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Kevin Pietersen has undergone routine surgery to repair the hernia that led to his early departure from England’s World Cup campaign

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Mar-2011Kevin Pietersen has undergone routine surgery to repair the hernia that led to his early departure from England’s World Cup campaign, but is expected to be ready for the Sri Lanka Test series which gets underway in late May. Following a period of recuperation, Pietersen will begin a rehabilitation programme with his county Surrey, in conjunction with the England team medical staff.”Kevin underwent a successful, routine operation with a hernia and an area of weaknesses repaired on the left side while a small hernia was identified and repaired on the right side,” said ECB Chief Medical Officer, Dr Nick Peirce.”Kevin will now undergo a relatively brief period of rest before beginning a rehabilitation programme with Surrey CCC under the guidance of the England team medical staff. His return to first-class cricket will be determined once he commences his rehabilitation programme, but we expect him to be fully fit in time for England’s first summer Test starting May 26.”Pietersen’s departure from the England squad followed a crucial eight-over bowling spell in the team’s six-run victory over South Africa at Chennai last week, but the circumstances were frowned upon by England’s coach, Andy Flower, who had hoped such a key player would take a few painkillers and “bite the bullet” to get through the remainder of the tournament.Nevertheless, Flower accepted that the medical report justified the decision to send him home. “Once Kevin’s hernia injury was identified we knew he would require an operation and the surgeon’s findings further underline the seriousness of the injury,” he said. “We’re pleased Kevin has undergone a successful surgery and can shortly begin his rehabilitation programme with a view to rejoining the England team in time for our first Test match of the summer against Sri Lanka.”

Pakistan’s problems were compounded on the second afternoon at Edgbaston as Umar Gul was sent for an MRI scan on a hamstring injury, and was ruled out of contention for the rest of the match

Cricinfo staff07-Aug-2010Salman Butt played down the latest potential flashpoint between England and Pakistan as Kevin Pietersen apologised for his part in a controversial reprieve on the second afternoon at Edgbaston.Pietersen, who top-scored with 80 but is still waiting for his first Test hundred since March 2009, was on 41 when he backed away as Mohammad Asif ran into bowl, indicating he wasn’t ready to face the delivery. But, with Asif in delivery stride, the ball was let go and Pietersen, bizarrely, played a casual drive that lobbed gently into the air to Salman Butt at mid-off.In an innings in which the tourists dropped six catches, Butt understandably appealed, but the South African umpire Marais Erasmus insisted he had already called dead ball and therefore Pietersen could not be given out.”That’s what I’ve been told by the umpire, that he called it before the actual shot was played so it becomes not out that way,” Butt told reporters. “That’s what the umpire told me. We had a point and we made it to him but that was the reply.”Pietersen, for his part, insisted he’d been distracted by his fellow batsman Jonathan Trott, who walked into his eyeline while backing up at the non-striker’s end. “Trotty walked in from a widish mid-on position.” Pietersen said. “He said he was swatting away flies or bees – there were a lot of them out there today – and he walked in at a brisk pace across the wicket.”I thought he was going to walk straight across, so I pulled away. The umpire shouted dead ball, but the ball sort of followed me. Instinctively, I played at it – I probably shouldn’t have, and I apologise if I caused any issues.”Law 23.3.b (v) states: “Either umpire shall call “dead ball” when he is satisfied that for an adequate reason the striker is not ready for the delivery of the ball and, if the ball is delivered, makes no attempt to play it.” Having played his shot, Pietersen conceded he was fortunate not to have been given out on a technicality.”They obviously appealed. But it was a dead ball call before – and if the shoe was on the other foot we would have got on with the game,” he said. “I think everybody moved on pretty quickly.””I think all the luck was with KP today,” said Butt, with a smile, after falling for 0 in Pakistan’s second innings. “It’s only a one-ball game for us batsmen, and if you get a good one there’s not much we can do. If we are lucky it might pass without edging, sometimes it doesn’t carry.”

Leeds United have suffered a major blow in their pursuit of Brenden Aaronson…

What’s the word?

After having an initial £15m bid knocked back by RB Salzburg earlier this week, it appears as if the Austrian Bundesliga champions have told the Yorkshire outfit that their star midfielder is absolutely not for sale this month.

That is according to 90min, who claim a club spokesman has told the website that the 21-year-old is not leaving the Red Bull Arena anytime soon.

Perhaps that is hardly a surprise given their involvement in the Champions League knockout stages, where they will face German giants Bayern Munich later this month.

Gutting blow for Bielsa

This will come as hugely gutting news to Marcelo Bielsa, who is said to hugely admire a player of Aaronson’s quality and potential.

He is not only thought to be Leeds’ only target during the January transfer window but also one that the Argentinian head coach has personally demanded.

“So, Brenden Aaronson’s the one Leeds United want. The top and only target right now. Another offer will go in,” revealed LeedsLive reporter Beren Cross earlier in the week.

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Meanwhile, fellow journalist Pete O’Rourke recently told GIVEMESPORT:

“He’s the one that Bielsa really wants. He thinks he fits the profile as the type of player that can go straight into his side.”

Indeed, it’s easy to see why the 66-year-old wants to bring Aaronson to Elland Road before deadline day in a little over ten days time.

His performances in UEFA’s elite competition have been quite remarkable indeed – operating as a ‘half-winger’ in Salzburg’s 4-2-2-2 system, he ranks amongst the top 1% of midfielders for pressures (27.84 per 90) and forcing the opposition into losing possession (8.55 per 90), via FBRef.

That goes to show his immense work rate in the final third and as we know with Bielsa’s philosophy at Leeds, he likes his attackers to defend from the front with a high press.

Dubbed “ruthless” and “relentless” by his former Philadelphia Union head coach Jim Curtin, the young “playmaker” would tick plenty of boxes for Leeds.

Aaronson would fit like a glove in the current United squad, so the fact that the Yorkshiremen won’t be able to sign him this month will come as a devastating and frustrating blow to Bielsa, who must be livid to not secure his main target.

It’s now four years since the club bagged a new midfielder and that wait could rumble on further now.

AND in other news, Bielsa could land the next David Batty in “exciting talent” as Leeds  target “big signing” this January…

Michael Hussey believes Pakistan’s batting depth will be seriously tested in the absence of Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan for the upcoming series against Australia

Brydon Coverdale11-Jul-2010Michael Hussey believes Pakistan’s batting depth will be seriously tested in the absence of Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan for the upcoming series against Australia. However, Hussey is wary of an “outstanding” attack that is likely to determine the fortunes of the side six months after they lost 3-0 in Australia.Younis did not play in that series but has been one of their most reliable Test players in the past couple of years. Both he and Yousuf, the captain during the visit to Australia, average over 50 in Test cricket and in their absence, the only member of the top six who averages above 40 is Umar Akmal, who has played only six Tests.”I think their depth is going to be tested,” Hussey said. “You take Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf out of that team and you’re losing two outstanding, classy players. That’s going to be a big loss, particularly in the Test match arena. It’s going to be very hard to find those runs that those guys consistently score in Test match cricket.”But their bowling attack looks outstanding. They’re very well balanced and they cover all bases very well. Run-making for us is going to be tough, but hopefully if we can bowl well and keep them under pressure, I’m hoping we can bowl them out for less runs than us.”Although Pakistan might enter the series with some confidence left over from their two Twenty20 victories in Birmingham, history is against them, as they haven’t beaten Australia in a Test since November 1995. During the most recent series in Australia, Salman Butt was the only Pakistan player to score a Test century, and only he and Umar Akmal averaged above 30.For the Australians, five men posted hundreds and averaged 50-plus including Hussey, whose 134 in Sydney helped Australia to a famous victory from what seemed an unwinnable position. He enters Tuesday’s Lord’s Test in fine form, having cruised to a century in the warm-up game in Derby, but he knows the challenge will be far greater against Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul and Danish Kaneria.”I feel like I’m seeing the ball well, but it doesn’t really matter in a practice game,” he said. “I’d give all those runs back for a hundred at Lord’s in a Test match, that’s for sure. The Pakistanis have an excellent attack, it’s going to be a lot better than the attack we faced up in Derby. It’s going to be a huge challenge.”At 35, Hussey is one of the old men in an unusually inexperienced Australian squad . Five of the 14 members are yet to make their Test debut, although Steven Smith and Tim Paine will wear the baggy green for the first time at Lord’s. Hussey said the youth in the group helped create genuine excitement ahead of a rare neutral Test.”In our team we’ve got a great mix,” he said. “All the guys love playing for Australia and you can really see it in their faces. Even Ricky Ponting at the moment, I think he’s loving being captain of the team at the moment. It’s a new team, it’s fresh, he wants to have an input on how these young guys develop as cricketers and there’s a real enthusiasm around the team.”

Tottenham Hotspur now also want to sign Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans while they weigh a move for Christian Eriksen as fresh transfer news emerges.

The Lowdown: Lilywhites enter Eriksen chase…

Links to their former superstar playmaker have been prevalent in the last few weeks as Tottenham reportedly eye a move to re-sign Eriksen on a free summer deal.

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90min recently claimed that Tottenham are interested in a move for the 30-year-old, as did reliable iNews correspondent Mark Douglas, with big name source The Times also backing these reports.

Journalist Gary Jacob, making a Tuesday night claim, says Spurs are weighing a move for Eriksen but, as per his information, he isn’t the only midfielder on their radar.

The Latest: Paratici eyes Tielemans move…

Writing for The Times, he claims that Spurs want to sign Leicester’s star midfielder as they keep tabs on his situation.

He comes as a fellow target alongside Eriksen, with Tielemans about to enter the last year of his contract at the King Power Stadium, potentially putting Paratici and co in a strong position to move.

The Verdict: Good candidate…

While Eriksen on a free could come as the more romantic move, certainly amid supporters at least, you cannot rule out Tielemans as a good candidate to strengthen Antonio Conte’s midfield options.

The 24-year-old, who wants to play in the Champions League as Spurs compete for a place there next season, has been lavished as ‘one of Europe’s top midfielders’ by Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers this season.

In another promising claim, Leicester could let him go this summer for as little as £35 million, coming after they demanded as much as £60m last year (Het Nieuwsblad via The Metro).

Amid this £25m drop in price, it’s little wonder Spurs are now eyeing a move.

In other news: Conte personally approves ‘monster’ player move as Tottenham take pre-summer action, find out more here.

Kevin Pietersen will not be disciplined for his latest Twitter outburst but his captain Andrew Strauss has warned him to be responsible with his comments in the future

Peter English in Adelaide02-Dec-2010Kevin Pietersen will not be disciplined for his latest Twitter outburst but his captain Andrew Strauss has warned him to be responsible with his comments in the future. In a series of tweets Pietersen concluded it was “pathetic” that the practice wickets were not covered more quickly when it rained on Wednesday.When asked if Pietersen crossed the line Strauss said: “No he didn’t. There are kinds of degrees of everything and we don’t want anything that distracts our attention from what is important, which is getting on the cricket pitch and performing.”Pietersen vented after missing out on a long bat by tweeting: “What should a groundsman make sure he does two days out from a Test match?” He followed it with: “Cover the nets when it rains maybe?” His final comment on the subject was: “Pathetic!”Pietersen’s most famous explosive tweet came after he was dropped from the limited-overs sides in August and the incident resulted in England introducing specific regulations for micro-blogging. “We have got a set of guidelines for our players and we fully expect them to adhere to those guidelines as much as possible,” Strauss said.Strauss is not a tweeter but is happy for his team-mates to embrace the format to connect with their supporters. “I wouldn’t prefer all of our players to be exactly like me, it would be a pretty boring dressing room,” he said. “Everyone is different and a lot of the guys really enjoy it. And it is a good way of broadening the appeal of the game, there is no doubt about it.”But it has to be used responsibly and by and large it has been. We have to make sure that we don’t have any more incidences of the likes of what we have seen previously.”

Last summer’s transfer window was a particularly busy one for Southampton, who brought in the likes of Valentino Livramento, Lyanco, Romain Perraud and Adam Armstrong on permanent deals.

Armando Broja also came to St Mary’s over the summer on a loan move from Chelsea until the end of the season.

Even though the 20-year-old is currently expected to rejoin the west London club when his deal at Southampton expires, it seems as though there could be a possible change of plans in that regard.

What’s the news?

In a recent Twitter post from Sky Sports journalist Lyall Thomas, Southampton are “aware of interest building” in Broja from other clubs and want to sign him on a permanent basis from Chelsea.

Since arriving at St Mary’s, the Albanian has scored seven goals in 19 appearances across all competitions so far this season, showing how much of a capable and useful attacking outlet he has been for Ralph Hasenhuttl despite not getting much senior action at Stamford Bridge.

With his goalscoring efforts in mind, it’s easy to see why Southampton would want to have him on a permanent basis rather than give him back to Chelsea at the end of the season.

In terms of the 20-year-old’s future, with the Blues having the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kai Havertz and Timo Werner in their squad who can or predominantly play at centre-forward, it would be hard to see Broja getting as much game-time at Stamford Bridge next season as he has been at Southampton.

This could persuade the player to stay with the south coast club on a permanent basis rather than potentially wasting his time at Chelsea if he isn’t going to be guaranteed regular game-time under Thomas Tuchel.

Moving forward, either this month or in the summer transfer window, Southampton should definitely approach the west Londoners to see whether or not they would be willing to negotiate a suitable deal whoch would see Broja become a permanent Saints player and continue his career there. That would surely please Hasenhuttl and a lot of Southampton fans, especially if the Albanian can continue finding the net with regularity.

In other news – Imagine him & Ward-Prowse: Solak could form scary Saints duo with “dynamic” £18m-rated beast

According to The Athletic journalist David Ornstein, Newcastle United’s pursuit of Lille centre-back Sven Botman is hotting up as they look to add the Dutchman to their ranks this month.

Newcastle have reportedly submitted an improved bid for the 21-year-old defender who is the Magpies’ top target for the transfer window. The Dutchman is reportedly keen on a move to the North East.

Botman has made 17 Ligue 1 appearances for the reigning French champions so far this season, who haven’t enjoyed a campaign similar to that of last year with Jocelyn Gourvennec’s side sat in 8th place.

However, the 21-year-old was a kingpin last season as Lille went on to win their first league title in 10 years, making 47 appearances in all competitions, keeping 21 clean sheets in the process.

It is no wonder that Botman is Newcastle’s main target for this transfer window with the Toon Army’s defensive woes being an issue for numerous seasons.

This campaign, in particular, has been a struggle for Eddie Howes’ side with Newcastle the Premier League’s joint-worst defenders, conceding 42 goals in their 19 games.

Moreover, the Tyneside club remains in a precarious position as they’re currently sat in 19th place with the threat of relegation still very real.

Newcastle haven’t quite had a defender as influential as Fabricio Coloccini since the Argentinian left the North-East in 2016 with the likes of Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schär, Ciaran Clark and Federico Fernandez struggling to make a similar impact.

However, Botman could prove to be the closest the Magpies have come to replacing the services of their former centre-back, with the £27m-rated Lille man labelled “a great player” by legendary ex-defender Paulo Maldini.

The 39-year-old was a colossus for Newcastle, making 275 appearances for the Tyneside club, 211 of which in the Premier League in which he kept 51 clean sheets.

With Howe struggling to plug the gap at the back, the 21-year-old defender could prove to be a revelation, with there being little doubt that the Netherlands U-21 centre-back would be a vast improvement on the Magpies’ current options.

There is little doubt that Newcastle’s new Saudi owners will be spending this transfer window and have already made their first statement signing, adding right-back Kieran Trippier to their ranks from Atletico Madrid.

In other news, Newcastle linked with promising forward…

Resignation follows a showcause notice from the PCB over Latif’s remarks about the spot-fixing scandal on a TV show

Cricinfo staff14-Sep-2010Rashid Latif has stepped down as the PCB’s wicketkeeping coach after being issued a showcause notice by the board for remarks the former captain made about the ongoing spot-fixing scandal on a TV show. He has since decided to take up the post of head coach of Afghanistan, less than a month after quitting as the country’s batting coach.”I have sent my explanation to the board with reference to the notice but I would like to make it clear here that while it is an honour to serve Pakistan cricket in any position I can’t remain quiet on a key cricket issue that could determine the future of Pakistan cricket,” Latif said in a press release.”As a former player and captain, people look up to me and expect me to speak honestly and without bias and that I have done without meaning anything personal against anyone,” he said.He argued on the show that if Ijaz Butt, the board chairman, had been a responsible official, he would have suspended the trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing during the Lord’s Test, without waiting for the ICC to do it.Latif has predictably been a leading voice in the wake of cricket’s latest brush with fixing. In a widely-read column for recently, he questioned the motives of Mazhar Majeed, the player agent implicated at the centre of the sting operation, and Mazher Mahmood, the newspaper’s chief investigative reporter, who coordinated the entire operation.Latif was one of the original whistleblowers in the match-fixing scandals that engulfed the game during the mid-90s. He accused several Pakistan team-mates of working in collusion with bookies and even ‘retired’ from the side during the 1994-95 tour to South Africa, in protest at what he said was going on. He was to become a key witness through the Qayyum inquiries between 1998-2000 as well, which eventually led to life bans on former captain Salim Malik and fast bowler Ata-ur-Rehman, as well as financial penalties on a number of other leading cricketers.”I have enjoyed working as wicketkeeping coach under the supervision of Ijaz Butt as Chairman of the board,” he said, “but as a former captain, I have other responsibilities as well to Pakistan cricket which has given me a lot.”Latif had been working with the Afghanistan national side as batting coach but he stepped down after a month in the post in August, citing irreconcilable differences with officials in the Afghan board.

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a huge injury blow, with midfielder Oliver Skipp now the third Lilywhites player confirmed to miss the rest of the 2021/22 season.

The Lowdown: Spurs setbacks

Antonio Conte’s outfit have already suffered some major setbacks in recent weeks, with both Matt Doherty and Japhet Tanganga ruled out for the campaign.

Doherty’s injury was perhaps the most damaging to the immediate top four challenge, given the Republic of Ireland international was just starting to find his best form in a Spurs shirt, scoring or assisting five times in his last seven games.

Unfortunately for the Lilywhites, the situation has just gone from bad to worse, with their 21-year-old midfield maestro the latest member of the squad to be added to the list.

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The Latest: A hammer blow

In a new statement via the club’s official Twitter account, the club revealed: “We can confirm that Oliver Skipp has undergone surgery in America this morning and will be out for the remainder of the season.”

‘Skippy’ had initially been ruled out with a pelvic injury before suffering a setback earlier this month, and it seems that was one setback too many as far as his chances this campaign are concerned.

The Verdict: One for the future

Despite only making 18 appearances in the Premier League so far this term, the £18m-rated starlet hasn’t failed to impress when given a chance, recording a pass success rate of 90.1%, as per WhoScored, showing that he has that ability to stay calm and control the game from the middle of the park.

Once dubbed a “valuable” player by Spurs insider John Wenham, Skipp recently signed a new deal at the club that will keep him with the Premier League giants until the summer of 2027, proving exactly how highly Conte rates him.

There’s no doubt that the academy graduate will have a huge part to play in Spurs’ future successes, but it is a mega blow for the manager to lose his talents for the top four push.

Tottenham have already identified a colossal midfield signing for Conte…