Dockrell’s unbeaten and career-best 91 goes in vain for Ireland

Ashish Pant19-Jun-20231:35

Aqib: Best feeling when you beat Test-playing nation convincingly

On just the second day of the World Cup Qualifier, Oman brought about the first upset of the tournament by chasing down 282 against much-fancied Ireland with five wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare in Bulawayo.Kashyap Prajapati, Aqib Ilyas and captain Zeeshan Maqsood all scored crucial fifties as Oman went about the chase with utmost professionalism. At no point did they look hurried, they stitched partnerships at every corner and registered a historic maiden ODI win against a Full Member nation to spark off delirious scenes in the dugout .That Ireland reached 281 was down to George Dockrell’s career-best 89-ball 91 after Oman’s spinners had the Ireland batters on a leash in the middle overs.Sent in to bat, the new opening pair of Andy McBrine and Paul Stirling hit their straps immediately, adding 51 runs in nine overs. With the 9am start, there was a lot of movement on offer for the fast bowlers, but the Oman quicks Fayyaz Butt and Bilal Khan failed to capitalise and gave away too many freebies.Kashyap Prajapati scored a free-flowing 72•ICC/Getty Images

However, almost against the run of play, Ireland lost both openers off consecutive balls. Having just nailed a pull the previous ball off Bilal, Stirling went for the same shot to a similar ball. The difference being a fielder had just moved to deep backward square leg and Stirling toe-ended his pull straight down his throat. The very next ball, McBrine picked out mid-off to an innocuous short ball outside off.Things got worse for Ireland, with captain Andrew Balbirnie falling for a 19-ball 7 as they lost 3 for 18 in seven overs. It was a trial by spin for Ireland, with the trio of Maqsood, Ayaan Khan and Jay Odedra tying them up.Lorcan Tucker was cleaned up by Ayaan, but Dockrell and Harry Tector added 79 runs for the fifth wicket. Tector fell after his fifty, but Dockrell took the innings deep. He helped Ireland slam 86 runs off the final ten overs. But the fact that they faced 157 dot balls in their innings was always going to haunt them.At no stage did Oman look out of depth in the chase. The bright sunshine did make things easier for batters, but the nervelessness with which Oman got about the chase was a sight to behold.Mark Adair got the ball to hoop around up top, and had Jatinder Singh edging to second slip. Prajapati and Ilyas, however, made sure the required run rate never got out of hand. They kept the good balls out and capitalised on the loose ones. Ilyas targeted Graham Hume by slamming him for three successive fours in the seventh over. The duo added 94 runs off 88 balls for the second wicket before Ilyas top-edged Dockrell to short fine leg.Maqsood came in at No. 4 and added a 63-run stand with Prajapati and then a 56-run partnership with Mohammad Nadeem. At no point did the required rate go above six an over as the Oman batters got the boundaries regularly and rotated the strike brilliantly.Maqsood reached his fifty off 58 balls and while he fell soon after, there were no flutters in the Oman camp. Nadeem (46 not out), Ayaan (21) and Shoaib Khan (19) all played their part as Oman cantered home.

Manchester United have now made contact over a potential new forward for Ruben Amorim’s side as they look to rebuild their attack amid significant speculation surrounding potential departures in the coming months.

Manchester United lose again as INEOS chase Dorgu

Yet another defeat for Manchester United under Ruben Amorim has left them languishing in 13th place in the Premier League, having lost three of their last five outings.

Saved by a late Amad Diallo hat-trick at home to bottom of the league Southampton in midweek, there was no such fortune against Brighton at Old Trafford three days later, with Amorim’s side sinking to a 3-1 defeat in which they managed just a single shot on target, coming from the penalty spot midway through the first half.

It means that Amorim has now seen his side lose six of his 11 games at the helm in the Premier League, with only three wins to his name since his arrival after the November international break, and after the match he claimed that this side may well be the worst in the club’s history.

Played

11

Won

3

Lost

6

Points per game

1

Goals scored per game

1.36

Goals conceded per game

1.81

Changes will have to be made both on the training ground and in the transfer market, with a deal for Patrick Dorgu thought to be in the pipeline and now another attacking target on the agenda too.

Man Utd make approach for exciting English talent

That comes as Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg has revealed that Manchester United have “expressed concrete interest” in Borussia Dortmund forward Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, who has regularly been hittting the headlines in the Bundesliga this campaign.

Still just 20-years-old, the forward was once on the books of the Manchester City academy before opting to follow the path trod by Jadon Sancho and swap the Etihad for Signal Iduna Park, where he has thrived.

Mostly playing off the left hand side, Gittens has grabbed four goals in six Champions League outings, while he has also managed seven goals and four assists in the Bundesliga so far this season, the joint most efforts with Serhou Guirassy for the Black and Yellow.

He has been the subject of significant praise from Football Analyst Ben Mattinson, who dubbed him a star with “electric pace” who has a “lovely ability to use either foot to cross or shoot”.

That form has caught the eye, and the report claims that Bayern, Manchester United and Chelsea are all “considering a move”, though it is likely one that would take place in the summer rather than in the final two weeks of the winter window.

Though he still has three and a half years left to run on his £48,000 a week deal with Dortmund, a move could occur and is even said to be “highly likely” should Dortmund fail to qualify for the Champions League next season, though whether he would be willing to move to another club who likely won’t have Champions League football remains unclear.

With the futures of current left-wing options Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho far from secure at Old Trafford, would Bynoe-Gittens be a smart move by the Red Devils?

MatériaMais Notícias

da bet7： O Flamengo está pronto para a decisão da Copa do Brasil. Na manhã desta terça, no Ninho do Urubu, Dorival Júnior comandou a última atividade com grupo completo visando ao jogo desta quarta, contra o Corinthians, no Maracanã. O time está definido com uma mudança em relação à ida – 0 a 0 em São Paulo: Vidal no lugar de João Gomes.

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da bet nacional： + Flamengo x Corinthians: bastidores quentes na decisão da Copa

Com o volante suspenso, pelo terceiro cartão amarelo, a entrada de Vidal já era esperada desde a última semana, tanto que o chileno foi preservado do jogo com Atlético-MG, do final de semana, pelo Brasileirão, com os demais titulares. Assim, Dorival Júnior mandará a campo a seguinte escalação: Santos; Rodinei, David Luiz, Léo Pereira e Filipe Luís; Thiago Maia, Vidal, Everton Ribeiro e Arrascaeta; Gabigol e Pedro.

+ Vencedor da Copa do Brasil pode subir no ranking: confira os maiores campeões nacionais do país

Com o empate sem gols no jogo de ida, na Neo Química Arena, a Copa do Brasil será decidida nesta quarta, às 21h45, no Maracanã. Quem vencer entre Flamengo e Corinthians será o campeão, enquanto uma nova igualdade levará a decisão para os pênaltis.

Pat Cummins has not played a Sheffield Shield match for nearly six years, but the murmurs are building among those who want him rushed back into Australia’s Test team

Brydon Coverdale02-Dec-20162:32

‘I feel I have not lost any pace’ – Cummins

It’s the first week of December and Christmas trees are being put up in houses all over Australia. Excited kids are waiting for the morning of the 25th. Some won’t have the patience. They’ll go hunting for presents hidden in wardrobes, or lift the sticky-tape on a piece of wrapping paper, take a peek at what’s inside. And on Christmas morning they’ll regret it. A moment of impulse and everything is spoiled.It feels a little like that in Australian cricket right now. What do we want? Pat Cummins. When do we want him? Now! And indeed, Cummins is ready to play his first internationals in nearly 15 months, as part of Australia’s attack for the Chappell-Hadlee campaign against New Zealand. These three ODIs mark his international return from yet another long lay-off due to stress fractures of the back. At most, he will bowl 30 overs across six days with a white ball.And yet there are rumblings that he should be rushed back into the Test side, perhaps for February’s tour of India, but maybe even in the pink-ball Test against Pakistan at the Gabba. On this week, Brad Haddin was adamant that Cummins should be in contention for Brisbane if he came through the Chappell-Hadlee series fit and in form.”If he gets through these three one-dayers … traditionally these day-night games [Tests] haven’t been going five days and the quick bowlers might only have to bowl 16 overs in a day,” Haddin said. “If you use him right in a Test match, he only has to bowl four-over spells.”Darren Berry, the former Victoria captain and ex-coach of South Australia, voiced a similar opinion on radio on Friday morning: “Surely he plays the three days and if he’s up, and he fires, straight into the Brisbane Test.”Notably, those who are closer to the Australia setup are more measured. National selector Mark Waugh, on the panel alongside Haddin, said that while Cummins had performed well during the Matador Cup, and bowled at good pace in club cricket and two Futures League games this summer, he still had something to prove.”Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s just see him get through these three games,” Waugh said. “Look, I’d love to pick him for Australia in Test match cricket, who wouldn’t? But he’s got to show that he’s ready and he’s fit.”And captain Steven Smith, asked this week whether Cummins might be a chance for the Test tour of India in February-March, conceded that it was “possible”, but added “he’s obviously got to play some Shield cricket first and see how he goes”.Cummins’ only Test appearance was in 2011 where he was Man of the Match for a match haul of seven wickets in Johannesburg•AFPAnd here’s the thing: Cummins hasn’t played Shield cricket for a long time. A really, really long time. When Cummins last played a Sheffield Shield game, not only was Smith not yet the captain of Australia, Michael Clarke wasn’t either. It was March 2011, and Ricky Ponting was leading Australia at the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.When Cummins last played a Shield game, Jackson Bird had not even made his first-class debut. Bird now has nearly 250 first-class wickets.When Cummins last played a Shield game, the Big Bash League didn’t exist.In fact, since that time Cummins has played only five first-class matches. One was his memorable Test debut against South Africa in November 2011, when he took seven wickets and was Man of the Match in Johannesburg. Then came a bone stress injury in his foot. Then came stress fractures of the back.In mid-2013, he added two more first-class games for Australia A on a tour of Africa, before once again being sidelined by a back injury.In mid-2015, he was sent to England to replace the retired Ryan Harris in Australia’s Ashes squad, despite not having played a first-class game for two years. He played two first-class tour matches, and lo and behold, suffered another back injury.So long ago was his spectacular Test debut, and so often has he been in and out of Australia’s short-form squads since then, that it is easy to think Cummins is older and better prepared than is the case. In fact, he is still only 23 – still of an age where fast bowlers are susceptible to bone injuries – and in his entire career has played only eight first-class matches.Rushing him back for the Pakistan Tests – or even for the India tour, given he may have only one Shield game before the squad is chosen – would surely be a short-sighted selection. Does anyone really believe the dry pitches of India, where the fast men will toil long and hard for any reward, would be the smartest way to bring Cummins back?”It’s great to be back,” Cummins said in Sydney on Friday, ahead of his ODI return. “Longer-form cricket, I’d say it’s pretty unlikely. I haven’t played first-class for a while. Certainly hopefully I can play some first-class this year. I’m sure it’d need to be Shield before I start thinking about anything else.”Notably, Cummins also said that on this return from injury he felt more comfortable as he was not being rushed on to an Australian tour: “Knowing I wasn’t going to fly straight back onto the next tour and having to bowl as well as I was 12 months ago – just having a bit more time has made a big difference.”It is exciting that Cummins will be back in Australian colours over the coming week. But back in Australian whites? How about getting him through half a Shield season first? If Australian cricket wants Cummins playing the long game, it may have to play the long game itself.

Will Williams, Tom Bailey share six wickets as visitors tumble to 142 all out at Southport

Paul Edwards11-Jun-2023

It was not until early afternoon on the opening day of this match that bashful sunlight finally replaced stubborn haze but no one except Hampshire’s top order seemed put out by the tardiness. Summer arrived in these parts over two weeks ago and with it came the sweet realisation that many first-class cricketers would soon be seen on club or school grounds, much-loved venues that were already being spit and polished for a long-awaited occasion.Hampshire’s collapse to 76 for 7 sharpened the pleasure for Lancashire supporters and Phil Salt’s well-judged 76 not out deepened it, but these trombone-triumphs did not only bring happiness to home supporters. The cricket was also appreciated by neutrals from Devon and Gloucestershire, their satisfaction increased by the consonance between season and setting. Such gentle concord was noted nearly a century ago by Neville Cardus, who knew something about harmony.”When June arrives, cricket grows to splendour like a rich part of the garden in an English summertime,” wrote Cardus in (1930). “In June the game is at the crown of the year; from Little Puddleton to London the fields of village and town are white with players in hot action. Batsmen move along their processional way to centuries at Lord’s, while in a hundred hidden hamlets far and wide some crude but not inglorious Hobbs flings his bat at the ball, and either misses it or feels his body tingle as willow thwacks leather.”There was more missing than tingling on this first day and a good dollop of edging, too, as Hampshire’s batsmen struggled to cope in that early haze and on a pitch offering little more than lively bounce. Inside the first hour, Fletcha Middleton’s ugly prod at a ball from Will Williams had given Salt the first catch of what would be a memorable day for him and Joe Weatherley had driven Tom Bailey to George Bell in the gully.However, the main hatchway of the visitors’ innings did not cave in until the 20-minute spell before lunch that justified Dane Vilas’s decision to insert Hampshire. Having batted with his usual circumspection, Nick Gubbins was leg before to Jack Blatherwick for 16, although the batsman was statuesque for several seconds after seeing Neil Mallender’s raised finger, an attitude with which one could sympathise. The ball clearly pitched outside leg stump and it was unlikely that Gubbins was admiring the copper beeches behind the umpire’s head.But festering doubts were replaced by simple amazement on the point of luncheon when James Vince was bowled by a classic breakback from Williams, the delivery jagging so far off the seam that the Hampshire skipper’s adjustment appeared to widen the gap through which the ball could pass.Rather than arrest Hampshire’s decline, the match’s first interval merely postponed it. The normally adhesive and obstinate Ben Brown was cramped for room when attempting to pull a ball from Bailey and skied a catch to Josh Bohannon. Twenty minutes later, Felix Organ and Liam Dawson had also gone and had not Keith Barker shown some discrimination in making 44 off 71 balls, an already bad day for Hampshire would have assumed show-reel status. As it was, Vilas opted to call on the spin of Tom Hartley, a choice that looked dubious when Barker smacked the slow left-armer into the tennis courts but deeply wise next ball when he was bowled trying to clout him towards the balsam poplars and over the railway line.And there was a fair case that even Barker’s selective aggression was a bad portent for the visitors. For one thing, it suggested that conditions were easing; for another it showed that attacking batting might be possible, even against Hampshire’s highly-rated new-ball attack. Perhaps Salt noted these things as he adjusted to his first Championship game for nearly 13 months; perhaps he was simply looking forward to opening a red-ball innings for the first time since August 2020, when he was a Sussex cricketer. Either way, what followed in the 35 overs after tea established a dominance that Vince’s men will do well to shift and may also have laid the foundations for Lancashire’s first victory of a season that has so far featured five draws and a binbag of frustration.The galling thing for Hampshire was that Salt’s calibrated assault on their seam attack might have been ended almost at its birth. For having clipped Barker through wide mid-on for a fine boundary in the first over of the innings, Salt was immediately dropped by Middleton at second slip. As though realising this might be an enjoyable evening, the opener drove the next ball through the covers and the tone of the session was more or less set.This, though, was no reckless assault, no T20 battering. Salt may have spent much of the last year playing short-form cricket but he clearly still knows how to build an innings against seamers of the quality of Kyle Abbott or Mohammad Abbas. Given the chance to attack, Salt seized it and his approach was followed by his opening partner, George Balderson, who made 51 before being bowled by a fine ball from Dawson that spun back through the left-hander’s gate. By then, though, Lancashire were 115 for 1 and some of Hampshire’s bowling had been ragged on a day in the dirt for visitors who later admitted they had misread the pitch.Salt, by contrast, read things perfectly and so did the crowd as they relaxed into the gentle embrace of their evening’s cricket. Players like outground matches because it allows them to reconnect with the more innocent game they loved in the summers before they were paid to play cricket. But such pleasure is reciprocal. Spectators watch cricketers when the lads batted in junior games, evening encounters, perhaps, where the encouragement from the sides could be heard in the middle. That support is always present on the outgrounds and it was offered to Williams when he dismissed Middleton. Just over a year ago Williams was playing for Bridgwater at venues comparable to Trafalgar Road in the West of England Premier League and now he is not 12 months into a three-year contract with Lancashire.And they’ve travelled for this game, you know, and not only from Petersfield or Basingstoke. There are visitors from Glasgow, if you please, and one club member has taken annual leave from his job in Kuwait, partly because he wants to help out and partly because visiting the cricket club represents his best chance of seeing his family.Outground cricket attracts folk with no particular allegiance; come July it will be the same as Blackpool and Oakham, Scarborough and Cheltenham. More larks have been heard in England this summer but they share their own exultation at Trafalgar Road when Lancashire visit them. It is on such days that caring very much who wins is barely half the point.

da bet esporte： The last couple of years have been a real roller coaster for Tottenham Hotspur.

da dobrowin： The North Londoners have seen Ange Postecoglou take the reins and turn the club from one of the more boring teams to watch in the Premier League to arguably the most entertaining, and as things stand, they’re the third-highest scoring team in the competition this year.

What makes that fact even more remarkable is that they are so dangerous in attack despite being down in 15th place and are in the midst of an injury crisis that has seen them lose their starting number nine and second top-scorer in Dominic Solanke.

The former Bournemouth star doesn’t have much competition for a starting place in the squad, as while Richarlison is back fit, his overall record of 18 goals and nine assists in 77 games is simply not good enough.

Fortunately, recent reports have touted a forward who’d be the perfect rival for the Englishman for a move to N17 this month, a forward who has previously been compared to Harry Kane of all people.

Tottenham target Premier League striker

According to a recent report from the Daily Mail, Tottenham are one of multiple clubs interested in signing Brighton & Hove Albion’s Evan Ferguson this month.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

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Alongside the Lilywhites, the report has revealed that Bournemouth, Everton, Fulham, Celtic and West Ham have all asked about signing the Irish ace on loan. The Hammers are said to hold an advantage thanks to Graham Potter managing the youngster during his time on the south coast.

While this level of competition is far from ideal, the good news, for Daniel Levy and Co at least, is that the Seagulls are reportedly happy to let the exciting striker leave the club on loan, meaning that there is minimal financial downside to securing his services for the North Londoners.

It looks like it could be a challenging deal to get over the line, but given Ferguson’s raw ability and sky-high potential, it’s one worth fighting for, especially as he’d be an ideal rival for Solanke and has been compared to Kane in the past.

Why Ferguson would be a dream Solanke rival

Okay, so there are several reasons why having Ferguson in the squad would be good for the team as well as Solanke, and the first is that it would give Postecoglou the chance to rest the latter.

So far this season, the former Bournemouth star has played 29 games for the Australian, 24 of which have been starts, and while he hasn’t traditionally suffered from too many major injuries in the past, he’s also not got the cleanest of records, with nine injuries keeping him out of 40 games since the start of the 18/19 campaign.

So, if the manager knows that he has a young hungry striker who was previously tipped to reach the very top in his squad, then he can start him in some of the less important matches and allow his star poacher to rest more often, which in turn should hopefully minimise the chance of him being forced to sit out.

The second reason the Irish international would be a great rival is that he’s still the same player who was blowing people away a couple of seasons ago, and in the right environment, with the right coaching, there is no reason to suspect he couldn’t get back to that sort of form.

For example, it was only in March 2023 that former Liverpool and Ireland striker John Aldridge described the then 18-year-old centre-forward as “an Irish version of Harry Kane” and then just four months later, former Spurs star Gary Lineker mooted the idea that the club should sign the young phenom “as Kane’s replacement.”

Now, that all might sound a little hyperbolic today, but at the time, it really did look like the Bettystown-born gem was going to be the next superstar striker, as in just 25 first-team appearances across the 22/23 season, totalling 1345 minutes, the “phenomenal” striker, as dubbed by teammate James Milner, scored ten goals and provided three assists.

That means he averaged a goal involvement every 1.92 games, or every 103.46 minutes as an 18-year-old, which is unbelievably impressive, and were it not for a number of unfortunate injuries, then he might well have carried that form into the following seasons.

Ferguson’s 22/23

Appearances

25

Starts

15

Minutes

1345′

Goals

10

Assists

3

Goal Involvements per Match

0.52

Minutes per Goal Involvement

103.46′

All Stats via Transfermarkt

Ultimately, Spurs need another centre-forward to genuinely rival Solanke once he’s back from his injury, and while there is an element of risk around how good Ferguson still is, it’s a risk well worth taking, as if he can recreate anything close to his form of a couple of years ago, then Postecoglou will have another extraordinary striker in his squad.

Related He could dethrone Son: Spurs plot move for incredible £49m speedster

The impressive international could be the future of Spurs’ left wing.

Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes Jan 27, 2025

Spinner takes six wickets to help West Indies inflict an innings defeat on Zimbabwe

Abhimanyu Bose14-Feb-2023Gudakesh Motie spun West Indies to a 1-0 series win as they wrapped up the second Test against Zimbabwe by an innings and four runs.Motie, playing his third Test, returned figures of 7 for 37 and 6 for 62 as West Indies won the match convincingly inside three days, despite rain wiping out large durations on the second and third days. His figures of 13 for 99 are also the best in a Test match by a West Indies spinner, as he went past Sonny Ramadhin’s 11 for 152 against England in 1950.Despite good performances by Victor Nyauchi, Innocent Kaia and captain Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe succumbed to a big defeat, with their batting line-up faltering in the absence of Gary Ballance, who missed the game due to a migraine headache.Related

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Gudakesh Motie's 7 for 37 puts West Indies in command

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Play started late on day three due to a wet outfield and once it did, Nyauchi made an instant impact, getting Jason Holder to nick off with the first delivery of the day.Motie, the other overnight batter, soon became Nyauchi’s fifth victim as he found deep midwicket with a pull as West Indies added just two runs to their total, taking a 177-run lead. It was Nyauchi’s first five-wicket haul in Tests.For the second time in the match, Kaia was off the blocks quickly, hitting three fine strokes for boundaries in the first two overs. But Alzarri Joseph gave West Indies the first breakthrough in the third over as Tanunurwa Makoni edged behind, looking to play an expansive drive.Then, the first bowling change brought a wicket, with Chamu Chibhabha chopping on off Holder’s bowling in the seventh over.Kaia, Zimbabwe’s best batter in the first innings, continued to chip away at West Indies’ lead, even hitting Holder for three consecutive boundaries.Ervine held down one end as Kaia scored 30 of the 41 runs that they made for the third wicket.When Motie came out to bowl, Kaia immediately started attacking him with the sweep, but looked less in control than he was against the pacers. Kaia and Ervine saw Zimbabwe reach lunch at 46 for 2. In the third over after lunch, Kaia finally fell to the sweep, as he got a thin top edge that Joshua Da Silva held on to after a small juggling act.Innocent Kaia got off to strong starts but failed to convert them•APHe fell seven runs short of a half-century, after being dismissed for 38 in the first innings.Ervine then shed his defensive approach to keep the scoreboard ticking, even as Motie castled Milton Shumba and Tafadzwa Tsiga in quick succession to complete his first Test 10-wicket haul.Gabriel further dented Zimbabwe’s ambitions when he got one to sneak under Donald Tiripano’s bat to uproot the off-stump.Ervine then brought up his half-century off 73 deliveries with a reverse-sweep off Motie.Motie soon struck again as Wellington Masakadza gifted a simple catch to forward short leg as he came out of the crease to defend.West Indies would have hoped to wrap things up quickly, but Ervine and Brandon Mavuta held firm to see Zimbabwe reach 158 for 7 at tea, with the deficit whittled down to 19 runs.Zimbabwe then took seven off the first over after tea, bowled by Joseph, to bring the deficit down to 11 runs. But Chase had Mavuta caught at forward short leg with the first ball of the next over to give West Indies another opening.Motie came back into the attack immediately and was quick to wrap the game up.He trapped Ervine lbw for 72 – Zimbabwe’s highest score in the match – as he played back to a length ball that spun in and stayed low before getting the ball to spin past an advancing Nyauchi for Da Silva to complete a simple stumping.

Peter Handscomb will press his case for inclusion in Australia’s squads for the World Test Championship final and the Ashes after signing a deal with Leicestershire to play the first two months of the County Championship season.Handscomb, who missed out on Ashes selection in 2019, was recalled to the Test side after a four-year absence for Australia’s recent tour of India. He made 145 runs at 29.00 across the series, including one half-century.He has pulled out of Australia A’s upcoming tour to New Zealand and will travel to the UK after playing for Victoria in this week’s Sheffield Shield final. He has previously played county cricket for Durham, Gloucestershire, Middlesex (as captain) and Yorkshire.Handscomb will fill in for Ajinkya Rahane, and is likely to be available for the first six rounds of the Championship season. Rahane is not available until early June due to his involvement in the IPL, where he has a INR 50 lakh (£50,000 approx.) contract with Chennai Super Kings, and will play both four-day and 50-over cricket in the second half of the county season.Leicestershire had previously agreed a deal with Abdullah Shafique, the Pakistan opener, to cover the period while Rahane is unavailable. But his likely selection for their upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand meant he became unavailable, hours before his contract was due to be announced by the club.Cricket Australia confirmed that Caleb Jewell, the left-handed Tasmania batter, would replace Handscomb in the Australia A squad on Tuesday. “Players with upcoming County Cricket deals were not considered for Australia A selection as they will already be subject to English conditions prior to the Ashes,” a CA spokesperson confirmed.Cameron Bancroft and Todd Murphy have also lined up county deals which are yet to be announced, which are understood to be with Yorkshire and Durham respectively.A number of Australia players will use the early months of the county season as a chance to acclimatise to English conditions ahead of their six Tests in the country this summer.Chief among them are Marnus Labuschagne (Glamorgan) and Steven Smith (Sussex), whose deals have prompted some pundits to question why counties are willing to provide red-ball preparation to England’s summer opponents.The ECB is unconcerned by the situation, but has expressed a desire for more English players to win reciprocal opportunities in the off-season. “I’d love to get more of our players in first-class cricket overseas,” Mo Bobat, the ECB’s performance director, said earlier this year.

Allrounder says Australia “travelling really well as a group” despite absence of Meg Lanning

Valkerie Baynes20-Jun-2023Tahlia McGrath has described the fact that Australia were pushed by England A in their Women’s Ashes warm-up as the perfect preparation for the series.England A bowled Australia out for 284 in the first innings of their three-day, red-ball warm-up match in Leicester last week then piled on 562 in reply, led by centuries to Lauren Winfield-Hill and Paige Scholfield.”It was perfect prep for us,” McGrath said at Trent Bridge, two days out from the Test which will begin the multi-format series. “We really enjoyed it. We got tested, we had a long day in the field and we had some really good moments and some moments that we’ve had some really good discussions about and reflected on. From a preparation point of view, we couldn’t be happier. We’ve had some really good chats, reflected and we’re going into this five-day game really confident.”Related

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McGrath is vice-captain for Alyssa Healy, who in turn will lead the side in place of regular skipper Meg Lanning, who was ruled out of the tour for medical reasons. McGrath said she was impressed with how Australia had adapted in the circumstances.”Meg’s an outstanding captain and it’s obviously going to be a bit different without her, but everyone’s stepped up and just found that five percent extra,” she said. “It’s a collective approach with the side and Midge [Healy] is doing an outstanding job with leading from the front. Every time she speaks, everyone stops and listens. So we’re finding everyone’s stepping up and doing that little bit extra and we’re travelling really well as a group.”McGrath has been hugely impressed with Phoebe Litchfield, who is expected to open alongside Beth Mooney as Healy moves down the order to manage her workload, which also includes keeping wicket.Litchfield scored 68 during a 167-run stand with Annabel Sutherland, who made 116, as Australia reached 371 for 7 in the second innings of the warm-up game.”Phoebs has been unreal,” McGrath said. “If I was her, I’d be quite nervous, my first major tour away, and she’s like she’s been doing it for years.”She’s absolutely killing it, extremely hard working at training, and she’s so hard on herself, she just wants perfection. I’m really enjoying watching her journey and I’m excited for her, if she gets the opportunity, to watch her go out there and do her thing.”I look at our squad and I’m just excited about how much talent there is. You look at the Phoebe Litchfields, the Darcie Browns, yes, they’re young in age but wow, they’re serious cricketers. I don’t think it matters who we put on the park, it’s going to be a really good team and yeah, we’re missing a bit of experience but we’ve got some talent and we’ve got a lot of domestic experience behind us as well so I’m excited for different individuals to stand up at different times.”England enjoyed the best of the weather on Tuesday and were able to train on the outfield at Trent Bridge while Australia had been forced to train entirely indoors due to heavy morning showers. But McGrath didn’t believe that would dent Australia’s hopes of taking four points from winning the Test, which looks set to be played in finer conditions and with a fifth day providing an added buffer against a draw.”That’s one thing we were really excited about, the prospect of a result, and both teams play a really aggressive brand of cricket and are both in some really good form at the moment,” she said. “Personally, I love the five days I’d love to see it from now on. That’s where I stand on it. But we’ll leave that for others to decide.”If any moisture remains in the air, McGrath will look forward to the chance to try and swing the red Dukes ball, which she said had provided a learning experience in terms of how to use it, but a welcome one ahead of just her fourth Test appearance in what will be 53 matches for her country.”I’m feeling really good,” she added. “If you’d asked me a couple of months ago, maybe a different story when I was learning the red ball. But we’ve all put in a lot of hard work, we’ve had a lot of discussions as a team, a lot of discussions with our skill group coaches… everyone’s feeling really good about their game.”We’ve had a decent training block where we’ve trained pretty uncomfortable at times and we’ve come out better for it, so I personally go in full of confidence and I know for a fact that the team goes in really confident as well.”

Paul Mullin is filling a cheerleader role at present, with the 30-year-old supporting Wrexham in the away end and Paddy Pimblett in UFC action.

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• Striker has slipped down the pecking order
• Took in Wigan game alongside away support
• Revelled in impressive win for Pimblett at UFC 314

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The prolific frontman has slipped down the pecking order in North Wales, to the point that he is now struggling to make matchday squads. That was the case once again when the Red Dragons headed to Wigan.

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• THE GOSSIP

  Mullin took up a seat among the travelling fans for that contest, as Phil Parkinson’s promotion-chasing outfit were held to a 0-0 draw. After showing his support for club colleagues, colours were then nailed to the mast of fellow Merseyside native Pimblett.

• WHAT PAUL MULLIN SAID

  Paddy ‘The Baddy’ was in action at UFC 314. He put on another show-stopping performance when prevailing in an epic clash with Michael Chandler. Mullin posted on social media of seeing Pimblett emerge victorious: "Doing us proud."

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Mullin will be hoping to have his own cause for celebration in the coming weeks. Wrexham remain second in the League One table, with a historic third successive promotion beginning to fall within reach.

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