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The Leeds United era of Andrea Radrizzani and Victor Orta has been one plagued with transfer mistakes left, right and centre.

Of course, there have been success stories too, namely in the likes of Patrick Bamford, Raphinha and Jack Harrison.

However, too often there has been an instance where a player like Jay-Roy Grot, Pawel Cibicki or Vurnon Anita have come along.

Most recently, the acquisition of Rodrigo has also somewhat backfired on them. Currently the club’s record signing, he only has 11 goals in 53 outings to show for his enormous £26m fee.

It was an eye-catching signing at the time but had Leeds secured one piece of business back in 2019, they wouldn’t have had any need for the Spanish attacker.

Numerous bits of business continue to haunt Orta at Elland Road but their decision not to sign Erling Haaland has to go down as a blunder.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course, but they will be ruing both their lack of finances and Championship status for a failed move.

The son of Alf-Inge Haaland, Erling was born in the city of Leeds and is a famed supporter of the Yorkshire club.

With that in mind,  the Norwegian was essentially gift-wrapped and tailor-made for the Whites. Instead, they ignored his £4m asking price and he eventually signed for RB Salzburg.

Speaking previously about the situation, reporter Phil Hay commented: “Leeds had a go at Haaland but he wouldn’t have been instead of Bamford.”

But how and why did their interest come about? Agent Hayden Evans has the story.

“We spoke to Victor [Orta] and said, ‘Look, I can bring Erling to Leeds and the rest will be over to you’. The best proof you can have [that a player wants to join] is to physically bring a player into the club, so we said we can do that.

“We brought Alfie and Erling over to stay at Oulton Hall, which had been like a second home for Alfie when he first came to Leeds. We got them in, we’re talking about Leeds United, took him to meet Victor, [and] Victor already had the Leeds United shirt already made up with ‘Haaland’ on the back.”

Evans concluded: “Victor being Victor thought there’s a way around this – he would contact Juventus because he knew the guys there and do a deal with them where he would be loaned back to Leeds, developed at Leeds United, with an option [to buy] him and all that, but it never quite worked.”

The youngster was not a household name by any means at the time but since a move to Leeds fell through and he went to Austria in a £7.2m move, he has become nothing short of a sensation.

Haaland bagged 29 goals in 27 outings for Salzburg before swiftly moving to Borussia Dortmund a year later.

His record in Germany has been equally as impressive registering 80 strikes and 21 assists in just 79 appearances. As a result, the 21-year-old’s market value continues to soar and according to Transfermarkt, he is now rated at a mind-blowing £135m.

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It’s no surprise, therefore, that he was dubbed a “goal-scoring cyborg” by reporter Alex Truica and as a “one-man wrecking ball” by Gregor Robertson.

His languid but powerful play style is one of the most unique in the game, combining raw speed with a frightening leap and devastating finishing ability to become one of the best centre-forwards in world football.

Consequently, if Haaland was now in the Leeds ranks, they may well be staring at a scenario where they aren’t fighting relegation.

Instead, they will be made to rue an unfortunate call three years ago as they struggle near the foot of the division.

AND in other news, Released by Bielsa, already has 12 G/A: Leeds machine is shining away from Elland Road…

	Has Shane Bond played his last match for New Zealand? © Getty Images

Shane Bond has been included in Canterbury’s domestic Twenty20 squad, but his playing hinges on whether he decides to annul his three-year contract with the Indian Cricket League.Bond is in talks with New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive, Justin Vaughan, who is making a last-ditch effort to convince Bond to terminate his contract with the ICL. But if Bond fulfills his contract with the rebel league, it could effectively end his six-year international career and delay his return to domestic cricket, as he will only be able to play [on a match-by-match basis] once his contract with the national squad expires in May. However, Bond has been cleared to play while the talks between his legal team and New Zealand Cricket are continuing.”Shane has been passed fit and we want him to play. He is, of course, a welcome addition to our squad,” Canterbury coach Dave Nosworthy told the , a Christchurch-based daily. He said Bond was included on the advice of Warren Frost, the New Zealand board’s sport science medical coordinator, who laid emphasis on how the fast bowler acquitted himself in a club match.Bond looked to have recuperated from an abdominal muscle strain picked up during New Zealand’s tour of South Africa, as he bowled eight overs without taking a wicket and scored 45 for his club team, Old Boys-Collegians.The board hasn’t taken an official stance on players who have signed on with the ICL, but had advised the national selectors to look beyond Hamish Marshall and Daryl Tuffey, two ICL-recruits who are still on the international radar.

Charlotte Edwards is not complacent: ‘Women’s cricket is really looking good today. All the top four teams are very strong and on a day each can beat the other’ © Getty Images

Thirush Kamini is a commerce student at the Church Park school near Thousand Lights mosque in Chennai. She is a good student, a very good one, she avers, and has no problem coping with the pressure of balancing studies with, get this, playing international cricket.Part of India’s squad for the quadrangular tournament, Kamini, 16, is a legbreak bowler who debuted for India at the Asia Cup last December and won the player-of-the-tournament award for her eight wickets at 10.87 apiece. She has certainly got the support of her captain, Mithali Raj, who was sure that in Kamini India had a star-in-the-making.At nets, on the eve of India’s opening match against England, she bowled with a round-arm action and tried to the flight the ball pitching it right up to the crease. She had tripped over a practice ball the day before but, typically, dismissed it as nothing serious. Kamini began playing cricket with her father when she was nine years old but soon moved to the Sports and Development Authority of Tamil Nadu for some professional coaching. Playing with boys, for a while, she kept wickets. But by 2002, Kamini had decided that leg spin was the way to go. Though Shane Warne does not feature among her cricketing heroes – she likes Sachin Tendulkar and Karen Rolton – she will hope to get some of his magic when she comes in to bowl at Charlotte Edwards, Claire Taylor, Ebony-Rainford Brent and the other England batsmen.India’s net session went on for three hours with all members of the squad going through the batting and fielding drills before heading off to the swimming pool. England, on the other hand, had a light session late afternoon resting five players from the squad. Edwards, the England captain, said that the side had had two rigorous matches against India A and India B in the last two days so the nets session had been optional. A dilemma that the captain is facing is who should keep wickets in the game against India. Along with Jane Smit, the regular keeper, England have brought Sarah Taylor, a 17-year old wicketkeeper, who has averaged 50.50 in the five matches she has played for England.Asked which team will be the toughest opposition, Edwards said that India, being at home, and Australia, in their current form, are the favourites. “Women’s cricket is really looking good today. All the top four teams are very strong and on a day each can beat the other.”Australia play New Zealand on February 21 at the ITT Chemplast stadium while India take on England at Chepauk.

Damien Martyn returns to the Australian set-up after impressing with Western Australia © Getty Images

Australia’s big three of Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Adam Gilchrist have been rested from the Twenty20 international against South Africa at the Gabba on Monday. Damien Martyn has won a national recall after breaking his finger and missing the Chappell-Hadlee Series while Mike Hussey, who has been a fixture for only a year, was named vice-captain.Trevor Hohns, the chairman of selectors, said he tried to keep the core of the one-day squad together but McGrath, Lee and Gilchrist needed to “freshen up” before the VB Series. McGrath was rested for the tour of New Zealand last month but Gilchrist was forced to tour despite being given time off by the selectors. “Brett, Glenn and Adam have worked particularly hard during the Melbourne and Sydney Tests,” Hohns said, “and we want to manage each of their respective workloads carefully.”Hussey has been a revelation in both Tests and limited-overs matches in the past year and Hohns said the appointment was “a feather in his cap”. “He has done an excellent job in the one-day format,” Hohns said, “and we have every confidence that he has the necessary ingredients to take on this additional responsibility.”Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Mick Lewis and Stuart Clark, who formed the fast-bowling attack that was thrashed for a world-record chase by New Zealand in the third Chappell-Hadlee Series match, have been retained. The match against South Africa is the first international Twenty20 game in Australia.Australia Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, James Hopes, Brad Haddin (wk), Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Mick Lewis, Mitchell Johnson.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary

Hamilton Masakadza’s off stump took a walk, and that about summed up the day for Zimbabwe© AFP

In a dramatic turnaround Bangladesh snaffled ten wickets for just 86 runs as Zimbabwe slipped to 189 all out at Dhaka to lose the fourth one-day international by 58 runs. Bangladesh thus squared the five-match series at 2-2, with the decider to be played at the same ground on Monday.Once again it was left-arm spin that demolished Zimbabwe in sensational style after Stuart Matsikenyeri and Barney Rogers, the openers, had raced to 103 inside 23 overs in pursuit of 248 – a stiff target, especially under lights at the Bangabandhu Stadium. In the Test series, Enamul Haque junior had given Zimbabwe all kinds of trouble, and Mohammad Rafique, who came into the team in place of Enamul here, bowled effectively in tandem with Manjural Islam Rana, another left-arm spinner, to ensure that Zimbabwe’s nightmare was revisited in front of a partisan full house.Manjural followed up his 4 for 34 in the third game at Chittagong with another superb matchwinning four-wicket effort, after Rogers and Matsikenyeri had dismissed the medium-pacers to the fence with regularity. Once Manjural had cut through the top order Rafique got into the act. The rot started when Matsikenyeri, who had looked uncomfortable against spin all along, played close to the line of one from Manjural but was beaten and bowled. Matsikenyeri had been authoritative and had just reached 50.That gave Bangladesh a hint of an opening. Dion Ebrahim, who is going through a horrendous run of form, swept the fifth ball of the same over, and the resultant leading edge carried to square leg where Khaled Mahmud, sprinting in, held onto a sharp tumbling catch (104 for 2).Rafique then trapped Rogers lbw one shy of a well-deserved half-century with one that turned in to the left-hander. Rogers had played some exquisite straight-drives, but fell when well set. Brendan Taylor then offered a tame return catch to Manjural after the ball stopped on him. One ball later, Bangladesh got their most prized wicket: Tatenda Taibu. All tour he has provided Bangladesh with headaches, but he finally failed in this match. He attempted to sweep the second ball he faced, but was rapped on the pad and Asad Rauf gave him out (118 for 5). In 26 balls Zimbabwe had lost five wickets for 15 runs.The innings had turned on its head, and Zimbabwe’s last hopes evaporated when Rafique changed ends and, with his first ball, sent back Elton Chigumbura with a peach that pitched on leg stump and spat on to the off (139 for 6).With Manjural already having completed 10 overs, Rafique made his remaining ones count. After sending back Tinashe Panyangara lbw, he pulled off a one-handed catch, diving to his right, to dismiss Prosper Utseya, and finished with 4 for 33. While the carnage was taking place at the other end, Hamilton Masakadza watched helplessly before running out of patience and losing his leg stump to a full-length ball from Mashrafe Mortaza (169 for 9). The end came soon after.Bangladesh had earlier given themselves a fighting chance thanks to half-centuries from Nafis Iqbal and Khaled Mashud. Useful contributions from Aftab Ahmed and Mohammad Ashraful helped too, taking the score to 247.Bangladesh lost Rajin Saleh on 14 in the sixth over, but Iqbal and Aftab kept Bangladesh on course, putting on 71 for the second wicket. They then almost made a hash of the reasonable start, and were struggling on 161 for 4 at the end of the 40th as the Zimbabwean slow bowlers, Utseya in particular, turned up the heat. But Bangladesh accelerated when it mattered, and collected 86 in the last ten overs.Aftab breezed to a 49-ball 44, looking in no trouble. Then he got out in the only way that looked likely. He went for a second run, taking on the throw of Chigumbura at backward point, but was well short when Taibu took the bails off (85 for 2).

Nafis Iqbal gave the Bangladesh innings backbone© Getty Images

Iqbal then stepped out of his shell and belted Rogers for a straight six to bring up his 50. Soon after, though, he holed out to Matsikenyeri at long-on trying to repeat the shot. Bangladesh lost Bashar to a stupendous piece of stumping. Taibu, standing up to Hondo, took the bails off in a flash after collecting a wide delivery down the leg side. Suddenly, with two new batsmen at the crease, the runs began to dry up.Ashraful and Mashud could add just 29 runs between the 30th and 40th overs, and not a single boundary was scored. Finally, Ashraful cracked the wayward Hondo for two successive fours in the 43rd over. Utseya meanwhile slipped in his full spell, which cost him just 36, and again kept the batsmen guessing.Ashraful’s promising knock ended on 35 when Matsikenyeri caught him at long-on (196 for 5), but Mashud continued to thrive. His half-century came courtesy of a six off Taylor in an eventful over in which three wickets fell. But Manjural was there to give the total a more solid look by blasting 15 off seven balls as 14 came in the last over, which was bowled by Taylor.Rabeed Imam is a sports writer for the Daily Star in Dhaka.

Last season, Nathan Pilon (1,193 runs) and Richard Chee Quee (874 runs) scored more than 2,000 runs between them. Each holds his club’s First Grade season record, and they will meet tomorrow when Chee Quee’s Randwick Petersham hosts Pilon’s St George at Petersham Oval. Both players have tasted success for NSW, and will be looking to once again impress selectors with big scores in Round 4, to be played over the next two Saturdays.Richard Chee Quee will lead Randwick Petersham’s batting line-up in the absence of teammate and new Australian star Simon Katich, and will be looking to find his O’Reilly Medallist form of two seasons ago. However, the Randy Petes will need to be at their best to halt the Saints’ batting brilliance.At Waverley Oval, competition leaders Mosman will be hoping that former NSW pacemen Phil Alley, Trent Johnston and Warwick Adlam are at their best against a confident Waverley batting lineup. Last round, the Dolphins overhauled Western Suburbs’ 466 in the highest run-chase in the 110-year history of Grade cricket. However, Mosman’s trio have also been impressive this season, with Johnston recording a hat-trick against University of NSW, and Adlam claiming six wickets against Gordon last week.Speedblitz Blues batsman Matthew Phelps will be hoping to post a big score for his new club Sydney University. Having been a noticeable omission from the Blues’ first ING Cup team, Phelps will be out to prove the selectors wrong when the premiers take on competition frontrunners Bankstown at University No 1 Oval. Bankstown will be without Mark Waugh, who posted an impressive century in the Bulldogs’ last match. However, Corey Richards will pose a threat to the Students, having scored an undefeated 165 in last week’s victory over Randwick Petersham.Other matches- Campbelltown-Camden v UTS-Balmain at Raby 1; Hawkesbury v Manly-Warringah at Owen Earle; Northern District v University of NSW at Waitara; Parramatta v Fairfield-Liverpool at Old Kings; Penrith v Gordon at Howell; Sutherland v North Sydney at Caringbah; and Western Suburbs v Blacktown at Pratten.

Kenya, keen to attain full Test status, have an opportunity to put forwardtheir case for full membership status of the ICC when they start a series ofthree four-day unofficial Test matches against Sri Lanka A on Thursday atP.Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo.”The boys are aware of what is expected of them. We’ll try and take it session by session,” said Kenyan manager Harilal Shah, captain of East Africa in the inaugural World Cup in England in 1975.In their solitary two-day warm up game against a Development Squad, Kenya’sopeners Kennedy Otieno and Ravindu Shah compiled a worthy partnership of 106, but the rest of the batting managed only 128 runs, which according to their Indian coach Sandeep Patil, was not the type of batting Kenya were capable of.Kenya’s transformation, from a good one-day team to one that can hold its own in a four-day game, won’t be easy unless they have a strong domestic cricket structure.After nearly two decades, Sri Lanka’s domestic cricket structure is not whatit should be. They can count themselves lucky that despite the poor standardof cricket that is dished out in the Premier competition they are still ableto produce players of quality.But the gap is widening, with many players finding it difficult to bridge the gap between Premier competition and Test cricket. Those who will represent Sri Lanka A in the upcoming series belong to that category.Sri Lanka A coach Roshan Mahanama has a tough task of helping these players make the grade. Many of them have played for their country at the highest level, but have been unable to retain their places due to lack of consistency.A clear example is middle-order batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan who made a great start to his Test career when only in his second Test he scored a scintillating 163 not out to pave the way for a series clinching win over Zimbabwe at Harare two years ago. Today he is no nearer to a permanent place in the Test squad.To be fair, his role in the side has not always been clearly defined. He has played as both a middle order batsman and as a wicket-keeper/batsman. In the present series he will play purely as a batsman.Another player who has got a raw deal from the selectors has been wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene who after just one rain-affected Test against Pakistan at Kandy last year, where he neither batted nor fielded, has continued to be overlooked.Avishka Gunawardana, Michael Vandort, Chamara Silva, skipper Upul Chandana,Ruchira Perera and Rangana Herath are all players who have been tested, tried and discarded over the years.There is also the young crop waiting to earn recognition like Ian Daniel,Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Kaushalya Weeraratne and Prabath Nissanka.”I’ve told the players to make use of this opportunity and to play with apurpose. If they perform well they stand a chance of being picked for the tours ahead to England, South Africa and Australia,” said Mahanama.”This series is very important to the players because tours of this nature are not regular. So whatever comes along they must grab it with both hands and perform,” he said.”Although the players must perform they must also play to win. There is no way they can play as individuals which can lead to negative cricket,” Mahanama said.Mahanama said this series gave a good scope for fast bowlers because of thetours that are ahead.”Sri Lanka may take as many as 17 players on the tour to England and extrabatsmen and bowlers are needed for a lengthy tour,” said Mahanama.He hoped that decent pitches would be provided for all the matches, givingequal opportunities to both batsmen and bowlers.SRI LANKA A (from):Upul Chandana (captain), Ian Daniel, Avishka Gunawardane, Michael Vandort, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene, Ruchira Perera, Rangana Herath, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Muthumudalige Pushpakumara, Prabath Nissanka.KENYA:Maurice Odumbe (captain), Kennedy Otieno, Ravindu Shah, Steve Tikolo, Hitesh Modi, Thomas Odoyo, Tony Suji, Collins Obuya, Martin Suji, Mohamed Sheikh, Lameck Onyango.UMPIRES: Tyronne Wijewardene and Ranmore Martinesz, Match Referee: RanjithMadurasinghe.

In what has become something of a Super Max tradition, only one ball remained in today’s last semi-final to decide who would play in tomorrow’s 2000 final at Eden Park’s Outer Oval.Because Auckland got up to score the 124 runs needed for victory, it was decided that the preliminary semi-final between Auckland and Wellington scheduled for tomorrow morning will not now be played, leaving the way open for the same two teams to contest the final.Otago was keen to make the final after being forced to play two games today and came within an ace of doing so.After being well beaten in its first game by the defending champion Wellington, Otago came out after lunch with all guns blazing. Andrew Hore, who had another fine day of big hitting, hit 45 from 20 balls in the first innings and set Otago on its way to 116-3.Auckland was tied down by some fine Otago bowling and could post only 95-4. But then in a reversal of batting form Otago slumped badly to be 21-4 in its fourth over of the second innings. That proved crucial in the final outcome as its hardest hitters were all back in the pavilion.Craig Pryor and Mark Billcliff added 73 runs but were parted in the ninth over at just the stage Otago could not afford to lose momentum. Only eight more runs were scored and while it set a stiff target for Auckland, it needed a repeat of its first innings bowling effort.That wasn’t forthcoming however. Auckland seemed determined to knock Otago’s bowlers off line, and it succeeded.Aaron Barnes and Llorne Howell launched a blistering assault and with 51 on board in four overs, Otago was staring down the barrel. Howell played a vital role by remaining until the 10th over by which time Auckland had enough batting left to ensure it would take the win.It was injured Black Caps medium pace bowler Dion Nash who took some satisfaction from a disappointing summer by hitting the second ball he faced to the boundary for four. It was a controversial end, as Billcliff was ruled to have bowled a wide from the previous delivery, a ball that looked a more than reasonable delivery.Auckland got home with a ball to spare however and will now play out a repeat of last summer’s final.

Everton have a unique chance to call upon some of the younger players on the fringes of the first-team squad so late in the season tonight, as they take on National League side Boreham Wood at home in the FA Cup fifth round.

The hosts, who as you can imagine are massive favourites to go through and book themselves a place in the quarter-finals, are expected to make wholesale changes, with a number of youngsters being given the opportunity to shine, including Nathan Patterson who is expected to make his debut after joining from Rangers in January for £16m.

Dele Alli might also feature from the start for the first time since his move from Tottenham, while youngsters Reece Welch and Isaac Price have been confirmed by Lampard to be in the squad for the game.

As has 19-year-old striker Lewis Dobbin, who signed a new long-term deal in January after speculation he could run his contract down and follow in the footsteps of former Everton youngster Mohamed-Ali Cho, who joined Ligue 1 side Angers from the Merseyside club in 2020 and has since gone on to become a first-team regular at the age of just 18.

Despite strong interest from German clubs, Dobbin remained committed to the club, saying: “It’s a huge honour that the club has put their faith in me with this new deal.

“I love Everton and I’ve been here for such a long time now. I’m so grateful for the chances I’ve been given and to all the coaches I’ve had during my time in the academy.

“I’m going to keep working hard and keep pushing. Hopefully I can get more opportunities in the first team and score my first goal.”

The teenager has already appeared three times for the first team, having impressed in the U23s, particularly against Tottenham in January when he scored the only goal of the game with a fantastic header, which, among other impressive performances, led to him being nominated for the January Premier League 2 Player of the Month award.

As a result, it’s hardly a surprise to see him dubbed an “exciting talent” by The Athletic’s Patrick Boyland

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With Salamon Rondon having scored just one goal in all competitions for Everton, it would seem like a wasted opportunity should Lampard, who has excelled at developing youth so far in his managerial career, deploy the Venezuelan striker up top, instead of the exciting youngster.

In other news: Everton ruing sale of “complete” left-back after his value rises 428%…

According to commentator Dean du Plessis, Zimbabwe’s are suffering because of their rapid rise to international level © Getty Images

As Zimbabwe Cricket continues to hog the limelight on and off the field, Dean du Plessis, a top cricket analyst and commentator in Zimbabwe, says the board must return to the old system of player development and selection on merit.”The way forward is very simple,” du Plessis says. “We have got to bring back a lot of the former players. Not because the current players are not good enough, there’s a lot of talent in these young players, and I mean seriously talented cricketers, but they need to go through the system like those other players.”All these other players went through the system, and I’ll speak in particular of the non-white players, such as Henry Olonga, Pommie Mbangwa, Tatenda Taibu, Bernard Pswarayi, Brighton Watambwa, all these guys had a correct system, none of these players that are playing now had a correct system.”du Plessis says the fall of the domestic structure in Zimbabwe has led the game to the brink of collapse. “First of all in the past they played club cricket. For example you had a young Trevor Madondo facing the likes of [Heath] Streak and [Eddo] Brandes at club level,” he said. “Then if you did well there it was one step further, you would proceed to the Logan Cup level.”Bear in mind in those days in one-day cricket when the likes of Madondo were around making their debut, there was no such thing as a bouncer. You were not allowed to bowl short-pitched deliveries. Now you are allowed one per over.”When Madondo or Dion Ebrahim or Alester Maregwede made their debuts for Mashonaland, or whoever they were playing for that time, suddenly they had to adjust their game plan because guys like Eddo Brandes, who we all know was a very good bowler, and Streak, were able to bombard them with bouncers. But if they still passed the test, they then went one step further. They then represented what was known as the Zimbabwe Board XI. So it was basically like a Zimbabwe A side.”He explains how the system in the past was successful: “The A side in those days used to play against South African provincial sides in the B section of the Supersport Series. Fine it was the B section, but it was a lot more competitive than our Logan Cup. So if the likes of Ebrahim got a hundred or Olonga took five or six wickets, they had still proved themselves like any other cricketer should. Only when they proved themselves at every level, club level, Logan Cup level, then the Board XI, then, and only then, did they play for Zimbabwe. It wasn’t just a huge jump.”For example Johnson Marumisa went to the ICC World Twenty20. Fine he didn’t play, but that man had never represented Zimbabwe at any form of international cricket. Yet he was in the Zimbabwe side simply because he was quite impressive at club level. You cannot gauge a player by playing club cricket. He has to go through the system. And that is what every single one of those players I mentioned went through.”Taibu, we all know what a good cricketer he is, Olonga, well, he was an injury-prone cricketer, but I tell you what, when he was on the park he was special. As was Watambwa, although his work ethics you had to question, his heart wasn’t on the game, he had other things on his mind. But he was a seriously talented cricketer, Brighton’s talent came naturally, he didn’t even have to work on it, and the list is endless.”

	They are not ready to play yet, and at the end of the day, not only is it Zimbabwe that are not benefiting because they continuously get beaten, but think of the cricketer himself

du Plessis says players are being fast-tracked into the national side, thereby exposing their insufficient development. “At the end of the day it’s all well and good, we all want the masses to be playing cricket…well I certainly do because it’s the way forward,” he said. “As a white man I’m telling you that if there were 11 black men out there on merit I would be very proud to support my team. If there were 11 white men out there I will still be proud to support my team.”But unfortunately what is happening now is that these guys are being picked for various reasons. They are not ready to play yet, and at the end of the day, not only is it Zimbabwe that are not benefiting because they continuously get beaten, but think of the cricketer himself. You are responsible for destroying his career because he is not ready to play international cricket.”So he goes out knowing that he has to perform. And he is not going perform because he is not ready yet. You know what damage you are doing to his confidence?”du Plussis, probably the best commentator left in Zimbabwe despite being blind, believes he has suffered for his criticism of Zimbabwe Cricket’s administration. He has been sidelined from doing commentary for the current ODI series against West Indies.”I have made some comments and remarks about cricket in this country in the past that haven’t gone down well with Zimbabwe Cricket,” he said. “But they weren’t unjust, they were fair, and I speak my mind and I will never change that until the day I die.”If a guy needs a compliment I will compliment him, but if he’s played badly, or if the administrator is not running the cricket the way it should be then I will mention it, because that is my job. And if they don’t like it then change the radio station or go and watch another channel, or watch cartoon network.”