Five delays for rain and bad light cost Leicestershire the chance of a rare Lord’s win

ECB Reporters Network17-May-2019Leicestershire’s hopes of a first County Championship win at Lord’s for 39 years were thwarted by rain as their see-saw clash with Middlesex ended in a draw.The pendulum had appeared to swing back in the visitors’ favour, with Colin Ackermann unbeaten on 70 from 88 balls, and five wickets standing as they chased a victory target of 305. But the overcast conditions, which led to five separate stoppages during the final day, eventually triumphed as the match was abandoned with the Foxes on 226 for 5 – still 79 short.Middlesex, who have yet to record a Championship win this season, dropped three catches, but were still scenting an opportunity after removing the visitors’ top four, all to lbw decisions, with 154 on the board.Leicestershire began the fourth day on 38 without loss, needing another 267, but they had shaved only three more off that target when the darkening St John’s Wood sky brought about the first of the weather delays.With the Lord’s floodlights switched on and the players back on the field, Leicestershire extended their opening stand to 51 before James Harris made the breakthrough, trapping Ateeq Javid in front of his stumps.One other wicket fell during the morning session, with the consistent Ethan Bamber removing Paul Horton – but Middlesex should have claimed at least a third before lunch. Hasan Azad, who made a slow start to his innings, was the fortunate recipient of two reprieves with just seven runs to his name.First, Sam Robson spilled an edge at first slip off the bowling of Harris and, in the next over, when Azad drove Ollie Rayner, Nick Gubbins was unable to pocket the chance at short cover.That double escape appeared to help Azad lift the shackles and he and Mark Cosgrove, with a breezy 22 from 42 balls, guided the Leicestershire total past 100.Rayner removed Cosgrove in the third over after lunch, but Ackermann immediately displayed an attacking intent, using his feet to the off-spinner and climbing into Harris as he struck successive boundaries. The South African dominated a fourth-wicket partnership of exactly 50 with Azad, contributing 34 before Harris registered his second lbw of the innings to dismiss the latter.Harry Dearden, who had shared a century partnership with Ackermann on the second day, survived an early scare when he miscued Rayner to mid-off, but the chance eluded the diving Bamber.Despite a further half-hour’s delay due to rain, the fifth-wicket pair added another 52 before Tom Helm uprooted the off stump of Dearden. Ackermann did his best to maintain the Leicestershire charge in tandem with Lewis Hill, but a further downpour finally put paid to the visitors’ hopes of forcing a victory.

Alex Lees made his first List A fifty for Durham but they could not hold off Worcs’ charge after a four-hour delay

ECB Reporters Network24-Apr-2019Durham suffered their first defeat of the campaign in the Royal London Cup as Ross Whiteley and Ben Cox guided Worcestershire Rapids to a four-wicket success under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method at Blackfinch New Road.The visitors had won their opening games but Cox and Whiteley tipped a see-saw contest in favour of the Rapids with a half-century stand for the sixth wicket before victory was completed with 10 balls to spare. Cox, so often the cool head in a crisis, ended unbeaten on 31 from 26 balls.Victory enabled Worcestershire to bounce back from the weekend defeat to Leicestershire and move level on points with Durham.Durham were restricted to 114 for 4 in 27.2 overs before the heavens opened after being put into bat, despite Alex Lees scoring his first List A half-century for the county. Worcestershire were eventually set a revised target of 152 in 24 overs after a delay of more than four hours.Hamish Rutherford and Riki Wessels quickly established a position of command for the home side as the half-century came up in only 4.5 overs.Rutherford had become the second Worcestershire player to score centuries on his County Championship and List A debut and he continued in the same vein. He deposited Matt Salisbury and Matt Potts for six on his way to 33 from 22 balls before nicking a widish delivery from Ben Raine through to keeper Cameron Bancroft.Wessels was also full of attacking intent in making 29 until he was caught off a skier by Bancroft running back towards the boundary from a Salisbury delivery.Daryl Mitchell dragged a slower delivery from Brydon Carse on to his stumps for a second successive duck in the competition at 71 for 3 in the 10th over.Carse struck again in his next over as Tom Fell went for a pull and top-edged a simple catch to Graham Clark at mid-on. When captain Brett D’Oliveira was caught behind off Salisbury, Worcestershire had lost four wickets for 10 runs in the space of five overs.But Whiteley and Cox turned the game back in the Rapids favour by adding 51 in seven overs before the former provided Bancroft with another catch, this time off Raine. Cox and Ed Barnard saw Worcestershire over the finishing line.Durham had been put into bat and new-ball bowler Charlie Morris made the first breakthrough in his third over as Scott Steel went for a drive and was bowled by a delivery which came back sharply.Lees, who moved to Durham from Yorkshire after an initial loan spell last summer, had been dismissed for 4 and 6 in Durham’s opening two Royal London Cup games He looked in good form and cover-drove Morris for successive boundaries. But Clark paid the penalty for a poor shot as he pulled a short delivery from Josh Tongue straight to Whiteley at deep square leg.Durham skipper Bancroft went into the game on the back of unbeaten centuries in the competition – 151 versus Northamptonshire and 118 against Leicestershire.He moved confidently to 20 but the introduction of Mitchell into the attack led to his downfall. The Australia batsman drove loosely and Morris held on to the chance at short third man with the total 78 for 3.Lees completed his half century off 75 deliveries with four boundaries. But Gareth Harte, making his first RLC appearance of the campaign, fell shortly before an elongated break. He took a stride out of his crease before driving at D’Oliveira and was stumped by Cox.Only two more runs were added before the players were forced off by driving rain.

England batsman Alex Hales has failed a drugs test. Hales, who was named in England’s provisional 15-man World Cup squad last week, is understood by ESPNcricinfo to have tested positive for a recreational drug in recent weeks. The England selectors are not thought to have known about the test result at the time the squad was announced.According to a report in the , he is currently serving a 21-day ban after returning a second positive test, having pulled out of Nottinghamshire’s Royal London Cup campaign, shortly after the World Cup squad was announced, for undisclosed personal reasons.An ECB spokesman said: “We have a duty of confidentiality, therefore we are unable to provide any further comment.”The drugs violation is understood to have been detected after Hales underwent a routine hair-follicle test, which all professional men’s cricketers and centrally contracted women’s players undergo at the start and finish of every season. The policy was introduced in 2013 in the wake of the death of Surrey’s Tom Maynard, and can detect banned substances in the system for up to three months.For a first offence, which is treated as a health and welfare issue, players are offered advice and support with few people being notified. They are the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) director of development and welfare, the ECB anti-doping and recreational drugs manager, the chief medical officers of the ECB and the county involved.A second violation can invoke a three-week ban and a 5% fine of the player’s annual salary, at which point the player’s county is informed, as well as the ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison, and PCA chief executive, David Leatherdale.A third offence, such as that committed by Durham’s Jack Burnham in 2017, can lead to dismissal – although in Burnham’s case, the club chose instead to ban him for 12 months and give him the chance to revive his career this year.It is nevertheless another significant black mark for Hales, who was recently banned for six white-ball games (four of them suspended) and fined £17,500 by the ECB for his part in the Bristol brawl that led to Ben Stokes’ arrest and subsequent acquittal. England are not obliged to name their final World Cup squad until May 23.Although the loss of Hales at the World Cup would be significant, as things stand he would have served his suspension. He is still expected to join up with the squad for their training camp in Cardiff at the weekend and, according to reports, could be available for next week’s ODI in Dublin and the subsequent five-match series against Pakistan.While he is not currently seen as part of the first-choice side, he was set to be the reserve batsman in the squad. He has an outstanding ODI record: only nine men have scored more than his six ODI hundreds for England; only Jason Roy has a higher individual score in the format than the 171 Hales made against Pakistan. With Roy (back spasm) having recently experienced some fitness concerns, there was every chance he would win an opportunity at some stage during the tournament.Ashley Giles, the England men’s team director, and Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, both declined to comment when contacted by ESPNcricinfo.

Manchester United had to delete a recent Mother's Day social media post aimed at Portuguese language fans featuring Bruno Fernandes.

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Man Utd left red facedMother's Day social media post deletedComical mistake spottedWHAT HAPPENED?

With many countries around the world celebrating Mother's Day on Sunday, May 12, United created a special image to share with Portuguese-speaking fans in Brazil. It had also been celebrated a week earlier in Portugal. Casemiro and Antony featured with their mums, while Bruno Fernandes appeared with a woman that was to be his mum. Except that it wasn't.

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The woman in question was actually Dolores Aveiro, otherwise known as the mother of former United star Cristiano Ronaldo. The post with the erroneous image didn't last long before being removed.

DID YOU KNOW?

Dolores Aveiro has become famous in her own right thanks to her son's football career, fronting a number of advertising campaigns in Portugal in recent years. She might actually be the most widely known mum of a footballer there has even been.

GettyWHAT NEXT FOR ?

Spearheaded by Fernandes, United will be hoping to finish 2023-24 on a high after yet more criticism was piled on the team in the wake of last weekend's sorry defeat to Arsenal. Games against Newcastle and Brighton remain in the Premier League, with European qualification still to play for, before facing Manchester City in the FA Cup at Wembley on May 25.

All the buzz about that incredible dismissal

ESPNcricinfo staff30-May-2019Ben Stokes:”I was actually in the wrong position. I made a relatively straightforward catch into a hard one. It would have been a regulation catch if I was in the right place. It is one of those that sticks or doesn’t. We do train hard.”Was it better than the one in the 2015 Ashes? Nah. That one was against the Aussies. So that one ranks higher.”The crowd’s reaction behind me was pretty awesome. I just tried to take that in as much as I could. I bowled the next over and Morgs had to come to me and ask if everything was all right, if my heart rate had gone down. Things like that catch do get you fizzed up. I didn’t really know quite how to react to be honest, I just tried to take it in. The crowd today were phenomenal. It’s the best thing about having a home World Cup.”Eoin Morgan:”We see a lot of him in training do stuff like that all the time. You just shake your head because it doesn’t happen every day.”He misjudged it at the start. He ran in, stopped and then I thought it was going to be way over his head. The next leap in that direction … unbelievable.”I’ve only seen a catch like that made before by AB De Villiers in a game in Bangalore.”Moeen Ali:”He ran in for no reason. He screwed it up! [smiles] I’d have just stood there and it would have gone straight in my hands!”We see him do that in practice all the time. He’s always got a great chance of catching those. He’s a big part of this team.”Faf du Plessis:”It was as good as it gets.”Nasser Hussain: (on TV commentary)”No way! No, no way! You cannot do that, Ben Stokes. That is remarkable. That is one of the greatest catches of all time!”Andrew Miller: (ESPNcricinfo ball-by-ball commentary)”Ben Stokes, that is absolute fifth! Absolutely leathered through deep midwicket … and Stokes somehow launched himself horizontally towards the rope, timing his jump like a mortar from its tube, and clinging onto a certain six, in his outstretched, reverse-cupped, right hand! My God, that is an utter, utter worldy! If Alisson got a mitt to a screamer like that in Madrid on Saturday and tipped it over the bar, we would be talking about it for years…”

Claudio Ranieri and his Cagliari players celebrated wildly after the Serie A club staved off relegation by beating Sassuolo.

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• Cagliari beat Sassuolo 2-0 in crucial clash
• Victory ensures they stay in Serie A
• Ranieri soaked by players in joyous scenes

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Islanders needed a win from their final two matches of the season to survive in Serie A, and they managed to put up a convincing performance in their penultimate game as they beat Sassuolo 2-0 to move up to 14th. After the contest, Cagliari's players celebrated jubilantly as they drenched their manager and former Leicester City boss Ranieri with water right after the full-time whistle.

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  Ranieri had his work cut out at the club after helping them to secure promotion to the top division last season. Cagliari were off to a disastrous start as they managed to secure just three points from their first nine matches. The 72-year-old had offered to resign after taking responsibility for the team's failure, however, the club and the players convinced him to stay, and that decision has paid off.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR CAGLIARI?

  The Italian side are all set to face Fiorentina in their final game of the season on May 26. Although they are only three points above 18th-placed Empoli, with a plus one goal difference over their rivals, Serie A prioritises head to head records and not goal difference when teams are level on points. As Cagliari took four points from Empoli this season, even if they win their final match of the campaign and Ranieri's side lose, Cagliari will be safe from relegation.

Ex-Manchester United striker Louis Saha has slammed Jamie Carragher for suggesting Casemiro should retire or leave the Premier League.

Casemiro faced criticism for form in 2023-24Carragher made scathing remarks about the BrazilianLouis Saha has backed CasemiroWHAT HAPPENED?

The Brazil international has faced a particularly tough time recently, being forced to play out of position as a centre-back instead of his usual holding midfield position due to United's injury problems. Naturally, the 32-year-old has found it challenging to adapt and put in dismal showing during United’s 4-0 thrashing by Crystal Palace. He was partly responsible for three of Palace’s goals and further embarrassed himself by losing possession to Daniel Munoz, leading to Michael Olise's fourth goal.

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Carragher delivered a scathing assessment of Casemiro on Sky Sports, suggesting the midfielder no longer has the legs to compete in England's top flight and should settle for a less competitive league in the USA or Saudi Arabia – or hang up his boots.

"I think Casemiro should know himself tonight as an experienced player that he should only have three games left at a top level and then say I'm gonna go to the MLS or Saudi," Carragher said. "His agent or the team around him need to tell him. We're watching one of the greats of the modern time…but I always remember something when I retired, a saying I'll always remember: 'Leave the football before the football leaves you'. The football's left him at this top level. He needs to call it a day at this level of football and move."

WHAT LOUIS SAHA SAID

Saha, however, found these remarks to be unfair and expressed his dismay at the severe criticism aimed at Casemiro, highlighting the Real Madrid legend's illustrious career and contributions to the game.

In an interview with Saha said: "Yes I do believe he’s been disrespected. When it comes to Manchester United, you could criticise many of the players and believe from last year, Casemiro has been dragged into a bit of a trap. He scored a lot of goals last season and people probably expected him to do the same this season, but that’s never been his game.

“The criticism has been severe and harsh and then you hear Jamie Carragher almost inviting Casemiro to move to Saudi Arabia or the MLS. That’s crazy. I think it was disrespectful because nobody should advise someone in that way. I know it’s his job, but I don’t believe Jamie should have said that because Casemiro wants to do good and because of everything he’s achieved in the game, he faces more scrutiny than others and people try and bring him down as quick as they possibly can. That’s not fair. Everybody’s going to make mistakes and have bad games, but that doesn’t mean that every little thing needs to be scrutinised. I think the criticism has been very harsh.”

Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?

Casemiro will be eager to silence his critics by putting his best foot forward against Manchester City in the FA Cup final on May 25. The Red Devils should be geared up for the encounter as a victory in the would ensure Europa League football for them next season.

Will they try and fit in Rishabh Pant? Can Rashid Khan bounce back after England nightmare?

The Preview by Shashank Kishore21-Jun-20195:12

Kartik: Shami for Bhuvneshwar is the only change I would like to see

Big PictureDieticians around the world like to engage their clients by rewarding cheat meals every now and then for achieving certain targets. Similarly, India can think of the Afghanistan clash as a ‘cheat meal’ and try out options ahead of the England clash on June 30, which in a sense will define their group-stage play.Call it the luck of the draw or whatever, this clash comes bang in the middle of their campaign. Being one of only two unbeaten sides yet, there couldn’t be a better opportunity to test their reserves. Rishabh Pant has finally realised his World Cup dream, even as Shikhar Dhawan’s has come crashing down, but can Pant break into the XI?Should Vijay Shankar, who was hit on the toe by a Jasprit Bumrah yorker, not recover, it becomes a no-brainer. However, if Vijay is fit, leaving him out after a creditable outing against Pakistan could play on his confidence. Nevertheless, it’s a healthy debate for the team management to have. For all you know, Virat Kohli could just field an unchanged side, make a mockery of all the pre-match talk and stick to his tried-and-tested formula.India’s bowling looks strong whenever the wristspinners fire, so much so that even the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar doesn’t seem such a big deal currently. With Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav and Vijay capable of bowling, suddenly a batting line-up that couldn’t bowl now is bursting at its seam with bowling potential. Throw in Mohammed Shami into the mix along with Bumrah and it’s as formidable a bowling force as you could get.Afghanistan’s World Cup campaign is in a mess. The world has moved on from the refugee-camp narrative and what they did at the World Cricket League Division Five a decade ago has no bearing now. They are a Full Member, who brought with them the promise of a few upsets in the World Cup, especially after competing tooth and nail at the Asia Cup last year.But an untimely captaincy switch, the rift between a former selector and head coach, inconsistency in selection and allegations of nepotism have derailed their campaign, and have forced them to feed on crumbs of comfort. Like Hashmatullah Shahidi’s fighting half-century against England or just the fact that they lasted the entire 50 overs against the tournament favourites.The road is only going to get tougher and it’s for Afghanistan to now prove that they aren’t simply waiting to get on the flight home.Form guideIndia WWWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan LLLLLIn the spotlightMohammed Shami wasn’t in the frame for an ODI recall until nine months ago. A home series against West Indies in October proved to be the springboard. Compelling performances in Australia and New Zealand meant he couldn’t have possibly been overlooked. Yet, when it came to the World Cup, India went in with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. With the latter now injured, Shami has not just two potential opportunities but can also make a case to be a definite starter even if Bhuvneshwar recovers completely from his hamstring niggle.Rashid Khan is a fierce competitor. Off days don’t affect him. In IPL 2018, he was carted in back-to-back games by left-handers – Chris Gayle and Suresh Raina – against whom he doesn’t have the best of records. He returned from the shellacking to finish with a match haul of 2 for 11 in a winning spell. Three days ago, in a completely different format, it was another left-hander – Eoin Morgan – who smacked him for seven sixes to leave him an over away from the most expensive figures in ODI history. India’s top order is unlikely to have a single left-hander come Saturday – unless of course they play Pant. The fact that India are yet to lose a wicket to spin in this World Cup will add to Rashid’s challenge.Team newsIndia will make one forced change, with Shami set to replace the injured Bhuvneshwar.India (probable) 1 KL Rahul, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Jasprit BumrahThere’s a lot of flux around the Afghanistan camp. Who is the boss? A captain with little confidence or the outgoing coach? Generally, a situation like this means a slew of changes. Your guess is as good as ours.Afghanistan (probable) 1 Noor Ali Zadran, 2 Gulbadin Naib (capt), 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi, 5 Asghar Afghan, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Ikram Ali Khil, 9 Aftab Alam 10, Dawlat Zadran, 11 Mujeeb Ur RahmanPitch and conditionsIt’s expected to be a belter. The average first innings score in the last five completed ODIs here is 286. England and Pakistan aggregated 734 runs during a bilateral series match in May. England walloped their 213 target against West Indies in just 33.1 overs. By dimensions, the ground isn’t the biggest. The fact that South Africa and India scrapped 457 runs early two weeks ago was down to simply the quality of Kagiso Rabada and India’s pace battery.Strategy punt KL Rahul has been out three times to offspin in the eight times he’s faced this variety. All of them came on that wretched 2017 tour to Sri Lanka, where he was a walking wicket to Akila Dananjaya. Can Afghanistan exploit this weakness early by bringing him up against Mohammad Nabi with the new ball? Nabi isn’t averse to bowling with the new ball, having done a similar job for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. Afghanistan bowlers have so far picked up just three wickets in the first 10 overs this World Cup. By the time they’ve introduced Rashid, opposition batsmen have been well-set. Barring the game against South Africa where he was introduced in the tenth over while defending 127, he’s been brought in the earliest in the 14th over against Australia. He’s yet to take a wicket in his first spell so far this tournament. Can Afghanistan look to bring him in early, and have the batsmen try and attack him in the Powerplay, which could in turn increase his chance of striking early? Should India play Pant, they may want to resist temptation of batting him at No. 4. Although the sample size is still small, Pant’s record at No. 5 – 497 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 111.40 – is significantly better than 280 runs in 13 innings at No. 4. Also holding him back could mean Nabi may have bowled a bulk of his overs by the time he arrives – he’s been out three times in four innings to offspinners. It’s only against offspin bowling that he strikes at under 100.Stats and trivia Aftab Alam, who was dropped for the previous game, averages of 21.3, the best for an Afghanistan pacer in ODIs since 2018. Najibullah is the only Afghanistan player to average above 50 and strike at above 100 in ODIs this year. Gulbadin Naib has taken 18 wickets in ODIs this year, the most for an Afghanistan bowler beating Rashid, Nabi and Mujeeb ur Rahman Shami’s average of 17.3 in World Cup is the best among Indian bowlers to have picked up at least 10 wickets in the competition. India are currently sitting on 49 World Cup winsQuotes”I don’t think we prepared that well for a tournament like this. It is a big stage, there will be ups and downs, but we have learnt a lot so far. We should have won at least one or two games; we had the opportunity to do so, but we lacked experience.”

Gary Neville has hit back at Oasis star Noel Gallagher for talking about Manchester when he lives in London as their feud continued.

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• Gallagher mocks Neville after Man City title win
• Ex-Man Utd claps back at ex-Oasis guitarist
• United take on City in FA Cup final at Wembley

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Following City's historic fourth-straight Premier League title last weekend, musician Gallagher poked fun at United legend Neville.

  He said: "Gary Neville, at this moment in time, I wonder how he's feeling. We deserve it! We're the best team in the country."

  Now, the Salford City co-owner has hit back at the guitarist.

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• WHAT GARY NEVILLE SAID TO NOEL GALLAGHER

  He told : "He's been a big part of Manchester's history but he lives in London. Do you know what I mean, Noel? Don't talk about Man… you live in London. You live in Knightsbridge, or wherever it is. Hampstead, wherever he lives, you know what I mean. You can't start talking about Manchester – 25 years he's not been here. He comes once a year for that trophy parade! I saw him on Sunday, actually."

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  Feuds aside, City are streets ahead of their bitter rivals United these days. They won the treble last season and could win the double this term, whereas Erik ten Hag's men came eighth in the table and the Dutchman is facing the sack. Therefore, there is a lot on the line on Saturday when the two teams meet in the FA Cup final.

All the action and analyses from the England v Bangladesh game

Liam Brickhill08-Jun-2019