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Khaled Mashud, the former Bangladesh wicketkeeper, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Sunday, has said a lack of communication from the selectors made things difficult for senior players like him

Cricinfo staff29-Sep-2008
Khaled Mashud: “I am a senior player and I think there should be an understanding with the selection committee” © AFP
Khaled Mashud, the former Bangladesh wicketkeeper, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Sunday, has said a lack of communication from the selectors made it difficult for senior players like him. Mashud, 32, said his omission from the squad for the upcoming New Zealand series made him realise he wouldn’t be part of the selectors’ plans in the near future.”I am a senior player and I think there should be an understanding with the selection committee,” Mashud told the Dhaka-based . “They could have talked with me. Ian Healy once told me the Australian board informed him a month in hand that he would not be around. I think if that practice was undertaken by our board, it would be a little less painful for senior cricketers like me.” His contract, along with those of Javed Omar and Mohammad Rafique, was not renewed by the board in December 2007.Mashud also denied reports that he had asked the Bangladesh board for a farewell match. “I read in a few papers that I asked the board for a game. I cannot do that since I am a professional cricketer. I know that only the best performers play for the country and I would never tell the board to bring me in just for a farewell match. I did not play cricket for so long to beg for a match.”Mashud was replaced by Mushfiqur Rahim for the 2007 World Cup and he said he had tried hard to make a comeback. “They [selectors] told me my batting was failing me, so I concentrated on that. Then they told me I didn’t keep regularly in the National Cricket League. Is it a crime to not keep for three or four matches in an entire season?”People in the street ask me when I will be back for Bangladesh and I had no answer for them. In such a difficult time for our cricket, I thought it would have been quite a challenge to play again.”Mashud said the most memorable moment of his career was the ICC Trophy win in Malaysia in 1997. Bangladesh were chasing 166 in 25 overs and Mashud, with 15 off seven balls, was there to guide them to a final-ball win. “Whoever I am is because of that ICC Trophy final. There would be no Khaled Mashud or Mohammad Ashraful if we didn’t win that match. It was the turning point and we united Bangladesh with that win.”He was appointed as a consultant by the Bangladesh board’s games development committee along with Aminul Islam and Mohammad Rafique to coach age-group and academy cricketers in August. Mashud said he was keen to pass on his experience to youngsters, while still playing first-class cricket.

Gary Kirsten’s mother, Gayl Hall, has died of cancer in a Cape Town hospital. She was 64.Kirsten had flown to South Africa on Tuesday, mid-way through India’s tour of Sri Lanka, to be with his mother. Paddy Upton, the mental conditioning coach, took charge of the team for the ongoing third Test in Colombo. Kirsten is yet to reveal whether he will join the team for the five-match ODI series starting August 18.

Sheffield Wednesday have recently announced that Josh Windass has signed a new contract with the club, which will keep him at Hillsborough until the summer of 2023.

What’s the story?

Windass signed for the club back in 2020, and has gone on to make 53 appearances in total for the Owls, which includes 44 in the 2020/21 season.

The forward netted ten goals and was on hand to provide six assists in all competitions last term, in what was a frustrating season for Wednesday as they were relegated into the third-tier of English football, whilst under the management of Darren Moore.

Windass has been linked with a move to Premier League clubs earlier in the year but has committed his future to the League One club.

Sheffield Wednesday supporters will be hoping that he can return to action at the earliest of opportunities, with Windass currently recovering from a hamstring injury.

‘Explosive’

It’s a real statement of intent by Wednesday to tie Windass down to a new contract, as he’s shown that he’s more than good enough to be playing regularly in the Championship, never mind League One.

The 27-year-old was a rare bright spark for the Owls last term, as they were relegated from the second-tier, and he’s clearly keen on playing his part in their bid for promotion this season.

He was the club’s top goalscorer in the 2020/21 season and will be looking to make up for lost time when he returns from surgery on a hamstring injury.

You don’t attract interest from Premier League clubs by chance, and that shows a considerable amount about the ability that Windass has in his locker.

So, for Wednesday to be able to keep hold of a player of his quality, despite being in League One, it shows a lot about their ambition of wanting to win promotion back into the Championship at the first time of asking.

Speaking in an interview with Football FanCast back in January 2021 after Josh Windass suffered a hamstring injury, his father Dean, labelled his son as ‘explosive runner’.

“He pulled his hamstring last week. So I can say it’s a grade one tear. And he’s out for 10 days.

“He’s a bit gutted you know, but there’s been a lot of games and there’s been a lot of injuries in every club. He’s a quick, explosive runner so you’re going to get injuries like that.”

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping they can pick up their first win of the season, when they return to action this weekend, as they take on Doncaster Rovers at Hillsborough.

And in other Sheffield Wednesday news, This man isa yet to make a decision about his future….

An update has emerged regarding Aston Villa’s interest in winger Dwight McNeil.

What’s the talk?

According to the Birmingham Mail, Aston Villa could step up their interest in Burnley winger Dwight McNeil after failing in their attempts to take Emile Smith-Rowe away from Premier League rivals Arsenal this summer.

The report claims that Dean Smith wants another attacking option to compete in the three positions behind Ollie Watkins, with McNeil believed to be a target. Burnley are ready to demand £40m for the England under-21 international.

Fans would love it

Sporting director Johan Lange must get this deal done for Villa as he could strike gold for Smith. McNeil has already proven himself at Premier League level and would come in as an exciting player with plenty of potential, one who could drive the club forwards for years to come.

If Villa have £40m in the bank to spend on a player, they should spend it on McNeil. Of course, if Lange is able to negotiate a more attractive package for the winger then he should look to do that, but if that is not feasible then they should match Burnley’s asking price and do all they can to ensure that he is playing in a different claret and blue shirt next season.

McNeil’s Burnley teammate Ashley Westwood called him a “special” talent and said that he would not be surprised if teams became interested in the forward because of his performances for the Clarets in recent seasons.

He said:

“He’s really mature. I think the world of him, he’s a special talent. It’s been good to see him grow up because when he first came training with us, he was really quiet.

“He’s already racked up more than 50 games in the Premier League now, which at his age is phenomenal. He’s producing as well so if he keeps doing that and we all keep doing what we’re doing then there will be teams circulating.”

McNeil has been a regular for Burnley in the top-flight over the past three seasons. Since the start of the 2018/19 campaign, the winger has provided seven goals and 17 assists in the Premier League – averaging 1.3 key passes per game. This shows that he has the quality to contribute consistently in the attacking third in terms of creativity, but his goalscoring could do with some work.

At the age of 21, he is also far from the finished article. This means that he could be a player that Smith is able to coach and improve over the course of several seasons. Therefore, the £40m fee could be good value in both the short term and the long term for Villa and that is exactly why Lange could be striking gold with a swoop for the winger.

It would be a move that Aston Villa supporters would love to see happen.

AND in other news, Villa stance on “outstanding” £75k-p/w maestro emerges, Dean Smith will be furious…

A sparkling undefeated 89 by Naved Latif helped PCB Whites cantered to a convincing six-wicket win against PCB Blues in the Super League One-day Ramazan Cup Cricket Tournament at Gaddafi Stadium Wednesday.Chasing a target of 202, Naved, who got good support from Farhan Adil (49), led PCB Whites home in scoring 205 for four in 42.2 to earn their second win in the tournament.The third-wicket stand between Naved and Farhan produced 95 runs. Naved, in aggressive mood, smashed six sixes and five fours in his 69-ball innings. He was adjudged Manof-the-Match and got Rs 5,000. He also pocketed Rs 2,000 for hitting most sixes.Farhan laced his knock with three boundaries.Earlier, batting first, PCB Blues lost their last eight wickets for 84 runs after opener Babar Naeem and Salman Butt added 105 for the second wicket.Babar struck a fine 75 off 90 deliveries with the aid of 10 fours and a brace of sixes. Salman, the left-hander, made a sedate 41 off 91 balls with two hits to the fence.Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria bowled beautifully to capture three for 37. Pacer Fazle Akbar claimed two for 20 in 10 overs while slow left-armer Qaiser Abbas chipped in with two for 56.Babar was given Rs 2,000 for hitting most number of boundaries.ScoreboardPCB BLUES:Imran Farhat lbw b Fazle 2Babar Naeem c Farhan b Kaneria 75Salman Butt st Moin b Qaiser 41Ijaz Ahmed Jr c Zahid b Kaneria 4Bilal Asad c Naved b Kaneria 12Asim Munir c and b Qaiser 0Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan lbw b Tahir 5Atiq-uz-Zaman run out 15Abdul Rehman lbw b Fazle 21Abdur Rauf c Tahir b Zahid 2Umar Gul not out 9EXTRAS (B-4, LB-6, W-5) 15TOTAL (all out, 49.1 overs) 201FALL OF WKTS: 1-12, 2-117, 3-130, 4-134, 5-134, 6-146, 7-154, 8-185, 9-191.BOWLING: Fazle Akbar 10-2-20-2; Tahir Mughal 10-0-32-1;Zahid Saeed 9.1-0-47-1; Danish Kaneria 10-0-37-3; Qaiser Abbas 10-0-56-2.PCB WHITES:Shadab Kabir c Bilal b Naveed 27Riffatullah c Asim b Rehman 30Farhan Adil c Salman b Rehman 49Naved Latif not out 89Shahid Qambrani c Atiq b Rauf 1Qaiser Abbas not out 0EXTRAS (LB-1, W-6, NB-2) 9TOTAL (for four wkts, 42.2 overs) 205FALL OF WKTS: 1-36, 2-77, 3-172, 4-187.DID NOT BAT: Moin Khan, Tahir Mughal, Zahid Saeed,Fazle Akbar, Danish Kaneria.BOWLING: Abdur Rauf 10-1-36-1; Umar Gul 10-0-42-0;Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan 5-1-16-1; Abdul Rahman 10-1-47-2;Babar Naeem3-0-13-0; Imran Farhat 4-0-40-0;Salman Butt 0.2-0-10-0.

England captain Nasser Hussain praised his team for bowling India out twice to defeat the visitors by 170 runs in the first Test at Lord’s

Ralph Dellor29-Jul-2002England captain Nasser Hussain praised his team for bowling India out twice to defeat the visitors by 170 runs in the first Test at Lord’s.”We had to work hard for five days to be honest – that India batting line-up is something special and the wicket got flatter,” Hussain said. “But I’m proud of my team – to bowl that side out twice is a great effort.””People are coming in and doing well and people are batting well – so it looksgood. But there are some ominous signs for the rest of the summer with the waythey (India) batted today.”We’ve got things we have to improve on – but we’re going pretty well at themoment. This Test was a real team effort. We rotated the bowlers and everyone got wickets and runs.”Everyone had to hold their hands up in the heat – and they did – although itgot cooler when (Sachin) Tendulkar got out!”Asked why he had decided not to enforce the follow-on, he said: “I discussedthe declaration with Duncan (Fletcher). We decided that with heat and forecast to ask our team to bowl for three days continuous was a bit much – I think we got it just about right.”The Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said: “We batted pretty well today but England had better discipline in the first three days and deserved to win.”We had our chances but Nasser and his boys played well under pressure. All touring sides have problems with the first Test when they travel abroad but we can take positive things from this game. There’s a lot of cricket left in this series.”

Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore has said that he is delighted with the signing of Dennis Adeniran following his debut for the club on Saturday.

The Lowdown: Sheff Wed sign Adeniran

Moore is on the hunt for new signings ahead of next season as the Owls prepare for life in League One.

One player who has completed a move to Hillsborough is Adeniran, who joined on a free transfer over the weekend after being released by Everton.

The 22-year-old played in Wednesday’s 2-0 win away to Chester City on Saturday, with his debut described as ‘encouraging’ by Yorkshire Live’s Dom Howson.

The Latest: Howson provides key update

Speaking to Yorkshire Live after the game, Moore heaped praise on his new acquisition, claiming that he will be a hugely positive addition to his squad. The Owls manager said:

“I am really, really pleased to have someone of that calibre in there. He is real different to what we have got in midfield.

“He will be a wonderful acquisition for us this season.

“We have been aware of him for a little while. We had a bit of competition for him from the Championship but I made it clear to him that I wanted to bring him here to Sheffield Wednesday.

“I am really pleased to secure him and get him signed and over he line.

“He can play at number eight and play further forward up the pitch. He will bring great energy to us and he has got good quality on the ball.

“In terms of Baz [Bannan] and Mas [Massimo Luongo], he is very different to those players.”

The Verdict: Shrewd acquisition for Owls

It is vital that Moore now builds his own team at Hillsborough, injecting his squad with youth and masterminding a return to the Championship.

Adeniran could be someone who makes a difference in the middle of the park, complementing more seasoned professionals such as Sam Hutchinson and Barry Bannan. The youngster has won a total of 22 caps for England’s under-17s, under-18s and under-19s combined, highlighting his quality and showing why he could be an effective signing.

Given Moore’s comments about him being a long-time target and potentially offering something different, it certainly seems like an encouraging move by the Owls.

In other news, Sheff Wed are reportedly eyeing up a move for another signing – find out who it is here.

It’s ‘likely’ that Newcastle United will be offered the chance to sign long-term transfer target Andrea Belotti on a cut-price deal, according to Chronicle Live journalist Lee Ryder.

The lowdown

The 27-year-old has been a prolific striker for Serie A club Torino, scoring 105 goals in 228 appearances and finishing third in the race for the league’s Golden Boot in 2016/17. He’s currently on Euro 2020 duty with semi-finalists Italy as a back-up to favoured centre-forward Ciro Immobile.

Belotti has now entered the final year of his contract at Torino, who will be wary of the risk that he leaves on a free transfer next summer.

Former Torino boss Davide Nicola has labelled him a ‘unique’ forward and a ‘great finisher’.

The latest

Ryder says that Newcastle have long ‘kept tabs’ on Belotti, who was ‘scouted before [the] pandemic’.

The 27-year-old’s contract contains an £85m release clause, but Torino are now thought to have slashed their demands to £29m with less than 12 months left on the deal, a 66% reduction in his asking price. [Chronicle Live]

However, Ryder expresses doubt as to whether Newcastle will take up the opportunity to bring him in. With transfer funds in ‘short supply’ and the club shrouded in a ‘veil of uncertainty’, it may not be realistic. [Chronicle Live]

The verdict

Belotti will surely have no shortage of suitors at that price tag, and a move to a Premier League club could leave Newcastle pondering what might have been.

If this deal had been available 12 months ago, you’d have been urging the club to pounce. However, the £20m addition of the prolific Callum Wilson means that the centre-forward position is no longer a transfer priority, and even if Bruce wanted to play two up top, it would be sensible to use an in-house option for the moment and invest in improving the squad elsewhere.

In other news, could this be when Newcastle learn their arbitration result? 

Lots of Everton fans have been left to react as some footage emerged involving Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

As shared by Toffee TV on Twitter, Gareth Southgate hugs and congratulates a number of England players on the touchline after their 2-0 win over Germany at Wembley Stadium in their last 16 tie on Tuesday evening.

However, as Calvert-Lewin goes to try and get his attention, the Three Lions manager appears to ignore him.

The Merseyside club striker was controversially left out of Southgate’s 23-man squad in what was one of the biggest games in England’s history, and so some members of the Goodison Park faithful have associated this with the manager appearing to ignore him on the touchline.

Of course, Southgate could have purely missed him unintentionally, but the footage did not go down well with some Toffees supporters.

Everton fans on Calvert-Lewin footage

These Blues fans gave their reactions after the footage was shared on Twitter:

“I know thought the same why would you do that where everyone can see didn’t think Southgate was like that”

Credit: @annmckenzie67

“Can’t stand Southgate time for Dom to go on holiday”

Credit: @richythepigeon

“My little heart”

Credit: @rhysdav43668344

“Everyone except Calvert????”Credit: @footballstocks1″Yea hilarious to ignore a young lad who just wants to play for his country”Credit: @ianspeny”Poor that from the gaffer to embarrass a player on nation TV”Credit: @MrBasheIn other news, find out which Champions League giants want to sign this EFC star here!

كشفت شبكة “سكاي سبورتس” مدى جدية نادي برشلونة في التعاقد مع مدافع الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي تشيلسي ومنتخب ألمانيا، أنطونيو روديجر، في الميركاتو الصيفي المقبل.

وارتبط اسم روديجر بإمكانية الانتقال إلى صفوف برشلونة بعد نهاية الموسم الحالي، بعدما أكدت الشبكة نفسها وجود مفاوضات مع وكيل اللاعب في اجتماع تم في المدينة الكتالونية.

اقرأ أيضًا.. كلوب بعد استبدال محمد صلاح أمام بنفيكا: عودته بعد ما حدث في إفريقيا ليست سهلة

Barcelona have not made an official bid for Toni Rudiger, just direct contacts with his agents – it’s now considered unlikely as Christensen will sign for Barça and Araújo will extend his contract, 100%. 🔴 #FCB

Ronald Araújo new deal is already sealed, release clause included. pic.twitter.com/erGdwfNCcu — Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 6, 2022

وبحسب متخصص الانتقالات في شبكة “سكاي سبورتس”، فابرزيو رومانو، عبر حسابه الرسمي على “تويتر”: “لم يقدم برشلونة عرضًا رسميًا من أجل ضم أنطونيو روديجر”.

وتابع: “الأمر لم يتخط مرحلة المفاوضات مع وكيله، من غير المرجح أن تحسم الصفقة”.

وأضاف: “سيوقع أندرياس كريستنسن مع برشلونة وسيمدد رونالد أروخو عقده بنسبة 100%”.

وأتم: “تم بالفعل التوصل لاتفاق مع أروخو على بنود العقد الجديد، بما في ذلك قيمة الشرط الجزائي في عقده مع برشلونة”.