Tag Futebol

The facility, housed in a 40-acre campus comprises three grounds, an indoor facility and an expansive outdoor nets area featuring 45 pitches

Shashank Kishore29-Sep-2024Sixteen years after acquiring land from the Karnataka government to expand their cricketing infrastructure, the BCCI on Friday inaugurated its new state-of-the-art National Cricket Academy, which will be known as the ‘Centre of Excellence’, on the outskirts of Bengaluru.BCCI president Roger Binny and secretary Jay Shah unveiled the facility to the officer bearers, which when fully functional from early 2025, will take over as board’s primary centre for training, sports science, rehabilitation and injury management. The operations from the existing NCA premises at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium are expected to be shifted out in a phased manner.The facility, housed in a 40-acre campus, comprises three grounds, built as per ICC’s regulations to host first-class cricket, an indoor facility comprising surfaces imported from the UK and Australia apart from local surfaces – both red and black soil – and a vast expansive outdoor nets area featuring 45 pitches. There is also a separate area designated to house BCCI’s Sports Science and Medicine Block and lodging facilities.Related

VVS Laxman's 'better than world's best' new Centre of Excellence will oversee India's growing talent pool

VVS Laxman to continue as head of the National Cricket Academy

The main venue comprises modern floodlights, a sub-air drainage system, broadcast facilities and 13 red-soil surfaces brought in from Mumbai, which VVS Laxman, the NCA head, hopes can host ‘A’ tour games as soon as it is operational.Grounds B and C will serve as dedicated practice grounds, comprising black soil surfaces brought in locally from southern Karnataka and Odisha. The facility also has an indoor and outdoor athletics track, apart from pool and recovery facilities, which will also be made available to athletes from other disciplines. Seven acres of land has been set aside for future expansion.”I think the beneficiaries will be not only the future generation of cricketers but also the current generation of cricketers,” Laxman said during a media interaction on Saturday. ” Since the time I joined the NCA in December 2021, all the cricketers, they come here, not only for rehab. Obviously, there is a misconception that the cricketers come only for rehab. But they come to the NCA to upskill, get ready for the challenges during the various series they are going to participate in.”I am sure that all the players who come to this facility, all the players who will be part of this programme will strive to achieve excellence, will strive to become the best they can. And in the process, the Indian cricket team in all the formats will probably be the best in the world.”VVS Laxman at BCCI’s newly inaugurated Centre of Excellence•PTI For the longest time, the BCCI has envisioned a centre of excellence similar to ECB’s facility in Loughborough or Cricket Australia’s facility in Brisbane. The land on which it has been built had to pass several litigation hurdles, which at one point had the BCCI mulling over the possibility of moving it outside the city. The project finally received clearance in late 2020, with work starting in early 2022 after a forced delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”The target for completion was 15 months,” Laxman said. “I was a bit skeptical, but the way work has progressed right from the time construction began has been remarkable. I have been to some of the best academies in the world, not only limited to cricket, but other sports also. But I have not seen this kind of a facility.With the upscaling of the NCA, Laxman underlined a number of aspects of their functioning that could be enhanced once the facility is fully functional. “The programmes we run, because the way the programmes run, all the best performers right from your under-15 for women and under-16 for boys are selected by the national selectors and from April, during the off-season, until September, we have various programmes,” he said.”We conducted close to 32 camps during this period for both boys and girls, but usually these happen in different parts of the country. And with the KSCA, we get the ground to have some of these camps. Whereas here with three grounds, I think we can have a lot more programmes. Also these grounds can be used to have some India A series, which can be played on these surfaces here.”The most important thing is, there are three different kinds of soils. What we want is the players to know how to adapt to different conditions. So in one place, instead of them travelling from one city to other city, they can have the experience and exposure of playing in different soils and different kinds of pitches, you know, which will enhance their performance.”

Abhishek Sharma is set to open with Gill; India likely to hand a number of debuts in this series

Alagappan Muthu05-Jul-20242:07

Gill: ‘Difficult for me to try and achieve what Rohit and Kohli have’

Big picture – Opportunities galoreThe new T20 World Cup champions were given a rousing welcome on their return home but even as the country celebrates their history-makers, one eye turns towards the future.Fifteen of India’s promising colts – captained by Shubman Gill – are in Zimbabwe now laying the groundwork for the time that they too may one day experience: the high of an open-top bus parade with fans as far as the eye can see serenading them.Related

Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Nitish Reddy in India's T20I squad for Zimbabwe tour

After T20 World Cup euphoria, India begin quest for a new generation of champions

Riyan Parag: 'I wanted to know more about my game, because I've been lost inside those 22 yards too many times'

There are spots up for grabs. Two of them, in particular, which Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad will be trying to make their own. Rinku Singh was there in Barbados but only as reserve. He’ll want to fix that. Riyan Parag is starting to make good on his promise. Washington Sundar is 24 and injury-free with India potentially needing a new spin-bowling allrounder in their first-choice XI.Zimbabwe will see opportunity too, not least in upsetting the newly-minted champions after being unable to make the World Cup. Hosting an India series brings an influx of money and no shortage of eyeballs, some of whom might be on the lookout for skills that can translate to success in the various franchise tournaments happening around the world. These days, a cricket match is not just a chance to bring glory to the team.Form guideZimbabwe WLLLL (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
India WWWWWIn the spotlight – Shubman Gill and Sikandar RazaShubman Gill is in the middle of a bit of a blip. His first real brush with captaincy, through April and May, didn’t go as planned with Gujarat Titans finishing eighth out of ten teams in IPL 2024. His time with India at the T20 World Cup in June was very brief but now in July he finds himself with the power to do what he likes, at least for the course of these five matches. Will he bat like India want their players to, with aggression from the first ball, or will he do something different?Sikandar Raza will look to find form•AFP/Getty ImagesZimbabwe tripped up, badly, in the Africa T20 World Cup qualifiers in November 2023. Sikandar Raza was captain. They hosted Ireland in December, but after an excellent all-round contribution in a one-wicket victory, he was suspended from the rest of the series due to an on-field altercation. Then Raza lost his form, with four single-digit scores in six T20I innings, but his last one was a match-winning half-century against Bangladesh. He’s also produced good showings for Northamptonshire in the Vitality Blast (206 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 153). Raza’s back on the up and he wants his team to be as well.Team news – Count the debutsThis India squad is very much a work in progress so the XIs that come out of it might not have all their bases covered. The batting, for example, might only go down as far as No. 7 which certainly does not encourage the hit-every-ball-out-of-the-park philosophy they are trying to perfect. Also, the players themselves haven’t proven themselves at this level. Then again, they haven’t been exposed to it all that often either. Look out for debuts. There could be four or five. Gill confirmed Abhishek Sharma will open the batting alongside him.India (probable): 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Dhruv Jurel/Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Khaleel AhmedZimbabwe are searching for new talent themselves. Some of their better-known players like Sean Williams and Craig Ervine weren’t considered for this series and Ryan Burl has been dropped. Wessly Madhevere and Brandon Mavuta, though, are back in contention after serving out four-month suspensions for drug use.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Tadiwanashe Marumani, 3 Sikandar Raza (capt), 4 Johnathan Campbell, 5 Antum Naqvi, 6 Clive Madande (wk), 7 Wessly Madhevere, 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Faraz Akram, 10 Wellington Masakadza, 11 Blessing MuzarabaniPitch and conditions – Runs at a premiumThis will be Harare’s first T20I of the year. First-innings totals in the recent past have been a bit middling, with only five of the last 12, going past 150. In those last 12 matches, spinners (69 wickets at 19.71 and economy rate of 6.6) have done better than the fast bowlers (80 wickets at 25.92 and an economy rate of 7.82). There is no threat of rain with temperatures in the mid-20C.Stats and trivia India have faced Zimbabwe in only eight T20Is over the course of 14 years. They’ve won six and lost two. Raza needs 53 more to become the first Zimbabwean to score 2000 runs in T20Is.

After their looming Conference League final, Enzo Maresca can turn his full attention to the summer transfer window, with Chelsea sealing their spot in the Champions League for next season and their 2024/2025 Premier League campaign drawing to a close in excellent fashion.

Chelsea seal top five Premier League finish as summer work begins

In the build up to their crucial 1-0 win away to Nottingham Forest on Sunday, much was made about the importance of sealing all three points and confirming their place in Europe’s most prestigious competition.

Talks held: Chelsea now "really pushing" to sign £67m striker before Arsenal get to him

The Blues are giving Mikel Arteta serious competition.

ByEmilio Galantini May 26, 2025

Not only does it represent a significant milestone when it comes to Maresca’s debut season in the dugout, but the riches that come with competing in the Champions League in terms of revenue and overall player-pull also cannot be understated.

Rank

Team

Points

GD

3

Man City

71

+28

4

Chelsea

69

+21

5

Newcastle

66

+21

6

Aston Villa

66

+7

7

Nottingham Forest

65

+12

Maresca suggested back in April that Chelsea’s European status would impact their recruitment strategy this summer, but the Italian and Stamford Bridge officials can now rest easy in the knowledge that they go into the next transfer window in a very strong position to attract their desired targets.

The signing of a prolific striker is perhaps their most important potential deal of the summer, with many high-profile names already linked ahead of the first mini-window, which opens from June 1 to June 10 and allows Chelsea to register new players before their Club World Cup campaign.

According to journalist Simon Phillips this week, Chelsea have held talks over signing RB Leipzig star Benjamin Sesko, with Arsenal and Maresca’s side both pushing hard for his signature. However, the Slovenian is by no means their only option.

Links to Napoli outcast and Galatasaray star Victor Osimhen have re-emerged recently, following the club’s well-documented attempts to sign the Nigerian last summer (Fabrizio Romano), which ultimately fell through.

Osimhen remains keen on a move to Chelsea nearly a year later, with Phillips sharing another update on their striker hunt involving the 26-year-old.

Victor Osimhen waiting to see if Chelsea contact him about a summer move

According to the journalist, Osimhen is currently waiting to see if Chelsea contact him about a summer move again, as he looks to discover if the west Londoners are in fact interested in a deal for the £172,000-per-week striker.

“Victor Osimhen to Chelsea is far from over,” wrote Phillips on Sunday.

“The player is awaiting to see whether Chelsea get UCL football and whether getting it means they will be back in touch with him about a move this summer, and Chelsea are still weighing up pushing for him again.”

With Champions League football now secured, the ball is firmly in Chelsea’s court, and there is every reason to believe the ex-Lille star would be an exceptional signing for Maresca.

Osimhen has torn the Süper Lig to shreds during his temporary stint in Turkey, bagging 36 goals and eight assists in all competitions, with ex-Chelsea midfielder John Obi-Mikel also desperate for BlueCo to bring him in.

“Victor has been on fire, unplayable sometimes. Unplayable. Scoring goals, creating chances, everything he does this season has been absolutely fantastic,” said the pundit on his Obi-One podcast last week.

“So for me, like I’ve said, and I’ve always said: this is a player that wins you trophies. This is a player that puts you in the top 4. This is a player that is reliable. He will get you goals. I don’t want to see him at PSG, I don’t want to see him at Manchester United, I don’t want to see him at Arsenal. He’s tailor-made for us [Chelsea].”

Osimhen’s release clause will be around £63 million from July, so he remain a very interesting option.

Wolverhampton Wanderers managed to enjoy a comfortable end to the campaign and have now made an approach to bring a talented youngster to Molineux this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Wolves transfer rumours with Cunha set to join Man Utd

The Old Gold spent a portion of the campaign flirting with relegation from the Premier League. However, Vitor Pereira made sure that no such thoughts managed to enter their psyche in the West Midlands and secured safety with plenty of time to spare.

Thanking supporters for their crucial role in backing the team, the Portuguese boss has promised to add to his Wolves squad this summer to ensure a repeat scenario doesn’t unfold next term.

He stated: “Our supporters, they are fantastic. I’m very proud of them, very proud of my team, proud of our work, proud of our club, all the staff, all the efforts that everybody did to finish the league in the situation that we know we can build on in the future.”

Matheus Cunha may be on his way to Manchester United, though Pereira has already profiled Leicester City midfielder Bilal El Khannouss as an ideal Wolves replacement for the Brazil international.

A bid of around £22 million should be enough to entice him away from the King Power Stadium, and he is far from the only star lined up at Molineux now the window is around the corner.

Offer made: Wolves submit bid for £42m star who "never puts a foot wrong"

The Old Gold have now made a move for a defender.

ByDominic Lund May 29, 2025

Lazio defender Mario Gila could also pitch up at Wolves if they can see off competition from Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion for his signature.

Plenty of movement is underway as the Old Gold build for next season, and they have now reportedly made an approach for a highly-rated talent.

Romano: Wolves make approach for Liverpool's Kieran Morrison

Taking to social media platform X, renowned transfer specialist Romano has reported that Wolves have made an approach for “highly rated” Liverpool winger Kieran Morrison.

Said to be on their shortlist, there is also competition from around Europe for his signature as the summer window kicks off in earnest.

Capable of operating out wide or in a central role, the Northern Ireland Under-19 international has registered five goals and six assists in 27 appearances for Liverpool’s youth development squad this season.

It feels unlikely that Morrison would immediately become a first-team figure at Molineux, though his versatility and scope to develop would be an attracting commodity looking towards the future.

Under contract at Anfield until 2027, it remains to be seen what type of fee he could command if he were to leave the Merseyside giants. However, it may be worth noting that a sale would likely count as pure profit for Liverpool, indicating that a move could go through before the PSR deadline.

This summer is massive for West Ham United if they are to right the wrongs of this season and push on under the guidance of manager Graham Potter.

The Hammers currently sit in 17th place in the Premier League, just one place above the relegation zone, and are lucky not to be in a scrap to maintain their top-flight status.

It’s certainly been a year to forget, with the 49-year-old unable to change the club’s fortunes after taking the reins from Julen Lopetegui, who was sacked after just six months in charge.

The former Chelsea boss has the summer window to try and transform the Hammers’ fortunes and push the side back up towards the European spots in 2025/26.

With the opening of the market rapidly approaching, groundwork is already being laid ahead of a huge period for the club – needing to make the right signings if they are to progress.

The latest on West Ham’s hunt for signings this summer

In the last couple of days, West Ham have entered negotiations with the representatives of left-back Junior Firpo over a potential deal this summer.

The Dominican international is currently on the books of Leeds United, but looks set to depart the Whites with his contract set to expire at the end of June.

The defender, who’s registered 14 combined goals and assists this season, isn’t the only player on their shortlist, with midfielder Morton Frendrup also on their radar, according to GIVEMESPORT.

Their report claims that the Hammers’ hierarchy have already made contact with Genoa over a deal for the 24-year-old, who could be available for £17m this summer.

It also states that he’s one of a number of options being considered for the upcoming window, but face competition from fellow Premier League outfit Brentford for his signature.

Why West Ham’s £17m target would be an upgrade on Soucek

Tomas Soucek has been a regular in the heart of the West Ham midfield this season, registering 35 appearances across all competitions, scoring on eight separate occasions.

However, despite his excellent record for the Hammers, he could be set to depart East London during the off-season, with newly-promoted Leeds just one potential destination.

It’s unclear if Potter will be wanting to cash in on the Czech international during the coming months, with his future in the capital certainly up in the air to say the least.

Should he leave, it would be a blow given his output across the field, but it would allow the manager to land an upgrade in the form of Genoa star Frendrup.

When comparing their respective figures from the current campaign, the Dane has managed to outperform Soucek in various key areas – highlighting how much of a bargain he would be at £17m.

Games played

33

32

Goals & assists

2

9

Pass accuracy

85%

73%

Progressive passes

3.1

2.7

Tackles won

3.1

1.6

Interceptions made

1.4

0.7

Blocks made

1.9

1.3

Frendrup, who’s been labelled a “midfield machine” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has starred in possession, completing more of the passes he’s attempted along with more progressive passes – aiding other players within the final third.

He’s also dominated without the ball, winning nearly double the number of tackles per 90, along with more interceptions made – handing Potter the added quality he desires out of possession.

Since the departure of Declan Rice, the side have desperately needed the ball-winning presence in front of the back four, undoubtedly having an impact on their league standing.

Frendrup could provide just that for the Hammers, but the hierarchy will need to act quickly to avoid missing out on such a talent given the interest from elsewhere.

The £17m fee touted is a bargain in today’s market, with the Dane having all the tools to push the club back towards the European spots in the 2025/26 campaign.

He'd make Bowen unplayable: West Ham in the hunt for £30m "wrecking ball"

West Ham are eyeing up a new striker this summer

ByJoe Nuttall May 8, 2025

The yin and yang styles dovetailed perfectly after Namibia had looked to be taking charge

Melinda Farrell07-Jun-20244:19

Finch: Berrington showed his experience and class

Scotland were in a wee spot of bother, to say the least.George Munsey and Michael Jones, the openers who had fearlessly faced down England’s fastest bowlers and wiliest spinners before the rains came, were back in the dressing room. Brandon McMullen soon followed.Gerhard Erasmus and Bernard Scholtz were threatening to squeeze the life out of the chase with their right and left-arm spinning combination and, with ten overs left and 87 runs needed, the momentum was shifting Namibia’s way.Related

Scotland captain admits 'frustration' as rain wrecks finely poised contest

Berrington and Leask launch Scotland to landmark victory

Matthew Cross attempted to up the ante after a string of dot balls and singles increased the pressure further, but a wild sweep intended to cut the rope was misdirected and he trudged off the field to join the top order as spectators after the ball clattered into his pads.In the three times the two sides had met in T20Is, Namibia had walked away with victory. A fourth would leave Scotland’s hopes of progressing to the holy land of the Super Eights hanging by a fraying thread.Richie Berrington, his right eye blackening from an errant dive in the field, had scratched his way to 5 off nine balls and Scotland were four down, still needing 83 from 54 deliveries, when Michael Leask strode to the crease.Anyone who has seen Leask hold a bat knows he likes to swing it; he swung it magnificently in Bulawayo last July, smashing 48 off 34 to set up Scotland’s victory over Zimbabwe in the ODI World Cup qualifiers. He did the same in losing causes against Namibia and New Zealand at the T20 World Cup in the UAE; his reputation as an aggressive finisher is well earned.

Berrington’s sweet spots are square of the wicket, leaning on the back foot and lacing the ball through point with a kind of ferocious finesse, or timing his sweeps and slog-sweeps with the precision of an atomic clock

But coming into this tournament his form was somewhat patchy. Across six innings in Scotland’s series against UAE and the tri-series with Ireland and the Netherlands he had scored 81 runs, passing 20 just once. At Kensington Oval, his captain and his country needed him to unlock the best he had.Leask has a kinetic, frenetic energy, both on and off the field; a “hyper dafty who puts his heart on his sleeve” is how he describes himself. He’s a friendly chatterbox and a cricket badger who is, at the very least, as fiercely proud of his Scottish heritage as anyone in the squad.You see it in the field as he attacks every ball and screams encouragement, when he’s appealing for an lbw or celebrating a wicket, a jack-in-the-box bursting with fireworks.But the ignition spark is hard to find as he begins his partnership with Berrington and the required run rate is climbing steadily.Berrington is Leask’s polar opposite in character and style. Scotland’s captain is measured and reserved; he speaks softly and is a shrewd observer of people and match situations alike. When he does speak, his team-mates listen and he inspires fierce loyalty among them. He’s borne the responsibility of being the most public face of cricket in Scotland through the game’s most tumultuous off-the-field turmoil and has done so with a quiet dignity.Richie Berrington and Chris Greaves celebrate victory•AFP/Getty ImagesTheir contrasting personalities are epitomised by the way they bat. Leask is a v-man, his slender frame generating colossal power through a straight bat as he plunders the ball in front of the wicket. There is nothing of fancy or fuss, just the sheer bloody-minded determination to send the ball packing to another time zone.Berrington’s sweet spots are square of the wicket, leaning on the back foot and lacing the ball through point with a kind of ferocious finesse, or timing his sweeps and slog-sweeps with the precision of an atomic clock.In the 13th over it was Berrington who dropped the hammer and dropped to one knee, the favoured slog-sweep launching Tangeni Lunganeni’s over the deep-midwicket fence. The next ball was lofted over the covers for four and the momentum marching Namibia’s way paused and looked back over its shoulder.What it saw was Leask, locked and loaded and always trigger-happy. The merest hint of width was all he needed to smash the shackles and the ball from Erasmus into the Bridgetown sky and over midwicket to land on the groundsman’s shed. At least it was still in the Caribbean time zone.Light and dark, night and day, Berrington and Leask yin-and-yanged Scotland towards victory. They found gaps in their own peculiar ways and ran hard to eliminate the deadly dots.Scotland had been under significant pressure•Getty ImagesIn their individual fashions, they took to David Wiese, Namibia’s Super Over bowling hero against Oman four days earlier; laser calibrated, Berrington’s swipe across the line that crossed the rope between two boundary riders was bookended by a brace of Leask bludgeons over his beloved deep-midwicket for six.The longest blow of the afternoon was Leask’s, of course, a 101-metre monster off Ruben Trumpelmann over wide long on. It was into the wind, it was in the stands and the crowd was in a delirious rapture.When he holed out four balls later the damage was done, his 17-ball 35 ensuring momentum was encamped in Scotland’s corner, wrapped in the Saltire and taunting Namibia .The shiner didn’t impede the skipper’s vision as he sealed the chase with a final, emphatic, six that catapulted Scotland to the top of Group B. From there they can glimpse the knockouts on the far horizon; it will take more heroics to bring them more sharply into view.But if ever there was inspiration to be found, a reminder that the sum is greater than its parts, Scotland can find in the deeds of their own odd couple. The classy Berrington and the mighty Leask.

He’s no Shoaib Akhtar but one had to watch him close to notice how good he was, and his very few magic balls

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Mar-2022Did you watch Suranga Lakmal bowl? No, really. Did you watch him closely? It’s ok. It’s human. Be honest. If anyone wouldn’t really mind, it’s Lakmal.Our man captained five Tests for Sri Lanka. In the third of these, he did not bowl at all in the first innings. In the second innings, he sent down just two overs.Related

Karunaratne wants Sri Lanka to 'reverse a little pressure' and put plans 'in motion' during pink-ball Test

Injury-hit Sri Lanka run into pink ball and red-hot India

KSCA allows 100% stadium capacity for Bengaluru Test

Karunaratne quietly confident of SL doing to India what they did in SA

Lakmal signs for Derbyshire after announcing international retirement

Why? Because he is who he is, and felt largely surplus to requirement. In this 2018 series, South Africa had surrendered en masse to Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera in the first Test. They were nosediving spectacularly again on a bone-dry SSC pitch, until, inside 35 overs, they were all out for 124, three spinners having bowled right through the innings. Lakmal’s two overs in the second dig were mainly to give the spinners a break.That’s Lakmal concentrate. Rational. Ego-free. Almost invisible. Bring a great ball of his to mind? Yeah, neither can I. Great bowling performances, though, there’s the thing. You don’t have to bowl magic balls to bowl a good spell. And that is where Lakmal lived. Draw a venn diagram. The space common to “bowls line and length”, “swings it a bit”, “seams a little”. Colour that segment in. That’s Lakmal territory.Perhaps, you’ll look at that Test average of 36.38, and think he was just a plodder. If you were being unkind, you’d say he one. Long of hair, longer of face, a gangly tumbling of over-long limbs – he’s no Shoaib Akhtar. He’s not even on that spectrum. He never tried to be. A gentle away-seamer, a smirk when the batter misses it. A turning of the heel, returning to his crease, a doing of all of the above again. You had to watch him to notice how good he was. Otherwise, he was almost invisible.Almost invisible to the Sri Lanka public, because his bowling only really got to really fly overseas, where Sri Lanka generally lost. A 5 for 63 in Port Elizabeth, 5 for 54 in Christchurch, 3 for 25 in Bridgetown, 4 for 39 in Port Elizabeth again, 5 for 47 in North Sound. Since 2016, he’s averaged 28.74 away from home.In that 2019 series that Sri Lanka won in South Africa, which perhaps should go down as their greatest Test triumph ever, there he was, averaging 25.5, keeping a lid on the opposition scoring while the younger bowlers hunted (successfully) for wickets around him. Not a man for the glory spells. The hard ones. In Galle, when nothing was happening, and there was a mild hope the ball would reverse. At the SSC, when the batters have started sweeping well, and the runs are flowing too quickly, and you need a guy to bring the rate down again, even if there’s no real chance of a wicket.When all you want is for balance to be restored, which for Sri Lanka, is a lot of the time in overseas Tests, it is where he shines. Those are the Lakmal overs.He probably would have got more overs if other fast bowlers had stayed with him. Sri Lanka would have prepared some slightly seamer-friendly tracks, if they had a seam attack, instead of a lone, reliable seamer. What could have he been if Nuwan Pradeep didn’t injure his hamstrings that often, or Shaminda Eranga didn’t have a kink in his elbow, or Dhammika Prasad’s shoulder hadn’t fallen apart, or even if Lahiru Kumara had delivered on his early promise?Instead, what Lakmal got at home were intensively spin-friendly pitches, on which he, and most others who bowled at more than 110kph, were sometimes redundant. In some ways, it is typical that Lakmal is right at the centre of an intentional erasure of seam bowling in Sri Lanka’s home Tests.He may get a fair showing from the pink ball, though. Across the two day-night Tests Sri Lanka have played, the first in Barbados, the second in Dubai, Lakmal averages 19.13, playing a significant role in winning both matches.At 35, he’s choosing to look after his financial future, moving to Derbyshire, instead of staying with the Sri Lanka national side, who pay him less than $60,000 a year, not including match fees. Here, for the first time, he appears to be acting in (understandable) self-interest.But in this last Test that he will play – against India – however, remote Sri Lanka’s possibility of pulling off an upset, we should do something most of us don’t really do with Lakmal. Watch him. Watch him close. There are very few magic balls. Only good spells. We can meet him there. He deserves that much.

Sussex’s 17-year-old legspinner, the first “Blast baby”, is taking it all in his stride

David Hopps23-Aug-2021Is cricket cool? Well, there’s a loaded question if ever there was one. Even its greatest devotees would struggle to contend that it has ever been the height of fashion, not in England at any rate, where periodic attempts to improve its image have failed to shake a resistance movement that imagines it can be a little, shall we say, monotonous.So is cricket cool? Archie Lenham, the first Blast baby, the first county professional born after the birth of T20 in England, has no doubts. “I think it’s really cool,” he said, with the confidence of a 17-year-old who had just spent a week with Southern Brave (inactive maybe but highly instructive) during the climax to the Hundred. For once, he will not be drowned out by cries of derision when he modestly responds: “I think my mates are quite proud of me.”The debate over how the Hundred can co-exist symbiotically with county cricket remains a pressing and complex one, but that’s for others to work out: for the likes of Lenham, cricket feels a little different and with good fortune he has a career ahead of him to lap it up.Related

• Wright advocates staging Blast 'in a block' as quarter-finals loom

• Wright, Salt assault sets up Sussex before Lenham cleans up

• Sussex seal quarter-final spot as Archer makes low-key return

“Before I came into the Hundred I was watching on TV and I thought it was really cool,” he said. “Just the crowds – the last couple of games I have been at the crowds were electric, really loud, really getting behind the sides. I really enjoy white-ball cricket.”Next up is the Vitality Blast quarter-final against Yorkshire on Tuesday night and, as it must be staged on a neutral ground because Headingley is hosting the third Test against India, the atmosphere at Chester-le-Street might be a bit of a come down. Not the message the Blast needs to send as it takes up the mantle. Capacity crowds will follow later in the week.Lenham’s legspin is expected to be central to Sussex’s challenge, something that was inconceivable when this season’s tournament started. Then he burst onto the scene in his second game, against Hampshire at Hove, when he took a wicket with his first ball, held a skier and generally had the time of his life in one of the great stories of the summer. That positive impression remained by the end of the group stages as his bowling stats stacked up alongside such luminaries as Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills and, briefly, the Afghan legbreak bowler, Rashid Khan.Luke Wright, Sussex’s seasoned T20 captain, is just one of several senior players who have wrapped a protective shell around Lenham.”Any time you get to play some youngsters it’s a breath of fresh air and I think it’s just getting the balance right,” Wright said. “We’re lucky that in the T20 side we’ve got a lot of senior guys to help the young guys when they come in. In the four-day team that’s the difficulty, that there’s hardly any senior players there to help them and guide them through.”That’s a challenge in its own right for that team but for ours, obviously Archie has been the standout and has been a great story. More than any skill, for me it’s always the character. For any youngster to be able to come in and play in front of decent-sized crowds and land the ball like he has done, that’s a testament to his character.”

It’s all pretty crazy to be honest. At the beginning of the season playing my first Sussex second team game, then making my full debut. Six weeks later I’m training with Southern Brave in the HundredArchie Lenham

Wright also signed at 16, for Leicestershire. His county debut came in 2003, the inaugural season of T20 in England, but many players were reluctant to take it too seriously and it was approached in a hit-and-miss fashion. It was a different world.”There wasn’t really an academy at Leicester so I was on the playing staff. I certainly wasn’t playing T20 in front of big crowds. But I see a lot of traits in terms of absolutely loving it and throwing himself in at the deep end – that was something that I wanted at that time.”I don’t think you see the negatives at that age where you worry about failing or anything, you just see the positives of playing. You have no worries and no fear whatsoever. You can give him the ball against the best players and he’s still excited. He obviously got a go in the Hundred with the Brave and then got a winners’ medal so he’s not had the worst year, so hopefully he can go even better and win the Blast as well.”Lenham’s level-headed and equable nature is striking considering the demands placed upon him. It was only a few hours before the Hundred final when he agreed to a video chat – he had just finished a bowler’s meeting – and he undertook it with a relaxed and generous air that did him great credit.He has been fortunate to have been surrounded by good advice since birth, whether it is his from his father, Neil, grandfather, Les, both former Sussex players, or his mother, Petch. Both his parents coach cricket at his school, Bede’s School in Hailsham, set in 140 glorious acres of the Sussex Downs. Then Sussex’s spin bowling coach, Ian Salisbury, who also coaches the 1st XI in the Championship and 50-over competitions, is a former England leggie. There are far too many to mention. Everywhere, support when it is needed.”I don’t feel the pressure too much,” he said. “My first Sussex game I was really nervous, walking out to look at the pitch before the game and obviously they all saw me not talking very much and came over and helped me out a lot. CJ [Chris Jordan] just tells me, ‘just try to get a wicket, I don’t mind if you get hit, we back you,’ so it takes a lot off my shoulders.Lenham has enjoyed a remarkable debut summer•Getty Images”Ian Salisbury is a brilliant legspin coach so that experience is really useful for me. He is really good with tactics – field settings and where to bowl to different batsmen, when I should use my variations and so on.”And, most recently, a week with Brave and a chance for their coach, Mahela Jayawardene, a consummate player of spin bowling, to offer his own input. At barely 17, such experiences are invaluable – and Lenham knows it.”He has been helping me with trying to find new variations and change my pace, maybe a slower ball from back of the crease, so that batsmen don’t get used to me. I bowl it pretty quickly. In England quite a lot of the pitches we play on don’t turn big so if you bowl too quickly people can line you up a little bit. Just do things that play in the batsmen’s heads so they don’t get used to you.”It’s all pretty crazy to be honest. At the beginning of the season playing my first Sussex second team game, then making my full debut I was thinking this is really cool. Then six weeks later I’m training with Southern Brave in the Hundred in their squad for the final. Now a Blast quarter-final against Yorkshire. I would never have dreamed about it at the start of the season.”Whether he even sneaks in a Championship debut might be influenced by whether Sussex reach Finals Day in the Blast, although there is an end-of-season match against Derbyshire at Hove, a game of no great consequence, which might offer an opportunity, and which will not risk affecting his white-ball rhythm.Then it is back to Bede’s for the start of his final year – and BTECs in Double Sport and Business. Mostly course work – except he has been doing it for real – with a single exam that might put the cricket on the back burner for a couple of months (hours?) early next season.
“Luckily, Bede’s have been really good to me so they have given me extensions on work.”Archie Lenham says “luckily” a lot, and you sense that he appreciates how lucky he is. He has gone a long way to showing this summer how deserving he is.

Kookaburra had been used instead of the Dukes in selected rounds of the County Championship

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Nov-2025

Kookaburra balls have been used in the County Championship since 2023•Getty Images

The controversial trial which saw the Kookaburra ball used for some rounds of the County Championship season has been scrapped after three seasons.The ECB first proposed the trial as part of Andrew Strauss’ high-performance review three years ago in the hope that using the Kookaburra ball – rather than the Dukes – would encourage the development of spinners and bowlers with “extreme skills”. The pilot initially lasted two rounds of games in the 2023 season, and was criticised by county coaches.Rob Key, the ECB’s managing director of men’s cricket, was a strong advocate for the Kookaburra ball and convinced the counties to expand the trial to four rounds for the 2024 season. Surrey’s Alec Stewart described that as “the worst decision ever” but Key doubled down, saying it had produced “some bloody good cricket” after 17 of the first 18 fixtures ended in draws.Related

English cricket's Kookaburra experiment: 'Fantastic' or 'worst decision ever'?

Batty criticises trial of Kookaburra balls in Championship as 'silly' and 'illogical'

The Kookaburra was used for four further rounds in 2025 but again produced a high proportion of draws, epitomised by Surrey piling on a club-record 820 for 9 declared against Durham at The Oval.It led directors of cricket from the 18 counties to make clear their wish to scrap the trial at a meeting last month, and the decision to revert to using the Dukes ball throughout the 2026 season was confirmed at a meeting of the Cricket Advisory Group – a sub-committee of the ECB Professional Game Committee – earlier this week.Key and the ECB have taken a more hands-off approach to county cricket in recent years, and made a point of leaving discussion over proposed fixture restructures to the clubs earlier this summer. The counties failed to come to an agreement over the future of the Championship, but did agree to a small cut in the number of T20 Blast fixtures for 2026.

كشفت تقارير صحفية الحيلة التي لجأ إليها الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم “فيفا” من أجل عدم غياب كريستيانو رونالدو عن بداية كأس العالم بعدما تم طرده أمام أيرلندا.

كان منتخب البرتغال قد حل ضيفًا على نظيره أيرلندا، في الجولة قبل الأخيرة، من تصفيات قارة أوروبا المؤهلة إلى كأس العالم 2026 الصيف المقبل.

ونال كريستيانو رونالدو بطاقة حمراء مباشرة، في الدقيقة 61 بعدما اعتدى على أحد لاعبي منتخب أيرلندا بـ”الكوع” دون كرة، حيث تدخلت تقنية الفيديو في الموقف قبل اتخاذ القرار النهائي من جانب الحكم.

وبطبيعة الحال، غاب كريستيانو رونالدو عن المباراة التي تلتها والتي كانت أمام أرمينيا وانتهت بفوز رفاق رونالدو بنتيجة 9/1.

اقرأ أيضًا | فيفا يعلن عقوبة رونالدو بعد واقعة “الكوع”.. وموقفه من أول مباراة في كأس العالم

وفرضت لجنة الانضباط التابعة لـ “فيفا” عقوبة الإيقاف عن اللعب لمباراة واحدة على كريستيانو رونالدو والتي قضاها بالفعل ضد أرمينيا ومباراتين أخريتين لكن بشرط تحسن سلوكه.

وبحسب ما نقلت صحيفة “آس” الإسبانية، سيتمكن كريستيانو رونالدو من اللعب بشكل طبيعي منذ بداية كأس العالم أما المباريتين الأخريتين المقرر أن يغيب عنهما، فسيتم إيقافه لمدة عام ولن يقضي فترة الإيقاف إلا في حال تكراره للخطأ.

ووفقًا للمادة 27 من قانون الانضباط للفيفا، يتم إيقاف المباراتين المتبقيتين لمدة عام واحد، أي إذا ارتكب كريستيانو رونالدو مخالفة أخرى ذات طبيعة وخطورة مماثلة لحالة الطرد خلال فترة الاختبار، فسيتم إلغاء الإيقاف المفروض في القرار التأديبي تلقائيًا ويجب تنفيذ المباراتين المتبقيتين على الفور في المباراة الرسمية التالية للمنتخب البرتغالي.