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Crystal Palace are now fully confident about signing a “sensational” player this month, with Oliver Glasner personally an admirer.

Palace eyeing new signings amid Glasner uncertainty

Glasner’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and Palace could have their work cut out trying to keep hold of their manager, with it recently being revealed he has been identified as Manchester United’s top target, following Ruben Amorim’s departure.

It is not certain the Austrian will move on, and he has now made it clear he expects negotiations over a new contract to ramp up soon, saying: “I think in the next weeks, we will intensify the talks.

“With Macclesfield, Friday again, we go up north, and then everyone gets three days off after Macclesfield and then we have to target four regular weeks and in those weeks we will intensify the talks and I expect to find a final decision.”

Backing the 51-year-old in the current transfer window could help convince him to extend his stay at Selhurst Park, and the Eagles’ business has been promising so far, securing the signing of Brennan Johnson from Tottenham Hotspur.

However, Crystal Palace aren’t done there, according to a report from Spain, which states they dream of signing Atletico Madrid’s Conor Gallagher, who could be available for just £26m this month, with the La Liga club open to a sale.

In fact, Palace are fully confident they will be able to get a deal done, as Gallagher will need to receive regular game time ahead of the World Cup in the summer, if he is to stand any chance of making Thomas Tuchel’s squad.

Man United and Tottenham Hotspur are also in the race for the Englishman, which could pose a problem, but Glasner will be hoping his side can win the race, as he believes the 25-year-old could be the ideal addition to the midfield.

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Posts ByDominic Lund "Sensational" Gallagher could excel at Selhurst Park

The central midfielder has, of course, already proven himself in the Premier League, and indeed at Crystal Palace, chipping in with eight goals and three assists as the Eagles recorded a 12th-place finish in the 2021-22 season.

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Hailed as “sensational” by reporter John Cross, the Epsom-born midfielder has continued to impress since moving to Spain, averaging 1.96 interceptions per 90 over the past year, which ranks him in the 96th percentile, compared to other midfielders.

With Gallagher already proven in the Premier League, and able to make an impact at both ends of the pitch, he could be a fantastic addition to Glasner’s squad, and £26m would be a very reasonable fee.

However, Palace fans will be hoping the former Chelsea man’s potential arrival doesn’t lead to the departure of Adam Wharton, with Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool now among the suitors for the central midfielder…

Everton have now reportedly set their sights on a late hijack to sign a Premier League star, who’s set to make a decision about his future in the next 48 hours.

Moyes issues Nottingham Forest warning after Burnley stalemate

So far, whilst Everton haven’t been spectacular, they have been improved under David Moyes. The Toffees have shown signs of their best and could move into the top eight with victory over Nottingham Forest this evening, albeit only if results go their way across the rest of the gameweek.

To do so, however, they’ll have to be far more clinical than they were in a frustrating 0-0 draw against Burnley last time out and Moyes is certainly well aware of the threat that Forest pose despite their recent struggles.

Everton will at least be hoping to welcome Jack Grealish back from the sidelines after he missed the Burnley game. Without their star loanee and Iliman Nidaye, who is at AFCON with Senegal, the Toffees struggled on the creative front last time out.

It’s been a consistent problem throughout their campaign when a select few stars haven’t taken responsibility for what is a blunt frontline. And it should be at the top of their priorities to solve that problem in the January transfer window.

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To that end, the rumours are already coming thick and fast. The likes of Hayden Hackney have already emerged as a reported target, as is the case for Brennan Johnson.

Everton eyeing late hijack to sign Johnson

According to Ben Jacobs, Everton are eyeing a late hijack to sign Johnson from Tottenham Hotspur, despite reports claiming that Crystal Palace have already agreed a £35m deal to sign the winger.

It’s now down to the Welshman where he plays his football from next month onwards and he’s reportedly set to make his decision in the next 48 hours whilst Everton wait in the wings.

Although £35m is certainly not cheap for a player who’s not been at his best this season, it’s worth remembering who Johnson is when in form.

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The 24-year-old scored 18 goals, whilst also creating a further seven in all competitions last season and would undoubtedly complete Everton’s frontline.

From Tottenham struggles, Johnson could thrive alongside the likes of Ndiaye, Grealish and Thierno Barry, who is beginning to show signs of his best in Merseyside.

Beating Palace to the deal would be some achievement at this stage, but it seems as though it will all come down to Johnson’s decision.

Maharashtra picked up the four remaining wickets early on the fourth day to beat Assam by an innings and 52 runs in Chennai. Their second successive win brought them storming back into contention for a berth in the quarter-finals. Assam, resuming on 115 for 6, needed to wipe out a deficit of 171 more. KB Arun Karthik and Swarupam Purkayastha added 83, before left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bacchav sent back Purkayastha for 69. Two overs later, Mohsin Sayyad dismissed Abu Nechim Ahmed for a duck.Anupam Sanklecha, who took eight wickets in the first innings, fittingly picked up the last wicket – his 12th in the match and 26th in two games – as Assam were all out for 234, with Karthik stranded on 87. Earlier in the match, tons from Kedar Jadhav and Chirag Khurana took Maharashtra to 542 before Sanklecha ran through Assam’s batting. His eight wickets in Assam’s first innings, gave them a 286 run lead.Delhi survived a final day collapse before they reached 153 to beat Rajasthan by two wickets in Wayanad. They started the day on 51 for 3, needing 102 runs more to win. But overnight batsman Vikas Tokas was bowled by Pankaj Singh ten runs later, before Shikhar Dhawan, on a comeback trail after recovering from a broken finger, was out on 49.Delhi were at 76 for 5 at this stage, still needing another 77. But Nitish Rana (31), added 24 runs with Milind Kumar and another 37 with Sumit Narwal, before being run out. Narwal then batted with the tail to take Delhi to victory. He remained unbeaten on 27. Rajasthan’s Amitkumar Gautam, playing his second first-class match, was adjudged Player of the Match. He scored 106 in the first innings to notch up his maiden first-class ton.CM Gautam (95) and Shreyas Gopal (77) helped Karnataka stave off defeat and walk away with one point against Odisha in New Delhi. Karnataka were 81 ahead with four wickets in hand when play began. They drove ahead to 393, with he last four wickets contributing 162. K Gowtham, the offspinner, made 46 of those at No. 9. Set a target of 231 in 32 overs, Odisha’s openers batted cautiously to end on 63 without loss and walk away with the first-innings honours. This was the first time this season that Karnataka conceded a lead. However, they continued to top the group.Vidarbha recorded their first win of the season by beating Saurashtra by eight wickets at the Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi. Akshay Wakhare and Mohammad Shaikh picked up seven wickets between them as Saurashtra, who conceded a 46-run lead, were bowled out for 189, with opener Snell Patel top scoring with 63. Vidarbha lost Faiz Fazal early in chase of 144, but were driven by half-centuries from Sanjay Ramaswamy and Ganesh Satish as they completed the chase in 35 overs. The loss meant Saurashtra were rooted to the bottom of the group.

Salman Butt continued to shake off a wretched Quaid-e-Azam trophy campaign. His second unbeaten half-century in three games helped Lahore Whites trounce Peshawar by 27 runs. Butt’s 58-ball 85 took his side to the top of the standings.His fellow opener Kamran Akmal also joined in to make a 40-ball 52 as the Whites notched up 163. In response, the struggling Peshawar – who now have one win in six matches – could not find a single batsman to score over 25. That meant the chase never really took off. Lahore’s bowlers picked them off at ease with Umaid Asif starring with four for 26 to break the back of the Peshawar chase. Ehsan Adil and Asif Ali took two wickets apiece as Peshawar were cleaned up for 136, with their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals officially extinguished.A century stand between Umar Amin and Zain Abbas wasn’t enough for Rawalpindi as they lost to Faisalabad, thereby falling out of contention for the last four. Amin and Abbas scored 67 and 62 respectively, with Sohail Tanvir adding a quickfire 32 off 16 as Rawalpindi surged to 193. It was, surprisingly, the international stars in Faisalabad’s bowling attack who were the most expensive, with Faheem Ashraf, Saeed Ajmal and Yasir Shah conceding a whopping 115 runs in their combined 11 overs.But Faisalabad gave the daunting chase a right go, thanks largely to a 43-ball 87 from Sohaib Maqsood, even as the top order fell cheaply around him. By the time he was dismissed, he had contributed 87 to Faisalabad’s score of 108, but 86 were still required off a mere seven overss, the balance firmly in favour of the hosts. But sensational hitting from Khurram Manzoor – who finished with an unbeaten 52 off 25 – and Ashraf helped Faisalabad sneak home with a ball to spare and strengthen their hold on a semi-final position.

Ishant Sharma ‘s early blows triggered the South African collapse in the first innings © AFP

Scorecard
Weighed down by a mountain of runs, South Africa A crumbled against two spinners of different varieties and a lively young seamer to give India A an innings victory at the Feroz Shah Kotla. A rejuvenated Ishant Sharma got the breakthroughs early in the day but it was left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, with eight wickets, and legspinner Amit Mishra who stifled the tourists and forced the win inside three days.Sharma, who overstepped a fair deal on day two, was far better in his six-over spell this morning. Having sorted out his no-ball issues, Sharma struck a good line and got into fast-bowling rhythm. Crucially, he was able to extract reverse-swing from a fairly dormant surface. Morne van Wyk, whose 67 was the highest contribution by some distance, was suckered into a tame drive outside the off stump and was well caught at first slip. The ball flew high to Mohammad Kaif, who had little time to react but dived to his right and intercepted as it veered towards second slip.Sharma then removed Ashwell Prince with one that was fuller and shaped away after pitching. Prince initially came forward but then stood his ground, pushing ever so slightly and nicking into Parthiv Patel’s hands. Sharma’s discipline on the day paid off and India were right into it.134 for 4 became 145 for 9 as South Africa collapsed against the spinners. Mishra only bowled two overs on the second day but in the four he got in the morning, he was spot on. Boeta Dippenaar missed a googly and was taken off the inside-edge by Cheteshwar Pujara at short leg. Pujara failed to hold onto a tougher chance as Thami Tsolekile swept hard two balls later, but Mishra had his man just after. He tossed it up a touch more, held it back in the air just a second, and Tsolekile was beaten only to push it to Aakash Chopra at silly point. In between two strikes from Ojha, Mishra dived full stretch to his right to pluck an on-drive from Rory Kleinveldt. Three wickets for eight runs.Ojha defeated Justin Ontong in the flight as well to hold onto a return catch and bowled last-man Friedel de Wet as he slogged across the line.The follow-on was enforced and South Africa were in a similar predicament. Pankaj Singh had Werner Coetsee leg before for just six, though the ball may have pitched outside the line of off. Five minutes before lunch Ojha got van Wyk with one that spun away, the batsman playing forward then trying to withdraw only to for Patel to pick up a smart catch.From 28 for 2 at the interval, there were a few further dents in the South African innings before it was stabilized by Prince. It was Ojha again, bowling Hashim Amla with one that stayed low and came on faster, and using the flight to lure Boeta Dippenaar into chipping to cover. Ashraf Makda dropped a sitter at mid-off from Alviro Peterson, with the score 45 for 3, but it only cost one run. Peterson played down the wrong line to Sharma and was adjudged leg before for 6. Pankaj Singh then came back and on the stroke of tea removed Prince, fishing at a wide one off the back foot and finding Kaif at second slip.Ontong and Tsolekile pushed back the inevitable with a 66-run seventh-wicket stand but Ontong (35 from 88 balls) edged an attempted lofted on-drive to Kaif at second slip to give Ojha his fourth wicket. The fifth came as Kleinvedlt cut into Kaif’s hands at slip but Tsolelike raced to a half-century with a flurry of fours and sixes. With less than two stipulated overs to play, de Wet heaved Mishra to midwicket and South Africa fell to 198 for 9. The umpires consulted and agreed to extend play and Mishra needed just two deliveries to wrap up a comprehensive victory.Where three of India’s batsmen managed centuries – two of them doubles – there were but two half-centuries from South Africa. The teams now head to scenic Dharamshala for the last of the four-day fixtures before the one-dayers start. India will look to wrap up the series, while the visitors would hope the change in altitude brings some much-needed oomph.

Roger Wijesuriya, the former Sri Lanka cricketer and national selector, has been appointed coach of Sri Lanka’s Under-19 team for a three-year period commencing November 1.Reacting to the decision, Wijesuriya, who has proved himself to be a successful coach at the school level, said: “I consider this appointment as a stepping stone towards becoming coach of the senior national team one day.”Wijesuriya has 14 years’ coaching experience of schools – he has trained St Benedict’s, St Peter’s (twice) and Royal, and has guided teams to the school championship title on six occasions. He also coached CCC to honours in 1995-96 when they won the division I title under Jerome Jayaratne.Wijesuriya, 46, played in four Tests and eight ODIs for his country in the 1980s as a left-arm spinner. After his retirement he served as a national selector for three years, and as member of the tournament and coaching committees of Sri Lanka Cricket. As a player, Wijesuriya was less than impressive, picking up one wicket in four Tests at 297, and needing an average of 97 overs to get a wicket. But as an U-19 player himself, Wijesuriya did better, getting 25 wickets in a series against Pakistan.”I think it was my school experience that got me the job. I consider it a challenge,” said Wijesuriya who beat former Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Romesh Kaluwitharana and former Josephian cricketer Harsha de Silva to the job.

Andrew Flintoff has said in his autobiography that Sourav Ganguly wasn’t easy to work with © Getty Images

Andrew Flintoff, the England allrounder, has said that he thought it was hard to work with Sourav Ganguly, the India captain, and terms him an awkward character.In an extract from Being Freddie, his autobiography published this week, Flintoff spoke of when Ganguly was his Lancashire team-mate in 2000. “Ganguly just didn’t work out at all,” he wrote. “You can accept a player not playing well, because we all have our ups and downs in our career, but he just didn’t want to get involved.”He wasn’t interested in the other players and it became a situation where it was 10 players and Ganguly in the team. He turned up as if he was royalty – it was like having Prince Charles on your side. There were rumours he was asking people to carry his coffin for him, although he never asked me.”I’ve been out for dinner with him [Ganguly] since that season a couple of times on England duty, the most notable time being that winter in Kenya for the ICC Trophy,” Flintoff continued. “We went out to a little curry house he had found and saw the umpire Venkatraghavan sitting over the other side of the room. Straight away he got up and went over to talk to him for 20 minutes while I sat like a spare part eating my curry on my own. We say hello to each other now and we are pleasant to each other, but it doesn’t go any further than that. I don’t dislike the bloke, but it’s a struggle with him.”

In possibly its finest hour on the international cricket stage, the United States of America defeated a full official West Indies side on its home ground, in a single day by nine wickets in a two-innings international match.The place: Bourda, Guyana. The date: January 5, 1888.The US tour was intended as a response to the highly successful tour of Canada and the US by the West Indies in 1886. In their first international tour to North America, the West Indies had recorded 12 wins (two of them by an innings and 100-plus runs) against only 2 losses. The US decided to return the favor.The US team was one of the most representative sides to have played overseas, before or since 1888. Captained by C. L. Bixby of Longwood CC (Boston), the team contained players born in, and hailing from, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and the South.The West Indies team was one of the best that could have been assembled in the Caribbean at the time. It was captained by E. F. Wright of Guyana, who had played under W. G. Grace against the Australians and had also scored the first century – 123 – in Caribbean inter-island cricket for Guyana against Trinidad in 1882. There were three others from Guyana, three from Trinidad, three from Barbados, one each from Grenada and St. Vincent; several had first-class English (i.e. County) credentials. The most significant omission was John Lees of Jamaica, the former Cambridge and Sussex player who had the highest batting average on the 1886 West Indies tour of Canada and the US. The Jamaicans had decided Bourda was too far to travel to.The US team had played five matches in the West Indies before January 5. They had won against Barbados, lost to Trinidad, and drawn with St. Kitts and Grenada. Their fifth match against Guyana, on the very same grounds where they were to play the full West Indies side, had been an unmitigated disaster. The US had lost by an innings and 25 runs. And W. A. Harrison, who had taken 7 wickets for 2 runs in 11 overs for Guyana in the US first innings, was now in the full West Indies side.The US need not have worried. They had their own secret weapons.In 18 incredible overs, 13 of which were maidens, S. M. Wain and C. Coates of the US dismissed the West Indies for 19 runs, their lowest score ever in international cricket (for the record, the second-lowest score for the West Indies in international cricket is 26 all out against Ireland by the Clive Lloyd-led team in the 1970s, during an otherwise successful tour of England). Not a single West Indies batsman scored over 4 runs. In less than an hour, the West Indies first innings was over. (Wain was to die in the cross-fire of a blazing Wyoming gunfight in 1889, but that’s another story.)When the US team came in to bat, they had to face Harrison again. But Charles Palmer of Young America CC and wicketkeeper W. C. Morgan (Germantown CC) held up the middle of the innings, and Morgan in fact was not out at the end. The US had scored 64, surviving Harrison’s 5 for 19 in 28 overs.The West Indies had scored 100-plus runs in almost every innings on tour in 1886, and here they were on home ground. Indeed, Robinson (Trinidad) and Skeete (Barbados), the West Indies openers, looked all set for a big score. Then Charles Palmer, the sheet anchor of the US first innings, struck with a dazzling bowling performance; 12.3 overs , 9 maidens, 7 wickets for 10 runs. The West Indies folded and collapsed for 55.The US needed only 11 to win. They did it in five overs, for the loss of one wicket. The US had achieved its nine-wicket victory in a single day.There are no records of other tours from the West Indies to North America after 1886; certainly, no official US side has played the full West Indies national team since that time. The very idea would sound amusing to modern cricketers. Yet it did happen – over 100 years ago. Perhaps – who knows? – it could happen againThis article was originally published in 1994 in Cricketer International’s NorthAmerican EditionContributed by Deb K. Das

Somerset enjoyed some success on the opening day of their championship match against Durham at Taunton thanks to a fine bowling display by Richard Johnson, and a welcome return to form by Marcus Trescothick. But then lost the initiative as the visitors grabbed quick wickets.By the close the Cidermen had scored 126 for 5 wickets in reply to Durham’s first innings total of 185.After winning the toss the visitors chose to bat first and by lunchtime had slipped to 107 for 5 wickets, with Johnson taking 4 for 39 from his 10 overs, all of which were bowled from the Old Pavilion End.The first wicket to fall was Michael Gough who played and missed several times before with the score on 24 he edged the ball to wicket keeper Rob Turner. Johnson then accounted for Nicky Peng LBW, before relying on Turner to take catches to account for last two victims.Five overs after the break it was Johnson who struck again for the Cidermen when he bowled Andrew Pratt for 23 as the left hander offered no stroke.Bowling from the River End Aaron Laraman sent down several deliveries outside the off stump before Nick Philips edged one to Trescothick who was fielding at first slip.Nixon McLean returned at the Old Pavilion End as the visitors brough up the 150, and was unlucky to see Trescothick put down Jon Lewis when the batsman was on 65.Seven overs later Turner made amends when he dived low to his right to get his glove underneath a hard chance off Simon Francis after the Durham skipper had made 78.Francis claimed the last two wickets to fall when Neil Killeen spooned a simple catch to Laraman at mid off, and then in the same over Steve Harmison gave James Bryant a straightforward catch at point and Durham were all out for 185.Johnson was the pick of the Somerset bowlers and ended with the impressive figures of 16 overs, 1 maiden 5 wickets for 64.When the Somerset reply started after an early tea, Trescothick quickly got into his stride and dispatched Indian test bowler Javagal Srinath for consecutive boundaries, and then a couple of overs later the England man smashed a short delivery from the same bowler to mid wicket.Harmison changed to the Old Pavilion End to replace Srinath, but he was dealt with in the same harsh way by Trescothick. The left hander was now in his stride and hit a trio of boundaries off the next over from Killeen before bringing up his half century off Harmison.Trescothick moved onto 60 before he hit a long hop from Vince Wells to Philips just in front of the square leg umpire.With the departure of Trescothick the Somerset scoring rate slowed down and just after the 100 came up two wickets tumbled in quick succession. Bowler was caught at fine leg by Srinath off Killeen for 25, and shortly afterwards Jamie Cox was LBW off Srinath without scoring.Burns and Bryant survived several torrid overs from Srinath, but eventually the return of Wells at the River End brought two more wickets as Burns was dismissed LBW followed next ball by night watchman Francis, to promise another enthralling day at the County Ground tomorrow.After the close of play Kevin Shine told me: "It’s certainly been a very interesting day’s play with that number of wickets falling here and we unfortunately we lost some of the momentum there at the end."He continued: "Our bowling attack was first class, Richard Johnson was excellent, and Nixon McLean bowled without much luck, but now we have to produce a batting perfomance to match it. Durham bowled a different line and length and to be fair it was a good performance by them at the end."Looking forward to tomorrow he said: "What we need in the morning is for our middle order to graft and get a lead of 50 or 60 runs, which we can achiev with the depth of batting that we have in the team."The five wicket hero Richard Johnson told me: "After all the hard work that I have done in the winter of course I was pleased with five wickets today, but I have bowled better and not been rewarded so well. I’m still just short of my best, and there is still more to come."

Shivnarine Chanderpaul guided West Indies out of a crisis to enable the tourists to go 2-0 up in the three-match One-Day International series in Kenya.He cracked an unbeaten 87 to lead his side to a six-wicket win after Kenya had set the West Indies a winning target of 193. Carl Hooper’s side reached that mark with four overs remaining.When Chanderpaul came to the crease the West Indies were 17 for three. Martin Suji, a 30-year-old medium-fast bowler, had dismissed Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga and Wavell Hinds to finish with the figures of three for 23.But he lacked any support from the rest of the bowling attack and Chanderpaul soon started to take control. He and Marlon Samuels took the score to 108 before Collins Otieno bowled Samuels for 46.Hooper then combined with Chanderpaul for a match-winning 85-runpartnership and finished unbeaten on 33.Earlier the Kenyans had rallied from 101 for eight to 192 all out, with James Kamande hitting an undefeated 32 and number 11 batsman Peter Ochieng scoring 36 before they were dismissed with five balls left. Reon King took four for 32 for the West Indies.