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MRF thrashed Andhra by 161 runs in a lopsided encounter at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore today to move into the quarter finals of the KSCA Diamond Jubilee tournament for the Coromandel Cement Trophy. When Andhra captain MSK Prasad got the better of his counterpart, M Senthilnathan over the spin of the coin, he invited MRF to take first strike. They posted a total of 225 which proved more than adequate in the circumstances as Andhra crumbled to a miserable 64 in just under two hours.In the morning session, MRF were bowled out in the last of their allotted fifty overs, with five balls to spare. They suffered a poor start when Aashish Kapoor was caught off the bowling of former India A seamer N Madhukar for nought. In the fifth over, one of the heroes of India’s Under-19 World Cup triumph, Venugopala Rao was thrown out to leave the tire manufacturers at 18/2.Hemang Badani and Hrishikesh Kanitkar then steadied the boat with a 82 run third wicket stand before the former was trapped leg before one run short of his half century. Badani had struck six boundaries in his run a ball knock. Kanitkar duly went past the fifty mark but was given the marching orders by Ram Mohan for 61 (77 balls, 4 fours, 1 six) in the 31st over.All rounder Rajat Bhatia also showed his mettle with a useful 46 but when he tickled one through to Prasad off Madhukar, the lower order fell apart and MRF settled for a score of 225. Madhukar ended with the creditable figures of 4/48 but it was Watekar who combined both potency and miserliness to finish with 4/24.Andhra began their reply in disastrous fashion as both openers, one of whom was the captain Prasad, were removed for ducks by Mumbai medium pacer Sriram Kannan and Baroda paceman Zaheer Khan respectively. A Pathak and YG Rao managed to enter double figures but after Khan took a return catch to despatch the former, a steady procession began to and fro the crease.The last eight wickets slumped for 31 as the Andhra innings terminated in the 24th over. All five MRF bowlers were among the wickets but it was Kannan who produced the best analysis in the end with 3/26 from his seven overs. MRF now goes through to a quarter final clash with Indian Airlines at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on August 8.

After leaving Leeds United on a free transfer last summer, Gjanni Alioski has quickly set about finding his feet in his new home of Ah Ahli in Saudi Arabia.

The North Macedonia international played 171 times for the Whites in his spell at Elland Road, scoring 22 times and providing a further 19 assists. His all-action displays and certainly a maverick personality made him a bit of a fan favourite, and it was no surprise that Victor Orta penned a touching farewell note for him.

He said: “I knew Gjanni was going to be special the moment he walked into the building. The emotion I saw in his face and the face of his parents when (he) signed his contract here at Elland Road was a beautiful moment and I was sure he was going to give everything for Leeds United.

“Gjanni has been exceptional both on and off the field, his teammates will miss him greatly, as will all of the staff at Thorp Arch and Elland Road. We thank Gjanni for all of his efforts and we wish him every success for the future.”

And how has he succeeded at Ah Ahli.

In 21 top-flight games, Alioski has scored five goals and provided another seven assists despite predominantly playing at left-back, and that level of attacking threat is something Leeds have dearly missed this season.

Indeed, last summer, former Scotland manager Alex McLeish raved about the versatile ace and how much he had improved, saying: “For me, he’s been amazing, that guy. Alioski was like a jumping jack, a firework, the way he would do some really clever things, run at people and get balls in the box. Then all of a sudden he’s been asked to become a defender and a wing-back.

“I’ve got to say Leeds’ season was a big success and he was one of the players that helped to make it a big success. He’s had a cracking season. He’s probably short of being a top-class wing-back but he’s made certainly made a great attempt at it.Alioski is a player who’s surprised me very much in the wing-back role.”

The 30-year-old played 36 of the 38 Premier League games last season, with the only two fixtures he missed coming in the opening five matches. The versatile ace even chipped in with three assists in the last eight games in the top flight as Leeds enjoyed a superb end to the season.

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While Alioski is enjoying life elsewhere, the Whites must be looking at the 30-year-old and wondering whether then-manager Marcelo Bielsa and co could have really pushed the boat out to try and keep him at Elland Road.

AND in other news: Marsch must unleash “phenomenal” rarely-seen Leeds star, he’s more exciting than Joffy

Scorecard

Justin Langer made 105 to set Victoria a challenging chase of 270 © Getty Images

Brad Hogg did his Test chances no harm with 4 for 37 to confirm Western Australia’s 47-run win over Victoria after Justin Langer’s century set the Warriors up. The Bushrangers just managed to avoid conceding a bonus point as they struggled to 8 for 222 chasing 270 for victory.Victoria never quite got into top gear in their reply, although the opener Aiden Blizzard’s 44 from 45 balls initially gave them a chance. David Hussey top scored with 54 but by the time he found his rhythm the asking rate was already unrealistically high.Hogg helped restrict the hosts by trapping the out-of-form Brad Hodge lbw for 13 from 27 balls. He then deceived the debutant Aaron Finch, who was stumped off a wrong’un, and in his final over he had Clinton McKay caught in the deep and Hussey lbw to a conventional wrist-spinner.Victoria’s frontline slow bowler, Bryce McGain, also bowled well but he had no luck as Langer and Adam Voges guided Western Australia to 269. Langer’s 105 came from 106 deliveries and he took few risks, only letting loose towards the end.Voges also ticked the score over at nearly a run a ball in compiling his 51, while the Australian stars Adam Gilchrist and Michael Hussey teased the crowd with starts of 22 and 12 respectively. Western Australia are on top of the FR Cup table with three wins from three games and Victoria sit in third place.

Alastair Cook scored his fourth century in 12 Tests © Getty Images

It was a depressing end to a superb innings. As Alastair Cook trudged despairingly from the crease after recording his maiden Ashes century, he was so crestfallen he could barely raise his bat to acknowledge a deserved standing ovation. He was seen in the dressing-room being consoled and congratulated in equal measure by his team-mates, and afterwards he admitted to mixed feelings about what he proclaimed to be the finest innings of his fledgling Test career.”I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t get that nagging feeling I could be walking out to get a bigger one and get us closer to the target,” said Cook at the close. His departure, caught behind off Glenn McGrath with just 16 balls of the day’s play remaining, turned a day of genuine hope for England into another one of grim resignation. With just five wickets remaining and an entire day to survive, Australia seem certain to regain the Ashes by the close of play tomorrow.Even so, Cook can and should be immensely proud of yet another performance that belied his tender years. This was his fourth Test century in 12 matches, an achievement that brackets him alongside Sunil Gavaskar, Graeme Pollock and Vinod Kambli – all of whom made that many hundreds before their 22nd birthday. “I think it helps being 21,” he said of the way he survived yet another intensely humid day, batting for six-and-a-half hours and 290 balls for a nuggety 116.”I’ve felt in quite good nick throughout the series but I haven’t got a score,” said Cook, whose highest to date had been 43 in the second innings at the Gabba. “It’s been frustrating to keep making starts but if someone had offered me a hundred, I’d have taken it, especially against Australia in Australia on a turning wicket. But it would be nice if I was not out this evening, and could come back tomorrow and get an even bigger one.”Quite apart from the effort that he showed, his composure at the crease was the most striking feature of his innings. “Lessons had been learnt from Adelaide,” he admitted, as he and Ian Bell – who greeted Shane Warne with two sweetly struck sixes – made a concerted effort to stay positive in the face of huge Australian pressure. “We had a change of mentality,” Cook said. “The balls come on a bit better here and it’s easier to score runs, which was hard at Adelaide.

Cook’s dismissal in the third-last over of the day was a depressing end to a terrific innings © Getty Images

“We stuck to our gameplans and tried not to get overawed by the situation,” he continued, after the pair had added 170 for the second wicket in a partnership that lasted for 56 overs. “Playing Australia in Australia is quite tough. You’ve got guys with 700 and 500 Test wickets coming at you at two ends, so you are made to work for every run.”That hard work was exacerbated by another typically theatrical performance from Warne, whose appealing was insistent and at times excessive, as he toiled through 31 overs for figures of 1 for 100. “He’s always a bit unlucky isn’t he?” joked Cook. “There was a bit of banter, but that’s just the way the Aussies play their cricket. They play it tough but if someone does well they congratulate them. They’ve been very good like that.” Sure enough, Cook was shaken by the hand by Warne when he notched up his hundred.Though he was still disappointed by his late dismissal, Cook still held out hopes of the draw, an achievement that South Africa managed in similar circumstances last year at the WACA. “It would be nice if we were still three-down, but we’re still in there fighting hard,” he said. “I think the pitch will hold up, because there’s only a couple of balls that did anything all day. One to KP didn’t bounce and a couple have gone through the top, so we hope it’ll stay together.”Unfortunately those last two wickets set us back a bit, but there’s a lot of fight in here. KP and Freddie don’t hang around, so who knows what can happen if we get through the first hour, first session, like we did this morning. Some people are due some runs, and hopefully they can perform tomorrow.”

Michael Vaughan tentatively tests his injured knee © Getty Images

Michael Vaughan is expected to return for the second Test against Pakistan at Faisalabad on Sunday. Vaughan suffered a recurrence of a knee injury in England’s warm-up match against Pakistan A which ruled him out of the first Test defeat at Multan.Despite rumours at the start of the first Test that his tour was over, Vaughan has been batting in the nets and jogging on the last three mornings before play.”He seems to be coming along fine. There’s a very good chance he could play in that Test,” Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, told BBC Sport. “We’re pretty confident that given another couple of days of work on it he will be ready.”Ian Bell replaced his captain in the first Test, but Bell’s good form – he struck a gritty 71 in England’s first innings, and took an outstanding catch at short-leg – could force Paul Collingwood to make way for Vaughan. Collingwood made just 13 runs in the Test, and his medium-pace was sparsely used by his acting captain, Marcus Trescothick.”The knee is improving. It’s always been a bit of a problem and it might still be,” Fletcher added. “But he feels comfortable, he’s running around and feeling no pain.”

Dennis Lillee has left the Australian cricket academy© Getty Images

Dennis Lillee has left his coaching post in Australia after a fallout with Australia cricket authorities, according to Sydney’s .Lillee, 55, who has helped shape the careers of many bowlers, including such established stars as Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath, had been involved with developing and coaching players for Australia for 15 years.”They didn’t want me to do the states, so I would have no contact with the ones who really need the help, the under-17s and -19s,” he told the newspaper. “They wanted me to focus on the academy and the Test players, and wanted to cut my days down from 30 to 15 per year and for me to take a discount on my daily rate.”I am disappointed from the point of view that I felt the work I was doing there was bearing fruit. I loved what I did there. I wrote to them and said ‘nothing goes down’ and I am not at all happy. But life moves on and I have got plenty to do.”Cricket Australia has advertised for the post at their Academy, and there are a number of coaches who learned their trade in Australia, but have gone elsewhere, such as Bennett King, who recently took over as West Indies chief coach. Others include Steve Rixon who is at Surrey, John Dyson, Sri Lanka’s coach, and Rod Marsh, who is head coach at England’s academy based in Loughborough.In the meantime, however, it is likely that Damien Fleming, the former swing bowler who retired 17 months ago and who shared some of Lillee’s duties, will take over in the interim.

Yuvraj Singh had a shabby county season, but he got some valuable advice from a player whom he is very likely to come up against in the near future – Stephen Fleming, the captain of New Zealand.Yuvraj returned from England last week and, speaking to the press on the first day of a week-long training camp at Bangalore, said that he became “good friends” with Fleming during his Yorkshire stint. “I learnt a lot from him, he helped me a lot. He’s a very experienced player and an excellent captain. I’ve picked up lots of important tips for the future,” said Yuvraj.The tips may have helped before the season; Yuvraj made only 145 runs from seven first-class matches for Yorkshire. “It was a good experience playing county cricket. The first month was pretty good, I played a couple of good knocks, but later on I was struggling,” he said.He was confident of regaining form soon enough, and with India’s international season starting soon, he will need all the form he can get. “I’ve done well in domestic cricket,” Yuvraj said. “I just have to try and be consistent in India’s one-day games and then try to get into the test team.”

Michael Papps’ maiden first-class century guided Canterbury to a dominant position against Otago at the Village Green in Christchurch today.The home side was 71 ahead at stumps on day two, having been bowled out for 315 today after resuming at 59/3.Where Canterbury might have collapsed, judging by performances in recent years, the patience of Papps, who made 158 not out, and flair of Chris Harris (70) was rewarded with what could be a decisive first innings lead of 101. The overnight pair put on 127 for the fourth wicket.”Last year I was quite often getting out between 20 and 40 and that was pretty disappointing, but it’s something I’ve been working hard on,” said Papps.”Especially last year my concentration wasn’t as good as it could have been,” said the right-hander. “I was working on trying to hit down the ground as much as I can and not playing across it too much.”A new upbeat attitude under coach Michael Sharpe has seen a number of players begin to reach their potential.”The boys have really got a plan in mind and all have targets that we’re working towards, so there’s a really positive atmosphere in the team. It’s been really good so far,” Papps told CricInfo.Aaron Redmond’s century at Rangiora, and Wade Cornelius’ 7-53 in the same game are examples of good players making the impression they are capable of. Warren Wisneski’s 5-74 here at the Village Green is another case of a Canterbury player regaining form after being in the doldrums.A break last winter after touring England with New Zealand A in 2000 and being part of the Academy in 1999 has left Papps rejuvenated.”I had a break and freshened up and I came back feeling fairly positive,” said the young batsman.Four fifties and a century for his club side East Shirley, as well as a fifty at Rangiora, when he was unlucky to be given out lbw have also helped.Today Papps was the man to prosper, with his only false shot a streaky four through the slips to bring up his century in 250 balls. Papps felt former Canterbury colleague Craig Cumming got a hand to the ball.Papps’ previous best was 84 against Otago at Village Green in February 2000.In making the highest Championship score this season, Papps hit 16 boundaries, mixing onside clips and straight drives with watchful defence in his seven and a half-hour knock.Now batting in his preferred position at No 3, Papps still plays as wicket-keeper at club level, saying “I’ll keep doing that to keep a bit a pressure on Hoppy (Gareth Hopkins), to keep him honest.””We’re going to hopefully bowl them out for as few as possible and chase whatever they set. It’s a pretty good batting wicket, but we’ve got to try and deny them runs and keep taking wickets. It’s a big day tomorrow,” he said.Papps has been a member of a winning Canterbury team at first-class level, in his second game, which was against Northern Districts in 1998/99. They haven’t won since, but will have a great opportunity to drive home their advantage tomorrow.But a word of warning came from the inspirational new coach Sharpe. “There’s a long way to go,” he said wryly.

The torrential rain that engulfed Kandy and its surroundings during the week destroyed an otherwise exciting 3rd and final test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The dawn of the 5th day (Sunday) saw the Agiriya International Stadium Ground fully submerged in water. The outfield was so soggy that the two commentators Tony Graig and Pat Symcot showed the heels and toes of their shoes dipped in wet soil. No amount of work could turn the ground fit for play.Earlier, the rain washed out half the 1st days’ play. Full day’s game was, however, possible on the 2nd day that ended with Sri Lankan’s fantastic innings of 449 for 5. On the 3rd day, only 15 minutes of play was possible during which Atapttu completed his prolific double ton (207). The 4th day was completely washed out and so the 5th day now. The test has been abandoned as a draw.The prominent feature of the 5th day was the holding of a prize distribution ceremony to mark the end of HNB Test Series. The test having been drawn the prize money was shared by the two teams. While Pakistan won HNB Test Series Trophy, Wasim Akram was declared “Man of the Series”.

Newcastle United are lining up a £50m summer bid for Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby, according to The Daily Mail’s Simon Jones.

The lowdown

The 22-year-old came through the Paris Saint-Germain youth ranks before joining Leverkusen in a £13.5m deal in the summer of 2019 (via Transfermarkt).

He has scored 33 goals and laid on 32 assists in 113 appearances for Die Werkself, with nearly half of those goals (15) and almost a third of his assists (nine) coming this season.

One of the Frenchman’s outstanding attributes is his pace. Clocked at 21.79mph earlier this season, he is among the quickest players in the Bundesliga. Also, German publication The Rheinische Post have described his pace as ‘irresistible’ and his dribbling as ‘amazing’ (via bundesliga.com).

The latest

Jones reported for The Daily Mail that Newcastle have been monitoring Diaby for months and scouted him during Leverkusen’s 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich on Saturday.

The Magpies are willing to break their transfer record to get a £50m deal done, but Leverkusen value him in the same bracket as Kai Havertz, who was sold to Chelsea for £75m in 2020.

The verdict

Would Newcastle have been further encouraged by what they saw against Bayern this weekend?

It was a mixed performance from Diaby. He failed to complete any of his three dribbles and lost five of the six ground duels he contested, but he created a ‘big chance’ and was duly unfortunate not to get another assist to his name (via SofaScore).

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The Daily Mail’s report states that Newcastle are wary of greater competition for the 22-year-old emerging in the coming months, and that’s no surprise given his excellent record this season. Therefore, if they want to bring him to St James’ Park, time may be of the essence.

In other news, these were Newcastle’s three worst players against Brighton