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The new year has already brought about immense change for Chelsea Football Club.

Before midday on the first, it was already announced that the club had parted ways with Enzo Maresca, following a tense few weeks.

In his place, under-21 manager Calum McFarlane took charge of the game away to Manchester City, and despite being massive underdogs, oversaw a valiant 1-1 draw.

The man who looks primed to take charge of the team permanently seems to be Liam Rosenior, and in excellent news for him, Chelsea are reportedly eyeing up a move for someone who could end up being his own Declan Rice.

Chelsea target their own Declan Rice

With Maresca out of the picture, Chelsea need to bring in a permanent manager as soon as possible, and while nothing has been confirmed, it seems almost certain that Rosenior will be the man who gets the job.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

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The Englishman might be less experienced than some fans would like, but he’s already a part of BlueCo and has done a reasonably impressive job in charge of Strasbourg.

For example, since taking over the French outfit, the 41-year-old has overseen 63 games and averaged 1.75 points per game.

However, to ensure he has the best chance of succeeding in West London, the board must hand him the best tools, which is what they appear determined to do.

At least, that is according to a recent report from Spain, which claims Chelsea are among several teams interested in Adam Wharton.

Alongside the Blues, the report states that Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United and Real Madrid are all keen on the Crystal Palace star.

Unfortunately, the competition isn’t the only potential hurdle for this deal, as reports from late last year claimed that the 21-year-old could cost as much as £100m.

Therefore, it could be a costly and complicated transfer for Chelsea to get over the line, but given Wharton’s immense ability and potential, one they should fight for, especially as he could be Rosenior’s own Rice.

Why Wharton would be Chelsea's Rice

While there are certainly some differences between Rice and Wharton, there are more than a few similarities, even down to their potential transfers.

For example, the former moved from one London club to another, and if Chelsea were to sign the latter, he too would be moving from one capital side to another.

Moreover, both would be moving for near enough the same amount, with the Gunners spending around £105m on their number 41, and as incredibly hyped stars, with one analyst dubbing the Palace star “the best U21 player in the Prem.”

The Eagles’ young star is also now a regular feature in senior England squads, and while his three caps pale in comparison to the former West Ham United captain’s 72, there is no doubt that he will eventually amass a considerable number of them.

Another impressive feat that the pair share is that they’ve both played a crucial role in their clubs, or, in Rice’s case, former club, winning major silverware.

For example, the 26-year-old captained the Hammers to Conference League glory in 2023, and the 21-year-old helped the South Londoners win the FA Cup last year.

Subscribe: deeper breakdown of Chelsea targeting Wharton Get our newsletter to explore Chelsea’s interest in Adam Wharton with tactical scouting data, transfer-context analysis and how such signings fit bigger midfield plans – and more informed transfer coverage.

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Finally, both internationals are versatile midfielders, capable of playing as either a six or an eight.

This ability to influence all phases of play is translated into Wharton’s underlying numbers.

For example, according to FBref, the “generational” talent, as dubbed by former Sky Sports employee Matthew Stanger, ranks in the top 2% of midfielders in Europe’s top five leauges for expected assisted goals, the top 7% for through balls, the top 8% for shot-creating actions, the top 9% for goal-creating actions, the top 10% for ball recoveries and more, all per 90.

Wharton’s Scout Report

Statistics

Per 90

Percentile

xAG: Exp. Assisted Goals

0.25

Top 2%

Through Balls

0.54

Top 7%

Shot-Creating Actions

3.86

Top 8%

Goal-Creating Actions

0.46

Top 9%

Ball Recoveries

6.02

Top 10%

Key Passes

1.74

Top 12%

Passes into Penalty Area

1.20

Top 14%

Crosses

3.11

Top 15%

All Stats via FBref

Ultimately, it would require a significant financial commitment, but Chelsea should do all they can to sign Wharton, as he could become Rosenior’s own Rice.

Related Saved by Fernandez: 4/10 Chelsea star must not start under Rosenior

This Chelsea ace struggled in their 1-1 draw away to Manchester City

Posts ByJoe Nuttall

	Younis Khan: “He [Shoaib] is my friend, my senior and I have played alongside him for years, so my sympathies are with him” © AFP

Younis Khan, the Pakistan batsman, has called for a truce in the row between the PCB and fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.The Pakistan board had banned Shoaib for five years on grounds on indiscipline. Following the ban, Shoaib hit out against the PCB, and said he would appeal against the ban. However, his comments to a TV channel resulted in board chairman Nasim Ashraf serving a legal notice on him, seeking damages for defamation.”I think the matter has gone too far. This whole issue is damaging for Pakistan cricket so I hope a compromise is reached,” Younis said. “Of course he is my friend, my senior and I have played alongside him for years, so my sympathies are with him.”I think the player [Akhtar] must think about his problems and the board must talk to him and solve this matter.”Akhtar had been permitted by the PCB to play in the Indian Premier League [IPL], but the organisers of the league subsequently barred his participation.Younis said Pakistan could afford to do without such controversies. “We have too many issues in Pakistan cricket. Teams are not coming to Pakistan [due to security fears] and issues like Akhtar’s will further hit Pakistan cricket.”Australia pulled out of their scheduled tour to Pakistan in March-April over security concerns, and the tight schedules of other international teams, besides the inaugural edition of the IPL, leaves Pakistan with only Bangladesh to visit for five ODIs in April.

Jayantha Dharmadasa, the chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, has expressed disappointment at the withdrawal of Rumesh Ratnayake as assistant coach of the Sri Lankan team.Ratnayake, the former Sri Lankan fast bowler, had signed a four-year contract with Sri Lanka Cricket nearly a month ago to become assistant coach, replacing the outgoing coach Trevor Penney. But in a complete u-turn Ratnayake has stated in a letter that he is unable to accept the position due to family commitments.”I am very disappointed with Rumesh’s decision. We have been trying to get his services for the past two years and when he decided to sign with us to become assistant coach we were extremely happy,” said Dharmadasa. “We have been criticised for not contracting former cricketers for the job of coach. This is what we get in return when we try to open the doors for them.”Dharmadasa said that he had great difficulty in getting Ratnayake released from his present position as development officer of the Asian Cricket Council of which Dharmadasa is the chairman. He said that Trevor Bayliss, who has signed a two-year contract with SLC to become Sri Lanka’s next head coach, will be given the opportunity to find a suitable assistant.

Sylvester Joseph will lead a power-packed squad to England © Getty Images

Sylvester Joseph has been appointed captain of the West Indies A side for the tour of England in July and August this year.The 16-man squad contains as many as eleven players with international experience, including Dave Mohammed, Runako Morton and Jerome Taylor, currently with the national team for the home series against India. The touring squad also includes Lendl Simmons, Richard Kelly and Jason Mohammed, stars of Trinidad and Tobago’s Carib Beer title triumph. Tino Best, the fast bowler who missed out on selection against India, gets another chance to impress the selectors.The team will play a series of three-day and limited overs games against various county sides, including a three-day fixture against the touring Pakistan side at Shenley.Squad – Sylvester Joseph (capt), Ryan Hinds (vice-capt), Devon Smith, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Runako Morton, Dwayne Smith, Lendl Simmons, Jason Mohammed, Darren Sammy, Patrick Browne (wk), Richard Kelly, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Tino Best, Dave Mohammed and Andrew RichardsonSupport staff – Anthony Howard (manager), David Moore (coach), Phyllis Burnett (physiotherapist), Bryce Cavanagh (strength & conditioning coordinator)

Sri Lanka A pulled off a thrilling four-wicket win, with eight balls to spare, in the third and final unofficial Test against West Indies A, at the Saravanamuttu Stadium, to clinch the three-match series 2-1.Sri Lanka left themselves chasing a target of 218 off 43 overs after dismissing West Indies for 205 in the second innings. But their chase was stalled by rain, which lopped off four overs, making their task a little tougher than expected. However, from 93 for 2 when the interruption came, Sri Lanka did not give up the chase but kept pursuing the target despite losing wickets constantly.Russel Arnold and Tillakaratne Dilshan lifted the spirits of the team with a 53-ball 64-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Dilshan, running fast between the wickets, made 40 off 35 balls without hitting a single boundary and Arnold contributed 39 off 34 balls. But it was left to Danushka Lokuhettige, a hard-hitting fast bowler, to steer the side to victory with a few hefty blows, in an undefeated knock of 22 off 19 balls.West Indies, resuming on 114 for 4, struggled against the left-arm orthodox spin of Sajeewa Weerakoon. He troubled all the batsmen on a wearing pitch to pick up his third consecutive five wicket haul in the series.Weerakoon’s final figures of six for 57 off 40 overs, and eight wickets in the match, gave him a series haul of 26 wickets and he was the deciding factor between the two sides. Darren Sammy put up strong resistance, keeping one end going, batting over three hours for an unbeaten 40. But, apart from Dave Mohammed who contributed 30 in a stand of 40 for the eighth wicket, the rest of the batsmen succumbed to the wiles of Weerakoon.West Indies won the first ‘test’ at Dambulla by 57 runs and Sri Lanka squared the series by winning the second at Colts ground by an innings and 16 runs The two teams now meet in a five-match one-day series starting on July 13 at the Nondescripts CC grounds.

Tushar Imran, the middle-order batsman, will lead Bangladesh A in the first four-day “Test” against the touring Zimbabwe A side. Bangladesh’s 13 was whittled down from an original 25-man training squad.The first representative match starts tomorrow (March 17) at Rajshahi, and will be followed by another at Bogra (March 23-26). The two A teams will then play a five-match one-day series.Zimbabwe A won their first match of the tour, a three-day game against a Bangladesh Under-23 XI, at Fatullah yesterday.Bangladesh A (from):
1 Nafees Iqbal, 2 Rashedul Haque, 3 Ehsanul Haq, 4 Mazharul Haque, 5 Tushar Imran (capt), 6 Nasir Uddin Faruque, 7 Mohammed Selim (wk), 8 Jamal Uddin, 9 Alamgir Kabir, 10 Enamul Haq junior, 11 Shahdat Hossain, 12 Faisal Hossain, 13 Gazi Alamgir.

Yousuf Youhana could hardly have faced a better first-up delivery in his relatively lengthy career. Against England at Cape Town, Youhana looked to play forward to a full James Anderson delivery angled in with the arm – except, when he probed forward, the ball wasn’t there. It had already swung back towards off, clipped middle and off, and sparked off considerable celebration on the field, most of it centered around the young English medium-pacer.Anderson certainly bowled well on the day, but how much he was helped by evening conditions – just as, presumably, Ashish Nehra and Chaminda Vaas were in other matches – is yet another subject of heavy debate in the 2003 World Cup. Only one team batting second under lights has yet won a match in the tournament, and that team – Kenya – edged home against a less-than-mediocre Canadian bowling attack by four wickets.The physics of it are simple. Under lights, South African grounds become sinks of water-vapour, humidity descending rapidly post-twilight and conceiving conditions that are tailor-made for medium-fast bowlers like Vaas, Nehra and Anderson, who can swing and seam the ball at a good pace. Consequently, chasing under lights – already a pressure-cooker situation in the making – becomes a hugely difficult task.This dominance of natural conditions would pose little problem if it weren’t so one-sided, and especially in South Africa, the result of a day-nighter is virtually decided by the toss of a coin, for the lucky captain will have little hesitation in gleefully opting to bat first. Former South African coach Bob Woolmer, one of the foremost analysts of the modern game, has noted as much. “It would seem, judging by the few games that have been played under lights, that the bias is too much weighted towards the side batting first,” Woolmer told Reuters. “The subject of day-night cricket during a World Cup will now have to be put firmly on the agenda for the next International Cricket Council (ICC) playing affairs committee.”Woolmer refers to World Cup tournaments in particular just because, in such an evolved format, one game could – and has, in the case of Pakistan for example – make all the difference in qualifying for the next stage. By extension, however, few one-day games at all should be decided by the toss, so at least for conditions like those that prevail in South Africa, there have been calls for the day-night cricket to come under serious review.The format started, like so many other innovations that have come to stay in one-day cricket, with Kerry Packer’s “pyjama cricket.” Day-night games that started in late afternoon and stretched past 10 p.m. occupied the all-vital prime-time slot on television, attracting advertising revenues by the barrel. The excitement factor also shot up; two batsmen chasing under the glow of floodlights, surrounded by thousands of vocal spectators who poured into the stadiums after work, gave the game the appearance of a gladiatorial contest of old. All that was missing, some would argue, was the caged tigers.And as the one-day game grew in popularity, it made more financial sense to continue with the day-night system, and by the 1996 World Cup, it had settled into popular acceptance. Both semi-finals and the final of that World Cup were played under lights, and if the next edition, staged in England, did not boast as many floodlit fixtures, it was only because the long English summer evenings had deterred the installation of unnecessary light-towers.The popularity of the format continues, as a CricInfo poll suggests; only 30.4 % of voters thought that day-nighters in the World Cup should be scrapped – and this after the clear advantages bestowed on sides bowling second under lights in earlier games. There are two day-night games scheduled for the Super Six, as well as one of the two semi-finals, and the venues – Durban and Cape Town – have already demonstrated the disparity in playing conditions that Woolmer speaks of.The preliminary matches have also made the cricketers themselves extremely wary of day-nighters. In a crucial Pool B game under lights, West Indies skipper Carl Hooper looked dejected when he lost the toss – and the game had not even started! Pakistan captain Waqar Younis urged organisers to reconsider the semi-final fixture, stating: “I would say any team which wins the toss has won the match 75 percent (of the time) and that is grossly unfair.”Australian coach John Buchanan has also gone on record as wishing to avoid the Durban semi-final. “The point is, even if it is only partially accurate, you are still unsure what you should do at the toss because there are elements that might affect the game,” said Buchanan to Reuters. And when the coach of the present, seemingly indestructible, Australian side starts worrying, there must truly be something amiss!Much of the carping may have to do with sour grapes. After their win against Pakistan, England’s newspapers hailed Anderson as a fast-bowling wonder, but when Nehra scalped six in similar conditions against a clueless English batting line-up, issues about day-nighters were raised instantly. But there is no denying that, at least at some venues, conditions at night skew the game significantly. And while the ICC playing affairs committee may not actually go with Christopher Martin-Jenkins’ suggestion in to play the game in four sessions of 25 overs apiece, they may have to start closely examining individual ground conditions before allotting day-night fixtures.

Pakistan star Shahid Afridi produced another sensational innings to take Leicestershire to the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy final at Lord’s on September 1st.Afridi blazed a brilliant 95 off 58 balls as Leicestershire crushed Lancashire by seven wickets with 20.1 overs to spare in the rain-affected semi-final at Grace Road.Set a victory target of 191 Leicestershire looked in trouble at nine for two in the fifth over. But Afridi and home captain Vince Wells turned the game on its head with a stand of 152 in 114 balls – a partnership dominated by Afridi.The 21-year-old all-rounder hammered eight fours and six sixes before being caught on the boundary edge by Andrew Flintoff as he went for another massive hit in a bid to reach his century.The innings, not surprisingly, earned Afridi the man of the match award for the second game in a row in the competition, and extended Leicestershire’s winning run in one-day cricket to 13 matches.Although overshadowed by the electrifying efforts of Afridi, Wells also played a splendid innings scoring the winning runs with a cover driven four off Chris Schofield.The Leicestershire captain finished on 64 not out off 80 balls with 10 fours. At the height of his innings Afridi hit Peter Martin for 16 off three balls and then Schofield for 14 off three balls.It was a devastating defeat for Lancashire who recovered well to post what looked a competitive total of 190 for nine with Warren Hegg making 60 and Schofield 42. When Martin then dismissed Trevor Ward and Darren Stevens in the first five overs Lancashire seemed to be back in the game -until Afridi took over. Leicestershire will now play Somerset in the final.”I went out to bat looking to survive the first 15 overs and then hit out later in the innings,” Afridi explained afterwards.”Then we lost the wickets and I thought I should go on the attack and play my natural game.””A lot of it depends on luck and if it is your day then it will come off for you, but I wasn’t too disappointed to get out before the end because my back was hurting.”Afridi is fast becoming something of a favourite at Grace Road, and explained that he hoped this was just the start of a long relationship with the club.”I’d just finished the Test series with Pakistan and was all set to go to America for a holiday when Jack Birkenshaw made contact with me through Saqlain Mushtaq and asked if I wanted to play for half a season,” Afridi said.”I’d always wanted to play county cricket and Leicestershire tried to sign me in 1998 but I was busy with Pakistan and I’d love the chance to come back again next summer.”Meanwhile a disappointed Lancashire coach, Bobby Simpson, now resigned to finishing his career at Lancashire without a trophy, was generous in praise of Afridi’s swashbuckling knock.”Afridi’s innings was one of those things that happened,” said Simpson.”He swung a lot, played and missed and hit a lot – he was superb, but everything came off for him and let’s see how he does in the final.”It’s been a bad week for us, but we now have the possibility of relegation in the championship and the prospect of that is enough to lift anybody for the last few matches.”

Andhra, who were in a position of considerable strength at stumps on thefirst day of their South Zone (under-19) Cooch Behar Trophy match againstKerala, set the seal on their overwhelming superiority by winning by aninnings and 66 runs with more than a day to spare on the second day at theUkku stadium in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.After dismissing Kerala for 56 runs and replying with 164 for one at closeof play, Andhra declared their first innings on Tuesday at 206 for fourwickets. The declaration was made shortly after opening batsman andwicketkeeper Md Tahir Hussain got his century. Resuming at 79, Hussainremained unbeaten with exactly 100 at the declaration. He faced 207 ballsand hit 10 fours. The other overnight batsman Gnaneswara Rao fell withoutadding to his score of 61.In arrears by 150 runs on the first innings, Kerala hardly fared any betterin their second innings and were shot out for 84 runs in 39.1 overs. Thewrecker-in-chief this time was opening bowler PAVN Raju who finished withsix wickets for 17. Md Faiq, who took five wickets in the first innings,captured three for 20. Tahir Hussain, besides his unbeaten hundred, alsotook four catches and made one stumping.

	Kevin Pietersen is excited by the money on offer in Twenty20 cricket, and likens it to winning the lottery © Getty Images

The venerable Long Room at Lord’s can’t have seen many occasions quite like Adidas’s launch of the new England kit. Lights, music and catwalks blended in with priceless portraits of the ancient greats of the game, as the players paraded in their new Test, ODI and Twenty20 strips. It was a timely reminder also of the changing face of the modern game. A new international season is just around the corner, but right at this moment there’s only one topic of conversation, and it’s not something that involves England’s slick new ClimaCoolTM technology.”It’s going to be a spectacle and I’ll definitely be watching,” said Kevin Pietersen, the most outspoken advocate of English participation in the Indian Premier League, which gets underway in Bangalore tomorrow. “Hopefully it will be a massive success, and I think it’s going to be, because you have so much money being pumped into it, and you have the best players in the world, so there’s no reason why it won’t be. This could be the way cricket goes – everyone wants to see a result in three hours.””I don’t see anything wrong with any of us getting that kind of money,” said Pietersen. “Just have a look at how Twenty20 has taken over all over the world. India said they weren’t going to play it, then they went to the World Cup [ICC World Twenty20] and won it, and now it’s humungous. I just hope for the sake of the players, administrators and spectators that it’s something fresh, new and exciting. I think we might even see guys starting to play a few shots in Test matches too, which will be great.”Pietersen is not the only Englishman who’s excited at the opportunities on offer. This past week has been awash with big-name dissenters, as one by one the stars of the side have lined up to demand their slice of the pie. One significant figure who hadn’t yet had his say was England’s limited-overs captain, Paul Collingwood, who has been away on holiday in Cape Town, getting to know his newborn daughter, Keira. But, unsurprisingly, his opinion was no different to the rest.”I think it’ll be a world-class tournament, if people are getting the sort of money being put in the newspapers,” said Collingwood. “If you had an opportunity to earn four times the money over six weeks, would you take it? Of course you’d be tempted. Whether the players are at the back-end of their careers or on the outskirts of the team, they’ll have to make a decision when it comes to the crunch. I only hope it doesn’t come down to that and, in the future, we can play in the IPL, or something similar.”Something similar might just have reared its head in the past 48 hours. On Tuesday, the ECB set about organising a not-insubstantial sweetener, courtesy of Allan Stanford, the Texan billionaire who has set about transforming the game in the Caribbean. He met Clarke at Lord’s to discuss a potential £10 million winner-takes-all fixture against an All-Star Caribbean XI, and emerged from the meeting saying that the match was “very likely” to take place.Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Stanford said that his offer had been made to provide a counterpoint to the all-powerful Indian board, whom he likened to a “a 900lb gorilla”. “It’s dangerous because in business or anywhere else, you need to have checks and balances,” Stanford told the paper. “Naturally you’re never going to have a totally level playing field – that’s not the way the world works – but there shouldn’t be such an imbalance that everybody is riding on one party’s coat-tails.”Whatever the political reasons behind the offer, Pietersen was understandably excited about its implications, and brushed aside the inevitable queries about his priorities in the game. “Money like that has never been talked about in cricket before,” he said. “People can nail us and abuse us but, at the end of the day, they are not going to pay my child’s school fees in 15 years. I’m not going to be playing cricket when I’m 50, 60, so to be offered something like that, it’s like winning the lottery, isn’t it? If it happens there will be some nervous blokes. There certainly won’t be any drinking before that fixture. “Sources close to the deal have suggested that the Stanford fixture could take place in November this year, to coincide with Antigua’s Independence Day, and Collingwood – with his captaincy hat on – admitted that selection could be a bit of a headache with so much at stake. “The IPL is open to all, but with a game like that, would we share the winnings with only the 11 on the park? That would be a bit unfair,” he said. “But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Twenty20 could be massive and this amount of money is new to everyone. We’ve got to react to it, but it’s hard to say what kind of impact it’ll make.”There is so much going on in the game at present that England’s first Test, against New Zealand at Lord’s in a month’s time, barely merited a mention. But Collingwood was adamant that Test cricket remained a priority for the England players, and believed that – in time, when all the dust and fuss has settled – the new and old could work very harmoniously alongside each other.”Test cricket is still a massive part of our tradition,” said Collingwood, “and it’s still the ultimate form of the game, to be tested technically and mentally over a five-day period. But there’s two ways to look at it, because when you’re playing against the best players in the world in that kind of competition, is it as good as doing your pre-season training in England? There are plenty of skills at that level to sharpen yourself up.” Either way, of the three new strips that the players unveiled at Lord’s today, there’s only one that’ll be capturing the headlines tomorrow.