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As per reports out of Spain, a West Ham United transfer update has come to light involving Valencia star Carlos Soler.

The Lowdown: Rice rumours prevalent…

Hammers superstar Declan Rice has been repeatedly linked with an east London exit recently with no sign of a new deal just yet despite West Ham’s rumoured intentions.

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The England international rejected two new contract offers last summer and Premier League rivals like Man City and Man United are allegedly prepared to test West Ham’s resolve in the summer (The Telegraph).

Irons players apparently fear Rice could be tempted by a move away in the summer and, as per a Spanish source, it appears the club and transfer chief Rob Newman are preparing themselves for that eventuality.

The Latest: West Ham could make ‘great proposal’ for Soler…

According to the claim out of Europe, West Ham ‘may lose’ their star midfielder with inquiries having already been made.

As a result, West Ham are ‘already preparing’ to find Rice’s replacement and could make a ‘great proposal’ to sign Valencia star Soler this summer.

The Spaniard is apparently very liked at Rush Green as David Moyes scours the market for possible Rice alternatives.

The Verdict: Right call?

Soler has been a revelation at the Mestalla Stadium this season, scoring nine goals and assisting four others in 21 La Liga appearances, coming as a bit of an all-rounder.

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The 25-year-old, still fairly young with a long shelf life, can play in a variety of midfield roles and his current deal expires in 2023 – putting West Ham in a potentially strong negotiating position to sign Soler for less than his £45 million market valuation (Transfermarkt).

If Rice were to leave, the Irons could certainly do a lot worse for a replacement.

In other news: West Ham join race for £30m ‘beast’ as Newman now eyes ‘exciting signing’ for Moyes! Find out more here.

	Neil McKenzie is likely to open the batting with Graeme Smith © Peter J Heeger

South Africa’s unexpected defeat in the first Test in Port Elizabeth against West Indies has prompted the selectors to call up Neil McKenzie to strengthen the batting. McKenzie, who hasn’t played a Test for over three years, will join the existing 12-man squad for the second Test starting in Cape Town on Wednesday.The South African batsmen struggled in both innings in Port Elizabeth, bundled out for 195 and 260 as they lost by 128 runs. Their biggest concern would be opener Herschelle Gibbs, who made a pair. Coach Mickey Arthur admitted those concerns but didn’t feel the need for a major overhaul.”There is no panic but we have decided to strengthen our top order batting,” Arthur said. McKenzie, a middle-order batsman, is most likely to replace Gibbs and Arthur was confident he had the technique to open the batting.McKenzie has been on the fringes of a recall after a fine domestic season, scoring 501 runs for the Lions in seven SuperSport Series matches. He also made 182 and 34 for South Africa A against the New Zealanders and 54 against the West Indians before the first Test, a match in which he captained the side to a 10-wicket win.He was called up as cover for the injured AB de Villiers for the second Test against New Zealand at Centurion but eventually missed out as de Villiers was later declared fit.

The trial of Mark Vermeulen, who has been accused of starting fires at the Zimbabwe Cricket headquarters and the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy, has been further adjourned to March 9. The delay follows an agreement between the defence and the state that he undergo additional medical examinations by two government experts.Vermeulen’s defence lawyer, Eric Matinenga, presented the court with two medical reports from a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist. Both diagnosed Vermeulen with “a non-pathological condition and consistent intermediate explosive disorder which can influence his conduct.” The court asked for further medical examinations to be undertaken under the country’s Mental Health Bill.The magistrate agreed to relax the conditions of bail, so allowing Vermeulen to resume playing cricket for Old Harrovians, his club side, when the Harare Vigne Cup League resumes on Sunday. He is, however, barred from playing matches at Harare Sports Club and the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy, which are both operated by Zimbabwe Cricket.

The five ODIs to be played between India and Pakistan, starting from February 6 at Peshawar, will be available to millions of viewers on Doordarshan. This follows an agreement reached before the Supreme Court between Ten Sports, which has the exclusive telecast rights for the series, and Prasar Bharati, the state-run broadcaster.A division bench comprising of Justices Ashok Bhan and Tarun Chatterjee today directed Prasar Bharati to deposit with the Supreme Court a sum of Rs.15 crore (US$3,398,278 approx ) by February 9, which Ten Sports shall receive as the full and final settlement for sharing an “uninterrupted feed” for the five ODIs.According to the agreement, Prasar Bharati will not run any advertisements during the terrestrial transmission and will have to restrict the range of its satellite so that the signal does not spill over to the neighbouring countries.KS Sarma, Prasar Bharati’s CEO, said: “We will obey the order of the honourable Supreme Court and deposit Rs.15 crore. We will get a feed for all the five one-day internationals without running our own advertisements,” he told PTI after emerging from the court.The Supreme Court transferred a petition pending in the Bombay High Court and said henceforth all matters relating to the dispute shall be heard by a three-judge bench of the apex court. The petition filed by Taj Television Ltd, owner of Ten Sports, had sought a stay of the government guidelines which make it mandatory for sports channels to share feeds of sporting events of national importance with Prasar Bharati.

ScorecardIndia A defeated India Seniors by six wickets in a thriller under lights at the Wankhede Stadium, but the result was secondary, for this was the first match of a series whose purpose is to bring India’s best together to provide a glimpse of the future. While the eventual result was given form by the old hands of Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, the new boys – Satyajit Parab, Dheeraj Jadhav and Venugopal Rao – gave their sides impetus with a calm that bodes well for the coming years.Dravid and Kaif came together with a mounting run-rate and four men gone. Not long ago, Kaif had admitted that he enjoyed batting with Dravid, and the understanding between them as they scampered between the wickets showed why. Kaif cracked 49 off only 32 balls and Dravid hit 45 off 44, sealing the match in the final over with a towering straight six. It was rivetting stuff on a pitch which assisted everyone.But the base from which the two launched was constructed by Parab and Jadhav, who put on 70 in 13.5 overs. With Lakshmipathy Balaji returning from injury and Gagandeep Singh striving for pace, the bowlers could not find the required length to trouble the openers consistently. Hence the score rattled along until the more aggressive Parab missed a sweep off Ramesh Pawar and was adjudged leg-before. Then Jadhav was joined by Mongia, who appeared so composed and displayed such little excitement, that applause for his fifty was greeted with three waves of the hand. His first attempt at adventure – a foray down the track right after his fifty – ended badly as the shot failed to clear the fence. That provided Anil Kumble with his first wicket of the day, and he was to claim one more later, but the moments in between, when Jadhav and Mongia squirted boundaries, would not have been treasured.Jadhav, a consistent performer at first-class level, made a composed 79, and played a vital hand in stands with Parab, Mongia and Dravid. His running was quick and his placement was spot-on. He fell in an effort to score quick runs, sweeping Pawar to Shikhar Dhawan at square leg (196 for 3).The Seniors owed much to Yuvraj and Rao, who came together after Zaheer Khan had reduced them to 52 for 3. The two steadied the nerves with their 116-run stand for the fourth wicket and helped the team to a commanding 280 for 9. Until then, the going had not been good, for the familiar failings were on show: swishes outside the off stump by Sourav Ganguly, and the sight of a fast bowler causing havoc on a green-tinged pitch.Zaheer glided in with the fluidity and economy of movement of his pre-injury days. Deliveries lifted past faces taken aback with the pace and bounce – in MS Dhoni’s case, between a loose bat and static feet with the second ball of the day. Ganguly edged to first slip after two pokes, and Shikhar Dhawan, who had played well for 23, walked across his stumps and nicked one to the wicketkeeper, Dinesh Karthik.It was then that Yuvraj and Rao, a tiny man possessing a savage cut and a demoralising pull stroke, set about rebuilding and imposing. They were helped by Ajit Agarkar’s inaccuracy – either too short or too wide, or both – and took regular boundaries off him. He was removed and replaced by Rudra Pratap Singh, a left-armer bearing more than a passing resemblance to Ashish Nehra. He troubled Yuvraj with deliveries that reared up and had him squaring up uncomfortably. Yuvraj, otherwise in imperious touch, decided to take charge after evading one particularly prickly delivery and lofted Singh to the cover fence and pulled him to midwicket. Singh, having bowled five overs, was taken off.Yuvraj’s approach to Murali Karthik and Yusuf Pathan – Irfan’s older brother – was just as destructive. He swatted them between fielders to midwicket, and pulled to square-leg over, around, between fielders. His and Agarkar’s day was summed up in one ball on the bowler’s return to the attack – a long-hop which was brutally hammered over mid-off’s head to the fence. His hundred was his second within a week. The last one had helped North Zone clinch the Deodhar Trophy, but this one could not win it. The help he had from Rao, who scored 55, was instrumental in the large total, but the bowlers were lacking. What made the deficiencies even more glaring is that, inexplicably, Irfan Pathan was rested from the side.

Indians 266 for 9 dec and 116 for 2 (Chopra 55*) drew with Victoria 518 for 8 dec (Hodge 264, Harvey 71)
Scorecard

Brad Hodge: piling on the misery for the Indians © Getty Images

Brad Hodge showed up the lack of bite in the Indian bowling attack, hammering a superb double-hundred as the three-day match between Victoria and the Indians petered into a draw. Cameron White finally declared Victoria’s innings at 518 for 8, shortly after Hodge fell for 264. It left the Indians with almost three hours to bat out, which they did quite comfortably, with Akash Chopra (55 not out) getting some useful practice and Sadagoppan Ramesh further strengthening his case for inclusion in the Test team.The first two sessions belonged to Hodge, though, who scored 111 out of the 170 runs scored by Victoria today. His batting was punctuated by plenty of drives down the ground, as the Indian bowlers erred in length and served a generous dose of half-volleys. Zaheer Khan and L Balaji felt the heat early in the day, as Hodge repeatedly drove them in the V between mid-off and mid-on. Balaji provided the only cheer of the morning session for the Indians, trapping Ian Harvey in front for 71 to end a 161-run stand for the sixth wicket, but White joined Hodge to further prolong the Indian misery.Hodge reached his double-century off 309 balls with his 26th four, a pull to the midwicket boundary off Balaji. Harbhajan Singh had another listless day, with White tonking him for a six and Hodge driving and cutting him for fours.Sourav Ganguly had no option but to resort to the part-time bowlers, and it was Virender Sehwag who finally got the breakthrough, when Hodge edged a drive and was snapped up by Rahul Dravid at first slip (518 for 7). Hodge and White added 125 for the seventh wicket. Four balls later, White was on his way too, fishing at one outside off stump from Zaheer and nicking to Parthiv Patel, who latched on to the catch on his second attempt. The declaration came soon after, with Victoria achieving a first-innings lead of 252.The Indian innings began with Sehwag getting off to a boundary-ridden start, lofting Mathew Inness over mid-off and cutting Harrop behind point. The entertainment didn’t last long, though, as Harrop trapped him in front with one that nipped back and kept a trifle low (24 for 1).Ramesh and Chopra ensured against a collapse, adding 90 for the second wicket. Chopra, out for just 2 in the first innings, redeemed himself with a well-compiled half-century. He was cautious early in his innings, scoring most of his runs with steers to third man. The circumspect approach was shunned only when David Hussey came on to bowl his offspinners – Chopra swept and then lofted him over midwicket for fours. Ramesh holed out to deep square leg late in the day for 36, allowing Dravid to come in and score his first run of the match.

Being back at home after the rigours of touring Australia, and the especially tough schedule of the last two weeks of the VB Series would help New Zealand in their preparation for the start of the National Bank One-Day International series against England in Christchurch tomorrow.New Zealand have lost their last five games in a row, including both finals in Australia, but now find themselves up against an England side who won their last two matches in India.New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said being at home was a big factor in turning performances around.”We’ve been looking forward to playing at home for awhile. We’re looking forward to showing what we’ve learnt on our development process and playing at home is always special.”Our last month of competition against two very good sides has given us a good indication of where we are and what we need to do for the World Cup so I think in 12 months time we will be a very good side. We learnt some good lessons and have got to put them into place straight away,” he said.Fleming said New Zealand would not be taking England for granted despite their comparative lack of exposure to ODI cricket. The English comeback in India had shown the side’s fortitude and the New Zealanders respect that, and respect all the English players.”We respect all of the players. If you start picking out one or two you forget the other nine and get yourself into trouble. Our preparation is based on thoroughness,” he said.While the call-up of young Northern Districts tearaway Ian Butler was the result of the disappointing loss of Shane Bond to injury, if there is one captain in international cricket who is used to introducing new bowlers to the game, it is Fleming. He has made it an art form.Fleming has not seen Butler bowl in a match.”He has got pace. He is raw but that can be exciting and it is a great opportunity for the young lad and I think it is a positive step looking forward to 12 months time.”We are going to learn something about a young player who could have a role in the World Cup. His job is to provide the strike power we will miss with Shane Bond and from all accounts he can do that,” he said.The loss of Bond was a blow to the side especially after the impact he created among New Zealanders watching the Australian series on television.”He played extremely well in Australia and got good results. He, out of anyone, was looking forward to coming home and starting at home. From a team perspective we are going to miss him, and miss him massively, but we also look forward to an opportunity for another young player.”We might unleash another Shane Bond and that is an exciting prospect to have two young guys with genuine pace with the new ball for the next 12-18 months.”The selection, I think, is a positive move to keep our tactics in place. While it will be seen as a gamble, and it is a gamble, but it is one that is calculated in a way that we think this is the way to play one-day cricket in the future and it is perhaps an indication of the way the one-day game will be played in South Africa.”I’ll have to do a lot of work with him today. I will give him the guidelines and go through the plans quite extensively this afternoon.”It doesn’t really change much from what he has been doing. He’s there to bowl fast, to express himself and he’s there to have fun. While it is a pressure-cooker situation the only thing we can do is, and Chris Cairns will handle that, getting the mental side of things right.”Fleming said he was happy with Cairns’ fitness, especially after the back problems he had in Australia. But he said by the end of the tour Cairns was coming back to full fitness.”I think he’s relished the opportunity to slide in behind two opening bowlers. As his career evolves further, he probably sees that as a good opportunity to finish his career. It’s good for him, it’s good on his body so that is a win-win situation from my position.”The trend of the tournament had been been that opening partnerships were not very high. New Zealand were still developing information on which combination was going to best suit it.”It was a problem for us in Australia and this combination [Nathan Astle-Chris Nevin] is another attempt for us to get it right.”I’m finding myself more stimulated by the one-day game, there is more opportunity to take wickets and the bowlers feel they are always in with a chance,” Fleming said.

Fine bowling by off spinner H Vatekar and an unbeaten century by opening batsman Krishna Mohan highlighted the final day’s play in the Coca Cola Trophy South Zone (under-25) tournament between Andhra and Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy stadium at Bangalore on Wednesday. Andhra, which who came out better in the drawn game, took five points while Karnataka finished with three.When play resumed in the morning, the stage seemed set for a keen tussle for the first innings lead. But Karnataka, who were 116 for two in reply to Andhra’s 385 were dismissed for 269. The early dismissal of Prajwal Raj who added only one run to his overnight score before he was run out for 42 set them on the backfoot. The other not out batsman Sushanth and SP Shinde (42) however added 43 runs for the fourth wicket in 12.4 overs before the former was also run out for 68. Sushanth faced 106 balls and hit six of them to the ropes. There was a sixth wicket partnership of 56 runs between Shinde and skipper T Aditya (32) which raised hopes of Karnataka challenging strongly for the lead. But with the tail offering little resistance in the face of some inspired bowling by Vatekar, Karnataka slid from 228 for five to 269 all out. Vatekar finished with four for 59.Andhra, with a lead of 116 runs, got some good batting practice in the second innings. Openers LNP Reddy (52) and Krishna Mohan hit 109 runs off 19.5 overs. Reddy faced 55 balls and hit four fours and a six. Krishna Mohan remained unbeaten with 105 after facing only 102 balls and hitting 15 fours and a six as Andhra were 179 for two when the match was called off after nine mandatory overs.Andhra now meet Kerala from April 21 to 23.

A title race is brewing phenomenally well in Scotland and after Rangers bounced back from their draw last weekend on Wednesday night, Gio van Bronckhorst’s Ibrox side are now breathing down the necks of their closest rivals.

Their 1-0 win over St Johnstone was far from a classic and indeed, it wasn’t a particularly vibrant performance from the Gers who were rather sluggish in midfield and offensive areas.

This is a team who have played a considerable amount of football of late, with plenty of midweek action both domestically and in Europe to savour.

While last week they were tormenting Borussia Dortmund and knocking out one of the most exciting sides on the continent, this week they were struggling and battling with themselves.

The performance of Scott Arfield typified that with the midfielder looking rather leggy when asked to play from the right-hand side. However, the man next to him in the no.10 role also looked severely off the pace; Joe Aribo.

The dynamic Nigerian has been brilliant in spells this term, registering 14 goal involvements for Rangers. Yet, in the last few weeks, his form has dwindled.

It’s not difficult to see what the issue might be either, as he has played a lot of football already in 2022, travelling to Africa and back for AFCON while now throwing himself into a Premiership title race.

There were a few bright moments from the former Charlton man on Wednesday but ultimately his numbers make for pretty grim reading.

During his time on the field, Aribo lost the ball on 23 occasions, meaning he ceded possession once every 3.4 touches.

Furthermore, he was a lightweight in defensive duels, winning just ten of the 23 he was involved in throughout the game.

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To make matters worse, he completed just 72% of his passes, failed to complete a single dribble and saw two shots sail off target.

As a result, it may well be time for van Bronckhorst to omit him from the squad. It’s clear that the attacking midfielder needs to freshen up and until he does so, his performances may only become more of a concern.

AND in other news, Forget Kamara: Rangers colossus who won 8 duels was GVB’s “superhuman” last night…

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has praised Darren Bent ahead of his team’s game against Tottenham, and has defended the England international after a derogatory comment from Harry Redknapp.

Redknapp famously stated: “My missus could have scored that one,” after Bent missed a glaring header against Portsmouth back when playing for Spurs, but McLeish has defended his main man.

“He’s had a lot of experience since [Redknapp’s comment],” the Scottish coach told Mirror Football.

“He’s the guy who still gets into the positions. I know what Harry said was meant to be tongue in cheek but I’m sure Darren’s scored about 20 or 30 goals since then that Sandra [Harry’s wife] would not have put away.

“There’s no doubt Benty’s been very crucial to our team in that if we create chances, there’s a guy who’s going to find some space in the box.

“Darren’s had a lot of chances, scored five goals and could’ve scored 10, so that tells you the team are creating opportunities,” he stated.

Bent will be keen to prove himself to his former club, and should lead the line against Spurs with the support of Gabriel Agbonlahor.

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By Gareth McKnight

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