The suspension will keep him out of West Ham's opening three Premiership games next season and the fine is probably equivalent to his

The suspension will keep him out of West Ham's opening three Premiership games next season, and the fine is probably equivalent to his weekly wage at the club.A week after saying he wanted to stay at Portman Road, the England Under- 21 midfielder Kieron Dyer has shocked Ipswich Town by submitting a transfer request, following the Suffolk club's failure in the First Division promotion play-offs. In any case, there are many who feel he is probably overdue, and the recent death of his father has, by all accounts, strengthened his resolve.Revered as a deity back home - Indian fans able to touch him at Taunton proceeded to rub their faces as Hindus do in religious ceremonies - the 26-year-old Tendulkar is considered by many to be the best batsman in the world. His record against England - two 50s from 13 matches - is not sparkling, but so few games barely make a relevant statistical sample. They would do well not to take too much succour though, for Tendulkar has reeled off 22 one-day centuries in 214 internationals.Incredibly it was not until his 75th international that Tendulkar got off the mark, so to speak, while all but three hundreds have been scored in the subcontinent and its cricketing satellite, Sharjah. Perhaps more importantly, the success of the other two has brought confidence to a team mindful of their over-reliance on Tendulkar for its runs.If there is some consolation for England's bowlers, it is that all the three-figure scores have been made against mediocre attacks. All four centuries in the tournament have been made by India, two of them to Rahul Dravid and one each to Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, the latter also making 97 against South Africa.

Providing Zimbabwe do not stop the South African juggernaut, defeat is only likely to effect India should Kenya beat Sri Lanka. India have so far scored 1,204 runs in this World Cup at an average of over six an over. Both factions are in form, which should make for a keenly fought contest, the winner of which will take those precious points with them into the next round. WHEN DISTILLED to its purest essence, today's match at Edgbaston is primarily about England's bowlers preventing India's batsmen from continuing their devastating form. If Tendulkar and co want to fluster him, a bat through the woofer rather than a flurry of boundaries would probably do the trick.. A devotee of Bob Marley and U2 (whose early rehearsals apparently took place in his auntie's garage in Malahide), the closest he has come to getting upset was when the coach, David Lloyd, kicked his beloved Bose boom-box after England had gifted the first one-day Carlton and United series final to Australia last winter. According to Whitaker, Mullally was just as peeved, though his response was to "go out and take five wickets."When not testing batsmen with bounce and late movement, Mullally likes nothing better than listening to music. Another notable omission at the time was his Leicestershire team-mate Chris Lewis, who reacted by accusing the selectors of being "full of shit".

Leeds United are expected to lead the bidding for the 20-year- old, for whom Ipswich will want around pounds 7.5m.The much-travelled Dave Bassett was appointed manager of Barnsley yesterday. The First Division club, who dismissed John Hendrie six weeks ago, will be hoping that the former Wimbledon and Nottingham Forest manager can add to the six promotion campaigns he has masterminded in his 18-year managerial career.Another First Division manager, Denis Smith, was given a public vote of confidence by the remaining directors of West Bromwich Albion, after a board meeting at The Hawthorns yesterday. Three Albion directors have recently resigned.The Everton goalkeeper, Thomas Myhre, has broken a leg in training with his country, Norway, and may not be fit for the start of next season.Liverpool have released the former England full-back, Rob Jones.. STEVE CROOKS is setting out his stall to become Peter Walsh's permanent successor as coach of Hull. Crooks, who has experience as head coach at York and Hull KR and is acting as caretaker at The Boulevard for the second time, draws the line at actually applying for the job. "I've never applied for a job in my life," he said. "But I know I could do it, even if I wouldn't be coming into it thinking I know all the answers."Walsh was sacked earlier this week after a run of 11 defeats in 12 games took Hull to the foot of the Super League table. Despite the difficulty of the job, a number of high-profile candidates are being linked with it, including the former Hull players, Lee Crooks and Gary Kemble, the ex-London coach, Tony Currie, and Frank Endacott, currently in charge of the New Zealand Test side."Applications are coming in from everywhere," said Crooks.