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West Ham have been handed a timely injury boost ahead of the Premier League’s return next weekend…

What’s the latest?

According to The Athletic, Irons defender Arthur Masuaku is expected to be available for selection after the international break, having been absent since March with a knee problem.

The 27-year-old left-back has yet to be named in any of David Moyes’ three matchday squads but he has been keeping up his fitness levels by playing for the U23s squad in the Premier League 2.

Masuaku featured for the full 90 minutes in their wins over Arsenal and Chelsea and during their defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion. An encouraging sign.

It was also claimed in the report that there were no plans to farm the DR Congo international out on loan or sell him on, so that only goes to show what the Hammers’ boss thinks of him.

Timely boost

Masuaku is certainly not the first choice in the current squad, with Aaron Cresswell taking that crown, but having him fit and available is certainly a big boost to Moyes.

If the Englishman were to get injured, then the 5 foot 10 dynamo is his only senior back-up, whilst at times last season, the pair of them played together when the 58-year-old wanted to deploy a back-three.

He started ten of their opening 11 matches in 2020/21 and that was largely with Cresswell making up the backline as a left-sided centre-half.

His return allows Moyes to be flexible in his tactics, something that he may not be able to do without Masuaku at his disposal, given his lack of options in the role.

Despite a lack of game time last season, Masuaku still managed to top the charts for dribbles per game (2.4), which was more than Cresswell (0.1) and even the likes of Michail Antonio (1.7), Said Benrahma (1.4), and Jesse Lingard (1.1), per WhoScored.

This suggests that he’s very much one of Moyes’ more attacking defensive options and could be one reason why he likes to deploy him alongside Cresswell at times.

The 27-year-old isn’t bad defensively either, having averaged 1.7 tackles per game (joint-third most).

Valued at £6.3m and on wages of around £40k-per-week, Masuaku’s presence on the pitch will certainly be needed, especially when the games come thick and fast with the Hammers in the Europa League this season.

After returning against Southampton next Saturday, the Irons will head to Croatia to face Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday, before returning to England to host Jesse Lingard’s Manchester United in back-to-back matches.

Cresswell won’t be able to play them all, so his availability should come as a timely and big boost.

AND in other news, West Ham dealt hammer blow as huge Rush Green development emerges, fans will be fuming…

Marcus North’s strong end to the season has continued with him being named captain of the Sheffield Shield and FR Cup teams of the year

Cricinfo staff11-Mar-2009
Marcus North has starred in South Africa and is an all-star in Australia © Getty Images
Marcus North’s strong end to the season has continued with him being named captain of the Australian Cricketers’ Association’s Sheffield Shield and FR Cup teams of the year. North, who scored a century on Test debut in South Africa, was the overwhelming choice as leader in the outfits that were voted on by 110 of the country’s national, state and rookie contracted players.Callum Ferguson, the Australia one-day international, and his South Australia team-mate Graham Manou were picked in the Shield, FR Cup and Twenty20 teams of the year along with Queensland’s Lee Carseldine. Manou, a leading contender as Brad Haddin’s understudy, was named vice-captain for each outfit.Michael Klinger, the South Australia batsman, collected 89% of votes for the Shield team after a summer of 1203 runs while Shane Harwood led the FR Cup field with 86%. Dirk Nannes was rated on top with 84% in the Twenty20.Players in the survey were unable to vote for team-mates and were asked to nominate six batsmen, a wicketkeeper and four bowlers. The sides were named at the state cricket awards as part of the lead-up to Friday’s Shield final between Queensland and Victoria.ACA Sheffield Shield Team of the Year Phillip Hughes (NSW), Chris Rogers (Vic), Michael Klinger (SA), Lee Carseldine (Qld), Callum Ferguson (SA), Marcus North (WA, capt), Graham Manou (SA, wk), Brett Geeves (Tas), Steve Magoffin (WA), Brett Dorey (WA), Dirk Nannes (Vic), Ryan Harris (Qld, 12th man).FR Cup Team Michael Klinger (SA), David Warner (NSW), Lee Carseldine (Qld), Callum Ferguson (SA), Travis Birt (Tas), Marcus North (WA, capt), Graham Manou (SA, wk), Aaron Heal (WA), Brett Geeves (Tas), Shane Harwood (Vic), Ben Laughlin (Qld), Chris Rogers (Vic, 12th man).Twenty20 Team Brad Hodge (Vic, capt), Daniel Harris (SA), Lee Carseldine (Qld), David Hussey (Vic), Nathan Reardon (Qld), Callum Ferguson (SA), Graham Manou (SA, wk), Jason Krejza (Tas), Shane Harwood (Vic), Umar Gul (WA), Dirk Nannes (Vic), Rhett Lockyear (Tas, 12th man).

A round-up of the second day of the tenth round matches in the Regional Four Day Competition

Cricinfo staff15-Mar-2009
Nikita Miller undermined Barbados’ batting with his steady left-arm spin © AFP
Combined Campuses and Colleges wrested control of their match against Windward Islands in St Vincent. Having moved from 231 for 7 to 277, CCC did well to leave the opposition at 130 for 7 – or 147 behind – by stumps on day two. The wrecker-in-chief was medium-pacer Kurt Wilkinson, who took the first three Windward wickets to leave them 44 for 3. The opener Johnson Charles went for 0 in the brief window before lunch, and a 38-run alliance for the second wicket was snapped when Wilkinson dismissed Keddy Lesporis. Kevin James chipped a return catch back to the offspinner Ryan Austin and then left-arm spinner Anderson Sealy got two key middle-order wickets. The day had begun with overnight centurion Floyd Reifer moving to 129 as CCC added 46 to their score. Reifer hit 14 fours and a pair of sixes before he was one of Rawl Lewis’ three wickets.A sloppy Jamaican second innings effort undid the good showing from Nikita Miller and the other successful bowlers against Barbados at the Kensington Oval. Miller, the left-arm spinner, took 5 for 33 from 22.4 overs to help Jamaica gain a 117-run lead, but his team’s batting faltered in the second innings. By stumps, Jamaica had slumped to 103 for 5, a lead of 220. After Dave Bernard struck three crucial blows in a top spell of seam and swing bowling before lunch, Miller helped dismiss Barbados for 155 just before tea. From 86 for 4 at lunch, Barbados struggled against Miller who, in an extended spell, claimed three of the last four wickets which fell for 30 runs in the space of 18.1 overs. Jamaica’s innings started off poorly, with Donovan Pagon caught at gully off Corey Collymore for 5 in the second over. Once a watchful rearguard from Brenton Parchment and his captain Tamar Lambert was dislodged, Jamaica slipped from 50 for 1 to 78 for 5. At stumps, Brendan Nash was undefeated on 30 and Carlton Baugh Jr was 5.Play was still impossible for the second day running at the Albion Sports Complex between Guyana and Leeward Islands. Members of the groundstaff kept themselves busy mopping up a slushy outfield for most of the day but further showers in the afternoon forced the officials to call of play again.

Speaking to Football Insider, talkSPORT pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor has backed brand new West Ham United starlet and summer signing Alex Kral to shine thanks to one ‘big thing’.

The Lowdown: West Ham snap up Kral…

The Hammers were linked with a move to Kral from the beginning of the summer transfer window with advanced talks even mooted months ago (Football Insider).

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Reports, however, died down midway through the window before accelerating back up again in the very last stages.

Finally ending the saga, West Ham officially snapped up the Czech Republic youngster on a season-long loan deal just before the deadline.

The Latest: Agbonlahor backs Kral…

Speaking to FI, the former Premier League striker believes Kral will ‘hit the ground running’ for West Ham due to one thing.

Indeed, the presence of compatriots Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal should help the 23-year-old to settle in fairly quickly at the London Stadium, Agbonlahor believes.

“It always helps when you are a foreign player coming in and there are players there from your own country it helps you settle in a lot quicker. That will be big for him.

“I’m sure he’ll hit the ground running as his Czech Republic teammates did. They were flying from their first few games.

“Having teammates there is definitely a big thing.”

The Verdict: Massive?

Settling into life in the Premier League comes as a challenge for any promising young starlet, but Coufal and Soucek leading by example will certainly come as a booster for Kral.

Both men enjoyed fine first seasons at the London Stadium and topped West Ham’s charts for most tackles averaged per 90 in the English top flight (WhoScored).

If Kral can replicate that kind of form, Moyes may have just pulled off a masterstroke by signing him at the very last minute.

In other news: ‘Absolutely buzzing’, ‘Here we go’…West Ham fans flock to official club announcement, find out more here.

Emiliano Martinez is in line to return to Aston Villa’s starting line-up for the clash with Everton on Saturday evening, according to Birmingham Live’s Ashley Preece. 

The lowdown

Villa were without the goalkeeper and his Argentina compatriot Emiliano Buendia last weekend for their trip to Chelsea, which ended in a 3-0 defeat. Jed Steer deputised for Martinez, making just his third Premier League appearance.

The Argentine pair have been seeing out a mandatory 10-quarantine after the international break in Croatia, where they underwent a training camp, and were due to return as late as Saturday morning (via Sky Sports).

Martinez is a key player for Dean Smith’s side. Last season, his tally of 15 clean sheets was bettered only by Ederson and Edouard Mendy in the Premier League and only Alphonse Areola ‘prevented’ more goals in the top flight.

The latest

In a fan Q&A for Birmingham Live ahead of this evening’s match, Preece was asked about the Argentine duo’s starting prospects.

He replied: “I believe Martinez will start with Buendia on the bench.”

The verdict

This is a game that Aston Villa should be winning – they’ll have ambitions of finishing above Everton – and it would be a huge boost if they could call upon Martinez.

While neither player has been able to partake in team training this week, that certainly feels like less of an issue for a goalkeeper.

It’ll now be interesting to see whether Villa end up in this position once more after the October international break, or whether a compromise can be reached to avoid a repeat of this month’s situation.

In other news, Alex McLeish offers his reaction to this Dean Smith rumour.

Andy Flower is widely expected to be unveiled this week as England’s new full-time director of cricket, having overseen the team’s fortunes in an interim capacity during the recent tour of the West Indies

Cricinfo staff14-Apr-2009
Andy Flower: the new man in charge of the England team © Getty Images
Andy Flower has been confirmed as England’s new full-time team director of cricket after working on an interim basis during the recent tour of West Indies.Flower, 40, stepped up from his assistant role in January, following the dismissal of the former head coach, Peter Moores. Though England’s results were mixed during a turbulent 11-week tour, he impressed the selectors with his work ethic and formed a strong bond with the captain, Andrew Strauss, which was rewarded with a last-gasp victory in five-match ODI series that followed the Tests.Flower’s is expected to be approximately £250,000, and his first major job will be to help select the squad for the first Test against West Indies, at Lord’s, which begins on May 6. An enlarged squad is expected to be named at the weekend.Having called upon the professional headhunting firm, Odgers Ray & Berndtson, to help pinpoint the ideal candidate for the role, the ECB were left – partly by design and partly by accident – with what Morris described as “a very short shortlist”. One high-profile target, Western Australia’s coach, Tom Moody, chose not to put his name forward, while another, Kent’s coach Graham Ford, the former favourite for the role, withdrew from the nomination after criticising the long-drawn-out nature of the process.Other names mentioned but since ruled out include the coaches of South Africa and India, Mickey Arthur and Gary Kirsten, while Warwickshire’s director of cricket, Ashley Giles, was told he lacked sufficient experience, which left him frustrated. John Wright, the former India coach and now New Zealand’s high performance manager, remained as the one genuine competitor but in reality the job always seemed to be Flower’s since the end of the West Indies tour.One factor in Flower’s favour, in the short term at least, was the sheer volume of cricket faced by England’s cricketers in the coming months. After a period of intense upheaval, encompassing the loss of three captains and a coach in the space of four months (and with a fourth captain in the pipeline for the World Twenty20), the time has come for some consolidation at the top, especially with the Ashes looming in early July.It may have taken Flower until the final weeks of England’s tour to register his first victory in the role, but on his watch the team has put a greater onus on personal fitness, which will prove invaluable given that most of the squad faces a non-stop 11-week schedule in the run-up to the Ashes, starting with the IPL in South Africa for several key members, including Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.Furthermore, Flower will also have to make a call on the readiness of the former captain, Michael Vaughan, for a return to the Test side. He quit the captaincy in August on account of a prolonged run of poor form, and he made just 12 for MCC against Durham in the season opener at Lord’s last week, but Vaughan’s reputation in Ashes cricket could well count in his favour, especially if doubts continue to linger about his competitors for the No.3 spot, Ian Bell and Owais Shah.

Royal Challengers Bangalore reached the final on the back of a five-game winning streak, and captain Anil Kumble has asked for one more victory to cap their resurgence

Cricinfo staff24-May-2009After a disastrous start to the season, Royal Challengers Bangalore have reached the final on the back of a five-game winning streak, and captain Anil Kumble has asked for one more victory to cap their resurgence.”One more win will be nice,” he said after Bangalore outclassed Chennai Super Kings in the semi-final on Saturday. Kumble said the tight bowling at the death – only 42 runs were conceded in the final six overs – and the 72-run partnership Manish Pandey and Rahul Dravid for the third wicket were the keys to Bangalore’s victory. “We really bowled well to restrict them to 146. Manish and Rahul batted brilliantly. Manish is a fantastic talent.”The 19-year-old Pandey’s brisk 48, which helped Bangalore recover from the early loss of two wickets, earned him his second consecutive Man-of-the-Match award. “Last match was good and today I had the confidence,” he said. “It was a good experience scoring against [Muttiah] Muralitharan. It was good to bat with Rahul bhai and we tried to rotate the strike as much as we could.”Murali was again economical, but the rest of the Chennai bowlers struggled to contain the scoring. “They bowled better than us,” MS Dhoni, the Chennai captain, said. “We did not come up good in batting also. Surely we are disappointed. But they played better cricket and outplayed us.”Chennai’s openers Parthiv Patel and Matthew Hayden had provided a cracking start, sprinting to 61 in seven overs, but the rest of the batsmen didn’t capitalise on it and Bangalore were set a middling target of 147. “We thought 160 would be good but we could not get it. We lost wickets at wrong times,” Dhoni said. “Raina and I got out at wrong time. We were short by 15 runs.”

Aston Villa look set to be without John McGinn for tonight’s Carabao Cup clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

What’s the story?

The Scotland international was involved in an early collision with Michael Keane during the victory over Everton in the Premier League at the weekend, and despite receiving treatment, had to go off later in the first-half.

Speaking after the game, the Villa boss himself said: “He got a whack on the head after five minutes. He felt he was OK to continue. Around about the 26th minute mark, he got another whack on the head I think it was. There was a break in play and he came to alert us to it. Our doctor kept an eye on him but he called it then and went, ‘No, I’m too dizzy’ and went down. Our doctor was on it.”

And now, as confirmed by The Daily Mail, “McGinn will not play at Stamford Bridge under the FA’s ‘return to play’ guidelines that demand a six-day absence for a head injury.”

Dean Smith will be gutted

A mainstay of Smith’s side in the Premier League, the 26-year-old enjoyed a fine campaign last season, with Sky Sports and Match of the Day pundit Micah Richards raving about his influence.

He said: “This season he’s been absolutely incredible, back to the John McGinn I know. A lot of shine goes off of him because of Grealish because Grealish does the little bits that make people stand up on their chairs, but in terms of hard work, putting in tackles, goals and assists, John McGinn is a top, top player. Villa have been a successful side largely down to him as well and his work-rate in there.”

In fact, in the 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Premier League just a couple of weeks ago, McGinn was arguably one of Villa’s more impressive performers, with The Birmingham Mail’s Ashley Preece giving him an eight in his post-match player ratings and saying: “Very, very lively. In fact, McGinn was everywhere and forced Chelsea into a string of errors as he pressed and pressed and pressed in that opening 45 minutes.

“The Scot loves playing at Stamford Bridge after three back-to-back impressive displays here in west London. McGinn faded a little in the second half but always looked to rally the troops. He’s had a fine start to the season. Booked and was incredibly irate at the end as he flew into Jorginho late on. McGinn was fantastic.”

The fact he’ll now be missing from tonight’s game against the Blues again is sure to have Smith gutted.

Meanwhile, Dean Smith must start this Villa “warrior” vs Chelsea…

A number of West Ham fans hit out at Nikola Vlasic over his London Stadium performance against Rapid Vienna on Thursday evening.

David Moyes’ side made it two wins from two in the Europa League, with goals from Declan Rice and Said Benrahma sealing a 2-0 win, but it was Vlasic’s performance which had a number of supporters talking on social media.

The 23-year-old, who will cost the Hammers more than £30m due to add-ons, made his sixth West Ham appearance and his third start in all competitions.

He played in an attacking midfield role but was the only Irons starter to record a SofaScore match rating of under 7/10. He had just 25 touches of the ball in his 62-minute display, fewer than goalkeeper Alphonse Areola with 28, and lost six of his 10 duels on the night. [SofaScore]

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West Ham fans react

Here is what these West Ham fans on Twitter had to say about Vlasic during the win, with one labelling him as ‘non-existent’.

“Really disappointed in Vlasic. No doubt he’ll come good but wasn’t even close to being at the races tonight.”

Credit: @JoelSaffer

“Underwhelmed by Vlasic”

Credit: @WestHamStatto

“Vlasic has been non-existent”

Credit: @KEITHYEO

“Not overly impressed with Vlasic so far, has he even touched the ball.”

Credit: @hammer2011a

“Is Vlasic gonna turn out to be another waste of money??”

Credit: @Hammer1966

“still waiting hoping to see something from Vlasic.”

Credit: @apl63

In other news: ‘It looks bad’ – Journalist says life under Moyes is ‘about to be hard’ for one West Ham player.

Sri Lanka threatened to squander what appeared an easy chase against a charged-up Bangladesh attack, but came through by four wickets with two balls to spare at Trent Bridge

The Bulletin by Jamie Alter02-Jun-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Sri Lanka were indebted to Mahela Jayawardene’s 43•Associated PressSri Lanka threatened to squander what appeared an easy chase against a charged-up Bangladesh attack, but came through by four wickets with two balls to spare at Trent Bridge. Mahela Jayawardene, with a classy 43, kept his cool after Sri Lanka’s openers failed to ignite but it was left to Chamara Silva and Angelo Mathews to steady the nerves before a wide sealed the match.Bangladesh fought hard, but their efforts weren’t enough to prevent Sri Lanka a win that will be a wake-up call for them. Batting first on a good track Bangladesh’s top order failed to fire due to a kamikaze approach and that put plenty of pressure on Raqibul Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. Bangladesh crossed 150 thanks to their partnership but the bowlers allowed too many runs early in the piece, with Jayawardene playing a big role, and Sri Lanka overcame a few late hiccups to clinch a tense game.Sri Lanka’s chase started eventfully. After Tillakaratne Dilshan slapped the first ball from Mashrafe Mortaza for four, Sanath Jayasuriya dumped Rubel Hossain for six over deep square leg and got four overthrows next ball. Mortaza came back well in his second over, allowing just one single, and Mahmudullah gave only two singles in his first over, the fourth. Dilshan clubbed Mortaza for two more fours but was yorked in the same over.Jayawardene’s controlled hitting kept Sri Lanka reach and then cross the asking rate. He reverse-swept, slogged and swept Mahmudullah for 15 in the eighth over even as Jayasuriya was bowled by Shakib Al Hasan for 29 next over. Joined by Kumar Sangakkara, Jayawardene strengthened matters. When Mohammad Ashraful called on Naeem Islam, Jayawardene weighed in immediately, sweeping past short fine leg before pulling wide of midwicket for four more. Another firm cut to third man followed off Abdur Razzak and when Rubel over-ran the ball at deep square leg the equation became 52 from 54 balls.Bangladesh rallied to ensure it wasn’t easy. Sangakkara fell trying to go over extra cover, and Jayawardene carelessly edged Rubel to Mushfiqur in a stellar wicket-maiden 14th over. Shakib allowed just one run in the 15th and suddenly Sri Lanka had gone backwards, losing their captain in the space of two runs. Jehan Mubarak and Silva prodded and swept uncertainly in the air and away through the covers as the run-rate inched ahead. With wickets in hand the pair was still content to deal in ones and twos but after three overs of such measured tactics Mubarak signalled the charge by launching Mortaza for consecutive fours. Mortaza got Mubarak and Shakib cleaned up Indika de Saram in the 19th over, but Silva and Mathews hung on.Bangladesh, having been dealt a loss by Australia at this same venue yesterday, elected to bat on a hard batting track under sunny skies. Unfortunately for them, their top order failed to fire due to a kamikaze approach and that put plenty of pressure on Raqibul and Mushfiqur.Farveez Maharoof’s first over cost 15 – Tamim Iqbal welcomed him with a trio of forceful boundaries – but also accounted for Junaid Siddique with a slow legcutter. Then Ashraful turned the ball just wide of Nuwan Kulasekara, who collected with ease and whipped off the bails with both batsmen at the other end.Batting was easy on this track and all that was needed was partnerships. Bangladesh knew this track from yesterday but when they failed to perforate the field for a couple of overs, Ashraful and Mahmuddulah tried too much instead of setting a platform. Both fell to left-arm seamer Isuru Udana in the seventh over playing away from the body and nicking to Sangakkara, standing up to the stumps. Ajantha Mendis kept Shakib in check and frustrated him into an ugly cross-batted heave.Attempting quick runs Bangladesh’s top order fell apart but a thrifty 70-run association between Mushfiqur and Raqibul helped them to a competitive score. Raqibul bided his time and didn’t collect his first boundary until he’d faced 27 deliveries. He then opened up with some handy reverse sweeps and paddle shots. Mushfiqur hit 34 from 28 balls, including two clean sixes early into his arrival that cleared the stands over midwicket. Having picked out the deep midwicket boundary effortlessly in the penultimate over, Mushfiqur fell trying another in the last. Raqibul never threatened to run away with the innings but his unbeaten presence at the end of a wobbly innings ensured Bangladesh crossed 150.In the final reckoning it hadn’t quite given them enough to play with, but if they show the same courage in the actual tournament they will worry other sides.