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Shortly after winning his last game of the season at Chepauk and leading CSK into the IPL final, MS Dhoni was asked whether he’d be back in Chennai next year. He continued to be non-committal about the subject, saying he had another eight-nine months to decide, but acknowledged that it had taken a “heavy toll” on him.”I don’t know, I have eight to nine months to decide, the small auction may be around December, so why take that headache right now?” Dhoni said after CSK’s win against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1. “I have ample time to decide.”Dhoni has had an issue with his knee all through the season and was seen wearing a brace after CSK’s final league game. While he hasn’t missed a match, he has had trouble running between wickets.”I will always be there for CSK, whether that is in the playing form or sitting somewhere outside…I don’t really know. Frankly, it takes a heavy toll. I have been out of home for literally four months. January 31 was when I got out of the house, finished my work, and started practicing from 2nd or 3rd of March. It takes a lot, but I have ample time to decide.”Related

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• CSK squeeze the Titans to enter their tenth IPL final

Dhoni and CSK now travel from Chennai to Ahmedabad for their tenth IPL final in 14 seasons. When asked whether an IPL final now felt like just another game, Dhoni said it did not.”IPL is too big to say that it is just another … and not to be forgetting that there used to be eight top teams, who used to compete with the best players available in the world and now it is tougher.”I won’t say it is just another final. It is hard work of more than two months because of which we are standing over here. Lot of character shown by the individuals, from where we started to where we are, and I feel everybody has contributed. Yes, the middle order has not got ample opportunity, but in between everybody has got a chance to chip in and they have done that.”CSK managed to score 172 after losing the toss in Qualifier 1 on a pitch that was tough for batting. During the defence, Dhoni was in his element, marshalling his bowlers and making field placements to stifle the Titans’ chase.MS Dhoni gets his fielders exactly where he wants them•BCCI

“You see the wicket, you see the conditions and according to that, you keep adjusting the field,” he said. “I can be a very annoying captain because I shift the fielder one or two feet here and there every time.”The fielder needs to keep an eye on me. Imagine you are fielding and every two balls or three balls, I am like, ‘Okay two feet to your right, three feet to your left.’ It can be annoying. I always say I believe in my gut feel, I see the wicket, the line, what is really happening and more often than not, it pays off. The only request I ask from the fielders is ‘keep an eye on me, if you drop a catch, there won’t be any reactions but just keep an eye on me.'”It hasn’t been an easy road to the final for CSK. They have grappled with several injuries, but have managed with the resources they have, especially in the pace department where Tushar Deshpande and Matheesha Pathirana have grown into their roles over the course of the season.”We try to create an environment. Other than that, we reiterate as to what is the strength of the fast bowler. Along with that, we make sure that they are improving in the areas where they need to be good at,” Dhoni said. “At the IPL, more often than not with the new ball, they know what needs to be done. The question is when it is not swinging, when it is not in your favour, then with the two fielders, where you can bowl to a particular batsman and what field you can keep. If a bowler knows that, more often than not, he will be successful.”We try to motivate them as much as possible. The support staff is there, they are always there. Now, [Dwayne] Bravo is there, Eric [Simons] is there. There are lot of people who can help them out. At the end of the day, when they are standing, they are there on their own. It is a very lonely place, but that’s where you can be brave and courageous.”Deepak Chahar took 2 for 29 in Qualifier 1•BCCI

Deepak Chahar: “Everything is okay”

CSK’s most experienced fast bowler Deepak Chahar has said that “everything is okay” despite appearing to pull up with some discomfort in his leg after taking the final catch of the game against the Titans.”Everything is okay, one more to go,” Chahar said after the match.Chahar has missed six games this season due to a hamstring injury he suffered in an earlier match after missing the whole of the 2022 season due to a back injury. In Qualifier 1, Chahar picked up 2 for 29, which included the wickets of the Titans openers, Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill.”The ball was doing something on the track and it was sticking to it [the pitch]. So, as a bowling unit, we decided to bowl more length,” Chahar said. “When you get support from the wicket, then you obviously don’t need to experiment too much – just bowl the basic ball and let them take the chances because we scored the runs and, when it comes to semi-finals, it’s all about handling the pressure. And scoring 170, chasing 170 in a semi-final when the crowd is against you, is very difficult.”

Fast bowler commits to three-year county deal that could free him up for franchise stints

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2024Saqib Mahmood insists he “still has an ambition” to play Test cricket for England, despite committing to a white-ball deal with Lancashire for the next three years.Mahmood, 27, made two Test appearances in the Caribbean in March 2022, claiming six wickets at 22.83, but has been beset by injury in recent seasons, including consecutive stress fractures of the back in 2022 and 2023.He has not played a first-class match for Lancashire since a wicketless display against Durham in May, but returned to the England set-up in last month’s T20I series against Australia, having confirmed he was back to his best with a matchwinning haul of 3 for 17 for Oval Invincibles against Southern Brave in the Men’s Hundred final in August.Mahmood played nine Vitality Blast matches for Lancashire this summer, taking 12 wickets in their progression to the quarter-finals, and will continue his international comeback next week after being named for England’s white-ball tour of the Caribbean.While his three-year deal includes “options” to appear in the County Championship, schedule and fitness permitting, and thereby stake a claim for an England Test recall, Lancashire’s priority is to manage Mahmood’s availability around their full Blast schedule, with the likelihood that he will be in demand for franchise competitions that overlap with the English season.”In the ever-changing landscape of cricket, this contract allows greater control over Saqib’s availability during the Vitality Blast blocks in the summer,” Mark Chilton, Lancashire’s director of cricket performance, said. “This is something we will work closely with Saqib on, particularly around his franchise commitments, which may include the PSL in the early part of next season.”Following a tough few years for Saqib, with two stress fractures of the back, it was great to see him back on the park this summer performing for us in the Vitality Blast before earning a well-deserved England recall.”Mahmood, who is a product of Lancashire’s academy, joined the club in 2012, aged 15, before making his senior debut in 2015 and being awarded his county cap in 2021.”I am delighted to commit my future to Lancashire in the Vitality Blast for at least the next three seasons,” he said.”2022 and 2023 were both difficult years for me injury-wise, but it was brilliant to get through this summer fully fit. I’d like to thank the medical team at Lancashire for their hard work throughout this period and having their continued support was a key factor in signing this new contract.Related

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“While this is a white-ball contract, I still have an ambition to play red-ball cricket for England again and for Lancashire in the County Championship, which is still the biggest test of skill and fitness outside of Test match cricket, and there are options within this contract for that to happen.”While Mahmood’s deal does not preclude him from forming part of the “stable” of fast bowlers that Brendon McCullum, England’s head coach, has said he wants to be able to call upon ahead of next year’s Ashes tour, it represents a potential retreat from availability, with his previous injury issues meaning that a future on the T20 franchise circuit might be a prudent option for his longevity, not to mention a lucrative one.Speaking in Multan earlier this week, Richard Gould, the ECB chief executive, acknowledged that the encroachment of such tournaments on the English season was a challenge to the county game that will require a coherent response going forward. He cited concerns raised by Daniel Gidney, Lancashire’s CEO, that county contracts risked becoming “diluted” unless the board took a more robust approach to the issuing of No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) for overseas tournaments.”We are certainly hearing from our clubs and our members that we need to control things a little bit,” Gould said.”Last year there were 74 English players, men, that played in franchise tournaments around the world. The next best was Pakistan with 45. It’s great that we’ve got them out there playing but we have to protect what we’ve got.”I do think there will be added protections that come in. We’re having discussions, I saw that Lancashire made some comments a couple of weeks ago. We have to be proud of what we’ve got and protect it.”

The remainder of Sri Lanka A’s tour of Pakistan has been indefinitely postponed due to mass protests in Islamabad by supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), a political party led by former Pakistan captain and prime minister Imran Khan. The two remaining one-dayers were scheduled to be held at the Rawalpindi Cricket Ground, the international cricket stadium in Rawalpindi.The PCB said the postponement was due to “political activity” in Islamabad, Rawalpindi’s twin city and the capital of Pakistan. “The Pakistan Cricket Board, in consultation with Sri Lanka Cricket, has postponed the last two 50-over matches of the Pakistan Shaheens-Sri Lanka A series due to a political activity in the federal capital,” a PCB statement said. “The last two matches were scheduled for Wednesday and Friday at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Both boards will collaborate to finalise new dates to complete the series.”The PCB had been concerned about the impact the PTI protests would have on the series since the previous week. A few days ago, it announced that the first one-dayer, which was also scheduled to take place at the Rawalpindi Cricket Ground, would be moved to Islamabad Club. The remaining two games, according to the PCB, would have been played as scheduled at the Rawalpindi Cricket Ground on 27 and 29 November. The change in venue for the first game was seen as necessary because it was scheduled for 25 November, the day after Imran Khan has issued what he termed as a “final call” for his supporters to march to the capital to demand, among other things, his release from prison.The protests, which have brought the capital to a virtual standstill, have resulted in a tense standoff between Imran’s supporters and the federal government. It has also demanded the attention of the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the country’s Interior Minister.Pakistan lead the one-day series against Sri Lanka, having won the first 50-over match by 108 runs. They had also won the preceding two-match first-class series 1-0.

يشهد عشّاق كرة اليد العربية مساء اليوم السبت 1-11-2025 مواجهة من العيار الثقيل، حيث يلتقي منتخب مصر لكرة اليد تحت 17 عامًا بنظيره منتخب ألمانيا في نهائي كأس العالم للشباب لكرة اليد، في مباراة تاريخية تُقام على الأراضي المغربية.

ويُعد هذا النهائي تتويجًا لمشوار مميز لمنتخب مصر الذي قدّم أداءً رائعًا منذ انطلاق البطولة، ونجح في تحقيق العلامة الكاملة في دور المجموعات بعد الفوز على منتخبات البرازيل وأمريكا والمغرب، ليعتلي صدارة المجموعة الأولى بجدارة.

وفي الدور نصف النهائي، واصل شباب الفراعنة تألقهم وحققوا فوزًا مهمًا على منتخب إسبانيا بنتيجة 31-28، ليضربوا موعدًا قويًا مع الماكينات الألمانية في المباراة النهائية، التي يسعى فيها الفراعنة الصغار لتحقيق إنجاز جديد للرياضة المصرية والعربية.

طالع أيضًا | القناة الناقلة لمباراة مصر وألمانيا اليوم في نهائي كأس العالم للشباب لكرة اليد موعد مباراة مصر وألمانيا اليوم في نهائي كأس العالم للشباب لكرة اليد

وتنطلق مباراة مصر وألمانيا اليوم السبت في نهائي كأس العالم للشباب لكرة اليد في تمام الساعة 9:15 مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة، و10:15 مساءً بتوقيت مكة المكرمة.

وتُقام المباراة على صالة قصر الرياضات بمدينة الرباط المغربية، وسط حضور جماهيري متوقع كبير من الجاليات المصرية والعربية في المغرب.

ويأمل منتخب مصر في حصد اللقب العالمي للمرة الأولى في تاريخه على مستوى فئة الناشئين تحت 17 عامًا، بعد أن رسّخ حضوره في مختلف البطولات العالمية في السنوات الأخيرة. ويمكنكم مطالعة مواعيد ونتائج جميع المباريات لحظة بلحظة عبر مركز المباريات من هنا.

Australia’s allrounder has had a lean series against India with the bat and hasn’t been used significantly as a bowler

Alex Malcolm31-Dec-20243:17

Cummins: ‘One of the best Tests I’ve been part of’

Mitchell Marsh is a good chance of keeping his place for the final Test against India in Sydney despite a lean series with the bat while his lack of overs continues to be attributed to the nature of the matches rather than any fitness issues.Uncapped Tasmania allrounder Beau Webster is in the squad along with spare fast bowlers Jhye Richardson and Sean Abbott if Mitchell Starc is unable to recover after suffering a back problem at the MCG or the selectors decide on other changes.Related

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Coach Andrew McDonald and captain Pat Cummins both admitted Starc was carrying an issue and bowling through pain, but believed he should be right to play in Sydney.However, Starc’s issue, and his workload across the series alongside Cummins, has highlighted the lack of contribution from Australia’s fifth bowler in Marsh. He has bowled just 33 overs across seven innings in the series (discounting the brief second innings in Brisbane), and since claiming 2 for 12 in the first innings of the series he has figures of 1 for 127 from his last 28 overs.Travis Head provided a vital match-winning breakthrough for Australia in the fourth innings at the MCG as Marsh did not bowl at all in the final two sessions despite periods where Australia’s quicks needed a rest. But McDonald insisted he has no worries about Marsh’s contributions with the ball.”No, there’s no concern,” McDonald said after the memorable victory at the MCG. “And I think people have probably been reading too much into that. We haven’t required him with the ball as often as what we would have thought. He bowled again today. His speeds are up in the high 120s [kph]. There are no injury concerns there.”I think to sort of head that down that angle is a little bit unfair. We just haven’t required him at certain times for whatever reason, so that’s more a tactical implementation, as opposed to a body. I think the amount of overs that we’ve bowling across the series is probably going to be to a benefit to us.Mitchell Marsh has had a lean series but appears likely to keep his place•Getty Images

“Across the entirety of the series, it’s been relatively light, so I’d expect both attacks to be in decent shape to be able to press [in the final Test]. So does that mean you need a fifth bowler? I think you still need a fifth bowler. But are you going to put a huge demand on the fifth bowler, potentially not.”However, Marsh’s limited contributions have further exacerbated his lean returns with the bat. The reigning Allan Border Medalist was Australia’s best Test batter last season with match-winning half-centuries in four of Australia’s six wins across series against Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand. But in this series he has scored just 73 runs at 10.42, with 47 of those coming in the second innings in Perth when the game was long gone. Nathan McSweeney scored 72 at 14.40 before he was dropped for the fourth Test.Despite the poor series and a history of self-doubt, McDonald believed Marsh was in a good frame of mind.”Would he like better performances? There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “Over four Test matches, he hasn’t been able to deliver at the level that he would like and we would like, but yeah he’s up and about. We just won a Test match. He’s in a pretty good headspace.”McDonald was confident his trio of quicks could handle the short turnaround to Sydney despite Starc’s soreness.”Anytime you get through the game, it’s always a good indicator that you’re a chance at the next game,” McDonald said. “It didn’t stop him. Clearly, there was a little bit of discomfort early on in spells, but once he got warm, it seemed as though he was pretty free. [His] ball speeds were good.”We’ll see how everyone recovers. Bowling last, it was a pretty attritional game, something that we’re not used to in the last few years. Clearly Starcy’s carrying something of some description. We’ll assess that. But other than that, it looks as though we got through pretty unscathed, but [with a] short turnaround recovery is important, and we’ll assess what the team looks like in Sydney based upon the surface, as we always do.”Australia released Richardson to play a BBL game for Perth Scorchers in Adelaide on New Year’s Eve but he will return to the squad on Wednesday and McDonald was confident, despite his injury history, that he could be called upon to play if needed.”Very confident,” he said. “He’s here for a reason. So if we weren’t confident, he wouldn’t be here. He’s had a heavy week with us in the nets. All indications are he’d be capable of bowling 40-plus overs if he was called upon.”Sean Abbott’s there as well. We feel like, [the] SCG is his home ground, so he will be serviceable if called upon as well. It’ll be about assessing our frontline quicks and then making decisions from there.”Josh Inglis, who has been a reserve batter throughout the series, was withdrawn from the squad after picking up a calf strain while substitute fielding on the second day at the MCG. It has yet to be confirmed if a replacement will be named.

Ben Stokes needs to focus on his line-up’s wicket-taking capability

Ian Chappell05-Jun-2022Finally someone in the England set-up has vocalised one of the team’s biggest failings. When their new coach, former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, emphasised to his bowlers, “Don’t focus too much on economy rates, I want wickets,” he was applying Test cricket common sense. To sum up Test cricket simply: a team’s batters need to score sensibly in order to give their bowlers as long as possible to take the 20 wickets required for victory.England’s better bowlers often place containment above the more important priority of taking wickets. In plain language, I’ve never seen a batter – no matter how good – who scores runs that appear in a scorebook while he’s sitting in the pavilion having been dismissed. Top-class batters can’t be contained out in the middle; eventually they find a way to score at an acceptable rate. That’s one reason why they’re rated as dangerous players.Related

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As good as they are, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad have both been guilty, especially overseas, of focusing too much on the economy rate. That’s why Ben Stokes needs to concentrate on their meritorious wicket-taking capability more than listening to quick-response talk of containment.While Stokes is at it, he should also ignore any of former captain Joe Root’s theories on polishing off the opposition tail. Root was not a good captain, and one of the England hierarchy’s first jobs is to recalibrate how they deal with dismissing the bottom part of the order.Another problem for England – which was evident at Lord’s – is they have a very good seam attack, well suited to home conditions, but they desperately require workable plans against the better sides when a pitch is flat. This is where it helps to have a balanced attack with a mixture of swing and spin but definitely containing at least one good genuine fast bowler. England have been seriously unlucky with injuries to fast bowlers in the recent past.What they need from Stokes is captaincy that encourages a thoughtful approach when matters are looking bleak. A team can gain a dubious reputation among opponents and currently England are known as a side that can be forced on the defensive by counterattacking lower-order batters. Stokes has to alter this perception.

I’ve always believed that if you bestow a sensibly aggressive captain with a team of competitors and they want to play for him, the result will be more victories than losses

This requires courage, and despite the risk of injury, he would be well advised to seek an England bowler with genuine pace. This move would result in splitting Anderson and Broad, which will cause an uproar but it’s the right move. England’s attack needs to get younger.Anderson is generally the better bowler, and if fit, he should remain the first-choice player when playing in England. This is an area where England become emotional and consequently fail to select their best combinations.Almost immediately at Lord’s, England felt the pain of requiring a substitute when Jack Leach was ruled out of the game with concussion. Rather than lament the situation, England should look upon it as a lucky break: it’s time to move forward rather than look backwards to resolve the lack of good spinners.If this is a county-cricket problem, it is the concern of others. What the Stokes-McCullum combination has to do is ensure they choose the likely winning players and then provide them with the confidence to think positively. This is a mammoth task in itself and it won’t happen overnight but it will require the forthright thinking and talking for which both are renowned.I’ve always believed that if you bestow a sensibly aggressive captain with a team of competitors and they want to play for him, the result will be more victories than losses. England have chosen the right captain in Stokes. They’ve given him a good lieutenant in McCullum, and the pair have made a good start. However, the hard part is continuing to do a good job and this is where England have to show that what happened in the past is unacceptable and won’t be tolerated in future.

Everything you need to know about the tournament, arranged alphabetically. Includes J for jinx and R for running out a non-striker

Sidharth Monga14-Oct-2022A for Australia: Defending champions for the first time, and also staging the T20 World Cup for the first time. Seven Australian grounds will host 45 matches and 16 teams over 28 days. One of the teams that qualifies into Group 2 will play Pakistan in Perth on October 27 and then take a four-and-a-half hour flight to Brisbane to cover the road distance of 4310km (or 3606km as the crow flies) for their next match, against Bangladesh on October 30.If that makes you worry about jet lag, keep in mind this is a tournament that will be played in four different time zones, but the eastern-most venue, Brisbane, is not the one that is the farthest ahead of UTC because it doesn’t take part in daylight savings time. Perth is eight hours ahead of UTC, Brisbane ten, Adelaide ten and a half, and Melbourne and Sydney 11.So where the bloody hell are you?B for bounce: It is unmissable, even to the naked eye. It is the first thing you notice. The bounce is steeper in Australia than elsewhere. It is not always bad news for limited-overs batting. The ball can be easier to time if the bounce is good and true, but equally, the really good bowlers can use the bounce to their advantage.C for captains: Quite a few captains go into the tournament with a big selection headache: do they drop themselves? Kane Williamson and Temba Bavuma are going at under a run a ball in all T20 cricket since the last World Cup. Aaron Finch hasn’t been in the best touch, has given up ODIs, and went down the order to let Cameron Green, who is not even in the World Cup squad (yet), open in the same month as the World Cup. Babar Azam will carry the strike-rate cross, and even Jos Buttler might have cause to doubt himself, what with injuries and meagre returns in T20Is leading up to the World Cup.D for Djilang: The indigenous name of Geelong, the only non-Test venue in the World Cup. Adelaide is Tarndanya, Brisbane is Meeanjin, Hobart is nipaluna, Melbourne is Naarm, Perth is Boorloo, and Sydney Warrane. Australia will be wearing an indigenous-themed kit (see K) for this World Cup. Only four indigenous men and two indigenous women have played international cricket for the country.We won’t be seeing most of West Indies’ 2016 title-winning side at this World Cup•Getty ImagesE for Eliminator: As in, the one-over eliminator. Or, more colloquially, the Super Over. Ever since the boundary-countback fiasco in the 2019 World Cup final, the provision is that teams will play Super Overs until there is a winner. However, there are time constraints and double headers. Only 30 minutes of extra time is available for all the matches (except for when the reserve day kicks in for the knockouts – an extra two hours are available on reserve days). If the full quota of overs in a match is bowled before the scheduled close, the minutes saved are added to the time provisioned for Super Overs. A minimum of 20 minutes will be made available for Super Overs, even if the actual match goes into overtime. The changeover time of five minutes between the match and the first Super Over is not counted in the time available.If we don’t have a winner in the time available, the match ends in a tie. If there is no winner in a semi-final, the team that finished higher in the Super 12s will progress. A final without a winner even after Super Over(s) will result in joint champions being crowned. Semi-finals and finals have a reserve day, but every attempt will be made to finish the match on the actual day with the match continuing from the point at which it was truncated, should the reserve day be used.F for first round: Not to be confused with Qualifiers (see Q). Four teams from the two groups in the first round will make it through to the second round. UAE, Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Namibia are in Group A in the first round; Ireland, Zimbabwe, West Indies and Scotland in Group B. The top two teams from each group will go into the two groups in the Super 12s. The top two teams from each of those Super 12 groups will make it to the semi-finals.G for Gayle: This is the first T20 World Cup without Chris Gayle. And the first without Dwayne Bravo. Also missing for West Indies are Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. That’s a massive load of T20 experience and genius they have lost in recent times. Add to it Shimron Hetmyer, who was replaced after he could not make both his original and his rescheduled flights to Australia. It’s the first time that West Indies have to qualify for the Super 12s, and there is a realistic chance that the two-time champions might not make it.H for Hazlewood: Josh Hazlewood is a category unto himself. Previously written off as a Test specialist, he has made a roaring comeback into limited-overs cricket, T20s in particular. He is not the word that Rahul Dravid is too shy to speak in public, but he rarely goes for more than the going rate in the match. He is a banker you can expect to bowl four overs pretty much all the time. In the IPL at least, R Ashwin became that kind of bowler, although in T20Is he might still rely on match-ups. Keshav Maharaj is also getting there.Australia will wear an indigenous-themed jersey at this World Cup•AFP/Getty ImagesI for injuries: Jasprit Bumrah, Jonny Bairstow and Jofra Archer are three exciting T20 players out with injuries. South Africa allrounder Dwaine Pretorius too has been withdrawn. Also on the injury watchlist is Shaheen Afridi, who is coming back from a knee injury but has been named in Pakistan’s squad.Thanks to the freak injury to Bairstow, Alex Hales, who last played in a T20 World Cup in 2016, gets to make a comeback. Dinesh Karthik has waited much longer since last appearing in a T20 World Cup, in 2010.J for jinx: No side has successfully defended its T20 World Cup. No host side has won the title either. Then again, no side has had a chance to defend at home. And Australia are the favourites, with most bases covered. There: we have reverse-jinxed a reverse-jinx.K for kits: Australia have their indigenous-based jersey, Sri Lanka are drawing attention to climate change, Zimbabwe’s yellow top to go with red trousers looks fresh, England are vowing to play with freedom in collarless red, India have managed to find another shade of light blue, and New Zealand again have everybody beat with a mix of grey and black punctuated with white horizontal stripes and the fern.L for luck: It is not the opposite of skill or strategy or fitness, but the shorter a match of cricket gets, the bigger the role luck plays. Other luck factors are difficult to imagine ahead of the start of the tournament, but not the toss. Matches in the UAE, the hosts of the last World Cup, were heavily loaded in favour of the chasing side, making the toss crucial. The coin is less likely to play a role in Australia. While chasing still remains the way to go in T20 cricket, it is confounding that over the last two years Australia has been the second-worst country for chasing sides, who have won 43% of the time. Still, expect teams to prefer chasing but also expect possible closer contests.M for MCB: Mini collapse breakers. The discussion around anchors in T20 is quickly moving to those who can arrest a collapse. Dawid Malan and Virat Kohli are examples: they bat high when a wicket falls early, but if the opening partnership has lasted close to or over ten overs, the batting order is reconsidered, to see if bigger hitters need to be promoted. Malan and Kohli are now efficient in this role, a skill Williamson, Bavuma and Steven Smith will aspire to developing.Get ready to be Rauf-ed up: the World Cup is missing some key fast bowlers, but Pakistan’s Haris Rauf and Co will bring plenty of zing to it•Gareth Copley/ICC/Getty ImagesN for net run rate: It’s not uncommon in such tournaments for more than two teams to end up on the same number of points. Then it often comes down to net run rate, though only comes into the reckoning if the teams can’t be separated by number of wins. If two teams are tied on net run rates too, the next tiebreaker parameter is the number of wins in matches between them and then the net run rate in those matches. If that still doesn’t resolve the tie, the sides higher in the pre-tournament seeding will progress. The pre-tournament seeding order is: England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Scotland, Namibia, Zimbabwe, UAE, Netherlands, Ireland.O for over rates: Over rates are not overrated anymore. For the first time since 1999, a cricket World Cup will have an in-game over-rate penalty. It means extra work for the third umpire, who will have to pause the clock every time there is a stoppage beyond the control of the fielding side. Any over that begins outside the stipulated time limit of 85 minutes for an innings has to be bowled with at least five fielders inside the ring, as opposed to four at other times. Any wicket after the fifth earns the fielding team one minute of time (there is no such time allowance for wickets one through four). In innings shortened by three or more overs, the fielding side must be ready to bowl the penultimate over inside the proportionately reduced time limit. No such penalties apply to innings of ten overs or shorter.P for pace: In the 2019 50-over World Cup we had only five men who regularly went over 145kph, which roughly classifies as extreme pace. Archer is not available, but we have Pakistan fast bowlers Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Afridi joining Mitchell Starc, Lockie Ferguson, Mark Wood, Kagiso Rabada, and the seriously fast Anrich Nortje.Extreme pace is one point of difference teams look for, left-arm pace is another. All eight teams that have qualified for the Super 12s already have at least one left-arm quick each.Q for Qualifiers: Two qualifying tournaments featuring eight teams each took place to decide who the final four teams in the World Cup would be. All four finalists – UAE and Ireland from Qualifier A, and Zimbabwe and Netherlands from Qualifier B – made it to Australia.R for running-out a non-striker: The practice is being normalised, though some sections still think of it as being underhanded. The MCC has moved its ruling on such run outs from the law on unfair play to the one on run outs, so watch out for more non-strikers being caught outside their crease before the ball is bowled.A total of 405 sixes were scored in the 2021 T20 World Cup. How many will be hit on the big Australian grounds in this year’s tournament?•Daniel Pockett/CA/Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesS for sixes: Since the start of 2020, a six in Australia has been hit every 22 balls. Only in South Africa has six-hitting been less frequent. The South African pitches probably make it difficult to hit sixes, but in Australia, it’s more likely a case of #mcgsobig.The boundaries for this World Cup can’t be bigger than 82.29 metres, but in order to maximise the use of available field of play, they can’t be pulled in more than ten metres in from the perimeter fence. The threshold for the shortest boundary has been reduced from 59.43 m to 52.12 m, in all likelihood to accommodate Geelong, which is primarily a footie ground and is quite narrow. The pitch is dropped in at an angle to get around the size limitation, but since the ground hosts six matches in five days, it might need a bit of elbow room when the game is not played on the centre pitch.T for triple-headers: There are three days in the tournament on which three matches will be played, to go with 14 double headers, but no match will be played simultaneously with another. That makes for another multi-team tournament where the teams playing the last match get the advantage of knowing what to do if their prospects of progressing come down to net run rate (see N). Namibia, UAE, Scotland, Zimbabwe, India and England stand to benefit from this schedule.U for umpires: Remember, they know the laws better than us and know how to judge and apply them better than us. But they also make mistakes, a lot of which are corrected these days. The same 16 umpires who stood in the last World Cup will stand this time around. With this tournament, Aleem Dar, Marais Erasmus and Rod Tucker will have officiated in six of seven men’s T20 World Cups. This will be second World Cup of the year for Langton Rusere of Zimbabwe, after the women’s World Cup. The four match referees will be Ranjan Madugalle, David Boon, Chris Broad and Andy Pycroft.V for venues: If Australia make it to the semi-finals, they will play their match in Sydney no matter where they finish on the table. If they don’t, the winners of Group 1 and runners-up of Group 2 will play the first semi-final in Sydney; the winners of Group 2 and runners-up of Group 1 will play in Adelaide.W for weather: Climate change is upon us, and this World Cup could be affected directly. Victoria this week braced for the “worst weather event” of the year in the form of very heavy untimely rain in what normally would have been spring, the season of sunny days, cool nights, colourful jacarandas and wildflowers. There was flooding in South Melbourne and flash-flood warnings in Victoria the week before the event, and there is already talk of rain-affected games.Sixteen-year-old Aayan Afzal Khan of UAE is the youngest player at this World Cup•Ashley Allen/ICC/Getty ImagesX for cross(over): Finally, we can put the confusion to rest. T20 leagues adopted a regulation saying that the incoming batter would be on strike irrespective of whether the batters had crossed during a dismissal (except if the dismissal was off the last ball of the over) before international cricket did on October 1, but now, at long last, the not-out batter will stay at the end they were at even if the two batters cross each other while a catch is taken. It is a crucial little bit of help for bowlers, especially when they are up against lower-order batters.Y for youngest: Aayan Afzal Khan of UAE, born in Goa, brought up in Sharjah, is 16 years old, comfortably younger than any other player in the tournament. In the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, Ayaan starred in what was possibly UAE’s biggest triumph on the world stage. He scored 93, taking his side from 26 for 4 to a total that was enough to beat West Indies by 82 runs. He is actually a left-arm spinner first and then a batter. UAE went on to win the Plate final. Mohammad Amir, who started the 2009 World Cup at 17 years and 55 days, remains the youngest player in all T20 World Cups.At 38 years and 230 days on the day Netherlands play their first match, opener Stephan Myburgh will be the oldest in the tournament. Hong Kong’s Ryan Campbell played in the 2016 World Cup when he was 44 years and 33 days old.Z for Zampa: And other wristspinners who are no longer part of XIs by right. Fingerspinners are making a comeback, especially if they can be as good as Maharaj and Ashwin, or if they have match-ups working for them. Apart from Rashid Khan and Adil Rashid, Zampa is the one non-allrounder wristspinner who gets picked no matter what. If the Australian pitches have the bounce they are famous for, this tournament could signal a comeback for his breed.

West Brom are “finalising” a move for a “tremendous” international defender in the summer transfer window, according to a new claim regarding their upcoming business.

Mason eyeing "positive future" at West Brom

Ryan Mason took charge at The Hawthorns earlier this summer, with the former Tottenham midfielder tasked with guiding the Baggies back into the Premier League as soon as possible.

The 34-year-old has certainly spoken well about what he hopes to see West Brom achieve under him, focusing on a “positive future” with plenty of success.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to have been appointed Head Coach of West Bromwich Albion. This is a huge club with a fantastic infrastructure and an incredible fan base and I am excited about what we can achieve together. Having spoken at length to the board and those at the club I am convinced that Albion is the perfect place for me to be and I can’t wait to get started. I will bring with me a huge amount of enthusiasm, dedication and ambition and look forward to a positive future together at such a fantastic club.”

Mason will know that new signings are required in order to aid their Championship promotion push in 2025/26 and have already brought in centre-back Nat Phillips and centre-forward Aune Heggeb. Now, they are closing in on a new international defender.

West Brom "finalising" move for centre-back

According to journalist Ben Jacobs on X, West Brom are now “finalising” a move for CF Montreal and USA centre-back George Campbell.

“George Campbell is finalising a move from Montreal to West Bromwich Albion. American centre-back left out of Montreal’s draw with Orlando yesterday ahead of formalising the transfer.”

Campbell could be an impressive signing by West Brom, even though some supporters may have reservations because he has never played in Europe before, only representing Montreal, Atalanta United and Atlanta United 2 in his club career.

Granted, that is a fair concern to have, but the 24-year-old is now a one-cap USA international who will hope to feature prominently at his home World Cup next summer, and Gonzalo Pineda has heaped praise on his abilities as a player.

"I can see a center back with tremendous potential. He’s a center back that is physically gifted. His aggression when he presses between the lines was fantastic today, so I was pleased with his performance before he scored the goal. He did a couple tackles on the ground, and we gained a couple important balls in transition that helped us to continue the attacking. I am very happy with his performance."smallRelatedWest Brom plot move to sign "fantastic" free agent Mason thinks will be keyHe played in the Champions League last season.Hopefully, Campbell takes to the English game seamlessly, assuming he does join West Brom, coming straight in as an influential starter who can inspire the Baggies back into the Premier League.

Mitchell Santner will captain a global event for the first time with the side playing a tri-series in Pakistan as a warm-up

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2025Fast bowlers Ben Sears and Will O’Rourke have been included in New Zealand’s squad for the Champions Trophy alongside allrounder Nathan Smith.Sears, who was a travelling reserve for the T20 World Cup last year, recently played his first game since April having returned in the Super Smash following injury and is in line for his ODI debut having played one Test and 17 T20Is. O’Rourke has impressed across formats early in his international career and has been especially eye-catching in Tests.Smith, meanwhile, will bring lower-order power with the bat and bustling seam bowling.Head coach Gary Stead said Sears had been in New Zealand’s Champions Trophy plans all along, with his pace through the air seen as a clinching factor on pitches in Pakistan.Related

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“We’ve been a little conservative in Ben’s return to play, but we always had an eye that we thought he would be part of this Champions Trophy squad,” Stead said. “He’s one of those guys, when you look at places like Pakistan, that pure speed is something that you’re looking for, and he certainly has that. A young tearaway is always nice to see, and very excited to have him in the squad.”Stead was confident Sears would hold up fine, match-fitness-wise, after his return from injury.”Ben’s been bowling a lot over the winter still,” he said. “He’s been in and around our Test squads before he had that injury, so we’re very confident that he will be where he needs to be.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

With Sears, O’Rourke and Smith included, there was no place in the main squad for Jacob Duffy, who is coming off a breakthrough season in international white-ball cricket.”It’s a tough decision,” Stead said. “Jacob Duffy has been probably the one that people would say is hard done by. He’s been very very good in what he’s played for us. I think the way to look at it, though, is that if some of these guys, perhaps like a Lockie Ferguson, were available, Jacob Duffy may not have got the opportunity, so for us it’s a real positive story that although Jake’s missed [out], it’s still positive that we’re growing that depth long-term for our team.”

Ferguson, Williamson and Conway face T20 league logjam

The same squad will take part in the ODI tri-series in Pakistan ahead of the Champions Trophy, which will also feature South Africa. Duffy has been named on standby for that series, if Ferguson is not available for those games due to the ILT20. There will also be a tight turnaround for Kane Williamson and Devon Conway who are at the SA20.The final of the SA20 will be played on February 8, with the ILT20 decider the following day. New Zealand will play Pakistan on February 8 in their first game of the tri-series followed by South Africa on February 10. They then have a warm-up match against Afghanistan on February 16.Lockie Ferguson could miss a chunk of the Pakistan tri-series if he features in the ILT20 playoffs•AFP/Getty Images

Stead said New Zealand were looking to have Ferguson, Williamson and Conway play at least two matches – including the warm-up – to ready themselves for the Champions Trophy. “Those three guys, they’re world-class players for us. So Kane, Devon and Lockie will join our squad – they could be there at the very start of the tri-series, [or] it might be a couple of days later.”Mitchell Santner will lead New Zealand for the first time in a global event and will be able to lean on the experience of the likes of Williamson and Tom Latham.Mark Chapman and Will Young have earned spots while spin-bowling allrounder Michael Bracewell has also been included.New Zealand will play the tournament opener against Pakistan in Karachi. Their second match is against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi before they travel to Dubai to face India.”We like to stick to the same team once we’ve picked it but it will probably be very conditions-dependent,” Santner said. “Karachi could play a lot different to Rawalpindi, and again in Dubai. With the short nature of the tournament, if you’re happy with your XI, you want them to be out there and perform for all three games. But we’re open to changes depending on conditions. You need to play your best team on what’s in front of you, and conditions will probably dictate it.”

New Zealand squad for Champions Trophy and Pakistan tri-series

Mitchell Santner (capt), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, Nathan Smith, Kane Williamson, Will Young

Laura Wolvaardt, Smitri Mandhana, and Katie Mack all play important innings to set up a good total

AAP19-Nov-2024

Adelaide Strikers put a severe dent in the WBBL finals hopes of the Perth Scorchers with a 30-run victory as Megan Schutt put on a masterclass.Strikers posted 169 for 6, with Laura Wolvaardt, Smriti Mandhana, and Katie Mack the chief contributors at Karen Rolton Oval. Scorchers slumped to 17 for 4 as Schutt ran through the top order, leaving their finals chances hanging precariously.With two games left, Scorchers remain in fifth spot with eight points and they trail fourth-placed Hobart Hurricanes by a sizeable run rate difference.Strikers, champions of the past two tournaments, climbed from bottom of the ladder to seventh – they have six points but just one match remaining.Strikers were sent into bat openers Mandhana and Mack made an instant impact, taking 40 from the initial four overs. They reached 81 in the 10th over when Mandhana was caught at mid-off from the bowling of Sophie Devine, ending a knock featuring five fours and a six.Just eight balls later, Mack advanced down the pitch but was beaten by a perfectly flighted delivery from legspinner Alana King and was stumped.Wolvaardt soon took centre stage with her rapid-fire innings featuring three fours and three sixes – two from consecutive balls from Chloe Ainsworth.The South African was caught on the cover boundary with three balls remaining and King finished with another stumping on the last ball, giving her figures of 3 for 29.Scorchers’ run chase began terribly with Maddy Darke bowled by Schutt second ball. And in the third over, Schutt struck with consecutive deliveries, dismissing Dayalan Hemalatha and bowling Amy Edgar for a golden duck with a top-shelf inswinger, to boast figures of 3 for 6.Schutt was denied a hat-trick by Scorchers stalwart Beth Mooney, who fell in the next over for 6 as the Scorchers crashed to 17 for 4 from 3.3 overs. Skipper Devine and new signing Brooke Halliday rallied but the task was beyond them.