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Plays of the day from the IPL match between Rising Pune Supergiants and Kings XI Punjab in Visakhapatnam

Deivarayan Muthu21-May-2016The missed karate kickMS Dhoni’s karate kick behind the stumps has chalked up several hits on social media this season. When Rising Pune Supergiants first played Kings XI Punjab this season, Dhoni lifted his right leg parallel to the ground and intercepted a late cut from Manan Vohra. In the reverse fixture, Gurkeerat Singh attempted a similar shot off a quicker one from R Ashwin in the 10th over, and Dhoni attempted the trick again. This time, however, Dhoni’s reflexes weren’t ultra-quick. Gurkeerat fetched a four after beating Dhoni as well as short third man.The tag-team effortThisara Perera’s low full-toss just a shade outside off elicited a swipe from Axar Patel in the last over of Kings XI’s innings. The batsman did not get under it, though, and skewed it. Deepak Chahar took an overhead catch by the edge of the midwicket boundary but his balance was lost. He composed himself, took an extra second to hold his shape, and tossed the ball towards Saurabh Tiwary, who had run to his left from long-on, before falling over the ropes.The knuckle ballLegspinner KC Cariappa’s exclusion meant that seam-bowling allrounder Rishi Dhawan was handed his second game of the season. He made a cameo – 11 off 4 balls – and helped take Kings XI to 172 for 7. His night got better when he undid Irfan Pathan with a lifting slower ball in the 14th over of the chase. Replays showed that Dhawan had flicked the ball from the knuckle, à la Zaheer Khan. It pitched outside off and burst off the surface. Irfan got into a tangle and toe-ended the pull to the keeper. Dhawan’s joy, though, was short-lived as Kings XI finished at the bottom of the pile for the second successive season.Ashwin’s riposteHashim Amla, an orthodox batsman, has expanded his game to suit the needs of T20 cricket. He unleashed several whip-slogs during his 96 against Sunrisers Hyderabad last weekend. On Saturday afternoon, Amla welcomed R Ashwin with an unorthodox four. He pre-meditated by walking across the off stump to reverse-sweep a full ball from outside off to the left of short third man for four. Two balls later, the offspinner lobbed one up and got it to stick in the surface, having Amla spoon a simple catch to George Bailey at short midwicket.Ashwin’s second riposteAshwin’s last over was the 18th of the innings. Gurkeerat had already found his hitting range and struck the first two balls for fours. The first one pinged into the sightscreen with a lofted drive while the second was steered to the left of point for four. The batsman brought up his half-century off 29 balls and received a pat on the back from David Miller. Ashwin then replied by taking the pace off the third ball. Gurkeerat miscued the pull and sent a top-edge to deep square leg. Ashwin eventually finished with 4 for 34 – his best figures in IPL.

Sky has done a lot of good for English cricket but the extension of its contract until 2019 should not be an excuse for the ECB to give up on trying to attract new audiences

George Dobell08-Jan-2015News that Sky Sports has extended its broadcast partnership with the ECB until the end of the 2019 season, just as the Big Bash League is drawing huge audiences at home and in the ground, is sure to revive the debate about the virtues of cricket on free-to-air television.As part of the broadcast deal agreed in 2012, Sky always had the option to extend its exclusive deal to televise English cricket beyond the apparent expiry in 2017 and was always likely to do so. In many ways, English cricket will breathe a sigh of relief.Sky has been the broadcast partner of the ECB since 2006. In that time, it has pumped unprecedented resources into the game – the current deal is worth around £65m a year – and enabled the ECB to invest in better facilities, better coaching and medical resources and provide a huge increase in funding to grassroots cricket. The company pays handsomely for its exclusivity. It is no coincidence that the ECB has also been able to invest heavily in women’s cricket and disability cricket during the Sky era.Sky has also taken coverage of the game to a new level. It is easily forgotten now but Channel 4’s coverage of two Ashes series was interrupted, in all, by 33 hours’ worth of horse racing. Channel 4 also persuaded the ECB to start Tests at 10.30am one summer in order not to disrupt the evening scheduling of and .Equally, the BBC coverage of “Botham’s Ashes” of 1981 was interrupted by programmes such as , and while, for several years, their Sunday League coverage consisted of a single camera.

ESPNcricinfo understands that it is highly likely that some domestic cricket will return to free-to-air TV this year in a bid to reach out to a new audience

The past is often remembered with a romantic filter and Sky, with its coverage of all England games home and away, guaranteed 60 days of county coverage each season, and willingness – a willingness we often take for granted in the UK but which is rare elsewhere – to ask the hard questions in interviews and commentary probably offers the best service cricket lovers have ever had.Or at least those who can afford it. And there is the rub, because whatever the virtue of the Sky deal for the ECB’s finances and whatever the virtue of their coverage, the fact is that vast sections of the country have no access to live cricket on television. And whatever the virtues of sending coaches into primary schools – and Sky’s money has helped fund Chance to Shine – there is no way that 1000 hours of helping kids hit tennis balls off cones will ever replace one hour of inspiration provided by watching the likes of Ian Botham or Andrew Flintoff lead England to the Ashes.So, after almost a decade without any free-to-air coverage, there is a growing fear that the balance between the need for revenue and the need for exposure has fallen out of kilter. An uncomfortably large number of households in a country recovering from recession cannot afford subscription TV and that means a generation of children will grow up without exposure to the game and never having the chance to fall in love with its many charms.Look through the county squads: a disproportionate number of players developed either abroad or through the private school system. Cricket is simply not relevant to vast swathes of the country.This fear, growing in intensity over the years, was supported by figures released towards the end of 2014. Not only did the average number of spectators per game fall after the ECB relaunched its T20 competition, but figures showed that the number of people playing the game at recreational level had fallen. Meanwhile, there were worryingly poor ticket sales for the Southampton Test and in the Lord’s domestic final, in particular, and cricket’s place in local and national newspapers dwindled ever further. One prominent national paper even made the position of cricket correspondent redundant.Cricket has not been on free-to-air television since England’s 2005 Ashes triumph•Getty ImagesAnd, all the while, the BBL appears to go from strength to strength. Although there is no evidence that the quality of cricket is any higher than the NatWest Blast – quite the contrary, really – the fact is the competition, broadcast on free-to-air TV, has captured the imagination of a huge audience. Families flock to the grounds; viewing figures are impressive. If the aim of the competition is to raise revenue and inspire a new generation of supporters, it has been an unmitigated success.To this end, a group of county chief executives have been pursuing the English game’s broadcast options. ESPNcricinfo understands that it is highly likely that some domestic cricket will return to free-to-air TV this year – likely to be a NatWest Blast highlights show – in a bid to reach out to a new audience. The county CEOs believe the arrangement is permitted under the current broadcast deal and, while Sky believe they would have to give approval, there does not appear to be any attempt – at present – to prevent it. That could change.There are legitimate questions to ask about the precise value of free-to-air coverage, too. Tennis – and Wimbledon, in particular – is given tremendous coverage on free-to-air TV but it does not appear to have created a generation of players. Equally, Channel 5 already broadcast international highlights during peak viewing hours in a lively, well-produced show: it seems to have done little to stem the tide.Nor is it clear which free-to-air channels have any desire to broadcast cricket. There has been little interest from traditional broadcasters in recent bidding processes and it is safe to assume that Sky chose to show highlights of the last Ashes tour on its Pick channel only because there was no significant demand elsewhere. The uncomfortable truth is that cricket really isn’t inspiring schedulers. Sky may well be the best friend English cricket has.It would be simplistic to claim a return to free to air TV will solve all the ills of the game. The selling of school playing fields, the changing nature of teaching, the growth of other leisure pursuits and pastimes have all conspired to reduce the opportunities for young people to play the game. The world has changed. Cricket, with its sometimes demanding need for pitch preparation, equipment and, most of all, time, sometimes seems as relevant to modern society as Morris dancing and origami.But if enthusiasm can be sparked there is always a way and free-to-air cricket must surely have a part to play in providing that. As the Afghanistan players emerging from the refugee camps of Pakistan remind us, if the spark is lit, the game will grow. Even when they had balls made from tape and bats fashioned from wooden posts and panels, their enthusiasm found a way. Once a love for cricket is born, it often proves irrepressible.But unless there is that initial spark, unless a new generation is given the opportunity to stumble upon the game – as an earlier generation did through the BBC’s Sunday League coverage – they will never have that chance. The current ECB leadership seems not to understand that not everything of value can be packaged and sold.

Robiul Islam has mostly been seen as a Test specialist in recent years, but might find himself leading the attack in the one-dayers

Mohammad Isam02-May-2013Robiul Islam’s Man-of-the-Series performance in the Test series has made him the latest option available to the Bangladesh ODI side. In Zimbabwe, Bangladesh are on a quest to complete an unbeaten run in one-day series this season, having already defeated West Indies in December and drawn with Sri Lanka in March.If they can complete another series win in Bulawayo in the next week, it would be a more impressive string of results than the four consecutive series wins back in 2009. They had defeated Zimbabwe in three of those, the other victory coming against a third-string West Indies side. One-day cricket is where theBangladesh team has shown marked consistency over the years. The players are more comfortable in the 50-over game, mainly due to playing the format heavily during their formative years.Robiul too started off similarly but over the last 12 months he has predominantly become a longer-version bowler. His previous 10 matches have all been in either Test or first-class cricket. After failing to attract any of the BPL franchises, he missed out on the domestic Twenty20 tournament as well.The last time he bowled in a limited-overs game was in the annual Victory Day match on December 16. In last season’s Dhaka Premier League, he was low-key as he picked up just eight wickets in nine games for Cricket Coaching School (CCS).Still, ODI cricket wouldn’t necessarily be alien to him but it will take some adjustment and it has also prompted some in the team management to think twice before taking the call on him.But interestingly, it was his absence from the BPL that helped him grow as a bowler this season. According to Bangladesh coach Shane Jurgensen, his earnestness in the training programme at the National Cricket Academy, held while the Twenty20 tournament was in full flow, paid big dividends.”His hard work has paid off basically,” Jurgensen told ESPNcricinfo. “He didn’t get a team in the BPL so we put him in a programme at the National Cricket Academy. I wanted all the fast bowlers to do this, but he put his mind and body to it.”He stayed out of his hometown. He worked out everything that we had asked him to do and this is the result.”But his overarching advantage is his first-class experience. He has 192 wickets, 40 more than the next best quick bowler in the current Bangladesh team, Sajidul Islam. He has the bowling volume that bowlers like Rubel Hossain and Abul Hasan are missing. In addition, Jurgensen found his attitude to his liking too.”The first-class experience is where, I think, he draws his confidence. He has spent years in the domestic circuit, taking wickets. He brings that into his game here at the international level.”He has a fast bowler’s attitude. He runs in and bowls fast, doesn’t stop at all. He has an excellent outswinger, sets his own fields. He has been a pleasure to work with and seeing him, I know that the coaching staff has done the right thing with him.”Bangladesh are once again without Mashrafe Mortaza, their most successful ODI bowler with 161 scalps. Rubel Hossain is out with chicken pox, which means Shafiul Islam and Ziaur Rahman are the only other pace bowlers in the squad.If Robiul is picked, he will probably have to lead the attack though Shafiul is considered a better one-day bowler. Ziaur’s confidence with the ball would also have sky-rocketed after the four-wicket haul in the second innings of the second Test.Even without two frontline bowlers, Bangladesh have enough to call it a good pace attack. It can only be weakened by the customary urge to play the extra batsman down the order. Unless this mindset is changed, even an in-form bowler like Robiul would have a question-mark hanging over his head.

While Simon Katich has done nothing wrong, Australia’s selectors needed to look to the future

Brydon Coverdale07-Jun-2011Simon Katich can consider himself hard done by. Since his second coming as an international player three years ago, only England’s Ashes hero Alastair Cook has made more Test runs than Katich. But his axing from Cricket Australia’s contract list was a decision made not with the past in mind, but the future. And while it might seem unjust, it was the right call.At times over the past few years, Andrew Hilditch and his panel have made Tony Abbott look progressive, so it’s pleasing that the selectors now have at least one eye on the future. By embracing Usman Khawaja, Patrick Cummins and James Pattinson, they have shown they are serious about rebuilding after a disastrous Ashes campaign.Marcus North is gone, as expected, and Katich is an unfortunate casualty, having missed the final three Tests due to injury. The Test team works and plans in Ashes cycles, and now is time to start thinking of the next battle. Today it’s Katich, next year it could be Ricky Ponting or Michael Hussey, or both, who are phased out ahead of the 2013 Ashes.Such is the fickle nature of sport that this time last year Katich seemed the safest of those three older batsmen. But in the past 12 months, he has averaged 32.83 and hasn’t made a Test century. Hussey was one of Australia’s few Ashes stars and importantly is also a key ODI player who the selectors believe still has a role to play.The selectors also want to see if Ponting thrives after giving up the captaincy. His Test form has been poor, but as a 15-year veteran and record-breaking captain, he has earned some leeway. It all adds up to mean the end for Katich, with the selectors keen to avoid a synchronised exodus of three senior players, a la Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer in 2006-07.By calling time on Katich, they have also increased the pressure on Phillip Hughes. Clearly the next in line to join Shane Watson at the top of the order, Hughes needs to lift after making 2, 12, 16, 23, 31 and 13 in his six innings when called in as the replacement for Katich during the Ashes. At 22, he is in Australia’s long-term plans but should he keep failing, Usman Khawaja could comfortably step in to open with Watson.Khawaja’s promotion was arguably the least surprising detail of Australia’s new contract list. The inclusion of Cummins, the teenage fast bowler from New South Wales, was much more unexpected, but given that he is currently sidelined by a back injury, the selectors must be careful not to ask too much of him in the immediate future.It was also notable that Michael Beer, the incumbent Test spinner, was not offered a deal, while Xavier Doherty and Jason Krejza were signed up and Nathan Hauritz, out of favour during the Ashes, retained his contract. Beer and Krejza are both heading to Zimbabwe this month for an Australia A tour that will act as a virtual bowl-off for the August Test series against Sri Lanka. If the contract list is anything to go by, Krejza is the frontrunner.The inclusion of the one-day allrounder John Hastings is clearly a straight swap for James Hopes, who has been cut, while Clint McKay has been overtaken by his younger Victoria team-mate Pattinson in the fast-bowling order of precedence. Andrew McDonald and Adam Voges were never likely to have their deals extended, and having confined himself to Twenty20, Shaun Tait effectively confirmed his own axing.The one surprise in the batting set-up was that David Hussey secured a contract. Hussey is 33, but the selectors want him for ODIs and Twenty20s. Hussey might be on the wrong side of 30, but unlike Katich, he’s on the right side of 35.Hussey can go to bed tonight dreaming of playing for his country for another year, while Katich will begin to ponder his future. And the selectors have decided it’s a future in baggy blue, not baggy green.

Maharashtra started the season as unknowns. Mid-way into the Ranji Trophy and they’re the talk of town, writes Sidharth Monga

16-Dec-2007

Chandrakant Pandit: marshalling his men during practice © Cricinfo Ltd
Maharashtra went into the first match of the season with seven debutants. Some had not played much outside their districts, most were torchbearers for towns that hadn’t produced first-class cricketers earlier. Unlike a few other states, Maharashtra hadn’t been impoverished by the ICL (only a couple defected) but had decided to ease out a few players for a few fresh ones.Left to themselves in unknown territory, they’ve held their own. Halfway into the Ranji season, and they’ve been the side that’s made everyone take notice. They entered the first match without Sairaj Bahutule and Hrishikesh Kanitkar, their two most experienced hands, but nearly grabbed first-innings points against Tamil Nadu. Had rain not intervened, a victory was on the cards. They went on to beat Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh before stunning Mumbai, at the Wankhede Stadium, for the first-innings lead.The defeat to Delhi in the previous round was the only blemish, one without which they were prime candidates for a semi-final slot. Now, tied in the second place with Mumbai and Saurashtra, they’re still in with a good chance. It is tempting to think that such a young side would be happy with the performances they’ve put up so far, that results shouldn’t actually matter so much. Their coach, Chandrakant Pandit, would have none of it. “What do we play for?” he asks. “It’s not only for fun; we have to win. And I am obsessed with winning.”It helps to have such a coach, one who’s spent his whole career figuring out new ways to win. “In one way it was good for us that they were not experienced in the Ranji Trophy, because by the time they realised the significance of what they were doing, they were four games into the competition,” Pandit says. Playing a natural, fearless brand of cricket, they threw themselves around readily. So high were the enthusiasm levels that they appeal every time the ball strikes the pad.Yet for all the enthusiasm and natural talent, it is tough to compete in the Ranji Trophy with no senior to look up to. There is a way to go about building a long innings, a way to work the batsmen out. Hrishikesh Kanitkar, a veteran of 14 seasons, joined the team only in the fourth game. “It was difficult for them, because I still think they are not a mature team,” says Pandit. “Ranji Trophy is different from districts cricket; there you always play fearless cricket.” What Pandit says is especially evident from the batsmen’s approach. The openers go for their shots regardless of the situation, often getting out slashing outside off stump.”They don’t have that Mumbai culture of the urgency, the aggressiveness. Some of them are from districts where they haven’t played this kind of cricket before. Some of them are from well-to-do families from Pune” – Chandrakant PanditThe runs have still come; someone has put his hand up so far. Harshad Khadiwale, in his second season, scored a century in Chennai; Venugopal Rao and Bahutule bailed them out against Himachal Pradesh; Yogesh Takawale and Vishal Bhilare rescued them against Mumbai.The bowlers are no magicians but have snapped up wickets, including 40 against Rajasthan and Himachal. Greenhorns Samad Fallah and Wahid Sayyed have done well in Munaf Patel’s absence. Salil Agharkar has proved to be a stable left-arm spinner. All have exceeded expectations. Few had heard of them when the selectors announced their names. None of them had played U-19 for India, as opposed to some of the other youngsters they were up against. Sayyed, for example, who is from Aurangabad, had not even played in the invitational league before that.When this team was assembled, the biggest challenge was to take them one level up to the Ranji Trophy. It had helped that Maharashtra had followed a practice of letting juniors train with the Ranji team. “We have two groups: colts and seniors,” says Pandit. “Colts have Under-17, Under-19, or Under-22, but that doesn’t mean a good 17-year old can’t practice with seniors. That is how we are trying to blood in youngsters.”When they came into the team, they had a lot of fear because the communication gap [with the seniors] has always been there. And there was fear because they had watched them playing for so many years. I have been having group talks, trying to create a team atmosphere. We get together and watch movies. I ask them to initiate entertainment activities. But some of them keep to themselves, and that pressure can be seen at team dinners too. I have also asked seniors to go out of the way and help youngsters. Slowly the communication gap will be reduced, this is just the fifth match.”

Harshad Khadiwale: began the season with a century in Chennai © Cricinfo Ltd
It going to take some time for the rookies to get close to seniors like Kanitkar and Bahutule, no extroverts themselves, but things are gradually changing on the field. Kanitkar takes the responsibility of holding the batting together. He is seen having chats with the other batsmen while out in the middle. On the day when Maharashtra are going to bat, one can see Kanitkar bat with the youngsters. When the duo recovered from their injures and returned to the side, some of the youngsters went up to Pandit and said they felt the difference. They weren’t alone on the field, they were now backed by players with fine records. “I saw where they were coming from. We had felt the same with the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Sandeep Patil.”Going into the fifth round as group leaders, they chose to bat first against second-placed Delhi. It was a tricky track and the batsmen played far too many shots. Towards the end of the second day, when Delhi were set for a big lead, the Maharashtra bowlers were not out there warming up. It was enough for the coach to have a go. “Our body language suggested we had already lost the game,” said Pandit. “I had to give them examples of how teams have come back after conceding leads too. They don’t have that Mumbai culture of the urgency, the aggressiveness. Some of them are from districts where they haven’t played this kind of cricket before. Some of them are from well-to-do families from Pune.”It showed in their second-innings batting as well. When a 100-run fifth-wicket stand seemed like taking them towards safety, the rest seemed too relaxed, as if they weren’t expecting to bat soon. It took one hat-trick to seal the match.What was heartening, though, was their sign off. Defending 50 runs on the final day, they opened with a spinner, and took three wickets for 20 runs. The fielders were charged up, the bowlers were running in hard, and chances were being created. A point had been made: even after falling behind, they could be in the game, that winning ultimately matters more than exceeding expectations.

Dom Bess chimes in with 41 not out to help guide visitors home at Chesterfield

ECB Reporters Network14-Jun-2023

Yorkshire celebrated a County Championship victory for the first time in 14 months when they beat Derbyshire by three wickets on the final morning of the match at Chesterfield.Shan Masood played the leading role against his former county with an unbeaten 95 off 112 balls while a run-a-ball 41 not out from Dom Bess helped see the visitors home after Dawid Malan had fallen to the first ball of the day.Yorkshire needed 65 when Mark Watt removed Malan but Masood and Bess played with composure to share an eighth-wicket stand of 68 from 82 balls to win a gripping contest on 215 for 7The odds had shifted in Derbyshire’s favour when Watt struck with the first ball of the morning. Malan tried to paddle sweep the left-arm spinner but only succeeded in lobbing a simple catch to Matt Lamb at short leg.Given the situation, it was a poor shot by a player of Malan’s quality and experience and put even more responsibility on the shoulders of Masood.With balls keeping low,, there was little margin for error but Bess eased some of the tension by sweeping Watt behind square for four before Masood stroked Alex Thomson to the cover boundary.There were more cheers from the Yorkshire dressing room when Bess cut Watt for four and clipped him through midwicket for three but there was an anxious moment for the visitors in the same over.Masood was on 76 when he missed a sweep at Watt and umpire Chris Watts appeared to uphold the appeal but was only signalling to the bowler to get off the pitch.Bess drove Thomson through the covers for another four and when Zak Chappell replaced Watt at the Pavilion end, Masood turned him behind square to the ropes.Watt switched to the Lake end but the target was now under 20 and Masood swept him to the midwicket boundary to move into the nineties.With 14 required, Thomson replaced Chappell but Bess skipped down the pitch to whip him through midwicket for four and in the next over, he swept Watt for another boundary to take Yorkshire to within touching distance of the finishing line.With everyone around the bat, Bess turned Watt through midwicket for three and struck the winning blow by pulling a Thomson full toss to the boundary shortly before midday to finally end Yorkshire’s 17-game wait for a red-ball victory.

Barcelona are accelerating player exits to ease their wage bill. One of those departures could be Hector Fort, with West Ham eyeing the youngster.

West Ham in advanced negotiations to sign Barca's 19-year-oldBarcelona keen to move players on to reduce their wage billHammers turned to Fort after failing to convince CasadoFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

West Ham are in advanced talks to sign Barcelona full-back Fort on a season-long loan, according to a report from . The 19-year-old has been given permission by the club to finalise a move and was absent from training on Friday morning ahead of Barca's match against Levante. The deal is reportedly well-advanced and could be completed next week.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The move comes as Barcelona work to reduce their wage bill in order to register new players before the transfer deadline. West Ham had initially prioritised a move for Fort's team-mate, midfielder Marc Casado, but the player is reportedly reluctant to join the London club, prompting a switch in focus to the full-back. Fort has found first-team opportunities limited under Hansi Flick and is seeking regular playing time. Fort was promoted to the Barcelona first-team squad last season as cover at right-back following the club's failure to retain Joao Cancelo on a permanent basis. He was primarily used as back-up for Jules Kounde.

WHAT HANSI FLICK SAID

Flick commented on Casado's future during a press conference on Friday, saying: "I've spoken to him. He doesn't want to leave, and I don't want him to. We need all the players, and he does what we want. We're trying to achieve a lot this season, and that's why we need all the players."

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR FORT & WEST HAM?

If Fort is to leave Camp Nou, it will likely be on a temporary basis as his long-term ambition is to establish himself at Barcelona. While the Hammers are the frontrunners, they face competition from Premier League rivals Everton. Italian side Como and La Liga's Mallorca have also registered their interest. With less than two weeks remaining in the transfer window, all parties are seeking a quick resolution, with the Premier League appearing to be Fort's most likely destination.

تلقى هانز فليك مدرب برشلونة دفعة معنوية قوية قبل لقاء رايو فاليكانو مساء الأحد القادم في الجولة الثالثة من الدوري الإسباني لكرة القدم.

ونشرت صحيفة “سبورت” الإسبانية أن برشلونة نجح في تسجيل مدافعه جيرارد مارتن في رابطة الليجا بعد إعارة إيناكي بينا إلى إلتشي وبيع جان فيرجيلي إلى موناكو.

ويواصل برشلونة سعيه لتسجيل جميع لاعبيه ومساعدة مدربه هانز فليك ولم يتبقى سوى تسجيل فويتشيك تشيزني وروني باردجي بعد جيرارد مارتن.

أقرأ أيضاً.. إصابة لاعب برشلونة في التدريبات.. وشكوك حول مشاركته أمام رايو فاليكانو

وكان برشلونة قد سارع في تسجيل خوان جارسيا وماركوس راشفورد وهما أهم صفقتين هذا الموسم، وجاءت إصابة تير شتيجن لتسهل من عمل البلوجرانا لتسجيل حارس مرمى إسبانيول السابق.

بينما تم تسجيل الإنجليزي ماركوس راشفورد عن طريق رحيل إنيجو مارتينيز وبابلو توري وأليكس فالي وبيع نسبة برشلونة في البرتغالي ترينكاو إلى سبورتينج لشبونة.

وقد استمتع جيرارد مارتن بمسيرة مميزة مع الفريق الأول لبرشلونة، وكان الظهير الأيسر قد خاض أول مباراة رسمية له في الموسم الماضي 2024-2025 واستغل غيابات دفاعية ليحصل على ثقة هانز فليك، وقدم تمريرات حاسمة رائعة ضد إنتر ميلان في نصف نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا.

Leus Du Plooy and Ryan Higgins steered Middlesex to six-wicket victory over Vitality County Championship Division Two favourites Yorkshire on an absorbing day three at Lord’s.Hungarian citizen Du Plooy and the Zimbabwean-born Higgins, shared a match-winning stand of 59 just as the Seaxes were wobbling at 77 for 3 in pursuit of 158 to win in this low-scoring encounter.Du Plooy fell eight short of 50 with victory in sight, but Higgins remained 33 not out when Stephen Eskinazi made the winning runs. Ben Coad’s 2 for 20 led a spirited attempt by the visitors to defend the tally, but in the end they didn’t have enough on the board.The chase came after Yorkshire, who resumed on 216-7 were dismissed in the first 40 minutes of the day for 244, George Hill last man out after extending his overnight 52 to 75 with several well struck boundaries, Middlesex skipper Toby Roland-Jones finishing with 3 for 78.The win marks a significant moment for Middlesex. Relegated from the top tier last year after gleaning only five batting bonus points – three of those in the final game of the season – they had surpassed that total in the first two games of this against a Kookaburra ball rendered impotent by placid surfaces.This however was in many ways the acid test, a fourth innings run chase in a game where batting had proved difficult against just about everyone’s tip for the laurels.It should probably come as no surprise that Du Plooy, the man brought in over the winter to shore up the batting ranks, combined with Higgins, so often the sole contributor in 2023, to get Middlesex over the line.There was drama first ball of the chase when Shan Masood brilliantly fielded Nathan Fernandes’s cover-drive and shied at the stumps, the suspicion being the youngster would have been short of his ground had the throw hit, despite a full-length dive. Two balls later however, Mark Stoneman was trapped lbw to Coad for nought giving the visitors a dream start.A tense 75 minutes unfolded as Fernandes and Holden resisted against probing bowling. Holden calmed home nerves with a couple of glorious cover drives, before being given a life on 17 when gloving a short one from Mickey Edwards only for Jonathan Tattersall to spill the gift and allow the hosts to lunch on 40 for 1.When battle resumed it was just as tense, Fernandes and Holden, defiant in defence, getting a big stride in as often as possible to negate any swing. The partnership crept to 50 before four overthrows from a sharp Holden single added to the visitors’ growing sense of frustration.The tension though would tell on Fernandes, who, bogged down, hooked an innocuous short ball from Thompson down the throat of Hill at long leg. Du Plooy might have followed him a few balls later to an identical shot which to his relief carried a few yards further and cleared the rope.Coad returned to have Holden caught behind from one that bounced on him and was taken by Tattersall standing up, in the aftermath of which time seemed to stand still as disciplined bowling to a well-set field suffocated attempts to score.Boundaries for Ryan Higgins in successive overs from Thompson helped the hosts over 100, those blows seeming to break the shackles as the White Rose which had for so long promised to blossom amid adversity, slowly but inexorably wilted.Du Plooy slashed one from Moriarty to Adam Lyth at slip on 42, but victory came without further alarms 25 minutes after tea.Earlier Coad had edged his first ball of the day from Ethan Bamber into the hands of Du Plooy at slip to end an eighth-wicket stand of 62 and thereafter only the aggression of Hill pushed Yorkshire’s lead beyond 150.

Wolvaardt fifty and Luus 45 not good enough for a Kapp-less South Africa in a high-scoring contest

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2023

After three abandoned fixtures, South Africa and New Zealand finally met in the fourth T20I in Benoni, where an unbeaten 135-run partnership between Amelia Kerr (70*) and Sophie Devine (61*) sealed the win for the visitors by eight wickets.Their half-centuries helped New Zealand recover after losing both openers in the chase of 173 inside the powerplay, and after that, their partnership, including 14 fours and three sixes, didn’t give South Africa a way in. It is also the highest partnership for the third wicket for New Zealand, breaking the record of 124 previously held by Katey Martin and Amy Sattherthwaite. Masabata Klaas and Tumi Sekhukhune took a wicket apiece, but were also expensive, conceding 75 runs in their combined seven overs.That South Africa were without Marizanne Kapp and Lara Goodall didn’t help their cause either. Kapp sustained a bruise to her lower right leg after being hit by a ball during the second T20I, while Goodall experienced a right ankle sprain during a warm-up fielding drill ahead of the aforementioned game. Both players will be unavailable for the fifth T20I as well but are expected to be back to training next week.In their batting innings, South Africa made a promising 172 for 4 after being asked to bat first at the toss, on the back of Laura Wolvaardt’s ninth half-century. She helped South Africa stitch a 53-run partnership with Anneke Bosch and a 37-run partnership with Sune Luus, but the skipper fell for 53, in the 16th over, to Hannah Rowe. Luus, with her unbeaten 30-ball 45, and Chloe Tryon (22 off 10) provided the late flourish as South Africa hit 67 runs in the last five overs, but eventually their target was chased with seven balls to spare.The fifth and final T20I in the series will be played in Benoni again on Sunday.