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Wolverhampton Wanderers are in a dire state of affairs and could now be set to replace Rob Edwards with a manager who has found a winning formula this campaign.

Wolves look to reverse dismal Premier League form

There is no secret about Wolves’ dire state of affairs on and off the pitch, though there were some small slivers of encouragement within the Old Gold’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield last time out.

Ultimately, yet another defeat in a campaign that has offered up two draws in the Premier League isn’t a cause for celebration. Either way, there seemed to be at least a bit more togetherness on the field than in some recent results and performances.

Eventually, some points will fall Wolves’ way if they continue to run teams close, as they did against Liverpool. It won’t be likely near enough to keep them up, but at least there is hope of some pride being restored in the West Midlands.

Barring a miracle, Edwards will be preparing his side for the Sky Bet Championship next season. Wherever they end up, the Old Gold have started planning for the future and want to bring Nashville striker Sam Surridge to Molineux in January.

Union Berlin’s Diogo Leite is also on Wolves’ radar, signifying that they are being proactive in search of new reinforcements to offer fresh ideas and energy to a side that has fallen on hard times.

Edwards has a tough remit, and nobody is saying otherwise, albeit he may not be entirely safe himself and could now be set to be replaced by a manager who has achieved great heights this season.

Derek McInnes in frame to take over at Wolves

According to TEAMtalk, Heart of Midlothian manager Derek McInnes has been earmarked to succeed Edwards at Wolves after leading his side to the top of the Scottish Premiership table this term.

Brian Barry-Murphy of Cardiff City and former Old Gold boss Gary O’Neil are also candidates if Wolves part company with their current boss.

Related Wolves now enter race to sign "superb" defender who could join on free transfer

The Old Gold need some inspiration from somewhere if they are to avoid the drop…

Posts ByDominic Lund

Unrest among supporters towards the Molineux hierarchy is unlikely to be quelled if another manager is shown the door, leaving Nathan Shi in a tough situation as the club weighs up whether to sack Edwards, who has a 0% win percentage.

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In the case of McInnes, he has led Hearts to an average of 2.16 points per match this campaign and has earned plaudits for his recruitment and style of play, keeping things simplistic with a robust 4-4-2.

With his Jambos side earning plaudits for their attempts to split Glasgow’s big two, he may find it difficult to relinquish a shot at lifting the Scottish Premiership title.

Nevertheless, Wolves are a big draw and could offer the biggest project of his managerial career to date after spells at St Johnstone, Bristol City, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Tynecastle.

That “bloody Chinaman”: Ellis Achong © Empics

What is it?
A mirror image of a right-armer’s legbreak, a chinaman is a ball from a left-armer that is bowled over the wrist and turns the opposite way to orthodox left-arm spin. In other words, it spins in to the right-hand batsman and away from the left-hander – from left to right on a TV screen.What is the term’s origin?
Charlie “Buck” Llewellyn, a South African allrounder who played circa the end of the 19th century, laid claim to inventing the delivery. But the term is more traditionally believed to have originated with the former West Indian spinner Ellis “Puss” Achong. In the 1933 Old Trafford Test, Achong, a left-arm orthodox spinner and the first Test cricketer of Chinese ancestry, bowled an unexpected wrist-spin delivery that turned from off to leg, and had the English batsman Walter Robins stumped. Legend has it that Robins, as he walked back to the pavilion, remarked, “Fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman.”Who are the famous practitioners of the art?
Chuck Fleetwood-Smith, Garry Sobers, and more recently, Paul Adams, Michael Bevan, Brad Hogg, and Dave Mohammed are among the better known ones.What variations does a chinaman bowler have?
A googly, just like a legspinner. Only in this case the googly leaves the right-hander and comes into a left-hander.Why are Chinaman bowlers so rare?
It is difficult to control left-arm wrist spin (as also traditional legspin). And by and large the ball coming in to a right-hander is considered less dangerous than the one leaving him.

Rahul Dravid will have to explain his outburst to the Indian board © AFP

The Indian board (BCCI) has come to the defense of Chetan Desai, the manager of the Indian team on the tour of South Africa, and said that it would seek an explanation from Rahul Dravid for his outburst against Desai.Desai had come under a scathing attack from Dravid for his tour report which criticised the selection of an out-of-form Virender Sehwag and an unfit Munaf Patel for the series-deciding Test at Cape Town which India lost.”We would like to talk to Dravid and find out the exact situation in which he has been reported to have said these words,” said Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary. “Chetan Desai was the manager on the tour and as per tradition he filed his report after the team’s return. And he has not said anything about his [Dravid’s] abilities as a player in the report. The report is with Mr Sharad Pawar [BCCI president] and after he reads it he will give us guidelines on what to do.”Dravid told reporters in Kolkata that Desai had no standing in the game.” Anyone is entitled to give his opinion; anyone is entitled to give a report. But me commenting on that, I will comment only when it is worthy of my comment.”It is important to put it in perspective and understand that I have been asked for my views on a report given by someone … When I last looked at the history of Indian cricket I did not necessarily see his [Desai’s] name featuring very prominently.”The report was said to be critical of Sehwag’s attitude to the game and also did not spare Dravid for being stubborn in selection matters, especially in the third Test. Shah also sought to play down the matter of how the report got leaked to the media and what the BCCI was going to do about this. “We are certainly interested in knowing how it happened,” Shah shot back when queried whether the BCCI was not worried how the leak took place

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is expected to continue as captain © Getty Images

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been recommended by the West Indies selectors to be retained as captain and Ramnaresh Sarwan his deputy for the tour of New Zealand from February 16 to March 29, convenor Joey Carew confirmed yesterday.Carew was quick to end speculation initiated by a report on a Trinidad radio station, repeated on Voice of Barbados yesterday, that Daren Ganga, the Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies A captain, was likely to replace Chanderpaul. But Ganga, who played the last of his 31 Tests against South Africa in Georgetown last April, was recalled for the Twenty20 match, five one-day internationals and the three Tests.Carew indicated separate squads of 14 for the shorter matches and 15 for the Tests have been chosen. They went through the usual process of ratification by the WICB yesterday but were not officially announced up to last night. Carew said his panel has acceded to Brian Lara’s plea that he wanted to reduce his ODI appearances in an effort to prolong his phenomenal Test career. Lara will join the team for the first Test in Auckland following the ODI series.Coach Bennett King’s input at the selection meeting in Port of Spain on Monday was influential in the decision to retain Chanderpaul as captain, Carew said. “The coach gave a lengthy explanation of what went on, and what didn’t go on, during the tour of Australia late last year. His recommendation was that we continue with Chanderpaul as captain.”He did not say whether there were other nominations. The Jamaica captain Wavell Hinds’s modest Test record [an average of 33 in 45 Tests] appears to have ruled him out of contention for the leadership. Hinds was chosen only in the ODI squad, to be replaced for the Tests by Devon Smith who had a disappointing series in Australia after an innings of 88 in the first Test.Chanderpaul was appointed captain for the home series against South Africa and Pakistan last season following the withdrawal of Lara over the West Indies Cricket Board ruling to debar six players from selection because of their personal endorsement contracts with Cable & Wireless, direct competitors of new team sponsors, Digicel.Ths sixth man in the position since Viv Richards’ retirement in 1992, Chanderpaul has endured a similar failure rate to those before him while West Indies slid from No. 1 to No. 8 in the ICC rankings. Under him, West Indies have a record of one Test win, nine losses and two draws, and one win against 11 ODI defeats.Chanderpaul led a team of inexperienced reserves to Sri Lanka for three Tests and a triangular ODI series also involving India last July and August after the other leading players observed a West Indies Players Association (WIPA) boycott over a contracts dispute. He was retained for the tour of Australia last October and November following an end to the WIPA’s action that cleared the way for the selection of all the players.

Daren Ganga makes a return to the team © Cricinfo Ltd.

In addition to Ganga, Rawl Lewis, the legspinner and Windward Islands captain, who last played for the West Indies on the tour of South Africa seven years ago, fast bowlers Jerome Taylor of Jamaica and Deighton Butler of the Windwards and batsman Runako Morton of the Leewards have been recalled. Lewis, Taylor and Morton are in both Test and ODI squads. Butler, who got his unexpected chance in the revamped team in Sri Lanka last year, was only chosen for the ODIs.”Lewis has been playing so well that we’re thinking of giving him a bit of a run to see whether he could become a permanent fixture in the team,” Carew said. “He has definitely matured. I think the captaincy [of the Windwards] has done a lot of good for him.” Lewis was Windwards’ leading wicket-taker in last season’s Carib Beer Series with 32 wickets and he has 14 in two matches this season. He is preferred as the specialist spinner to left-arm chinaman-googly type Dave Mohammed and offspinner Omari Banks, both of whom have had brief stints in the Test team.Taylor made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2003 but was soon sidelined by a back injury for over a year. He led the bowling averages for Jamaica on his return last season, with 26 wickets at 16.61 each, and clinched his place with his 5 for 85 against Barbados in the match that ended on Monday.Batsman Marlon Samuels and fast bowlers Tino Best and Jermaine Lawson are dropped from the team on the Test tour of Australia last October and November. An operation to remove a bone spur from his knee ruled out Corey Collymore, the leading West Indies bowler since he returned to the team for the Tests against Pakistan last season.Carew said that the teams for the one-day and four-day matches against England A in the Caribbean next month would be chosen after two more rounds of the Carib Beer Cup.Test squad(with ODI replacement in brackets)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vc), Chris Gayle, Devon Smith (Wavell Hinds), Daren Ganga (wk), Brian Lara (excluded for ODIs), Runako Morton, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Denesh Ramdin, Rawl Lewis, Ian Bradshaw, Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards, Daren Powell (Deighton Butler).

John Carr arrives in South Africa© Getty Images

The England & Wales Cricket Board has defended the schedule for the South African tour after the lack of warm-up matches and condensed programme of Tests was criticised following England’s defeat at Cape Town. England have no first-class bewteen any of five Tests, and the last two, at Johannesburg and Centurion, are back-to-back.John Carr, the ECB’s director of cricket, told the BBC website: “We have to hold our hands up, along with the South African board, and say that this winter it hasn’t been a satisfactory situation. We raised our eyebrows when we received the first draft from the South African Board.”Unfortunately, South Africa have got an incredibly condensed programme from last November to the end of May.” South Africa played two Tests against India in November, and after England’s five-match series they host Zimbabwe for two more before flying to the West Indies for four Tests.Carr went on, “We need to play seven Test matches and 10 one-day internationals during the course of the home programme to generate the revenue that helps fund all of English cricket. We are expected to reciprocate a similar amount of cricket over the winter months. Most years we manage that workload in a more acceptable way in terms of when the cricket is played.”It just so happens that the logistics of international cricket at the moment, and South Africa’s programme in particular, meant the whole of our tour had to be condensed into a very narrow period. We weren’t in a position to demand a reduction in the number of Test matches or one-day internationals.”

Sri Lanka’s selectors have included Dinusha and Dilhara Fernando in a 15-man squad for the opening Test against England, which starts next week.The two pace bowlers will be competing for one place as Sri Lanka are set to play only two quicks on a surface that is expected to offer bountiful assistance to the slow bowlers.Sri Lanka included three specialist spinners – Muttiah Muralitharan, Upul Chandana and Kumar Dharmasena – in the squad, as well as offspinning allrounder Thilan Samaraweera.Chandana is tipped to edge out Dharmasena and play his first Test for 16 months, although Sri Lanka also have the option of playing all three spinners and batting Romesh Kaluwitharana at number six.That appears unlikely though considering Sri Lanka’s recent vulnerability in the middle order so Tillakaratne Dilshan, Michael Vandort and Thilan Samaraweera are effectively competing for the final batting slot.Russel Arnold, who captains a Board President’s XI against England on Wednesday, misses out on a recall, as does Nuwan Zoysa, who was pushing for a return to the squad.Sri Lanka, now captained by Hashan Tillakaratne, have not won their last three series but have fond memories of Galle, where they trounced England by an innings when the two sides last met in 2001. They have won six out of the eight Tests played at the south coast venue, losing only to Pakistan in 2000.Squad: Hashan Tillakaratne (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Kumar Dharmasena, Upul Chandan, Chaminda Vaas, Dinusha Fernando, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), Michael Vandort

“I like to get my eye in at that time – one hundred.”Here lies the secret behind the success of the great converter – Mathew Sinclair, who scored his ninth career 150-plus innings yesterday.The innings has dominated a game between Central Districts and Canterbury in which the next highest score has been Ben Smith’s 41.Sinclair’s ability to make big scores has kept selectors interested in the right-handed stroke player, despite a recent run of poor Test returns.Discussions with Sir Richard Hadlee and CLEAR Black Caps player co-ordinator Ashley Ross at the Village Green this week have demonstrated that Sinclair is still in the management’s thoughts despite the emergence of Lou Vincent and Brendon McCullum as top order international batsmen while Sinclair has been unobtrusively accumulating for CD. He has made timely scores of 161 and 171 in the last week.A hint of Sinclair’s determination was shown by CD captain Glen Sulzberger revealing that Sinclair was disappointed not to get 200 against Otago.When he was dismissed by Canterbury’s combative fast bowler Wade Cornelius yesterday as he neared a fourth career double century the pair had a brief slanging match mid-pitch. Cornelius has been injected with some of the fuel that used to drive Dayle Hadlee over the winter at the Hadlee-run Academy and was able to make Sinclair mis-pull after a 339-ball stay. But Hadlee was impressed by both players, and the whisper is that Sinclair will stay in the Test team.The 18-Test veteran has scored an impressive 1079 Test runs at 43.16, with three centuries all 150 or above, but just one fifty.Sinclair’s phenomenal run of tall centuries run in descending order: 214, 204, 203 not out, 189, 182, 171, 166 not out, 161, 150, 145, 102 and 100 not out. That means when he reaches one hundred Sinclair, on average, goes onto 165.58.”You know when you always like to talk about someone going on and getting the big one?” he asked.”I guess for me that’s the sort of thing I like to go on and do.”It’s that sort of stage when I don’t really want to get out to be honest. You’ve got yourself set at the crease and you want to go on and that’s my philosophy for it,” he told CricInfo.But as to a Test place Sinclair was giving less away.”It’s not my decision at the end of the day so I can’t really say yes or no for it,” he said.However, the chances are that Sinclair’s ability to submerge the opposition with his weight of runs, as he has done with Otago and Canterbury in the last week, will nudge the selectors into keeping New Zealand’s big hundred-man in the Test team.

Air India won their quarterfinal encounter against Delhi by eightwickets in the CricInfo Trophy women’s National Cricket Championshipat the Jorhat Stadium at Jorhat on Monday.Set a target of 180, Air India made a shaky start losing Anju Jain (5)with the score at 6 in the third over. But Anjum Chopra (82 not out of75 balls) and Mithali Raj (58 runs of 50 balls) laid the foundationfor the victory with a 131-run stand in 23.5 overs for the secondwicket. Then Anjum Chopra and Mamta Mamben (14 not out of 12 balls)guided Air India towards victory in 35.1 overs.Earlier, winning the toss and electing to bat, Delhi lost opener RakhiMehra (15) at 20 in the fourth over. But S Jaya (35 runs of 77 balls)and Sima Wadhwa (14) added 50 runs in 12.3 overs for the secondwicket. Then M Reema (51 runs of 72 balls) joined Jaya in a fourthwicket stand that realised 44 runs in 12.3 overs. After the departureof Jaya, Asha Jain (13) and Reema added 26 runs for the fifth wicketin 5.3 overs. But once the fifth wicket fell at 148, Delhi lost itsway and managed only 179 in the alloted 40 overs.

The January transfer window was a very busy one for Everton, as not only was Frank Lampard appointed manager, but five players walked through the door as the club looked to ensure their Premier League membership would be reinstated for next season.

However, after more difficult defeats and poor performances, the Toffees are currently hovering dangerously above the relegation zone in 17th, and to make matters worse, one of their key transfer targets Matheus Nunes, is now being linked with some of the top clubs in Europe.

What’s the news?

Earlier in the month, Pep Guardiola described Nunes after Manchester City’s Champions League clash with his club Sporting Lisbon, as: “one of the best in the world right now.”

Correio da Manhã (via Sport Witness) are just one publication that have suggested the Portuguese midfielder could be heading to the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season – much to the frustration of Everton fans who believed that the player was close to signing for their club earlier in the year, as well as last summer.

But now, even the likes of Spurs are ahead of the Merseyside club in the race for the 23-year-old’s signature, and should Everton still be as interested as they were in recent months to acquire him, they will face stiff competition not just to out-bid teams, but to convince the player to sign on at Goodison Park.

Everton waited too late

Unfortunately for the supporters, it seems that the club waited just too long to make a move, and didn’t cough up enough money in the last two transfer windows to entice Sporting into selling.

Now, the transfer looks more improbable than ever, with Nunes having a price tag of at least €40m (£33m), but should performances continue to get better and better, you can expect that valuation to go up.

The midfielder is a technically gifted player with skill and flair, completing 73% of his dribbles as well as winning on average 6.8 duels per game and making 0.7 key passes per game. That means he’d add plenty to a stuttering Everton attack.

Having made just two assists and scored two goals in the Liga NOS this season, there is definitely room for improvement in terms of his offensive output, but that will come with time wherever he will play his football next season.

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Sadly, it looks as though it won’t be at Goodison Park, an eventuality Farhad Moshiri and co may end up living to regret.

In other news: Brands clanger: Released Everton prospect in a “rich vein of form” is now PL quality

Leading from the front: ‘Everyday you learn something out there when you play international cricket. You bring that into your game and make sure you improve’ © Getty Images

The third day at the SSC couldn’t have gone much better for Mahela Jayawardene. His unbeaten 167 led Sri Lanka to a 28-run lead over England with six wickets remaining and in the process he became his country’s leading run scorer and set a new milestone for a single batsman at a Test venue, pushing Graham Gooch’s Lord’s record into second place.However, in typical Jayawardene manner it was the team position that was more satisfying to him than the personal success. “It was important for us that we batted through the first session. England had put us under pressure by scoring 351 so we needed to make sure we bat through the day today without too many hiccups,” he said. “Now we’ve got an advantage we need to push ourselves and go for a win if we really work hard tomorrow.”On a wicket like this the second, third and fourth days are the best to bat on. Batting England out of the Test would be our first target which we’ve gone three quarter of the way to doing. We just need to make sure we push that advantage in a couple of more sessions by scoring a couple of hundred more runs. Then England cannot put us back under pressure. They need to make sure they save this Test match. It will be interesting to see what Murali can do on a fifth day wicket.”During the course of the day Jayawardene set up many records, surpassing Sanath Jayasuriya’s tally of 6973 runs to become Sri Lanka’s most prolific batsman and becoming the first Sri Lanka batsman to cross the 7000-run mark in Tests. He also equalled Aravinda de Silva’s highest number of Test hundreds when he completed his 20th ton.”I am very honoured to have passed Sanath’s record. He’s been a brilliant ambassador for us. He pushed the limits for a lot of youngsters in Sri Lanka cricket and challenged everybody,” said Jayawardene. “I just need to work hard at my game. Everyday you learn something out there when you play international cricket. You bring that into your game and make sure you improve. As a team we try and work harder challenging ourselves individually to be better players. That’s what it’s all about.”With Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu recently retired, Jayawardene admitted there was more pressure on him and Kumar Sangakkara in the batting ranks to help the younger players settle in. “A lot of senior players have retired and there is a lot of responsibility on Kumar’s and my shoulder. We work really hard to make sure we carry the team through this period so that the youngsters can come through. We’ve got some exciting talent behind us. We need to guide them in the right direction.”Jayawardene’s innings took him past Gooch as the leading run scorer on an individual ground as the SSC remained a happy hunting ground. “I have played ten years of club cricket here. I know this wicket pretty well and enjoy batting here,” he said. “It’s value for your runs, a good outfield and brilliant atmosphere. If you stick to your basics and work around your stroke play and be patient, you can get a lot of runs here.”Jayawardene was the second Sri Lankan to reach three figures in the innings after Michael Vandort’s 138 set up the strong platform. Vandort needed to steady the innings after two early wickets and paid tribute to the role of Jayawardene in their 227-run stand for the third wicket.”Every Test innings is important but from the team’s point of view we were 22 for 2 when Mahela joined me. He helped me a lot throughout the innings,” he said. “We get along well in the middle because this is about the third or fourth century partnership we have put together. I have been playing a few rash shots during my innings and every time I did that he came and game me advice.”