Latest Football Transfer Stories And Titbits For July the 7th 2015

here are the top transfer stories for July the 7th 2015 as compiled by Our man Paul Ayorinde.

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Done Deals:

– Juventus have completed the signing of Simeone Zaza from Sassuolo on a five-year contract for a £12.75million

– Sevilla have completed the signing of Adil Rami for an undisclosed fee.

– Southampton have confirmed the signing of defender Cuco Martina from FC Twente on a two-year deal.

– Burnley have signed striker Jelle Vossen from Genk on a three-year deal,subject to international clearance.

-Montpellier have completed the signing of winger Ryad Boudebouz from Bastia on a four-year contract

– Genoa have signed Macedonia international Goran Pandev as a free agent.

– Marseille have announced the signing of Bouna Sarr from Metz on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

– Genoa have signed striker Leonardo Pavoletti from Sassuolo on a permanent basis after a successful loan spell.

– Atletico Madrid have completed the signing of Villarreal forward Luciano Vietto for €20million

Today’s reports and rumours:

– Free agent Bakary Sako is talking to a number of Premier League clubs, according to the Mali midfielder’s agent

Danny Ings but…,

– Liverpool and Burnley are reportedly set for a tribunal to decide a fee for striker Danny Ings after the two clubs failed to reach an agreement.

– Ivan Perisic’s agent remains hopeful “we can close the deal quickly with Inter, but Wolfsburg don’t seem willing to sell.”

– Hull City have confirmed they have turned down a third offer of £3m for winger Robbie Brady

– West Brom are likely to walk away from their pursuit of Matt Phillips if QPR persist at their £10 million asking price

– Manchester United are reportedly closing in on a deal to sign Torino defender Matteo Darmian,according to Sky Sports Italia

– According to reports, Porto have offered Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas the highest salary in the history of Portuguese football.

– According to reports, Watford look set to lose out to Napoli in the race for Genoa midfielder Diego Perotti

– Toby Alderweireld is on the verge of signing for Tottenham Hotspur, according to reports .

– According to reports, West Ham are closing in on a deal to sign Argentine midfielder Manuel Lanzini on loan from UAE club Al Jazira.

– Monaco winger Yannick Ferreira Carrasco has reportedly emerged as a target for Atletico Madrid.

– Pedro Rodriguez hinted he could leave Barcelona, so both Inter and Liverpool are reportedly preparing a swoop.

– According to reports, Watford have been told by Blackburn to pay at least £6m for striker Rudy Gestede.

Arturo Vidal[/caption

– Juventus chief executive Giuseppe Marotta has rejected claims Real Madrid have made a bid for Arturo Vidal. “Vidal? It’s just rumours, Real Madrid have not come forward,” Marotta said

– Manchester United will reportedly offer £60million for Thomas Muller after reports that the forward has had a training ground row with manager Pep Guardiola.

– According to reports, Newcastle are hopeful of signing Schalke’s £10m-rated Cameroon defender Joel Matip.

[caption id="attachment_6086" align="alignnone" width="460"] Mario Balotelli, photo credit liverpoolfc.com

– Liverpool forward Mario Balotelli was allowed to miss the start of pre-season training after being granted compassionate leave.

– Southampton boss Ronald Koeman will allow Schneiderlin to move to Old Trafford if Manchester United pay £25million.

– According to reports, Manchester City are hoping to complete a £50million deal for Liverpool’s England winger Raheem Sterling in time to take him on tour to Australia.

– According to reports, Sevilla reportedly want to take Juventus defender Mauricio Isla on loan with the option to buy, but the Bianconeri want an outright sale.

– Defender Miguel Britos will reportedly be part of the Napoli’s offer for Udinese midfielder Allan.

– Sidney Sam’s proposed transfer from Schalke to Eintracht Frankfurt has fallen through after the player failed a medical, according to his club.

– Juventus President Andrea Agnelli says none of his players are unsellable until the transfer market is closed.

– Liverpool are weighing up a £16million bid for Manchester City striker Stevan Jovetic, according to reports

– According to reports, Crystal Palace have reached an agreement with PSG to sign Yohan Cabaye for £10million.

– According to reports in Italy, Inter Milan have reached a basic agreement with Manchester City for Stevan Jovetic for €15million.

– Real Madrid have turned down a £20million offer from Chelsea for midfielder Isco, according to reports

– Watford are believed to have made an offer for Sampdoria striker Stefano Okaka

– Christian Benteke will inform Tim Sherwood he wants to leave Aston Villa when he reports back for preseason training on Wednesday,

– Borussia Dortmund have comfirmed that Sevilla are interested in Ciro Immobile.

Angel Di Maria, photo credit Mufc

– According to reports in France, PSG are considering an offer of around €50million and Gregory van der Wiel for Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria

– Lyon must be patient in attempting to sign Marseille’s Nicolas N’Koulou, according to Olympique Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas

– Kevin-Prince Boateng is unlikely to join Galatasaray or AC Milan,his agent has said

– According to reports in Spain, Real Madrid are interested in signing PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic

– Southampton have already line up Feyenoord midfielfer Jordy Clasie as a potential replacement for Morgan Schneiderlin.

– SC Bastia are believed to be in talks with Arsenal’s midfielder Mathieu Flamini about a possible move.

Football tit bits:

Pep Guardiola

– Vanuatu defeated Federated States of Micronesia by an extraordinary
score of 46-0 in Papua New Guinea on Tuesday. Micronesia have conceded a total of 114 goals, having already lost 38-0 to Fiji and 30-0 to Tahiti in their other group games.

– Italy coach Antonio Conte could face a criminal trial for his alleged involvement in match fixing in 2011.

– Brazilian football legend Zico says that
he is prepared to run for elections for Fifa presidency should world football’s governing body change its candidate selection process.

– Barcelona defender Dani Alves has claimed Pep Guardiola was turned down for the Brazil head coach job before the World Cup. “Before the World Cup, Pep wanted to coach the Brazil side but they weren’t keen. Pep said that he wanted to make us the best in the world and had a strategy planned out… but they didn’t want him.” Alves said

Canada Crowned New WBSC Men’s Softball World Champions, Win Gold Among Record Crowds

Canada captured the 14th WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship, defeating defending world champions New Zealand, 10-5, in the gold medal finale at Bob Van Impe Stadium.

The world championship, won by the host country, generated Canada’s first since 1992 among record-attendance for the venue in both single games (7,800 for Canada vs Australia) and the tournament (53,890). The ten-day tournament featured 56 round robin games, 7 placement games, and 10 playoff games using the double page playoff system.

2015 WBSC World Men’s Softball Championship CAN vs NZ July 5 2015.
Photo Steve Hiscock

The New Zealand “Black Sox” will take home the silver after having won six world titles, including the previous one in 2013 in front of their own hometown fans in Auckland, New Zealand.

Venezuela claimed the bronze medal.

The Canadian Men’s National Team’s bats proved to be the difference at this year’s event, as the team led the tournament with 48 runs scored in six games in the preliminary round and another 33 in four playoff games, and also hit for an incredible team batting average of .428 in the preliminary round.

“Congratulations to the Canadian National Team on winning the world title and congratulations to the city of Saskatoon for delivering a very successful world championship,” said WBSC Softball President Dale McMann. “This special event not only highlights the depth of WBSC’s men’s softball programme, but also shows the growing global attraction and competitiveness of our sport, especially with new countries like Guatemala competing on the world stage and vying for their first world championship.”

The final day took a somber tone with the passing of WBSC Vice President for Baseball and IOC Member, Reynaldo Gonzalez (CUB), and assistant coach for Argentina Men’s National Team, Mike Stapleton (AUS) — both of whom passed away Saturday. A moment of silence was observed at Bob Van Impe Stadium in their honour.

The Men’s Softball World Championship is celebrated every two years, and the next edition will be hosted by Whitehorse, YK, Canada in July 2017.

Also being held over the weekend, the USA women’s national team defeated Japan in the WBSC-sanctioned World Cup of Softball X Invitational in Irvine, CA, USA. This was the seventh time that Team USA has played Japan in the Championship, with the USA improving to 5-2 in those games. This win marked the eighth time that the USA has won.

The WBSC has a full list of official events on the calendar that span from June to November which include the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, the U-19 Junior Women’s Softball World Championship in Oklahoma City, USA, the U-12 Baseball World Cup in Tainan, Chinese Taipei, the U-18 Men’s Baseball World Cup at Koshien Stadium in Japan, and the inaugural Premier 12 co-hosted by Japan and Chinese Taipei.

Canada Crowned New WBSC Men’s Softball World Champions

Final Standings:

Gold: Canada

Silver: New Zealand

Bronze: Venezuela

4th: Australia

5th: Dominican Republic

6th: Japan

7th: Great Britain

8th: Argentina

9th: USA

10th: Mexico

11th: Great Britain

12th: Guatemala

13th: Denmark

14th: Philippines

15th: Netherlands

MASAI UJIRI’S GIANTS OF AFRICA TO HOST KIDS BASKETBALL CAMPS THIS SUMMER IN NIGERIA, GHANA, KENYA AND RWANDA

Masai Ujiri and Giants of Africa (GOA) announced today they will be holding camps in four countries across Africa this summer for the first time. Celebrating its 12th year of supporting the growth of basketball in Africa, Giants of Africa will be expanding its camps from Nigeria and Kenya to include Ghana and Rwanda this summer. Camps will be held in Nigeria from August 3-5, Ghana from August 7-9, Kenya from August 10-12 and Rwanda from August 13-15.

Giants of Africa camps ‎bring together top coaches from across the country to help run the sessions and are designed to help young basketball players develop athletically, achieve life goals and become better players. In addition to on-court basketball skills development, Giants of Africa strives to help foster participants via life skills support and local community outreach initiatives. ‎

“Running the Giants of Africa camps every year has become very important to us,” said Ujiri.

“ We have to give back and encourage the youth. While we all want to do well in our daily jobs, we must never forget what got us here. Using basketball to educate and develop African youth is just the beginning of what needs to be accomplished. Coaching the coaches and building infrastructure is key for the growth of the game on the continent. These kids are motivated, aspire to learn and continue to work hard. It is a responsibility for us to inspire them to keep aiming high by providing them opportunities to grow.”

MASAI UJIRI’S GIANTS OF AFRICA TO HOST KIDS BASKETBALL CAMPS THIS SUMMER IN NIGERIA, GHANA, KENYA AND RWANDA. photo credit http://giantsofafrica.org

Since the Giants of Africa camps began more than 100 camp attendees have moved on to high school or university in the United States, with around 20 now playing professionally in Europe.

Modeled after the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders outreach program, Giants of Africa holds two types of annual camps – Top 50 Camp and Big Man Camp. Its approach is to use the game of basketball as a means to teach and nurture important life skills.

The Top 50 Camp focuses on the top 50 kids from across the country and provides campers with three intense days of instruction.

The Big Man Camp teaches young athletes at six-foot-eight and above the basic fundamentals of the game with a focus on running, catching, footwork and shooting.

The goal for both camps is to begin to develop each of these athletes’ skills at a young, developmental age.

This approach provides an opportunity for ongoing improvement as each child continues to develop, learn and grow.

This summer’s camps are made possible through the support of partners from across the globe with special thanks to the NBA, Nike, Nestlé Milo, Ecobank, MLSE Foundation and Sportscorp Travel

Yakmut Charges Junior Tigress To Go All Out At FIBA Africa U16s.

….As team Jets out to Madagascar Tomorrow

Director General of the NSC, Mallam Alhassan Yakmut was on hand with NBBF delegation led by its President, Tijjani Umar in a brief send forth for the National U16 Basketball team, as the team is set to depart for Antananarivo, Madagascar tomorrow for the FIBA Africa U-16 Championships from 10-19th July, 2015.

The ceremony which took place at the Indoor Hall of the Abuja National Stadium had the full delegation of 12 players and six officials leaving for the Madagascar capital to battle their contemporaries across the African continent.

Mallam Yakmut admonished the players to see themselves as Nigerian Ambassadors and represent Nigerian with pride at the tournament.

” It is a great privilege to represent Nigeria at 16, be good Ambassadors of your country. Go all out and do us proud”.

Director General of the NSC, Alhassan Yakmut

The NSC Director General further went on to give kudos to the President Tijjani Umar and NBBF board for relaunching its participation at age grade competitions during his tenure as DG.

The NBBF President, Mr Tijjani Umar on the other hand urged the players not to be worried about any situation as there are officials to worry about all their needs, which has been provided for by the NBBF with the full support of the National Sports Commission.

Head Coach Adeka Daudu responded on behalf of the team thanking the NBBF for the opportunity given the technical crew to tutor the team for the championship and promised that they will be good Ambassadors and won’t let the country down.

“I thank you for the opportunity to serve our great country once again, I promise we won’t let you down and all Nigerians in Madagascar”.

The team departs Abuja for Lagos Wednesday(tomorrow) morning to catch a flight to Antananarivo by 12 noon.

Here is the list of the 18 man delegation for the 2015 FIBA Africa U16 Championships.

Players
1.Daniel Menani Denis
2.James Happy Rita
3.Seye Antorufa Anita
4. Okoli Maureen Chidimma
5. Oduah Vanessa Isioma
6. Akinbode James Onome Mary
7. Udueyin Omotayo Ruth
8. Ibeh Chinelo Lucy
9. Ezekiel Monica
10. Okoye Ifunanya Rosemary
11. Adams Ene Blessing
12. Ezeh Jennifer Adaeze

Officials
1. Daudu Adeka – Head Coach
2. Ogunade Shomala Shola – Assistant Coach
3. Manuwa Ademola – Team Doctor
4. Salami Priscilla Eniaghe – Physioterapist
5. Famogbiyele Olayinka Kehinde – Accompanying Referee
6. Okon Anya Patience – Team Secretary

AIBA Executive Committee meets in Doha, Qatar

AIBA Executive Committee meets in Doha, Qatar for three days of intense working sessions

The International Boxing Association Executive Committee meets in Doha, Qatar on 7 – 9 July 2015 in order to review business plans of the AIBA Confederations’ strategic development under the principles of good governance and transparency. The members will also discuss the development plans for key AIBA Commissions, such as Women, Athletes & Youth, Medical, Coaches as well as Referee and Judges Commission.

AIBA President Dr Wu at AIBA Executive Committee meeting in Doha, Qatar

“I would like to extend a warm welcome to the AIBA Executive Committee members and wish all of them fruitful discussions. It is my firm belief that by mutual dialogue and strong commitment to the development of the sport of boxing on all its levels, we will be able to ensure that our National Federations, athletes, coaches and other key stakeholders benefit from the decisions made in Doha”, said AIBA President Dr Ching-Kuo Wu.

Doha will be the venue for AIBA World Boxing Championships on 8-17 October 2015. Therefore the progress report on the Championships preparation will be delivered by the Local Organising Committee and a special venue visit will be held after the Executive Committee meeting.

Final Preparations Underway For Sides Dreaming Of Passage To World Twenty20 In India #wt20q

Scotland aims for early home advantage in ICC WT20 Qualifier 2015; Namibia set sights on bright start in Group A

After what has been the driest June in Dublin for 40 years, a more familiar dampness has returned in the past couple of days. While this might be good news for thirsty reservoirs and hay-fever sufferers, it has left the teams preparing for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015, which will be played in Ireland and Scotland from 9 to 26 July, anxiously consulting the local met offices.

But the host teams themselves will not be concerned about how a bit of rain might affect the conditions, being a normal hazard of the cricket season in these parts. And for Scotland left-arm spinner Con de Lange, he will be hoping a little bit of dampness in the pitches might help him ply his trade more effectively.

7 July 2015; Sultan Ahmed, Oman. ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015, Warm-up Match, Ireland v Oman. Stormont, Belfast. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / ICC / SPORTSFILE

“It’s a tricky one being a spinner in Twenty20s,” said the 34-year-old. “You can either be a hero or a villain. You need to suss out the surface you’re playing on very quickly. That will determine the pace you’re going to bowl at, your angles of attack, your field placing, all that kind of thing.

“At the end of the day, you are going to get hit for boundaries. It’s all about finding a way of dealing with that and making sure you’re ready for the next ball,” he said.

The top six sides from the 18-day tournament, during which 51 matches will be played, will join the 10 Full Members for the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016, which will be held from 11 March to 3 April next year.

The sides that top the two groups will automatically qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016, while those that finish second and third in each of the two groups will play cross-over matches with the two winners joining the table-toppers for the India tournament.

De Lange is determined that Scotland will qualify the simple way by topping Group B, a difficult task considering Afghanistan, UAE, Netherlands, Canada, Kenya and Oman lie in wait.

7 July 2015; Stuart Thompson, Ireland, makes a delivery to Jatinder Singh, Oman. ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015, Warm-up Match, Ireland v Oman. Stormont, Belfast. Picture credit: Brendan Moran / ICC / SPORTSFILE

“We have prepared really well for this. I think we’ve been really thorough and very specific in areas of the T20 game. I feel we’ve covered those things very well and I sense there is a lot of confidence out of our preparation coming into this tournament.

“We are looking to win every single game we play and we are confident that we can do well in this tournament. We want to finish top of our group and move on from there. To play in the World Twenty20 in India would be massive for us. Most of this group of players have done well at other world events so there is some good experience there. Playing in India would be fantastic. It’s completely different from any other country I’ve been.”

Across in Group A, Ireland will go into the tournament as favourite to top the pool, especially with home advantage, but any mistake or complacency will be seized upon by a group full of teams aiming to take that top spot, namely Namibia, Nepal, Hong Kong, PNG, USA and Jersey.

A typically ebullient Namibian Gerrie Snyman is a case in point. The big-hitter from Windhoek said: “I’m really happy to say that the Namibian squad in this tournament is pumped up, everybody is in real-good form, even the youngsters. Our bowlers are hitting good lines and good lengths, our batsmen are really stepping up to the plate and looking good. I reckon all our game plans have just come together.”

Never short on confidence – this is the batsman who bludgeoned 230 out of his team’s total of 282 in an ICC Intercontinental Cup victory over Kenya in 2008 – he says it is time Namibia went a step further in this competition, having narrowly missed out on qualification twice before.

Nepal v United Arab Emirates – ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015 Warm-up Match

“Sometimes you need a bit of luck in this game… We have played really well in the two previous tournaments and just missed out at the final hurdle to Afghanistan and Ireland. So we are ready to go all the way now.

“It’s a tough tournament and it might come down to whoever can handle the pressure the best. I reckon the cricket we’ve played in the South African first-class league has really got us to a good standard so we can deal with that pressure and find our way to the top of our group.”

It’s a side with plenty of familiar faces. All-rounder Craig Williams, who Snyman describes as “absolutely world-class”, will spearhead the batting and has an uncanny knack of picking up wickets with his right-arm medium pace. Captain Nicholas Scholtz will have plenty of experienced campaigners around him including Louis Klazinga, Raymond van Schoor, Sarel Burger and the self-styled “happy-go-lucky” Snyman as well as some fresher faces like Michau du Preez Jason Davidson and Chris Coombe.

If they can adapt to the slower, lower Hiberno-Caledonian conditions, the Africans may well be the outfit most likely to knock Ireland off their perch.

Forthcoming Fixtures:

Thurs, 9 July – Scotland v UAE, The Grange, Edinburgh (1000-1310); Netherlands v Afghanistan, The Grange, Edinburgh (1415-1725)

Egypt Win World Volleyball League Group 3 To Boost Africa At The International Level

Egypt edged Montenegro in the Final match of Group 3 to clinch a ticket for Group 2 next year, but more important to boost African Volleyball at the international level after a 5 year absence from the prestigious event.

Egypt celebrate a successful come-back to FIVB World League since 2010. The African team won Group 3 Finals in Bratislava, where they beat rookie Montenegro in dramatic final match in the Slovakian capital city 2-3 (20-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 9-15). Egypt lost only one game in this season of the World League against 7 victories and have now been awarded with next season promotion to Group 2.

The best outcome for Egypt in the World League was in 2008 when they won 4 matches including a historic victory against Poland who were the World Championship runner up 2 years before.

Egypt’s Coach Angiolino Frigoni

“We are very happy, this victory means a lot to Egypt,” Egypt’s coach Angiolino Frigoni said. “We had a good tournament as a whole and we deserve the victory. We had a lot of problems against Montenegro in the final in position 4, but we won and I am proud of it. We had some problem, our setter was injured, but I had a lot of confidence in my second setter, I know that he can play well. Again, this is a big result for Egypt and important for our ranking. We came back to World League after lot of troubles and we got a result. We will play in the second group next year and we will meet stronger teams. Now we will concentrate on African Championships in July. Our season as just started.”

Egypt on gold medal podium

Group 3 final standings

1st place: Egypt

2nd place: Montenegro

3rd place: Slovakia

4th place: China

5th place: Spain, Greece, Turkey

8th place: Kazakhstan, Puerto Rico

10th place: Mexico, Tunisia, Venezuela

CAVB web site http://www.cavb.org

Sharks Duo Disappears From Camp

The duo of Yomi Olaoke and Tayo Fabiyi have been declared missing in action by the Management of Sharks FC.

General Manager of the team, Okey Kpaluku, who made the disclosure in a statement, said both players were last seen around camp after week 11 and 12 encounters in the league respectively.

Kpaluku said the disappearance of both players, has further depleted the struggling side and wondered why the players will go A.W.O.L despite the challenges facing the team.

“How can players just wake up and disappear from camp without permission from the Management or Technical Crew”.

“We cannot give account of the where about of these players and just imagine the negative impact their disappearance will have in the team, knowing fully well that the season has been pretty rough for us”.Kpaluku said

He added that, the players should know they have a contract with the club and as such have no choice but to return to camp.

Brock Lesner Destroys 2015 Cadillac On RAW

Well, hell knows no fury like an angry beast. This saying best described what transpired on RAW on Monday after the WWE Universe watched an angry Brock Lesner trash a brand new 2015 Cadillac on RAW.

Lesnar trashes 2015 Cadillac on RAW

Of course the car was not his. The vehicle was Seth Rollins gift to J&J Securities for helping him get rid of Lesner the previous week.

The beast did not carry out the act in the absence of the owner either. In fact, both men and the Rollins were present in the ring when Lesner took out his rage on the expensive vehicle.

The action forced J&J securities to leave the comfort of the ring and try to take out the beast on the entrance. However, both men took the beating of their lives as Lesner broke Jamie Noble’s arm with the
Kimura Lock while Mercury was suplex through the Cadillac’s windshield.

Lesnar trashes 2015 Cadillac on RAW

Shehu Bello
Amebosports.com

OKON: TOMORROWS GAME AS SERIOUS AS THE FINALS

Defending Champions of the Women’s Federation Cup title, Rivers Angels are ready to defend the title which they clinched last year when they defeated Sunshine Queens at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, by 2 goals to nothing.

The NWFL champions who so far have won this competition five consecutive times will be aiming to retain the cup as they lock horns with new comers, COD Ladies of Lagos in the round of 16 to book a place in the last eight of the oldest football competition.

Head Coach of the title holders and former coach of the senior women national football team, the Super Falcons, Edwin Okon has tagged tomorrow’s encounter as a crucial one for his team.

Okon in a chat with the media officer of the club said the tournament is one that springs up surprises and it will be taken with all seriousness.

Rivers Angels Coach Edwin Okon

“It’s a different ball game altogether, challenge cup is different from the league and I think we just need to approach the game with all amount of seriousness because anything can happen in football and as defending champion we just have to prepare ourselves, prepare our minds to make sure we defend the cup” said Okon.

“Especially the first match against COD, it’s too important to the team; we’ll not let the state down, we always put them first before every other thing, so we won’t let the state down and at that level, I think we only need the state, our fans to equally pray for the team in as much as I know the players and officials of the team will not let them down”

“So it’s the first match and it’s as serious as the finals” He added.

The game kicks off tomorrow by 2pm at the Area 3 Pitch in Abuja.

Women’s Federations Cup

In other women’s round of 16 fixtures we have:

Ibom Angels vs Confluence Queens, Neros Sports Stadium, Anambra, 4pm

Moje Queens vs Edo Queens, Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, Ado Ekiti, 4pm

Bayelsa Queens vs Beautiful Tour Aba, 4pm

Osun Babes vs Fortress Ladies, Bako Kontagora Stadium, Minna, 2pm

Rising Queens vs FC Robo , Osogbo Township Stadium, Osogbo, 4pm

Delta Queens vs Nasarawa Amazons, Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan, 4pm

Alberto Queens vs Sunshine Queens, Oleh Township Stadium, Oleh,

Pakistan Vaults Into Third Place In ICC Test Championship Table

Pakistan has jumped three places to third in the ICC Test Championship table following a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the third and final cricket Test in Pallekele on Tuesday.

Pakistan had entered the series in sixth position on 97 points, one ahead of Sri Lanka. The 2-1 series win has earned it four ratings points and because the middle of the table is so tightly-packed, a leap of three places.

Pakistan now trails second-ranked Australia by 10 points and leads fourth-ranked New Zealand by two points.

Sri Lanka, in contrast, has dropped four points and has slipped to 92 points, while retaining its seventh position overall.

The Ashes begins on Wednesday and England will not only be aiming to reclaim the Urn but also improve its ranking. England is currently sitting in sixth position and a series win by 3-0 or better will move it to as high as second.

Pakistan cricket team, photo credit Ali Jackson
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alister667/5803571279/in/photolist-9QQP14-9QQPxM-mQGGE-7rDrjf-4Ms33g-4Mwe25-4MwheQ-4Ms9TD-4Mwiu1-4Mw8NE-8oBKwg-4Mw9eS-8wNQmd-i4duh-axXQza-gDayDy-gKGtJx-4cod5y-8wNPTJ-2Zmai2-8JfJvV-8JcViS-8Z8Zzi-8j8Auj-8JiNuy-4QYtcB-4T2yxp-2ZmbYp-4T2xPn-4cod5u-4T6LNL-a8JFUk-8JcWks-7rDshf-7thQfH-bzoD1g-7iPAb1-7iPzdQ-8JcV6f-icsta1-7iPC37-7iPAqb-8J9PnZ-8Bd4gC-7vMa4D-qqSe2N-2Ka55N-q9tubW-pu2XKs-q9uf7R

ICC Test Championship table (as on 7 July 2015)

Rank Team Points
1 South Africa 130
2 Australia 111
3 Pakistan 101
4 New Zealand 99
5 India 97
6 England 97
7 Sri Lanka 92
8 West Indies 81
9 Bangladesh 41
10 Zimbabwe 5

Developed by David Kendix