in Chennai,387 was tough to get, and I’m sure we’ll set them a tough target.”Chennai was a huge innings for Yuvraj in more ways than one, though heinsisted that the gremlins of doubt hadn’t been keeping him awake atnight. “I never thought that I didn’t belong to this arena because I havethree Test hundreds,” he said. “It’s all media speculation, or I don’tknow what goes on. I never had a doubt and I just wanted to spend sometime in the middle and I knew the runs will come. If you work hard on yourgame, the runs will come. That’s what happened in the second innings.””I never thought that I didn’t belong to this arena because I have three Test hundreds,” Yuvraj said. “It’s all media speculation … If you work hard on your game, the runs will come”Following Virender Sehwag’s run-out soon after lunch, India appeared to havelost their way for the remainder of the session, but Yuvraj was adamantthat this was no one-trick team. “When Viru starts off and gets apartnership, we get into a very good position early on,” he said. “But ifwe lose a few wickets, we need to get a partnership. Gautam and I have hada good one and it has brought the game towards us.”We’re not depending on any particular person. Sometimes it’s Viru,sometimes it’s Gautam. Rahul has shown what a class player he is. Mahibatted so well in the first innings in Chennai. So it’s not anyoneparticular, it’s the whole team. It’s just that the team is gelling verywell, enjoying each other’s success.”I think with Gary Kirsten and Paddy Upton, the atmosphere in the team isgood. We enjoy what we do. If we’re under pressure, we know we have abunch of guys who can come up with match-winning knocks or spells. Ourbowling has been exceptional. Along with Harbhajan, Zaheer has been thefrontline bowler and Ishant is doing well, so we have a great all-roundbunch of players.”The man who leads came in for more than his fair share of praise. “First,he [Dhoni] is very cool-headed, that’s the best part about him. When hetook up captaincy, nobody knew that he could do a great job. He always hasa Plan B. Like when England were batting, we got a few wickets, andthen KP and Freddie got a few runs and he slowed down the game. The momentwe had two wickets, we pounced on the batsmen. He’s always thinking, he’salways asking for suggestions from everyone.”And what of throwing pies? Pietersen was far from amused when Dhonibrought Yuvraj on for the third over on Sunday morning, and he let hisfeelings be known after the day’s play. “When I got up in the morning, Iread the paper, and I said ‘what does this [pie-chucker] mean?’ So I askeda few people there what it meant, and they said it meant a ‘useless kindof bowler’. It shows KP hates getting out to me. Well, a useless bowlergetting him out many times would be because of useless batting, I’d say!But that’s okay.”He’s a phenomenal player and batted like a champion. He’s got 15 hundredsin 40-odd matches – that’s phenomenal. But he tried to get under my skinin the last game and that brought out the best in me. I tried the same andit brought out the best in him. So it’s good competition in the field. ButI don’t have a habit of washing dirty linen in the open, in public. But Ilike the name, eh?”If he can get a few more runs on Tuesday morning and play his part inanother Indian victory, Yuvraj, who cheekily offered Pietersen somebowling tips, won’t particularly care what the English call him. Whenyou’ve come back from oblivion and the team’s winning, nothing elsematters.

Alex Iwobi has been banned by Fulham from posting behind-the-scenes videos on social media, with the Nigeria international threatened with a fine.

Nigeria international likes to have funLifted the lid on life in the dressing roomForced to stop on advice of the CottagersFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Ex-Arsenal and Everton midfielder Iwobi has been giving fans exclusive access to life in the dressing room since his days at Goodison Park. He has been on the books at Craven Cottage since 2023.

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The 29-year-old tries to play with a smile and does his best to keep morale high in training. During pre-season camps, Iwobi has often treated supporters to Snapchat videos that see him mingling with club colleagues.

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He has captured himself singing with former team-mate Dominic Calvert-Lewin, while sharing clips of Adama Traore and Calvin Bassey wrestling at Fulham, but Iwobi is having to put the camera down for now.

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WHAT IWOBI SAID

Iwobi said in a Snapchat post: "For those that are wondering why I haven't been snapping BTS in the changing room, one person in the media team has been saying I haven't been catching the right stuff.

"So, there's no more BTS. They also said I might get fined if I continue to do so, they're trying to ban snap in our changing room. That's why I ain't been snapping BTS, it's a shame, I know you guys enjoy seeing what my team-mates are like behind the scenes. But, I have to respect the rules."