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When Ryan Christie joined Celtic from Inverness Caledonian Thistle in what was a £500k deal back in 2015, few would have expected the versatile forward to go on and enjoy the career he did at Parkhead.

Indeed, over his 151 appearances for the Bhoys, the 27-year-old scored a highly impressive 41 goals and registered a whopping 44 assists, as well as winning three Premiership titles, one Scottish Cup and two Scottish League Cups.

However, despite these quite remarkable returns for the Hoops, towards the end of his stay in Glasgow, the Scotland international began to frustrate the Parkhead faithful after picking up a habit of shooting from distance – something which Frank McAvennie commented on in the summer of 2021.

After being linked with a move to Southampton, the former Celtic centre-forward was asked whether he felt Christie could make it in the Premier League, to which the 62-year-old replied:

“I don’t think so. He’s a wonderful talent but I think he’s too light for the Premier League. If you touch him, he goes down. He’s a big lad, he needs to stay on his feet. It looks like he just wants to win free-kicks.

“There’s no doubting his ability or his talent. But he’s stopped doing the little things. He’s stopped chasing the ball, he looked so eager at the start of his career. Now he doesn’t look bothered.

“He’s lost his hunger, his appetite. He became a bit of a laughing stock, he was just picking the ball up and shooting but he deserved some slack. It will take a big job for the boy to make it in the Premier League.”

And, while Christie ultimately did not secure a switch to Saints, he did move to the South Coast, with Championship side Bournemouth paying Celtic an extremely reasonable £2.5m for the 27-year-old’s services – despite the fact Tranfermarkt valued the Scotland international at £6.3m at the time of his transfer.

Now, after making 26 appearances in the Championship for the Cherries, this fee appears to have been an absolute steal, as the £23k-per-week forward has been one of Scott Parker’s players of the season, bagging three goals, registering six assists and creating seven big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.1 shots and making 1.6 key passes per game.

These returns have seen Christie average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.12, ranking him as Bournemouth’s third-best player in the second tier of English football.

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And, with the Cherries currently occupying third place in the Championship standings – boasting four games in hand on second-placed Huddersfield Town – there is every chance that the 27-year-old will finally get his chance to disprove McAvennie’s claim he is not good enough for the Premier League next season.

Either way, considering Christie is now valued by Transfermarkt at £8.1m, Celtic’s decision to part with the player – whose move to England was dubbed “staggering” by Davie Provan – for just £2.5m last August is something that will have undoubtedly left the club red-faced.

In other news: Sold at £3m, now valued at £50m: Celtic had a shocker on “outstanding” £70k-p/w “star”

	Stuart MacGill has no plans to retire and hopes to be bowling again soon © Getty Images

Stuart MacGill says he is recovering well from surgery for carpal-tunnel syndrome and hopes to be back in action soon, but a sports doctor has warned MacGill might never fully regain the feeling in his bowling hand. MacGill had the operation early this month and could be back in state training in two weeks, according to the Cricket New South Wales chief executive Dave Gilbert.Gilbert said MacGill would be looking at a comeback in the Blues’ Pura Cup match against Western Australia in Sydney starting on January 25, although he would not have long before the game to practice with the squad. “It’s a tricky period at the moment,” Gilbert told the . “The team leaves on new year’s eve for a three-state tour in five days for the Twenty20 games so they’re not back in Sydney as a whole squad until the second week of January.”MacGill has installed a home gymnasium to help him get back to full fitness as he aims to be considered for Australia’s tour of Pakistan in March, should the trip go ahead. Despite also suffering knee problems MacGill said he had no plans to give up on adding to his 203 wickets from 42 Tests.”There’s no way I’m retiring,” MacGill said in the . “I’ll be getting back into cricket as soon as possible. I’ve had surgery and everything is going great. The recovery period generally is six weeks although this [carpal-tunnel syndrome] is unusual for a cricketer so I’m not sure about the recovery period, but I’m concerned with getting myself right.”MacGill’s confidence came as the sports medico Nathan Gibbs said there was no guarantee MacGill would make a successful comeback. Gibbs, who has worked with the New South Wales and Australia rugby league sides as well as the AFL team the Sydney Swans, said the operation would ease MacGill’s pain but that did not mean the numbness would necessarily disappear.”The surgery almost always helps but whether he gets back the feeling to bowl the way he used to bowl, only time will tell,” Gibbs said. “The best case is Stuart will be fine in six weeks. The worst is that he may never get that sensory aspect back and where he is in his career at the moment, he could run out of time to get back to the level of skill he had before.”In MacGill’s absence Brad Hogg was called into the Test team for the Boxing Day match against India. Hogg fought back after an initial assault from Sachin Tendulkar and finished with match figures of 4 for 133, removing the dangerous Sourav Ganguly in both innings.

Scorecard

Tim Paine regained his form without the burden of wicketkeeping © Getty Images

Tim Paine fought off a serious virus to earn Tasmania first-innings points despite a four-wicket haul from Shane Harwood at Hobart. Paine was unable to open the innings having been rushed to hospital but returned to bat at No. 7 and his unbeaten 63 helped the Tigers overhaul Victoria’s 283.Tasmania declared at 9 for 309, giving Victoria four overs to face before stumps. The Bushrangers’ reply began badly when Lloyd Mash fell to the last ball of the day, playing on to Brett Geeves for 2. At the close the visitors were 1 for 4, with a deficit of 21 runs.Harwood toiled away and broke through just often enough that no Tasmania pair could build a decisive partnership until Paine and Luke Butterworth came together. They added 74 for the eighth wicket, a stand that took them within 16 runs of a first-innings lead.Paine confirmed the selectors’ belief that he would regain his batting form without the burden of wicketkeeping, scoring 11 boundaries in his near three-hour innings. Butterworth’s 40 was important, as was the 39 from Sean Clingeleffer, the reinstated wicketkeeper.Harwood ended Michael Dighton’s bright start when he was lbw for 28 and Michael Di Venuto followed ten runs later. Harwood’s 4 for 75 gave Victoria hope after their declaration late on the first day but he had too little support and the visitors will need to rely on setting Tasmania a target and bowling them out to take any points from the match.

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How they were out

Mohammad Kaif’s hundred set UP up for a historic Ranji Trophy title © Getty Images

Mohammad Kaif lead Uttar Pradesh to their first-ever Ranji Trophy final victory when the hosts beat Bengal on the basis of their first-innings lead. Bengal had fallen short by just 14 runs to UP’s first innings total of 387. On the final day, chasing an improbable target of 357 in 43 overs, Bengal managed to get to 109 for 5, with Praveen Kumar, the UP medium pacer, taking all five wickets.Kaif made the opposition pay for granting him two lives – once dropped when he was yet to open his account and then Deep Dasgupta, the Bengal captain, missed a stumping chance when his counterpart was on 43 – by reaching his first century of the season early today with some aggressive batting. In the morning Kaif and Suresh Raina started off rapidly and with that took the game away from Bengal.Bengal of course contributed in no small measure to their own undoing. After Shib Paul and Ranadeb Bose had initially restricted UP in the first innings with some steamy opening spells, they let up on the pressure subsequently. Later, some of Bengal’s fidgety batsmen were to gift away their wickets. A couple of questionable umpiring decisions didn’t help either. Fielding was another crucial area where Dasgupta’s men let themselves down – Kumar, Raina and Kaif were dropped early on in their first-innings knocks (Kumar went on to make a blistering 48, while Raina and Kaif got out in their 90s).Raina, having played some good pull shots, fell trying to push the run-rate too hard, but Kaif continued confidently. A back-foot punch past cover boundary, and a pull over square leg off Paul brought Kaif to the cusp of century. He had to wait till the next over, however, to cross the landmark, which he did in resounding fashion with a cover drive off a fuller length Randib Bose-ball. But soon he mistimed a pull shot and holed out to midwicket. The remaining batsmen ensured that they wouldn’t let the reins slip this time and by the time they were all out at the stroke of tea, a target of 358 was beyond Bengal.In reply, having realised that it was a lost battle, Bengal’s batsmen seemed to throw caution to the winds. Finally, at 109 for 5 and 10 more overs to go of the 43 that were mandatory, the game was called off triggering wild celebration on the ground and in the stadium.UP, for some time, had been showing promise of entering the big league, but they lacked the pilot who could propel them further. But in Kaif, who would normally be on national duties each year for most of the first-class season, they found the right man at the right time. To get a team that had lost their first two games of the season, and had just four points from an equal number of games, back into contention and lead them to three outright victories and thus to the final was definitely a remarkable task.How they were out
Uttar Pradesh
Suresh Raina st Dasgupta b Singh 52 (231 for 3)
Mohammad Kaif c sub b Bose 109 (250 for 4)
Rizwan Shamshad lbw b Lahiri 33 (315 for 5)
Piyush Chawla c Das b Lahiri 0 (315 for 6)
Amir Khan lbw b Lahiri 28 (318 for 7)
Gyanendra Pandey run out (Singh) 20 (321 for 8)
Jyoti Prakash Yadav st Dasgupta b Singh 20 (342 for 9)
Ashish Winston Zaidi c sub b Singh 0 (342 for 10)
Bengal
Saurashish Lahiri c Amir Khan b Kumar 3 (4 for 1)
Abhishek Jhunjunwala c sub b AH Zaidi 0 (4 for 2)
Rohan Gavaskar c Yadav b Kumar 5 (19 for 3)
Laxmi Ratan Shukla retired hurt 6Manoj Tiwary c Shamshad b Kumar 1 (39 for 4)
Subhomoy Das c & b Kumar 32 (54 for 5)

John Major, the cricket-loving former British prime minister, has been made an honorary life member of the prestigious Cricket Club of India in Mumbai. A life-long cricket fan and current president of Surrey, Major is in India as a representative of the charity "Seeing is Believing", which aims to raise funds for blind people.The honour was conferred upon him during a gala lunch at the club’s headquarters at the Brabourne Stadium, which was Mumbai’s premier Test venue until a dispute in the 1970s led to the inauguration of the Wankhede Stadium, a few hundred metres down the road. Australia kicked off their recent tour of India with a three-day fixture at the ground.The lunch was attended, among others, by Sunil Gavaskar, Polly Umrigar and the former Pakistani cricketer, Intikhab Alam. “I am honoured to be amidst so many greats of the game," said Major. "I will cherish it forever.”

Lord MacLaurin, the chairman of the England & Wales Cricket Board until earlier this year, has warned that cricket in England risks becoming “a former sport of the summer … like croquet” unless a major overhaul of the way the game is run is undertaken.In an interview on BBC Radio’s Today programme, MacLaurin pulled no punches about what he sees as a game at the crossroads. His most radical proposal was for a reduction in the number of first-class county sides from 18 to 12, with the resultant loss of around 100 players. That would be just part of a widespread streamlining of the entire structure of the game.”I think the 18 first-class counties that we have at the moment we cannot sustain over a period of time,” he said. “Is 2nd XI cricket sustainable? Probably not. And certainly we can’t afford over 450 professional paid cricketers. We cannot sustain the amount of professional cricketers we have at the moment in the county game. It isn’t as professional and competitive as it should be.”This is going to cause havoc when the county chairmen hear what I’m saying. They have to sit down and have to talk about it, the structure of the whole game, if it’s going to survive in the environment in which we live.”MacLaurin explained that the critical issue which made a revamp necessary was the end of the current television deal in 2005. Despite reassuring noises from the ECB, MacLaurin – and many others – feel that the next deal will provide far less money for the game – possibly as much a 25% reduction on the £65million currently generated. “Each county receives a fee of £1.5million a year,” MacLaurin explained. “If the ECB income were to be reduced in any way, then their income would not be as much.”For obvious reasons MacLaurin’s views are unlikely to go down well around the counties. Giles Clarke, Somerset’s chairman, told the Daily Telegraph: “Any change of structure would be fiercely resisted in every area. If football hasn’t had to do it, I don’t see why cricket should.”

Western Australia has made a strong start to its Pura Cup match against New South Wales here at the Sydney Cricket Ground today. The visitorshad reached a first innings score of 2/147 by stumps in answer to the Blues’ modest tally of 215.It was a milestone 50th first-class clash between the two states and, from the outset, it was the Warriors who looked the most determined to createa satisfactory new slice of history for themselves. The Blues have won 27 of those past 49 battles but their opponents, conscious of the chance tonudge their way into second place on the Pura Cup table by the end of this one, established a good early position in a bid to let the record bookswrite this victory down to them.After their bowlers counteracted the effect of a loss at the toss, the Western Australians received a great start to their innings with openers ScottMeuleman (60) and Mike Hussey (55*) unfurling a calm, unhurried and, importantly, productive partnership at the top of the order.In the course of a 127-run liaison, Meuleman backed up last week’s century against South Africa with a polished half-century – a milestonesymbolically reached with a clattering off drive off opposing youngster Aaron O’Brien (0/42).And left handed Hussey was also in control, relying on a positive mindset and attractive footwork to carve a half-century of his own.Meuleman was eventually beaten by paceman Stuart Clark (2/31) and outside edged a catch to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, and the position was furtherweakened when nightwatchman Kade Harvey (5) edged a catch to Mark Higgs, standing at second slip to the same bowler.But Hussey and Simon Katich (11*) encountered no further alarms and duly consolidated an excellent day’s cricket from their team.New South Wales, for its part, was on the back foot by as early as the first over of the day – when Greg Mail (0) was removed by Brad Williams(3/71) for a duck. The Blues’ cause was partially resurrected by aggressive contributions from Haddin (50), Michael Clarke (43) and Michael Slater(40) but the balance was never fully restored and the innings was wrapped up before even two full sessions had been completed.Despite surviving a huge early appeal for a catch, as a Williams delivery ended in the hands of Hussey at slip, Slater’s innings provided particularencouragement for the home team.As he added 66 in a partnership for the second wicket with stand-in captain Michael Bevan (26), it even looked like he was in the midst ofproducing a hand that would restore his very best form. As his team adjusted to the loss of regular captain Shane Lee to a knee injury, he found theboundary on five occasions – and even cleared it once – with a succession of crisp, clean strokes. But that was all before he drove a MatthewNicholson (1/31) delivery on the up to Brad Hogg at cover.Career-best first-class figures for Harvey (4/43), and similarly excellent contributions from fellow pacemen Williams and Jo Angel (2/68), layat the core of the Blues’ troubles. Williams and Angel combined to remove the bulk of the top half of the order, while Harvey swiftly put his previousbest analysis of 3/30 into the shade by snaring the wickets of Clark (15), Don Nash (15) and Nathan Bracken (2) at the end.

ScorecardFile photo – Stuart Binny claimed four wickets and was twice on a hat-trick•AFP

Karnataka’s only opposition on the fourth day came in the form of rain which almost washed out an entire session in Mysore before Odisha folded for 104 in just 36.1 overs. The innings and 64-run win – the hosts’ second straight victory – helped them surge to second in the points table.Trailing by 168, Odisha had already lost a wicket in the second innings before stumps on the third day, and their quest to secure a draw was helped by some inclement weather on the fourth. However, when play resumed, Govinda Poddar, the centurion in the first innings, was the first to fall on the fourth day for 7. Natraj Behera (19 off 43) and Anurag Sarangi (44 off 75) provided a period of brief resistance before Stuart Binny sparked a flurry of wickets by bowling Behera. Binny wreaked havoc on Odisha’s middle order as he picked up four wickets, and was twice on a hat-trick. Shreyas Gopal polished off the tail to finish with seven wickets in the match.
ScorecardAssam required 16.1 overs on the fourth day to knock off the 38 required to complete a six-wicket win against Haryana in a low-scorer in Rohtak. Haryana needed to strike quickly at the start to have any hopes of a comeback but the overnight batsmen Amit Verma and Gokul Sharma remained unbeaten and guided Assam to their second outright win of the season.
ScorecardBengal bowled Vidarbha out for 191, in their chase of 297, to secure their first win of the season in Kolkata. Beginning the day at 3 for 0, Veer Pratap Singh dismissed both the openers; Wasim Jaffer was trapped in front in the the second over of the day and Faiz Fazal was caught. Ganesh Satish and S Badrinath brought Vidarbha back into the game with a solid 67-run stand before Pragyan Ojha had Badrinath caught behind, initiating a collapse as Vidarbha slumped from 82 for 2 to 111 for 6.Satish waged a lone battle with his 96, an innings that featured 11 fours and a six, but with wickets falling regularly at the other end, Vidarbha never really stood a chance. Ojha picked up four wickets, to go with seven in the first innings.

Everton secured their place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup last night after beating Boreham Wood 2-0 at Goodison Park thanks to a brace of goals from Salomon Rondon.

Despite the goalscoring efforts of the 32-year-old, one other Toffees figure put in an impressive display which would surely have delighted Frank Lampard.

Starting on the right-hand side of a back three next to Michael Keane and Jarrad Branthwaite, Jonjoe Kenny played through the entire 90 minutes and was able to show his manager just how capable he is on and off the ball.

With a total of 110 touches, the 24-year-old completed 83 of the 93 passes he attempted, with one of them being the assist for Everton’s opening goal of the night. He also played five accurate long balls, two crosses and five key passes, highlighting his wide range of passing ability. [SofaScore]

Despite the away side having just one shot at goal throughout the match, Kenny still showed what a capable defender he is by making three tackles, one interception and one clearance, along with winning seven of his nine duels (78%).

This display ultimately earned the former Celtic loanee – who was described as a “passionate” player by Neil Lennon during his time in Glasgow – a strong overall match rating of 8.4/10, making him the highest-rated player on the night according to SofaScore.

The Liverpool Echo also picked up on his industrious performance by saying that he “showed his aptitude for versatility by playing in three different positions”.

Even though their midweek opponents are currently in the fifth tier of English football, Lampard will still be happy to see Kenny being able to step up to the plate on important occasions and show what he can do up and down the pitch.

If the full-back can replicate this standard of performance moving forward in the Premier League, he could end up being a vital player for the Merseyside club and their hopes for avoiding relegation, along with potentially getting their hands on the FA Cup.

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Rondon may have got his name on the scoresheet, but Kenny’s relatively unsung performance was just as heroic from an Everton perspective.

In other news: Everton missed their chance on £33m star dubbed “one of the best in the world”…

Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored three centuries and four half-centuries in three Tests against England this year © Getty Images

John Dyson, the new West Indies coach, has said he needs to sit down with the players and discuss what is going wrong with the side. Dyson will join the team for their tour of South Africa this month. He missed the Zimbabwe leg of the tour to finalise domestic matters in Australia.”Over the last 10 years, by anyone’s standards, the West Indies have been playing some pretty average cricket”, Dyson told the . “When I was coach of Sri Lanka I followed their performances closely, and I felt it was a squad underachieving.”West Indies have just won the five-ODI series against Zimbabwe 3-1, with a match to go.But before that series the side has won and lost nine one-dayers each this year and it hasn’t won a single Test out of the four it played against England.”Certainly they should be higher up the ICC [rankings] table than they are now,” Dyson said. “At the moment, you would have to say that there is only one player in that squad who is playing up to their potential, and that is Shivnarine Chanderpaul. With the other guys, you look at them and think, ‘He’s a better player than what he’s showing on the park.”In the three Tests he played against England, Chanderpaul averaged 148.66 with two centuries and three half-centuries. He averaged 76 in ODIs this year with four centuries and four half-centuries.Dyson said he had spoken to stand-in coach David Moore who felt the team had more potential than it had shown. “Now it’s about finding a way of bringing that potential out. I’m not a big believer in putting the broom through a place upon arrival.”And I don’t expect people to compare this West Indies squad with those of the ’70s and ’80s. What they did for international cricket was to introduce a form of professionalism and dedication never seen before. These guys have to develop their own personality and see what brand of cricket they can play.”West Indies play three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20 matches against South Africa between December 16 and February 3.