Mason Greenwood’s team-mates at Manchester United are reportedly prepared to welcome him back to Old Trafford following a productive loan in Spain.
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Reece James' injury nightmare continues as the Chelsea star is expected to be out of action until at least February after a fresh hamstring blow.
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Chris Read set a new wicket-keeping record for Nottinghamshire as they moved closer to promotion with an innings defeat of Derbyshire
Jon Culley at Derby09-Aug-2017It is every retiring cricketer’s wish to leave the game in a winning moment and the fulfillment of that aspiration is within touching distance for Chris Read now after Nottinghamshire escaped the ravages of the weather to complete a comprehensive win over their nearest neighbours.Brett Hutton delivered the key performance with the ball against Derbyshire, taking five wickets for the second time in the match.Read, Notts’ veteran wicketkeeper and captain, may not have a third Championship to celebrate when he plays his final first-class match next month but promotion as champions from Division Two would not be a bad consolation, particularly with the Royal London One-Day Cup already in the trophy cabinet.Not to forget a potential Nottinghamshire tilt at the NatWest Blast, even if Read himself has retired from that format.With a lead of 50 points over third-placed Northamptonshire and four matches remaining, it is hard to imagine any other outcome to Read’s valedictory year, from which he will also take the Nottinghamshire record for most wicketkeeping dismissals, which he claimed with the first of his two catches on the final afternoon.It took him to 968 victims, overtaking Thomas Oates, born not too far from here in the mining town of Eastwood, who numbered 967 in a career that ran from 1897 to 1925. The breakdown of those figures reflects how different the game is today. Of Oates’s total, 744 were catches and 223 stumpings, compared with 924 catches and just 44 stumpings by Read.Read, on the eve of his 39th birthday, looked no less mobile behind the stumps than he did when he made his Nottinghamshire debut in 1998, diving to his right to grasp the ball as Mark Footitt induced an edge from Gary Wilson.”I’ve been aware of the milestone and it is an honour of which I’m immensely proud because Thomas Oates clearly played a lot of cricket and was a great servant to the club,” Read said, admitting that his last season could hardly be progressing better.”I’m ecstatic with the way things are going. We set ourselves some aims and goals and so far we are going a long way to achieving those. Primarily that is getting promotion to Division One, and we are in a good position to do that, while winning the 50-over competition was brilliant.”To win this game after losing a day and a session was a tremendous effort. Alex Hales’ knock on day two was phenomenal but the headlines should belong to Brett Hutton, who got more out of the pitch than anyone else in both innings.”It was bitterly disappointing to get relegated last year but I’m looking forward to finishing off in style with promotion and get back to where we belong.”Read, who will leave the professional game to be director of cricket at Uppingham School, is not dwelling on how he might feel when the curtain does finally come down for good.”No I’m not thinking about it massively,” he said. “We know we have to keep putting in the performances and after the T20 group stages and quarter-finals are out of the way we have two massive home games against sides in the top four, so we can’t let any complacency come in.”Aside from Read, the man of the hour for Nottinghamshire was the seamer Hutton, who chose a good moment, given that his team are reaching the climax of the season without three of those bowlers – Stuart Broad, James Pattinson and Luke Fetcher – who were first-choice picks at the beginning, to find his best form.Hutton, who took five for 52 in the first innings, finished with 10 for 126 in the match in his fifth Championship appearance of the year, almost equalling his tally in the first four as Nottinghamshire made sure Hales’s brilliant 218 off 218 balls did not go to waste.In addition to Read, Hutton and Hales, Nottinghamshire ought to raise a glass too to the Derbyshire groundstaff, whose efforts to make the ground fit after 24 hours of almost continuous rainfall gave them 75 overs from one o’clock in which to take the nine wickets needed to complete a sixth win of the season, which they achieved with 12.1 to spare.For the first hour and 20 minutes, it seemed Derbyshire might deny them as Ben Slater and captain Billy Godleman extended their second-wicket partnership, which had reached 31 at the end of day two before rain the weather washed away day three, to 96 without encountering too many problems.But then Slater, drawn into playing at a full length ball from Hutton that swung late, edging to Riki Wessels at second slip, and after Godleman, seven overs later, was superbly caught by a running and diving Hutton at extra cover, pushing at one from left-arm spinner Samit Patel, the innings never recovered.After breaking the Oates record – to give Footitt his fourth wicket of the match against the county that enjoyed his best years so far – Read added another to the collection with a more routine take as a terrific ball from Jake Ball proved too good for Harvey Hosein.Wayne Madsen, coming in at five down after suffering with an upset stomach, was bowled by Hutton off an inside edge and, after Hardus Viljoen had played over one from Ball, Hutton wrapped things up after a small measure of late defiance from the tail, pinning Tom Taylor in front as he played around one and taking out Tony Palladino’s off stump.Godleman, whose side had been denied an almost certain victory over Nottinghamshire by the weather when they went to Trent Bridge earlier in the season, felt his side had played poorly this time.”There was still a small bit in the wicket for the seamers but we felt we were capable of batting it out and saving the game and we should have found a way to not lose the game,” he said.
The India-Pakistan impasse is potentially holding hostage cricket’s attempts to devise a new international calendar, as the PCB has made it clear it will not sign up without clarity on bilateral matches with India
Osman Samiuddin and Nagraj Gollapudi 21-Sep-2017India-Pakistan, that old, festering wound, is potentially holding hostage cricket’s attempts to devise a new international calendar, as the PCB has made it clear it will not sign up without clarity on bilateral matches with India.The ICC is optimistic that a new calendar, designed to bring context and meaning to international cricket, will be presented to its board for approval at a meeting in Auckland in October. That calendar will have the top nine sides play a two-year Test league with a play-off at the end, and a 13-team, two-year ODI league that is a qualifier for the World Cup.At a scheduling workshop in Dubai last month, board chief executives from around the world gathered to finalise details of the new structure. Though the meeting was seen as the final step to a process in the works for over a year, the PCB posed a late hurdle.The Pakistan board agrees with the new structure, and has even largely worked out its commitments within it. But the ICC was told clearly that if the BCCI did not agree to ink in bilateral commitments the league windows, the PCB will not sign off on it in Auckland. The calendar includes an eight-month window during which members are free to schedule bilateral ODI series of their choosing. Whether the PCB’s threat can actually derail a revamp – and the impact it has on any vote – is not yet clear.The PCB has reluctantly agreed to the BCCI’s request to not schedule any Tests or ODIs against India within the league structure. That will avoid instances such as last November, when the Indian women’s team forfeited points for not playing a three-match series with Pakistan. It dilutes the idea of a league in which each side is required to play six series (and not everyone) over two years. And it isn’t clear what happens if India and Pakistan meet in the final play-off.But in return, the PCB wants some commitment from India that they will play, or at least ink in a commitment, in that eight-month window. That, a PCB official said, was crucial: “If you are not going to list that series it means we are not playing India for the next eight to ten years and we are not in a position to take that risk, to go to the next broadcast rights and say there is no India. For us, it’s a decision worth US $130 million.”We said to other boards there, will any of you agree to a schedule without India? Will Australia do it? England? If you can’t, why should we? Our position is that this is non-negotiable. This whole structure becomes viable if, outside the structure, we have India scheduled. If that doesn’t happen, then we won’t be able to sign this.”India and Pakistan have not played a full bilateral series since late 2007. The terror attacks in Mumbai the following year resulted in a sharp deterioration in diplomatic ties between the two countries; in that time, they have played one bilateral series, a short, limited-overs series in India. The PCB has sought repeatedly to restart ties, but the BCCI insists it cannot until the Indian government green-lights it.Complicating matters is an escalation of the PCB’s ongoing efforts to resolve the issue of already-cancelled series with India from the current calendar. In May this year, the PCB sent a notice of dispute to the BCCI for not fulfilling obligations of an MoU agreed upon in 2014 for six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. The first of those – in December 2015 – never went ahead; another is scheduled for 2019.As per the ICC’s code for disputes, the two sides met a few times to attempt a breakthrough. But with little progress, matters became heated at the last meeting in London in June, during the ICC’s annual conference. Now the PCB is on the verge of sending an official notice of dispute to the ICC.The ICC chairman Shashank Manohar sat in on that meeting as the arbitrator, or facilitator, between the two boards. Manohar had dealt with the issue first hand during stints as BCCI president before he moved to the ICC. In London he told the PCB in no uncertain terms that pursuing a legal route would mean ending any hopes of ties with BCCI. Instead he urged more patience. But where Manohar felt he was spelling out the reality to the PCB, the Pakistan board felt he was representing a BCCI view, adopting a partiality at odds with his ICC role.The upshot is that the PCB is due to meet with lawyers in the UK, before sending the official notice of dispute to the ICC. That is part of a distinctly harder line adopted by the recently appointed PCB chairman Najam Sethi as compared to predecessor Shaharyar Khan, a former diplomat more open to discussion than direct confrontation.”What is the harm in pursuing this legal option?” one PCB official explained. “At most, we will lose [and not play]. If government ties get better, then in any case the BCCI can’t stop from playing us.”The basis of the PCB’s legal argument rests on whether the Indian government has explicitly – and in writing – denied the BCCI permission to play against Pakistan. Ordinarily, the protocol for India to tour anywhere is that the BCCI writes to the Indian Sports Ministry, and copies in the Home Ministry and External Affairs Ministry seeking permission. Usually the Sports Ministry responds granting approval.In the case of Pakistan, however, approval must come from all three ministries and especially the Home and External Affairs wings. The last time BCCI approached the Indian government for permission for a Pakistan series was last year, but there was no response.The PCB is seizing upon this, pointing to a decision the British government took in 2008 to cancel a tour of the country by Zimbabwe in 2009 on political grounds. Then, the government sent a letter to the ECB instructing it to cancel.”We said have you [BCCI] ever got a no from them [Indian government]?” the PCB official said. “They said no. We said have you ever written to the government? They said yes. We said why have you assumed it is a no? It is your assumption. If you don’t get a response, it is your assumption.”In case the BCCI now produces a government letter, the PCB’ will still argue that their grievances date back to previously cancelled tours, for which there are no letters.The BCCI position, a board official said, was clear and had been reiterated to the PCB. “No matter how much noise they make this is a decision of the Indian Prime Minister’s office. And so there is no point discussing or arguing. The PCB ask us to play and we (BCCI) respond that this is way above us. This is a government decision. The BCCI does not have the authority to commit.”The sides continue to play each other in ICC events, most recently twice at the Champions Trophy earlier this year. India won the first game in the group stages, but Pakistan surged to an upset win over them in the final.Last week, the ICC chief executive David Richardson said the ICC’s role would be to facilitate
and let the dispute process “take its course”.
Not one of the six teams has yet registered a win after three rounds of the tournament
ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2017Three rounds into the Sunfoil Series, the tournament is yet to see a win. All three matches ended in draws and all were rain-affected. Titans gained the most in terms of points and moved up to the top of the table but they were denied an outright win over Warriors by the weather and a fighting half-century from Yaseen Vallie.Having piled up 321 in the first innings, Titans claimed a first-innings lead of 60 and they rapidly scored 220 for 6 in the second innings to set Warriors a target of 281 on the final day. Pace-bowler Migael Pretorius struck with wickets off successive deliveries in the second over of Warriors’ chase and the batting side soon found themselves 91 for 6. Vallie and Sisanda Magala kept Titans at bay with a half-century stand for the seventh wicket before bad light forced players off the field.Drizzle, bad light and wet outfield all meant that only a little more than two days of play were possible in the match between Lions and Dolphins. Lions batted first and posted 277 for 7 declared with half-centuries from Willem Mulder (70*) and Rassie van der Dussen (75). In response, Dolphins lost six wickets for 185 runs, with Aaron Phangiso taking 3 for 59.Knights, who had a slender lead at the top of the table at the start of this round, saw the final day of their match against Cape Cobras washed away. Both teams, however, had impressive batting innings. Knights’ first-innings score of 489 for 5 declared was set up by wicketkeeper Rudi Second’s unbeaten 203, and Cape Cobras almost matched that with a string of fifties from their middle-order batsmen.National radarPrior to turning out for Knights in this round, AB de Villiers’ last first-class match was the home Test against England in January last year. His long-awaited return to the first-class format began with a run-a-ball 5 Titans’ first innings but in the second, he scored a rapid 32 – off 27 deliveries with five fors – to help Titans rack up runs quickly in a bid to push for a result. David Miller, playing his third match of the tournament, contributed to Knights’ hefty score with a measured 67 off 137 deliveries.Mulder, the 19-year-old allrounder, has been one of the more consistent performers after three rounds in the tournament. He made his third successive fifty-plus score, his 70 against Dolphins following scores of 79 and 127 not out in the first two rounds.Top performersAfter three matches, Knights’ wicketkeeper Second averages a whopping 387 runs. His three innings so far: 101 not out, 83 and 203 not out. The double-century against Cape Cobras came off just 231 balls and the innings puts him ahead of Titans’ Heinrich Klaasen in the race for the back-up wicketkeeper’s spot in the national side. Klaasen ended this round with scores of 133 and 23 against Warriors.On his return to Warriors after a county stint, Simon Harmer ended with match returns of 8 for 183 against Titans. The haul seemed an extension of the stunning summer he had with Essex: he took 72 wickets to finish as the second-highest wicket-taker for the side, and in the tournament, to help the county claim the Championship Trophy for the first time in 25 years.
Cheslea boss, Mauricio Pochettino, admitted that his full-back, Malo Gusto, was perhaps lucky to remain on the field after a challenge on Willian.
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The BCB has decided to return to the ‘players by choice’ transfer method for the 2015-16 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, which is likely to begin on April 20
Mohammad Isam01-Apr-2016The BCB has decided to return to the “players by choice” transfer method for the 2015-16 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, which is likely to begin on April 20. The lottery-based process was announced by the board’s working committee on Thursday.The BCB had confirmed that the process would not be repeated after it was used for the first time in 2013. However, the board has now made a U-turn, with clubs wanting the return of the process due to exorbitant payment demands from the top players.”The board referred the issue of the Dhaka Premier League to the working committee so we have decided that the lottery for the players by choice will be held on April 10,” Enayet Hossain Sirajj, the chairman of the working committee and a BCB director, said.There had been months of discussion in the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM), which runs the five-storied cricket league in the capital. At the start of this year, it was reported that some senior cricketers had met the BCB president Nazmul Hassan to stave off the players by choice method, which drastically cuts down on their seasonal payment from the clubs.The 12 Premier League clubs will pick their choice of players who will be divided into eight categories – Icon (fixed salary of Tk 30 lakh), A+ (fixed salary of Tk 25 lakh), A (Tk 20 lakh), B+ (Tk 15 lakh), B (Tk 12 lakh), C (Tk 8 lakh), D (Tk 5 lakh) and E (Tk 3.5 lakh) [US$1 = 77 taka, 1 million = 10 lakh].
The clubs will first have to take part in a lottery to determine their calling number in each of the 15 rounds for each of the eight categories. In each round, the club that gets the first draw will have the first choice to pick players. Each round will have a separate lottery.
Just like the process in 2013, once the top-category players are assigned to the clubs, 11 players have to be picked from the next five categories ( A, B+,B,C and D). Each club can recruit a maximum of two players from category A, three from B+, four from B, three from C, four from D and four from E. At least one player should be picked from category E.
From 2013, the board has added the Icon category in addition to each of the previous categories getting an increase. Mashrafe Mortaza, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman, and Imrul Kayes have been slotted in the Icon category. Shakib, however, will miss the bulk of the DPL because of IPL commitments. Categories A+ and C have been given a rise of Tk 3 lakh, while A and B+ have a rise of 5 lakh. Categories D and E have a rise of 2.5 lakh, while Category B has been given an increase of 4 lakh.The board has also increased its grant to all the DPL clubs by around 25 per cent, which means that the Premier League clubs will get approximately Tk 875,000, compared to the Tk 700,000 that they had got last season.The other change that has been announced for this season’s Dhaka Premier League is that clubs can now retain two players from the previous season.”A club will be able to retain two old players, so those selected players will not be included in the lottery,” Jalal Yunus, BCB’s media committee chairman, said.”The CCDM (Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis) will prepare the players’ list for the eight categories. We are yet to finalise the start of the league but most likely it will kick off from April 20. There will be a reserve day for each match as rain may interrupt the league. A club will be able to register an unlimited number of foreign players but can field only one each match.”* April 2, 1530 GMT. The news report was updated to include information regarding the Icon category players
Chelsea medical director Dimitrios Kalogiannidis is set to leave the club, despite the Blues dealing with an injury crisis this season.
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India marched to their third straight win in the Women’s World Cup by thrashing Pakistan by 95 runs in Derby
The Report by Vishal Dikshit02-Jul-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEkta Bisht has two five-fors in ODIs and both against Pakistan•ICC
Just like she did less than five months ago in the World Cup Qualifier, Ekta Bisht bagged another five-for against Pakistan. This one outdid an impressive effort from the Pakistani bowlers and fielders in Derby. Bisht’s opening spell of 4-1-4-3 set up India’s 95-run win that helped maintain a clean slate – 10-0 – as far as head-to-head goes. This was also India’s third straight win in the World Cup over Pakistan.The day belonged to left-arm spinners. Nashra Sandhu gave Pakistan a golden chance of notching up their first win of the tournament by taking four wickets to restrict India to 169 for 9. However, Bisht struck with her fourth ball and added two more into her kitty within the space of four balls to bring Pakistan down to 14 for 4 in the eighth over.It was not the turn but her angle and drift from around the wicket that trapped three batsmen lbw early on. She deceived them with flight and beat their inside edge to pin Ayesha Zafar for 1, and soon Sidra Nawaz and Iram Javed for ducks. Meanwhile, Jhulan Goswami struck Javeria Khan’s front pad right in front in the fifth over, and without the injured Bismah Maroof, getting the chase back on track was very unlikely for Pakistan.Even when Bisht was taken off the attack, Deepti Sharma’s turn and Mansi Joshi’s lines did not offer Pakistan any respite. In the 14th over, Deepti turned a delivery a long way from outside off and it went through the gap to knock over Nain Abidi’s off stump to leave Pakistan on 24 for 5.Opener Nahida Khan, who was dropped by Deepti at gully on 0, was the only one to score in double digits before captain Sana Mir did the same later on. With the pressure of wickets and lack of scoring opportunities, Nahida also fell when she tried to cut Harmanpreet Kaur off the back foot and edged it to the keeper.Bisht came back for her second spell to dismiss Sandhu and Diana Baig off consecutive deliveries at the score of 51 before Mir resisted with the tail but could only reduce the margin of loss as she was the last wicket to fall for a valiant 29 off 73 balls.India could not capitalise initially on their decision to bat as opening bowlers Asmavia Iqbal and Baig swung the ball and bowled full lengths to curb the openers. An in-form Smriti Mandhana fell when Baig swung a full-length delivery into her to trap her lbw for 2. India’s scoring rate suffered in Mandhana’s absence as Punam Raut was watchful when Iqbal and Baig stuck to tight lines and bowled to their fields on the off side. The first four of the innings came in the ninth over when Deepti pulled Iqbal’s rare short ball before Raut also opened up with consecutive fours in the 12th over.Raut’s stay ended when she tossed a catch back to Sandhu by flicking early, before the left-arm spinner dented India’s middle order which had barely been exposed in the World Cup. Just when India were approaching 100, Sandhu, in her eighth straight over, struck with the help of two reviews within three deliveries. She first struck Mithali Raj in front and ball-tracking showed the ball would have hit leg stump. Two deliveries later, Deepti edged a delivery low to the keeper but the umpire Gregory Brathwaite failed to pick it, and a very confident Sidra Nawaz asked her captain to take the review again which put India in trouble at 94 for 4.India would have then looked to Harmanpreet to give them a strong finish but another left-arm spinner – Sadia Yousuf – strangled the middle order by bowling wide of the crease with a more round-arm action compared to Sandhu’s. Yousuf even induced an edge off Raj’s bat, when the India captain was on 6, but got a wicket in her second spell when Harmanpreet pulled a short ball to midwicket where Mir dived full length to her left to complete a stunning catch. India were 107 for 5 with just over 15 overs left.Once Mona Meshram missed a heave two overs later against Yousuf, India could have been wrapped up for under 150 but wicketkeeper Sushma Verma racked up her highest score with a quick 35-ball 33 in with the help of the tail and helped stretch the score to 169 which proved too much for Pakistan even though they batted when the sun had come out to make the conditions better.
GOAL looks back at a wild campaign that was headlined by Inter Miami's mega move for the World Cup winner
We've finally reached the final match of the MLS season: LAFC at the Columbus Crew in a huge MLS Cup battle to determine a league champion. The winner will reign supreme after perhaps the most important year in league history, one in which all of U.S. soccer was turned on its head by one big signing.
Yes, this has to start with Lionel Messi, the player who singlehandedly changed the trajectory of the league. By the time the MLS Cup kicks off, it'll have been over a month since we've seen him in Inter Miami pink but, even so, he looms over everything that goes on in the league these days.
Both the Crew and LAFC can count themselves among the big winners this season, having battled their way all the way to the final. For LAFC, Saturday is a chance to go back-to-back. For the Crew, it's an opportunity to claim another title under a different coach, showing that the brand in Ohio is as strong as ever just a few short years after the club was so close to being taken away.
Aside from those two, though, who are the league's biggest winners and losers? GOAL looks back at the season that was in MLS ahead of this weekend's big game…