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While Leeds United’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers last week has somewhat eased the Whites’ immediate relegation concerns, Jesse Marsch will still very much be aware his side are involved in a fight for survival over their final eight fixtures of the Premier League campaign.

Indeed, with Leeds currently sitting seven points above 18th placed Watford – who have a game in hand on the Whites – and eight points above 19th placed Burnley – who have three games in hand – statistics website FiveThirtyEight currently estimate that Marsch’s outfit have a 23% chance of going down this season – meaning there is just under a one in four chance Leeds will be playing Championship football in 2022/23.

And, while Leeds’ considerably poorer league performance than in 2020/21 can largely be attributed to a number of key players picking up long-term injuries – most notably Kalvin Phillips – Leeds Live journalist Beren Cross recently revealed that, despite a distinct lack of options in central midfield, Marcelo Bielsa turned down the opportunity to sign Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Winks in the January transfer window – a decision which could end up costing the club very close to £100m in Premier League revenue.

Bielsa’s Winks call could cost Leeds £100m

While Winks is far from a guaranteed starter under Antonio Conte at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – something that is presumably the reason the midfielder was offered to Leeds this winter – the argument that the 26-year-old would have made an impressive addition to the Whites’ current options in the middle of the park is an easy one to make.

Indeed, despite his bit-part role at Spurs this season, the £15.3m-rated England international has nevertheless turned in a decent level of performance over his 14 Premier League appearances, registering one assist and creating three big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 0.9 key passes, 1.1 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 37.1 passes and winning 51% duels per game.

These returns have seen the £91k-per-week dynamo who Mauricio Pochettino once backed to become England’s Andres Iniesta average a SofaScore match rating of 6.96, ranking him as Tottenham’s 11th-best performer in the top flight of English football.

However, aside from his impressive metrics, Winks’ style of play would also have appeared to suit Leeds perfectly, with Paul Robinson previously suggesting the 26-year-old would be a fantastic alternative to Phillips, stating:

“One player I would love to see at Leeds in the Kalvin Phillips role is Harry Winks. He’s not been given his opportunity at Spurs, I think he is a fantastic player. Not only can he do the Phillips role, but he can also play in midfield as well.

“Someone with Winks’ quality would really add something to that Leeds side. He is able to play more advanced but can do the Phillips role when he’s not available. I would love to see Winks at Elland Road.”

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As such, considering the fact that, at the time of being offered Winks in January, Phillips was very much in the early stages of his recovery from a serious hamstring injury, while Leeds were also in an extremely poor run of form, exactly why Bielsa chose not to sign the Tottenham midfielder on a short-term deal is rather baffling.

Indeed, if Leeds do happen to go down this season, fingers can very much be pointed at the Argentine passing up the opportunity to sign Winks – as the 66-year-old could very easily have cost his former side big-time.

AND in other news: Orta could unearth Leeds’ next £60m sensation in “dirty” 23 y/o with a “desire to win”

The USA Cricket Association elections are on hold, although this does not appear to have been conveyed to those involved in the process.Chris Dehring, the independent third party appointed by the ICC to try to find a resolution to the ongoing struggle for control of the USACA, managed to get a new constitution approved but the elections that were meant to follow within 30 days have already become embroiled in controversy.It is believed that Dehring will appoint an external independent auditor to oversee the elections and this means that they not take place until March at the earliest.Since the announcement of the yes vote for the new constitution, the USACA has yet again not uttered a word in public. Some regions have held their elections while others appear to be uncertain how to proceed.New York Region and Central West have already announced their regional board and their representatives to USACA.

‘We don’t have any century-makers in the tournament. But I do expect one of those guys to try to bat out’ – Lara © Getty Images

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Ireland have created enough of an impression already with a win and tie here in this World Cup and that should make today’s final Group D fixture against West Indies at Sabina Park all the more interesting, with both teams qualifying for the Super Eights.And yesterday, following his team’s rain-shortened practice session at Kensington Park, Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, said of the game, “This is what I consider, and I’m impressing the team to consider this the start of the second round.”A win for either team today will give them far more than a confidence-booster going into next week’s round of games where West Indies will face defending champions Australia in the first match at the brand-new Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Tuesday.”The points that you get along with the team that goes through with you, those points accompany you,” Lara said. “The two points are of utmost importance.”To get them and please what is expected to be another large and vocal crowd at Sabina Park, the Windies will have to play a focused game. Their two wins so far against Pakistan and Zimbabwe were attained with varying degrees of efficiency. Bennett King, the West Indies coach, was moved to describe the six-wicket win over Zimbabwe as “scrappy”.Ireland, led by Trent Johnston, have played determined enough cricket so far to punish any further scrappiness by their opponents today and Lara acknowledged their performance.”They showed that they have the mettle,” he said. “They showed that they have the fight in them. And a cricket game is who plays best on the day and that’s what Ireland have done so far.”Both Lara and Johnston are also mindful that an Ireland win against West Indies will not be unprecedented. On West Indies’ last tour to England in 2004, the two teams shared a one-day series in Belfast. Ireland won the second of the two in impressive style, chasing down the 292 for 7 to win by four wickets. Opener Jeremy Bray, who scored a century against Zimbabwe last week, made 71 that day and wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien, who struck 72 in the Pakistan upset, an unbeaten 58. Dwayne Bravo made an unbeaten 100 for West Indies. It is that kind of effort that Lara will want from the men in the top order as they try to build momentum and confidence for the Australia clash.”In this particular tournament, our top four batsmen have to understand that their job is to carry through,” Lara said. “That hasn’t happened totally yet. We don’t have any century-makers in the tournament. But I do expect one of those guys to try to bat out.”The pitches on which games in this group have been played have not necessarily favoured the batsmen, with Wednesday’s match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe being the exception. The bowlers have been especially effective in the first hour of every game, so the team winning the toss may field first again. The patchy weather in Kingston may also provide an added incentive to do so. Afternoon showers have become standard this week and yesterday’s was heavier than in previous days.Lara hinted that with the top five batsmen in the Ireland line-up all being left-handers, consideration could be given to left-arm seamer Ian Bradshaw who has bowled well in the past to left-handers.Personnel changes aside, the home team will know that it is a concentrated effort principally that will get them past an Ireland side that gives very little away in the field and who always supplement their bowling and batting limitations with a large dose of commitment.

A career-best 7 for 95 for Burton de Wett was not enough for Border to avoid a first-innings deficit of 157 in Durban. Resuming on 183 for 3, KwaZulu-Natal stumbled to 326 as de Wett mesmerised the Natal batsmen with only Kyle Smit scoring 46 and Rob Frylinck adding 37 making worthwhile contributions after the hundred from Mark Sanders. De Wett then followed up his bowling performance by scoring 63 as he and Laden Gamiet put on 76 to give Border a slight lead. At the close Gamiet had moved to 101 not out, his first hundred of the season, and Border 264 for 6, a 107-run lead going into the final day.Rain in Cape Town brought an early end to the day’s proceedings with Western Province in a very strong position to record an early win on Saturday morning. An undefeated hundred for Warren Wyngaard and a career-best 72 for Ryan Canning allowed Province to declare at 298 for 6, setting Boland a formidable target of 473. A disastrous start to the Boland innings had them struggling at 10 for 4 but 36 not out from Peter Laing saw them move to 55 for 4 when bad light and rain ended the second day’s play.A career-best 69 not out from Frikkie Holtzhausen and 110 from Juan le Roux allowed North West to take a 50-run lead into the second innings against Free State in Potchefstroom. Jacob Malao used all his experience to take 3 for 112 and help restrict North West to 290 for 8 declared. Jonathan Beukes, scoring 47, got the Free State second innings off on a good foot while Benjamin Hector (24*) and Petrus Koortzen (33*) took them to 137 for 2 at the close.In Johannesburg a disciplined bowling display by Northerns, where noextras were given in 81 overs, allowed them to take a 162-run lead intothe second innings over Gauteng. Douglas Gain mdae 64 and Dumisa Makalima made 61 to allow Gauteng to reach 235 all out with Aaron Phangisotaking a career-best 5 for 76 with his left-arm spin. The 93-run fourthwicket partnership between Gain and Makalima has kept Gauteng in thegame that will end on Saturday.

Russel Arnold: © Getty Images

Sri Lanka have called up Russel Arnold for the forthcoming A team triangular series also involving Pakistan and England. Arnold is one of eight frontline batsmen picked in a 15-man squad captained by Jehan Mubarak.Arnold injured his finger during the recent Provincial Tournament and was then overlooked for the two unofficial Tests against England A although he also failed to make an 18-man training pool for New Zealand.But Arnold was in good form prior to Christmas and Sri Lanka’s abandoned tour to New Zealand, and he will be looked at closely as the selectors work out their one-day squad for Sri Lanka’s five-match tour to India in late April.Saman Jayantha will also have an opportunity to find some form and cement his place on the tour, although several others, including Avishka Gunawardene and Thilna Kamdamby, will be eying an opportunity to break back into the one-day squad.

Brett Lee – ‘I felt really fit out there’ © Getty Images

Brett Lee has declared that he is fit for a Test recall, after bowling 10 overs for New South Wales against Victoria in an ING Cup match. Lee bowled for the first time in six weeks after resuming from an abdominal tear and clean-up surgery to his left ankle, and said he was available for the second Test against India in Adelaide, starting Friday.Lee said, “I’ll keep my fingers crossed, I think I’m definitely ready to play, I knew that if I was to get through these 10 overs and do it well I’m certainly thinking I’m ready to play.”While Glenn McGrath is struggling to overcome his own ankle surgery, Lee made good progress in the match which ended in a thrilling tie. Lee nearly had a wicket in his very first ball but the umpire turned down a huge lbw appeal.Lee added, “I felt really fit out there, I thought the ball came out at good speed and I was really impressed. The first ball of the match, I thought this was too good to be true – but the umpire didn’t give it out unfortunately, he said it was sliding down [the leg side], but that happens – but I was really pleased the way the ball came out.”Mark Waugh, who captained NSW for the first time, also felt that Lee was ready to resume at Test level. Waugh said, “We know what sort of bowler he is, he’s a matchwinning bowler so yeah I would [play him].It was pretty good first-up, there wasn’t much in the wicket for him, so I thought he bowled well.”Lee will play in the Pura Cup match against Victoria at the MCG starting Friday if not selected for the second Test.

Queenstown’s sun finally broke through on the third afternoon but it didn’t shine on either Otago or England as a draw was all England could manage against the worst-performed side in New Zealand’s domestic cricket this summer.That has to be of concern to England who struggled through two top order collapses when only three full playing days lie ahead of the side before they meet New Zealand in the first Test of their three-match series.There was a moment on this full day of cricket, when Otago might have been entertaining thoughts of an international scalp with England 162/8 in their second innings and time for a reasonable chase to occur.But that chance slipped away, like so many others for Otago this summer, on the backs of the batting of tail-enders, James Ormond, Richard Dawson and Andy Caddick.Canterbury with their international players involved will be a much more stern test for England and they will need a significant rise in performance to escape defeat against a better-equipped side on Hagley Oval.England scored 257 in their second innings, for a lead of 260. That was thanks mainly to an innings of 68 by stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick and 38 off 31 balls by Ormond, 35 not out off 50 by Dawson and 16 to Caddick as 95 were added by the last three batsmen.Earlier, Otago did the decent thing and declared at their overnight score, three runs behind England.Otago’s reward was the wicket of Mark Butcher before a run had been scored. He attempted a pull shot to a shortish ball from Kerry Walmsley, sort of a Butcher’s hook, and it flew high in the air from a top edge and Craig Pryor, running back from first slip, got his hands around the ball to complete a good catch.Graham Thorpe completely misjudged a ball from Walmsley and played over it, losing his off and middle stumps as a result. He too departed for a duck with the team score on seven.Then, as if to make a mockery of the departed batsmen, Trescothick and Mark Ramprakash took to the bowling in determined style scoring 99 for the third wicket off 105 balls in 73 minutes.It was, literally, thrill a minute stuff. Trescothick climbed into one over from David Sewell taking 20 runs while Pryor, who had bowled with such good effect in the first innings to secure a five-wicket bag, lasted only three overs while 28 runs were taken from his bowling.Ramprakash hit a lovely six over point off Walmsley but the bowler had the final say having him caught by Simon Beare for 42 off 46 balls.Trescothick brought up his 50 off 64 balls and was on 68, and just back from a brief rain break, when he was caught by Beare at point off an ineffectual shot from the first ball of Sewell’s second spell.Otago set out with the best of intentions but it was always going to take nothing short of a miracle for them to get anywhere near.Openers Robbie Lawson and Brendon McCullum rattled on 30 in nearly five overs but once Lawson was caught behind from Caddick’s bowling for 11, the collapse all Otago supporters feared began.Four wickets fell for four runs before captain Craig Cumming steadied the ship and then, with Pryor’s help, set about righting it.They got through to 57 before Pryor offered a simple caught and bowled chance to Craig White and Duncan Drew followed soon after for a duck.Cumming proved the rock, even if he started out as more the flaky, schisty kind of Central Otago rock than the tougher greywacke of the Southern Alps, as he hooked successive balls from a tiring Ormond for boundaries to lift his score to 23 and the team to 70.With Nathan Morland as a fine support, Cumming dominated the latter stages to blunt the English attack and saw the draw achieved, a minor triumph for an Otago team down on its luck in recent times.They deserved credit for their approach in the match. They provided England with a competent contest, they made the running with their declaration and by bowling England out twice and Cumming was able to reflect on 57 not out off 116 balls while Morland was 19 not out off 49 as Otago finished on 124/6.Caddick ended with three for 43, giving him seven for 85 for the match while today White bowled very tightly and took two for seven from seven overs. Andrew Flintoff did not bowl as he has some problems with a knee.

North West bowled out the reigning Supersport Series Champions the HighveldStrikers for 224 on the first day of their four-day match in Potchefstroomon Friday.West Indian Mark Lavine was the key figure as he took six for 55 to reducethe visitors to a very average score. It was his best return in first classcricket. At stumps the hosts were six without loss.Lavine bowled with aggression, pace and bounce which rattled the Highveldtop order as the side slumped to 33 for four.Nic Pothas and West Indian Otis Gibson managed to make amends and put on anentertaining 84 for the six wicket at a run a ball.Gibson’s swashbuckling style could not last however and he was dismissed byLavine trying to slog one too many it left Pothas to keep the inningstogether. He tried manfully but with the arrival of the tail, Pothas decidedto attack when circumspection might have been better.Pothas fell agonisingly short of his century when he was caught by AndrewLawson off the bowling of Lavine for 93. Once he was back in the pavilionthe end was near for the Highveld innings. Lavine duly wrapped it up withhis sixth wicket which surpassed his previous best of five for 44 againstFree State.

Manchester United have had their fair share of controversy and negative headlines this season, especially surrounding the culture at the club and the ongoing reported issues in the dressing room, and they could now be about to take a huge hit ahead of next season as new information emerges on Cristiano Ronaldo’s future.

What’s the word?

Reliable journalist Jacque Talbot took to Twitter to make a bold claim about the current situation for the 37-year-old and what his next moves are likely to be after he was notably missing from the Manchester derby on Sunday afternoon.

Talbot tweeted: “Understand if Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently in Portugal, moves in the summer it will most likely be to PSG. A lot depends on Manchester United if reach a Champions League spot this season. A new manager won’t change matters if they fail to get the top four.”

Supporters will be fuming

The ever-growing storm cloud which covers Old Trafford may well burst this summer, and whilst supporters of the club may have been expecting this to happen for months, it will surely hurt the fanbase to lose such an iconic and influential player who gives them not only hope for success in the future, but reminds them of what the club was about when he joined back in August 2003.

Fans must be furious with the current state of the club for many reasons, but losing Ronaldo due to a lack of Champions League football would sting even further. The veteran’s prospective departure from the club could have a severe knock-on effect for the Red Devils when it comes to appointing a top manager in the summer and attempting to attract world-class players to join a club without Champions League football and without Ronaldo.

With that being said, it is essential for the Glazers and Ralf Rangnick to implement some damage control and prepare for the 37-year-old’s potential departure ahead of the summer. Although United still have genuine hope to finish in the top four this season, they should not be hiding from the potential repercussions if they fail in that mission.

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With Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and now Cristiano Ronaldo all heavily linked with moves away from the club this summer, the Red Devils could find themselves in a much weaker position than they are in now if they don’t meticulously plan for the immediate future.

In other news: Gary Neville reveals his theory on Man Utd’s managerial search

	Shane Bond is expected to finish his career with only 17 Tests © Getty Images

Shane Bond’s international career is in all likelihood finished after weeks of speculation because of his association with the Indian Cricket League, leaving a huge dent in New Zealand’s side. The ICL is not recognised by the ICC and the national boards and any players who sign for it effectively rule themselves out of international selection under a gentlemen’s agreement.However, Bond had hoped for an agreement with New Zealand Cricket allowing him to represent his country, and at the very least for the England series. According to the Sunday Star-Times, extensive negotiations between NZC and the New Zealand Players’ Association reached a deadlock and Bond has now been released from his international obligations and is free to play in the Indian competition.The newspaper suggested that the players’ association argued that an email from NZC gave Bond the belief he was eligible for both the ICL and his country through an exemption. NZC said the email could not be so construed in the context of all the other emails he received.A spokesman for NZC told Cricinfo the situation would be clarified later this week after the selectors had met on Monday. “The squad should be announced this week so we will know more then,” he said.It was hardly a surprise that Bond accepted the ICL offer, even at the sake of his international career, because under the terms of the deal he will be paid huge sums regardless of whether he is physically hurt. For such an injury-prone player – he has managed only 17 Tests in a stop-start career – the clause is attractive enough to warrant sacrificing any further international appearances. He is now the seventh New Zealand player who is effectively ineligible for country duties.NZC’s chief executive, Justin Vaughan, had been so keen to keep Bond he had even offered to help him financially to be released from the ICL contract. However, with the deal thought to be worth three times what he could earn with New Zealand – plus, of course, the tempting injury arrangement – he chose to take the Indian money.