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Celtic defender Bosun Lawal has been spotted doing ‘individual work’ following months out injured and could return soon, according to Hoops journalist Lewis Laird.

The Lowdown: Lawal’s summer arrival

Described as ‘powerful’ by Omer Riza, his former under-23 manager at Watford, Lawal left Vicarage Road for Celtic Park last summer.

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The Hoops beat Chelsea, Fulham and Norwich City to his services, forking out a cross-border fee in the region of £120,000 and handing the youngster a three-year deal.

Capable of playing as a defensive midfielder or a centre-back, the 18-year-old is yet to feature in the Bhoys’ first team under Ange Postecoglou and has been out injured since November.

The Latest: Laird’s post

Laird, who covers all things Celtic-related including the B team, revealed via Twitter that Lawal could return from injury sooner rather than later. The journalist outlined:

“Celtic B defender Bosun Lawal, working his way back from injury. Has been out since picking up an injury with Ireland u19s in November

“Was doing some individual work at the side of the pitch during yesterday’s 3-1 win over Stirling University.

“Return could be sooner, rather than later.”

The Verdict: Good news

Although Lawal hasn’t played a senior game in Scotland, it’s good to see that the Irish prospect is seemingly close to a return. Hopefully he will remain injury-free in the long run and play regularly for the B team, looking to catch Postecoglou’s eye over time.

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The Celtic manager has shown that he is willing to use the club’s young talents, with winger Ben Doak featuring in matchday squads in recent months and making two senior appearances. Lawal could well follow in Doak’s footsteps, providing he stays fit and puts in a series of consistent displays for the B team.

In other news: Devlin reveals that Celtic ‘definitely want’ to sign ‘incredible’ £22k-p/w international

Ryan Sidebottom waits his turn in the Colombo nets © AFP

Ryan Sidebottom missed England’s disappointing showing in the ICC World Twenty20 with a side injury, but that setback has made him all the more determined to succeed in the forthcoming one-day series against Sri Lanka.The first of the five-match series begins in Dambulla on October 1, and Sidebottom is confident that he has the ability to overcome the heat and humidity in what promises to be his first overseas international for six years.”You can only improve as a bowler if you test yourself in different conditions,” Sidebottom told PA Sport. “I am really looking forward to doing that. I’ll be working with the coaching staff, preparing as thoroughly as possible and getting my plans right for playing out there.Sidebottom is expected to test both his fitness and his aptitude for Sri Lankan wickets during England’s warm-up match against a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI at the Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo on Friday. Although he is not the quickest bowler in the England set-up, as a left-armer he offers variety and in his Sri Lankan counterpart, Chaminda Vaas, he has the ideal template for success.”Someone like Vaas has taken a lot of wickets for Sri Lanka and shown that there is a place for seamers,” he said. “He has shown that you do not have to be able steam in and bowl at 90mph to be a quality international bowler on those types of pitches.”Having spoken to Darren Gough about how to bowl and get wickets out in the sub-continent I realise it will be a different challenge for me, but I believe I will be able to get wickets. I might not be able to get orthodox swing all the time but I am sure I will be able to get the ball to reverse a bit.And Sidebottom has no qualms about adapting to touring life. “Adjusting to the conditions [off the pitch] should not be too much of a problem. I love curries so I should be okay on that front, although with the heat out there I might even have to get my hair cut!”

‘I made some adjustments out in the middle, and it is working for me’ © AFP

“If Clive Lloyd is the Big Cat, then Chris Gayle is the Cool Cat,” a member of the West Indian support staff let on. He was once offered a lift by Gayle, from the team hotel in Kingston to a restaurant close by, and what should have been a five minute trip took close to an hour. Gayle took his own time getting in the car; even longer turning the key in the ignition; fiddled with the stereo getting the music going … everything just took so much longer, and time seemed to stand still.And that it does when he bludgeons the ball as he did against South Africa in the second semi-final today at Jaipur. At times it appeared as if Gayle was the only man in the stadium, standing in the middle, bathed in light, blasting the ball to all parts; the fielders did not have to move, it seemed not to matter who was bowling or what sort of ball was bowled: it just had to go, and fast.”I’m a moody guy, very very moody,” Gayle drawled at the end of the match, a big grin plastered across his face. “You see me doing ridiculous things at times. Sometimes I talk to myself a lot and try to motivate myself when I’m too laidback. At other times I just try to relax, cracking a joke to someone out in the field. Rather than standing around and doing nothing I try to do something on the ground. I want to be involved in the game at all times.”But perhaps it’s just the way of performers. When you put them on stage and the curtain rises, they’re one personality – confident, charming, expressive. And off it they’re no different from you and I; relaxed, leading seemingly normal lives. Gayle is a bit like that. On one day he can be the life of the party, garrulous, extroverted, cracking jokes, dancing like a fiend, and on another he can just be seated quietly at the bar, nursing a drink, barely saying a word to anyone. It’s much the same with his batting.For bowlers, the real question to ask is not whether Gayle is in form or not. It’s not whether the pitch suits him or not. It’s just a question of which Christopher Henry Gayle has turned up to the pitch. On the day it was not the quiet one, blocking or dropping anchor. The very first ball from Shaun Pollock – who was coming off figures of 7-0-20-2 in South Africa’s demolition of Pakistan – was flat-batted back past the bowler for a boundary. The next ball was played even better, with total control and a straight bat, and the result was the same.There was some suggestion that Gayle found Pollock’s pace agreeable. If that was the case he certainly didn’t mind the extra zip of Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel. A clip through midwicket off Nel, an audacious slap over midwicket off Nel, and Graeme Smith was forced to pull his best bowlers out of the attack. Smith brought himself on, and with Jacques Kallis, began to restore some order, but Gayle quickly disabused them of such notions, reverse-sweeping Smith to the point fence. The fours came at a steady clip, but it was the sixes that really drove home the point. One each off Pollock and Kallis showed intent, but it was a blow against Robin Peterson, full stride down the pitch, massive heave of the bat, which wasn’t even especially well timed yet sailed high over long-on, that signaled it was Gayle’s day.But those who dismiss him as being unpredictable or unreliable should see that it has not merely been his day, it’s been his tournament, and his year. Gayle has scored 434 runs in this tournament, with three centuries, and is far and away the topscorer, with a game still to play. When he scored 10 on the day, he’d brought up 1000 runs for the calendar year, at an average of over 40.

‘You see me doing ridiculous things at times. Sometimes I talk to myself a lot and try to motivate myself when I’m too laidback’ © AFP

Two days before the semi-final, Gayle had chatted to the media after a practice session. “I made some adjustments out in the middle, and it is working for me,” he said of his batting and recent success. “There is a lot of difference in my batting now, I am just trying to play straight. When I get a start, I try to capitalise on it and not give it away.” And he didn’t give it away, unbeaten on 130 as the winning runs were drilled down the ground and West Indies cantered to victory with six wickets and as many overs to spare.The Australians, who are already in the final, will remember Gayle well. In their encounter earlier in the tournament the normally chilled out Gayle was all keyed up, and some might say it was his constant chirping and encouragement that lifted the team and broke a crucial partnership. Brian Lara thought there might be more in store for the Australians in the big final. And Lara thought Gayle, who has scored heavily all tournament, will want to make a mark in the biggest game of them all. “It’s a brand new game,” said Lara. “We have requirements of our openers and Chris has fulfilled them in the tournament. I’m almost sure that he doesn’t want to leave centre-stage to anyone on the final. He’ll be very keen to get out there and replicate what he did today.”Ask Gayle what he’d make of it if he was sitting out watching himself bat, and the answer rolls of with no hesitation. “I don’t need to watch myself. I know what I am already – flamboyant,” he said. “But one thing I can tell you, if I were to watch myself, it’s going to be pretty, definitely. It’s got to be pretty.” When he bats as he did today, even the opposition, despite the hiding they’re receiving, have got to take out a moment and admire Gayle for his strokeplay.

An association of all US cricketers, intended to represent the 10,000-odd regular players in the USA, is on the drawing board and is expected to announce its formal existence in November.The name of the association has not been decided. It could be called the American Cricketers Association (ACA), so as not to get its acronym confused with the USACA. Membership to ACA will be open to all cricketers who do not serve in executive or administrative positions in any US cricket league or organization, and are playing members of any registered cricket club in the USA.The need for such an organization has been felt over the past few years in US cricket, but gathered momentum over the past few seasons. The shocking performances of the USA team at the ICC Trophy made US cricketers realize that the best talent was simply not being selected to play, because of US cricket politics. Then the tussles over sending state teams to the NLC Interstate Tournament, where many players complained they were threatened with serious consequences if they participated, seem to have galvanized the ACA into action. And the current stalemate in US cricket politics left most of them with a bad taste in their mouth. Only a properly organized ACA could stand up for cricketers’ rights in such situations, it was felt, and the outlines of an ACA began to form on the drawing board.The first aim of the ACA is to develop a national membership, based on common goals that are to be fully defined and approved. After this is accomplished, ACA could officially request that an ACA representative with non-voting privileges be included in every selection committee for US national teams, and would report to ACA and USACA on the fairness of the proceedings. If serious problems were found with the selections, the ACA report would be presented to the USACA Board for action – if the issues were not resolved, ACA could institute legal proceedings against the USACA and report its findings to ICC. Eventually, the same procedures would be applied to regions selecting teams for a national tournament.So far, the organizers of the ACA have operated on a low-key basis. They have posted memos and invitations to US cricketers to express interest in the overall idea, and have promised that a draft outline of a proposed constitution will be ready in November. This will be finalized by the end of that month, whereupon it is expected to be finally adopted by the cricketers.So far, there has been no recognition, let alone comment, on the proposed American Cricket Association on the part of USACA, CLP or MLC. Unofficially, many USACA and CLP officials have been decidedly lukewarm to the idea; a CLP official has even been quoted as saying that cricket administration such as match schedules, team selection et cetera, was no business of the players, whose job was to play!MLC has taken a more cautious approach. While considering the idea to be “somewhat premature”, it has expressed full willingness to discuss player concerns openly with players themselves, and pointed out that the change in the format of the Interstate Tournament came about largely through player input.On its part, the ACA organizers are optimistic and committed. They wish to remain anonymous for now because they do not want to add to the storms and squalls whirling around US cricket, but they have posted an e-mail address, [email protected], for those who may be interested, and are reporting a good response to their original announcement. In a month or two, they promise, we will know more. The wait could be a worthwhile one.

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Down and out: Adam Hollioake trudges off in his last Twenty20 Cup match© Getty Images

Brad Hodge guided Leicestershire to victory in this year’s Twenty20 Cup final against Surrey at Edgbaston. After Surrey set a challenging total of 168 for 6, thanks to 64 from Alistair Brown, Hodge kept his nerve to take his side home with a cool and calculated 77 not out as Leicestershire took the trophy with five balls to spare.In front of another packed house for a Twenty20 match, Hodge was Leicestershire’s hero. He saw them home with help from Darren Maddy, who became the first player to pass 500 runs in the tournament, and Jeremy Snape, who chipped in with 34 not out as Surrey lost their title by seven wickets.It was Brown who made the early running for Surrey, though, with a typically brutal innings of 64 from 41 balls – his second successive half-century in the final – and Mark Ramprakash also contributed with 23 not out in Surrey’s total. Brown was in the party mood. He clubbed nine fours and two sixes, mainly through the offside, as Leicestershire failed to make an early impression with the ball. He added 80 with Scott Newman, who scored a quick 21 and kept Surrey’s momentum going.Brown, who was dropped on 39, was eventually caught by John Sadler in the deep going for another big hit, but he set the platform for the final fling. Rikki Clarke and Azhar Mahmood all chipped in, but Ramprakash held things together to guide Surrey to their healthy score.However, in the end it wasn’t enough. In their chase, Leicestershire’s two in-form batsmen, Maddy and Hodge made a flying start, punching anything loose to the boundary. They put on 62 for the first wicket, with Maddy scoring 22. Hodge continued to shine, bringing up his half-century from 25 balls, and seven fours.However, the introduction of Adam Hollioake, playing in his last Twenty20 match, in the 11th over pegged Leicestershire back. Darren Stevens came in and played some handsome shots, but he was miraculously caught on the long-off boundary by Mahmood for 20, and John Sadler then chipped Hollioake straight to Clarke at midwicket.Leicestershire required 35 off the last four overs, and two boundaries in the 16th over from Snape tilted the math back in his side’s favour. Snape then crunched a huge six over Hollioake’s head in the penultimate over, and Hodge smacked him back down the ground two balls later – and that was effectively that.The equation came down to four needed from the last over, and this time Mahmood couldn’t repeat his heroics from the semi-final, as Snape caressed the first ball through midwicket for the winning boundary to start Leicestershire’s well-deserved victory.
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Darren Maddy: the leading Twenty20 Cup run-scorer© Getty Images

A blistering innings from Darren Maddy helped put Leicestershire into the final of the Twenty20 Cup. Leicestershire, last year’s semi-finalists, piled on a healthy total of 165 for 5, and Glamorgan’s innings never really got going, despite 44 from David Hemp, and they went down by 24 runs.After Brad Hodge won the toss and opted to bat, he and Maddy made a rollicking start, with Maddy smacking 72 from 40 balls, and becoming the first player to 500 runs in the competition. He brought up his half-century from only 25 balls, and scored six fours and four sixes in all.Hodge and Maddy put on 81 for the opening stand before Hodge was out caught by Hemp off Robert Croft for 22. Darren Stevens then chipped in at No. 3 with 27 from 20 balls, and although the middle order slightly lost their way during the closing overs, their total proved to be too much for Glamorgan.Mark Cleary made sure of that with two early wickets, including Matthew Maynard for 9. Hemp and Mark Wallace gave Glamorgan an outside chance with a stand of 49, but once Hemp was caught off the impressive Claude Henderson, his side were always up against it.The wickets continued to tumble as Glamorgan searched for the big hits, and Ottis Gibson wrapped things up when he had Michael Kasprowicz caught on the long-on boundary. Leicestershire now face Surrey in the final, and will be hoping to go one step further this time.
ScorecardSurrey made it through to their successive Twenty20 Cup final – but only just. In an enthralling finish to a low-scoring match against Lancashire, they scraped home by a single run.After Surrey had squandered a blistering start to make 133 all out from their 20 overs, Azhar Mahmood held his nerve to bowl the final over with Lancashire requiring seven to win. However, Chris Schofield could only manage a single and Surrey booked their place in the final.

Surrey celebrate their nailbiting win© Getty Images

Warren Hegg inserted Surrey at the toss, and Alistair Brown got off to a flying start, smacking seven fours in quick time before he was bowled by Andrew Flintoff for 32. Flintoff then picked up the wicket of Scott Newman for 12 as Surrey began to falter. Gary Keedy and Dinesh Mongia then spun Surrey into deeper trouble with five wickets between them, including Mark Ramprakash for 24 and Adam Hollioake for 1.Requiring 134 to win, Lancashire made a bright start as Flintoff hit his first ball for four. However, Azhar rolled out one of his effective slower balls, and Flintoff hit it high in the air to Brown at mid-off for 15. From then on, wickets continued to fall and Lancashire were up against it, especially when Carl Hooper was bowled by Nayan Doshi for 26. However, Dominic Cork entered the fray and smacked 25 from 13 balls, but the big moment of the match came when he skied Hollioake to Clarke at mid-off and Surrey held their nerve to close out a thrilling match.

Hashan Tillakaratne, the former Sri Lankan Test Captain made a fleeting visit to Vienna on Monday. The surprise visit, which came about through personal contacts from the reformed Sri Lankan CC, was a fleeting one, although they were able to take him to see the facilities are Concordia CC’s ground in Markommannenstrasse in Vienna’s 22nd District, where he was able to meet with Concordia CC Chairman and ACA Cricket Development Officer, Siva Nadarajah, who presented him with a team shirt and cap.The ground was officially opened on Saturday 21st June, which some 400 people attending – including youth team players from Tegernsee CC, who have been frequent visitors to Austria for some three seasons now. It will also be used for the forthcoming ECC Notts Sport® Trophy.

A cavalier 176 by Naeemuddin and equally fine batting by Atiq-ur-Rahman helped Gujranwala to earn a slimseven-run lead against LahoreWhites on second day of the National Under-19 Grade-I cricketchampionship at LCCA Ground Thursday.Replying to Lahore Whites’s first innings total of 349, Gujranwalaamassed 356 for eight declared in 78 overs after resuming the day on46 without loss.By close of play, Lahore Whites were in some trouble when they reached94 for three in the second innings.Naeemuddin, taking advantage of atrocious catching by Lahore Whites,carried on from his overnight 35 and blasted 24 fours in his 216-ballinnings that lasted 311 minutes while putting on 130 for the secondwicket with Atiq in only 99 minutes.Atiq hammered 10 boundaries in his 90-ball 72.For Lahore Whites, captain Arsalan Arshad captured three for 58.Summarized scores:Lahore Whites 349 in 78.2 overs (Kashif Ijaz 74, Salman Qadir 71,Zulqarnain Hyder 61, Wahab Riaz 48; MuzaffarAslam 3-87, Ali Imran2-62, Nadeem Hussain 2-103) and 94 for three in 22 overs (ArsalanArshad 27, Adnan Raza 27).Gujranwala 356 for eight decl in 78 overs (Naeemuddin 176, Atiq-ur-Rahman 72, Shiraz Shabbir 30, Waqas Rafiq 20; Arsalan Arshad 3-58).

West Ham are interested in signing Tottenham centre-back Cameron Carter-Vickers, according to a fresh transfer rumour which has emerged.

The Lowdown: Carter-Vickers on loan in Scotland

The 24-year-old joined Celtic on loan last summer, with Spurs not being able to promise him regular playing time at the heart of their defence.

Carter-Vickers has impressed for the Scottish giants, making 22 Premiership starts and scoring two goals along the way.

With his long-term future seemingly lying away from Spurs, a permanent move appears to be on the cards this summer, and the USA international is not without suitors.

The Latest: West Ham eye up move for Carter-Vickers

According to TEAMtalk, West Ham are among several teams interested in making a move for Carter-Vickers, with the expiration of his contract this summer meaning that he will be available on a free transfer.

As many as five Premier League clubs are mentioned in the report, with Leicester City, Wolves, Burnley and Watford all seen as potential suitors along with the Irons.

The Verdict: Plenty to like about Carter-Vickers

While Carter-Vickers hasn’t necessarily hit the heights expected of him at Spurs, he remains a youthful defender with plenty of potential, making him an exciting target for the Hammers.

He has won 4.5 aerial duels per game in the Scottish top flight this season and an 89.4% pass completion rate, highlighting his strength in the air and composure on the ball. Indeed, Hoops manager Ange Postecoglou has hailed the American as having “a real strong, calming influence” on the team at Parkhead.

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With Angelo Ogbonna likely to depart in the summer, Carter-Vickers could come in as a good squad player to battle the likes of Kurt Zouma, Issa Diop and Craig Dawson for minutes at West Ham, hopefully becoming a key player at the London Stadium further down the line.

In other news, a top club insider has made a key West Ham transfer claim. Read more here.

Chris Schofield won’t let something like split webbing stop him © Getty Images

Chris Schofield is confident that his hand injury won’t prevent him from taking part in the ICC World Twenty20.Schofield split the webbing on his left hand when fielding during Surrey’s Pro40 victory against Kent on Tuesday and had to have four stitches, but his club says there is nothing to worry about. He even batted as Surrey moved to the one-wicket win.”He was keen to return to the field,” a Surrey spokesperson told Cricinfo, “but Alan Butcher and Mark Butcher didn’t want to risk it, particularly with the internationals coming up.”He did, however, bat and made 11. “He batted really well – a little gingerly to start with, but then as the adrenaline kicked in he started to play his shots.”The stitches are due to come out around the time Schofield heads to South Africa on September 9. His international commitments mean he will miss the closing stages of Surrey’s Pro40 promotion campaign, which continues in earnest with the floodlit match at The Oval against Somerset on Tuesday.While Schofield is sad to be missing out on the end of Surrey’s season, he knows it’s for the right reasons. “It’s not a bad thing because I’m playing for England,” he told Cricinfo, “but Surrey have been brilliant and have given me every opportunity to express myself.”The change in Schofield’s fortunes has been well-documented, but his inclusion in the England side still hasn’t sunk in. “It was a massive surprise. The start of this year was a new beginning, like I hadn’t been in first-class cricket. I’ve had lots of challenges in the last two years and now I’m about to face another big challenge.”

VVS Laxman, selected for the India Green side, has pulled out of the Challenger Series tournament owing to a hamstring injury.It was earlier reported that Mohammad Kaif, who was appointed as the captain of the India Green side, may also miss the series because of a viral fever, with the likelihood of Sachin Tendulkar leading the side in his absence. However, Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, assured that besides Laxman, all the other players from the three squads were fit.Rajagopal Satish, the middle order batsman from Tamil Nadu, has been added to the India Blue squad. India Blue play their first match on Monday against India Red.