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Leeds United correspondents Phil Hay and Graham Smyth have been reacting to Andres Clavijo’s Elland Road exit.

The Lowdown: Clavijo’s exit

The Whites decided to sack Marcelo Bielsa on Sunday after a 4-0 defeat to Tottenham at Elland Road, leaving them just two points above the bottom three.

Former RB Leipzig manager Jesse Marsch has since been announced as the Argentine’s successor and has already brought in Cameron Toshack as number two.

Bielsa’s assistants, Diego Reyes, Pablo Quiroga and Luis Ouvina followed the former boss out of Thorp Arch, along with fitness coach Benoit Delaval.

Performance analyst Clavijo, known better by fans for being Bielsa’s translator, confirmed on Wednesday evening that he too would also be leaving the club.

The Latest: Hay and Smyth react

This is what Hay had to say in reply to Clavijo’s update on Twitter.

“A nice guy, Andres. Very much part of the weekly press routine with Bielsa. Best of luck to him.”

Meanwhile, Smyth posted a short clip of Bielsa and Clavijo, available to view here, and wished him well.

The Verdict: Not a shock

It seemed to be just a matter of time until Clavijo’s departure was confirmed, so the news doesn’t exactly come as a surprise.

He was brought in by Bielsa, unlike goalkeeper coach Marcos Abad and head of analysis Guillermo Alonso, who look set to stay at the club after previously working under Victor Orta at Middlesbrough.

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Marsch has already made his mark by bringing in Toshack, along with Franz Schiemer and Mark Jackson, and you’d expect there could be more staff additions to come between now and the end of the season.

In other news: ‘First signing’ – Journalist now drops huge Leeds transfer news on ‘fantastic’ ace Marsch ‘wants’.

Match facts

February 3, 2016
Start time 1330 local (1130 GMT)

Big Picture

In an act of typically perverse scheduling, the limited-overs leg of England’s tour of South Africa includes five ODIs and just two T20Is, despite the fact that the World Twenty20 is looming in barely a month’s time, and both sides would doubtless benefit from a bit more sprint training in the intervening weeks.Nevertheless, such is the cross-over between the shortened formats in this day and age that the 50-over showdowns, which get underway in Bloemfontein tomorrow, still retain a relevance to both teams. If South Africa’s imperative is to cultivate that winning feeling after a chastening Test series, then England want only to carry on where they left off in a riotous finish to their tour of the UAE before Christmas.Eoin Morgan’s England are an unrecognisable outfit from the one-paced shambles that bombed out of the World Cup in Australia almost exactly 12 months ago. They bat without fear, they field like panthers and their bowlers – if still a touch raw in the post-Anderson and Broad era (albeit that the latter has been drafted back into the squad after a glut of injuries) – have shown promise that augurs well for the challenges to come.No-one would pretend that England are a finished product, but with Andrew Strauss, the ECB’s new director of cricket, preaching a more open-minded attitude to white-ball cricket, their squad has a focus that has been lacking in one-day cricket almost since the dawn of the format. Adil Rashid and David Willey even arrive in South Africa with their horizons broadened by successful stints in Australia’s Big Bash, which would have been an unthinkably progressive move in England’s not-at-all-distant past.Whether England are yet good enough to beat South Africa on home soil is a moot point, however. South Africa’s recent tour of India was a disaster in almost every facet, yet they still proved strong enough to muscle their way to a 3-2 ODI victory. This time last year, AB de Villiers was slamming a 31-ball century to trounce West Indies at Johannesburg, and after ducks in each of his last three Test innings, the only way for South Africa’s captain, surely, is up.

Form guide

South Africa: WLWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

England: WWWLL

In the spotlight

Alex Hales endured a torrid Test baptism in the recent series against South Africa. His technique and temperament received equally searching examinations and both were found wanting, as he struggled to 136 runs at 17.00 in four matches. However, a return to the shorter formats may be just what his game needs – a chance to see ball, hit ball, and worry rather less about the consequences of the wrong shot at the wrong time. The concern, however, may be the knock-on effect of his struggles on the tour so far. As his opening partner, Jason Roy, told ESPNcricinfo last week, confidence is everything for a one-day opening batsman. Hales hasn’t displayed much of that in recent times.Hashim Amla’s stunning return to form in the latter stages of the Test series was a reminder of how quickly a change of scene or circumstances can transform a player’s fortunes. Amla’s match-saving double century in Cape Town was made possible by the decision he had made earlier in the match, that the time was right to offload the burden of captaincy, and he confirmed the wisdom of that move with twin scores of 109 and 96 to set up a consolation win at Centurion. His task is now to translate that free-spirited strokeplay to the top of the one-day order. But, to judge by the serenity of his cover-driving in recent days, he’s perfectly poised to make any start count.

Teams news

Marchant de Lange is a strong bet to add to his tally of three ODI caps as South Africa look to cover the gap in their fast-bowling ranks amid the long-term absences of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Kyle Abbott. Although there are concerns about Kagiso Rabada’s workload following his Test heroics, he seems likely to be given the chance to start the series, while Imran Tahir – overlooked through the Test series after struggling to make an impression on the tour of India – is back in the frame as the first-choice spinner.South Africa (probable) 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 David Miller, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Farhaan Behardien, 8 Chris Morris/David Wiese, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Morne Morkel/Marchant de Lange, 11 Imran TahirRoy is a major doubt after suffering a back spasm during training on Monday. His place at the top of the order is likely to be filled by Moeen Ali, which is not the worst rejig imaginable given that Ben Stokes’ availability after injury in the UAE would otherwise create a logjam of stroke-makers in the lower-middle order. Adil Rashid, flushed with confidence after a breakthrough winter in the Big Bash, may be given the chance to take that form straight into the 50-over format.England (probable) 1 Moeen Ali, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 James Taylor, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Adil Rashid, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 David Willey, 11 Reece Topley

Pitch and conditions

A flat deck, a large outfit, and intense heat. It promises to be a sapping day’s work for whichever side gets to field first under the afternoon sun.

Stats and trivia

• AB de Villiers made his ODI debut on February 2, 2005 against England in Bloemfontein. The match was tied. Eleven years and one day later, he will play his 196th ODI at the same venue, and against the same opponents.
• South Africa have won each of their last six ODIs at Bloemfontein since that tie, most recently by 125 runs against Pakistan in 2013.
• Quinton de Kock, fresh from his maiden Test hundred at Centurion, needs seven runs to reach 2000 in ODis.

Quotes

“I focus so much on winning the game that before I realise it I’ve scored a hundred off close to 30 balls. Things like that are always possible when you aim bigger and have a bigger cause.”
AB de Villiers admits that superhuman batting feats are just one of those things.“We are not quite there yet in terms of catching up with the World Cup teams that went out there and scored 300 on a regular basis – but we are making strides towards that.”

The ECB has invited nominations for a deputy chairman following the recent resignation of Mike Soper following his failure to be elected chairman when he lost out to Giles Clarke.The deadline for nominations is October 19 and if more than one is received, a ballot of the chairmen of the 18 counties and MCC will be held in accordance with the ECB constitution and under the supervision of the Electoral Reform Society.It has been agreed that, in order to prevent the need for another election in January 2008, that whoever is elected will serve the remainder of Soper’s term – up to March 2008 – then a full two-year term after that.

For the umpteenth time in his career Chris Harris bailed Canterbury out of an awkward spot today, hitting a measured and unbeaten 103 as their game against Otago meandered towards a draw . Harris shared a 162-run partnership with Craig McMillan, who hit 101 and is pressing a claim for an unlikely recall to the national side for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka, as Canterbury finished the third day on 330 for 7.McMillan has made his displeasure at being dropped abundantly clear but this time he was doing his talking with the bat. With Scott Styris unlikely to play in the first Test, there is an outside chance McMillan could fill the slot. He eventually fell to his cousin, James McMillan, who ended the day with 5 for 77, an impressive return on a docile wicket.Otago will almost certainly claim first innings points tomorrow, but Harris will make it as difficult as possible.

Scorecard

Marlon Samuels followed up his heroics with the bat with an effective spell of offspin bowling © Getty Images

Martin Love’s counterattacking hundred helped Queensland escape with a draw against the touring West Indians at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane, despite Marlon Samuels’s five-wicket haul. Queensland appeared to have done enough when Love (108) and Andrew Symonds (77) added 175 for the fourth wicket to take them to a comfortable 262. However, Samuels spun a web with his offbreaks, scuttling out Symonds and James Hopes in the space of 13 balls, and along with Gayle, who removed Love soon after, reduced Queensland to 6 for 272.Samuels removed Chris Simpson and West Indians went to tea needing only three more wickets to wrap it up. But they were thwarted by Chris Hartley, who made an enterprising 60 not out, including three sixes, with one mighty hit landing on the roof of the Queensland Cricket building. He was ably assisted by Michael Kasprowicz, who joined Hartley with the score on 9 for 343 and hung around for 39 valuable minutes as the duo denied the West Indians a morale-boosting win ahead of the first Test at the Gabba.The West Indians, though, will be heartened by the form of some of their batsmen, especially Samuels, and will begin the Test with some positive signals. However, the Gabba remains an Australian fortress – they haven’t lost a single Test there since 1988 – and West Indies will face a far more daunting task when they stride out on November 3.

The Australians celebrate Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket on the second day at Nagpur© AFP

Distraction is a professional hazard for anybody playing a spectator sport. But Indian cricket grounds can stretch the nerves to the limit. Right from cheering the home team and its stars, to booing the opposition, to the Mexican waves, to the slogan-mongering, the air is always filled with excitement, noise and distraction. How does a player shut all this out and go about doing his job? Well, they call it being in the zone. Sachin Tendulkar manages to get into that state of mind more often than most. But on the second day of the Nagpur Test, playing his first innings after that much-talked-about tennis-elbow problem, he failed to maintain his concentration.On the verge of tea, as he was settling into his stance Tendulkar spotted a gentleman standing in the press box as Jason Gillespie was about to start his over. Apparently distracted for just a moment, Tendulkar missed the next ball and was trapped in front, and walked off with his head bowed after Aleem Dar raised the finger. Sources close to the team revealed later that Tendulkar complained bitterly about the journalist whose wander had cost him his wicket. Next morning, a request in bold was pasted up in the press box, reading: “Please remain seated. Movement in this enclosure causes inconvenience to players.”Tendulkar may have had a grouse, but the media too has its own complaints. The Indian team’s briefings at the end of the day’s play are a good case in point. As the players stretch themselves after a hard day’s work, the reporters wait, desperately hoping for a story. No interviews are granted during the game, and editors are forever demanding more than just the match report. Apart from commenting on the Indian team’s failings in this Test, the media has also been trying to unravel the mystery behind Sourav Ganguly’s injury, and whether he will be fit for the last Test. On the first day, Andrew Leipus, the team physiotherapist, held a briefing but failed to answer clearly questions about the cause, the symptoms, or the duration of recovery. He only mentioned that there would be a bone scan done the following day.Just after the close of play on the second day, the media rushed to the pavilion to get a fresh update. After a frustrating wait of about 20 minutes, they were informed that no further information was available. It was an utterly unprofessional attitude when the team would actually have been better served by quelling the speculations, which continued in the absence of any concrete information.And when information was finally given this morning, it only added to the confusion. They released a press statement which could only be decoded by medical professionals. The statement ended with: “He is now receiving medical treatment for this condition and his progress will be monitored carefully over the next few days.” Meat enough for hacks?

Rashid Latif’s letter to the ICC is significant for one reason: he implies that fixing is still a problem in the game. Not matchfixing, as most people think of it, but what he terms “Fancy Fixing” – fixing elements of matches without necessarily affecting the result or arousing suspicion.This is not new by itself. It is fairly common knowledge that a lot of cricket betting focusses on micro-aspects of a game – how many runs a bowler will concede, how many boundaries a batsman will hit etc. But what is significant is that now a current international captain has chosen to confirm what has been suspected for quite a while. For obvious reasons, Latif cannot name any names. But would he have bothered to write this letter if he did not know for sure that ‘Fancy Fixing’ does indeed take place?What grants this letter further credibility is that it comes from a man who put more than just his career at stake when he first blew the whistle in the mid-’90s. Few people took him seriously then; he has since been vindicated in full.The solutions that Latif offers on ‘Fancy Fixing’, however, will not resolve the problem. Even if the 15-overs-restriction rule is annulled, betters – and fixers – will find some other aspect of the game to exploit. How many runs a bowler will concede in his quota of 10 (or 12, as Latif suggests) overs. How many quick singles a particular pair of batsmen will take. How long a batsman (particularly a hard-hitting strokeplayer) will take to hit his first boundary. The possibilities of finding things to bet on are as endless as the possibilities in cricket. Latif suggests eliminating a couple of these possibilities; but more exist, and there can be no end to them.The first step to finding a solution to a problem, though, is acknowledging that the problem exists. Latif’s letter should force the authorities to accept that those dark days of bookies bribing cricketers and subverting the game are not necessarily over. They have it on the word of a current Test captain. They will ignore it at their peril.Amit Varma is managing editor of Wisden CricInfo in India.

South Australia’s youngest player Paul Rofe got his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket as Western Australia was dismissed for 227 on day one of their match at Adelaide Oval today.The 20-year-old former Australian under 19 team member bowled 23 extremely tight overs, including 11 maidens, for figures of 5-30, the best of his eight-matchfirst class career.Basing his attack on patience and accuracy rather than tearaway pace, Rofe said he modelled himself on Australian Test spearhead Glenn McGrath.”I love that guy a lot, to be honest, I love watching him bowl and the way he goes about his cricket, it’s fantastic,” he told reporters.Rofe’s haul began in his first over, the second of the match, when he had WA opener Scott Meuleman caught in the slips from his second ball before the Warriors had scored.Captain Simon Katich (42) joined Mike Hussey (40) and after a sluggish start their partnership blossomed late in the opening session, with 15 runs coming from the first over of part-time medium pacer Ben Johnson, the 21st of the innings.Katich belted two consecutive sixes off Mike Smith five overs later as they took the score to a seemingly comfortable one for 86 to recover from the shaky start.But Johnson struck back to have Hussey caught behind in the following over, then dismissed Katich in his next over, the last of the opening session, to put theWarriors back under pressure at three for 94 at lunch.Wickets tumbled cheaply soon after lunch, with Murray Goodwin caught in the gully slashing at a wide ball from left-armer Mark Harrity.Then Rofe chipped in to have Marcus North caught behind and Ryan Campbell caught at slip to have the Warriors six for 127, a slump of five for 41 in 20 overseither side of the lunch break.Brad Hogg and Matt Nicholson fought back with a dogged 57-run partnership, before veteran leg spinner Peter McIntyre bowled Nicholson as he was attemptingto sweep him over the midwicket fence.Hogg was the Warriors’ top-scorer with a dogged innings of 56 not out from 146 balls, although he had a life on 38 when Brad Young dropped him at first slip after he top-edged a cut shot from McIntyre’s bowling.It took the second new ball to finish off the WA tail, with Rofe bowling both Jo Angel and Brad Oldroyd in the space of two balls in his third over with the new ball to complete his five-wicket haul.Then Harrity bowled Brad Williams to end the innings.SA was none for six at stumps after three overs, with Young and Johnson at the crease.

Prenelan Subrayen, the 22-year old Dolphins offspinner, has been suspended from bowling in domestic cricket with immediate effect because of an illegal action. All his deliveries were found to exceed the 15-degree limit by an analysis conducted by an ICC-accredited human movement specialist at the Powerade CSA Centre of Excellence in Pretoria.Subrayen was reported for a suspect action after he picked up four wickets against Titans in the Ram Slam game on November 1. He played three more games, and took another four-for, against Warriors, before his action was deemed to be illegal.Subrayen can’t bowl in domestic cricket until he remedies his action and clears the reassessment. Subrayen was earlier suspended for a suspect action in December 2012 but was later re-instated by Cricket South Africa the following month, after clearing his action. He was also pulled up for a suspect action in the Champions League T20 in 2014.

West Brom are lining up a summer move for Anderlecht forward Dieumerci Mbokani, according to reports from The Metro.

The Baggies will have to approach next season without Romelu Lukaku, whose impressive form at The Hawthorns has led to Chelsea refusing to grant him another temporary move to the Midlands.

Steve Clarke is keen to replace the teenager, and sees Mbokani as the ideal man to fill the void left by the burly Belgian.

The Democratic Republic of Congo international has been attracting attention from a number of European clubs of late, but has recently admitted that he would jump at the chance of a move to the Premier League.

“I want to play in England and I can confirm that there is some interest at the moment,” he said.

“Let’s relax and see what happens by the end of June.”

Newly promoted Hull are also keen on the striker, but West Brom are thought to be leading the race, with Lukaku having advised Mbokani to join the Midlanders

However, Anderlecht are believed to be holding out for a fee in the region of £17million for their star man, after witnessing the impact Christian Benteke – who moved to the Premier League from Belgium – has had.

Could Dieumerci Mbokani mirror the impacts of Romelu Lukaku and Christian Benteke?

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