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Rangers have been handed an injury lift ahead of their return to action at Ibrox on Thursday night…

What’s the latest?

Gers boss Gio van Bronckhorst has revealed that Steven Davis is the only confirmed absentee for their UEFA Europa League clash.

He has admitted that there are question marks over others but has not completely ruled them out, with this coming after blows to Amad Diallo and Aaron Ramsey in recent weeks.

The club’s official Twitter account quoted him as saying: “Davis is not available as he has an injury. We have a couple doubts for tomorrow but we will be fine.”

Buzzing

Ibrox supporters will be buzzing with this news as it is a big boost for multiple reasons.

Firstly, they will be delighted to learn that there have been no major issues following on from the 1-0 win over Aberdeen at the weekend.

It was a scrappy game as the away side committed 16 fouls and received three yellow cards, which may have left some supporters anxious as to whether or not any of the players came out of the match with knocks that would see them miss out against Red Star Belgrade.

Instead, every player appears to have come out of it relatively unscathed and van Bronckhorst will have a full squad to pick from aside from Davis and long-term absentee Ianis Hagi. This will give him plenty of options to name in his starting XI, whilst also allowing him to utilise his bench if needed on the night.

Supporters will also be buzzing to know that Ramsey will be available for selection and has not suffered another setback. He has only played ten minutes in the Europa League for the Gers so far and fans will surely be eager to see him add to that on Thursday night.

The Wales international produced six goals and three assists in his last 13 appearances in the competition with Arsenal and this suggests that he has the quality to make a big impact at this level.

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He has shown throughout his career, with 142 direct goal contributions for the Gunners and Juventus combined, that he can score and create goals and fans will be keen to see that for the Scottish giants between now and the end of the campaign.

They will also be pleased with this news as it suggests that Amad Diallo has overcome his knock. He has struggled since joining on loan from Manchester United but he is a young player and it may take him a little bit longer to bed in. The sooner he gets back out on the pitch the sooner he can turn things around and prove his ability.

AND in other news, GvB could save Rangers millions in “clinical” 26-goal teen with “pure enthusiasm”…

Bhargav Bhatt’s four-for dismantled Tamil Nadu•Sivaraman Kitta

Baba Aparajith’s half-century was the sole innings of prominence for Tamil Nadu as they were dismantled for 176 by Andhra’s bowlers in Chennai. Bhargav Bhatt and Y Prithvi Raj shared seven wickets between them to run through TN’s batting line-up, while Bandaru Ayyappa and Shoaib Md Khan picked the rest.TN’s India players, M Vijay and R Ashwin, were both dismissed for single-digit scores, making 4 and 9 respectively. Vijay was the first wicket to fall, in the seventh over, and in the next over, Prithvi Raj dismissed Abhinav Mukund to leave the score at 15 for 2. Kaushik Gandhi and B Indrajith attempted to steady the innings with a 26-run partnership for the third wicket, but Bhatt thwarted them by dismissing Indrajith. Aparajith, meanwhile, anchored one end to take TN to 140, after which the tenth-wicket pair of Rahil Shah and Krishnamoorthy Vignesh helped lift them to 176.Andhra ended the day at 8 for no loss, with Prasanth Kumar (1*) and Srikar Bharat (7*) at the crease.A 199-run fifth-wicket partnership between Devendra Bundela and Shubham Sharma propelled Madhya Pradesh from 69 for 4 to a solid 268 for 5 against Baroda in Indore. Bundela was dismissed on 99 by seamer Atit Sheth off the last ball of the day.Madhya Pradesh were in the midst of a wobble after losing openers Waseem Ahmed (4) and Rajat Patidar (4) within the first ten overs, and slipped further when Naman Ojha (24) and Harpreet Singh (32) were dismissed before lunch. A middle-order charge from Bundela and Shubham made Baroda’s bowlers toil without reward until the end of the day, when 40-year old Bundela was caught by wicketkeeper Pinal Shah, thus missing out on his 27th first-class hundred.The first day’s play between Odisha and Tripura was washed out without a ball being bowled in Cuttack

Former Zimbabwe cricket stakeholders have broken their recent silence by urging the ICC to take decisive measures if auditors find the current Zimbabwe Cricket administration responsible for the misappropriation of funds.In June the ICC appointed a top South African audit company, KPMG, to look into Zimbabwe Cricket’s accounts after Malcolm Speed, the ICC’s chief executive, said in a leaked document that he believed board funds had been squandered.The auditor’s findings were expected to be presented to the ICC’s board meeting in Dubai this week, but that was postponed and the ICC accepted an undertaking that the exercise will now be finalised “as soon as possible.”A former influential board member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said if the audit named culprits then they must be booted out of sports administration for good. “Once the audit results are known, [if anyone is named they] must never be allowed to administer cricket and sports again, they must be must be brought to book because they have enriched themselves while the game suffers.”Cricinfo sources have also said an audit arm of the Sports and Recreation Commission, led by experienced Zimbabwean sports administrator, Mark Manolios, was also doing its own investigations into ZC’s financial handlings in order to lead by example as the country’s supreme sports regulatory body.Another former Zimbabwe provincial administrator, who spoke to Cricinfo from South Africa, urged the ICC to use the audit results to take a firmer stand on the Zimbabwe issue. “This is a brilliant opportunity for the ICC to redeem itself on Zimbabwe,” he said. “Us, as the legitimate stakeholders of Zimbabwe cricket, feel the ICC has neglected our cricket in Zimbabwe and let it die. We await too see what sort of action they will take this time. It’s not late for them to save the situation.”

Eight overs into the day’s play, this match effectively ended as a contest when the first innings lead was decided; as the match meandered to a draw on a lifeless pitch, Delhi, who took two points, spent the rest of the day getting batting practice. It put into sharp focus what Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, said in Hyderabad today, that India needed more sporting domestic pitches.Pawar’s reference point was the Durban debacle, and how better pitches at home would help Indian batsmen when they played abroad, but he might also have addressed the other, possibly larger, concern: Domestic cricket needs better pitches for better contests, to simply improve as a spectacle.In any case, this match was dead when Rajat Bhatia picked off a single off D Tamil Kumaran to take the Delhi score past Tamil Nadu’s 347. With the first-innings lead secured, there was little to look forward to for either side, and Bhatia and Vijay Dahiya made the most of a cool, wintryday to post big hundreds.There was just the slightest chance that Tamil Nadu could put in aninspired spell on the final morning and hold Delhi back. Themorning session at the Kotla has always been tricky but Delhi had got theirplans dead right on the third day itself when Dahiya came out to bat andhit a succession of boundaries. “I had not planned to goafter the bowling. But I knew that it could be hard to bat in the morningso I played aggressively,” said Dahiya. “I wanted to ensure that we had aslittle to do as possible on the final morning.”Dahiya, who had reached 51 at the end of the third day, and is making acomeback to the Delhi team after sitting out the whole of the last season,continued to bat with a fluency and effectiveness no other batsmanhad shown in the game. “It just happens that sometimes one batsman scoreswhile others miss out. I didn’t do anything different,” said Dahiya, whose152 included 29 boundaries.Bhatia, who made a big hundred against Tamil Nadu last season aswell, looked well set to get to a double-century when he holed out to RSathish at long off against the now occasional left-arm spin of S Vidyut.He’d probably have got there had he decided to bed down instead oftake chances but, with 166 runs under his belt and close to 10 hours at the crease, he decided to have a go and failed to clear long off.Dahiya’s dismissal, hitting S Badrinath to midwicket, prompted Delhito declare at 491 for 7 and give their spinners anextended bowl. Ishant Sharma, the young medium-pacer, sent down just oneover in the second innings, while Ashish Nehra, who had toiled for 40overs in the first innings, did not even take the field. With Tamil Naduon 66 for 2 the match was called off at the start of the mandatory overs.”We have been training hard for the last 40 days, especially on thephysical fitness aspect, and this is the result,” said ChetanChauhan, the Delhi coach. He added that there was hope that the Delhi andDistrict Cricket Association would prepare better pitches for the gamesahead where “the balance between bat and ball is more even.”Woorkeri Raman, Tamil Nadu’s coach, told Cricinfo that he did havepositives to take from this match. “One has to realise that there’s a fairbit of inexperience in the bowling attack. Yomahesh bowled well and thisis only his third Ranji Trophy match, he’s just learning the ropes,”he said. “Considering that this was an away game and we played threedebutants, in a way it was good that we got the warning signs early on.This gives you a chance to take something out of the game and then try andrectify what you have to and get things in order for the rest of theseason.”Raman also listed the performance of M Vijay, the debutant openingbatsman, as a positive. “It’s a completely different thing for a youngsterto come into first-class cricket,” he said. “What was especially pleasingwas the fact that he showed the ability to graft, unlike the flamboyancewhich you normally associate with Tamil Nadu batsmen.”Raman is not known for mincing words, though, and you can be surehe would have had a few blunt things to say to his players in the privacyof the dressing-room. But made no excuses for his team’sperformance. “We didn’t take the chances that came our way. We did nottake off when we had a launching pad while batting. Badri and Vijay did agood job in stabilising the innings, but from there on we did notcapitalise,” he said. “On this wicket, which was a nightmare for bowlers,450-500 was definitely possible. We didn’t get that, and even then, whenwe bowled, having got the early breakthroughs and picking up a wicket withthe second new ball, we did not capitalise.”

Ahmedabad, and not Chennai, has been allotted to host a Test against England © Getty Images

Chennai, and not Ahmedabad, should have been allotted a Test match against England, Cricinfo has learned. The last few weeks have been filled with vociferous complaints from the England and Wales Cricket Board, and the English media, over the itinerary for England’s forthcoming tour of India. While, on the surface, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is strictly adhering to its rotation policy, deeper investigation reveals that something questionable has indeed occurred.The Tour Programmes and Fixtures Committee of the BCCI, which chalks out itineraries for all home matches, met in Mumbai on September 6 to sort out the schedule for the forthcoming season. At the time, however, the committee only decided on the venues for the one-day internationals that were coming up against Sri Lanka and South Africa. Why this was done, no-one is able to answer satisfactorily. And this has made a big difference to how the rotation policy has been applied.According to the rules followed by the board, the Test and ODI rotations run parallel. This means that a situation could arise where it could be a venue’s turn to host both a Test and an ODI in a series. When this happens, it has been the practice that the venue must stage the Test, and wait its turn for the next series for the ODI.Therefore, if the Programmes and Fixtures Committee had worked out for the venues for the forthcoming ODIs and Tests, then Ahmedabad would have been forced to stage a Sri Lanka Test match (Sri Lanka are now playing at Chennai, Delhi and Kanpur). This would have meant that when England’s turn came around, Chennai would have been an automatic allotment for a Test match.There has also been some discrepancy in the allotment of practice matches to the North-Eastern centres of Jamshedpur and Agartala. The fixtures committee met in Delhi to allot the venues for the England Tests and ODIs but did not rule on the warm-up matches. In the past, on most occasions when the Test and ODI fixtures are announced the committee also announces the venues for the side games. In this case, however, it appears that that the chairman of the Tour Programmes and Fixtures Committee, in consultation with the BCCI president, has later allotted the venues to Jamshedpur, Agartala, and Dharamsala for a practice match before the ODIs, which only came to light when representatives of the ECB visited Kolkata for discussions on the itinerary.Staging a three-day game against a touring team is the first step in a venue’s movement towards becoming an international venue. If they stage this warm-up match against England, Agartala will be in a strong position to stake a claim to holding an ODI in a couple of years’ time, a board source told Cricinfo. Dharamsala has already staged a tour match, against Pakistan, and this will only strengthen their case. The most recent instance of this happening is Vijayawada, who hosted a warm-up match when the Zimbabweans toured in early 2002. Just nine months later they were handed their first, and so far only, ODI when West Indies toured.It has also been reported, in that there was some uncertainty over Kanpur hosting the Sri Lanka Test match in December this year owing to a money dispute with the Kanpur District Association, who own the ground. However, as a permanent Test venue, Kanpur has already refused to host Tests in the past, on grounds that the stadium was not ready for play. When New Zealand toured India in 2003 Kanpur was to host a Test, but refused to do so.The BCCI pressurised Kanpur to stage the game, but the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association refused to relent, fearing that if they did stage the game in substandard conditions (poor pitch, outfield, facilities) then they were in danger of being blacklisted as a venue by the ICC. But a long time has passed since 2003 and the BCCI refused to relent this time round, rightly contending that the UPCA had enough time to get its act together. Soon after it was decided, Cricinfo has learned, that if Kanpur was to attempt to forego a Test again when its turn came, stern action would be taken that could have resulted in it being stripped of Test status, which would be accompanied by a loss of a place in the working committee. Therefore it was a fait accompli that Kanpur hosted a Test against Sri Lanka.

Stephen Fleming has asked for North and South Island teams to play in Australian competitions© Photosport

New Zealand Cricket want to host one-day and Twenty20 domestic competitions with Cricket Australia to help improve the quality of their game. Martin Snedden, the NZC chief executive, said he had met with his CA counterpart James Sutherland to discuss the events earlier in the year.”We first started talks six or seven months ago and we’ll have quite a bit of contact over the next few months with the reciprocal tours,” Snedden told the Sydney Morning Herald. “We’ve not discussed it further, but it’s still out there and it’s a live issue.An initial proposal suggests a week of Twenty20 matches between the state and provincial teams and a game between the winners of each country’s one-day competition. “My view is that the more playing time and exposure our cricketers have to different players and conditions, the better it is for us,” Snedden said. “But it’s also a question of whether Australia would be willing to go ahead with some of these things.”Stephen Fleming has already suggested that North and South Island sides compete in the Pura and ING cups. New Zealand played in knockout one-day touraments in Australia for three years until 1974-75.

After a disappointingly lacklustre season, Somerset are already plotting their bid for a return to the first division of the County Championship. Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid are both being earmarked as possible overseas players in 2004.”Somerset are talking with Dravid and Ponting with a view to them joining the county for 2004,” said Peter Anderson, Somerset’s chief executive. Two batsmen of the highest class are precisely what Somerset need at the moment – several of their first-team players were threatened with the sack earlier in the season, after a terrible run of results.One of those was the England one-day allrounder, Ian Blackwell. But he is once again the flavour of the month after a stunning 247 not out in Somerset’s latest championship victory, over Derbyshire, and Anderson is keen for him to stay at Taunton.”Ian still has one more year of his contract to run," said Anderson. "He is very happy here, and we are currently in negotiation to extend his contract.”

Left-handed batsmen are considered to be very elegant and over the yearslot of them have provided enormous pleasure to cricket fans all over theworld. Some consider watching a left-handed batsman caress a ball to theropes the ultimate spectacle. I would not disagree with that sentimentfor obvious reasons.

David Gower © Stamp Publicity Ltd

I have been tongue-tied when asked why left-handers look more elegantthan the right-handers. It has to be mentioned that not all left-handersare elegant as a rule, but the ones who are, become the people’sfavourite. David Gower, for one, made people throng to the grounds towatch him bat for he was elegance personified.Any side would like to have a left-hander in its ranks and it would be abonus if he happens to perform a dual role for his side a la AdamGilchrist. A left-right combination at the crease upsets a lot ofbowlers and frustrates captains too. Incidentally, the highest rungetter in Test cricket happens to be a southpaw in Allan Border.There is a concept that left-handers are at an advantage in relation toright-handers. Like everything else being a left-hander has itspositives and negatives. One advantage is that the bowlers are used tobowling to right-handers more often than not and hence may give scoringopportunities off the pads.Talking of the disadvantages, left-handers have to play at bowlersbowling more on their blind side. It is something similar to a bowlerbowling from round the wicket to a right-hander. Not many right-handersare comfortable when this ploy, starting right from the days of theinfamous Bodyline series, is employed.There are some exciting left-handed batsmen in world cricket these daysand they play a very important and indispensable role for theirrespective sides. Brian Lara, Adam Gilchrist and Sanath Jayasuriya, toname a few, are batsmen who give nightmares to bowlers. All three ofthem play their shots and try to dominate the attack most of the time. Iam not suggesting that they lack the discipline or the technique togrind the attack. It is just that their extraordinary talent makes themthat much more positive and successful.Gilchrist performs the role of an all-rounder for his side and therebygives enough options to his captain. His versatility is tremendous as hecan open the innings in the one-dayers and bat in the lower order inTests. Such is his capability that he has produced innumerable matchwinning knocks in both positions.

Brian Lara © CricInfo

Lara, the champion batsman that he is, has been in indifferent form inthe last couple of years. One got the impression that he was fightingwith himself rather than suffering a slump because of the issues widelypublicised all over the world. At one stage there was even a danger ofthe cricketing world losing this enigmatic champion. But the way hebatted in the recent series against Sri Lankans allayed all those fearsand he showed that he has what it takes to be a real class act. Hishunger was back and he became one of those rare batsmen who had thesatisfaction of taming Muttiah Muralitharan on the latter’s home tracks.The one remarkable aspect about Lara is that once he gets going, he getsbig hundreds and double hundreds. He is the only batsman capable ofwinning a Test match on his own as he did against the Australians a fewseasons ago. It is a pity that he is not getting enough support from hiscolleagues in the top order.

Graham Thorpe © CricInfo

The current series between England and India will be a real challengefor the two seasoned elegant left-handers, Sourav Ganguly and GrahamThorpe. Both have their share of problems to contend with and it isimperative they get into top gear. While Ganguly has been off-colour inTests the whole of this year, Thorpe has not been consistent either.Ganguly, at the moment, has to be decisive about how he is going totackle the short-pitched deliveries. He is in a dilemma as to whether toplay the pull shot or not. He is capable of playing that shot well andhas scored enough runs in international cricket to allow himself to bebullied like a rookie.Thorpe, for his part, has not done full justice to his talent. He willbe a key player for England on the turning tracks in India. Both Thorpeand Ganguly have to get big scores – one has to do more for his side’ssake and the other for his own sake. Only time will tell how theseelegant left-handers handle the pressure but one thing is for sure -left-handers can really frustrate their fans if they are not in theirbest of form.

An offer is now being readied from Antonio Conte and Tottenham Hotspur to try and sign Gleison Bremer in the summer.

The Lowdown: Centre-back eyed

With the future of Joe Rodon in doubt, it looks as if Spurs will try and buy a centre-back for Conte this summer.

Stefan de Vrij and Josko Gvardiol are the latest names to be linked with a move to Hotspur Way, and it will be interesting to see what kind of calibre of player the club can attract, depending on where they finish in the Premier League and what (if any) European competition they will be playing in next season.

The Latest: Offer ready

As per Tutto Juve, Tottenham would ‘try to convince’ Bremer and Torino to move in the summer with a ‘good proposal’, and their interest in the player is ‘predominant’.

However, they will face competition from Manchester United, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan for his signature.

The Verdict: Get it done

If the Lilywhites are going to sign a centre-back, then they should look no further than Bremer.

Described as an ‘animal’ by fellow Torino defender Mergim Vojvoda, the 6 foot 2 powerhouse is currently averaging a WhoScored rating of 7.23 in Serie A this season. That is only bettered by Son Heung-Min among Spurs players in the Premier League (7.31), and interestingly the South Korean shares the same agent as Bremer.

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The Brazilian is also averaging more aerial duels won and interceptions per game than anyone at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which suggests that he would be a big upgrade in Conte’s defence.

In other news, find out who Conte has lost patience with at N17

Guernsey and Jersey are the two new additions to the European Under-15 and Under-17 Division One Championships for 2008. It is the first time more than four teams have battled for the title since the tournament began in 1999.In 2007 Jersey won the Under-19 and Under-23 Division 2 Championships and were runner-up to Guernsey in the Under-15 Division 2 Championship. Both sides did not lose a single match, other than to one another, in any of the competitions.The two championships will be the first real test of Guernsey and Jersey since their elevation to ICC Associate status.”It is a fantastic opportunity for Guernsey’s young cricketers to test themselves against the strongest nations in Europe at their own age group,” David Piesing, chairman of the Guernsey Cricket Board said. “Young players can only benefit from playing against strong opposition and in the past couple of years these youngsters have acquitted themselves well in friendlies against Scotland and Holland so they will be keen to renew those acquaintances.”Our Under-15s showed this year that they were a very strong side by winning the Division 2 tournament in La Manga. Five or six of those same players are still in the Under-15s in 2008 while the remainder of that squad will now move to the Under-17s age group.”We are delighted that ICC Europe has recognised the playing strength of our youth sides in this way and we eagerly look forward to the challenges ahead. It will provide an additional impetus for our youngsters as they enter this winter’s coaching programme.”The Under-17 Division One tournament will be held in Belfast over four days in July 2008. Six teams will form two groups of three, with each team playing two 50-over matches over the first three days. Following a coaching day, each team will play-off against its counterpart from the other group to determine the final championship standings.The Under-15 Division two championship will take place in Jersey, also in July, and will be played to 45-over playing conditions.Scotland host the Under19- Division One championship in August, with the same playing conditions as the Under-19 World Cup, whilst remaining a four-team competition. And Germany will host the Under-17 Division Two championship in the Northern Rhine region surrounding Düsseldorf.Dates and precise venues of all events have yet to be finalised.