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Plays of the Day from the first day of the SSC Test between Sri Lanka and Pakistan

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Colombo30-Jun-2012Shot of the day
Taufeeq Umar got Pakistan rolling with meaty drives against the seamers, but the most elegant shot came off Mohammad Hafeez’s bat. In need of runs, Hafeez extinguished all self-doubt with a punch through mid-off off Nuwan Pradeep, using the pace of the ball to send it to the boundary. His placement couldn’t have been better. The fielder at mid-off merely turned and watched the ball race away without budging.Let-off of the day
On a flat pitch, the best hope of getting a wicket was the batsman throwing it away. Opportunities were hard to come by all morning, and post lunch, Hafeez had a reprieve. He was positive against the spinners from the beginning, but when he tried to clear the boundary off Suraj Randiv, his heart must have been in his mouth after seeing Nuwan Kulasekara sprinting to his left from deep mid-on. It was a clever field placement. Kulasekara did the hard work of getting there, but failed to catch it on the dive and prevent the boundary.Second let-off of the day
After the umpiring howlers in Galle, Pakistan needed some luck. Hafeez had lots of it. He nearly undid all his hard work in the last over before tea. Angelo Mathews pitched short down the leg side and Hafeez tried to pull it down to fine leg but gloved it. Prasanna Jayawardene took a sharp catch to his left. The umpire Ian Gould wasn’t sure if it was a legal delivery and asked the TV umpire. His doubts were confirmed. Mathews had overstepped and Sri Lanka had to cut short their celebrations.No DRS fault of the day
Hafeez was the survivor again. Shortly before stumps, Rangana Herath had a close shout for caught behind turned down. The ball had spun, bounced and seemed to take the edge off Hafeez’s bat. Prasanna Jayawardene began celebrating but Simon Taufel was not so sure. The magnifying glass seemed to detect an edge, but with no DRS in place, Sri Lanka had to live with the umpire’s decision. Summed up a hard day.

What Simon Katich has done in Twenty20 is understand his limits while playing to his strengths

Nagraj Gollapudi in Delhi09-Oct-2009Simon Katich has been an unassuming character for as far back as one can remember. Today, in New South Wales’ opening game of the Champions League, there was no change in that outward character. This tournament was expected to be the hunting ground for the likes of David Warner, Phillip Hughes and Moises Henriques – his younger, fitter team-mates – but it was Katich who added to the purist theory that playing orthodox cricket remains more beneficial than all the innovative fireworks of the Twenty20 format.One of the hallmarks of Katich’s career has been the strong mindset mandatory in a successful Test opener. Today, when the much talked about Hughes departed ten balls after Katich opted bat on a dicey, re-laid pitch, the New South Wales captain walked out to the middle needing to steady proceedings. And that he did, with little fuss.Katich faced the first three balls on the back foot before neatly sending three of the next four deliveries to the rope. He opened his account with a strong push past cover for the first four of the day; a tuck past midwicket and a cut in front of square got him quickly into his stride. Meanwhile, Warner was still trying to play hard at everything – an exercise as futile, and fatal, as trying to board the notorious Blueline buses in Delhi.Just like JP Duminy’s breathtaking display of classical batting the previous evening, Katich also stayed put till the last second before making his move. He understood pretty quickly that, to handle the slow and skiddy nature of the pitch, he needed to use the pace of the ball more than muscle power. Playing mostly with soft hands, Katich deftly pushed the ball into the wide gaps in front of square and the lush green outfield took care of the rest.The Eagles seemed overawed by the occasion. None of their bowlers could create any sort of intensity or rhythm, thereby allowing Katich to accelerate. He slotted a harmless offbreak from Thandi Tshabalala over the straight boundary for his second six and raised his half century. Even if he failed to add more after that, Katich’s 53 was the highest score of the match, and it made the difference between victory and defeat.Unlike Warner, who announced himself with an assault against South Africa, or Brendon McCullum, whose Bangalore blitzkrieg declared the IPL open in 2008, Katich has never made a telling statement in front of a global audience in a Twenty20. What he has done, though, is understand his limits while playing to his strengths.Little wonder then that respected minds still consider Katich captaincy material for Australia. The man himself feels happy that he is mentoring young men and today was a fresh example of his leadership qualities. With the bat Katich led by example, and in the field he was proactive. He showed fresh legs and an accurate arm to effect two direct hits but, more than anything, Katich stamped his ruthlessness by never allowing his men to take their eyes off the ball. A good example of that came when he rapped Henriques on the knuckles for casually collecting the ball in the field early during the Eagles’ chase.That has been the biggest change in Katich over the last two years. Today he is more expressive and he admits that. It’s a sign of his confidence and maturity. This was a fresh example of that, as he utilised his experience to help his team dominate proceedings. “If you look at the last IPL in South Africa, the top performers were a lot of the experienced cricketers like Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar,” Katich said in that self-deprecating manner. “Even though it’s a young man’s game you still have to make the right decision at the right time with the bat and the ball.”This format may afford many a level of flash, but experience matters.

Royals chased the total down with 27 balls to spare to move to No. 1 on the points table with a hat-trick of wins

Sreshth Shah01-Apr-20242:22

Aaron: ‘Chahal the best spinner to have ever played the IPL’

Hardik Pandya’s return to the Wankhede Stadium as Mumbai Indians captain was far from a fairy tale, as the five-time champions lost their third game in a row, this time with 27 balls to spare. Rajasthan Royals – led by superb performances from Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal and Riyan Parag – gave them a thorough hammering to move to No. 1 on the points table with a hat-trick of victories.Boult left Mumbai gasping within minutes of the start of the match when he dismissed Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir and Dewald Brevis for first-ball ducks in his first eight balls. His 3 for 22 was only matched by the 3 for 11 taken by Chahal, who controlled the middle overs to ensure Mumbai did not stage a batting comeback.Chasing 126 for victory, Parag dragged Royals out of some early trouble and shepherded the chase. He finished the game with six, six, and four to stay unbeaten on 54 to take the No. 1 spot on the orange cap leaderboard – tied on runs with Virat Kohli but ahead of strike rate.Boult sets up the demolition jobRohit had all the support from the crowd, who chanted his name even as they booed Hardik, but his time with the bat lasted only one ball when Boult got one to swing away from him and get him to edge it behind. Next ball, Boult swung it the other way, getting a full ball to nip into Dhir.With two wickets gone inside the game’s first six balls, Mumbai brought in impact sub Brevis in the second over itself, but he too fell prey to the ball angling across, edging it to Nandre Burger at short third.Trent Boult picked up three wickets in his first eight balls – par for the course•Associated Press

With three wickets in his first eight deliveries of the game, Boult gave Royals an advantage that they never let go.Scintillating ChahalAfter Boult’s searing opening spell, Burger got in on the action. Playing as a replacement for the injured Sandeep Sharma, Burger came around the wicket to pick off Ishan Kishan with a length ball that angled away and took his edge.With Mumbai Indians 20 for 4 in three-and-a-half overs, Tilak Varma and Hardik looked to build a recovery, almost succeeding with a 56-run fifth-wicket stand, but Chahal dismissed both batters to snuff out any chance of a comeback.After hitting six boundaries early in his innings, Hardik fell on 34 when he holed out at mid-on trying to hit Chahal. Tilak was sent packing on 32 soon after when Chahal’s googly was edged to R Ashwin at short third.Chahal finished his spell with the wicket of Gerald Coetzee late in the innings. In all, 16 of Chahal’s 24 deliveries were dots, and his four-over spell ended with an economy of only 2.75.A late wicket for Avesh Khan and a second for Burger ensured Mumbai finished on 125 for 9, a score too low on a surface that is traditionally batting-friendly.Madhwal comes good on season debutOnly wickets could save Mumbai after that batting effort, and they played their trump card early when Jasprit Bumrah shared the new ball, with Kwena Maphaka, for the first time this season.But even though Bumrah bowled three of the six powerplay overs, the Royals batters did not give a wicket away to him. Yashasvi Jaiswal fell to Maphaka in the first over itself, while the other three wickets went to Akash Madhwal, playing his first game of IPL 2024.Madhwal struck with the second ball of his spell when he got Sanju Samson to chop on to his stumps, and added a second when Jos Buttler pulled him to fine leg. He added a third later, in the 13th over, when Ashwin sent a leading edge off a short delivery to point. Madhwal was the standout bowler for Mumbai Indians with 3 for 20.Riyan Parag scored another half-century, and claimed the orange cap•BCCI

Parag’s form continuesParag walked in ranked No. 5 on the orange cap list and finished the day with the cap on his head. With no real scoreboard pressure on this occasion, No. 4 Parag played risk-free cricket early on, but tore into Coetzee with four fours and two sixes.It all started with back-to-back boundaries off Coetzee in the eighth over, followed by another lofted four over the covers in the 11th. He then smoked Bumrah through mid-off in the 14th over before depositing Piyush Chawla over long-on in the 15th.Parag then put the finishing touches on the result by hammering Coetzee for 16 runs off the first three balls of the 16th over. The first ball went for a clubbed six over the covers, and he reached his fifty next ball with a slog over midwicket. The winning runs came over wicketkeeper Kishan’s head and sent Royals and Mumbai Indians to opposite ends of the points table.

The South African allrounder made a crucial contribution in a nine-wicket victory

S Sudarshanan20-Mar-20236:04

The power-packed double-header that was

There’s passion in everything Marizanne Kapp does on the cricket field. When she bats, you simply cannot breathe easy until the moment she is out. And when she bowls, she runs in with a fierce look on her face, eyebrows in a slight furrow, and gives it her all, ball after ball. She is always in the ears of the captain or has a hand around a youngster’s shoulder. She has put South Africa at the right end of a result many times, not least in the Women’s World Cup last year and the T20 World Cup last month.But it took a while for Kapp to get up to this level in the Women’s Premier League. It wasn’t until her fourth game for Delhi Capitals that she showed she had truly arrived, picking up the first five-for of her T20 career to demolish Gujarat Giants.Kapp has an economy rate of 5.29 in the powerplay in the WPL. It is the second best after Nat Sciver-Brunt among bowlers who have bowled at least 50 balls in the first six overs. She has picked up eight wickets in this phase, which are the most by any bowler. Her overall tally of nine is the third-best by a seamer in the WPL behind Capitals team-mate Shikha Pandey and Giants’ Kim Garth.On Monday, another two-wicket burst in the powerplay from Kapp, who was as disciplined and penetrative as ever, punctured Mumbai Indians and helped Capitals top the table with two games left in the league stage. It was Mumbai’s second successive loss in the WPL after five straight wins.In front of a DY Patil stadium crowd that was decked out in blue, Kapp began with three successive dots to Yastika Bhatia. On the third delivery, after the ball was pushed back to her, she passed the ball to mid-on and ran towards captain Meg Lanning at slip to have a quiet word.Marizanne Kapp picked up 2 for 13 to restrict Mumbai Indians to 109 for 8•BCCI

What the talk was about is anybody’s guess, because no immediate field changes followed. But when she began her second over, a deep backward square leg was in place for Bhatia, instead of the fine leg in the opening over. The short one was coming. Or at least that’s what she wanted the batter to think. And it worked.Bhatia was caught on the back foot to a ball that was pitched up and moving across her. It took her outside edge and landed safely in the mitts of the wicketkeeper.Kapp was delighted. Lanning was delighted. Bhatia knew she had been outsmarted.Kapp then used the nip-backer off a length to get the better of Nat Sciver-Brunt. She bowled it around off and got it to move in past Sciver-Brunt’s mow across the line to castle her. A first-ball duck for the Mumbai allrounder. Capitals had managed to rock the ‘home side’ early.Bhatia and Sciver-Brunt had combined for almost 39 percent of the runs Mumbai had scored in the competition in the first six games. In fact, about 84 per cent of all Mumbai’s runs before Monday were scored by their top four batters. And in eight balls, Kapp had managed to see the back of two of them. In doing that, she had figures of 3-0-10-2 in the first six overs.The past couple of years have really tested Kapp and her partner Dane van Niekerk. While Kapp reached the heights of success, winning the women’s Hundred, twice, the Women’s Big Bash League, once, and being part of the first senior South African cricket team to ever play a World Cup final, her partner van Niekerk was snubbed by not one but two teams who had initially appointed her as captain. The Oval Invincibles left her out in 2022 and South Africa left her out in 2023. All of it led to her retiring from international cricket at age 29.Kapp admitted it was “a struggle” to keep her focus through all this but she still managed to churn out match-turning performances one after the other.”The day that I actually took my fiver [five-wicket haul] here, I was crying in the bus on my way here [DY Patil Stadium] because I knew Dane was retiring,” she said in the presser after her second Player-of-the-match award in the WPL. “It’s been tough but again, I think it’s my religion. Jesus Christ has been so good to me especially through those hard patches. I have to mention my team as well. They make it so easy for me to be here.”I have always been a very shy person but I felt like I am so comfortable with these girls and management. I’ve just fitted in and they make me feel at home.”On the same pitch she picked up the five-wicket haul, Kapp might not have the volume of wickets to show. But the impact of the two wickets she picked up upfront were on level with, if not more than, those five against Giants. But as has been her nature – of deflecting praise directed at her towards others – she spoke highly of Shikha Pandey’s penultimate over that went for just four with hard-hitting Issy Wong and Amanjot Kaur in the middle.”Always nice to contribute, especially with the new ball. That’s my job,” Kapp told the broadcaster during the innings break. “I told Shikha [Pandey] that was one of the best death overs I have seen in a long time. So credit to the bowling attack.”While each of Kapp, Pandey and Jess Jonassen picked up two wickets to keep Mumbai to a paltry 109 for 8, it was clearly the Kapp show at the start that set the tone for Capitals’ nine-wicket win.

حقق منتخب الأرجنتين فوزاً كبيراً على حساب منتخب فنزويلا بثلاثية نظيفة خلال اللقاء الذي جمع بينهما على ملعب المونيمنتال في الجولة قبل الأخيرة من تصفيات أمريكا الجنوبية المؤهلة لكأس العالم 2026.

وجاءت اهداف منتخب الأرجنتين بثنائية عن طريق ليونيل ميسي في الدقائق 39 و80، وسجل لاوتارو مارتينيز هدفاً في الدقيقة 76.

وارتفع رصيد منتخب الأرجنتين بعد الفوز ضد منتخب فنزويلا للنقطة 38 في صدارة التصفيات، بينما تجمد رصيد فنزويلا عند النقطة 18 في المركز السابع.

وكان ليونيل سكالوني مدرب منتخب الأرجنتين قد دخل اللقاء بتشكيل مكون: مارتينيز ، مولينا ، روميرو ، نيكولاس أوتاميندي ، تاجليافيكيو ، رودريجو دي باول ، باريديس ، فرانكو ماستانتونو ، تياجو ألمادا ، ليونيل ميسي ، جوليان ألفاريز.

أقرأ أيضاً.. فيديو | هولندا تسقط في فخ التعادل أمام بولندا في تصفيات كأس العالم 2026

وفي الشوط الثاني أجرى سكالوني عدة تغييرات بدخول إزكويل بالاسيوس و نيكولاس جونزاليس وجوليانو سيميوني ونيكو باز ولاوتارو مارتينيز.

وحملت مباراة الأرجنتين ضد فنزويلا العديد من المشاعر العاطفية بين ليونيل ميسي والجماهير، بعد أن صرح بأنها ستكون الأخيرة له في مشواره مع المنتخب الأرجنتيني في التصفيات.

وجاء الهدف الأول عن طريق ليونيل ميسي في الدقيقة 39 بصناعة من زميله جوليان ألفاريز والذي كان يملك فرصة كبيرة لافتتاح التسجيل بانفراد ولكنه فضل تمرير الكرة لقائد المنتخب ليضعها لوب في شباك فنزويلا.

وفي الدقيقة 76 أضاف لاوتارو مارتينيز مهاجم إنتر ميلان الهدف الثاني بعرضية متقنة من البديل نيكولاس جونزاليس في لعبة بدأها ليونيل ميسي، وفي الدقيقة 80 عزز ميسي ثنائيته والهدف الثالث للأرجنتين بهدية أخرى تلقاها من ألمادا ليضعها بسهولة في شباك المنتخب الضيف.

Top performers

Travis Head has been Australia’s stand-out performer at the IPL this season even with his first-ball duck in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s final regular season game against Punjab Kings. Head was the third-highest runscorer in the regular season with 533 runs from 12 innings including a century and four fifties at a staggering strike-rate of 201.13. His opening partner, Abhishek Sharma, was the only other player to pass 350 runs while striking at over 200. According to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, Head had the second-highest total batting impact across the tournament behind Virat Kohli.Related

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Jake Fraser-McGurk trumped Head in terms of strike-rate and batting impact per game as he produced one of the most extraordinary debut IPL seasons by any player. His 330 runs from nine innings with four half-centuries at an eye-watering strike-rate of 234.04 was even more remarkable considering he was a replacement player who might not have played for Delhi Capitals at all without the season-ending hamstring injury to Mitchell Marsh. Fraser-McGurk became the first player in IPL history to register two 15-ball fifties and scored another off 19 balls. Capitals will no doubt retain him ahead of the mega-auction where he could otherwise fetch an extraordinary price.In a tournament dominated by batters, Pat Cummins has had an outstanding season with the ball and as captain despite the numbers not leaping off the page. He is equal 13th on the wicket-takers list with 15 but only two fast bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Tushar Deshpande, had better economy rates and the latter played six matches in Chennai where the overall scoring was lower and slower. Cummins did an excellent job as captain given he had never led in T20s before the IPL and he also made some contributions with the bat when needed.

Solid contributors

Marcus Stoinis scored a match-winning 63-ball 124•BCCI

Marcus Stoinis had a good IPL but will probably leave a little frustrated he couldn’t finish off as strongly as he would have liked following his staggering 124 not out at Chepauk which singlehandedly put Lucknow Super Giants into the playoffs equation. Stoinis’ form tailed off, as did his team’s, but he still made a century and two half-centuries and finished with 388 runs. His strike-rate of 147.52 was above his career rate but below the tournament average of 151.45. He made some contributions with the ball taking four wickets with an economy rate of 9.00 and appeared underused given he only bowled 14 overs for the tournament and did not bowl in seven games.Cameron Green conversely has made a barnstorming finish to the IPL after being dropped earlier in the tournament and made an unfamiliar role his own at Royal Challengers Bengaluru to help them pinch a playoff berth. He made key contributions with either bat or ball in six of his last seven matches after returning to the team as RCB won six of them. He made scores of 37 not out, 46, 32 not out and 38 not out striking at 170.21 in the middle order in those seven games, after striking at 107.93 in his first five games. He took nine wickets for the tournament at an excellent economy rate of 8.82, having bowled in all 12 games that he played.

Under-performers

Mitchell Starc had another off day on his IPL return•BCCI

Mitchell Starc broke the record as the most expensive purchase in IPL auction history ahead of this tournament and his bowling returns have been equally expensive and underwhelming overall. There have been glimpses of the old Starc with bags of 4 for 33 and 3 for 28 being the two highlights among his 12 wickets from 12 matches. He has been quick to point out that all bowlers have gone for runs in the IPL and Eden Gardens was the third-fastest scoring ground this season for batters. But of the 38 bowlers to have taken nine wickets or more, Starc was one of only two to concede more than 11 per over and the most expensive among the top 26 wicket-takers. His pace bowling team-mates Andre Russell and Harshit Rana also took more wickets at a lower economy rate than Starc while bowling in the same conditions.Likewise, David Warner did not perform to his normal high level and he was also exposed by the performance of Fraser-McGurk. Warner did suffer a frustrating finger injury that lingered deep into the tournament which kept him out of five games and hampered him in one he tried to play. But he was dropped for the last game of season despite being fit to play. Warner’s season before his finger injury was solid but his scoring rate was not where it needed to be. He made a match-winning 52 in Vizag against CSK but struck at under 150 in each of the first five games and Capitals lost four of them on high-scoring pitches.2:25

Finch: Warner will admit he had a really poor IPL

Glenn Maxwell had one of his worst IPL’s ever to the point where he dropped himself midway through the tournament to save coach Andy Flower and captain Faf du Plessis having to make a difficult call that they ultimately might have made anyway. He was later recalled and dropped again having registered scores of 0, 3, 28, 0, 1, 0, and 4 at a strike-rate of 97.29. But as ever with the mercurial Maxwell, he was recalled for RCB’s must-win match against CSK and delivered to help his side reach the playoffs. He smacked 16 off five balls in the final two overs and then took 1 for 25 including the key wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad first ball of the innings. That boost of confidence might be just what sparks him ahead of the playoffs and the T20 World Cup.It is harsh to have Tim David in the underperforming category given he was effectively neutered by the performance of Mumbai Indians’ top-order in most of the games he played and was even relegated to No. 7 twice and No. 8 three times. However, his overall numbers were below his capabilities. He struck at 158.55 for the tournament, which is below his career rate and not that far above the tournament average. But he rarely got the chance to showcase his abilities when the game was on the line. In the four games Mumbai won he made significant contributions to two of them. He cracked 45 not out from 21 balls against Capitals as Mumbai posted a match-winning 234 for 5. He also contributed a vital 14 off 7 when batting first in a nine-run win over Punjab Kings. He was left out of Mumbai’s last game, alongside Jasprit Bumrah, as they experimented with their line-up.Mitchell Marsh didn’t get the chance to build across the tournament when a season-ending hamstring injury saw him fly home after four games. But his outings were underwhelming given the form he was bringing into the tournament. He returned scores of 20, 23, 18 and 0, albeit at a better clip of 160.52 than Warner. But those performances were well and truly overshadowed by Fraser-McGurk. He also only bowled eight overs in four games and took 1 for 103, leaking 12.87 per over.

Scarcely played

Nathan Ellis celebrates the wicket of Sanju Samson•BCCI

Nathan Ellis was unfortunate not to play more for Punjab Kings. He finished the season with one game to his name and he took an impressive 1 for 24 in his four overs in Kings’ consolation with over Rajasthan Royals. He was a victim of Kings’ dismal batting unit as their bowling group took the most wickets of the tournament at the third-best economy rate overall with captain Sam Curran and Kagiso Rabada filling two of the overseas bowling slots.Matthew Wade made the bold decision at the start of the IPL to remain home and play in the Sheffield Shield final for Tasmania knowing that he was not going to be Gujarat Titans’ first-choice wicketkeeper. He ended up playing two games for the tournament as Wriddhiman Saha struggled but only made 4 off 6 against Royals and did not bat against CSK.Spencer Johnson had gone to the IPL with some high expectations after being an expensive purchase at the auction given his relative inexperience. He did not bowl badly in his first five games for Titans. He took four wickets at an economy rate of 9.43 but probably did not strike as much as Gujarat had hoped, claiming a wicket in just three of his five matches at a rate of just one every 24 balls. He was squeezed out of the line-up as Gujarat opted for a more spin-heavy bowling attack later in the season.Ashton Turner and Jhye Richardson only played three games between them for the tournament. Turner’s two innings for Lucknow yielded 16 and 5 but they were his first games at any level since knee surgery last December. Likewise, Richardson’s returned figures of 0 for 40 from four overs in his only game of cricket since a side strain ended his BBL in January. In the context of Mumbai scoring 235 for 5 at 11.70 per over, Richardson’s returns were relatively good compared to his team-mates and some of Mumbai’s quicks.

He reached out on social media ahead of his final Test after the bag containing his cap was lost

Andrew McGlashan02-Jan-20243:51

Warner: ‘It’s been surreal to be here for 112 Tests’

David Warner has made a plea on social media for the backpack containing his baggy green cap to be returned after it went missing on the journey from Melbourne to Sydney ahead of his final Test.Warner will make his final Test appearance at the SCG this week and is desperate to have his cap returned.Related

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“Hi all, this is my last resort,” he wrote on Instagram, alongside a video, “but my backpack, which contained my Baggy Green, has been taken from my luggage, which was transported to Melbourne airport and flown on @qantas to Sydney a few days ago. @qantas have said they checked their cameras and have not seen anyone open our bags and take the backpack, however they do have blind spots. If you are the person, who was either working for the company driving it to and from the airport or working for @qantas and have, by chance, just wanted the backpack, I have one for. I would be grateful if this were returned asap. Thanks.””Please reach out to Cricket Australia or myself via my social media and I’m happy to give this to you if you return my baggy greens,” Warner added in the video. The bag is understood to contain two caps, including the one that Warner has worn for the majority of his 111 Tests. In 2017 he was provided with a replacement cap when his original could not be located before his wife, Candice, found it in a bag at home.”I think there should be a countrywide search right now from the Australian Government,” Pakistan captain Shan Masood said. “We might need the best of detectives to get that back.”Because he’s been a great ambassador and he deserves every bit of respect and every bit of celebration for his unbelievable career. He’s an example to openers. And just personally I love watching him bat and love watching him play.”Nick Hockley, the Cricket Australia CEO, said: “I implore anyone with information about the location of Dave’s bag and baggy green caps to come forward so he can proudly wear his cap for a final time at the SCG.”Speaking a few minutes before the news of Warner’s baggy green became public, captain Pat Cummins lauded him as a game-changer in the Test format.”I think everyone will think of him in their own way,” he said. “Personally I think of him when he first came on the scene and really changed Test cricket. He was striking at over 70 which is unheared of, especially for an opening batter, averaging 40 or 50. That’s the Davey I remember – walking out there and taking the game away from the opposition in the space of an hour or two, and doing it for over a decade.”His longevity is something that gets overlooked. Just the bulk of cricket he’s played over the last 12-13 years is pretty much more than anyone else in the world. Every time he walks out there, he’s competitive and ready to go. Just a champion of Australian sport. Hopefully he gets a good send off this week.”Cummins confirmed that Australia would take an unchanged XI into the Sydney Test as they look to secure the series 3-0.

Teja Nidamanuru, the Netherlands batter, has embraced the challenges that come with playing Associate cricket, but he hopes that Netherlands’ recent success at World Cups will earn them more bilateral fixtures against Full-Member nations.After toppling South Africa in the T20 World Cup in Adelaide last year, Netherlands completed the double over them with a win at this World Cup in Dharamsala. However, after the end of this tournament, their immediate ODI future is uncertain – their next international assignment will likely be the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the Caribbean.”Yeah, look, I think as many of you that are sitting here are aware [about] the challenges of ‘Associate cricket’ – the word that we don’t like to use, actually – but the reality of it is that there is less funding and there is less sort of opportunity and there is less exposure,” Nidamanuru said on the eve of Netherlands’ day game against Sri Lanka in Lucknow.Related

• 'I was trying to study Kuldeep, even on the bus in' – Teja Nidamanuru and Netherlands' learnings never stop

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• From Andhra Pradesh to Auckland to Amsterdam – Teja Nidamanuru's journey

“Look, we’re here to compete and we have an aim, we have an aspiration to try and play in the semi-finals and that could change stuff and we could get more bilateral series that way. So, the better we perform here and obviously showcase our skills, it will stand us in good stead going forward – that is our belief.”We’re not really thinking too far afterwards, but obviously everyone’s aware of the challenges in Associate cricket regarding the funding or the facilities or the lack of exposure in terms of playing the bigger teams. So, when you do come up against them, you’re like, okay, well, we’ve really got to rise to the occasion. But if we were playing [top teams as often as] the other teams do, I’m sure that [we] would be up to par in terms of how it goes. So, if you say, hey, we play someone like New Zealand 10 times, I’m sure we’d be able to win at least four or five games out of that.”Nidamanuru also believes that Netherlands’ players are also “not too far away” from featuring in a T20 league of their own and, he hopes, their performances in this tournament goes a way in helping that along. The inaugural Euro T20 Slam, which was supposed to take place in 2019, was cancelled after it ran into financial difficulties and then Covid-19 hit.Fast bowler Paul van Meekeren is one of the Netherlands players with some experience on the T20 circuit. In 2021, he had won the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with St Kitts & Nevis Patriots under Dwayne Bravo’s captaincy. He was the first-ever Dutch player to be picked in the CPL and has also featured in the Global T20 Canada. Roelof van der Merwe is a more familiar name on the franchise circuit, having also played in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Delhi franchise, but that was before he had represented Netherlands.”Look, I think we tried to get the Euro Slam off the ground a few years ago, but for Covid and some other challenges and I think, also funding or whatever it may be, it didn’t quite go through,” Nidamunnuru said. “But basically, that was encompassing Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, and there were a few players, also marquee players, that were sort of advertised through there.”Look, I think it would be great for us and I don’t think we’re too far away. We’re hoping obviously being on the world stage and performing the way we are, we can attract leagues or people to start a franchise or do something in that sort of triangle over there, which would be really, really awesome.”Netherlands’ immediate focus will be on finding a way past Sri Lanka’s spin attack though they will be depleted by Wanindu Hasaranga’s injury-enforced absence this time. In the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe earlier this year, Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana had dominated Netherlands’ batting line-up with their bagful of variations. Netherlands’ batters have since worked on their game against spin during their pre-tournament camp in Alur in Karnataka.”Yeah, look, obviously, they’ve got quality spinners, Sri Lanka, they always have,” Nidamanuru said. “They’ve always produced great quality spin bowlers, so whoever they have in their team, they’ll still be a threat. I think it’s just about us being able to manage what is in our control really well and if we can do that, I’m sure we can execute and you know it’s a game that, yeah, we see as there’s an opportunity obviously for both teams. So yeah, we enter into it with a very positive frame of mind whether we’re playing spin or pace.”

Leeds United have held talks and are very serious about signing a new international defender who could replace Junior Firpo.

Firpo impressing at Leeds with contract set to expire

Leeds have impressed on the whole during the current Championship season under Daniel Farke, and one player who has been key is left-back Firpo. The Dominican Republic international has contributed to an impressive 12 goals in 26 league appearances in 2024/25 and was named Leeds’ Player of the Month for February.

Talking after picking up the award, Firpo said: “The fans have always shown their love to me. I’m really grateful and appreciative of their support for us, whether it’s at home or away, they’re always unbelievable. I just want to continue performing for them as I have been.

“Working as part of a team, it really feels like we’ve all been going in the same direction. We’re pushing on together, we’re doing really really well and we’re getting closer to our target.”

However, despite Firpo now finding his feet in Yorkshire after a tricky first few years, the full-back is set to be out of contract at the end of the season and is yet to pen new terms.

As a result, he could leave for nothing, and there have been rumours over a return to Spain for Firpo where he played for Real Betis and Barcelona.

Should he depart for nothing, Leeds and the 49ers Enterprises will need a replacement, and it looks as if they have identified a new target.

Leeds hold positive talks over move to sign Zaidu Sanusi

According to reports from Africa Foot, Leeds have been in contact to hold talks with FC Porto over a move for Zaidu Sanusi. It is claimed that initial discussions have been positive with Leeds now very serious and interested in signing Sanusi.

An offer worth €2m (£1.6m) is being looked at by Leeds, with a four-year contract at Elland Road on the table. Sanusi is 27 years of age and has been on the books with FC Porto since 2020. Prior to that, the Nigeria international was with fellow Portuguese clubs Mirandela, Gil Vicente and Santa Clara.

Capped 22 times at international level, Sanusi has made 128 appearances for FC Porto and returned earlier this year from a serious ACL injury.

Leeds seriously looking to sign £25m star after Meslier's Swansea mistake

Meslier’s mistake against Swansea City could be the final straw for Leeds, as they eye a new goalkeeper this summer.

By
Brett Worthington

Apr 1, 2025

Now, it looks as if he could be on the move to England with Leeds, making this one to keep an eye on ahead of the 2025/26 season.

“Workload management and the core strength in the body are going to be the key – but do not overbowl him”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-May-20234:28

Bishop: My heart goes out to Archer, but he will have to be carefully managed

Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the English summer, including the Ashes, after the ECB confirmed a recurrence of the stress fracture in his right elbow.Concerns about Archer’s fitness were raised earlier this month when he flew home early from his IPL stint with Mumbai Indians, having already taken time out of the tournament to visit a specialist in Belgium. Prior to his comeback for England in South Africa earlier this year, he had not played for the country in almost two years, following a succession of elbow and back problems.And now, it has been confirmed that he will miss out on the entirety of this summer’s Ashes campaign, which begins at Edgbaston on June 16, and concludes six weeks later at the Kia Oval. England still harbour hopes, however, that he could yet be fit to help defend their 50-over World Cup title, when the tournament begins in India in October.Related

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“It has been a frustrating and upsetting period for Jofra Archer,” Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket said. “He was making good progress until a recurrence of the elbow injury, which kept him out for an extended period previously. We wish him the best of luck with his recovery. I’m sure we will see Jofra back to his best and winning games for England, whatever the format. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.”At the moment, all cricket’s been too much for his body to cope with and we need to get past that,” Key added. “I do think you see these times when someone like Jofra, he’s like a Formula One car almost, and he goes through the period he’s been through which has been really tough and then you think you’re getting to the point where he can come back and be able to play, and there’s another setback.”But you just hope that down the line he will overcome this, that body will get robust enough to be able to deal with the rigours of everything. And I wouldn’t sit here now and rule anything out. And as you then get through and start solving this problem for Jofra, then you can start making those decisions. But I don’t see the point in doing that at the moment.”Archer played five games for Mumbai this season, bowling his full quota in each game, picking up a couple of wickets and conceding 9.5 runs per over. Key defended the decision to let him play in the IPL, saying he wouldn’t have changed anything in the way Archer’s return has been managed.”When something like this happens, you look at every single thing,” Key said. “You look at the whole thing we had in place right before Christmas, when we had everything mapped out for how we wanted him back to get ready to play in the Ashes and the World Cup. When you get to this point and he can’t do it, you start to look at that.”But the fact is, he’s not been able to bowl more than four overs without feeling any sort of pain. Regardless of the way that we’ve gone, whether it has been right or wrong, I don’t think I’d change anything because you’re getting to the point where he’s actually had an issue that we need to just solve now.”We’re going to look at every single thing we’ve done. Everything we’ve done has been what we thought was the right thing for the player first, not actually for anyone else. Just what was the best way for him to have the best career he could possibly have. And that’s not worked out.”Key remains confident that Archer will return to England colours, despite this latest setback now meaning that he will have missed the last three English summers. He’s played four ODIs and three T20Is in 2023 and though he played his last Test for England in February 2021 Key hasn’t ruled Test cricket in the future.”People like Pat Cummins missed a lot of cricket at the early stage of his career. Now Australia have seen the benefit – he’s been able to put season after season together. I’m hoping at some point Jofra, who deserves a bit of luck to be honest, because the poor lad, who is pretty distraught with what’s happened, you just hope that luck turns for him at some point.”The one thing I’ll say about Jofra. You sometimes read and you sometimes get the feeling that people think he’s going to go down a white-ball road, that he’s not interested in Test cricket, that there are other things on his mind that come first. That’s absolutely not the case. He is desperate to play all forms of cricket. He’s desperate to play Test cricket as well. And I hope that he gets the chance to do that.”It’s going to be a fairly taxing road to go down to get this fixed and get this sorted, but I’m sure we’ll see him back at some point.”A return to red-ball cricket is not, however, what Ian Bishop thinks Archer needs. Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s podcast” a little while before Archer was officially ruled out, Bishop looked back to the Ashes of 2019 – the only time Archer has played the marquee series – when he bowled 156 overs across four Tests. With James Anderson out after the first Test and Chris Woakes, the third quick, not bowling too much, Stuart Broad had the second-largest workload among the England quicks in those four Tests, bowling 130.3 overs.”There was a period when Jofra was overbowled. I sat there watching it, and I’m thinking: what madness is this, that you are going to give this guy over after over,” Bishop said. “You almost – I’m sorry to use this statement, I don’t know how else to say it – you are killing the goose that lays the golden egg for you.”It [Jofra’s] is a good action. I wake up in the morning – and I’ve said this to ESPNcricinfo before – if I hear Jofra Archer’s bowling, I snap out of my sleep, because I love the athleticism of the run-up, the high action, it’s poetry in motion. But once he got overbowled and sustained from stress workload, those little injuries, it’s always going to be hard no matter how good the action is.

“Any fast bowler is, with all these formats that we have now, going to pick it [injuries] up somewhere along the line. So workload management – as much as we hate it – and strengthening the core strength in the body is going to be the key. But do not overbowl them”Ian Bishop

“Any fast bowler is, with all these formats that we have now, going to pick it [injuries] up somewhere along the line,” Bishop said. “So workload management – as much as we hate it – and strengthening the core strength in the body is going to be the key. But do not overbowl them.”I personally feel that I would not allow Jofra to think about red-ball cricket, at least for a while in the next couple of seasons. It’s too much.”