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Kiran Carlson and Graham Wagg secured an impressive chase to keep Glamorgan’s hopes of the quarter-finals alive

ECB Reporters Network31-Jul-2018
ScorecardGlamorgan revived their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Vitality Blast after chasing down 195 with six balls to spare to beat Surrey by four wickets at the Kia Oval.They lost openers Aneurin Donald and Usman Khawaja with only 15 runs on the board, but Craig Meschede’s 43 off 19 balls got them back on track before Kiran Carlson and Graham Wagg provided further acceleration in a fifth-wicket stand worth 59 from 31 deliveries.Carlson hit five fours and four sixes in 58 from 32 deliveries and although he drove Rikki Clarke’s slower ball to mid-off in the 15th over, he left his side needing 39 from five overs and Wagg made sure there were no further alarms, finishing unbeaten on 46 from 26 balls having earlier bowled four accurate overs at a cost of just 21 runs.Victory continued Glamorgan’s outstanding T20 record at The Oval. It was their sixth win in seven visits and made even better by the absence of captain Colin Ingram, who was ill, and Australian Joe Burns through injury.”I’m incredibly proud of everyone, that was a great run chase,” stand-in captain Chris Cooke said. “We lost Joe Burns yesterday and Colin Ingram today and I only found out I would be captain on the bus coming here but it was a triumph out of adversity and just a really good win for us.”It was a blow for Surrey who would have gone top had they won – an outcome that seemed likely at halfway after Nic Maddinson’s 70 has helped them to 194 for 4 on a surface being used for the second time after Surrey Stars had played Lancashire Thunder in the Kia Super League earlier in the day.Glamorgan would have been relatively pleased to remove Surrey’s explosive openers Aaron Finch and Jason Roy in successive overs to leave the hosts 58 for 2 in the seventh. Finch slapped a long hop to extra cover in the sixth over and Roy, whose 27 included two sixes, failed to clear long on in off-spinner Andrew Salter’s first over.But Maddinson, whose previous three innings in his debut campaign in the Blast had brought him a modest 39 runs, made his 10th half-century in the format before he was run out in the final over, having hit three sixes and five fours from 45 balls faced. The 26-year-old added 57 in 6.3 overs with Ben Foakes for the third wicket before Ollie Pope joined him to put on 71 off 37 balls.Maddinson had a life on 31 when Wagg dropped a simple return catch in his follow-through before he had Foakes well caught by Selman running back from long on later in the same over.Pope twice cleared the ropes as Surrey scored 57 from the final five overs and Glamorgan looked to be up against it when they lost both openers in the first three overs of their reply. Donald flicked Jade Dernbach to short fine-leg then Khawaja was well taken at mid-on by Gareth Batty off Tom Curran.But Meschede revived their hopes by hitting Batty’s first three balls for six before he was caught at short third-man off the fourth.Acting skipper Cooke was caught at long leg off Scott Borthwick and at halfway Glamorgan needed 101 but Wagg deposited three successive balls from Borthwick into the stands and from then on his team always looked favourites.Wagg and Selman took them to within 12 runs of their target and although Selman drove Curran’s slower ball to mid-off, Salter swung the winning runs into the leg side off the final ball of the penultimate over to secure Glamorgan their third win of the tournament so far.

West Ham United are now reportedly "ready to buy" a £25m "soldier" for manager David Moyes in January, after telling his club they're very interested.

Who will West Ham sign in January?

The Hammers, as highlighted by their dismal 4-1 defeat away to Aston Villa on Sunday, could be in need of some fresh faces to bolster Moyes' squad. While West Ham's start to the Premier League campaign has been promising overall, remaining unbeaten in Europe on a record-breaking 17-game run, they're lacking significant depth in certain areas; namely the striker, full-back central defensive positions.

Doubts surrounding the futures of both Nayed Aguerd and Kurt Zouma hints that West Ham could be left even more short at centre-back, as the defensive duo allegedly attract interest from the Middle East. A plethora of Moyes' squad will also be out of contract next summer, including full-back aces Vladimir Coufal, Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell; making the signing of a new one pretty high up on the priority list.

Striker Danny Ings appears to have done little to earn Moyes' trust, so Michail Antonio is currently being heavily relied upon going forward. This has lead to reports that West Ham are eyeing up new options for 2024, including Stuttgart striker Serhou Guirassy.

West Ham – Trevoh Chalobah transfer update

The east Londoners can be fragile at the back on occasion; displaying carelessness during their 4-1 humiliation at the hands of Villa. Moyes, as per recent reports, is eager to sign a new centre-back for West Ham if one of Aguerd or Zouma leave – and Chelsea star Trevoh Chalobah is now seemingly attracting his attention.

Fabrizio Romano recently reported that the defender is now "90%" likely to leave in the winter window, saying this on a recent Daily Briefing.

"I can confirm now that my information is that he will leave Chelsea in January," wrote Romano.

"You may remember that Chelsea were prepared to let him go to Nottingham Forest in the final hours of the transfer window, only for the player to say no. Bayern Munich were also interested in Chalobah and their interest remains, while there are now other clubs as well. Chalobah loves Chelsea but he wants to play, so he is prepared to go. A January exit now looks 90% guaranteed."

Now, following these rumours, an interesting report from Calciomercato.it claims West Ham are "ready to buy" the 25-year-old in January and have already informed Chelsea that they're "strongly interested" along with Tottenham. Sharing a Chalobah transfer update, the outlet reports he has a host of other sides on his trail; including the likes of Bayern Munich, Roma and Juventus.

Holding on to the ball

Passing

Tackling

The Englishman, who Romano says could cost around £25 million, has been praised by the likes of Graham Potter at Stamford Bridge in past seasons.

"Very professional, very determined. He’s an impressive character, very focused on his football," said Potter last year to the Chelsea website.

"He’s a bit of a soldier. He’s played in all the games, we’re having some problems in terms of availability for players, but he’s stood up, stood in and he’s performing at a really good level."

The pace bowler picked up a back injury at the beginning of August and will now begin a rehab programme

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Aug-2018Jake Ball, the Nottinghamshire and England pace bowler, has been ruled out for the remainder of the season due to a back problem.Ball picked up the problem in the T20 Blast against Derbyshire at the beginning of August and has not been able to play since.Nottinghamshire face Somerset in the final T20 Blast quarter-final on Sunday and are currently third in Division One of the County Championship. Ball had taken 28 Championship wickets at 22.25 in six matches, but had only managed three wickets in six T20 matches at an economy of 9.26.”I’m extremely disappointed to get the news, I’d hoped to be back for the final parts of the season but unfortunately that isn’t possible,” Ball said.”I’ll be following and supporting the boys and hopefully we can get through to Finals Day and have a go at defending our title.”For me I’ll be working hard on my rehab so that I can have a full winter programme and be raring to go for next season.”Ball featured occasionally for England during the 2018 season, playing the final ODI against Australia at Old Trafford – where he held his nerve with the bat to allow Jos Buttler to secure a one-wicket win – and was also part of two of the T20Is against India.He might have been in the frame for a spot on the one-day tour of Sri Lanka in October if there had been any injuries to the first-choice pace attack.

Glasgow Rangers kept another clean sheet under Philippe Clement, yet a lack of ruthlessness meant the Ibrox side had to settle for a point in their latest Europa League clash.

Sparta Prague were the dominant side until the Belgian brought Danilo on and the Brazilian offered something that they had been missing throughout the opening hour or so and came close to scoring with a stunning effort that rattled the crossbar.

A point was probably a fair result in the end and Clement should be happy with the progress of his squad since taking over a couple of weeks ago. There is a long way to go until the end of the season, yet, if everyone buys into his tactical ideologies then success might not be too far away.

In the meantime, however, he will have to work his way through a hectic fixture list using the squad that Michael Beale assembled before he was sacked and some of the new arrivals have yet to really showcase their true talents.

Beale signed nine new players for Rangers during the summer

There were also several outgoings too, as the likes of Ryan Kent, Alfredo Morelos, and Allan McGregor all left once their contracts expired, while Fashion Sakala and Glen Kamara were both sold.

Signing that many players likely meant some settling in would be required, yet with Christmas fast approaching, it looks as though a few are not cut out to succeed at the Light Blues.

Sam Lammers has scored just once across 18 appearances so far and given he had netted a grand total of six goals since the start of the 2020/21 campaign, it was a slightly strange signing by Beale in the first place.

Cyriel Dessers is another player who looks out of sorts and not good enough to be leading the line at the Gers. Rangers Review journalist Jonny McFarlane even dubbed him a “terrible signing” following his woeful display against Sparta Prague.

Against the Czech side, he completed just six passes during his spell on the pitch, while losing possession 11 times and taking zero shots, hardly a performance that merits further inclusion in the starting XI.

These two ill-fated signings may not have long left to impress at Rangers, especially with a new regime arriving, but one player who did arrive in the summer has the potential to become one of the club's key players is Jose Cifuentes.

Why Jose Cifuentes could turn into a bargain signing

During the summer, Beale was heavily invested in bringing Cifuentes to Glasgow, and with his contract due to expire at Los Angeles FC in December, the 43-year-old was trying to secure him on a knockdown price before the Premiership season began, otherwise, they would have had to wait until next year.

With just under a month left of the summer transfer window, Beale eventually signed the midfielder and he cost just £1.2m and given what he had achieved in the MLS, it could turn into a bargain deal.

During the 2022 season, Cifuentes helped lead LAFC to the MLS title. Across 36 regular season games, he registered 13 goal contributions – seven goals and six assists – while creating 11 big chances and averaging 1.3 key passes per game.

This indicated that he liked to burst forward as often as possible from the heart of the midfield in order to create opportunities for his teammates, while getting on the scoresheet when possible.

Although he had registered just four goal contributions across 19 games during the 2023 season before moving to Glasgow, the Ecuadorian is still improving, and if given time, he could end up being one of Beale’s finest signings.

Cifuentes’ value has soared since arriving at Rangers

According to Football Transfers, Cifuentes is now currently valued at €3.7m (£3.2m) and this represents a wonderful 167% rise since joining in August if he manages to secure regular game time under Clement, that valuation could increase further.

The 5 foot 8 machine has missed the previous few games due to suffering a knock on international duty with Ecuador and has yet to make an appearance under the Belgian.

Once he is back to full fitness, the 24-year-old could be slotted straight into the heart of the midfield in order to showcase his talents for the new head coach.

Cifuentes could still improve after an underwhelming start

The former LAFC midfielder has started ten times for the Ibrox side, yet he has registered just one assist thus far. Of course, settling into a new environment and way of life across the Atlantic will take some time, while he seemingly did not benefit from Beale’s tactical system, or lack thereof, as shown by his statistics.

Clement has already developed a style of play in which he expects his players to deliver during matches, with two wide players providing the width and midfield players bursting through the middle to provide attacking support, and this sort of stability could only benefit Cifuentes, especially with his below-par start to life at the club.

Lauded as “very dynamic” by LAFC assistant manager Marc Dos Santos, he currently ranks seventh for accurate passes per game (51.3) across the Ibrox squad in the league, while also ranking within the top ten for key passes per game (0.8) and 16th for successful dribbles per game (0.3), failing to build upon his previous two excellent campaigns in America.

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5

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0.8

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Over time, the midfielder could adapt to Scottish football and begin to assert his dominance across the midfield area, especially as Clement looks to have a clear tactical philosophy that could turn the club into winners, given that the manager has won four league titles in his career.

There is no question that the Gers have struck gold on the former LAFC star, especially considering his value has increased substantially since joining just a few months ago and this could keep on rising depending on how well he does when he returns from injury.

Beale did spend vast sums of money on a few players who have lacked the required standard to shine at Rangers, most notably Lammers and Dessers, yet shelling out just £1.2m to lure Cifuentes to Scotland instead of waiting an extra few months could benefit the club a few years down the line.

Lionel Messi is always “five or six steps ahead” of everyone, with Inter Miami starlet Ryan Carmichael revealing what training with the GOAT is like.

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Argentine icon moved to the States in 2023Made immediate impact on & off the fieldSource of inspiration to those around himWHAT HAPPENED?

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has been in Florida since completing a move to the United States in the summer of 2023. He has made a stunning impact on and off the field, with standards at Chase Stadium and across MLS being raised. Carmichael, who was acquired by the Herons in the 2024 SuperDraft, is among those fortunate enough to work alongside Messi on a daily basis.

Get the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowAdvertisementGettyWHAT CARMICHAEL SAID ABOUT MESSI

The 22-year-old Northern Irish winger has told of that experience: “I have been up a few times with the first-team and have played in a training match, which was a surreal experience. Training with Lionel was certainly a memorable occasion, he doesn’t speak much English but I shook his hand and introduced myself. He is on a completely different level on the pitch as he always seems to be five or six steps ahead.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Messi helped Inter Miami to a historic Leagues Cup triumph in his debut campaign and currently has them sat top of the MLS Eastern Conference. Carmichael is hoping to form part of a bid for more major honours at some stage, adding on his future: “I've signed for a year and it depends on my performances in that time frame as the club has the option to extend it for a second year. My aim here is to play games, score goals and try and break into the first-team. Playing with Messi would obviously be a dream come true but I want to simply progress my career.”

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Messi is currently sidelined after picking up another minor knock – which has ruled him out of international duty with Argentina – and Inter Miami will be back in action on Saturday when taking in a trip to the New York Red Bulls.

Xabi Alonso's decision to remain at Bayer Leverkusen prompted a range of reaction on social media, with some Liverpool fans left dejected at the news.

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Alonso announces he will stay at LeverkusenNews comes as blow to Liverpool and BayernFans react as search for Klopp successor continuesWHAT HAPPENED?

Reports emerged on Thursday evening that Alonso was unlikely to figure on the shortlist to replace the outgoing Jurgen Klopp, with Bayern Munich's hopes of landing the Spaniard dashed on Friday when news broke that Europe's hottest managerial property had decided to stay put in Leverkusen for another season.

Absorbing the news that leaves both clubs no nearer to filling their managerial vacancies, fans took to social media to air their feelings.

AdvertisementWHAT THE FANS ARE SAYING

"Big for the Bundesliga. Real [Madrid] for him next," reacted German account @nside_pro_footb.

On the influential Liverpool account, The Anfield Wrap, fans still reeling from Jurgen Klopp's announcement reacted.

"I think the fans love Alonso more than Alonso loves our club. We need to move on," said @jayellcee7791.

"Depressed no matter who we get," bemoaned @styz0r.

"I was all in on Xabi to be honest, none of those other names inspire much confidence in me," posted @TheGraySon72.

Others were more upbeat such as @PhilBlundell, who said: "The thing with managers is that there’s always other ones. If someone doesn’t want to manage Liverpool, which is the case here, there is absolutely no point wasting a second on it."

"Xabi's loss," said a defiant @paulmcmasterLFC. "Whoever we get is inheriting a superb group of footballers."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

The news came as something of a surprise with a decision expected much closer to the season's end as his all-conquering side conclude a season that sees them unbeaten in a remarkable 49 games across all competitions. As the fans' replies show, the revelation is likely to lead many to presume that Alonso is now primed to become the successor to Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid when the Italian calls time on his second spell in the Spanish capital.

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getty imagesWHAT NEXT FOR XABI ALONSO?

Alonso will hope that this puts an end to all the gossip and allows his team to focus on their run-in. Leverkusen host Hoffenheim on Saturday afternoon as they close in on what would be an historic first Bundesliga title.

Cricket Australia could name its new chief executive next week as the race to replace the outgoing James Sutherland heats up

Daniel Brettig20-Sep-2018One of Melbourne Grand Prix chairman John Harnden or the former Cricket New South Wales chairman John Warn may be named as the new chief executive of Cricket Australia as soon as next week after the race to succeed the longtime boss James Sutherland narrowed to the final preferred candidate stage.ESPNcricinfo understands that two other remaining candidates, one of them the current Cricket Australia chief operating officer Kevin Roberts, were informed they had fallen out of the running at the start of the week, with final presentations by Harnden – also a CA Board director – and Warn believed to have been made on Tuesday.Another senior figure who is thought to have featured in leadership discussions is the former Australian women’s team captain and head of game development Belinda Clark, who is highly regarded within CA and may well be in line to replace Harnden or Warn after their tenure, which is not expected to come close to the 17 years clocked up by Sutherland.Roberts, who had appeared a likely successor for Sutherland from the moment he left the CA Board to join the executive management team in late 2015, raised the ire of the Australian Cricketers Association last year for the way he managed pay negotiations with the players’ union, resulting in a standoff where players went unpaid for almost a month and an Australia A tour of South Africa was cancelled. He was ultimately sidelined from talks that were to be concluded by Sutherland and the team performance manager Pat Howard.However, Roberts is thought to have retained the backing of the chairman David Peever to replace Sutherland until late in the process. Succession planning was one of numerous issues raised by the former Board director Bob Every when he quit CA in protest at Peever being given in-principle approval to continue as chairman for another three years. This decision remains to be ratified by the states at the CA annual general meeting on October 25.When Sutherland replaced Malcolm Speed in 2001, he was only 35 years old and younger than the then Australian team captain Steven Waugh. By contrast Harnden (53, the same age as Sutherland) and Warn (45) are considerably more seasoned. However, CA’s current battle to regain public confidence, bed-down a new $1.18 billion broadcast deal with News Corp and Seven and also make ready for hosting the two separate women’s and men’s world Twenty20 tournaments in 2020 suggests an intensive commission for Sutherland’s successor.Other major issues for CA include efforts to contextualise international cricket via the ICC, with Test and ODI championships due to begin in 2019, and the juggling of the Big Bash League amid an increasingly clogged rota of domestic T20 tournaments, many of which offer considerably greater financial incentives. Equally, the game is in a constant battle for participants and spectators with other Australian sports, as evidenced by the game’s slip to seventh, below basketball, for participation numbers according to Sport Australia’s annual figures.Harnden, who is Melbourne-based, has been considered the most likely candidate for some time, given the breadth of his experience as a former chief executive of the Australian Grand Prix, the South Australian Cricket Association, the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup before replacing Ron Walker as the Melbourne Grand Prix chairman. In particular his record of running major events would be an advantage ahead of 2020, while his work with a variety of state and federal governments provides an indicator of the political skills required at ICC level.Nevertheless, Harnden has also sat on the CA Board since 2016, in that time being a part of flawed decision-making around the MoU. The appointment of an internal candidate, at a time when CA is itself subject to a broad cultural review by the Ethics Centre following the Newlands ball-tampering scandal, would also be a matter for conjecture.Warn, based in Sydney, stepped down from his roles as NSW chairman and also a senior executive at Westfield earlier this year to spend more time with his family, and would need to move south to take up the role heading CA’s operations at their Jolimont headquarters. Known as a highly combative club cricketer for Manly-Warringah in Sydney grade competition, Warn’s corporate career in retail has dovetailed with directorships at Cricket NSW and also the NSW Waratahs rugby union team.He and the NSW chief executive Andrew Jones were widely credited with improving the structure and performance of Australian cricket’s largest state association. However, Warn also presided over a recent downturn in the results of the men’s state team and the failure of its younger generation to develop after the fashion of the likes of Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, which saw the coach Trent Johnston replaced by Phil Jaques over the off-season.Others mentioned as potential candidates included the WACA chief executive Christina Matthews, Jones, NRL CEO Todd Greenberg and Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop. At the time that Sutherland announced his impending resignation in June, Peever stated that candidates with a significant knowledge of or background in cricket would likely be favoured.”This is an incredibly complex job, it has many dimensions,” Peever said. “What we must do is find the best person for the role. While I don’t want to put any constraints around it, it is a Cricket Australia role, so we’re probably going to have a little bit of bias towards an Australian, and it is a role in cricket, so we’ll probably have a bias towards someone in cricket.”

Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Manchester United are “exploring the conditions” of a move for a new £50m+ centre-back.

Man Utd transfer news – new defender

Erik ten Hag’s side have just come off the back of consecutive 3-0 defeats at Old Trafford against Manchester City and Newcastle United, games which highlighted their defensive frailties. The Red Devils have suffered a number of injuries in defence this season, with the likes of Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia still sidelined, whereas Raphael Varane has also missed parts of the current campaign. As a result, Ten Hag has been forced to call upon the likes of Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans, with all three starting against City last weekend.

A new centre-back appeared to be on the club’s radar, with Sporting CP's Goncalo Inacio and Nice's Jean Clair-Todibo two names who were linked with moves to Manchester. However, recent reports claimed that Man Utd abandoned huge-money moves for the pair and will focus on signing cheaper alternatives, but when it comes to Inacio, a transfer may still be alive.

According to Romano, speaking on his YouTube channel, Man Utd are “exploring the conditions” of a move for Inacio, although the likes of Real Madrid, Liverpool and Newcastle are also named in the update, with a move to the Bernabeu yet to be agreed.

“What I can tell you is that at the moment, from what I’m told Real Madrid have not agreed anything with Sporting for Goncalo Inacio. There is no agreement, there is not even a concrete negotiation at this stage. Probably this rumour is coming from the mission of Real Madrid scouts who are always around to keep an eye on clubs, talents, players.

“Nothing is done and nothing is guaranteed for the January window, at the moment the situation is still quiet it’s just about normal scouting for a very talented player. Remember what I told you one month ago about Goncalo Inacio, he’s on the list of many clubs in England for a long time including Newcastle, including Liverpool, but also Manchester United are exploring the conditions of this player.

“At the moment it’s just about scouting, there’s still nothing concrete. What’s real is the release clause – €60m [£52m]. We will keep you posted if we hear more news about that.”

Goncalo Inacio stats

Inacio is just 22 years of age but is already a full Portugal international so will know the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot already. He has progressed through Sporting CP’s academy and has already made 135 first-team appearances, scoring 11 times and providing eight assists. (Goncalo Inacio stats – Transfermarkt)

Goncalo Inacio strengths

Goncalo Inacio weaknesses

Goncalo Inacio style of play

Passing

Aerial duels

Likes to play short passes

Concentration

Likes to dribble

He has also been hailed by analyst Raj Chohan who said Inacio is a “leader” who has aerial dominance and immense recovery speed. With the likes of Real Madrid keen, Inacio could well be viewed as a star in the making by a number of clubs, so if United were able to win the race in a £50m+ deal, it may prove to be a shrewd piece of transfer business, making this on to watch.

Nick Compton was capped 16 times in Tests for England, playing his part in memorable series wins in India and South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2018Former England opener Nick Compton has announced his retirement from the game. Compton, 35, did not feature for Middlesex during the 2018 season – which was also his benefit year – but will remain working for the club in an ambassadorial role.Compton played 16 Tests for England, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Denis. He was Alastair Cook’s first opening partner after the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012, and played his part in memorable series wins in India and South Africa.His last cap came during the summer of 2016, a season which ended with Middlesex lifting the County Championship for the first time since 1993.”After almost two decades of professional cricket, I am announcing my retirement from the game I love so much,” Compton said. “It has been a privilege to play first-class cricket for Middlesex, Somerset, and the MCC.”Of course, the pinnacle of my career was following in my grandfather Denis Compton’s footsteps, having achieved my dream of playing and winning Test series for England. I am particularly proud of my successful opening partnership with Alastair Cook and our series victory in India, the first time in 28 years an England team had won in India.”In contrast to his famously dashing grandfather, Nick Compton was a dogged top-order accumulator who carved out a reputation for making hard runs.Having started out at Middlesex, the club closely associated with his family, Compton moved to Somerset in 2010. It was there he found the form that would win him England recognition; in 2012, he scored 1494 runs at 99.60, narrowly failing to become the ninth man in history to score 1000 first-class runs before the end of May.He made his international debut in Ahmedabad that winter and was part of the England side that came from behind to win 2-1 in India. Compton scored hundreds in Dunedin and Wellington on England’s next tour, a 0-0 draw with New Zealand, but lost his place ahead of the 2013 Ashes despite an opening partnership with Cook that averaged 57.93.A second coming in 2015 saw him score 85 and 49 at No. 3 as England won in Durban on the way to a 2-1 series victory, but Compton only played three more Tests, making his final outing against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.”There have been some challenges that I have had to confront, but in spite of these I feel incredibly fortunate to have had this career of mine,” he said. “For one, being named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year in the 150th Anniversary Edition [in 2013] alongside both my cricketing hero Jacques Kallis, and my school friend Hashim Amla.”Other highlights include being chosen as PCA Player of the Year by my peers after coming so close to being the first cricketer for 25 years to score 1000 runs before the end of May is another, up there with making my Test debut in India and receiving my cap from England legend Graham Gooch.”I treasure the 16 Test matches I played for England, especially my back-to-back Test hundreds which I scored in New Zealand. On the domestic front, what a team I played in at Somerset. And winning the County Championship at Lord’s on the final day of the 2016 season for Middlesex provided all involved with an experience that we will savour for the rest of our lives.”In all, Compton scored more than 12,000 first-class runs at an average of 40.42, the last of his 27 hundreds coming for Sri Lanka Ports Authority during a spell playing Sri Lankan domestic cricket in February.He had already begun to explore options for his post-playing career, working as an analyst during the summer for Sky and ESPNcricinfo. “I look forward to pursuing my other interests, particularly in the media and photography as well as working on a few business ventures,” he said.Middlesex’s chief executive, Richard Goatley, added: “It is a sad day for us that Nick Compton has retired from professional cricket. Nick has been a very special servant to the club, culminating in his key role in the Championship winning success of 2016.”Nick is highly valued by Middlesex Cricket and we are delighted that he will remain with the club in an ambassadorial role. We welcome his all-round ability, and want him to add further value by helping to inspire our future success in an off the field capacity.”He has contributed effectively towards the club’s off-field work in the past, both with our senior leadership team and the commercial team at Lord’s, and we look forward to extending that work in the future. Nick Compton will always be welcome at Lord’s.”

Erik ten Hag remains unperturbed by Manchester United's defensive woes as he claimed he is more worried about results.

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Ten Hag not worried about Man Utd's defensive woesConceded 31 shots against BrentfordUnited held to 1-1 draw by BrentfordWHAT HAPPENED?

United conceded 31 shots against Brentford on Saturday as the home team at Gtech Stadium completely dominated them. The Bees hit the woodwork thrice while Andre Onana made quite a few quality saves to ensure that the visitors walked away with at least a point.

Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

However, Red Devils boss Ten Hag claimed after the game that he was not too concerned about his team's defensive woes, although he admitted that Thomas Frank's side was the better team on the pitch.

WHAT ERIK TEN HAG SAID

At the post-match press conference, when the Dutch manager was asked if he was concerned about his team's defensive problems, he replied, "As long as we get results, no. I explained it once more, we defended low at times and because Brentford are very direct we lost many many second balls and we had to defend the box. We had a great goalkeeper, he was brilliant tonight, we have to say that also. Our results are quite consistent from January on but we concede shots, but we don't concede so many goals.

"We didn't deserve to win but we showed resilience all through the game. But in points of aggression, Brentford were better. We should show more passion and desire in many moments in the game. But when you are winning you should bring it over the line."

He added, "You can never compare such levels and performances [to their 4-3 win against Liverpool] but also when you don't play well you still have to win – we did it almost. That is my big disappointment that we didn't bring it over the line. We didn't play well but there was spirit, there was fight, but not enough. It was enough to get the goal, 1-0, and before that, we had a big chance for Rasmus Hojlund. We have many senior players, we should all stand up and take responsibility for this."

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Bruno Fernandes and Co. will be next seen in action in the Premier League on Thursday as they take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. It is a must-win game for the club if they want to remain in the hunt for a top-four spot.