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Rangers have now submitted an opening offer in an attempt to welcome Danny Rohl’s first Ibrox signing in the January transfer window, according to reports.

Rohl waiting for "right timing" in January window

Rohl has steadied the ship at Ibrox following Russell Martin’s disastrous tenure. The Gers’ victory over St. Mirren was as resolute as it was solid, as they ensured that the visitors’ late strike was nothing more than a consolation goal. Now third in the Scottish Premiership and six points behind leaders Hearts, the title race is far from over as far as Rangers are concerned.

Up next, Rangers travel to face Celtic in the Old Firm derby in what is always a crucial game. Given the Hoops’ recent struggles, Rohl’s side should see their trip to Celtic Park as the perfect opportunity to get one over on their rivals.

Looking ahead to the game, Rohl told reporters: “Our belief is there. When we look at the moment, except from the 2-1 defeat (at Hearts), we took a lot of points.

“We had some great performances, we had also some performances where not everything was good. Now we go with confidence. It’s a huge game, but we are prepared for this. I think this is what we want to see.

“In this game it’s important that we are strong. I think it’s important that the ref is strong in this game as well. If we do this, we will have a fantastic game.”

The German also looked ahead to the January transfer window, admitting that Rangers will be waiting for the “right timing”, saying: “I think we know the window is not easy, but we are on front foot.

“What it means at the end, let’s see. We cannot influence everything, but we are at the moment clear. We know that in some positions, we have to wait for the right timing.”

Rangers submit offer to sign Emil Bohinen

On the transfer front, Rohl will be looking for his first signing and whilst names such as Jens Hjerto-Dahl have been mentioned as of late, it may well be another player who arrives before any others.

Subscribe for Inside Transfer Insight on Rangers Dig deeper into Rangers’ January transfer picture—subscribe to the newsletter for focused transfer analysis, agent-move breakdowns, and practical takes on how potential signings like Bohinen or exits such as Raskin could reshape the squad and title bid.

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According to Calcio Spezia, as relayed by Sport Witness, Rangers have now submitted an offer to sign Emil Bohinen from Genoa in a move that would see the defensive midfielder cut his loan spell at Venezia short in Serie B. The Norwegian has also reportedly changed agents recently in what could be quite the hint about his plans for the future.

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It’s not a great surprise that the Gers are chasing a midfield reinforcement, given just how often Nicolas Raskin finds his name in the transfer headlines.

If Rangers lose the Belgian in January, then they will need to find the right replacement. Whether that comes in the form of Bohinen, who has played in Serie B this season, remains to be seen though.

The WICB is waiting for the report from the ICC before starting its investigation into Samuels’ alleged bookie connection © Getty Images

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has delayed its probe into allrounder Marlon Samuels’ alleged bookie connection, which was raised by the police on West Indies’ tour of India in February 2007. Julian Hunte, the WICB president, has said that they cannot investigate the matter until they know the nature of the charge against Samuels.The ICC had asked the WICB to investigate Samuels after receiving a report from its anti-corruption and security unit. The ICC said the report contained allegations that Samuels indulged in “inappropriate activity” and behaved in a manner that was “prejudicial to the interests of the game of cricket”, and asked the WICB to submit the results of the investigation by January 31, 2008.”What the WICB has done is to write to the ICC, asking them for a copy of the report, so that we will know what Samuels has been charged with,” Hunte told the . “The WICB will await receipt of the report to enable it to determine how it proceeds to carry out an investigation, if any, in terms of the Samuels affair.”Hunte refused to comment on whether the investigation would hinder Samuels’ chances of selection for the tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa later this year.”I honestly do not know … and this is the honest, possible truth. A lot depends on the selectors, a lot depends on when the investigation is started, and they are so many imponderables that it would be wrong for me to speculate,” Hunte said. “What I can promise, whatever we put in place will be fair and transparent, and Samuels should have no fear.”On February 7, the Nagpur police had charged Samuels with sending team information to Mukesh Kochar, an alleged bookie, on the eve of the first one-dayer in Nagpur on January 21. At the time, Samuels defended himself and said he had known the man for many years and he was a family friend. The ICC allowed Samuels to take part in the World Cup and beyond, pending a final assessment.

“There was some great banter with the Boony Army. Now it’s ruined.” © Getty Images

The Barmy Army is considering cancelling its tour of Australia after members were “treated like schoolchildren” by security staff at the Gabba. The group’s founder Paul Burnham said if things continued in the same vein the tour could be abandoned.”Absolutely. We are waiting to see how it develops before giving advice to people coming over [from England] for the Sydney and Melbourne Tests,” Burnham told . He said he was infuriated that the Barmy Army’s official trumpet player Billy Cooper was escorted from the ground on Thursday, given that Cooper had been given permission to play.”I flew over to Melbourne in May and talked to Cricket Australia about the trumpet,” Burnham said. “We were told he would be able to play at the ground and he was quite good for stopping the Mexican wave. We were getting some pretty positive vibes back and then all of a sudden he’s been ejected.”He played his trumpet in the morning and it was fine. We got our third wicket [in the second session] and suddenly he was asked to leave the ground. Everyone was having a really good time, there was a great atmosphere in the ground, we sat next to the Boony Army guys and there was some great banter. Now the whole thing is ruined.”

Bill Cooper:silenced © Getty Images

Burnham said it was also disappointing that seat allocations meant thousands of England supporters were scattered all around the Gabba, which made them feel “not very welcome at all”. He said “an awful lot” of Barmy Army members had not bothered to attend the second day, instead watching the match from their hotel.Burnham, who came up with the idea of the Barmy Army during the 1994-95 Ashes tour, said Cricket Australia were ruining the spirit of the game. “They believe the Barmy Army will help England win so it just seems everything is geared to try and make sure there is no fun in the game,” he said. “We just want to come over and have a good time … not to be treated like schoolchildren.”We’ve come back to the country where the Barmy Army started 12 years ago. We are a group that has supported the sport over the last three tours, spent millions of pounds and we are treated like this.”

The Asian Cricket Council looks set to take control of organising an international match to raise money for victims of the Asian earthquake.Although the plans are in the embryo stage, Shaharyar Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), said: “During a recent conversation with Jagmohan Dalmiya [ACC president], an ACC-sponsored relief match was considered. We agreed to examine possible dates for an international match in the next few days.”The ICC had considered organising a relief match for the Super Series in Sydney, but players from South Africa and New Zealand were unavailable and there wasn’t enough time to organise sponsorship and TV rights.The PCB and the England & Wales Cricket Board recently agreed to dedicate the entire gate receipts of the first ODI between the two countries at Lahore on December 10 to the relief fund.

Richard Staple: ‘The folks back home are getting interested’© Getty Images

It was a much-improved performance against Bermuda, but Canada are still the favourites to qualify from our group, after they beat us earlier in the year. In many people’s eyes, USA v Canada is the world’s oldest cricket international, and so we were all well aware of the historical significance of the match. The PA system announced details, and there were books and pamphlets available to the crowd.And it was a good crowd too, perhaps some 2000 people turned out for the second day’s play. Until John Davison’s intervention [he took 17 wickets in the match], it had been an evenly balanced contest, but on the third day the game finished early, so we held a 25-over match to keep the spectators happy.Cricket is slowly catching on in USA, ever since our success in the competition in Sharjah, there has been an increased publicity, and the folks back home are getting interested. Of course, it’s the one-day format that has more chance of success over here, and in Florida especially, there is a tremendous potential. New York and California have high levels of competitors as well, but unfortunately there aren’t many more centres where cricket has caught on.There’s not a huge amount of homegrown talent just yet either. Currently there are two American-born Caucasians in the squad, with the rest of Asian or Caribbean heritage, but the local politicians are very, very keen on developing the game further. In that respect, it was a huge blow that we missed out on hosting a match in the 2007 World Cup. We had all been anticipating a fixture, and though we’re disappointed, it won’t halt the process.And so our preparations have taken us to a training camp in Bermuda, and onto the Americas Cup, where we did pretty well, although unfortunately we lost to Canada again, which is becoming a bit of a habit! But all this is standing us in good stead ahead of the Champions’ Trophy in England in September. Victory is improbable over there, but our aim is simply to expose the level of cricket that we are capable of attaining. It’s not just another fixture for us – we have to be positive, and take away good memories of the tournament.Our Canadian nemesis, Davison, has played first-class cricket in Australia, so he is a bit of a taste of what we can expect against Australia and New Zealand in that tournament! We simply have to learn from his example – his professionalism was apparent in every facet of his game, especially when he won the match for them in Bermuda, despite suffering from a nasty stomach virus.The Pro Cricket 20-over competition has apparently begun reasonably successfully. It’s been decided that USA players cannot take part, which is a shame, but let’s hope the competition gets ICC and USACA recognition, and we can all take it on from there.

Chippenham: Wiltshire v Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire 214-7 (DC Atkins 103) bt Wiltshire 138 all out by 76 runsManor Park: Norfolk v Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire 216 all out (EJ Wilson 54) bt Norfolk 110-3 on faster run rateThatcham: Berkshire v Hertfordshire
Berkshire 132 all out lost to Hertfordshire 133-4 (SG Cordingley 50*)by six wicketsWroxeter: Shropshire v Cumberland
Cumberland 179-7 (GD Lloyd*) lost to Shropshire 182-4 (MJ Marvell74) by 6 wicketsCopdock: Suffolk v Bedfordshire
Suffolk 216 all out (AD Mawson 72, PJ Caley 57) bt Bedfordshire 165 all out(AD Patterson 73) by 51 runsPorthill: Staffordshire v Herefordshire
Staffordshire won 4-3 on a bowl outChallow and Childrey: Oxfordshire v Dorset
Dorset won 5-3 on a bowl out

Indian Railways ground home their advantage on the second day of their semi-final clash with New Zealand ‘A’ in the MRF Buchi Babu Tournament at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. After dismissing New Zealand ‘A’ for a low 129 and notching up 114/4 at the end of the first day, Indian Railways went on to make 279. The first innings lead was a handy 150 runs. In their second essay, New Zealand ‘A’ are 216/6 off 42 overs. With one day to play, New Zealand ‘A’ are effectively up by 66 runs with 4 second innings wickets to come.For Indian Railways, Yere Goud was the hero, striking 125 (397 mins, 289 balls, 16 fours, 1 six). This is Goud’s second ton in the tournament and a timely one indeed. Remaining unbeaten, Goud batted in the company of several partners, with P Rawat (38) contributing the most.In the New Zealand ‘A’ second innings, it was a familiar story once more as Mark Richardson held fort with an attacking 71 (93 balls, 8 fours). Chris Nevin (6) promoted in the batting order, failed to impress. While skipper Matthew Bell got a start he did not spend a significant amount of time at the wicket and was dismissed for 38. Lou Vincent continued a run of good form and remained unbeaten on 57 off just 50 balls when play was called off for the day. Striking 8 boundaries in his innings thus far, Vincent has shown that a positive approach is crucial for taking on the spinners in the subcontinent.The match remains interestingly poised, and the first session of the final day could be crucial.

ScorecardJimmy Adams drives during his half-century•Getty Images

There is nothing like county cricket to remind you that, whatever else is going off out there, the big bad world will keep on spinning. As a new working week began with Britain convulsed by the news that a left-wing political party had elected a left-wing politician as leader, the pitch of public discourse seemed ever more shrill. Was the proletariat about to storm Buckingham Palace? Were the workers uniting to overthrow the establishment? By all available evidence at the Ageas Bowl, where Hampshire were entertaining Yorkshire in Division One of the County Championship, the answer was no.It might be a stretch to call it entertaining, actually. But, as Jeremy Corbyn could probably attest, excitement is often over-rated. Even the weather seemed flummoxed by the prevailing state of normalcy. The sun shone from the skies even as it tried to rain and, after play had been called off for the day, there was a brief appearance from a rainbow.None of which tells you much about Hampshire’s attempts to avoid relegation but, since their fate remains about as clear as the blotchy skies that hampered play around the country, that is fitting. This was an honest-to-goodness hard-working day of solid Championship battling, unfashionable down to its bootstraps and not much to write home about but nevertheless worthy of its place in the cosmos. It was also being shown on Sky Sports. Those worried about the revolution being televised only had to change the channel for proof to the contrary.”You can put lipstick on a pig,” goes a saying beloved of US politicians, “but it is still a pig.” Despite the presence of Sky’s cameras, it was hard to dress up a contest featuring one team scrapping at the foot of the table and another who secured their season’s fulfilment last week. Yorkshire can still claim records for points and wins since the advent of two-division cricket but, as the eventual defeat at Lord’s perhaps suggested, their fire appears to have been doused after retaining the Championship for the first time since the 1960s.Hampshire were, understandably, more concerned about not making a pig’s ear of things after being inserted on a wet September morning. They largely succeeded, amid the showers, compiling 219 runs for the loss of four wickets in 78 frill-free overs – well, aside from some late embroidery by Sean Ervine, who punched five boundaries in 26 off 25 balls before a final deluge brought an early close. The forecast suggests this match might end up in a watery grave but Hampshire will be striving to ensure they are not interred with it.There was some logic to their approach, given that the two clubs above them, Sussex and Somerset, are currently duking it out. Hampshire began this round 11 points behind and knowing that there is no likely scenario where both will be out of sight. If there is a result at Hove, a draw against Yorkshire would see them creep closer to the loser; a stalemate would not change the overall picture by much, leaving Hampshire to try and target a win over Nottinghamshire in their final match and hope that either Sussex or Somerset slip up.Such calculations rely on Hampshire not losing here and there would have been trepidation as well as precipitation in the air after Andrew Gale won the toss. In the event, Hampshire’s suitably on-trend lefty opening pair of Jimmy Adams and Michael Carberry saw off the new ball with grit, application and a little luck, before a solid fourth-wicket partnership between Will Smith and Liam Dawson took them towards higher ground.This match is the last for which Hampshire’s retiring groundsman, Nigel Gray, will prepare a pitch but although a greenish tinge caught Gale’s eye, the surface played true. Adams passed 50 for the second innings running – having not done so for the previous 18, a run of form that prompted him to hand the captaincy to James Vince – and drove pleasantly through the covers before being tempted by one that Steve Patterson pushed across him invitingly. As the edge landed in Andy Hodd’s gloves, Adams may have been guilty of some unparliamentary language.Yorkshire were true to their attacking selves, stacking four men in the slips at times, but the ball swung only intermittently – most often out of the hand of Matthew Fisher, the 17-year-old whose reward for missing school this week was 16 overs of toil at a thrifty cost of 24 runs. Even the anarchic Jack Brooks, Yorkshire’s “Headband Warrior”, struggled to run amok, although his frown at Peter Hartley’s decision to turn down an appeal for caught behind of Liam Dawson – an edge confirmed by the slenderest of spikes on the Snickometer – told of a desire to reject authority.The Yorkshire players wore black armbands in memory of Brian Close, who doubtless would have attempted to ruffle the opposition by positioning himself to glower at the batsman, in their soft southern helmets, from short leg. But Hampshire just got on with the dirty, everyday business of trying to survive. And Close would certainly have appreciated that.

Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc has questioned why the ICC doesn’t pay for the DRS technology in international cricket and believes they should use one provider across all matches to avoid the inconsistencies in decision-making that have been evident in the Ashes series.Both Australia and England have expressed frustration at several decisions across the series involving Real Time Snicko (RTS) with tensions boiling over during the Adelaide Test.England had a review reinstated by match referee Jeff Crowe on the second morning after BBG Sports, the suppliers of Snicko, conceded operator error had led to an incorrect reprieve for Alex Carey during his opening-day century.Related

• 'Snicko needs to be sacked' – Aussies fume in latest controversy

• England have review reinstated after technology failure on Carey appeal

Another incident occurred on day two that led to Starc being overheard on the stump mic saying “Snicko needs to be sacked” .The ECB and CA plan to lobby the ICC to review its protocols and systems as a result of the error with the issue of the host broadcasters having to pay for the technology set to be a key a discussion point. Starc believes the process needs to be centralised.”I’m sure it’s frustrating for everyone, viewers, officials, broadcasters no doubt,” Starc said. “One thing I will say … I’m only going to speak for myself here, the officials use it, right? So why doesn’t the ICC pay for it? And why is it not just one [provider] across the board? Why don’t we use the same technology in all different series that’s going to perhaps create less confusion, less frustration? So that’s where I’ll leave that.”The ICC has two approved “sound-based edge detection technology” suppliers: RTS, which is used in Australia, and UltraEdge, which is used in the rest of the world. Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, said during the third Test that umpires “can’t trust” RTS and suggested that UltraEdge is superior.Australia captain Pat Cummins was diplomatic, but did note RTS seemed to be different to UltraEdge.”The one here seems a little bit different to sometimes what you get overseas,” Cummins said. “There’s always a few murmurs. You’re hoping that it matches up if you’re the bowling team. Sometimes you kind of just making sure that it’s all okay if you’re batting, even though you feel like you haven’t hit it. It sometimes doesn’t feel super consistent, but you just crack on whatever the umpire says.”Although UltraEdge is used in the BBL, there is no provision to change technology providers mid-series, with RTS set to be used for the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

One wicket from victory … and the title. But there was still a four-and-a-half hour wait © Getty Images

The County Championship takes more than its fair share of flak. Uncompetitive, poorly supported, irrelevant …. only this week Bob Willis, one of its most vociferous detractors, weighed in with some all-too-familiar gripes.And yet it produced one of the most enthralling finales to a season in memory. It might not be perfect but, when it can generate such prolonged tension as it did today, it still has life and purpose.As the final day of the season began Durham sat at the top of the table courtesy of their three-day victory over Kent. Sussex still had to polish off an obdurate Worcestershire while, at The Oval, Lancashire were chasing a distant target of 489 and a place in history. Most people had written them off.Sussex, heavily disguised as Mushtaq Ahmed, duly did their bit in an hour and a half. The large crowd at Hove celebrated in a restrained way and then turned their attention to the match in London. Hundreds continued to mill around the County Ground like expectant fathers, unwilling to let go of the season until their county’s fate was known. The PA advised them to head off and come back later. Few took any notice and chose to bask and wait with their fellow fans in the late-September sunshine.Inpromptu games of cricket took place on the outfield and some of the Sussex players, too nervous to watch the Lancashire match on TV, joined in as players or umpires. There was a real sense that everyone was in it together.At lunch, Lancashire were 178 for 2 with VVS Laxman and Stuart Law in calm control. Even though Laxman fell soon after completing his hundred, to loud cheers at Hove, the tension grew as the afternoon session went on. Then two roars from the dressing room just before tea told the assembled spectators of the fall of two more wickets.While all this was going on ECB officials, in possession of the Championship trophy and the winners’ cheque for £100,000, were poised in their sponsored car on the M23, midway between the two venues. If they headed for Hove at the fall of those wickets, they were soon doing a U-turn and heading back towards Kennington as news filtered through that Lancashire were refusing to lie down.For the Sussex players it was too much. Mushtaq Ahmed went home, others got changed, some stayed in their kit. Beers were drunk but the tension grew. “It was the most excruciating afternoon,” Chris Adams, Sussex’s captain, admitted. “We were panicking like hell in there.” At The Oval the anxiety in the Lancashire corner was far worse, almost not daring to believe that they could pull off a sensational win.And then Dominic Cork swung and was bowled by Murtaza Hussain. Cork stayed on his knees, head bowed. The Lancashire players slumped, almost unable to believe they had fallen so close to the finishing line. Mark Chilton, their captain, buried his head in his hands and, in tears, admitted that “the lads are just broken”.Back at Hove the wicket was greeted with yells of triumph and a shower of champagne and beer, both inside and outside the pavilion. As the ECB car sped back towards the south coast, the celebrations, delayed for four-and-a-half hours, finally got underway.