England will assess the knee problem that saw Fran Kirby pulled from the starting lineup to face Austria, but there is good Chloe Kelly news.
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Many felt that the Blues had overpaid for the 21-year-old attacker but he stole the show at Stamford Bridge on Sunday
"I'm tired," Mauricio Pochettino said in his post-match press conference. And who could blame him? With Monday's emotionally-draining Tottenham victory still fresh in the memory, the Argentine was subjected to another tortuous 90-plus minutes against Manchester City on Sunday.
However, thanks to Cole Palmer, at least the Blues came away with a 4-4 draw and a point to show for their efforts. The former City man netted from the penalty spot in second-half stoppage time to cap off another crazy game of Premier League football, after Ruben Dias had chopped down Armando Broja in the area.
Before that, this one had pretty much everything. As you might expect in a game with eight goals, Erling Haaland found himself on the scoresheet twice, though not without controversy, and Palmer was not the only ex-City man that proved a point against his former employers.
England boss Gareth Southgate would have watched on with particular interest too, with Raheem Sterling making another strong case for his return to the national team. But, in the end, this one was all about Palmer – a young man proving that not all of Chelsea's summer signings are doomed to failure.
Below, GOAL runs down all the winners and losers from Stamford Bridge…
Chelsea have been dealt a disappointing blow in their efforts to sign Viktor Gyokeres with the striker saying he wants to stay at Sporting CP.
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Sabbir Rahman’s 70 and Nasir Hossain’s fighting half century were not enough as Sylhet lost their fourth completed game in a row
Mohammad Isam20-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBrendon McCullum looks to paddle•Raton Gomes
Rangpur Riders came back to winning ways after their seven-run win over Sylhet Sixers at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum lived up to their billing as the star opening act but the Bangladeshi duo, Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain , gave Rangpur a real scare before Sylhet’s chase faded away.Rangpur now have two wins in five outings while Sylhet continue to struggle, losing for the fourth time. They haven’t won a game since leaving their home territory almost two weeks ago.The storm finally makes land-fallGayle played out a maiden over bowled by Hossain, a sure sign of settling down for the Jamaican giant. As he took things slowly, McCullum swatted Shuvagata Hom for two sixes in the second over before Danushka Gunathilaka dropped McCullum’s offering of a return catch in the fourth over.In the following over, Gayle officially got underway in the BPL. He slammed Nasir over his head for his first six before Gunathilaka was tonked for two sixes in a row, on either side of long on. He hit his fourth and fifth sixes off Liam Plunkett and Nasir, both over the square leg-side field.Rangpur’s slowdownWhen Nasir got McCullum in the ninth over, Rangpur started to slow down. McCullum had made 33 off 21 balls with three fours and as many sixes; in the 11th over it was Gayle who left, bowled by Abul Hasan for 50 off 39 balls, with his five sixes and two fours.With the destructive pair gone, Mohammad Mithun and Shahriar Nafees played out 14 balls without going anywhere before Andre Fletcher took a superb catch at backward point to get rid of Nafees in the 13th over. Only Ravi Bopara hit a six among the middle-order batsmen, as Rangpur reached 169-7 in 20 overs.Hasan finished with 2 for 24 from his four overs while there was a wicket each for Nasir, Bresnan and Plunkett.Sylhet lose three quicklySohag Gazi got the initial breakthrough, removing Gunathilaka in the second over. Babar Azam, playing his first match for Sylhet, holed out to deep midwicket off Mashrafe Mortaza before Andre Fletcher’s dismissal in the fourth over, caught behind off Rubel Hossain, made it 25 for three.Sabbir takes overSabbir and Nasir played well thereafter, for the first time in the tournament. The pair added 117 runs for the fourth wicket, taking only 13.4 overs. Sabbir made 70 off 49 balls with seven fours and two sixes but when he fell in the 18th over, Sylhet slipped out of the chase.Nasir ended up unbeaten on 50 off 43 balls with a four and a six while Tim Bresnan struck a six off the last ball but to no avail.Mashrafe, Sohag, Rubel and Thisara Perera took one wicket each as they combined to bring the big-spending Rangpur side a much-needed win.
Sir Dave Brailsford has warned Manchester United's playing staff of the need to 'step up' in order to become a world-class institution once again.
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The Indian board’s latest warning to Sehwag was totally uncalled for and reeks of double standards, writes Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan10-May-2006
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Here we go again. How irresponsible can Virender Sehwag get? One can understand his liberal swishing of the bat out in the middle, but look what he’s done now. He actually had the audacity to publicly go on record and say that there’s too much cricket and that players “need a break” to guard against burn-out. Worst still, he was cheeky enough to say that Sourav Ganguly was the best captain he has played under and added that (take a deep breath) “we miss him”.Obviously, none of this would sit well with the Indian board, who promptly issued a warning. One wonders how Niranjan Shah, the board secretary, controlled a chuckle when he read out this statement: “As a player you cannot give your opinion on any other player.” Shah, probably realising his folly a day later, attempted a cover-up operation: “It was not a warning, just our advice to him. There is no question of taking action against Sehwag. The matter is closed.”But, more pertinently, why was it an issue in the first place? Sehwag isn’t the first to be pulled up for opening his mouth. The two Singhs – Harbhajan and Yuvraj – have been gagged earlier and Greg Chappell has faced the music as well, except that his comments, unlike the other three, were against Ganguly. So it’s 3-1 at the moment, but the refereeing has been quite hopeless.Around a month back, at the pre-match press conference before the sixth one-dayer against England at Jamshedpur, Sehwag was asked about Ganguly. His response was guarded, more an effort to pass the question rather than create a stir: “… there’s no question of looking back … We have already forgotten that chapter.” No warning then, no yellow card, no nothing.Around two weeks back, Sachin Tendulkar was asked, again in a press conference, about too much cricket. One of his responses: “I have been happy with my schedule. It is important to physically and mentally recharge yourself after every series. One must make sure there is a break after matches and series.” Tendulkar expresses his opinion. No hassles. Sehwag expresses his opinion. Warned. Inference: open your mouth but just don’t say what the board doesn’t want to hear.And what if you are asked about your former captain? He might have been your greatest backer, he might have revitalised your career, and he might be your hero, but it’s almost anathema to take his name, more so if you are praising him. If the Indian board has its way, a few years down the line you may watch this version of a player interview.Interviewer: Who have been the key players in India becoming the best team in the world?
Player: Sorry, I am not in a position to answer that.I: Tell us about the World Cup final. What a superb innings from your captain …
P: I wish I could talk about that innings. But I can’t publicly comment on other players.I: Do you still have fond memories of your debut?
P: Great moment. I need to thank one man for having faith in me during that time. I am sure you know who I am talking about. That’s all I can say.I: A thousand Twenty20 games in the last year. Isn’t it too much?
P: That is for the board to comment.
Harry Maguire has received a new date for his retrial for alleged assault and bribery, but it may never go ahead, per a new report.
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After being hailed as English spin’s saviour, Panesar has had a less-than-miraculous sophomore term. Sure the talent is still there, but he needs to get his self-belief back, and get out of his shell some
Andrew Miller25-Jan-2008
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Like a FTSE-listed victim of the global credit crunch, Monty Panesar’s stock has fallen dramatically of late. He’s slipped from his June high of No. 6 in the world rankings to a lacklustre No. 20, he’s lost the one-day spinner’s role that was his during the World Cup in March, and he’s even had to make do with a third-placed finish in the annual
Beard of the Year awards – the title he scooped during his Ashes zenith last winter.This week his England team-mates jet off to New Zealand for the start
of their spring campaign, but Panesar has been asked to take the
scenic route Down Under. Yesterday he arrived in Mumbai with the
England Lions, where over the next couple of weeks he’ll hone his
skills in the Duleep Trophy, India’s premier domestic competition.
Nobody expects it to be a holiday camp – one on famous occasion on the
last such tour in 2003-04, Rod Marsh’s squad somehow allowed South
Zone to chase 501
for victory in the fourth innings – but for Panesar the trip
represents an urgently needed break from the limelight.His game has been stuck in a rut for the past six months, and in Sri
Lanka before Christmas, the frustration was evident. Monty’s mantra
throughout his brief career has been that most enervating of
cricketing clichés, “Put the ball in the right areas”, but for long
periods in all three Tests, he was palpably unable to do just that.
His impact may have been dulled by the broad blades of Kumar
Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, but instead of backing himself to
bowl maidens and bore his opponents into error, he sacrificed his
established strengths of line and length, and set about searching for
the elusive magic delivery.It was not a recipe for success, personal or collective. Panesar still
finished as England’s leading wicket-taker in the series, but that was
entirely down to the shortcomings of his fellow bowlers. His eight
scalps at 50.62 were his worst return since his debut tour of India in
March 2006, but they mirrored almost exactly the eight at 50.37 he
picked up in his previous outing, the home series against India. If a
mental block is forming in his game, then the selectors should be
praised for spotting the right moment to pull him from the front line.”He didn’t have the best of times in Sri Lanka,” said David Parsons,
the ECB’s performance director, who will oversee the Lions tour. Prior
to his appointment in December, Parsons had worked alongside Panesar
as the England team’s spin coach, and few know the mechanics of his
game better. “Monty’s the sort of guy who wants to play all the time,
so I’m sure he’s looking forward to the trip,” Parsons added. “We all see
this as an opportunity for him to work on his game so he’s ready for
the Test matches in New Zealand.”England’s former coach Duncan Fletcher would doubtless seize upon
this form slump as vindication of his own, controversial, assessment
of Panesar’s talents, but not everyone sees it quite like that. Writing in the Observer, Vic Marks, himself a former England spinner, suggested that Panesar was in need of nothing more than a “10,000-ball check-up”. “Monty is a mechanical bowler rather than an intuitive one, which need not be a major disadvantage,” said Marks.
“But [he] looks as if he’s starting to panic when his tried-and-trusted mechanism is no longer producing the results.”
| If a touch of vertigo is setting in after Panesar’s stellar rise in international cricket, it’s hardly surprising – he has not even completed two years in the Test team, but he has ridden such a tidal wave of hype and celebrity, he’s sure to feel weighed down by inflated expectations. Mind you, his lofty profile is largely self-inflicted |
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If a touch of vertigo is setting in after Panesar’s stellar rise in
international cricket, it’s hardly surprising – he has not even
completed two years in the Test team, but he has ridden such a
tidal wave of hype and celebrity, he’s sure to feel weighed down by
inflated expectations. Mind you, his lofty profile is largely
self-inflicted – in 2007, thanks to some pretty avaricious cash-ins
by his team of advisors, he was the face of everything from DVDs to
potato snacks, and even found time for an unfortunately premature
autobiography.”A few people have suggested I might be getting too commercially
motivated, but nothing could be further from the truth,” said Panesar.
“When you become a recognised face, people want to get to know you and
with that can come opportunities, but I am working as hard as ever on
my cricket.”Few who saw him in the nets in Sri Lanka would doubt that
final assertion, but somehow he lacks a spark of belief at present.
His predecessor, Ashley Giles, also struggled to cope with the burden
that is placed on England’s anointed spinner, but in hindsight Giles had
it easy. In an era dominated by three of the greatest (and weightiest)
wicket-taking spinners in history, no one realistically expected him
to match the matchless. Panesar, for one reason or another, does not
have that luxury.In truth, he’s been pretty unfortunate in his timing. Five of his
first seven series (and 15 of his 23 Tests) have featured one of the
big three – Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble – who
currently outweigh his wickets tally by the small matter of 25 to 1.
Coming from a culture where deference to one’s elders is ingrained
from birth, that’s quite some mental hurdle to have to overcome.Panesar’s reaction ahead of each of these series has been the same.
“How can the student be a rival to the teacher?” he said of his
impending meetings with both Kumble and Muralitharan last year. The
answer, to judge by his stats, is that he can’t. Monty’s record in
matches involving the big three is 41 wickets at 41.68, compared to 40
at 23.62 against the spin-light opposition of Pakistan and West Indies.
Moreover, he’s contributed to two victories in 15 attempts in the
first bracket, compared to six in eight in the second.
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That’s not to say he hasn’t had some measure of success in these
games, but at no stage – except arguably in Perth during the Ashes, when
he was pumped to the gunwales with indignation after his earlier
omissions – has he gone in with the same belief that so overwhelmed
West Indies and Pakistan. With that in mind, his next destination,
after the Indian interlude, is an intriguing one. New Zealand’s
captain is Daniel Vettori, the most durable left-arm spinner in the
world today. He’s respected and renowned, but hardly the type to be
revered. In fact, his average of 34.22 is two clicks higher than
Panesar’s, and his strike-rate some ten balls slower.Perhaps that goes to show that Monty’s off-colour moments simply come
with the territory. Despite the hype, he is not the messiah that
England dearly wish him to be. He is merely the best slow bowler that
the country has to offer. A touch more self-belief would not go amiss,
however, and to that end he could doubtless be helped by his captain.
In one of the most candid passages of his autobiography, Panesar tells
of the excitement he felt when selected for his debut against India at
Nagpur. Up he bounded to the room of the then-skipper, Andrew
Flintoff, armed with a bundle of plans and potential field placings.
When I knocked on Flintoff’s door and handed over the results
he seemed a bit bemused.
“This is what I’m thinking of doing,” I said.
“Ah, okay,” he replied, sounding as puzzled as he looked. “No worries
at all, mate. I’ll take it all on board and you have a good night’s
sleep.”
I decided I ought to leave quickly because I wasn’t sure whether he
wanted me in his room
Michael Vaughan, take note. Monty is his own man, and has plenty of
ideas to make his own game work better. But to judge by the passivity
of his recent performances, he could probably do with being coaxed
back out of his shell a touch.
The 34-year-old striker has been once again left out of the squad but could she force her way back in for the Olympics?
The moment an international squad hits an email inbox or social media timeline, there's a mad dash to see who has made the cut. The U.S. women's national team is no different. When Twila Kilgore's Gold Cup squad dropped on Wednesday, fans all over the U.S. raced to read who was involved.
Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith were there, of course. So too was Rose Lavelle. Oh, Alyssa Naeher was back to fight for a goalkeeping spot and, would you look at that, a returning Mal Swanson's name was included as a training player as she pushes toward full fitness.
The squad, in truth, contained most of the usual suspects. But it's one missing name that remains a major talking point.
That name, of course, is Alex Morgan. The USWNT legend was once again left out of the squad, as she was in December, too. The forward positions were loaded with young talent. Players like Smith, Rodman, Jaedyn Shaw and Mia Fishel were all there, as were veterans like Midge Purce and Lynn Williams. There was no Morgan, though, and this time around it didn't quite feel like a surprise.
Just a few months away from the Olympics, the 34-year-old striker remains out in the cold. It isn't a one-time thing, a chance for Kilgore, and Emma Hayes, to assess different options ahead of this summer's tournament. No, right now, it feels like Morgan has a legitimate fight on her hands. It seems that she'll have to overcome the odds if she wants one last tournament run with the USWNT.
Tufan Ghosh has served nearly three decades in the healthcare and hospitality industries and was chosen in line with the CoA’s directives of finding a non-cricketing professional for the post
ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2017The BCCI has appointed Tufan Ghosh as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Ghosh has served in the healthcare and hospitality industries for 29 years, including a stint as CEO of the private healthcare group Columbia Asia in 2005.”The BCCI now owns a consolidated 40 acres of land at Arebinnamangala village near the Aerospace Park region in Bengaluru where it wishes to set up the new NCA. Ghosh will play a key role in setting up the facility and creating a Centre of Excellence,” a BCCI press release said.The appointment comes after a deliberate search for a professional with management experience from outside cricketing circles by the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA).”We have got a master plan, vision and concept for the NCA ready,” CoA chairman Vinod Rai had said in an interview to ESPNcricnfo in November. “We identified that we needed to find a project manager to realise the vision. The ideal person will not be a cricketer because we felt such a large project needed someone with management experience.””In the short term – first three to five years – the person we are looking for is one who has the experience of having built such similar, big projects. It is a full-time position and he would be in charge of the NCA. But this person will not deal with the cricketing element of the NCA,” Rai had said.