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Promising Leeds United centre-back Leo Hjelde could miss the rest of the 2021/22 season through injury, according to expert Ben Dinnery.

The Lowdown: Injury setback for Hjelde

The 18-year-old is seen as a hugely exciting youngster at Elland Road, with his former Ross County manager John Hughes describing him as a ‘fantastic’ addition for the Whites upon signing him.

Hjelde has only made three appearances for Leeds this season and unfortunately he has suffered a severe setback, having picked up a leg injury against Everton.

It remains to be seen if the Norwegian will require surgery but the current situation doesn’t look positive.

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The Latest: Expert makes worrying claim over Hjelde injury

Speaking to Football Insider, injury expert Dinnery even hinted that Hjelde’s season could be over, especially if surgery is needed. He outlined:

“We don’t have a definitive diagnosis here, so we’re trying to read between the lines. In terms of the mechanism, it happened quite late in the game. Based on what we’ve seen in the past, it could be related to his meniscus.

“If that’s the case, they will try to manage it conservatively in this three-week period. The other option is surgical intervention, which is a real possibility.

“We’re two-thirds of the way through the season. Once you go under the knife, the expectation is that you can be three or four months out.

“If it is the meniscus, they will try it for that three-week period. If there’s a chance he can play again this season, great. But the reality is that, if you’re going to go under the knife, the focus is going to be getting ready for pre-season.”

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The Verdict: Don’t rush him back

It is vital that Leeds handle the teenager with care in his current situation, ensuring that he isn’t rushed back as it could potentially aggravate the problem further down the line.

The Norwegian is not in a situation where he is desperately needed by Marcelo Bielsa at the moment, having been used sparingly by the manager, and the most important thing is ensuring that he recovers fully.

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If that means Hjelde doesn’t return until next season, so be it, and he should be viewed as someone who can be a star in the future, rather than an inexperienced head who is thrown into the intense glare of Leeds’ current Premier League relegation battle.

In other news, another candidate has emerged in the race to potentially replace Bielsa. Read more here.

The inaugural tournament of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) – the ICL 20 20 Indian Championship – will be held between November 30 and December 16 at the Tau Devi Lal Cricket Stadium in Panchkula, Chandigarh.The announcement was made at the ICL’s executive board meeting in Chennai. The tournament will consist of 20 Twenty20 matches, and will culminate with the final on December 16, preceded by the playoff matches for 3rd/4th and 5th/6th place.”The ICL 20 20 Indian Championship will be held as promised, later next month at Chandigarh. We are working hard to deliver a very exciting tournament for the Indian viewers,” Kapil Dev, the chairman of the ICL’s executive board, said. “I am confident that the public in this country will witness for the first time a fully professionally run and organised extravaganza of cricket.”The ICL, launched by the Essel Group, has signed players such as Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje, Damien Martyn, Deep Dasgupta and Dinesh Mongia. Mohammad Yousuf had joined as well, but opted out ahead of Pakistan’s home series against South Africa.The dates for the tournament clash with India’s home Test series against Pakistan.

Michael Vaughan spent a full day in the field but no one was able to ask him how it went © Getty Images

What on earth is Michael Vaughan doing in this England team? That was the question that everyone was asking at the end of an inconclusive day at the WACA, but it was one that Vaughan himself was not permitted to answer. England’s injured captain emerged unscathed (we believe) from his first day in the team since the tour of India in February, and even took charge for a two-over spell when Andrew Strauss had to leave the field. But to what end, no-one was quite able to fathom.Instead, after requests for a post-match interview were turned down by the ECB, it was left to Sajid Mahmood to speak on Vaughan’s behalf. “He’s still vocal, still his usual self. It’s good to have him back,” said Mahmood, who produced a decent but inconclusive spell of 2 for 61 and spent most of his time fielding various enquiries about the form and fitness of a man he has never played under in Test cricket.It’s becoming a recurring theme on this trip, because Vaughan’s presence in Australia is veering towards the supernatural. He’s the captain without a voice, the minister without portfolio, the familiar face among the anonymous rookies of the ECB Academy. And the harder the ECB attempt to play down his presence, the more they stir their own pot of innuendo.And so, we ask again, what on earth is Vaughan doing in this match? It’s a reasonable question and it deserved a reasonable answer, especially given Duncan Fletcher’s suggestion to the BBC yesterday. “There’s not enough cricket between now and the third, fourth and fifth Tests,” said Fletcher, “especially cricket where he has to stay in the field for a long time, probably two days standing on that leg, and for a long innings. So until he can do that and he’s confident in his knee we won’t consider Michael Vaughan.”So here instead, courtesy of the ECB, is Mahmood’s take on the situation: “He was a huge success in the Ashes last year, and to have him back in the field was great for the lads.” So, given that all we are can to do is speculate, Vaughan must be out there geeing up a dispirited side and getting them back on track for the last three Tests. I bet that’ll do wonders for Andrew Flintoff’s sapping morale. After all, leading by inspiration is meant to be his one true talent as a captain.Make no mistake, Vaughan deserves sympathy for his plight and admiration for his refusal to bow to what has long seemed the inevitable. Like Jonny Wilkinson, his rise and fall is a tale lifted straight from a Greek tragedy – the glory of his finest hour giving way instantly to pain, suffering and recriminations. But there is a time and a place for such a public show of single-mindedness, and right here, right now – on the eve of England’s make-or-break moment in an Ashes series – is emphatically neither.Before the tour began, those in the know – most of whom are in and around the press box and the England camp – were scoffing at the prospect of Vaughan making an Ashes comeback. Many in fact questioned whether he would ever be seen on a cricket field again. Now, however, who knows what we are to believe. England have already shown themselves to be obsessively fixated with the team of 2005. Is it really so improbable that Vaughan is about to be parachuted into the fray?

Sajid Mahmood on Vaughan: ‘To have him back in the field was great for the lads’ © Getty Images

After all, the damage has already been done on this trip. Mahmood, Chris Read and Monty Panesar were whipped out of a winning side and left to simmer on the sidelines, smarting at such a public show of no-confidence from an administration that remains perversely loyal to its non-playing captain. “It’s been frustrating,” admitted Mahmood today, just as Panesar admitted to Cricinfo on Thursday and Read to anyone within earshot. Panesar’s display today was remarkable – it was skill blended with relief blended with fury when he snatched his jumper back after an appeal was turned down. His desperation to impress seemed to dent some of his unbridled love for the game. And that is as sad as it is wrong.Vaughan is not a quitter. That much is abundantly clear, and so there is a perverse logic in having him hanging around so close to this Ashes squad, so close to their final, final, chance. But that’s all it is. Perverse. In days gone by, before he lost faith in the men at his disposal, Fletcher would have backed his captain to the hilt – publicly, privately, and everywhere in between. And by captain, I mean Flintoff, who had to reiterate last week that he had been put in charge for all five Tests, and not Vaughan. Just in case Fletcher has forgotten.Instead, Fletcher has thrown a hospital pass to his active captain by blaming him, through a mysterious source at The Daily Mail, for the selection disasters at Brisbane and Adelaide. Rumours, rumours. But now, what’s this we read today? ” It was the right choice to make [Freddie] captain and I’m not sure if he’s getting the side he wants,” said a certain Shane Warne in his Times column today.Shane Who? Amid all the bickering, the struggle for the Ashes seems to have been forgotten. But at least we now know that Mahmood “put the ball in good areas” and “felt in good rhythm in the nets”. All hope is not yet lost.

Bennett King: Not backward in coming forward to defend his players © Getty Images

Bennett King, the West Indies coach, defended his cricketers against claims by Michael Holding, former fast bowling great, of an attitude problem, just days before the opening Test against Australia.Holding has criticised the current touring party, accusing the squad of not focusing on cricket and on representing the West Indies. He said the attitude problem would lead to the Caribbean tourists being demolished in all three Tests against Australia. The West Indies have not won a Test in Australia since February 1997.Holding said, “I’m concerned about their general focus. They aren’t focused on their game enough, they aren’t focused on representing the Windies enough.”Holding, in Australia as a television commentator on the series, pointed to the disciplining of fast bowler Tino Best last week over a training incident as an example of the lax attitude within the squad.But King stood up for his players and questioned Holding’s knowledge of the contemporary Windies squad.”He’s not privy to the group now I don’t think,” King told a lunch. “The group actually works really hard and I think publicly they’re getting more acceptance.”The more things they do right publicly, I think the better they’ll be accepted as well.”King, who came to the West Indies job last year after coaching stints with Queensland and the Australian Cricket Academy, said his squad was happy, competitive and dedicated.”I think you’ll see a change in their fortunes sometime, but certainly it’s quite young in their development.”The West Indies had the better of Queensland in their four-day warm-up match ahead of Thursday’s Test with the Queenslanders having to scramble to get a draw after the tourists amassed 612 in their only innings.King said Marlon Samuels had improved his Test selection chances by scoring a first-innings double century and taking five wickets with his off-spinners. Wavell Hinds will definitely miss the Brisbane Test with a broken finger, opening up the opportunity for Samuels.King said he expected key batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan to overcome a knee injury while Daren Powell and batting superstar Brian Lara, both suffering various niggles, would also be fit to play.

David Leatherdale is in excellent one-day form for Worcestershire© Getty Images

David Leatherdale, Worcestershire’s veteran allrounder, has extended his one-day contract for another year. Leatherdale, 36, made his debut for Worcestershire in 1988, and after ending his first-class career in 2003, his benefit year, continued to play one-day cricket.Leatherdale has chipped in with some valuable innings in the National League and C & G Trophy this season, where he is averaging 41, but his main contribution has been with the ball. He has taken 11 wickets in the National League, at an average just under 30, and is averaging just 9.80, with five wickets, from four C & G Trophy games.”It can’t be easy coming into the side after maybe a week or more away from the team but David has done a superb job for us and still leads by example," said Ben Smith, Worcestershire’s captain. "I am glad he is going to be around again next season. He is also still a key part of our bowling unit, and his fielding still sets the standard for the rest of us.”

Wasim bowls to Jonty Rhodes

Centuries from Gloucestershire opener Phil Weston and South African batsman Jonty Rhodes ensured that this Frizzell County Championship Division Two clash went into the fourth day as Hampshire toiled in the hot Sunday sunshine.The visitors still required 95 to make Hampshire bat again overnight and had already lost Craig Spearman and nightwatchman Mike Smith in the process so many thought that the game – and a win for Hampshire – would be wrapped up with a day to spare.However, the West Countrymen knew that they had a good two days to bat out and negotiated the first to close with a lead of 237 and the forecast very possibly on their side for Monday.Weston, carrying on from his steady 39 in the first innings, played patiently alongside Chris Taylor as the pair added 62 for the third wicket which edged them close to lunch. Taylor was snapped up by the persevering Udal, caught Robin Smith at short leg for 31.But this only brought in Rhodes to record his highest score for his adopted county and his highest since his unbeaten 57 against Hampshire at Bristol some six weeks ago. He had not been in the best of forms of late – but made serious amends against a Hampshire attack which was to lose Alan Mullally to a hamstring strain.The injury will see him miss the four-day trip to spinner-friendly Northampton starting on Wednesday.Weston went to his first century for Gloucestershire – he moved from Worcestershire in the closed season – but perished just two balls later when he nibbled an edge to Pothas off Ed Giddins.Gloucestershire were working in good partnerships throughout as Hampshire tried to eke out every wicket on a pitch which seems to have improved in its trustworthiness as the game has progressed.Weston and Rhodes added 96, Rhodes and Windows 75, Rhodes’ stand with Gidman and Harvey both realised 31 while his partnership with Ball posted 27. It was hard work for Hampshire’s bowlers in dislodging the resistance.But it was Rhodes with a delightful innings of 134 not out, coming from 251 balls and including 12 fours and three sixes – one of which, off Giddins, took some seven minutes for the ball to be found!The needless run out of wicket-keeper Stephen Pope helped Hampshire finish off the day on a high, but chasing down approximately 250 will be a challenge on a wicket which could be freshened up a bit by some forecast heavy overnight rain and thunder.

Queensland dished out another Brisbane hiding to New South Wales today but the Blues still left the Gabba believing they were sneaking up on Australian cricket’s best domestic team.The eight-wicket win in less than three days flipped Queensland back to the top of the Pura Cup points table and left the Blues with another Gabba disaster to paste into their scrapbooks.The Blues haven’t taken a point from Brisbane in eight seasons and they were always in trouble today when their second innings total of 222 left the Bulls with just 133 runs for their second outright win of the season.Jimmy Maher (61) and Martin Love (65no) made short work of the run chase on a drying wicket, steering the defending champions to 2-133 and leaving no doubtthey were the favourites for a third successive title.The Bulls were simply smarter on a greentop, with Michael Kasprowicz taking nine wickets, Ashley Noffke claiming four and Andrew Symonds scooping six withhis dangerous medium pace.But NSW captain Shane Lee wasn’t wincing at the scorecard as he contemplated three days of dropped catches and near misses for the Blues.”New South Wales have been up here plenty of times and been absolutely thumped on a wicket like that,” Lee said.”If we had managed to get 200 or 250 ahead, it would have been a totally different game with Queensland chasing on a wicket still doing a bit.”But losing wickets in clumps really cost us in the end and the catches that went down made the difference.”Lee was the main catching culprit, spilling Wade Seccombe yesterday just 14 runs into a 109-run partnership with captain Stuart Law which gave Queensland amatch-winning plank.Even Law wasn’t glowing about Queensland’s performance, admitting NSW quick Stuart Clark (4-61 and 2-34) was the pick of the bowlers from both teams.Law said the Blues “outbowled” his team and declared some of his batsmen were lucky to get away with shots that would normally cause their downfalls.But the Blues failed to take their chances, especially late yeasterday when they reached a healthy 2-142 before the wheels fell off.Brisbane is becoming a barren battleground for the Blues, who are joining Victoria as non-winners at the ground, and Law said the conditions might worry the visitors.”They don’t like to walk out there and see grass on that wicket,” Law said.”That’s the way it used to be and you see the other guys walking up and looking at it and they just don’t want to get out there and play on it.”(The wicket) does a bit more than anywhere else in the country and it’s an advantage we’ve got but we’re going to have to play better cricket if we want to beat teams.”New South Wales had their opportunities here but we probably outbatted them in the end.”The teams return to the Gabba on Friday afternoon for an ING Cup one-day match.

Where they finished last seasonSixth in Group B with two wins and three losses out of eight matchesBig PictureTraditionally one of the stronger units in domestic cricket, Punjab were the semi-finalists in 2013-14 but slumped to the bottom half of Group B last year, winning two of their first three matches and then proceeding to lose their last two. Punjab are known to bank on their batting but that turned out to be one of their major worries last season. They crossed 400 only once in 12 completed innings, were made to follow-on in consecutive matches by Rajasthan and Gujarat, and ended the tournament by being bundled out for 88 while chasing 179.This time too they will pin their hopes on a batting line-up boasting names such as Yuvraj Singh, Gurkeerat Singh, Jiwanjot Singh, Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra. Yuvraj had a prolific Ranji campaign last time, averaging 56 with three consecutive hundreds and two fifties, and finshed just behind Gurkeerat’s tally of 677. Opener Jiwanjot would have to look further back, to the 2013-14 season when he amassed 802 runs, to bring back some confidence at the top of the order.The pace attack, which gets assistance from the pitches in the winter, is even more feeble this time. Sandeep Sharma, their highest wicket-taker last season, is injured, leaving much of the responsibility on Siddarth Kaul’s shoulders, who was second behind Sandeep with 26 wickets last season. A cause of concern would be that no other Punjab bowler took more than 11 wickets. Their spin cupboard looks rather bare and they will be without Harbhajan Singh for the first two matches.Players to watchSiddarth Kaul has less than 30 first-class matches to his name and the task of leading the pace attack will be handed to him. His 26 wickets last season came at an average of 23.61 and he was the only Punjab player to take two five-fors. Coach Arun Sharma says Siddarth won’t be hunting for wickets all on his own, with the squad containing good bench strength in terms of pace bowlers.Punjab’s spin attack will be in focus since Harbhajan is not the force he was in his prime, particularly in the longer format. Once he is back after the T20Is against South Africa, he will have for support legspinner Sarabjit Ladda and left-arm spinner Varun Khanna, who have 64 and nine first-class wickets respectively.Coaching staffArun Sharma is back as the coach after two years to replace Bhupinder Singh, who is now a selector. The remaining support staff includes fielding coach Harminder Pannu, physio Ravi Raghuvanshi and trainer Sandeep Kharwar.PreparationPunjab held a 15-day off-season camp before holding the inter-district tournaments at Under-16, Under-19 and Under-23 levels that featured four-day matches. The coach and selectors relied on these tournaments to pick the younger members of the squad.Team newsPunjab are among the few teams to have not been involved in pre-season transfers. But they will miss out on captain Harbhajan’s services for the first two matches since he is in India’s T20 squad to face South Africa, and Yuvraj will lead in his absence. An in-form Gurkeerat will play the first match but will miss the next three since he will be with the India ODI team. Pacer Sandeep’s back pain has ruled him out of the first two matches and VRV Singh is still struggling with a back injury. Varun Khanna has made a comeback after last playing a first-class match in 2009 and the only uncapped player in the squad is opening batsman Pargat Singh, who was picked after scoring heavily in the inter-district tournament.SquadJiwanjot Singh, Manan Vohra, Uday Kaul (wk), Mandeep Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Gurkeerat Singh, Gitansh Khera (wk), Himanshu Chawla, Sidharth Kaul, Brainder Sran, Sarabjit Ladda, Varun Khanna, Maninder Singh, Pargat Singh, Deepak Bansal, Mayank Sidhana. Stand-bys: Karan Goel, Ravinder Singh, Rajwinder Golu, Gaurav Puri, Taruwar Kohli, Aarush Sabbarwal.In their own wordsWe have a good mixture in the squad, there is experience and the youngsters have also played a couple of seasons. Overall it’s a balanced side. There are four senior players, three spinners and a strong batting line-up.

Assam

Amit Verma’s experience and all-round ability will be key to Assam’s fortunes•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Where they finished last seasonAfter topping Group C, they bowed out in the quarter-finals against eventual champions Karnataka, on the basis of a first-innings deficit.Big PictureAfter finishing second-last in Group C in the 2013-14 season, Assam staged a remarkable resurgence in the 2014-15 season, topping the group with five wins out of eight games, a win tally that only Delhi matched in the league stages.Last year’s results ended a five-year struggle in the Plate league and the goals for this season are clear – the same positive mindset, and a clear focus on victories and an eventual place in the knock-outs. Coach Sanath Kumar stressed that he wants the team to steer clear of the survival mindset that can often hinder teams that find themselves promoted from the lower league into the top two groups. “Normally what happens with most of the teams when they get promoted to the upper league, their only thinking is how to survive. That’s a normal mindset. That’s one thing I made clear to them: don’t get into the survival mode. We have to be very aggressive – how we played cricket last season, we will play the same way this season. Our aim is to win and to qualify for knock-outs,” Kumar told ESPNcricinfo.To that extent, there aren’t too many changes from the side that played last season, with the notable exception of batsman Dheeraj Jadhav, who moved to Goa as a professional, after Assam declined to renew his contract. With Jadhav’s departure, Assam have picked Gokul Sharma as captain, and have roped in Amit Verma as one of their professional players. Kumar says that the problem of a lack of consistent competitive cricket before the season has also been addressed with a number of pre-season practice games.Players to watchAmit Verma played as a professional for Kerala last season, and finished as the second-highest run-getter and leading wicket-taker. He will be expected to take on a similar role in Assam and Kumar said Verma’s legspin would add much in value to the main spin attack comprising offspinner Swarupam Purkayastha and left-arm spinner J Syed Mohammad. “One more spinner coming into the side makes a huge difference for us. He’s an allrounder and that’s a huge advantage for us now,” Kumar said.Where Verma can expect to play a supplementary role in the bowling attack, Swarupam Purkayastha will once again be required to take the lead. Making a comeback in 2014-15, the offspinner had a breakthrough season, topping the wicket charts among spinners with 36 wickets, which included five-fors in five successive innings. This season could also see him take more responsibility with the bat as Assam might try him out at a slot higher than the No. 7 position he usually bats at.Coaching staffSanath Kumar (head coach), Subhadeep Ghosh (assistant coach), Binod Jain (physiotherapist, who has had previous experience with Karnataka) and Nishant Thakur (trainer, previous experience with Punjab).Team newsApart from Verma’s selection, the other major inclusion in the squad is that of uncapped allrounder Bikash Chetri, who bowls left-arm spin. The run-scoring responsibilities will once again rest on their top-scorer from last season Tarjinder Singh, while Gokul, who scored a fifty and a century in the quarter-final against Karnataka to cap off a middling season, will also look to lead by example with the bat.PreparationsApart from the Buchi Babu tournament, Assam’s cricketers have played a few practice games against Karnataka in Bangalore, a match between sides formed from within the squad, and a practice game against Tripura.SquadGokul Sharma (capt), Arun Karthik, Abu Nechim, Amit Verma, Bikash Chetri, Arup Das, Krishna Das, Pritam Das, Pallavkumar Das, Rishav Das, Swarupam Purkayastha, Sibsankar Roy, Kunal Saikia (wk), Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad, Tarjinder Singh.In their own words“I told them not to worry about winning and losing, as long as you were giving your 100% and you were backing yourself, I will back you. I made it clear to them that anything outside the field is my problem. And after that they really started performing.”

Leicestershire have announced that six players – Darren Robinson, John Maunders, Arno Jacobs, Paul Harrison, Marc Rosenberg and David Stiff – are being released at the end of the season. The county were keen to stress that the players had been released with a view to making room for new ones to be brought in.”We are currently in negotiations with new players and I am confident that we will be in a position to announce new signings in the coming weeks,” said Tim Boon, Leicestershire’s coach. “We have set out our intentions through the club’s recruitment and selection policy for 2008 and beyond that we want to develop the best young talent around a core group of senior role-model professionals, and that will be reflected in the players that are brought to Grace Road.”I would like to thank those players who have not been offered new contracts for their commitment and service to the club and would also like to wish them well in the future.”

Chris Gayle celebrates his 14th ODI hundred, but six of them have been scored in losing causes © AFP

4 – The number of times England have won scoring 270 or more batting second in an ODI174 – The second-wicket partnership between Gayle and Dwayne Bravo. It’s the second-highest for that wicket for West Indies against England – Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan had added 187 at Lord’s in 200451 – Chris Gayle’s batting average in ODIs against England. This was his second century against them in 13 games.19.06 – Gayle’s ODI bowling average against England. In 13 games he has taken 18 wickets73 – The number of runs West Indies scored in their last ten overs, despite having nine wickets in hand6 – The number of centuries Gayle has scored in ODIs that West Indies have lost. Only Sachin Tendulkar – with 11 such knocks – has made more hundreds in defeats, while Marcus Trescothick has six as well50 – The score made by both England openers. It’s the first time in the history of ODIs that both openers from a team have scored exactly 50148 – The number of runs Kevin Pietersen had scored in his eight previous ODI innings before this match