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Graham Thorpe may be back for the Second Test at Lord’s after his injury was finally diagnosed.Thorpe, England’s only batsman with an international average of over 40, has been out for a month with what was originally believed to be a bad calf strain. However, it has since been discovered that there is some bleeding in the muscles, which causes regular cramps. He is currently resting his leg completely and taking anti-inflammatory drugs, though should his calf not respond to this treatment then a minor operation may be necessary.The Surrey batsman, however, is hoping that surgery will be avoided. “I don’t want to even entertain that idea at the moment,” he said in his column on the Channel 4 website. “It’s just one of those injuries that is very difficult to treat. The medics are saying I will be okay by the middle of the month but they are guessing a little bit.””As things stand now I’m aiming to be back playing in two weeks’ time which will make me available for the Lord’s Test,” he goes on. However, he realises that “time is short and I could well go into that Test match not having faced a ball in competitive cricket for six weeks. That would not be ideal preparation to face Glenn McGrath and co”.Nevertheless, he is desperate to come back to take his place in England’s middle order, which creaked horribly on the first day of the First Test yesterday; “The Ashes is the pinnacle of every player’s career and to be sat on the sidelines is almost as painful as the injury.” Hussain’s “carefully laid plans for this match have been ruined by a clutch of injuries”; now it is “down to the guys to rally around and get through it”.England players and supporters alike will be hoping that Thorpe is around to help the home side “get through it” for the Second Test in a fortnight, and Thorpe himself is confident of being there to boost England; “I’m prepared to play cold if the team needs me back in the middle order – see you at Lord’s”.

David Ornstein has shared a new update on Tottenham’s interest in Antoine Semenyo ahead of the January transfer window.

Frank warns Spurs players ahead of Palace

Tottenham players had Christmas Day off before Sunday’s trip to Crystal Palace.

Spurs have endured a difficult start under the former Bournemouth boss and are 14th in the Premier League table after a run of five defeats in eight matches in all competitions, and the manager insisted his players must be “grown up” over the festive period.

“This week we actually handle in the same way I would have done with any other week. If it was not Christmas, it was still done the same,” Frank revealed.

“So, we have two days leading to the game, day off, two days. So Tuesday and Wednesday, then off on 25th and then two days. Then it’s perfectly fit the Christmas family schedule, which is very good.

“And I’m a big believer of being a top professional and that’s something I believe the players are and should be. Some need to be guided more than others, but also they are grown-up individuals.

“If I need to hold their hand the whole time, we have a bigger problem in my opinion.”

Spurs are facing an uphill battle to secure a top five spot and Champions League qualification for next season, and have scored the least goals of any ‘big six’ side this season.

Dominic Solanke has suffered with injury problems while neither of Randal Kolo Muani or Richarlison have made the number nine berth their own, with the club expected to seek attacking reinforcements in January.

Ornstein shares Tottenham transfer update

Ornstein shared an update on the future of Bournemouth star Semenyo in his Boxing Day report for The Athletic, revealing Man City are in the driver’s seat but Spurs did make a considerable offer to the player.

The Ghana international’s ability to play in multiple attacking positions and both score and create goals with either foot has made him a sought after commodity amongst the top flight’s biggest sides.

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“He’s an extraordinary, extraordinary, extraordinary player,” City boss Pep Guardiola said earlier this season.

Related Tottenham player set for January exit talks after returning from injury

A Spurs departure is on the cards for him.

Posts ByEmilio Galantini

“His energy, his confidence, his movement – unbelievable. He doesn’t stop running, he attacks space so well, and when he has the ball, you feel something will happen.

“He’s improving every game. Players like him make this league special – always hungry, always brave.”

	“Nobody ever entered Scottish cricket in pursuit of a lavish lifestyle: on the contrary, the phlegmatic have-bat-will-travel-for-nothing philosophy was and is a necessity for those in the front line” © Getty Images

One suspects that Peter Steindl would make a decent poker player. There is his unflappable refusal to rise to the bait of controversial questions, his cool-as-Antartica recitation of facts and figures and an almost admirable disinclination to indulge in cheap sound bites where he can accentuate three or four buzz words. As Scotland’s recently-appointed cricket coach – the fourth man in as many years to embrace the role – it is perhaps hardly surprising that the 37 year-old Queenslander has no interest in picking over the bones of his predecessors, Tony Judd, Andy Moles and Peter Drinnen, the last brace of whom departed the job, amidst acrimonious allegations of so-called “player power”. But there again, Steindl must recognise that Scotland cannot afford any fresh scandals or off-field imbroglios, considering the manner in which the good vibrations which surrounded the squad two years ago have been replaced by a widespread feeling that the side have lost a little of their sheen.This week, as they venture to Namibia for a crucial Intercontinental Cup tie in Windhoek, Steindl and his charges will have an early opportunity to exorcise the memories of a rather misfiring 2007 campaign. For the last 12 weeks, the likes of Craig Wright, Ryan Watson, Fraser Watts, Dewald Nel and Neil McCallum have been forced to side-step the squalls and showers, whilst preparing for the new season at the National Cricket Academy in Edinburgh. And everybody in the squad recognises that Steindl won’t be a soft touch if they continue to punch below the standards they established three years ago when they swept to a convincing victory at the ICC Trophy competition in Dublin.For starters, he won’t tolerate excuses about poor displays being linked to the players’ amateur status: a refrain which has grown wearily familiar in the past few summers. “It would obviously be beneficial for our guys and for the governing body if there were some kind of contracts on the table, but we have to live in the here and now, and deal with the situation the best that we can,” said Steindl, whose relationship with Scotland stretches back to 1991, since when he has, at various times, played and coached with Cupar, Edinburgh Academicals, Grange and Corstorphine. “Plenty of people have commented that we need it [professionalism], and yet the situation hasn’t changed, so I can’t afford to worry about it. My task is to work with what I have got and, basically, I am excited about the challenge. We are all committed to developing a style of play which is positive, one which we are all comfortable with, and which enables us to play consistently good cricket against any opposition, whether it’s the full ODIs against New Zealand and England later this year or our meetings with Ireland, Kenya and the Netherlands, where we attempt to make an impression against the other Associates.”But, across the board, there are definitely signs of progress. Our A team will be participating against the English county second XIs, our under-19s will be part of the SNCL Premier League and our under-17s have a full programme of county matches, so we are advancing towards a scenario where an increasing number of our players will be experiencing a higher level of competition. Clearly, the main focus remains on the first XI and the Saltires, because it is very important to us that we build towards next year’s ICC Trophy [from which only four countries will qualify for the next World Cup in 2011). And that’s why we have set targets and performance measures for all the guys in the squad. What I want to see are collective performances, where as many of the lads as possible are contributing in their core areas, whether batting or bowling, and I think it is important that they are all ticking the boxes. There is a good buzz around the camp at the moment and I can tell you this: all of the guys we have in our plans love playing for Scotland, be it for the Saltires, the national side or any of the age-group teams.”One might have imagined this wouldn’t need stating, but as they steel themselves for Intercontinental Cup action, it’s worth pointing out that many of Scotland’s leading luminaries will simply not be able to commit themselves to the demands of an ever-expanding fixture list, which, in 2008, includes a fortnight in Toronto for back-to-back meetings with Bermuda and Canada, the European Championships in Dublin in July and the Twenty20 qualification event in Belfast, in addition to the mouth-watering prospect of tackling Flintoff, Pietersen, Collingwood & co at the Grange on August 17.But, for now, the onus lies on overcoming the Namibians, who remain unbeaten in the four-day tournament, and have amassed 48 points from their three outings, 22 more than the Scots, whose aspirations were blighted by bad weather, which ruined their meeting with lowly UAE in Ayr. Nor will the Africans be anything other than formidable adversaries, given the fashion in which their belligerent top-order batsman, Gerrie Snyman, produced a magnificent knock of 230, an innings peppered with more than 20 fours and 11 sixs, in orchestrating the defeat Kenya earlier this year.”The Namibians are third in the table and we are sixth, so this is a big challenge,” said Steindl. “That win over Kenya was a fantastic result for them and they are on an upward curve, but our guys are desperate to get outdoor cricket again, so they can hardly wait to climb on the plane. I appreciate that some of the boys might have difficulty getting time off from their employers or whatever, and I am very sympathetic to the amount of dedication they have for the game. But we’ll look at it, case by case. In an ideal world, we would have all our best players available all the time, but I’m aware that things will crop up which means that isn’t possible. It just means we have to be flexible.”Nobody ever entered Scottish cricket in pursuit of a lavish lifestyle: on the contrary, the phlegmatic have-bat-will-travel-for-nothing philosophy was and is a necessity for those in the front line. Ultimately, Steindl seems to have grasped that moaning about his lot is pointless – but his is still a thorny assignment in the weeks and months ahead.

‘It would have been ideal for Peter Moores to start with Vaughany but that sort of thing happens in sport’ © Getty Images

Paul Collingwood is determined that England put their Ashes nightmare behind them as they prepare for another packed summer of internationals against India and, in a week-and-a-half, West Indies.”Our Test form in the last four or five years has been good,” Collingwood told BBC Five Live’s Sportsweek on Sunday. “Obviously the 5-0 defeat to the Aussies was a huge disappointment but in general the form has been good and we want to get back to those winning ways.”England haven’t won a Test since last summer when they beat Pakistan 3-0. Then, as now, Michael Vaughan was injured with Andrew Strauss replacing him at the helm.”It’s bad timing again,” Collingwood said. “I feel so sorry for Michael after so much hard work getting fit with his knee, then he gets a bit of bad luck.”It would have been ideal for Peter Moores to start with Vaughany but that sort of thing happens in sport. Straussy is the favourite [to deputise]; he’s done it before last year against Pakistan in place of Andrew Flintoff.”And for the first time in eight years, England has a new coach in Peter Moores. “I haven’t come across him too much.” Collingwood said, “but we met up at Loughborough last Monday. I thought he spoke very well, is well prepared, very confident and very ambitious which is important.”England face the West Indies for the first Test of the summer at Lord’s on May 17.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has given the players an April 21 deadline to settle the retainer contracts or face being axed from the squad.The WICB cricket committee – comprising the chairman Clive Lloyd, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Desmond Haynes, Deryck Murray and Ian Bishop – issued a statement regarding the retainer contracts issue which said, “The WICB made a proposal to the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) on January 12 on the issue of retainer contracts for West Indies players. It was a good offer, fully competitive with other full member countries of the world. After some three months, we have been unable to conclude an agreement in spite of an increase on our original proposal of five percent.”We have been at a loss to understand the reasons for this matter being dragged out as long as it has, until today. Information has now reached us that discussions are taking place between certain players and interests in direct competition with our major sponsor.”We continue to hope that this information is incorrect. Nonetheless, time has run out on us and we can no longer permit this situation to be dragged out interminably. We shall therefore recommend to the WICB board of directors that a firm cut-off point be established on Friday April 21 for the retainer contracts to be settled. Thereafter the team shall be selected based on those players who make themselves available.”Dinanath Ramnarine, the WIPA president, had said that the WICB was slowing down the process of trying to conclude an agreement over long-standing issues. He said that Lloyd had called on WIPA to try and reach an agreement over retainer contracts by mid-April but maintained that the WIPA would not rush to sign a contract for the sake of signing”The gist of it and the question we have to ask ourselves is if we sign the retainer contracts, are the players going to be better off,” Ramnarine told the . “We are not going to be pressured by anybody into signing a retainer contract because we are the only team that does not have a retainer contract. We will sign the retainer contract once we believe that it is a fair and reasonable contract and it is in the best interest of the player. We are not going to be put under pressure by anybody. I don’t have any pressure from my members. They are well aware of what is taking place and are very supportive.”

India have a chance to climb to second place in the ICC Test Championship table. If they win their four-Test home series against Australia they will climb to second, beating their previous-best of fourth.The table as it stands:

Position Team Rating1 Australia 1292 England 1093 Pakistan 1074 India 1045 Sri Lanka 1036 South Africa 1027 New Zealand 948 West Indies 739 Zimbabwe 5110 Bangladesh 1

If India win all four matches their rating would climb from 104 to 115, while Australia’s would fall from 129 to 119. A narrower winning margin would obviously leave a bigger gap between the sides, but even if India only win the series by a one-Test margin (1-0 or 2-1) they will boost their rating to 111 – still good enough for second place. If India merely draw the series, they will still go up one spot, to third. Australia, on the other hand, have to win 3-0 or 4-0 to improve their rating.Full scenarios for the India v Australia Test series:

Result	India	Australia
Current rating:	104	129
Possible series outcomes:
India wins 4-0	115	119
India wins 3-0	114	120
India wins 2-0,3-1	112	122
India wins 1-0,2-1	111	123
Drawn 0-0,1-1,2-2	108	126
Australia wins 1-0,2-1	105	128
Australia wins 2-0,3-1	103	130
Australia wins 3-0	102	131
Australia wins 4-0	100	132

Sabina Park in Jamaica will host two Test matches in the current West Indian season, after one of the two Tests against Bangladesh was switched from Georgetown in Guyana.Zorol Barthley, the West Indies Cricket Board’s chief operations officer, explained: “The Guyana Cricket Board has informed us that the timing of the tour coincides with their rainy season, hence the change.”St Lucia’s Beausejour Stadium, originally the venue for the second Test,will now host the first one (May 28 to June 1), and the second Test will now take place at Sabina Park from June 4 to 8.Bangladesh will also play three one-day Internationals against West Indies – at St Vincent’s Arnos Vale Playing Field on May 15 and 16, and Grenada’s Queen’s Park Stadium on May 19. It will be Bangladesh’s first full tour of the Caribbean, although their A team took part in the West Indian first-class competition two years ago.Revised schedule:
May 15 – 1st ODI – St Vincent
May 16 – 2nd ODI – St Vincent
May 19 – 3rd ODI – Grenada
May 28-June 1 – 1st Test – St Lucia
June 4-8 – 2nd Test – Jamaica

Monday, Feb 17: 8.30 am. England travel to Port Elizabeth. Arrive 1 pmapprox. No practice scheduled. 2 pm – Media Conference with Michael Vaughanat Holiday Inn Garden Court Hotel.Tuesday, Feb 18: Practice: 10 am until 12.30 pm approx. England practice atSt George’s Park. The England Coach, Duncan Fletcher, will be available tothe media at the ground after practice.Wednesday, Feb 19 v Namibia at St George’s Park.Thursday, Feb 20: Depart Port Elizabeth 8.20 am. Arrive Cape Town 9.40 am.Practice 2- 5 pm at Newlands. Media conference arrangements tbc.Friday, Feb 21: Practice at Newlands.10 am to 1 pm. Media Conference to beheld at the ground after practice.Saturday, Feb 22 v Pakistan in Cape Town.Sunday, Feb 23: Depart Cape Town for Durban 09.15. Arrive 11.15.Media/Practice arrangements tbc.Monday, Feb 24: Practice at Durban 10 am to 1 pm. Media Conference to beheld at the ground after practice.Tuesday, Feb 25, Practice in Durban from 2-5 pm. Media Conferencearrangements to be held at the team hotel before practice. Time tbc.Wednesday, Feb 26: v India at Durban.Thursday, Feb 27: Depart Durban: 10.15 am. Arrive Port Elizabeth: 11.35 am.Media/Practice arrangements tbc.Friday, Feb 28: Practice at St George’s Park from 10 am until 1 pm. MediaConference at the ground after practice.Saturday, March 1: Practice from 2 to 5 pm at St George’s Park. MediaConference to be held before practice at team hotel. Time tbc.Sunday, March 2 v Australia at St Georges Park.

Leeds United correspondent Phil Hay has been reacting to the club’s latest fixture change.

The Lowdown: Palace details

Jesse Marsch’s side have picked up seven points from their last three games to increase the gap to the relegation zone to eight points.

They now have just seven games remaining, one of which is a trip to Selhurst Park to take on Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace later this month.

Initially scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 23, the meeting has been put back two days to Monday, April 25 and will be shown live on Sky Sports.

The Latest: Hay reacts

Hay took to Twitter to react to the news of the changes following Leeds’ official post. He described it as an ‘awkward kick-off time’ for Marsch and co. and added that there isn’t enough notice for travelling supporters.

“An awkward kick-off time anyway but for supporters travelling to the game, this is nowhere near enough notice.”

The Verdict: Not a surprise

Plenty of Leeds fans may already have made plans for the trip to London later this month, with the fixture being rearranged just over three weeks before.

It isn’t ideal news for the Whites faithful, but it shouldn’t exactly come as a shock, with the Premier League and broadcast giants regularly changing games at late notice, consistently proving that fans are at the bottom of their agenda when making these calls.

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Hopefully, fans will be making the trip south later this month with the club in a healthy position in the table, with Saturday’s trip to Watford key as Marsch looks to guide Leeds to safety.

In other news: Leeds may now lose another star alongside Raphinha and Phillips; he stunned a club employee.