Reports have suggested West Ham could be eyeing up a bargain deal for Mexico’s Hector Herrera, and the Hammers should absolutely pull the trigger.

What’s the story?

According to Portuguese outlet Correio da Manhã (via Sport Witness), Porto’s Herrera could be on the move this summer, with Arsenal, Everton and West Ham all “showing signs” of interest in the Mexican midfielder.

The 28 year-old has drawn interest from La Liga side Real Betis, but the report claims he would rather stay at Porto than move there, and the Portuguese champions are demanding just €15m (about £13.3m) for a move to a big club.

The bargain price is down to the fact that he has just 12 months left on his contract, and popular Hammers insider ExWHUEmployee has confirmed the interest in the midfielder, claiming Herrera is very close friends with Javier Hernandez.

It will be difficult to ward off the interest from Everton and particularly Arsenal, but if Manuel Pellegrini can convince Herrera to come to East London he could completely transform the Hammers.

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Signing of the summer?

Whether it be Felipe Anderson, Joaquin Correa or any of the other hundred attacking stars that have been linked with West Ham this summer, Pellegrini looks certain to bring in a creative midfielder.

Signing Herrera would bring a whole different element to the London Stadium though, as the feisty Mexican international would add bags of energy, leadership, fight and some excellent link up play to the Hammers’ midfield.

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The 28 year-old was an integral cog in Porto’s league winning campaign, averaging 2.8 tackles, 1.6 interceptions, 1.4 key passes and 1.1 dribbles per game last season, all while boasting an 85 per cent pass success rate.

Valued at £18m by Transfermarkt, the 66-cap star can do a little bit of everything, and his one weakness is an occasional lack of discipline, but as long as it doesn’t cost his team fans will love to see him clattering into rival midfielders all season.

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Herrera has been excellent thus far at the World Cup, and if he could carry that form into the Premier League he would be the bargain of the summer for around £13m.

So, West Ham fans, would you like to see a summer swoop for Herrera? Can you beat Arsenal and Everton to his signature? Let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll below…

Jack Grealish has been heavily linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur in this window, and now the fans think that it is only a matter of time before he is unveiled by the club.

The Aston Villa midfielder attracted attention in the Championship last season as he scored three goals and created six assists in 31 appearances in all competitions.

After the Midlands outfit lost to Fulham in the playoff final, attention swiftly turned to Grealish’s future.

Who do you think will win the World Cup? Let us know here and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.

On June 20, The Sun reported that Liverpool had entered the race to sign the midfielder.

The publication also stated that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy had been trying to strike a £20m deal, which is half of cash-strapped Villa’s valuation.

Grealish has remained quiet on the subject, but he sent some Tottenham fans into a frenzy when he posted a cryptic tweet on Tuesday morning.

Some Villa fans concluded from the post that the 22-year-old is on his way out of the club, while Spurs supporters think that North London will be his destination.

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Trevor Bayliss, the Sri Lanka coach, has said that setting India a target of “150 on a wearing wicket” was probably the best his team could hope for at this stage

Cricinfo staff04-Dec-2009Trevor Bayliss, the Sri Lanka coach, has said that setting India a target of “150 on a wearing wicket” was probably the best his team could hope for at this stage, after the hosts took a 333-run first innings lead on the third day in Mumbai.”From a win point of view, it just doesn’t look right at the moment but, on day one when there was a bit in the track, we made 366 for 8 having lost a few wickets in the middle,” Bayliss said. “If our top-order batters can get us off to a good start and bat for a long time there is no reason why we can’t score 400 in a day tomorrow. It needs some very hard work and the players I am sure are capable of doing it. Who knows what the wicket will be like on day five?”Sri Lanka had to bat out three overs after India’s declaration on 726 for 9 and they reached 11 for no loss at stumps. Bayliss said the team was looking to their “three big players” and hoped for solid contributions from Nos. 3, 4, and 5 – the out-of-form Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera.Bayliss, however, said that he was happy the way Sri Lanka fought back today to capture eight Indian wickets, in a manner similar to the second Test in Kanpur. “I was very happy with the boys – the same as the second Test when we faced 417 for 2 and we came back the next day, taking 225 for 8. It would have been quite easy to have gone for a lot more runs than we did, but we stuck to it and showed a bit of fight and character. We were just up against unbelievable batting from [Virender] Sehwag.””The guys tried most things, different fields, bowling different sides of the wicket but [no matter] where they put the ball he [Sehwag] was skillful enough to put it away into the gaps. It was one of those days you needed 20 fielders out there.”Muttiah Muralitharan, who had gone wicketless and taking a hiding on the second day, made a comeback of sorts on day three. He dismissed Sehwag early and went on to take three more wickets, finishing with 195 for 4. “Murali is very philosophical about things. During his career this is not the first time it’s happened to him,” Bayliss said. “For a guy who has taken so many wickets it has not happened to him very often. He realises that’s what happens in Test cricket on good wickets against very good players. Today Murali got four wickets and showed that he is still able to take wickets at this level.”After a day on which an edge from Rahul Dravid and a close lbw shout against Sachin Tendulkar were both given not out, Bayliss said he did not know why the umpire review system was not being used in this series. Tillakaratne Dilshan, too, was erroneously given out bat-pad in the first innings soon after reaching his century.”The question that’s got to be asked is, why the referral system is being used in every other series barring this one, when the ICC said that it should be used after October 1,” Bayliss said. “No one’s explained to us yet why it’s not being used when it’s being used everywhere else in the world. If Dilshan was able to go and make a big score in the first innings, things might have been a bit different.”

Glamorgan extended the leadership team of captain Jamie Dalrymple and coach Matthew Maynard, handing them two-year contracts which will keep them at the club until the end of 2011.

Cricinfo staff07-Dec-2009Glamorgan extended the leadership team of captain Jamie Dalrymple and coach Matthew Maynard, giving them two-year contracts which will keep them at the club until the end of 2011.Glamorgan had an improved season in 2009, finishing fifth in Division Two of the Championship. Their two wins, two defeats and 12 draws was welcome progress after a difficult season in 2008 when they finished second from bottom, losing five matches.Maynard, who was England’s batting coach between 2004 and 2007, returned to his former county Glamorgan as head coach in 2008 and despite a challenging first season in charge is confident that the club is improving.”We made headway last summer and I am delighted that Jamie Dalrymple will continue his role of club captain. Jamie is a tremendous leader and will undoubtedly play a key role in helping us achieve our goals next summer.”Dalrymple, who took the captaincy reins at the beginning of the season, also feels the side is moving in the right direction. “Last season showed that we have become more difficult to beat in four-day cricket and from a poor start, our performances in one-day cricket improved. We still have some way to go, but I am confident that we now have the right team in place to help us reach our goals next year.”

South Africa will not lay an official complaint over England’s treatment of the ball during the third day’s play at Cape Town

Andrew McGlashan in Cape Town05-Jan-2010South Africa will not make an official complaint over England’s treatment of the ball during the third day’s play at Cape Town and the ICC will not take any further action. The hosts “raised concerns” with ICC match referee Roshan Mahanama on Tuesday evening following TV footage that showed Stuart Broad standing on the ball as he fielded it in his followthrough.A South Africa team spokesman said that the matter was now in the hands of Mahanama and an ICC statement confirmed, after the umpires viewed TV footage, that the matter was closed. South Africa had until the start of play on the fourth day to raise the issue as an official complaint, which would have forced Mahanama to launch an investigation.”The International Cricket Council confirms that it has received no official lodgment from South Africa team management laying a charge against any England player following reports of alleged breaches of Law 42.3 (changing the condition of the ball) on day three of the third Test between the two teams in Cape Town,” the statement read.”With play on day four of the match having resumed, the deadline for submission of such notification has now passed. In addition, having reviewed relevant television footage, the umpires decided not to bring a charge against any player for a breach of Law 42.3. As such, the ICC now considers this specific matter to be closed. “The incident which sparked the controversy occurred in the 15th over of South Africa’s innings when Broad fielded a defensive shot from Hashim Amla by stopping the ball with his boot. Then the TV pictures appeared to show Broad applying pressure with the studs. James Anderson was also believed to have been part of the concerns raised by the home side.”There have been several queries from the media about various video footage shown today, and certain allegations being made about the ball,” the South Africa spokesman said on Tuesday evening. “We have raised our concerns with the match referee about it and we’ve left it to him to decide if any further action or investigation is necessary.”However, the England coach Andy Flower said he wasn’t aware of South Africa’s issues. “The umpires or match referee haven’t said anything to us about that,” he said. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it so I can’t really comment.”When asked about the specific incident of Broad stepping on the ball, Flower said: “I think over the years we have seen a lot of tall fast bowlers stop balls with their feet so I don’t see anything sinister in it all.”When play resumed after lunch on the third day the umpires, Daryl Harper and Tony Hill, appeared to have a word with Andrew Strauss, but Flower said he was unaware of any conversation. “It could be all manner of things and I’m not aware of anything. I think it would be wrong to speculate about what they were talking about before we actually know.”England have managed to reverse-swing the ball throughout the series, with the most dramatic spell coming on the fourth afternoon at Durban where South Africa fell to 50 for 6, and Flower was adamant it was all down to the bowler’s skill. “Without a doubt, I thought they were very skilful in the way they reverse-swung the ball,” he said. “We did it a bit at Centurion as well, I think both sides know how to get the ball to reverse-swing and then use it. It’s a very well documented skill.”This isn’t the first time that Broad has been at the centre of controversy during this series. On the third day of the first Test at Centurion he approached the on-field umpires to complain about the length of time South Africa took to ask for a review.He escaped any censure on that occasion but Broad’s on-field behaviour has come into focus of late. Sunil Gavaskar claimed in his newspaper column that he avoids punishment because his father, Chris, is an ICC match referee.

Day-night Test cricket could still be “several years” away, according to the head of the Kookaburra company, who believes a red ball is the only one that can last 80 overs

Cricinfo staff31-Jan-2010Day-night Test cricket could still be “several years” away, according to the head of the Kookaburra company, who believes a red ball is the only one that can last 80 overs. Cricket Australia have asked Kookaburra to deliver a ball that can be used for Test cricket under lights and a pink ball is being trialled over the next week in Futures League matches.The ICC and Cricket Australia are keen to hold day-night Tests as soon as possible but Rob Elliot, Kookaburra’s managing director, said the time-frame could be longer than the authorities wished. He said the main problem was trying to replicate the way a red ball wears over a day’s play.”I know CA are hoping it might be a couple of years, but in all honesty it could be several years,” Elliot told the . “We’ll be doing some trials, but it’s a bit open-ended. If we have to make some further changes, we’ll have to go through the process again and so it will go on until we can give the administrators something that they can live with.”I don’t believe any ball [other than red] has got 80 overs in it. It’s up to administrators to decide what they constitute as being acceptable and what’s not acceptable. It’s going to cost a lot of money and it has already cost a lot of money. I don’t think it’s going to be solved overnight.”The problem with a red ball is its visibility at night. Elliot suggested that one option could be to use two pink balls, one from each end, meaning that by the 80-over mark each ball would only have 40 overs of wear and tear.During the 1990s, yellow and orange balls were tested in Sheffield Shield games and Simon Katich last week said that when he faced the orange ball he felt it performed like a red ball. However, Elliot said the problem with the orange ball was that on television it appeared to develop a “comet-like tail that flared and sometimes got lost in the background”.A Futures League match between South Australia and Western Australia at Adelaide Oval starting on Tuesday will feature pink balls and play will run from 2.30pm to 9.30pm. In the same round of matches, a pink ball will be used in Brisbane for a day game and a white ball will be tested in Melbourne, also for a day game.

Kings XI Punjab ahead of the third season of the IPL is a long injury list, but they will be relieved that Yuvraj Singh is on track to play the first match

Siddarth Ravindran01-Mar-2010One of the major concerns for Kings XI Punjab ahead of the third season of the IPL is a long injury list, but they will be relieved that Yuvraj Singh, one of their most important players, is likely to be fit in time for the first game against Delhi Daredevils.Yuvraj tore a ligament in his left wrist in late January and missed the second Test against Bangladesh and the entire series against South Africa that ended two days ago. He had been to Australia last week for treatment and is now looking forward to resuming batting. “I will start batting in three days,” he told Cricinfo. “It’s been five weeks (since the injury), so yes, I should be good for the first game.”Punjab were one of the best teams in the inaugural IPL, cruising into the semi-finals, but had a tough time in the second season, affected by the injuries to fast bowlers Sreesanth and Jerome Taylor, and the unavailability of Australian players for much of the competition.Yuvraj has targeted at least a semi-final spot this year, and believes one of the keys to a strong performance will be having the entire squad fit and available for the tournament. “We had a good first year, made the semi-finals easily when we had our full bench of players,” he said. “So if we have our full bench of players not injured, we have a good chance of going through to the semi-finals.”They have several important players struggling for fitness, though. Australian batsman Shaun Marsh, their standout performer in the first IPL season, became the latest worry after he was ruled out of the upcoming one-day internationals against New Zealand due to a back problem.Their most expensive overseas player, fast bowler Brett Lee, is also beset with fitness problems. (However, IPL chairman Lalit Modi said in his Twitter page that Lee is arriving in India tomorrow). Lee is recovering from a painful elbow surgery that ruled him out of the entire Australian home summer campaign, and said a couple of weeks ago that he might never bowl again. He has only played two matches since spearheading New South Wales’ march to the Champions League title last October.”We have a few injuries but we still have a bit of time to get fit for the first game,” Yuvraj said. Besides fitness issues, the lack of quality Indian batting back-up for Yuvraj is another of Punjab’s drawbacks, which makes it vital that allrounder Irfan Pathan recovers from the back injury that has kept him out of the preliminary squad of the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.

Mitchell Johnson is putting the lessons learned from his difficult tour of England last year to use in New Zealand

Cricinfo staff13-Mar-2010Mitchell Johnson is putting the lessons learned from his difficult tour of England last year to use in New Zealand. Johnson’s bowling potency disappeared during the Ashes and he was targeted by the crowds, an experience which has helped significantly after his bump of heads with Scott Styris.Johnson has been the leading wicket-taker in the current one-day series, showing he can cope with the extra attention caused by the crowds. After the first game in Napier Johnson was fined 60% of his match fee for the clash with Styris and he has since kissed his badge before bowling and kept smiling.”There’s obviously backlash but it doesn’t bother me at all,” Johnson said in the Sydney Morning Herald. ”I copped a fair bit over in England last year and I learnt a lot from that. To be copping it again doesn’t really get to me at all.”The important thing is how you deal with it mentally and I think I’m dealing with it pretty well. As long as their supporters understand when there’s good cricket being played and they support that, it’s all good. The banter out there is fine.”One thing that does concern Johnson is the labelling of his run-in with Styris as a “head-butt”. ”It was just me and him coming together and there was accidental contact,” he said. ”The only thing I’m quite annoyed about is that it has been classed as a head-butt. I’m not that silly. I’m not going to head-butt someone who has a helmet on.”However, he was happy that Brad Haddin ran in and pulled him away from the exchange. ”He pushed me out of the road,” he said. “But look, I know that physical contact in a sport like cricket isn’t on. I did cross the line just slightly, I can put my hand up and say that.”

Habibul Bashar, the former captain of the Bangladesh team, today announced his retirement from all forms of cricket

Cricinfo staff22-Mar-2010Habibul Bashar, the former Bangladesh captain, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.”It has been a terrific journey for me and after two decades of international, first class and cub cricket I feel I have reached the end of the road. The Port City League (PCL) T20 in Sharjah next week will be my last competition as a player,” Bashar wrote in his letter to the Bangladesh Cricket Board.”I thank the BCB for giving me the honour of captaining Bangladesh and for the support throughout my career,” Bashar wrote. “I will cherish the memories of my time in the Bangladesh dressing room and my heartfelt gratitude goes out to all the players, coaches, team officials and staff I have had the privilege of knowing and working with.”As I bid bye I also feel excitement at the way the Bangladesh cricket team is progressing. I wish them every success.”Bashar played fifty Tests for Bangladesh, including their inaugural Test in 2000. He went on to lead the side in 18 Tests, including one victory and four draws. His most memorable moments as captain came in 2005 when Bangladesh stunned Australia in an ODI in Cardiff, and in the 2007 World Cup where his side relegated India to enter the Super Eights.As a batsman, Bashar massively under-achieved for a man of his talent, often succumbing to a propensity to hook, and finished with a Test average of 30.87. He was dropped from the national side after a protracted run of poor form and headed to the ICL in 2008, where he captained the Dhaka Warriors.The BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal led the tributes in praise of Bashar. “We are indebted to this fantastic cricketer who had instilled belief in the players and inspired them to perform.”Under his able leadership Bangladesh had tasted the first Test victory and had progressed to the Super Eight stages of the 2007 Cricket World Cup. With his batting he showed others the way to dominate and score at international level. We hope that he will continue to be associated with Bangladesh cricket after his retirement,” he said.

The IPL has been caught in a controversy over details of the ownership structure of the Kochi franchise being made public by Lalit Modi, the league chairman

Cricinfo staff12-Apr-2010The IPL has been caught in a controversy over details of the ownership structure of the Kochi franchise being made public by Lalit Modi, the league chairman. The franchise owners, who bought the team last month, are believed to feel this is a breach of faith and have reportedly taken up the issue with the Indian board which, Cricinfo has learnt, is also unhappy with the situation.Modi has denied any breach of confidentiality. “All team owners of the IPL have been revealed in the past,” he told . “I don’t think there is anything to hide in it. We’re a public body.” Asked whether the BCCI had been in touch with him on this, he said, “That’s an internal matter – I don’t want to reveal what we discussed at the board level.”The ownership details were posted by Modi on his Twitter feed on Sunday afternoon, in response to questions from the public. According to his posts, the Kochi consortium break-up is: Rendezvous Sports 1%, Anchor 27%, Parinee [Developers] 26%, Film Waves Combine 12%, Anand Shyam 8%, Vivek Venugopal 1% with Rendezvous having an additional 25% free equity. That equity is held by Kisan, Shailender and Pushpa Gaikwad, Sunanda Pushkar, Puja Gulathi, Jayant Kotalwar, Vishnu Prasad, Sundip Agarwal.In his Tweets Modi has also posed questions about the Kochi stake-holders. “Who are the shareholders of Rendezvous. And why have they been given this 100’s of million dollars bonanza?”, read one tweet. Another read: “25% of Kochi team is given free to Rendezvous sports for life. The same equity is non-dilutable in perpetuity.What does that mean?”Modi’s revelations have clearly hurt the owners of Kochi. “It was not expected from a body like the IPL,” a senior member of the consortium told Cricinfo. “The documents are very clear that information submitted is confidential and cannot be revealed by either side.”The franchise now wants the IPL to reveal the ownership details of the nine other franchises. “What we are trying to say is the documents we have submitted to him are supposed to be kept confidential. But if he is letting out the information on our consortium then we would like to be informed of the details of all the owners of the IPL teams, including the individual shareholders, as he has done for us,” the source said.This is not the first time Rendezvous Sports World Private Limited, which bagged the ownership of the Kochi franchise last month for a bid of US$ 333.33 million, have run into trouble with the IPL. Last week they were asked to list the names of all the owners after the IPL found out that there were a few “secret partners” in the consortium. Consequently a reviewed agreement was signed by both the parties in Bangalore on Saturday night – and it was in this context that questions were put to Modi by the public on Twitter seeking the details.The Kochi consortium has worked hard over the past month to dispel the notion that they are a disparate team of individuals; they had worked on the plan for the last six months before deciding to make the move. The seriousness of their intentions can be gauged from the fact that no one backed out of the deal despite the original tender process being cancelled and rescheduled from March 7 to 21. The face of the bid the first time around was the Jaypee Group, but two weeks later Jaypee decided to opt out, forcing the other partners to re-organise things.