Manchester United star Scott McTominay has accused Georgia’s players of “crying like babies” during a Euro 2024 qualification clash with Scotland.
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Fans have slammed Neymar for appearing to be overweight and say that he should "retire" after returning to Al-Hilal training following his ACL injury.
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Jake Ball defied cramp and sapping humidity to mark his one-day debut with record figures of 5 for 51, as England snatched an extraordinary 21-run victory in the first ODI against Bangladesh
The Report by Andrew Miller07-Oct-2016 England 309 for 8 (Stokes 101, Buttler 63, Duckett 60) beat Bangladesh 278 (Kayes 112, Shakib 79 Ball 5-51) by 21 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJake Ball defied cramp and sapping humidity to mark his one-day debut with record figures of 5 for 51, as England snatched an extraordinary 21-run victory in the first ODI against Bangladesh at Mirpur.Powered by a brilliant century from Imrul Kayes, and with Shakib Al Hasan providing experienced support in a fifth-wicket stand of 118, Bangladesh appeared to be marching up a mountainous run-chase of 310, and living up to their newly minted reputation as a tough nut to crack in one-day cricket.But then, with victory in sight, Bangladesh suffered a throwback to their fragile old days to squander their last six wickets for 17 runs in 39 balls. The collapse of their resolve mirrored that of the atmosphere at the National Stadium in Mirpur, where thousands of fans had put aside the inconvenience of a kilometre-wide exclusion zone to cheer on a side that has not lost a home ODI series for two years and counting.For more than 91 overs of the 97.5 in the match, the mood in the ground had been akin to a national celebration, as Imrul confirmed the richness of his current form with an astounding display of clean hitting, particularly through the leg side, to take command of what looked certain to be their highest successful run-chase against a senior Test nation.His first scoring shot was the most startling statement of intent of the whole match – a murderous second-ball pull over midwicket off Chris Woakes that embedded itself so deep in an advertising hoarding that an BCB official had to reach through the hole to retrieve it. On his watch, there could be only one winner, as he brought up his hundred from 105 balls with his 11th four, before passing the baton to Shakib, whose volley of five fours and six in 12 balls seemed to have torched the asking-rate.But then, with the requirement a trifling 39 from 52 balls with six wickets still in hand, Shakib suffered a debilitating bout of cramp in his fingers, and, in a jolt of realism that popped the fans’ party mood in a trice, Ball capitalised to stunning effort. The very delivery after receiving treatment from the physio, Shakib miscued a pull to David Willey at midwicket to depart for 79 – and one ball later, the stands were in full panic mode as Mosaddek Hossain was bowled off the splice by a perfect lifting nipbacker.Imrul was still in situ at this stage, but having also cramped up late in his innings, he urgently needed someone else to stay with him and keep the boundaries coming. The captain, Mashrafe Mortaza, was unable to be that man – he guiltily grazed a loose cut to the keeper as Adil Rashid ripped an illegible legbreak out of the rough, moments after planting a seed of doubt with his googly, and the game was as good as over in Rashid’s next over, when Imrul charged out of his crease in desperate need of a boundary, and was stumped off a wide as Rashid speared the ball out of his reach.Next to go was Shafiul Islam – the hero of Bangladesh’s two-wicket win in the 2011 World Cup – who was run out without scoring, and victory was duly sealed from the penultimate ball of Ball’s spell, as Taskin Ahmed grazed an edge through to Jos Buttler, England’s stand-in captain, whose typically powerful 63 from 38 balls had earlier lifted his side to an imposing total of 309 for 8.Jake Ball finished the match and ended with a five-for•Getty Images
Ball himself could barely stand by the end of the match, and he was rightly named as Man of the Match after becoming the first England bowler to claim five wickets on debut. However, the foundations of England’s victory were laid by Ben Stokes, who anchored their innings with his maiden ODI hundred, and Ben Duckett, the day’s second debutant, whose 60 from 78 balls was a vital and mature contribution to an agenda-setting stand of 153.Stokes made 101 from exactly 100 balls – a performance that might pale statistically compared to some of the masterful feats of run-making in England’s ranks in recent months. However, given the brutality of the conditions – the humidity was measured at one stage at 90% – and his previous fallibility against spin, most notably on the tour of Sri Lanka in 2014, it was a formidable performance.It also began in some adversity, as he and Duckett came together following a collapse of 3 for 21 in 31 balls. James Vince had once again looked fluent without entirely convincing in his 16 from 20 balls, and when Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow departed in quick succession, the latter to a third-ball run-out, England were 63 for 3 in the 13th over and in need of some shoring-up.Bangladesh used seven bowlers in all, with the third seamer, Taskin Ahmed, held back until the second half of the innings as Mashrafe leaned heavily and predictably on his quartet of slow men. Aside from their drip-drip accuracy, the speed with which they burned through their overs was especially telling. There was little opportunity to think between deliveries, but Stokes was in the mood to trust his instinct, particularly on the reverse sweep, with which he picked off four of his eight fours.Duckett, meanwhile, was quite content to play the anchorman. After his eye-popping scoring feats for Northamptonshire and the Lions this summer, this was all about bedding into the international arena, and he passed his first test with aplomb.His five fours were timely pressure releases, including one cute scoop over the wicketkeeper’s head off a Taskin short ball, but after reaching his half-century from 63 balls, his battery visibly went flat in the final minutes of his stay. He managed one run from his last nine deliveries before missing a leg-stump full-toss to be bowled round his pads.By the end of their fielding stint, however, Bangladesh were visibly tetchy after letting several crucial chances slip through their fingers – most tellingly, two lives in the space of five balls to Stokes, on 69 and 71 respectively – a low drill to mid-on and an ugly skew to deep cover.Inevitably, the man best placed to cash in in such a moment was Buttler, who arrived at the crease with eight overs remaining and a licence to go loco, but it was a tribute to the efforts of his team-mates higher up the order that he was initially forced to rein in his aggression.In fact, it wasn’t until the back end of the 47th over that Buttler flicked on the Beast Mode. After 25 runs, including a solitary boundary, from his first 26 deliveries, he signalled his change of tempo with consecutive sixes off Shakib, before two more fours and an inside-out six over extra cover off Shafiul completed a startling 33-ball fifty, which became 63 from 38 balls all told.It wasn’t apparent then, but that switch of tempo would prove to be the difference between the sides in the final analysis. That, of course, and the temperament required just to get the job done, come what may. Bangladesh have come a long, long way in the past couple of years, and their proud home record is still intact for now. But, much as was the case in their devastating collapse against India at the World T20, there remains a fragility at their core that can crack in an instant.
Alexia Putellas has confirmed that she is nearing a return after being included in Spain's squad for their Nations League final against France.
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The Australia spinner did not contest the charge and is believed to have contacted AB de Villiers to apologise for his conduct
Daniel Brettig in Durban05-Mar-2018Nathan Lyon has been fined 15% of his match fee by the ICC for dropping the ball near AB de Villiers after the South Africa batsman was run out on day four of the Durban Test.After the incident was reviewed by the match referee Jeff Crowe, Lyon was charged with conduct contrary to the spirit of cricket, a level one offence.He was found to have breached Article 2.1.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to “conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game”.In addition, Lyon has had one demerit point added to his disciplinary record, a first offence for the player since the introduction of the revised Code in September 2016. If a player accrues four demerit points within 24 months, he receives a one-Test or two-limited-over game ban.Lyon is believed to have contacted de Villiers overnight to apologise. He had also accepted the charge and no hearing was required.The ICC decided, however, that no action would be taken following a confrontation between David Warner and Quinton de Kock during the tea break on day four.Adam Gilchrist, the former Australian wicketkeeper and captain, said the team would need to reassess how they reacted to such incidents.”As an outside observer, I think you would find that a little bit off-putting at times, a little bit bad taste at times,” Gilchrist told . “And the question may even come over all those eras as a general statement. Australian teams have generally been at the top of the pile, not every minute of those times, but generally they’re a very competitive, world class team,and some would say they don’t need to do that.”Why do you need to present that somewhat ugly look if you’re playing such good cricket? And they’re not good images and it’s hard to know, to comment specificially about this incident overnight, and any other time, unless you’re there and know the ins and outs of what was said and what sparked it and the verbal volleys that would have been thrown around.”Very hard to comment on the detail of it but no denying that some of the parts of the celebration of the run-out of de Villiers and then obviously this incident that I’m sure you’re getting to, of this leaked dressing room footage, it’s not a very good look. I think it needs to be considered how to react in certain scenarios and learn from the scenarios.”Speaking about Warner, Gilchrist said the Australian vice-captain was not projecting the image of a leader. “I think with Davey…there is no one denying his capabilities with the bat in hand. It’s funny…he came into cricket and had his natural aggression mindset both with bat in hand and in the field,” Gilchrist said. “He used to pride himself being the guy that got into the verbal stoushes and was a leader of the aggressive mindset. But he then went the other way and he was very, very outright in saying ‘I’ve put that away, that’s not me any more’.”It was really extreme the opposite way, and now he’s come back again saying ‘old Davey’s back’ and all his team-mates are saying ‘the Reverend’s gone, Bull’s back’. It’s always a worry in any situation when someone is so extreme on one direction or the other. I think Davey’s got to find somewhere in between that. He does pride himself in being a leader of the team, he did that very well in the T20s [against New Zealand and England recently] as captain but what we’ve seen in the last 24 hours probably isn’t the images that you want your captain projecting.”
The Sri Lanka captain had been suspended from the third and final Test of Sri Lanka’s tour of the West Indies
ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jun-20181:40
Arnold: Chandimal’s was a genuine mistake
Dinesh Chandimal has appealed against ICC match referee Javagal Srinath’s decision to find him guilty of ball-tampering during the second Test against West Indies in St Lucia. Chandimal was suspended from the third and final Test of the series.*Later on Thursday, the ICC appointed chairman of the ICC Code of Conduct Commission, Michael Beloff QC, as the judicial commissioner to hear Chandimal’s appeal. The ICC release said, the “hearing will take place on June 22, and, legal counsel for both parties and Chandimal will join via telephone or videoconference.” It gives Chandimal a chance of participating in the third Test that begins on June 23 in Bridgetown, if the punishment is overturned.Chandimal had been charged by the ICC after video evidence indicated that he applied saliva to the ball shortly after putting what the ICC suggested was a sweet into his mouth. He pleaded not guilty, before attending the hearing where Srinath handed Chandimal the maximum punishment available under the code – two suspension points and a fine of 100% of his match fee.Chandimal’s appeal is likely to hinge on what he put in his mouth. One of the probable contentions is that Chandimal had a number of things in his pocket during the day, including cough lozenges (which you cannot apply to the ball) but also almonds, and he does not remember which of those things he put into his mouth in this particular clip.This, the Sri Lankan team feels, is different from the ICC’s framing of Chandimal’s defence. Upon suspending Chandimal for a Test, Srinath had said in the ICC release: “Dinesh admitted to putting something in his mouth but couldn’t remember what it was, which I found unconvincing as a defence and the fact remains it was an artificial substance.”Chandimal’s defence is likely to contend that there was no way the ICC could possibly know that it was a substance capable of altering the condition of the ball, because the video evidence does not make it clear what the substance was.The argument, essentially, is that the ICC does not have sufficient evidence to find Chandimal guilty of tampering. This has been one of Sri Lanka’s assertions from the beginning.*1600hrs The story was updated after the ICC appointed a judicial commissioner for Chandimal’s appeal
The bowlers also contributed greatly to fashion a 97-run win for Ireland in their first game of the World Cup Qualifier
ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2018Andy Balbirnie in action at the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe•Getty Images
Ireland opened their World Cup qualifiers campaign with a 93-run win against Netherlands in a rain-affected game in Harare. After a fifty from Andy Balbirnie – who anchored the full 50-over innings despite being struck on the helmet by Ryan ten Doeschate – Netherlands fell nearly nine overs short of batting 41 overs in their hunt for a revised target of 243. Seamers Tim Murtagh and Boyd Rankin were Ireland’s most effective bowlers.Balbirnie said he was struck fairly early in his innings – “I must have been on 30” – but continued batting and finished with 68 off 75 balls. But once he returned to the change room, things started to go wrong. “I didn’t field. I obviously got hit in the head while I was batting. Didn’t feel it that much batting. Came off. Sat down. Had a break, and then got a bit dizzy and a bit of blurred vision. So saw the doctor, did a concussion test, it was okay, but he wanted me to get a scan. Scan was clear so it’s gradually got better as the day’s gone on.”Ireland began with a series of contributions from their top order, most notably a 101-run stand for the fourth wicket between Balbirnie and Niall O’Brien. Their partnership followed stands of 59, 35 and 24 respectively for the first three wickets before Netherlands staged a comeback in the slog overs, picking up 4 for 49 in the last 7.2 overs.Netherlands, meanwhile, did not find partnerships from their top order. Inside 16 overs, they’d lost five wickets and any chance of recovery was regularly thwarted by Ireland’s bowlers. Timm van der Gugten’s 33 off 25 at No. 9 was their most significant contribution as they folded for 149.
Mick Newell has urged the English game to resist the temptation to restructure the County Championship into conferences.
George Dobell26-Apr-2018Mick Newell has urged the English game to resist the temptation to restructure the County Championship into conferences.Newell, director of cricket at Nottinghamshire (and, for now at least, an England selector), has instead pleaded for the ECB to persist with promotion and relegation and suggested the reorganisation into conferences would only allow mediocre sides to “hide” in mid-table without the scrutiny that relegation can bring.His comments come just as the ECB announced a working party, chaired by Wasim Khan, charged with looking into the future structure of the domestic game. And while no conclusions have yet been reached, it is clear the popularity of the conference idea is growing among coaches at the first-class counties.They argue that it would lessen the urge to make short-term decisions – such as preferring Kolpak registrations over opportunities for young players – and reinvigorate the competition by providing all teams involved an opportunity to win the trophy at the start of the season.But Newell, at least, is not convinced. As a coach that twice led Nottinghamshire to the County Championship trophy (in 2005 and 2010) and also oversaw relegation (in 2006, 2016), he feels the meritocratic element of two divisions – and the drama the battle that promotion and relegation brings – is an integral part of the domestic structure.”I love two-divisional cricket,” Newell said. “We’ve been relegated and it hurts. I don’t know why it hurts so much as there’s no financial penalty, but it makes you look at what you do. People either lose their jobs, or they change jobs – as I did – and players have to look at themselves, too.”The popularity of the conference idea is definitely growing. But I’m not a fan. In a conference system, we can all just hide in the middle and be like, ‘oh, we were twelfth’. To me that’s not good enough.”Mick Newell takes fielding drills•Getty Images
Newell also revived the idea of playing a couple of rounds of Championship games overseas. With many counties spending their pre-season in the UAE, South Africa or the Caribbean, he believes there is an opportunity to play some games in March in conditions that might encourage spin or fast bowling. He accepted, however, that the idea had all but gone in terms of being implemented.”A few years ago there was talk of taking a couple of rounds overseas,” he said. “I think, for lots of reasons, that’s a bloomin’ good idea. If we’ve only got time and space for 14 rounds of Championship matches here, why don’t we play two abroad and go back to 16? That’s a method of getting more games in the space available. But that idea seems to have gone.”I’m all for playing abroad. I don’t know about this year, but generally 12 to 13 counties are going abroad in March anyway. Why don’t we play proper cricket instead of knockabouts against each-other?”We went to Barbados for six years in a row and one year there were six teams there. We’re all spending the money in one way or another already and there’s more money coming into the game. Let’s make sure we target some of that money in making sure four-day cricket so important.”But the idea has gone. We’re moving towards a conference system. I’ve made my thoughts known but I’m in a minority.”Newell also welcomed the ECB’s proposals for a new 100-ball competition in 2020. “It’s certainly grabbed people’s attention,” he said. “It’s an idea that will spark a lot of debate and I want people to talk about cricket.”My worry is that cricket isn’t relevant to people, isn’t interesting to people. We need to get more people interested in more types of cricket. So, from that perspective, I think it’s a good idea.”
New Zealand wrapped up the series 4-0 against the visitors in Hamilton
ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2018A disciplined bowling performance from New Zealand’s bowlers set up their seven-wicket win over West Indies with 3.4 overs to spare. The win helped New Zealand stay unbeaten and wrap up the series 4-0. Chasing 140, New Zealand lost openers Natalie Dodd and Sophie Devine, and Maddy Green inside the first three overs to slump to 27 for 3. Katey Martin and Amy Satterthwaite then put on an unbeaten 116-run partnership for the fourth wicket to take the hosts home. Martin finished with a 41-ball 54, while Satterthwaite finished a run-a-ball 43.West Indies had had a much better start after being put in to bat by New Zealand. Openers Hayley Matthews and captain StafanieTaylor put on 60 runs for the opening wicket in 7.2 overs before Leigh Kasperek struck to remove Matthews. Chedean Nation departed soon after when she was caught behind by Martin off Lea Tahuhu. Then, Taylor and Deandra Dottin added a 33-run stand before Taylor was removed by Devine. Dottin was the third-highest scorer for the team with a 31-ball 33, but even she couldn’t ensure an end-over acceleration.Thereafter, West Indies began their end-overs crawl as they managed only 35 runs in their last 33 balls despite losing only five wickets in all. Three of New Zealand’s bowlers finished with an economy rate of less than seven. Kasperek finished with 2 for 19 from her four overs, while Tahuhu claimed 2 for 27 in her quota. Devine picked up 1 for 23 from three overs.Seamer Shamilia Connell provided early hope for West Indies with three strikes, but that was the only high point for their bowlers as Martin and Satterthwaite took the game away from the visitors.
Bangladesh’s short history has been full of near upsets and the one in Dehradun will be particularly difficult to swallow
Sidharth Monga in Dehradun08-Jun-2018This defeat will be a difficult pill for Bangladesh to swallow. They did so many things that were admirable. They showed the courage to end their bowling innings with two overs of spin, conceding just 10 runs. Their two senior batsmen batted with responsibility, taking the game deep, not playing loose shots under pressure of the rising asking rate. They targeted Afghanistan bowler, young paceman Karim Janat, got 21 off him and were within nine runs of a win that clearly would have meant so much to them that Mahmudullah animatedly applauded each of the five boundaries Mushfiqur Rahim hit in the 19th over.But yet again, Bangladesh failed to finish the job. Admittedly not favourites in T20I cricket, Bangladesh’s short history has been full of near upsets. They hadn’t prepared well for the World T20 in 2016 but they played the perfect game for 39.2 overs to push India to the brink of elimination. Then, heartbreak. It seemed there might be some redemption when they beat Sri Lanka in a close game in Colombo earlier this year but a familiar tale in a close finish repeated itself when Dinesh Karthik beat them again in the final of that tournament.Now, after having lost another series and under fire from the BCB bosses, the players were so close to salvaging something from this tour when Mushfiqur mistimed the last ball and Shafiqullah pulled of a sensational stop at long-on to deny them. Losing close matches again and again has got to take a mental toll on the side, and, the captain, Shakib Al Hasan, agreed.”It will be hard for me to answer,” he said. “I have never batted or bowled in those situations. I think the batsmen or bowlers will describe it better. I think it is a mental block, which we have not been able to overcome till now.”Bangladesh needed nine runs off the last over, bowled by the great Rashid Khan, but had two set batsmen at the wicket. Shakib agreed that you should pull games off when you have fought your way into such situations, but he also knew the last over was not where the game or the series was really lost. He was harsh on his side. “We haven’t played well in any of the three departments,” he said.When asked what they had to do to improve, Shakib said, “We need to bat, bowl and field better. I think we failed in all three departments. We didn’t bat to our potential. We could have bowled better except for today’s match. Body language and fielding, we were struggling. I have seen our team when we fielded really well, but that body language and effort wasn’t there.An addition to Bangladesh’s problems was two run-outs in one over when two different strikers failed to respect the non-striker’s call. On both occasions the ball was hit to short fine leg. First Liton Das sent back Soumya Sarkar, whose call it was, and then Mushfiqur gave the same treatment to Das.”One run-out is often enough to derail an innings so to have two in three balls was a huge setback,” Shakib said. “I think credit is due for Mushfiqur and [Mahmudullah] Riyad . We’d have felt better had we won this game. It is always harder to lose a close game. But we didn’t play well throughout the series as a team.”Bangladesh now need to find a way to close out these tight finishes or improve in other fields so that they don’t often find themselves in such tight spots.