David de Gea turned down the chance to make his Premier League comeback with Nottingham Forest, seven months after his Manchester United release.
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Heather Knight led England to 220 on a slow surface before their bowlers strangled West Indies in the chase to set up a semi-final clash against South Africa
The Report by Akshay Gopalakrishnan15-Jul-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHeather Knight brought England back into the game with a well-paced half-century•Getty Images
West Indies threw away a top-class spin-bowling performance by showing a dismal lack of intent with the bat on a slow pitch in Bristol. Having shown little urgency in a tricky chase of 221, West Indies lost wickets in a cluster, and ended up ambling to 128 for 9 as England ended the group stage of the 2017 Women’s World Cup on top of the table.England had hardly been clinical themselves when they batted. They played all around the legspin of Afy Fletcher, who returned figures of 3 for 33. With Anisa Mohammed and Hayley Matthews playing more than just a supporting hand, the trio tied down England until their captain Heather Knight mounted a late fightback with a gritty 67.The cushion provided by those extra runs was all England needed. Unlike in England’s innings, it was a medium pacer – Natalie Sciver – that inflicted the bulk of the damage. With her team having already combined to reduce West Indies to 73 for 4, Sciver struck thrice in the space of 15 balls to push West Indies into a hole they never got out of.West Indies’ only period of stability came during an opening stand of 34 in 9.4 overs. Matthews and Kycia Knight employed great caution in playing out the new ball. By the end of the sixth over, West Indies had scored 16 with just one boundary.West Indies soon found their fluency. It began with Knight collecting a four with a trickle down to fine leg off Katherine Brunt. She then pulled Anya Shrubsole through midwicket before Matthews launched Laura Marsh for a monstrous six over long-on in the next over. Any signs of a shift in momentum, though, were snuffed out with a run-out the next over.England then swiftly seized control, helped by a 12-ball duck from Stafanie Taylor, the West Indies captain. Then, Matthews, after a brief period of solidity, was deceived by the angle of a straighter ball from Alex Hartley that she attempted to sweep.It wasn’t until the 27th over that the first signs of intent appeared, when Dottin swept Knight for a boundary. By then, the required rate had crept over six, which meant West Indies needed a sustained period of acceleration. Heather,however, denied them that when three balls later, Dottin perished lbw trying the same stroke.With West Indies on shaky ground, Sciver then produced a double-strike in the 32nd over to hasten the slide. First, Chedean Nation was caught brilliantly by Tammy Beaumont running to her right at deep backward square leg, before Merissa Aguilleira misread a straighter one to be trapped lbw. Sciver finished with figures of 3 for 3 in four overs, and West Indies managed all of 29 runs from the final 88 balls.It might seem strange that the turn had been sharper and a lot more vicious in the first innings when England batted, but that was down to the skill of West Indies’ spinners. Perhaps influenced by the overcast conditions, Taylor, surprisingly, chose to put the opposition in with the surface expected to get slower as the game progressed. Fletcher, in particular, got the ball to rip past the outside edge of right-handers, and reaped the benefits of looping it up and slowing it down.She struck in her second over, removing the well-set Beaumont, who scooped a full toss onto her helmet which then ended up a catch to the wicketkeeper. Two balls later, Sciver was sent back for a duck, bowled by one that spun from leg stump to crash into middle and off. Fran Wilson toe-ended a sweep to her body for the Merissa Aguilleira to snap up another catch behind the stumps and England had slid to 105 for 5.Knight then mounted a fightback in the company of the lower order. She did have her share of luck, surviving an lbw shout against Fletcher on 39, with replays showing that the ball would have hit middle and off. The legspinner should have had a slip, considering the purchase she got, but West Indies did not afford her one and Knight, on 45, benefited again. England’s captain enjoyed another reprieve when she had sprinted more than halfway down the pitch at the non-striker’s end after the ball had struck batsman Jenny Gunn on the pad. Aguilleira went after the ball to effect the run-out, but in her haste she couldn’t pick it up cleanly.West Indies also slightly slipped up with their fielding towards the end, letting a couple sneak through to the boundary. But the bigger mistake, perhaps, was their giving away as many as 24 wides on a pitch that was hard to score on.
West Indies coach Stuart Law has revealed that Shai Hope was confident in victory at Headingley before the final day started
George Dobell at Lord's05-Sep-2017Shai Hope has the potential to be a “great” player, according to West Indies coach Stuart Law.Hope came into the series against England averaging just 19.57. But he played a huge role in the victory at Headingley with a century in each innings and has impressed Law both with his talent and temperament.While 23-year-old Hope had long been recognised as a talent within Caribbean cricket, there were a couple of moments at Headingley when Law was impressed by his composure under pressure and his hunger for further success.One of those came before play on the final day.”I remember sitting down next to him in the dressing room before the last day and said ‘Look, the plan is we’ll bat to tea, see where we are and if we’ve got wickets we’ll work out if we’re going to have a go or not’,” Law said.”He looked at me and I said ‘What’s wrong with that?’ He looked at me again, shook his head and shrugged his shoulders and I said ‘Okay, what’s your plan?'”‘We’re going to win’, he said. That’s God’s honest truth. And he went out and won the game.”He’s a rock. He’s a guy with a lot of talent who looks very good at the crease. We hadn’t seen that in international cricket, but Headingley showcased his talent.”The other moment that impressed Law came after victory was achieved. Instead of wild celebrations, Hope remained calm and controlled.”I think the fact he wasn’t over the top in his celebrations just means he’s hungry and he’s driven,” Law said. “He doesn’t want to stop where he’s at now; he wants to keep going. I think that’s a great sign.”The challenge for Shai is to stay fit and healthy. If he does that, with the drive he’s got and the mental toughness and will to work, that will just make him better and better. He’s pretty good now, but he’s got the potential to be great.”Law hoped the success of Hope and Kraigg Brathwaite would inspire their team-mates and suggested the side’s success might convince some of their detractors – not least Nasser Hussain, who wrote a newspaper column that underwhelmed the West Indies dressing room – to think again.”There’s probably a couple that doubted their ability to cope at this level,” Law said. “But I hope those doubts are now well and truly put to bed and they can start flourishing.”I thought guys like Chris Woakes, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad bowled the house down at Headingley. And we had answers to them. It’s not the fact that they under-estimated us: we actually stood up and competed against some high-quality batting and bowling, so credit where credit’s due.”Nasser’s entitled to his opinion: people make assumptions all the time. But he doesn’t know the group of players. I think it was great we sent a big humble pie to go and chomp on in the commentary box.”Meanwhile West Indies captain Jason Holder reassured the people of the Caribbean they were “in our thoughts and prayers” as they prepare for Hurricane Irma.”Please take all necessary precautions as you prepare for this hurricane,” Holder said. “Our love and our wishes go to everybody in the Caribbean as you go through this tough time.”
Manchester City are eyeing a move for Bayern Munich target and Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha in the January transfer window.
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The six-team franchise competition was originally due to be played in 2018 from March 14 until April 15 but could be brought forward by four months
Firdose Moonda13-Oct-2017South Africa’s domestic 20-over competition is likely to be moved into the window left vacant by the T20 Global League, which was postponed earlier this week. The six-team franchise competition was originally due to be played in 2018 from March 14 until April 15 but could be brought forward by four months, subject to a final board approval.In a teleconference on Thursday, the franchise CEOs were asked to confirm the feasibility of hosting the domestic T20 in that time and assured CSA it could be done. The only outstanding tick in the box is to check with the broadcasters but unlike the T20 Global League, CSA will not need to sign a new partner. SuperSport already hold the rights of all cricket played in South Africa.A massive boost for the domestic tournament will be that all the national players will be available to participate, which is usually not the case. That means South Africa’s players will not be granted NOCs to play in other leagues, such as the Bangladesh Premier League, in that time. It is also unlikely that international opposition will be sought over that period.”If there is an international tour in that time, only 12 or so guys will be playing. What about the rest of the players? They can’t sit around for six weeks and not do anything,” a source told ESPNcricinfo.CSA was believed to be exploring options for hosting one of Pakistan or West Indies but acting CEO Thabang Moroe said the board will not enter into an endeavour which will cost them money. Only incoming tours against India, England and Australia make CSA money, so any other opposition would be loss-making and CSA cannot afford to incur more expenses. Instead, they will spend money they would have spent anyway on the 20-over competition. All that remains is for them to find a sponsor for it. Courier company Ram opted not to renew their deal last season, and it was played without a corporate backer.When the competition was called the Ram Slam, it made headlines for the wrong reasons. A protracted match-fixing investigation took place from late 2015 until July this year during which seven players including four former internationals, Gulam Bodi, Alviro Petersen, Thami Tsolekile and Lonwabo Tsotsobe, were banned for between periods of two and 20 years. CSA maintained that no actual fixing took place but there were attempts made. Last season’s 20-over tournament was a low-profile affair which was played in November-December, while the Test team was in Australia.
Saturday could be the last time we will watch Brian Lara in an international match. West Indian cricket is unlikely to miss him
Sambit Bal19-Apr-2007
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Saturday could be the last time we watch Brian Lara in an international match. Anyone who has a feel for cricket will mourn his loss, for no batsman in the last 15 years has brought more joy to spectators. But paradoxically, West Indian cricket is unlikely to miss him.Lara’s legacy will be deeply flawed as he has been the most mortal of geniuses. Any human, however talented, must be granted his indiscretions, and Lara has always been a complex character. His batting, a hostage to his moods, has touched extraordinary highs and inexplicable lows. But that’s the essence of Lara and the peaks have been so rewarding that it’s been easy to overlook the troughs.To judge Lara’s contribution to West Indian cricket, it is essential to separate his batting from his leadership. Lara the batsman is peerless, light years ahead of his compatriots who have struggled to match the deeds of their predecessors. Lara the leader has been diametrically opposite. Aloof and whimsical are the mild words used to describe him. The stronger ones are selfish, vindictive and unbecoming.It is hardly a secret that Lara was foisted as captain by Ken Gordon, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board and a fellow Trinidadian, after the infamous row between the board and the players over sponsorship in 2005. A majority of the then selection committee didn’t want him and none of the members of the present one want him either. But Gordon, in a move that will be familiar to most cricket fans in the subcontinent, imposed his will on them, and might want to do so again. However, his hold on the board has been weakened following the World Cup debacle, and if the selectors have their way, Lara will not make the West Indian touring party for the trip to England in May. Not as captain, not even as player.While it would be unfair to blame one person, however powerful, for the abjectness of an entire team, those in the know firmly believe that the rot begins right at the top. Lara, they say, has never allowed the team to settle down, and worse, done his best to undermine any player who has crossed his path.Of course, barring occasional outbursts against the selectors, he has been a model of rectitude and decorum in public, always choosing the right words, and hitting the right notes. In his press conference before the game against Bangladesh at Kensington Oval on Thursday, he repeated his apology to cricket fans and talked about the disappointment of the Caribbean nations. “The need to show character” was a phrase that came up repeatedly.
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Yet, Lara, who will retire from one-day internationals after the tournament, stands accused of destroying the character of the team more than anyone else. On the field, he has been eccentric and unpredictable and some of his tactics have bordered on the bizarre. Some of his improvisations, like opening the bowling with Wavell Hinds and Dwayne Smith, have borne fruit, and he has been persuasive in arguing that he has used innovation as a surprise weapon due to the lack of too many real ones at his disposal. “I wouldn’t have needed to experiment if I was leading Australia,” he said during last year’s Champions Trophy.But some of the selections defied logic and cricket sense. For much of last year, Ian Bradshaw and Jerome Taylor were the team’s best one-day bowlers. Bradshaw was outstanding with the new ball, often bowled his overs through and conceded about 40 runs. Taylor was beginning to master operating at the death, delivering at pace and firing in yorkers. Both have found themselves dropped repeatedly and Bradshaw has been used at first change and sometimes even at the death where he has been easy meat at his pace.Lara picked the rookie Lendl Simmons as a batsman in the World Cup and put him at No. 8, and in the crucial, near knock-out match against New Zealand, he chose to hand a one-day debut to the 19-year-old Keiron Pollard while dropping Marlon Samuels, in whom he had expressed faith only a few weeks earlier.Off the field, he has set a poor example to his team-mates when it comes to behaviour and personal work ethic. Genius must receive an allowance, and tales of Garry Sobers turning up at a match after a night of revelry abound in these parts. But Sobers played in a different era and he was captain for only a short part of his career. Lara has led a bunch of impressionable and far less talented individuals much prone to the risk of being led astray.And he has been severe on the players who he has come to dislike. Ramnaresh Sarwan, a captaincy candidate who has a far better record in both forms of the game than most current players, had the mortification of being dropped on the tour of Pakistan and others have had their batting positions shuffled. Some are believed to be dead against him, while many others live in fear. It is not only a team lacking faith in its own ability, but lacking faith in their leader.The cricket world will be poorer for Lara’s departure, but for West Indian cricket it could be the way forward. It’s a tragedy. Lara ought to be remembered as one of the most special batsmen in the history of the game and not a captain whose whims and sullenness destabilised an already feeble team.
Jake Ball and Stuart Broad are doubtful for the Royal London Cup final on Saturday and that is also bad news for England with the first Test around a week away
Jon Culley at Trent Bridge27-Jun-2017
ScorecardWith doubts lingering over Stuart Broad’s fitness for Saturday’s Royal London One-Day Cup final at Lord’s, Nottinghamshire face another anxious couple of days assessing the fitness of a second key bowling asset after injury forced Jake Ball to leave the field during the final session here.Despite playing the injury down overnight, Ball was sent for a scan by the ECB on Wednesday morning, and the selectors will be monitoring the results closely as they prepare to meet to select the squad for the first Test against South Africa at Lord’s next week.The England fast bowler, who had already struck an important blow for his team in this match at the start of Kent’s second innings, pulled up in his follow-through after bowling one delivery of his third over, feeling some pain in his right knee.After receiving attention on the field it looked at first as if he would continue but after a couple of attempts to replicate his run-up to the crease under the supervision of his county physio he asked the umpire for his cap and sweater and left the field, leaving Luke Fletcher to complete his over.Nottinghamshire head coach Peter Moores described his withdrawal as “a precaution” and said his prospects of resuming in this match would be assessed in the morning. However, he is being monitored by Notts and England medical teams, and he will not bowl again in the match.Broad, who was forced to miss this match after suffering a heel injury against Leicestershire last week, was still rated as doubtful on Monday but there was better news today. Put through his paces before play, he appeared to be moving well enough, although Nottinghamshire will be wary of risking any further damage with the opening Test against South Africa just over a week away.After playing his part with a flurry of boundaries with the bat in helping Nottinghamshire to a lead of 191 on first innings, Ball had dealt Kent the early blow they least wanted as they began their second innings against the pink ball in the awkward day-to-night phase.After bowling brilliantly with scant reward in the first innings, with only one tailender’s wicket to show for his efforts, Ball found success in his second over this time, producing a full and fast delivery to which Daniel Bell-Drummond, who had so valiantly held Kent together on Monday, had no answer.Yet Ball’s absence hardly made things easier for Kent, who were four wickets down and still 86 behind at the close. To make matters worse, Sam Billings, unbeaten on 39, now leaves this match to play for the Lions at Worcester. The 20-year-old batsman Joe Weatherley takes his place.Despite a career-best 168 from Steven Mullaney, who was 63 not out overnight, and a partnership of 222 between the opener and Alex Hales, Nottinghamshire had not fulfilled their objective of batting Kent out of the game, losing their last wickets for 41.They fell short even of maximum batting points, which felt almost like a formality earlier in the day when Hales and Mullaney, having come through a tough pink ball baptism on the first evening, plundered runs under the pale sky of the second afternoon.Mullaney, one half of the key partnership in the historic win over Essex that booked Nottinghamshire’s place at Lord’s, completed the 12th first-class century of his career, punching the air as he might after a bout of nausea almost forced him to leave the field in the early part of his innings on Monday.Jake Ball limped off – and that will worry England•Getty Images
Once something of a bit-part player among stars at Trent Bridge, Mullaney has become a key figure in all formats. Always an all-round asset in the one-day sides, he has found his niche at the top of the order in the four-day side, and a useful partnership-breaking bowler to boot. Well respected in the dressing room, he led the side in Chris Read’s absence last season and looks a natural choice to take on the captaincy in his own right when Read retires at the end of the season.As a batsman, he may lack the flair and natural timing of Samit Patel, with whom he shared that epic stand at Chelmsford, and he does not dominate in the way Hales sometimes does. Yet he has the temperament to concentrate for long periods and packs a punch when the moment arrives to up the tempo.He and Hales were together for 47.5 overs for the fourth wicket before Hales was caught on the rope attempting a second six straight off Joe Denly’s leg spin, missing out by 15 on what appeared to be a certain hundred.The innings lost some of its impetus after Hales. Riki Wessels was unusually subdued and Mullaney went an hour without scoring a boundary before a couple in quick succession off Adam Milne eased the pressure.He passed his previous best, 166 against Somerset here last year, with a six off Will Gidman and the applause that accompanied his return to the pavilion, caught behind off Matt Coles, was a measure of his popularity. He acknowledged it properly, too, raising his bat to all corners of the ground.Kent’s bowlers have to be commended for the way they maintained their discipline and in denying Nottinghamshire their full complement of points they might consider they scored a minor triumph.Yet, the possibly unwelcome consequence of this was that it was their batsman who were exposed to the day-into-night phase. After Bell-Drummond, Denly edged a fine, swinging ball from Fletcher to be caught behind before Harry Gurney struck twice, Sam Northeast following a ball outside off-stump to be caught behind, Sean Dickson edging to Brendan Taylor at third slip.July 28, 11.36am – This story was updated with news of Ball’s knee scan
Girona star Artem Dovbyk scored a sensational hat-trick within six minutes as he fired his side into a clear lead against Sevilla on Sunday.
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Neymar posted a message of support to Santos after his former team were relegated from the Brazilian Serie A for the first time in their history.
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Bruno Fernandes will miss Manchester United's match against Liverpool next week after moaning at the referee during the loss to Bournemouth.
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