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Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic have been handed a huge boost ahead of their upcoming Premiership clash on Sunday.

What’s the talk?

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm encounter (via BBC Sport), Gers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst revealed that, after being sent home from international duty with Colombia due to a thigh injury, Alfredo Morelos has not only been ruled out of his club’s meeting with Celtic but could also miss most of the remainder of the season as a result of his knock.

Regarding the 25-year-old’s setback, the Dutchman said: “Unfortunately, he won’t be with us on Sunday, we won’t have him back in the next couple of weeks that’s for sure. I think a long-term injury, but we don’t know how long yet Hopefully we can give more news after the weekend.”

Postecoglou will be buzzing

Considering just how important Morelos has been to Rangers this season, the news that the striker will be unavailable for selection this weekend, and for a number of his team’s remaining league fixtures, is sure to have left Ange Postecoglou buzzing.

Indeed, over his 26 Premiership appearances in the current campaign, the £11.7m-rated hitman has been in breathtaking form for the Gers, bagging 12 goals, registering seven assists and creating nine big chances for his team-mates, also taking 4.3 shots and making two key passes per game.

These returns have seen the £31.5k-per-week forward average a sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.32, ranking him as the seventh-best player in the Scottish top flight.

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As such, it is clear to see that Rangers being without their talismanic centre-forward on Sunday could greatly improve Celtic’s chances of securing what could well be a season-defining victory at Ibrox. With just six games left of the Premiership season to play after tomorrow’s meeting, the Light Blues closing a six-point gap at the top of the table would be a near-impossible feat in such a short space of time, particuarly with the Hoops landing a huge psychological direct blow.

AND in other news: £3m wasted as Celtic had a shocker on £7.9k-p/w “loner” who rinsed Desmond for 129 weeks

	With most franchises having little experience of organising matches, they are seeking the BCCI’s counsel for issues like security and ticketing © AFP

With little more than two weeks left for the start of the Indian Premier League, the eight franchises will meet the IPL governing council on April 2 in Mumbai to discuss key issues like security and ticketing. The franchises will also seek clarity and help from the BCCI-backed IPL council on gaining exemption from paying entertainment tax to local governments on the matches they host.Charu Sharma, the CEO of the Bangalore franchise, said that IPL is a tournament run by the BCCI and if the board usually gets exemption from the tax while staging matches, the franchises also should get a similar treatment. “We don’t own the stadium or even the players for that matter,” Sharma told Cricinfo. “We have them in for a team activity, which is run by BCCI, and I think we should get exemption. We will raise the issue in the meeting.”The franchises are already in the process of fixing ticket prices for the matches – Rs 125 to well over 5000 in Bangalore, and between Rs 200 and 3000 for a game in Hyderabad – and one factor that would affect the rate is the entertainment tax. The working committee of the BCCI took a decision on March 25 that the franchises would be left to deal with the tax and the franchises, for their part, plan to seek exemption.”This is a BCCI-run event and we hope we would be exempt,” J Krishnan, the Hyderabad franchise CEO, said.Yogesh Shetty, the CEO of the Delhi team, however, said that they were ready for the probability of paying that tax. “We are a for-profit organisation and IPL is entertainment and I do see the government at state levels levying the tax. However, what we have to see is whether legally we come under the auspices of BCCI, which is a not-for-profit organisation, and if so can we be exempt from the tax. Anyway this is a state-level issue involving local governments and we will deal with it appropriately.”The franchises believe security and ticketing could be key issues, too. Most of the teams have no previous experience of organising a cricket match and plan to seek BCCI’s counsel in helping them get ready for the event.The Bangalore franchise will be hosting the opening ceremony of the tournament and plans to get clarity on the how the event should be hosted. “We have to make sure the ground doesn’t get affected,” said Sharma. “We will of course seek the help of the KSCA [Karnataka State Cricket Association] but we will be going into details of the launch in the meeting; what we can do and what we can’t.”Other issues like “look and feel of the stadium”, anti- doping procedures and anti-corruption protocol are also on the agenda, said a franchise representative.

Division One

A seven-wicket haul from Mushtaq Ahmed not only continued a welcome return to form but also put Sussex in a strong position against Hampshire at Arundel. Hampshire were 92 for 2 in reply to Sussex’s 341 before losing eight wickets for 110 to hand the home side a first-innings lead of 139. Sussex found the going much easier second time round, despite losing two wickets soon after tea to Dimitri Mascarenhas. At the close they had extended their lead to 280 with Richard Montgomerie unbeaten on 62.Durham responded positively to Lancashire’s 367 with Gordon Muchall striking an unbeaten 65 as they fought back from 58 for 3 at Chester-le-Street. Glen Chapple’s 57, along with useful efforts from the bottom three, lifted Lancashire’s total as Mark Davies finished with four wickets. Tom Smith struck twice in his first two overs to remove Durham’s openers, but Lancashire couldn’t press home the advantage as Muchall began the recovery. He was partnered firstly by Dale Benkenstein then Scott Styris. Muttiah Muralitharan failed to make an impression, conceding four-an-over, and Durham will be confident of at least reaching parity on first innings.Joe Sayers missed his first double century by 13 runs as Yorkshire left Kent in serious difficultly at Tunbridge Wells. He was caught off James Tredwell after more than eight-and-a-half hours at the crease. Adil Rashid and Tim Bresnan built on Sayers’ effort with half-centuries as Yorkshire piled up 551 before Darren Gough called them in. Gough then removed the first two Kent wickets in an over – Martin van Jaarsveld going third ball – and Deon Kruis also bagged a brace as the innings fell to 65 for 4. Robert Key and Neil Dexter survived until the close but two tough days lie ahead if Kent are to stave off defeat.Vikram Solanki struck a career-best 232 for Worcestershire on the second day at New Road, but Surrey responded to the home side’s massive total by racing to 144 for 1 at stumps. Worcestershire declared on 701 for 6, equalling the highest total at New Road (701 for 4 declared by Leicestershire 101 years ago) but, for once, Graeme Hick couldn’t capitalise on the flat track – falling to Ian Salisbury for 15. He is now 12 short of 30,000 first-class runs for Worcestershire and 49 adrift of a career total of 40,000. In reply, Surrey sped to 144 for 1 with Jon Batty unbeaten on 66.

Division Two

3rd dayHamish Marshall struck a unbeaten 120 as Gloucestershire fought hard after being asked to follow-on by Derbyshire at Derby. Trailing by 242 they were put in again and fell to 34 for 3, but Marshall and Alex Gidman turned the innings around by adding 186 for the fourth wicket. Marshall’s hundred was his first in the Championship this season and Gidman continued his prolific recent form. In the first innings he narrowly missed a third century in consecutive innings when he was ninth out for 91, but has a chance of making in three in four knocks after closing on 69. Tom Lungley has led the Derbyshire attack, taking two second-innings scalps to follow his five first time around, and holds a key role on the final day with Gloucestershire probably needing to bat for two sessions to save the game.Leaders Nottinghamshire continued to find the going hard on the third day of their match against bottom side Glamorgan at Swansea. Resuming on 199 for 5, David Hussey (98) and Mark Ealham (74*) put on 112 for the sixth wicket for Notts before Dean Cosker and Robert Croft checked the recovery to hand Glamorgan a first-innings lead of 65. Nicky Peng (65) built on that, steering them to 100 for 1 only for late wickets to leave the game well poised. At stumps, Glamorgan were 158 for 4, 222 ahead.2nd dayEssex built upon their healthy overnight position of 309 for 2 to compile an enormous 649 for 5 before snatching four quick Northamptonshire wickets at Chelmsford. Ravi Bopara, resuming on 155, notched the next four runs to match his career best before piling onwards to his first double century. At the other end, Grant Flower was also dominating Northamptonshire’s attack and together the pair put on 320 for the third wicket. Flower eventually fell for 203, but Ryan ten Doeschate then took the bull by the horns, smashing a violent 62 from 37 balls. Northamptonshire’s day didn’t get any better, losing four wickets before stumps – including Usman Afzaal for 73 and their mainstay, David Sales, for 23.Somerset were two wickets away from wrapping up a crushing two-day win over Leicestershire at Taunton, after their top four each registered hundreds. Marcus Trescothick, who resumed on 153, fell for 182 but James Hildreth (163) and Cameron White (114) put on 202 for the third wicket as Somerset raced past 600. A quickfire 36 from their young wicketkeeper, Craig Kieswetter, led to their declaration on 675 for 5, gaining a mammoth lead of 507. Leicestershire simply crumbled, Charl Willoughby and Andy Caddick each picked up three wickets to leave them on 188 for 8, some 319 runs behind.

Cricket South Africa may discard the final of the SuperSport series because of complaints over the format of the competition. The board will consider a proposal on Wednesday where each team plays five home matches and five away matches and the one with the highest points will win the championship.”Tame draws are not what we’re looking for. We’re looking for a result and it hasn’t happened in the last two finals. Things have now got to the stage where we wonder whether there’s any point in having a final,” Brian Basson, the general manager of cricket affairs, told SuperCricket. “All the sides will play five home matches and five away matches, they each will have played each other home and away. So no particular side has been favoured and the team with the most points at the end of it all should be the champions.”There needs to be some objective for teams to be playing towards even if they are out of contention for the title by the halfway stage,” said Basson. “So we are also proposing that there be financial rewards – the team finishing fifth will earn more than the side finishing sixth, and so on. Rather than questioning their keenness once they have no chance whatsoever of winning, the ranking order in the competition will see teams rewarded according to a sliding scale.”

Shaharyar has his doubts about further exhibition matches © Getty Images

The Asia against Africa matches proposed by the newly formed Afro-Asian Cricket Cooperation have yet to meet with the approval of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The fund-raising matches have been scheduled for August, by which time both Sri Lanka and India would have started their seasons.According to , Shaharyar Khan, PCB chairman, said that he would look at the feasibility of the matches once he got to London to attend meetings of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC).He was quoted as saying: “We really don’t know much about these matches now, so I can’t make any commitments at this stage but as a policy the PCB feels that the players need to be given a proper break from the international schedule which is already too hectic.”The ACC and the African Cricket Council had planned to hold the games at Johannesburg and Cape Town, soon after India and Sri Lanka finished a tri-series with West Indies on August 14. India are scheduled to tour Zimbabwe later that month.According to Syed Ashraful Haq, the ACC chief executive, Durban – home to a substantial Indian community – had been ruled out as a venue because of its inclement weather. Shaharyar, who said that the board was concerned that the players shouldn’t play too many exhibition games, also added that he would listen to views from other member countries of the ACC before making a final decision.The new body, a brainchild of Jagmohan Dalmiya, intends to hold three fund-raising matches each years, with the continental teams chosen by an independent panel of selectors.

East Zone 388 and 216 for 9 dec (Gandhi 87) drew with South Zone 331 and 7 for 0
Scorecard
Despite a valiant 72-run ninth-wicket partnership between Ramakrishnan Ramkumar and Narender Pal Singh, South Zone failed to gain the first-innings lead in their opening match of the Duleep Trophy at Dharmasala. Assured of two points, East Zone settled for batting practice and killed all hopes of a thrilling climax.Having secured a crucial 57-run first-innings lead, East were precariously placed at 33 for 4. Rohan Gavaskar’s breezy 37 off 38 balls ensured there would be no collapse, even as Devang Gandhi compiled a fluent 87 to take the team to safety. Gandhi’s knock contained 10 fours and a six. Sunil Joshi was the most impressive of the South bowlers, as in the first innings, finishing with 6 for 160 in the match.East declared at the fag end of the day, and South played out the three overs without losing any wickets. Shiv Sunder Das had laid the solid foundation for East on the first day with a dogged 120, and Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s energetic 84 propped up the total on the second day. None of the South batsmen converted their starts, and only Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sunil Joshi passed the 50-run mark. Central Zone 549 (Khoda 156) drew with West Zone 352 for 4 (Jadhav 154, Kanitkar 96, Martin 50*)
Scorecard
Dheeraj Jadhav might have tested everyone’s patience with his 445-ball 154, but that innings ensured that West Zone came away unscathed after their opening match against Central Zone at Gurgaon. Jadhav’s monumental effort was complimented by dogged knocks from Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Jacob Martin. Kanitkar contributed 96 to the 216-run partnership with Jadhav, and Martin helped himself to 50, remaining unbeaten in the end.Central’s mammoth 549 was largely built around Gagan Khoda’s 156 at he top of the order. Four other batsmen achieved half-centuries as the West bowlers toiled for more then six sessions. In the end though, neither team picked up any points from the match.

A threat from the Asian Cricket Council directed at New Zealand Cricket appears to have crossed in the mail with news that New Zealand manager Jeff Crowe is to visit Pakistan next week to ascertain security coverage for the proposed tour by New Zealand in April.The ACC, meeting in Sharjah, yesterday issued a statement that if New Zealand did not fulfil its obligation to tour Pakistan in April, then India would pull out of its end of year tour to New Zealand.The threat is an attempt by India to have Pakistan’s backing as part of its bid to take on the International Cricket Council over the commission looking into the factors behind the abandonment of the third India-South Africa cricket Test last year – a match thrown into chaos after India rejected punishment dished out by ICC match referee Mike Denness.Last week’s meeting of the board of NZC decided to accept the new dates for the tour in April, subject to security concerns being met.NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said assurances had been received both from the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Pakistan Government that security “would not be compromised.”Snedden said he believed it also made sense to send Crowe to discuss specific security arrangements.Crowe will leave for Pakistan immediately after the last ODI in the National Bank Series with England at Dunedin. He will return before the first Test in Christchurch a week later.”Should issues surrounding player safety be satisfactorily resolved the Board is keen for the CLEAR Black Caps to play Pakistan as soon as practical to ensure the credibility of the World Test Championship,” Snedden said.Ever since the abandonment of the tour after the September 11 terrorist atttacks in the United States and in advance of the escalation or retaliation in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s neighbour, Snedden has said the obligation for the tour would be made.However, the threat by India to withdraw from its tour would have severe implications for the state of world cricket.NZC made their decision to send Crowe last week and only learned of the threat today through the news media. No formal notice has been received.”We’ve got a lot of goodwill towards Pakistan,” Snedden said.”We’re not getting too excited about this threat, it is an irrelevance in our thinking. We intend to meet our obligations,” he said.

At draw of stumps on the third day Haryana were struggling to avoidthe follow on against Punjab, having lost seven wickets for 247 intheir North Zone Ranji Trophy league match at the Gandhi ground inAmritsar on Monday.Haryana resumed their innings at the overnight score of 41 for 1.Padamjit Sehrawat got a life off the fourth ball of the day when hewas on 20, dropped at second slip by Pankaj Dharmani off ReetinderSodhi. After this both Paramjit and Ishan Ganda played sensibly andadded 120 runs for the second wicket in 265 balls. The duo dominatedthe first session and were not separated until lunch, taking the teamtotal to 137 for 1. Padamjit in particular was more aggressive as hecompleted his 50 in 106 balls with the help of six hits to the fence.Ganda supported him well by taking the singles and doubles.In the second session Haryana added only 63 runs and lost two valuablewickets. Padamjit was the first to go in the fourth over after lunch,brilliantly caught by Dinesh Mongia at second slip off the bowling ofSodhi. He had scored 88 runs in 189 balls during a stay of 253 minutesat the crease with the help of 10 boundaries. Parinder Sharma was thenext to depart at his individual score of 21 when he snicked a legcutter from Harbhajan to wicket keeper Jugnu. Haryana was reeling attea with the score reading 200 for 3.The last session of the day belonged to the bowlers as they caputuredfour wickets in this session at the cost of 47 runs, Harbhajan takingthree of them. He trapped Rajesh Puri (14) and Ajay Ratra (0) in frontof the wickets with consecutive balls. Ganda played a laboured knockof 67 runs as he stayed for 300 minutes and faced 206 balls. His knockwas studded with seven hits to fence. He was sent back to the pavilionby Gagandeep Singh after misjudging an incoming delivery which he leftonly to see it uproot his off stump. Sanjay Dalal was the last todepart as he edged an outgoing delivery from Bharat Bhushan into thesafe hands of Mongia at second slip.With one ball to spare the umpires called off play. Haryana stillrequires 89 runs to avoid the follow-on with three wickets in hand.

Manchester United have been stepping up their pursuit for the new manager that they are hoping to appoint to join Old Trafford this summer, however there could be a huge setback emerging already for the club as their front-runner is being chased by other clubs.

What’s the word?

The Daily Mail are reporting that Erik Ten Hag has spoken to two other European clubs with regular Champions League football, and has a firm offer from one of the clubs that he is interested in.

The Ajax boss is said to have had an interview on Monday with the powers at Manchester United, but is understood to not be the only candidate who has been engaging in ongoing discussions with club chief executive, Richard Arnold and his team, according to the report.

Supporters will be worried

There is no doubt that Ten Hag has been a solid favourite for the challenging managerial position at Old Trafford amongst supporters ever since Ole Gunnar Solksjaer was sacked last November.

The 52-year-old is currently committed to managing his Dutch side, Ajax, but is clearly open to a new challenge if reports are to be believed with him being connected to a number of clubs, and with news emerging that the manager is attracting attention elsewhere it will surely worry Man United supporters as the club competes to seal the deal.

The achievements and progression that Ten Hag has made at his current club is clearly the reason he has become one of the most sought after managers, impressively reaching a Champions League semi-final in 2019 with Ajax and since then has won two Eredivisie titles and two KNVB Cups, with this winning mentality something that the Manchester giants are desperate for.

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The Red Devils manager decision is expected to be finalised imminently as the club works to rebuild their status and get back to winning ways as they are set to suffer their longest trophy drought in four decades, and gaining clarity on who will be the future manager could inspire a more settling atmosphere at the club as Ralf Rangnick sets to see out a disappointing season, after crashing out of all competitions.

In other news: “We are told by senior sources” – Sky drop Man Utd manager update that fans will love

The ICC have given their strongest indication yet that Darrell Hair, the umpire who was reinstated yesterday, will return to Test umpiring for England’s home series against New Zealand in May.Hair has undergone a rehabilitation period since he was effectively removed from international cricket – with the exception of umpiring the occasional Intercontinental Cup match – in the aftermath of England’s forfeited Test against Pakistan at the Oval in 2006. Dave Richardson, the ICC’s general cricket manager, said yesterday that the board will “probably keep him away from Pakistan matches where we can” but added that Hair’s first real opportunity will come during England’s first home series of the summer.”Both teams rate Darrell Hair very highly,” Richardson said. “It’s likely that he will get an opportunity.”Hair’s reinstatement has sparked outrage in Pakistan, with Inzamam-ul-Haq, who captained Pakistan in the Oval Test, saying he was “shocked and disgusted” by the news. Shaharyar Khan, the Pakistan board chairman during the Oval Test, also expressed similar sentiments.