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India Women’s captain Mithali Raj looks forward to what could be hers and Jhulan Goswami’s final World Cup, and the exciting young talent that will replace them

Interview by Peter Della Penna12-Jun-20176:05

“The team seems to be rounding itself in terms of the combination we’re looking for the World Cup”

You’re about to play your fifth World Cup and, at age 34, more than likely your last one, along with Jhulan Goswami, who is the same age. Are you preparing as if it’s your last one? If so, are you more relaxed, or do you feel more pressure to put in one more great performance?
Yes, you’re not the first one to tell us that this is going to be our last World Cup (laughs), but we do realise that and we are quite happy that the team, from what we started to where the team is now, it’s come a long way, and the youngsters are responding quite positively to our suggestions.As players who had long careers, we’ve enjoyed different times where the team has done well. Of course, Jhulan has broken the world record for the highest wicket-taker. That’s a huge achievement for her. Normally, the career is very short-lived, so to have such a long career in itself is a very exceptional achievement.So it could be our last World Cup, and I would definitely suggest to Jhulan to enjoy ourselves rather than piling up expectations of performing. It’s natural that we want to perform exceptionally well in the World Cup knowing that this would be our last, but we shouldn’t forget to enjoy this platform.”We are quite happy that the team, from what we started, it’s come a long way, and the youngsters are responding quite positively to our suggestions”•Getty Images Where have you seen the biggest changes in women’s cricket within India and across the international game as a whole over the course of your career?
Women’s cricket in India has developed mostly because of the BCCI. When they came in 2007 to what it is now, the players are more professional. We have the best support staff and the best facilities to train at the National Cricket Academy. The players are looked after by the BCCI in terms of central contracts. Even if the players are injured, they are sent to the best rehab facility in the National Cricket Academy and have the best physios and trainers. That gives the players a few more years in a career.Earlier, without the BCCI, we were not even aware of how to go about if we have injuries or to prepare ourselves for challenging conditions. Even the domestic circuit is well organised. We get to play on very good grounds back in India. When I started as an India player, I used to struggle to get to play on a turf wicket.The Australian board and the ECB have taken great lengths to promote women’s cricket in their countries. A lot of people now come up to us and say, “We hardly see much of a difference between men’s cricket and women’s cricket.”The ICC has also increased the World Cup fee, so there’s a lot to play for. Now the matches are being televised, starting from 2009. I hope that one day women’s cricket stands up as a brand in itself and it doesn’t require [help from] men’s cricket.How does your preparation leading into this World Cup in England, specifically winning the quadrangular series in South Africa in May, compare to the build-up and preparations you have had for your previous World Cup experiences?
It may not be ideal preparation because English conditions are far different than what we’ve been facing in South Africa. It’s winter time in South Africa and it will be early summer in England, but any form of matches we get to play before the World Cup is preparation. As a captain and as a player, I would want to play more matches and build momentum before the World Cup.The India Women’s squad before leaving for the 2017 World Cup in England•PTI The Qualifiers [in February] have been one of the changes for Indian women’s cricket because we’ve seen a lot of youngsters coming in – they are very promising and have scored a lot of runs, got wickets, performed in the Qualifiers. They have come into the series with a lot of confidence. The team now seems to be rounding itself in terms of preparation and the combination that we’re looking for the World Cup. Nineteen-year-old Deepti Sharma got a chance to open during the Qualifiers as well as the South Africa quadrangular series and was the leading run scorer in both. And she made 188 as part of a record 320-run partnership in women’s ODIs. How has Deepti’s performance had an impact on the team’s batting plans for the World Cup?
It definitely will, because Smriti [Mandhana] is coming from an injury. Her last good knock was in Australia [in February 2016]. After that she’s not really been among runs. I really relish watching Deepti. She’s a very promising batsman who also chips in with her bowling.But Smriti scored a lot of runs in England in 2014. I’m hoping that she will be among the runs in the World Cup. We need to have healthy competition in the side so that players are raring to perform, standing up to the challenges. That’s how we’ll build a very good side.”I’m quite excited about Deepti Sharma. The form that she is in, she can be one of the allrounders India is looking for”•Associated Press In the previous World Cup, at home, the team failed to go forward from the initial group stage into the Super Sixes and eventually finished in seventh place. Are you more relaxed playing this World Cup away from home?
Maybe the home crowd and expectations are an added pressure on the home side but otherwise the World Cup carries its own pressures.The last World Cup, in 2013 had a different format, with Super Sixes. One bad game [against Sri Lanka] and we were out of the Super Six. Quite disappointing because being the home team, a lot of expectations were riding on us and the build-up to that World Cup was also very good. We started by posting a huge total against West Indies, who turned out to be runners-up. We raised the bar for people and didn’t step up to the challenges when we faced England or Sri Lanka. This time round we are looking to definitely making it to the top four. Does a different format for this year’s World Cup, where every team plays everyone else in a round-robin format before semi-finals, change the team’s mindset?
It gives us an opportunity to play all the teams, and even if you have one bad game, you always have another to compensate. Because you’re playing all the teams, there’s always the possibility of a surprise. Then there are a lot of options you can count on, bonus points or net run rate. It keeps the stage open for anybody. What kind of influence has coach Tushar Arothe had in the short time he’s been with the team since being appointed in April?
Tushar has been with the team earlier, so he’s not someone new in women’s cricket. He gets a lot of new stuff into the team, like pushing the girls to improve themselves, set up challenges. He’s developing a very competitive atmosphere in the side so that the girls are not laid-back and are not adding too much pressure on themselves. Also, since he has played county [cricket] in England, he’s well aware of English conditions.Mithali leads the team out for the 2005 World Cup final, which India lost to Australia•Getty Images What’s a key target area for the team to have a successful World Cup?
The opening stand is very important in the World Cup. We’ve always struggled with the opening partnerships, where in the first ten overs we’re not really able to make many runs – until the Qualifiers. When you’re chasing 250-260, you need to have the run rate right from the go, which we struggled for a long period of time. But in the quadrangular series, I see that the openers have actually stepped up. It was very heartening to see that they have gave us the kind of start that we’re looking for if we want to be the best side. Whether it is Deepti Sharma or someone else, is there an up-and-coming player you’re particularly excited about?
Deepti Sharma is the youngest member [of the squad]. It’s going to be her first World Cup. And Veda Krishnamurthy’s and Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s. The team definitely is different to what we played in 2013, barring four or five players.It’s their first World Cup, but the way they have been performing in the last two or three years, I don’t think they will add pressure on themselves. As a captain, I can only tell them to enjoy themselves. I’m quite excited about Deepti Sharma. The form that she is in, she can be one of the allrounders India is looking for. Win or lose, what’s the one thing you want to take out of the World Cup to look back on as a great memory?
When I led India for the first time, it was in the World Cup in 2005. That was my first outing as captain. This probably would be my last outing as captain. The first one went well as [we ended up] runners-up. I hope destiny repeats, maybe better this time. Even if it doesn’t, I will be very happy that I have led a team which has, over the years, improved hugely. We’ve helped players improve from what it was in 1999, when I started, to what it is in 2017. I will be more than happy that I’m leaving a team which can actually go on to be one of the best sides.

Jonny Bairstow has batted with verve and skill in Durban but his wicketkeeping mistakes still insist he is far from the finished article

George Dobell in Durban29-Dec-2015What will be Jonny Bairstow’s final thought before he drifts off to sleep tonight?Will it be the two fine innings he has produced in this Durban Test? Or will it be the drop and the missed stumping?Bairstow has batted with more fluency than anyone in this match. Coming to the crease in both innings with his side under just a little bit of pressure, he demonstrated that he has the batting ability to succeed at this level.While colleagues as positive as James Taylor and Ben Stokes struggled to rotate the strike, Bairstow scored at a run a ball. There were three slog-swept sixes off the spinners and three sweetly-timed boundaries off Morne Morkel. He looked comfortably good enough to make it as a specialist batsman.Yes, he had some fortune. He survived two edges that went perilously close to leg slip (the first when he had made only a single, the second on 34) and 18 of his second-innings runs were made against the part-time bowlers Dean Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl. In other circumstances, he might have expected to face Dale Steyn and a second new ball.But he also batted selflessly. In both innings, he lost his wicket when left with the tail and looking to plunder quick runs. He did everything that could have been asked of him. With the bat.Is Bairstow’s glass half full or half empty?

The fan will think the glass is completely full, even though it isn’t

The worrier will fret that the remaining half will evaporate

The philosophy student would ask, “What glass?”

The call-centre operator will ask you to hold the line while they find out

The pragmatist says at least we have a glass

We probably shouldn’t be surprised. Bairstow averaged nearly 100 for Yorkshire in the Championship season and, by steering his side from trouble time after time, played a huge role in the club winning the title.He made a classy 95 against this opposition in his fourth Test and followed it with an aggressive 54 in the second innings as England chased an unlikely victory. On ODI debut, too, against India in Cardiff in 2011, he won the match for his side with an unbeaten 41 from 21 balls. The format may require different skills, but it says something about his temperament that he could thrive under pressure.But batting is half Bairstow’s job in this side. And, just as a pilot can’t just be good at taking off – he needs to be able to land the plane, too – Bairstow needs to improve his keeping if he is to succeed in his current role in the side.The stumping Bairstow missed in the second innings was tough. AB de Villiers’ body would have obscured the ball from Bairstow and the turn – from around the wicket, too – was sharp. Better keepers than Bairstow have missed simpler chances. Spare a thought for Moeen Ali, though: if you beat the best with a ball that good, it must sting to go unrewarded.But there is a pattern emerging. Bairstow also missed a stumping off Moeen – a much easier stumping – in the warm-up game in Pietermaritzburg. And he missed a stumping in his previous Test, in Sharjah, off Adil Rashid, which allowed Mohammad Hafeez to go on and score a big hundred. He also dropped him earlier on in that innings off Moeen. The damning stat remains unbroken: no England keeper has completed a stumping in a Test since 2012.Bairstow also missed a catch off Chris Woakes in the first innings. The drop, in itself, didn’t cost England. Hashim Amla was dismissed soon afterwards.But Bairstow will remember it. The selectors will remember it. And the bowlers will certainly remember it. It was the sort of chance a Test keeper should take. His failure to do so exposed his poor footwork as much as his glovework and underlined the concern that the mistakes are not aberrations: they are the consequence of picking a wicketkeeper who is not quite good enough for this level.The fact is, in this game, Bairstow has reprieved Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. England may, on this occasion, get away with it. But there will be many times when such errors cost games.England have been done this road before. Matt Prior was far from the keeper he became in his first spell in the side. His struggles keeping to the left-arm of Ryan Sidebottom eventually saw him dropped before a period working hard in the county game brought a recall. Alec Stewart, too, improved out of all recognition.Anderson on track

James Anderson continued his preparations to return to the team for the second Test in Cape Town starting on Saturday.
Having stepped-up the speed of his bowling in the nets, he reported no recurrence of the calf strain that kept him out of the team for the first Test.
He will be required to bowl at full pace in the nets on Wednesday before he will be considered for selection.
“His rehab is still going according to plan,” a team spokesman said.

And Jos Buttler, for all his struggles with the bat in Test cricket, had become much better standing back to the seamers. His work standing up to the stumps still left a bit to be desired, but there was a reason the selectors and coaches backed him, not Bairstow, for the job in the first place: they felt he had more natural keeping talent and could, in time, develop into a fine performer.It made sense to drop him, though. He was beginning to look frazzled and jaded. He required, like Prior, some time out of the spotlight before he came again. It is worth noting, too, that there are many other options within the England game: they do not just have to pick between Bairstow and Buttler.They could plump for a short-term solution – perhaps Chris Read, who has developed into a fine batsman, or James Foster, who could even slip into retirement in the coming weeks or months having had little chance to show the skill that Jack Russell says has taken the art to a “new level” – while the likes of Bairstow, Buttler, Sam Billings or Ben Foakes (who is highly rated by the England camp but cannot claim the gloves at his county for now) work on their game to reach the required standard.Bairstow will no doubt improve. He is working hard and, a few days before the Test, was said to have enjoyed his best session yet with the keeping coach, Bruce French. Nobody will regret his errors more than him. There is no questioning his hard work or good intentions.But is the Test team the place to be learning? And has an England Test keeper in recent memory ever come into the team with so much to do to bring their game up to the standard required? And, perhaps most pertinently of all, do England need the depth of batting they have in this side to justify the compromises they are making over the quality of their keeper? Does the balance of the side, with Ben Stokes at No. 6 and men at No. 8 and No. 10 who have scored Test centuries, really necessitate taking such a risk with the keeper in order to bolster the batting?The irritating fear is that, on the strength of this match, it might. Bairstow’s batting helped them rebuild from 196 for 5 in the first innings and 197 for 5 in the second. For all the talent and entertainment offered by others in the middle-order, they have yet to achieve consistency.Jonny Bairstow’s sefless innings was one of his best in Tests for England•Associated PressSo England need a wicketkeeper that can bat. Just as all international sides have also reached that inevitable conclusion. But they also need to be able to keep and, all the evidence so far suggests that, with Bairstow, too much compromise has been made towards the former. Let us not forget that the 2015 Ashes may have been decided by a keeping error: Brad Haddin dropping Joe Root on 0 in Cardiff.Right now, Bairstow’s keeping is an accident waiting to happen. England cannot feel surprised or aggrieved if his fumbles cost them this Test, this series or, one day, the Ashes. His unreliability is currently the only reliable thing about his keeping. He is, right now, a fine batsman and a poor keeper.So, as with several members of this young side, they have a decision to make: do they continue to invest in him – as they have with Ben Stokes and Joe Root and Moeen Ali – or do they move on? There is probably no right or wrong answer, but if they decide further investment is the right decision, England supporters should expect some more frustrating days.

Stats highlights from the first Test between Australia and Pakistan at Dubai

Bishen Jeswant22-Oct-201425 Number of Test hundreds that Younis Khan has scored, equalling the record for the most by a Pakistan batsman, held by Inzamam-ul-Haq. Across countries there are 19 batsmen who have scored 25 hundreds or more.1 Number of Pakistan batsman who have scored a hundred against all nine other Test playing nations – Younis. Both Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf have hundreds against all Test nations except South Africa.2 Number of regular legspinners who have made Test debut for Pakistan in the last 17 years. Apart from Yasir Shah, who is debuting in this Test, Danish Kaneria made his debut in 2000, against England.3 Sets of father and two sons who have played Test cricket. The two sets prior to Geoff, Shaun and Mitchell Marsh are India’s Lala, Mohinder and Surinder Amarnath, and New Zealand’s Walter, Richard and Dayle Hadlee.4 Number of players making debuts in this Test. The last time that there were four or more debutants in a Test between two top-eight sides was also between Australia and Pakistan, at Lord’s in 2010.3 Number of 100-plus third-wicket partnerships for Pakistan since December 2009. Younis Khan and Azhar Ali were involved in all three.2 Number of times since November 2011 that Nos. 3 and 4 have made 50-plus scores in the same innings for Pakistan. The last four instances of Pakistan batsmen doing this have all been in the UAE.1 Number of Tests since 2001 where Pakistan have scored at less than one run per over in the first ten overs of a Test innings.They scored at exactly one run per over today in this period. The only previous Test was against England in 2010, where Pakistan scored eight and nine in their first and second innings respectively.

What is it: boredom, poor luck, loss of the ability to be excited by milestones?

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013Amongst all the cricket-related questions that fire themselves into my brain during quiet moments, of which there are disturbingly many for a supposedly grown-up father of two and alleged political satirist, the one that has put its hand up and asked itself most frequently of late has been: How can you tell when a cricketer is in terminal career decline? (I will share some of the other questions in another blog later in the week.)There is no formula for judging when a blip in form becomes the harbinger of inevitable retirement, or when those proposing the adage “form is temporary, class is permanent”, start to add the words “but Father Time can be a cantankerous old bastard when he wants to be”.It will not have escaped the notice of the more eagle-eyed cricket followers that Sachin Tendulkar, the cricketing icon of his age and one of the greatest players in the history of the game, is still awaiting his 100th international hundred. All seven billion people currently at large in the world have not scored 100 international hundreds, and for the moment Tendulkar is still one of the them. All their forebears also failed to reach that milestone, and given the changing schedule and nature of modern cricket, it seems likely that all their descendants will fail to reach it as well.So it is perhaps understandable that, in a game obsessed with milestones, this megamilestone is causing rather more fretting than, objectively, it should. Reaching it is not going to make Tendulkar a greater player, and failing to reach it would not make him a lesser one – though it would be quite annoying for him, and for cricket. If Neil Armstrong had landed his magic rocket on the moon, taken one look outside, decided it looked a bit chilly for a walk, and blasted himself and his buddies straight back to Earth, it would still have been a hugely impressive voyage. Having journeyed so far, obviously the symbolic moment of placing the flag on the moon was important – but the overall achievements of the space programme, and the broader technological miracle of being able to fire people 250,000 miles in a souped-up tin can and get them home again afterwards were, ultimately, of more significance.It is now 29 innings since Tendulkar scored his 99th international hundred. It is his second longest sequence of innings without a century in his unfathomably massive international career (there was a 34-innings hiatus between hundred No. 78 and hundred No. 79, in 2007).It is worth thinking back to that 99th hundred, his second century of a triumphant World Cup, both of them innings of peerless brilliance, in which his technique, judgement and boldness were close to flawless; a master in total control of his craft. At that point he had scored 11 hundreds for India in 14 months, at a rate of one every three innings, including eight in 15 Tests, and the first-ever ODI double-century. Statistically he had never been as good.Since then, there have been 11 months and 29 innings of finely crafted near-misses, sawn-off cameos and failures, a cocktail of uncompleted brilliance and uncharacteristic uncertainty.Why?Has the pressure of reaching a milestone, to which no other player has ever, or is ever likely to, come close, affected the mind of the master? Have his 38 years and ten months on the planet, and more particularly his 22 years and three months of international cricket, finally caught up with him? Has his luck simply changed? Is he tired? Is he bored of watching a small, hard, red round thing fly towards him whilst hundreds of millions of people watch to see if he can hit it with a plank of wood? When you have done so 50,000 times, the novelty must wear off. Is he simply sated of milestones, after snaring his 200th international wicket in the Cape Town Test just over a year ago (for which, incidentally, there had been a 34-match, 15-month wait after wicket No. 199)? Or has the ghost of Donald Bradman been interfering, trying to ensure that his closest modern equivalent ends up like him, stranded on 99?Answers by carrier pigeon to PO Box 100, Cricketville, please. Even the most ardent of Tendulkar fans would admit that the Mumbai Methuselah is closer to the end of his career than the beginning, but recent cricket history is laden with wild fluctuations of form – as dumped-from-the-ODI-side-shortly-after-two-massive-Test-hundreds Ricky Ponting will testify. As will the whole of the England and Pakistan teams. And most other cricketers. Except perhaps Glenn McGrath, who posted a Test average between 15 and 23 in ten out of 11 years from 1995 to 2005 (and only played four Tests in 2003, his one rogue year, when he averaged 35).Tendulkar has had to face cricketing mortality before, when his elbow injury significantly reduced him as a player and the statistics suggested that he would never touch his previous heights again. From December 2002 to November 2007, he averaged 46 in Tests; 38 if you exclude four Tests and plenty of runs against Bangladesh; 29 if you also remove a two-game spike in Sydney and Multan early in 2004, in which he harvested 495 unbeaten runs in three innings (and which interrupted a sequence of 15 single-figure scores in 21 Test innings). Obviously, if you remove massive unbeaten centuries from anyone’s career, their average will drop, but it nevertheless shows how Tendulkar’s base level of performance sank during his Elbow Years, and the extraordinary powers of recovery he showed to recapture his greatness.Others have done likewise. Jacques Kallis appeared to be in decline in 2008. From February to November of that year, he batted 17 times in 11 Tests, passed 25 only three times, and averaged 24, despite having played four of those Tests against Bangladesh, and also struggled in the ODI series in England. He then had an adequate but unspectacular series in Australia.At that point, with 13 years of multi-format all-round exertions on his cricketing milometer, it was not unreasonable to assume that he was on an irretrievable slide towards his cricketing dotage. He promptly embarked on a run of 17 Tests over two years in which he scored ten centuries, averaged 78, and played with a majestic freedom he had largely kept hidden from public view. He also averaged 52 in 20 ODIs, with a strike rate of 86. The pipe and slippers could wait.What of Ponting’s recent resurgence and/or collapse in form? From early 2002 to late 2006, he averaged 75 in 53 Tests, with 24 centuries, perhaps the closest anyone has come to matching Bradman over an elongated period. In 25 matches from the third Ashes Test of 2006 until the first of 2009, he averaged 44. In 26 Tests from then until the defeat to New Zealand in Hobart in December, he averaged 33, with one century (and that facilitated a sub-schoolboy drop when he was on 0). Ponting’s decline was prolonged and provable. He then clouted India for 544 runs in five completed innings. And was then dismissed in single figures in five successive ODI innings. Was Ponting’s literal and metaphorical Indian summer, in economic parlance, a “dead-cat bounce” (when a plummeting share price briefly recovers before thudding back down to earth), against bowling and fielding that often seemed to have been inspired by a dead cat? Or is he now set for his late-career revival, as proved to be the case for Kallis and Tendulkar (and Lara)?Few players depart the international stage quite as gloriously as their careers deserve. Gilchrist, who in his first 68 Tests had averaged 55 and established himself as without question the greatest wicketkeeper-batsman ever to pick up a bat and some gloves, finished by averaging 30 in his last 28 Tests, during which time he was statistically only the sixth-best wicketkeeper-batsman in the world, a little behind Prasanna Jayawardene, and a long way behind Kamran Akmal. Herbert Sutcliffe scored 16 centuries in his first 40 Tests, but none in his final 14. Graham Gooch was a decent Test batsman for many years, then a great one for four years in his late 30s, then, when he could have retired, played on. He scored a double-hundred at Lord’s. Then passed 50 just once in his final ten Tests. Ian Botham, who had begun his career as one of the most spectacular and high-impact cricketers of all time, was almost completely ineffective for his last 23 Tests over more than six years, as if Beethoven had wound down his hall-of-fame musical writing career penning advertising ditties for kids’ toothpaste. Viv Richards averaged mid-70s in his dazzling pomp from 1976 to 1981, mid-40s from 1981 to 1989, and mid-30s in his final couple of years in Tests. Jason Gillespie scored a double-century in his final Test innings. If there is a god, he is no respecter of batting legends.

Plays of the Day from the first one-day international between England and Sri Lanka at The Oval

Andrew McGlashan at The Oval28-Jun-2011Tickle of the day

All eyes were on Alastair Cook as the match began because Sri Lanka’s decision to field first meant he had an early chance to prove that his game can adapt to one-day cricket. Much of the build-up had been dominated by talk over his strike-rate, but that wasn’t a problem today as he clocked in at 166.6. Sadly for Cook, however, the innings only spanned three balls. He was off the mark straight away with a nudge off his hip, then clipped a boundary through midwicket before feathering Lasith Malinga down the leg side where Kumar Sangakkara held a fine catch. It didn’t prove anything.Long hop of the day

Kevin Pietersen, who survived a mighty close run-out appeal on 5 by the width of a missing TV frame, avoided falling to 41-year-old Sanath Jayasuriya for the second time in two innings but still departed in less-than-glorious-manner to a spinner. Jeevan Mendis, a part-time legspinner, was thrown the ball for the 17th over. His first delivery, perhaps an attempted googly, came out as a long hop and Pietersen’s eyes lit up. He rocked forward, then back to pull through midwicket and couldn’t believe it when he picked out Tillakaratne Dilshan at midwicket. Pietersen, though, had batted with confidence and aggression which promises many more runs this summer.Farewell of the day
So that is that. At least we presume it is. Matches 445, runs 13,430, 28 hundreds, 323 wickets. They aren’t bad numbers for Sanath Jayasuriya. His final innings didn’t add many runs to his tally as he cracked a signature square cut to backward point where Eoin Morgan held a stinging catch. How England’s 1998 vintage must have wished he’d done the same. “There are no fairytales in sport,” Steve Waugh once said and given Jayasuriya’s time away from the top level a farewell innings of note was always a long shot. But the bowling has held up better and his 323rd ODI wicket came when he trapped Ian Bell lbw trying to sweep. He said this would be his final game. It will be, won’t it?Innings of the day

Eoin Morgan again added the dazzle to England’s innings but it’s well known what he’s capable off in coloured clothes. For a longer-term significance it was Craig Kieswetter’s 61 off 56 balls that was most impressive, not least because he had to stop after seven overs and wait three hours to resume needing to play a different innings than he may have initially planned. However, he never rushed or tried to be overly aggressive, instead picking his strong areas straight down the ground, and didn’t actually move over a run-a-ball until reaching fifty with a towering six off Suraj Randiv. Although his downfall was ugly it was an innings that should set him up well for the series.Fluke of the day

Some wickets come from hours of planning and perfect execution from the bowler. Some are just plain lucky. James Anderson’s first-over scalping of a fit-again Tillakaratne Dilshan falls into the latter category, for all that Cook did well to have a deep square-leg and not a long leg. Anderson speared a good length delivery towards Dilshan’s pads which he extravagantly flicked upwards and even on a gloomy evening Tim Bresnan had time to run in and snaffle the catch. It was such a tame way to go after missing the last two weeks of the tour that you’d have preferred him to be caught playing the Dilscoop.Catch(es) of the day
Anderson was everywhere at the start of Sri Lanka’s run chase. If he wasn’t taking wickets he was plucking catches and, on one occasion, did both together. His reflex caught-and-bowled to remove Kumar Sangakkara was a wonderful effort for a fast bowler following through from his delivery and he made it look easy. A short while later Anderson then showed what an outstanding all-round fielder he is – one of the best in the world – as he flung himself horizontally to his right at midwicket to hold Angelo Mathews’ pull and give Jade Dernbach his first ODI wicket.

New Zealand’s middle-order batsman reflects on a bad week for his team

Ross Taylor20-Jun-2008

We are here in Bristol, preparing for the third one-day international after a week we’d like to put behind us. It started in Manchester with the continuation of our losing streak in Twenty20 cricket; next we were outplayed in the first one-dayer in Durham and then rain cost us a chance of winning in Birmingham. All in all, there’s no hiding the fact that it’s been a disappointing start to the NatWest Series.We are puzzled by our lack of Twenty20 form, having lost our last seven internationals while being very competitive in 50-over games during the same period. Perhaps it’s a reflection of how little Twenty20 cricket we play internationally and back home in New Zealand. Scott Styris, who has played over 50 matches, is easily the most experienced in Twenty20, while Brendon McCullum is the only other player in the team to have played in the English competition.We are going to have put a lot of effort into our strategy over the next six to twelve months if we want to have a chance of winning the Twenty20 World Cup in England next year. It would have been a plus if New Zealand teams were part of the domestic Twenty20 Champions League later this year, and hopefully we can participate in future tournaments. With Jacob Oram’s Chennai team having qualified, he might get the chance to benefit from more exposure to high-quality Twenty20 cricket.In future years it would be good if some of us had the chance to play Twenty20 regularly in both India and England. Personally, I’ve wanted to play county cricket since I was a kid, though it’s always been the idea of playing consistent first-class cricket and experiencing the English lifestyle that has been the attraction. Now with the ECB’s big plans for domestic Twenty20, a season over here is even more appealing.You should never blame your tools when things go wrong on the field, but when my defensive shot finished down long-on’s throat at Chester-le-Street, it was probably the only time I’ve wished I’d had a dud bat. It was a good batting wicket and I was very annoyed at getting out, but I did see the funny side of it. We struggled in that match and our bowlers received a fair bit of criticism. However they bounced back well on Wednesday, including Grant Elliott’s three-wicket performance on debut.

Off the field the guys spend their time in different ways. Jeetan Patel, Jamie How and Brendon are always in the shops buying designer clothes that half of us would never dare to wear. The fantasy baseball players are glued to the internet working out their teams, while the team management tend to be the most adventurous when it comes to getting out and about.With lots of spare time, the players’ partners take care of the touristy stuff. We have an open policy and partners can come on tour for as long as they are able to. These days we all have our own rooms, so there’s no chance of getting kicked out of your room when someone’s girlfriend turns up.We don’t have Big Brother in New Zealand, and it’s become so popular in the team that we’re now discussing what will happen next on the way to training. If one of us had to go into the Big Brother house, I reckon Mark Gillespie would have the best chance of doing well. He’d back himself, get the sympathy vote, and I know he would pay people to vote for him.As I finish writing this, I’m preparing for Croatia’s Euro 2008 quarter-final against Turkey. I drew Croatia in our sweepstake and they’ve impressed me. In fact, the whole tournament has been great to watch, even for someone like me who’s not a big football fan. There can’t be many tournaments where more than half the teams left have a good chance of winning and where there’s a great match on television every night.

Cricket to follow tennis lead and offer collective-bargaining opportunities for player deals

Matt Roller10-Jan-2024Cricket’s global union has followed the lead of its tennis counterpart, signing a commercial deal that aims to resolve the long-standing issues around players’ name, image and likeness rights which have lingered for more than two decades.The Federation of International Cricketers’ Association (FICA) announced on Wednesday a long-term partnership with Winners Alliance, which formed in 2022 as an affiliate of the Novak Djokovic-backed Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA). Pat Cummins, Australia’s captain, described the deal as “an amazing opportunity” for men’s and women’s players.FICA instigated legal action against the ICC in 2020, alleging unauthorised use of players’ image rights by the ICC and its commercial partners, though the matter never reached court. The exploitation of commercial and intellectual property rights has been a long-running source of tension between players and administrators, briefly threatening India’s participation in the 2003 World Cup.Winners Alliance will negotiate commercial deals on behalf of cricketers who are members of FICA-affiliated players’ associations. “Most of the best players in the world are part of our global program which we have built with players, their associations and agents,” Tom Moffat, FICA’s CEO, told ESPNcricinfo.”The program is focused on opening up new global group licensing opportunities to enable players to optimise certain collective name image-likeness rights, and to add new value for the game and commercial partners through opportunities that have previously been almost impossible because of the fragmented rights landscape in cricket.”The deal will see Tim Cruickshank, who briefly played professionally for New South Wales, leave his role with the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) and join Winners Alliance as their vice-president of commercial partnerships in the Asia-Pacific Region. “It’s a dream opportunity for me,” Cruickshank told ESPNcricinfo.Djokovic and Canadian tennis player Vasek Pospisil launched PTPA in 2020 and raised a reported $26 million to form Winners Alliance two years later. One source raised the possibility of cricketers being involved in cross-sport promotion opportunities as a result of the deal, featuring in advertisements alongside their tennis counterparts.”I hope this really simplifies everything for potential partners: we want to make this as easy as possible for companies wanting to invest in cricket,” Cruickshank said. “Cricket has been a complicated player-rights market but collectivising them creates additional opportunities and is best practice for all athletes across global sport. We want to solve the pain-point that cricket has had for quite some time.”Cruickshank used the example of video games, and the potential to sell collectivised name, image and likeness rights for the majority of international players. “If you want to be an officially licensed product, you’ll need to work with us,” he explained. “That obviously gives you great leverage in what is a pretty flooded market.”FICA will also receive direct funding from Winners Alliance, which Moffat said will help the organisation continue to support players “on issues like their right to form and join players’ associations, to move freely in pursuit of employment, non-payment issues and global scheduling.”The ICC are understood to be aware of the agreement, though declined to comment.

MatériaMais Notícias

Presente no Grupo E, o Santos conheceu os adversários que enfrentará na busca por uma vaga no mata-mata da Sul-Americana. Newell’s Old Boys (Argentina), Blooming (Bolívia) e Audax Italiano (Chile) prometem diferentes desafios para o time da Vila Belmiro.

Enfrentar uma equipe argentina ou estrear na casa de um time boliviano não costumam ser tarefas fáceis, mas esses confrontos do Peixe possuem suas particularidades nesta edição. Por conta disso, oLANCE! resolveu listar para você algumas particularidades de cada um dos oponentes do Santos nesta fase de grupos.

RelacionadasSantosSantos conhece adversários da fase de grupos da Sul-AmericanaSantos27/03/2023SantosOdair adota postura firme por permanência de Lucas Braga no SantosSantos27/03/2023SantosFalcão comenta dificuldades do Santos por reforços, mas ameniza: ‘Não vamos deixar de buscar’Santos27/03/2023

+Qual clube cobra o ingresso mais caro nos estaduais? Veja lista

‘TIME DE MESSI’

O Newell’s Old Boys é um clube da cidade de Rosário. No seu histórico, conta com a passagem de Lionel Messi pelas suas categorias de base e teve Diego Maradona como jogador profissional entre os anos de 1993 e 1994.

O embate entre esses dois clubes ocorreu apenas quatro vezes e mostra um retrospecto favorável para o Peixe, com três vitórias do Santos e um empate. Os dois primeiros triunfos foram marcantes, pois decretaram a conquista do título da fase internacional do Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa, em1956. Esse foi o primeiro título internacional da história do Alvinegro.

EQUIPE BOLIVIANA DE BAIXA ALTITUDE

Apesar do histórico de enfrentamento de times bolivianos em altas altitudes, o estádio do Blooming fica a apenas 400m do nível do mar. Muito abaixo em comparação com os clubes da Bolívia, como o The Strongest, de La Paz, que possui um estádio que está a 3.660 metros acima do nível do mar.

Em 2007, pela primeira fase da Libertadores, o Santos venceu as duas únicas partidas que estes times duelaram na história. Em um dos confrontos, o Peixe venceu por 5 a 0.

CONFRONTO INÉDITO
​
​Apesar do Audax Italiano ser um time fundado em 1910, nunca houve qualquer duelo oficial entre o clube chileno e o Santos.

Atualmente, o Audax não vive um bom momento no Campeonato Chileno. Após nove rodadas, o clube está na zona de rebaixamento da competição nacional.

اقترب نجم فريق لايبزيج، تشافي سيمونز، من مغادرة صفوف النادي الألماني والانتقال إلى الدوري الإنجليزي، خلال موسم الانتقالات الصيفي الحالي، حسبما ذكرت تقارير صحفية اليوم الجمعة.

ومن المعروف أن موسم الانتقالات الصيفي لعام 2025 سينتهي في مختلف أنحاء أوروبا يوم الإثنين المقبل، 1 سبتمبر.

وانتشرت تكهنات حول مستقبل تشافي سيمونز مع لايبزيج، منذ عدة أسابيع، حيث ارتبط بخطوة الرحيل عن النادي الألماني لخوض تجربة جديدة.

ورغم ارتباط تشافي سيمونز بإمكانية الانتقال إلى تشيلسي، إلا أن تلك الخطوة لن تتحقق، حيث سينضم إلى نادِ آخر في الدوري الإنجليزي.

وحسبما ذكر الصحفي الشهير فابريزيو رومانو، فإن تشافي سيمونز سينضم إلى فريق توتنهام، بعدما توصل الأخير إلى اتفاق مع لايبزيج.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ياهو سبورتس: مانشستر سيتي دفع ثمن ما فعله عمر مرموش أمام توتنهام

وأوضح أن توتنهام قدم عرضًا بقيمة 60 مليون يورو لضم صاحب الـ 22 عامًا هذا الصيف، وتم قبوله من جانب النادي الألماني.

وأفاد أن توتنهام لم يتقدم بعرضه الرسمي إلا بعدما تواصل مع اللاعب الهولندي ووافق الأخير على تلك الصفقة.

وأشار إلى أن النادي اللندني يريد إتمام صفقة سيمونز اليوم، إلى جانب إجراء الفحص الطبي في الساعات المقبلة.

Mudassar Nazar was UAE’s previous head coach on an interim basis

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2024

Former India international Lalchand Rajput has been appointed head coach of UAE for a three-year term, taking over from interim head coach Mudassar Nazar.Rajput has previous experience of managing India during their title win in the 2007 T20 World Cup, and also coached Afghanistan when they received Test status in 2017. Most recently, he was Zimbabwe’s head coach from 2018 to 2022.”UAE has emerged as one of the stronger Associate Members in recent years and the players have put in some good performances in both ODIs and T20Is,” Rajput said in a statement from the Emirates Cricket Board. “The current batch is exceptionally talented and I look forward to working with them and further harnessing their cricket skills.”Rajput’s first assignment will be to oversee UAE’s League 2 tri-series campaign against Scotland and Canada starting February 28, a qualifying competition for the 2027 ODI World Cup. He takes charge of a team that most recently lost a T20I series 2-1 to Afghanistan.In November, UAE also lost their chance of making it to the 2024 T20 World Cup by losing to Nepal in the semi-final of the Asia-Pacific qualifiers.”We are confident that under his coaching UAE men’s cricket will flourish further,” Mubashshir Usmani – ECB general secretary said. “I also want to take this opportunity to thank Mudassar Nazar for his stellar work as the interim head coach. Mudassar will now return to his role as Head of the National Academy Programme where he will continue to identify and groom our future stars.”