Category Uncategorized

Earlier this month, it was announced that Andrea Berta had agreed to become Arsenal’s new Sporting Director, and while he’ll be joining a team who have fought for the Premier League title three seasons on the bounce now, he’ll have a lot of work to do.

Mikel Arteta’s side are undoubtedly one of the very best in the country, but this season has proven that attacking reinforcements are desperately needed.

One of the stars most heavily linked with the club in recent months has been Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak, although, with reports claiming he could cost up to £150m, it’d be a Herculean deal to get over the line.

That said, with several players set to leave this summer, a significant amount of the wage bill should be freed up, which could help the ownership secure the Swede’s services.

However, there is another star player who almost certainly won’t be leaving this year but should be one of the players Berta looks to move on as soon as possible, as they make more than twice as much as Isak.

Arsenal's decreasing wage bill

So, before getting to the player in question, it’s worth looking at how much Arsenal’s wage bill could decrease by this summer, with certain players’ contracts expiring and others potentially being sold.

Starting with those who are in the former group, it seems almost guaranteed now that Thomas Partey, who makes £200k-per-week, and Jorginho, on £110k-per-week, will be leaving the club at the end of June alongside Celtic-bound Kieran Tierney, who also makes £110k-per-week.

Raheem Sterling, who has been earning around £110k-per-week and Neto, who makes £50k-per-week, will also come off the wage bill when their loan spells end in the summer.

Finally, while there is a chance the club will fail to sell any of their fringe players in the transfer window, it feels increasingly likely that Oleksandr Zinchenko, who earns £150k-per-week, will finally be moved on, as he’ll have just a year left on his contract if not.

So, when you add together the wages of those who are out of contract, those on loan and Zinchenko, it doesn’t seem too far-fetched that Arsenal could reduce their wage bill by an astounding £730k-per-week before making any signings in the summer, which comes out to a massive figure of £37.96m per year.

Such an incredible sum of money being saved could help Berta and Co raise the finances needed to complete their summer transfer plans, although there is still another big earner in the club who needs to be moved on as soon as possible.

The Arsenal star Berta needs to sell

With a lot of Arsenal’s big earners either making good on their wage packets or mentioned above, it will likely come as no surprise that the player we are talking about is Gabriel Jesus.

The Brazilian forward joined the Gunners for around £45m in the summer of 2022, and while he was truly sensational for the first half of that season, he has not been the same player since suffering a serious knee injury at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Since then, it would be hard to argue that the former Manchester City star has been deserving of his enormous £265k-per-week wage when potentially world-class strikers like Isak are earning less than half of that, coming in at around £120k-per-week.

For example, while the Sao Paulo-born nine wasn’t bad last season, he was, as pundit Micah Richards put it, “frustrating,” as for all the silky footwork and innate skill he has, he was only able to muster up a tally of eight goals and eight assists in 36 appearances, which wasn’t enough to stop Kai Havertz eventually replacing him as Arteta’s go-to striker.

In contrast, the Toon star, who has endured his own injury problems, was able to amass a haul of 25 goals and two assists in 40 appearances and looks set to do even better this year, already hitting 23 goals and five assists in just 33 games.

Appearances

33

36

27

Minutes

2347′

1910′

1204′

Goals

11

8

7

Assists

7

8

2

Goal Involvements per Match

0.54

0.44

0.33

Minutes per Goal Involvement

130.38′

119.37′

133.77′

For his efforts, the Gunners’ forward was only able to score seven goals and provide two assists in his 27 appearances before his ACL injury this season, which is what will keep him at the Emirates this summer.

However, once he is back to full fitness at some point in 2026, Berta and Co need to move him on as soon as they can, as not only is he no longer at the level required to push the team forward, but his bumper contract expires in June 2027, meaning the window to get a decent fee for him will be slight.

Ultimately, Jesus is an undeniably talented footballer, but his inefficiency in front of goal, poor injury record and monster wages mean that he has to be sold by Arsenal as soon as they get the chance.

Arsenal have a future England superstar & it's not Nwaneri or Lewis-Skelly

The incredible prospect could be a game-changer for Arsenal and England.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Mar 25, 2025

Those are the fifth best bowling figures in all men’s ODIs

Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Jan-2024

Wanindu Hasaranga wrecked the Zimbabwe batting order with 7 for 19 in his first international in seven months, his googly causing devastation on a major scale, his slider and legbreak not far behind. Through the course of an innings that was twice shortened by rain, Zimbabwe could muster only 96, succumbing after just 22.5 overs, when 27 were on offer.A target of 97 was unlikely to test Sri Lanka, and Kusal Mendis ensured it didn’t, blasting 66 not out off 51 balls. Though Sri Lanka lost both openers, they ambled home with more than 10 overs to spare, closing out the series 2-0.Having won the toss and batted first, Zimbabwe had in fact been traveling smoothly before the first rain interruption, their openers taking them to 40 off the first 7.4 overs. When play resumed, however, Hasaranga began his charge. Bowling the first full over after the break, he had Takudzwanashe Kaitano caught at short fine leg off a top-edged sweep – Hasaranga’s googly claiming its first victim. He took two wickets in his next over, both lbws. Joylord Gumbie missed the googly; Craig Ervine was struck in front by the fast legbreak. By the time the rain fell again, at 11.5 overs, Zimbabwe had slipped to 48 for 3.This interruption caused the major reduction in overs. But Zimbabwe’s slide was not arrested, nor Hasaranga’s rampage tempered by a break of more than two hours. He got Milton Shumba lbw in his first over back, before Zimbabwe had added another run. Janith Liyanage then took his first international wicket, before Maheesh Theekshana somewhat fortuitously claimed the wicket of Sikandar Raza (whose attempted lap sweep came back on to the stumps off wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis’ equipment). Hasaranga resumed his wicket-taking with the bowled dismissal off Clive Madande, it was his fifth of the evening.By this stage, Zimbabwe had plummeted to 67 for 7, having lost those seven wickets for 24 runs. Their tail would do little better. Thanks to a 14 from Luke Jongwe and an 11 from Wellington Masakadza, who had both come into this game after missing the previous matches in the series, they limped to their eventual target. Hasaranga claimed two more to rack up his best-ever ODI figures and the fifth best in history.The chase began shakily, with Richard Ngarava getting Avishka Fernando to feather one behind – the third time Fernando has been out in this fashion this series. But once Mendis was at the crease, Sri Lanka began to speed toward the small target. He was severe square of the wicket, hitting Ngarava for a four and a six in the cover region in the third over, before lofting him for another four, and eventually reaping 16 off that over.Mendis continued to cover drive, cut, and pull viciously, and by the time the eighth over was done, had raced to 39 off 26 balls, soon progressing to a 37-ball fifty. Debutant Shevon Daniel was caught chipping the left-arm spin of Masakadza to deep midwicket for 12, but by this time, Sri Lanka were only 22 runs away from victory. Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama sauntered to the finish.

Arsenal and Barcelona may reportedly be pipped to the signature of Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia by Bournemouth.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Arsenal targeted Garcia since last year
• Barcelona join race for Espanyol star
• Bournemouth may win keeper pursuit

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  AS, via Sport Witness, claims Arsenal are stepping up their interest in the 24-year-old, but Bournemouth are also keeping tabs on him. Moreover, Mundo Deportivo states the Gunners are leading the race for his services and 'has negotiated' with Mikel Arteta's team, but Barcelona are also targeting the 6ft 3in player.

Advertisement

• Getty Images Sport
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Despite all that, Sport claim Garcia is unlikely to settle for a backup role and could prioritise a club that will make him first choice. David Raya is Arsenal's number one, and Marc-André ter Stegen is Barcelona's. Therefore, if Chelsea loanee Kepa Arrizabalaga does not join Bournemouth permanently, that could pave the way for a Garcia switch.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Garcia is said to have a €25 million (£21m) release clause, which will rise to €30m (£25.2m) for the last 15 days of the summer transfer window. However, reports suggest he could leave for as little as €15m (£12.6m) in order to balance their books before June 30.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  Before transfer bids can take place, Garcia will hope to delay Barcelona's La Liga title party when lowly Espanyol host Hansi Flick's side on Thursday night.

Hilton Moreeng has denied a rift in the South African women’s changeroom despite a group of players expressing their grievances with his continuing as the head coach.Moreeng, who is in his 11th year in the post and has had his contract extended until December 31, went as far as to describe the environment as “not unhealthy,” following a two-week camp where players were given the opportunity to air their views. He did not elaborate on what was discussed but indicated the squad is united on the eve of their departure to Pakistan for a six-match white-ball series starting September 1.Asked how he is going to manage players who have written to Cricket South Africa to express their desire for a change in coach, Moreeng batted away any suggestion of a schism. “There are challenges here and there and these internal things we discuss. The landscape has changed. The country has become professional but regarding the changeroom being divided, it’s not something that has happened,” he said. “We are building as a team. Whatever challenges we encounter, which are in every changeroom, is one of those you discuss as you go along. Extended conversations have happened. We had a camp. We could speak and find out what the actual challenges are. We also need to stay focused on the job at hand. It’s not an unhealthy situation. You need to have discussions.”Related

• CSA to be less rigid in applying fitness standards

• Moreeng to continue as South Africa women's coach despite calls for change

• Luus steps down as South Africa captain ahead of Pakistan tour

• South Africa's women's team to get equal match fees as the men

• South Africa name Wolvaardt as women team's interim captain

Chief among those conversations is the one Moreeng had to have with Sune Luus, who opted to step down as South Africa captain earlier this week. The 27-year-old had served as a stand-in several times and had great success recently, taking them to the final of the T20 World Cup. At that tournament, she even opened up about making the team her own.CSA initially did not provide a reason for Luus resigning but later said she chose to “to focus on her cricket.” Moreeng echoed that line. “She decided to step down because she wants to contribute to the team and focus on her performances. In the beginning, it was tough but we had to accept that’s how the player feels. She feels she can contribute more (not as captain).”Laura Wolvaardt, who Moreeng praised for having a “very good cricket brain,” has taken over in interim capacity for the Pakistan and New Zealand series, which close out South Africa’s year. A decision on the permanent captain will be made towards the end of the year. That is also when a longer-term coaching appointment will be made with the board now accepting applications. Moreeng did not explicitly say if he will put his name in the hat again but confirmed that he still has ambitions for the national women’s team. “I have enjoyed working with the players from the first day. When we started as a team, it’s always been one of our visions to give ourselves a chance to win a World Cup and to have a professional league,” he said.Already one of those goals has been met. This week, CSA announced that the top-tier of women’s domestic cricket will be made professional and that each of the six teams competing can contract 11 players and a full-time backroom staff.Moreeng came close to achieving the second – winning a World Cup – when he oversaw South Africa’s run to the T20 World Cup final earlier this year. “As a country, we can say, we are closing the gap slowly,” he said. “When you look at the top three teams, we are closing the gap.” Given that he has also taken the team to the last two ODI World Cup semi-finals, he called it “frustrating,” to hear calls for his ouster but added “that is the country we live in.” It is ESPNcricinfo’s understanding that the players are not unhappy with Moreeng as a person, but are after a change of ideas.

Arsenal have reportedly narrowed their striker shortlist down to two but their chances of signing Alexander Isak have effectively been ruled out.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

Arsenal in search of new No.9Striker shortlist down to twoChances of Isak deal remoteFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The Independent claims that Arsenal have whittled down their striker targets to RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko and Sporting CP's Viktor Gyokeres. And despite the Gunners believing that Newcastle United's Isak would be interested in an Emirates move, a deal is seen as 'impossible'.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The report adds that Sesko, 21, and Gyokeres, 26, would cost either £75 million ($99.7m) or under due to various clauses and agreements. Isak, on the other hand, is likely to cost well above £100m ($133m). Arsenal have been crying out for a new number nine in recent seasons and if they want to take the next step and end their trophy drought, a clinical striker is a must.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Independent adds that Arsenal retain an interest in both Eintracht Frankfurt's Hugo Ekitike and Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins but their pursuit of Sesko and Gyokeres is much more advanced.

Getty WHAT NEXT?

Before Arsenal can lodge a bid for either Gyokeres or Sesko, or any other striker for that matter, Mikel Arteta's team take on Newcastle at the Emirates in the Premier League on Sunday.

Her two centuries against NZ saw her jump up six places to displace Mooney as the top-ranked batter

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2023Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu shot up to the top of the women’s ODI rankings for batters after her two unbeaten centuries in the series against New Zealand. She has thus become the first woman from Sri Lanka to top the ODI rankings.Athapaththu climbed six places to displace Australia’s Beth Mooney as the top-ranked batter in the format. She scored 108 not out in the first ODI against New Zealand to help Sri Lanka chase down 172 in a rain-affected game. After being out for a duck in the second match, which New Zealand went on to win, she blasted a stunning 140 off just 80 deliveries to help her team seal another rain-hit fixture and the series.The left-hand batter now has eight centuries to go with her 15 half-centuries in ODIs.Mooney, Laura Wolvaardt, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Meg Lanning, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana all dropped one spot each as Athapaththu moved up from seventh place in the rankings.Athapaththu has now emulated another left-handed opener, Sanath Jayasuriya, who is the only Sri Lankan man to top the ODI batting charts.During her whirlwind knock in the third ODI, Athapaththu put on 190 runs for the third wicket with Nilakshi de Silva, which is the highest partnership for Sri Lanka in women’s ODIs. Her heroics helped Sri Lanka win their first bilateral series against New Zealand.

اتخذ الجهاز الفني للفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنادي الأهلي، بقيادة الدنماركي ييس توروب، قرارًا غير متوقع قبل أيام قليلة من انطلاق بطولة كأس السوبر المصري، وذلك في إطار استعدادات الفريق للسفر إلى الإمارات لخوض المنافسات المرتقبة.

وبحسب الموقع الرسمي للنادي الأهلي، فقد قرّر ييس توروب، اصطحاب جميع اللاعبين المقيدين في قائمة الفريق، بمن فيهم المصابون، ضمن البعثة المتجهة إلى الإمارات ظهر اليوم، استعدادًا للمشاركة في بطولة كأس السوبر المصري.

ويستعد الأهلي لخوض مواجهة قوية أمام سيراميكا كليوباترا مساء الخميس المقبل، في إطار الدور نصف النهائي من البطولة، حيث يسعى الفريق لتحقيق الفوز والتأهل إلى المباراة النهائية المقرر إقامتها مساء الأحد القادم.

طالع أيضًا | رمضان السيد يهاجم لاعبي الأهلي وتوروب: زيزو “العملاق” اختفى.. وسنحتل المركز الأخير في السوبر

ويدخل الأهلي البطولة بطموح الحفاظ على سجله التاريخي، إذ يُعد الأكثر تتويجًا بكأس السوبر المصري برصيد 15 لقبًا، ويأمل في تعزيز رقمه القياسي من خلال إضافة النجمة السادسة عشرة في النسخة الحالية.

يذكر، أن الفائز من مباراة الأهلي وسيراميكا كليوباترا سيلاقي الفائز من مواجهة الزمالك وبيراميدز في نهائي كأس السوبر.

The committee will have seven days to submit its report

Mohammad Isam30-Jan-2025

The Bangladesh government has formed a fact-finding committee to look into the BPL’s non-payment of players during the 2024-25 season. The country’s sports ministry made the announcement on Thursday, amid the payment issue heating up.”The attention of the National Sports Council (NSC) has been drawn to various media reports about the players’ payment issue in the ongoing BPL,” the sports ministry said in a press release. “The country’s image, through the BCB and BPL, will be hurt if the payments are not made according to the contracts.”The three-member committee comprises the NSC director (sports) Humayun Kabir, assistant director (sports) Sajia Afrin and the NSC chairman’s private secretary Saiful Islam. The committee will have seven days to submit its report.The payment issue has become a major headache for the BCB, who reportedly didn’t take bank guarantees from all the BPL teams before the tournament. There are reports of more than one team not having paid their players. The Durbar Rajshahi players have led the protest so far. Their local players boycotted a practice session in Chattogram, and the overseas players boycotted the match against Rangpur Riders in Dhaka.The BCB has said it will take legal action against the Rajshahi franchise, while the World Cricketers Association’s chief executive Tom Moffat expressed his disappointment over the issue.

da supremo： Having already agreed a deal to sign Jaka Bijol, Leeds United are now reportedly keen to solve their left-back problem by signing a Champions League-level defender.

Leeds discover Premier League opener

da blaze casino： The chaos of the transfer window isn’t the only thing stealing the headlines this week. The Premier League fixtures have officially been announced and Leeds now know where they’ll be and when at the most important stages of their top-flight return.

Opening the season at Elland Road against Everton, Leeds will then face their first top six side of the season when they travel to Arsenal, before Newcastle United at home rounds off a tough start.

If the Whites do find themselves in a relegation scrap, meanwhile, then games against Sunderland in March and Burnley in one of their final fixtures in May could prove to be all-important in their battle to survive.

Related Better than Aaronson: Leeds submit bid to sign £21m Sadiki alternative

Leeds are looking at signing a new midfielder this summer

Posts ByJoe Nuttall Jun 17, 2025

Alas, the 49ers have known the challenge that lies ahead for some time now and have been making moves away from the pitch in the hope of building Daniel Farke a side capable of avoiding the dropzone.

The first to arrive on that front looks set to be Bijol. As reported by Fabrizio Romano, all documents are signed and sealed for the defender to complete his move from Udinese this summer and become Leeds’ second signing back in the Premier League after Lukas Nmecha.

After Nmecha and Bijol, however, Leeds are still not done on the transfer front. Yet to solve their left-back problem, reports are now suggesting that the Whites are keen to sign a Champions League-level solution.

Leeds keen to sign Gudmundsson

According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds are now keen to sign Gabriel Gudmundsson from LOSC Lille this summer. The Swedish left-back would instantly solve Farke’s biggest problem area with Firpo set to leave and Sam Byram also heading for the exit door to leave the German without a viable option down that side of his backline.

Whilst it remains to be seen how much Lyon demand to sell their defender this summer, Gudmundsson hasn’t hesitated to share his own verdict about his future now that he’s into the final year of his contract, telling reporters: “I’m very likely to leave. It will be a very interesting summer.”

League stats 24/25 (via FBref)

Gabriel Gudmundsson

Junior Firpo

Minutes

1,785

2,616

Assists

0

10

Tackles Won per 90

1.26

1.17

Ball Recoveries per 90

4.19

3.92

Whilst the 26 year-old would not replace Firpo’s attacking output, he would provide a better option defensively and that’s arguably more important in the Premier League.

What’s more, the Swede’s experience of playing Champions League football for Lille last season, which included games against Real Madrid and Liverpool, means that he would likely take no time to adjust to the level required in the Premier League.

In this extract from his new book, the former Australia allrounder looks at sides that allowed players to thrive and those that hung a fear of failure over their heads

Shane Watson05-Nov-2022Winning The Inner BattleThere are environments where the leaders talk about how big this game is, how important this game is, and say, “If we lose this game we are out.” I have been in plenty of these team environments. There are also environments where leaders talk about how performance in this game will dictate selection, and that underperformance might lead to players getting dropped. I have heard from leaders of a number of teams that I have played in say things like, “Spots are up for grabs in the game” or “If you don’t perform, you will get dropped.”So guess what people are thinking in those environments? “Don’t lose. I really need to perform today. I need to score runs. We need to win. Don’t get out. Don’t bowl badly. Don’t stuff up, otherwise I might be gone.” All of these focus on results and fear of failure.These environments can work for a shorter period of time, where fear of failure can drive individuals to be ready to lock in for one very important game. But these environments are not sustainable at all as stress and anxiety builds up to a point where the whole team implodes and I have been a part of these environments on a few occasions too. The telltale signs are that everyone starts to only play for themselves, for their individual spots, and as long as they do enough to get picked for the next game, they are happy. This always leads to an incredibly toxic team environment where the enjoyment factor of playing the game that you love evaporates and it turns into every person for themselves. We should be doing all that we can to do the opposite of this, as the best and most successful team environments always have a fun and enjoyment aspect to them as a very important undercurrent to all that they do.Other environments I have been a part of are ones where there is a clear focus on the process and leaders ask the players to just bring the best version of themselves every time and to do it over and over again. They reiterate that if we all do this, we give ourselves the best chance of coming out on top. This is exactly what a championship mindset looks like!This is what made Ricky Ponting such a good captain. He always said to the team in the lead-up to big games that the team whose individuals do the basics better and for longer will be the team that will come out on top. It focused our minds on the process, on doing the basics, controlling the A factors.

After the retirement of Ponting and Hussey, the Australian team drifted significantly. Players, myself included, began to look over our shoulders. I wasn’t able to direct my thoughts to consistently bring the best version of myself into every performance

Paddy Upton for Rajasthan Royals built a process-driven environment that took all of the anxiety and stress out of a very pressurised tournament where performance and results were so important. The other team environment where this was done incredibly well was at Chennai Super Kings in the IPL under captain MS Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming. I never heard either of them say, “We need to win this game today”, or “If you don’t score runs today or take wickets, you will be getting dropped.”My second year with CSK really stuck with me. There was no chopping and changing in selection. In other teams I had been with, players were turned over constantly. If a player didn’t perform for a couple of games, selectors would think he wasn’t good enough and would replace him immediately. This meant that everyone started looking over their shoulders and thinking, “Gosh, if I don’t perform in a couple of games, then I could be gone too.”No matter who we are, we are always going to have times in our lives where we are in a “results-focused” environment. By understanding the mental-skills framework in this book, we know that this is the opposite of where we want to be mentally for us to be at our best both individually and collectively. We need to listen to what is being said by the leaders in this environment and we need to redirect their words ourselves to say, “I am not going to let their results focus influence the correct mindset I need for me to be at my best.” This can be much easier said than done when players are being chopped and changed from one game to the next without any rhyme or reason, apart from someone not performing in one game. But understanding this will be a powerful tool for you to use throughout your life to ensure a negative environment doesn’t infiltrate your thinking and pull you out of your high-performance mindset.I’ve been a victim of a negative team environment. After the retirement of Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey, the Australian team drifted significantly. Pressure to perform began to affect confidence and consistency. Players, myself included, began to look over our shoulders. I didn’t have knowledge of the mental skills I needed to redirect my thoughts to the right things at the right times to consistently bring the best version of myself into every performance, instead of being overcome with fear and overwhelmed by a need for results, which saw my performances go downhill throughout that time. And this was all at a time where I was in my prime, performing really well in the IPL in an incredibly enjoyable, process-driven team environment. But as soon as I went back into this other environment, my kryptonite, my performances started to tank again and the enjoyment factor of playing the game that I loved evaporated very quickly.When Watson was able to let go of the negative mindset that gripped the team, he was able to play with freedom and the results automatically followed•Craig Golding/AFP/Getty ImagesMy last three months with the Australia T20 team from early January 2016 through to the T20 World Cup in India was another example of one of those environments. We played India in a three-match T20 International series, where the selectors picked a really big squad and chopped and changed the team significantly from game to game, and then this flowed on to a T20 series in South Africa before we headed to India for the T20 World Cup. The conversations and actions around the group from the leaders – that being the coach, captain, selectors – were consistent messaging like, “All spots are up for grabs if you want to play in the T20 World Cup” and “You need to perform in this game as you might only have one opportunity to press your claim.”As soon as I heard and saw this, I immediately acknowledged in my own mind what this ridiculous situation was creating. This time I opted out. I knew the importance of preparation and focus. The result was that I bowled as well as I had in T20 cricket for Australia, played one of the games of my life at the SCG as captain, and retired at the end of the T20 World Cup as the No. 1 T20I allrounder in the world.Surprise surprise, we lost to India in the quarter final knockout game. We left a few runs on the table and didn’t execute that well with the ball against an Indian team that had barely changed their XI from the first game that we played against them during the series in Australia, three months before.But the attitudes I saw in that T20 World Cup are everywhere. I saw it recently in a game of junior cricket. The result of the match was important as a place in the grand final was riding on it. A number of the parents had really built this game up as being a knockout game and had stressed to the kids how important it was to win to make the final. Then one of the calmest kids in the team went out to bat with two overs to go and one of the parents said, “Don’t get out, otherwise we will lose” as he walked out to bat. And guess what happened. This poor young kid ended up getting out, and because of all of the build-up of importance for this game by the parents and kids around him, the calmest child on the field lost the plot, throwing their gear everywhere in disappointment of letting the team down. It was so sad to see and something that should never happen if the parents around the team simply understood the fundamentals of how to create the optimal environment. Reinforcement of the correct mindset would then filter down to all of the young kids.It is so easy to allow the “live or die by results” environment to infiltrate your mindset and start to corrupt it. It is easy to start to move your thinking to fear of failure and how important it is to perform and get the results. But by understanding all of the mental skills in this book, you will be armed with all that you need to be mentally tough enough to create a super-strong cocoon around yourself, to just direct your thoughts to continually creating your optimal mental environment to bring the best version of you, no matter what team environment that you are in.We need to do all that we can in our power to help with creating the best team environment possible, so that individuals don’t have to feel like they are rebelling against the team leadership just to stay process-driven, to bring their best A game possible, game in game out. I’m convinced that more and more teams should be open to allowing players to manage their own mental and physical preparation. Everyone is different; everyone comes to know what best suits them; just as a lot of cricket is individual, so should a lot of the preparation be too. Understanding this will create so many more high-performing team environments, higher-performing individuals and most importantly, much more enjoyable team environments too, so that we never lose the fun and joy that we get playing the game that we love.Alex Malcolm, an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo, was involved in the editing of the book.