Jonjo Shelvey believes that the Newcastle players have let Steve McClaren down. McClaren was sacked by Newcastle ahead of their clash with Leicester on Monday Night Football. Shelvey, currently captaining the club in the absence of Fabricio Coloccini, told Sky Sports News HQ ahead of the announcement that the players deserve more of the criticism.Its obviously a sticky situation and Steve is at the forefront of it, which he doesnt deserve to be honest. But it is what it is, said Shelvey.Its nice to know what Steve thinks of me, and I think a lot of him also. Weve got to play for him while hes still in charge and hopefully he stays in charge. Shelvey had been captaining Newcastle under Steve McClaren I feel as if Ive let the club down because Ive had the captains armband twice and weve lost but its lovely to be made captain.The manager has shown a lot of faith in me to do that, I obviously adore him for it. Its just a shame Ive not been able to pick up the wins on the road and at St James Park but fingers crossed if I get the armband again, then the three points will come. Rafael Benitez could replace Steve McClaren at St James Park Despite the constant off-field speculation, Shelvey insists the players have no option but to keep their minds on the task ahead.I think you have got to keep your focus. Youre getting paid loads of money to do your job, he added. It is your job to keep yourself away from the media and the rumours. You cant listen to that because you can never believe something until it has happened.Weve been very professional this week and weve trained really well. Training has been fun and enjoyable and were just preparing as usual for the Leicester game. Newcastle fell to a 3-1 defeat against Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon, with the full time whistle seeing boos ring out around St James Park, but Shelvey says the players are ready to face the fans criticism. There are two types of players, he added. You either come to the front of it or you go and hide but I think the way I am, I come to the front of it and just try and embrace it.We want to try and prove to everyone that were not people that want to hide. I think the players have let the club down. I dont feel like the manager has, I feel like its the players. Also See: Benitez mulls three-year deal Rafas ups and downs Newcastle board hold talks TFFC: Jonjo Shelveys teamsheet Custom Diamondbacks Jersey China .C. -- Todd Fiddler scored a hat trick, including the overtime goal, as the Prince George Cougars survived an 8-7 win against the Kamloops Blazers in Western Hockey League play Sunday. Authentic Custom Diamondbacks Jersey .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. http://www.customdiamondbacksjersey.com/custom-curt-schilling-jersey-large-116d.html . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Luis Gonzalez Jersey Large . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing. Randy Johnson Jersey Large . PETERSBURG, Fla. As a schoolboy, one of my favourite books was a collection of cricket stories. The tales were entirely fictional, of heroic last stands and match-winning bowlers specialising in donkey drops. The stories were as much about unusual people in exceptional circumstances as they were about the sport. Cricket lends itself readily to backstory and biography.White on Green, a follow-up to Peter Obornes excellent Wounded Tigers, promises to paint a mesmerising picture of the fascinating events and individuals that have shaped the enigmatic cricket of Pakistan. It promises the backstory and the biography of Pakistan cricket in the words of the protagonists and through the eyes of their contemporaries.The stories are varied and generally brief, perfect for sporadic attention. Prince Aslam, heir to the princely state of Manavadar in pre-Partition India, opens proceedings. He was a playboy cricketer who left a match once he had taken enough wickets to enjoy a party or attend to a girlfriend. He died lonely and sad.We hear the story of Master Aziz, who was separated from his 12-year-old son during Partition. While his son, Salim Durani, went on to play for India, Aziz mentored dozens of talented Pakistani cricketers, some of whom became greats.These, then, are as much tales of Partition and politics, of joy and loss, of the making and breaking of society and individuals, as they are of cricket and cricketers. In this sense, the political passions of the authors, Oborne and Richard Heller, shine through. What is cricket except a manifestation of the political and social evolution of a country?And these observations benefit from the view of outsiders, less entangled in the day-to-day machinations of navigating a life and a living in Pakistan. The authors share a love of their subject and a passion for detail. Forgotten lives and events matter to their besotted eyes.Here we find gems that matter. For instance, the story of Raees Mohammad, the fifth of the marvellous Mohammad brothers, four of whom played Test cricket for Pakistan. Hanif, the most famous of the brothers, died last week. Imagine family games of cricket in the Mohammads garden or on their verandah. Raees is called up too but misses out in what history will judge to be a heartbreaking injustice.What about Dera Ismail Khan, a name tthat will be familiar to anoraks? Dera played one first-class match and were beaten by Railways by a world-record innings and 851 runs.dddddddddddd. How did this happen? Was it, as the Wisden Almanack described, a case of Pakistans cricket board allowing teams with no first-class status to compete in first-class tournaments? Then theres Tauseef Ahmed, impressive offspinner and potential Lionel Richie impersonator. Tauseef blagged a role as a net bowler for Pakistans preparations for their first Test against Australia in 1980. Javed Miandad put him up in Zaheer Abbas hotel room, and when Zaheer rang the room to pick up his messages he was shocked to hear Tauseefs voice. Once Tauseef explained what had happened, Zaheer told him to stay.Following the net session, Tauseef returned to his club but received a call from a friend, a cinema owner from Bradford. He told me I was in the Test team. I didnt believe him, but he told me to go home and check. I found a crowd there and thought maybe there was something in it. Tauseef was indeed selected; the offspinner in the squad, Ilyas Khan, had been dropped. Only in Pakistan.We learn more about the cricketing lives of Billy Ibadulla, Duncan Sharpe, and Aftab Baloch. Perhaps most importantly of all, we discover the story behind the introduction of womens cricket to Pakistan, and the ignored tales of the survivors of the terrorist attack on Sri Lankas cricketers in Lahore.There is much to marvel at and revel in but you need to work hard to find it amid material that didnt make the final edit of Wounded Tigers. Some of the biographies of Pakistans cricketers are well known and whats new only forms a minor part of the story. Some chapters indulge the authors and their subjects.So enter with care. White on Green offers detail that you may not be seeking, about events that you might not care about. But for anybody with a love of cricket and cricketers lives, of how cricket and society intertwine, of Pakistan and its idiosyncrasies and injustices, this is a volume you might have dreamt about as a child.White on Green: A Portrait of Pakistan Cricket By Richard Heller and Peter Oborne Simon and Schuster UK 320 pages, ￡20 ' ' '