According to reports in the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds United are keen to sign Everton loanee Matthew Pennington on a permanent deal this summer, although the Toffees could throw a spanner in the works.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Pennington moved to Elland Road on a season-long loan deal last year after finding first-team opportunities hard to come by on Merseyside, and despite missing chunks of the campaign because of injury and disappointing form, he has obviously still made a positive impression to Paul Heckingbottom and his assistant Jamie Clapham.

The Yorkshire Evening Post says that the Whites have already looked into the possibility of a permanent deal, but the Toffees are keen to extend his current contract which is due to expire next summer when he returns to Goodison Park.

How has Pennington done this season?

The 23-year-old started Leeds’ first Championship match of the season away against Bolton Wanderers, but he picked up an injury that meant he didn’t make his second league appearance until the end of September.

The centre-back, who played as a makeshift right-back in the 2-1 win against Barnsley at Elland Road on Saturday, has made 22 outings in total for the Yorkshire outfit this term, and has started six of their previous eight fixtures – although fans on Twitter weren’t impressed with his display against Aston Villa earlier this month.

Are they right to try and sign him?

They certainly would be, for the right price.

As we mentioned previously, the defender has struggled at times this season but when he has had something of a regular run in the XI, he has impressed.

The 23-year-old certainly has the quality to make an impression for Leeds in the future, and the club will hope that Everton can be convinced to let him go this summer.

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Will they get him?

It’s difficult to say.

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Leeds found themselves in a similar situation last season when they wanted to sign loanee Kyle Bartley on a permanent basis following a successful loan spell, but he penned a new contract with Swansea and ended up staying there instead.

The Whites will certainly be fearing the same outcome, and could come down to whether Pennington feels he is going to get the chance to play regularly or not at Goodison Park next season.

Once regarded as one of the top talents in Europe, a Premier League winner, training ground bust ups, described as “unmanageable” by Jose Mourinho, and still could still “be one of the top strikers in Europe” according to Andrea Pirlo.

It is of course the enigmatic Mario Balotelli. A man possessed with fantastic talent but an awful attitude – it is fair to say the Italian forward’s career is hanging in the balance once more.

He has fallen out of favour at Anfield and hasn’t featured for the Reds this pre-season. He was left out of Brendan Rodgers’ side that toured Australia and Finland.

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There isn’t a lot of positivity going on in the former Inter’s strikers career at the moment. He lost his place in the Italy squad last season after a poor first year at Anfield, where he scored four goals in 28 games following his £16m move from AC Milan.

His poor form has convinced Reds boss Rodgers that it was probably a mistake to sign him in the first place, and it does look likely he will leave Anfield this summer – with Serie A clubs interested in the forward.

However, despite his poor form his former Italian team mate Andrea Pirlo believes Balotelli will get back to his best.

“He made mistakes when he was younger, he knows this,” Pirlo told shortlist.com. “But I hope next season goes well for him, because I still believe he has all the attributes to be one of the top forwards in Europe.”

The fact that such a quality player like Pirlo, who has played alongside some of the world’s best players throughout his long career, is saying something like that about Balotelli should at least make Brendan Rodgers think twice about selling the forward.

But it does not look as though that the Northern Irishman does not fancy the Italian forward too much as he has already brought in big Belgian striker Christian Benteke from Villa who is looking to be the main man at Anfield next season.

Some would argue that being sold after just one season is a bit harsh on Balotelli, as one poor campaign doesn’t define a career, but two or three years certainly do.

And it is getting to that point very soon now for the striker. It’s getting to that crucial point for the 24-year-old where he needs to deliver, because clubs will run out of patience with him and won’t give him many more chances.

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The Reds have seemingly run out of patience with the striker, as they clearly see it as a waste of time trying to get anything out of the forward any more.

It is a strange decision after just one season, especially after they pinned their hopes on the Italian last summer.

Nevertheless, there is still time for the striker to show why he was once so highly regarded.

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Kerala ended the second day of their South Zone Ranji Trophy matchagainst Karnataka, trailing by 68 runs with seven wickets in hand inthe first innings at the Nehru stadium in Kochi on Thursday. Replyingto Karnataka’s first innings total of 236, Kerala were 168 for three.Resuming at 231 for seven, Karnataka were dismissed for the additionof only five runs. Medium pacer Tinu Yohannan bagged three wickets for61 whereas Sunil Oasis and Suresh Kumar picked up two each.Kerala scored at about two runs an over in making a confident replybefore play was called off an hour early due to bad light. PrashanthMenon was the top scorer with a steady 63. He faced 123 balls and hitseven fours and a six. Dodda Ganesh picked up two of the threewickets. Sunil Oasis (30), having been dropped twice, had Ajay Kudua(17) batting at the crease when play was halted.

Ian Harvey Photo © AllSport UK

Gloucestershire are on the verge of completing a clean sweep of the domestic one-day competitions after a convincing victory over Sussex last night lifted them to the top of the National League.Their six-wicket win and Yorkshire’s defeat by Kent means Gloucestershire will be crowned champions if Somerset fail to beat Lancashire at Old Trafford tonight. Even if they do, Gloucestershire can still complete the treble in front of their own supporters by beating Northamptonshire in their final game on Sunday week.Gloucestershire seemed to have been on the rough end of Duckworth Lewis calculations when they were asked to score 171 in 31 overs after two stoppages for rain had curtailed Sussex’s innings. But Tim Hancock and Kim Barnett launched the innings with a stand of 69 in 15 overs and after Barnett had holed out to long off his partner upped the tempo in partnership with Harvey, adding 66 in ten overs before he was caught at long on for 51 made off 72 balls.Harvey blasted 43 off just 30 balls before he was needlessly run out answering Jeremy Snape’s call for a quick single, but a target of 25 off the last five overs was never likely to trouble a side with Gloucestershire’s one-day pedigree and they got home with 11 balls to spare.Harvey had earlier produced another outstanding performance with the ball, taking 3-23 including dangerman Chris Adams and fellow opener Richard Montgomerie with just 12 on the board. Only fellow Australian Michael Bevan mastered some tight bowling as he made an unbeaten 82 off 87 balls, his eighth half-century in the competition this season.

ScorecardChris Woakes continued his comeback after injury•Getty Images

Warwickshire enjoyed the best of the opening day in the Ageas Bowl sunshine asthey reduced to Hampshire to 255 for 8 at the close of play.Hampshire were indebted to their sixth-wicket pair of Adam Wheater (57) and JoeGatting (43), who added 92 after the innings had sagged at 102 for 5. GarethBerg added an unbeaten 42 during a spirited rally with tail-ender Mason Cranebefore stumps.Boyd Rankin, recalled to the Warwickshire bowling line-up, took 3 for45 on his return, while fellow England-capped paceman Chris Woakes continued hisrehabilitation after knee surgery with tidy figures of 2 for 19 from 13 overs.This is only his third LV= County Championship match of the summer.Hampshire’s top order has struggled for runs all season and Jimmy Adams, whohas not passed 30 in an innings since May, went for a duck – the first of twoearly victims for Woakes, who had James Vince caught at first slip in his nextover to leave the hosts 4 for 2.Michael Carberry and Will Smith eased Hampshire through to lunch withoutfurther mishap – only 61 runs came in an arduous morning session – but the pairwere soon parted after the interval.Carberry was caught behind for 36 by Tim Ambrose when attempting to flick aball off his legs, to give the recalled Rankin his first wicket.Nine runs later and with Hampshire generally struggling against a predominantlyseam attack, Warwickshire bagged a fourth victim, with Smith (43) superblycaught on the run at wide third man by Jeetan Patel as the former Durham batsmanattempted to upper-cut Rankin.It left Hampshire 85 for 4 – and a fifth wicket soon fell when Liam Dawsonwas trapped lbw by Rikki Clarke.Warwickshire’s progress was held up by Wheater and Gatting, who took Hampshireto 196 before the latter hit a soft catch to short extra cover off Patel.To Hampshire’s disappointment, Wheater, industrious at the crease and addingsome needed zip to the run rate, fell to a gully catch by Laurie Evans to giveRankin his third wicket off a ball that rose sharply.Australian Jackson Bird departed soon after Warwickshire took the new ball, butas Hampshire wobbled again at 214 for 8, so Berg and Crane rallied in thefinal hour.Berg was going well by stumps and had added a handy 41 with teenager Crane, on12 not out, for the ninth wicket.

A court-appointed arbitrator has upheld Nimbus Communications’ claim of almost Rs 12 crore ($1.8 million) against the BCCI for wrongful termination of various broadcast deals. The BCCI now finds itself on the wrong side of two of the three arbitration proceedings underway with Nimbus.On August 31, the sole arbitrator, retired chief justice of India SH Kapadia, ruled in favour of Nimbus after a drawn out procedure that began in October 2013.The arbitrator has asked the BCCI to settle Nimbus’ claims with interest and costs. The total amount of the claim is Rs 11.88 crore – Rs 9,81,09,800 as principal plus interest at 9% per annum from October 28, 2013, till the date of payment, and the charges for revoking bank guarantee commission.In December 2011, the BCCI had terminated its six-year broadcast deal with Nimbus, starting from 2009 and worth Rs 2000 crore, owing to payment issues. Nimbus had approached the court to overturn the decision soon after. The matter has since gone into arbitration and according to a Nimbus insider, the broadcaster could gain in excess of Rs 4000 crore ($600 million), including interest, if things go its way.Nimbus have already won the first arbitration hearing in August last year, and the BCCI was asked to pay Rs 10 crore ($ 1.5 million) in relation to hiring of equipment and technical services. The BCCI had challenged that ruling in the Bombay High Court but Justice RD Dhanuka had dismissed their appeal.After the latest verdict, a BCCI insider indicated that the board will again seek an appeal in the Bombay High Court.The arbitrator’s verdict in both the cases is a huge setback for the BCCI considering the biggest claim of the case is yet to be decided upon and is expected to be so in the coming months.The BCCI has suffered numerous financial setbacks in the recent past. Besides the Nimbus cases going against them, they recently lost arbitration proceedings in excess of Rs 550 crore for abruptly terminating IPL franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

Sri Lanka interim head coach Jerome Jayaratne has slammed the team’s fielding standards, describing it as “the worst in Asia.””We are now the worst fielding side in Asia, we were never behind Pakistan but now we have gone behind them,” Jayaratne told . “India proved that they were better than us and even Bangladesh are fielding better than us.”Jayaratne, who was appointed in the stopgap role earlier this month following Marvan Atapattu’s resignation, was equally critical of Sri Lanka’s performance in other departments. He cited below-par fitness levels as the chief cause of the team’s problems.”Other than the bowling which is holding the team together, the batting, fielding and fitness has let us down,” Jayaratne said. “It’s a lot to do with the fitness levels. The way our guys are fielding they are carrying excess weight and we are in shambles.”Jayaratne, however, was confident these issues would be addressed by English trainer Michael Main, who has been hired for two years by Sri Lanka Cricket. Main, Jayaratne said, had laid down specific targets to be achieved by players in a particular time frame, failing which “they are going to be in trouble.””Michael gave us a mind blowing presentation and showed where we are and where we need to get to,” he said. “What he tried to do in the first three months is he didn’t try to turn things around but observed everything. Now he has decided how he is going to take this forward and at the presentation he was given a full green light to go ahead in whatever he wants to do.”I have a very strong belief if we give Michael about four to six months he can turn things around. He has got the players to sign documents like signing a contract that they need to reach desired targets in particular time duration otherwise they are going to be in trouble.”He has assessed them and given them time targets, some they cannot do before the West Indies series but definitely you can see the boys are working towards that. Everybody’s got individual programs and targets and they have taken it seriously.”While Jayaratne has been involved extensively with cricket in Sri Lanka, this is his first stint as coach of the senior team. He said he was surprised when SLC interim committee chairman Sidath Wettimuny had asked him to take charge.”I was asked to stand in as stopgap coach for an interim period until they found a coach from overseas,” Jayaratne said. “I wouldn’t have said yes if I wasn’t up to it.”

Zim squad for Ireland ODIs

Elton Chigumbura (capt), Sikandar Raza, Brian Chari, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Luke Jongwe, Neville Madziva, Wellington Masakadza, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Taurai Muzarabani, John Nyumbu, Tinashe Panyangara, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams
In: Craig Ervine, Wellington Masakadza
Out: Graeme Cremer, Hamilton Masakadza

Hamilton Masakadza has been dropped from Zimbabwe’s ODI squad for the home series against Ireland due to his patchy form. However, there will still be family representation in the XV, with his younger left-arm spinning brother, Wellington Masakadza, having been included. If Wellington does get a game, he will be the third of the Masakadza siblings to play for Zimbabwe, with fast bowler Shingi also have made the national team.Middle-order batsman Craig Ervine, who missed the home ODIs against Pakistan due to a hamstring niggle, returns to the squad. Graeme Cremer, who had sprained his ankle during that Pakistan series, misses out, having not yet fully recovered. A Zimbabwe Cricket statement said his ankle might require another two weeks to heal, and he will undergo an MRI scan to confirm the extent of the damage to it.Following unconvincing scores of 15 and 7 against Pakistan, Hamilton Masakadza was left out for the final ODI of that series, and it was expected that he might miss out here.Zimbabwe host Ireland for three ODIs, starting on October 9.

ScorecardKaveen Bandara’s 91 and debutant Udith Madushan’s 3 for 41 helped Sri Lanka Under-19 beat Pakistan Under-19 by 85 runs in the fourth youth ODI in Colombo, and take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.After being inserted, Sri Lanka’s openers added 49 to give the team a solid start. Hasan Mohsin removed Avishka Fernando for 3, but the 94-run third-wicket stand between Bandara and Kamindu Mendis led the team’s recovery.Shadab Khan and Sameen Gul then triggered a middle-order collapse to reduce Sri Lanka to 189 for 7. The hosts could add just 27 more as they folded for 216 in 35.5 overs. Bandara’s 93-ball innings studded with 10 fours and a six and Mendis’ 39 turned out to be valuable in the end.In their reply, Pakistan received an early setback as left-arm seamer Lahiru Samarakoon dismissed Abdullah Shafique for a duck. Their efforts to rebuild never really took off as they lost wickets regularly even as the scorecard kept moving along. The score that read 50 for 5 in the 10the over soon became 69 for 7 in the 18th. A 54-run eighth-wicket stand between Hayatullah and Shadab led a mini-recovery, but the damage proved too hard to repair as the hosts cantered to an 85-run win.

Kerala openers Varun Girilal and MP Sorab made merry at the expense of the Karnataka bowling on the second day of their Coca Cola Trophy South Zone (under-25) tournament group A match at the Maharaja Jayamarajendra Wodeyar Sports Complex in Bangalore on Wednesday. The in form batsmen shared a partnership of 366 runs off 101.2 overs as Kerala scored 410 for three in reply to Karnataka’s first innings total of 264 at close.Resuming at 68 for no loss, Kerala had things pretty much their own way during the day, thanks to the form exhibited by Girilal and Sorab. In the last match against Andhra, Girilal scored 77 while Sorab had carried his bat for 255. On Wednesday, they put the Karnataka bowling to the sword and the first innings lead was obtained without loss after 72.2 overs. Both the batsmen were equally aggressive and even though the Karnataka captain tried out eight bowlers, they just went about decimating the attack. At lunch the score was 199 and at tea it had progressed to 296.Ultimately it took the second new ball taken at 360 after 100 overs to break the partnership. Sorab was the first to be dismissed, caught by Shanbal off medium pacer Sunil Kumar for 183. He batted 430 minutes, faced 337 balls and hit 26 fours and a six. In his next over, Sunil Kumar had Girilal caught by Shanbal for 154. Girilal batted 441 minutes, faced 288 balls and hit 22 fours and a six. Sunil Kumar took a third wicket in his following over dismissing C Sanju for a duck. But CM Shyam with a breezy unbeaten 26 off 20 balls with six hits to the ropes brought up the 400 shortly before close. Sunil Kumar was the only bowler to be somewhat effective and finished with three for 93.