All posts by h716a5.icu

From teenage fast bowler to middle-order rock, Ellyse Perry has evolved into a match-winning allrounder over her decade in the game

Melinda Farrell in Bristol02-Jul-2017Australia v New Zealand, second ODI, Darwin, July 22, 2007A precociously talented 16-year-old makes her debut. She has never played a senior domestic match but she is one of Australia’s best teenage athletes, excelling in both cricket and football. But while she is an all-round sporting talent, in this match her role is very much defined by her bowling. She takes two wickets and helps effect a run out. Coming out to bat at No. 9, she manages 19 runs off 20 balls before being bowled. Australia lose the match by 35 runs.And the international cricket career of Ellyse Perry, bowler, has begun.

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There is footage of Perry playing for New South Wales as a young girl. She is small for her age, so small that the regulation shorts hang below her knees and the sleeves of her t-shirt come well past her elbows. She doesn’t look to quite fit in with the bigger girls around her any more than she fits in to the clothes she wears.As a teenager she was constantly wheeled out as the promotable, marketable face of the women’s game. She was asked in almost every interview what it was like to juggle two sports – there were times you could almost see her eyes glaze over while she smiled obligingly and gave the same answer she had given what must have seemed a thousand times before. Women’s cricket was not a ‘sexy’ sport and few media sports editors could name a female cricketer beyond Perry; she was the go-to girl in an industry where the coverage was often cursory at best and patronising at worst.But as the game – and the coverage of it – has matured, so has Perry in a myriad of ways.As the players from that first match – a roll call that included Karen Rolton and Shelley Nitschke – lived out their careers and moved on, Perry became less the prodigy and more the cornerstone of Australia’s bowling attack. Blessed with the the athleticism to generate pace and a lovely action which teased just enough movement both through the air and off the seam to trouble batsmen, Perry could easily have consolidated a lengthy career batting low in the order while winning games with the ball in hand.When Meg Lanning writes her selected line-up on the team sheet, Perry is undoubtedly the first bowler listed. She opens consistently and is there at the death. She is a go-to strike bowler who led Australia to victory in the 2013 World Cup final carrying an ankle injury that left her unable to complete her first two attempts to bowl a delivery. She is special, a match-winner.But here in Bristol it wasn’t really working for her. It wasn’t that she was bowling badly, it was more that the pitch – used for three consecutive World Cup matches – wasn’t giving her much help. It was a day for spinners, a fact highlighted by selectors opting to include only Perry and Megan Schutt as quicker options.So while Perry took on Suzie Bates with a series of short-pitched deliveries – she seems to employ aggressive bouncers far more often these days – with little success, it was the left-arm spin of Jess Jonassen and Schutt’s hooping inswing that most discomforted the New Zealand batsmen and claimed three wickets apiece.In the end, Perry was the only Australia bowler who finished without a wicket and she was also the most expensive, conceding 58 runs off her ten overs. They weren’t terrible figures, but they weren’t match-winning.But such is the beauty of Perry’s evolution that there are as many ways in which she can influence a game as there are to skin a cat, some of them just as painful for the opposition.As other players left the side it opened the way for Perry to gradually move up the batting order. And as she climbed so did her average. Overall it stands at 49.12 –  at one stage during her innings it touched 50 – but batting at No. 4 she averages a mighty 83.83. Considering the bulk of those innings have occurred in the past 18 months it’s reasonable to imagine that number could become even more impressive.Often it is has been Lanning at the other end; the squad numbers 8 and 17 have shared many a match-defining partnership.Against New Zealand it seemed as though the Lanning-Perry show would bring down the curtain. Lanning looked to be in imperious form and Perry was offering solid support. They differ in style, of course. Lanning’s shots are more expansive, strong on both sides of the wicket and she scores at almost a run a ball. Perry, as displayed in her innings today, loves to score in the V; the high-elbowed drive is her trademark while she interspersed it with delicate late dabs for easy singles down to third man.The pair were controlling the tempo of the chase, despite the slower pitch that made scoring look far more difficult than it had been in the previous matches at Bristol.When Lanning edged behind to become the victim of the latest 16-year-old prodigy, the exciting legspinner Amelia Kerr, and then Elyse Vilani was out the very next ball – a rip-roaring wrong’un that was easily the delivery of the day – it was the only time Australia wobbled as they steadily accumulated.With the brisk, no nonsense, Alex Blackwell pushing Australia’s run rate into the black, Perry continued to drive and dab, drive and dab, until the scores were level, at which point she went for the big smash over midwicket only to be caught in the deep by Amy Satterthwaite. A red-faced Perry apologised to Alyssa Healy as the wicketkeeper walked to the non-striker’s end to run the winning single. Even Perry is not perfect.Nor does she have to be. Because, on a day when her bowling didn’t win the match, she was the highest run-scorer. Because the skinny little bowler whose clothes were too big for her had just clocked 2000 ODI runs. Because there was the reminder of her all-round sporting abilities when she brilliantly booted the ball into the stumps and almost effected a run out while following through.

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Australia v New Zealand, Women’s World Cup, Bristol, July 2, 2017There is only one player still there from that Australia side of ten years ago. The 26-year-old is playing in her 86th ODI. She is no longer defined by her bowling, she excels in all parts of the game. She takes no wickets but, coming out to bat at No. 4, she makes 71 off 90 balls. Australia win the match by five wickets.And the international career of Ellyse Perry, allrounder, is still evolving.

Rangana Herath mixed some cracking shots square of the wicket with a good sprinkling of plays and misses in a unique innings that was frustrating for India and very, very handy for Sri Lanka

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Kolkata19-Nov-20170:49

‘Compared to first two days, today much easier to bat’ – Herath

Bowlers who bat a bit (as opposed to bowling allrounders like Mitchell Starc or Vernon Philander) can be broadly divided into two camps: blockers, such as Ishant Sharma or Devendra Bishoo, and bashers, of whom Tim Southee – who has clattered 61 sixes in 57 Tests – would be an extreme example.Rangana Herath doesn’t really fall in either camp. He isn’t built like most bowlers, of spin or seam, and like other short, squat batsmen he’s happiest playing square of the wicket. Early in his innings on Sunday, Bhuvneshwar Kumar swung one into his stumps, late, and was on the verge of appealing for lbw when Herath braced his front leg to make last-minute room for his bat to flick the ball to the midwicket boundary.At that point Sri Lanka were 206 for 7 and led India by 34. Herath had walked in when India had taken three wickets for just one run, and Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar were snaking the ball this way and that. The first ball Herath faced, from Shami, beat his inside edge and whooshed over the off bail. His flicked four came in an over in which he was beaten four times. When he misread one that swerved away from him and tried to whip it through the leg side, he missed by more than a foot.But Herath, as he often does, kept fighting, kept punching, kept playing his shots. His glory shot is the pull, into which he puts everything he’s got, swiveling violently and slapping the ball like it’s the villain in a revenge melodrama. He unleashed it on 22, when Shami dropped one short, swatting it away well in front of square.Slowly, he gained a measure of the conditions and began looking relatively secure even while defending, getting behind the line, flourishing his bat high over his head when he left outside off stump.Dilruwan Perera, whose delayed decision to review an lbw on 0 earned him the chance to extend his innings by a further 27 balls, added 43 with Herath for the eighth wicket. Suranga Lakmal, weathering a barrage of short balls including one that hit him on the grille, added 46 with Herath for the ninth.BCCISri Lanka’s lead swelled. Herath, not really leaning over the ball but trusting his hands to do the job, square-drove Umesh Yadav to bring up his third Test fifty. He pulled Umesh in his next over and beat deep square leg sprinting to his right.That prompted Virat Kohli to place a fielder two-thirds of the way back at deep midwicket. No use. Herath pulled one to that fielder, Ravindra Jadeja, who fired at the non-striker’s end and gave away four overthrows.Next ball, Herath flashed at and missed a wide one from Shami. Wriddhiman Saha collected the ball and passed it to second slip, from where Kohli hurled it to R Ashwin at mid-off. It was a flat, hard, one-bounce throw more suited to a run-out chance than the passing chain from keeper to bowler returning to his mark. Few captains are as transparent with their emotions.By the time India found a way to take the last two wickets – Herath was ninth out for 67 – Sri Lanka’s lead had grown to 122. Every run of that lead was a run they would not need to score while batting last, whether they were to bowl India out quickly in the third innings or, as it turned out, chase leather in rapidly improving batting conditions.

The two-Test humiliation in the Caribbean earlier this year has channeled a focused spin-heavy side to turn the tables at home

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur01-Dec-2018’Don’t forget what they did to us in July.’This was Shakib Al Hasan’s simple, yet potent message to his mates ahead of the Test series at home against West Indies.On Saturday, after Bangladesh put themselves in a position to clinch the series, Mahmudullah resonated Shakib’s words. “Ahead of this Test series, Shakib said that we should remember how we lost to them in July,” Mahmudullah said. “If we keep that in mind, it will motivate us a lot to play in these matches. I think it was an important message to the team, which motivated all of us. If you forget the loss easily, you won’t learn.”West Indies’ collapse to spin in Mirpur and Chattogram have been eerily similar to Bangladesh’s surrender to pace in North Sound and Kingston.Where Bangladesh struggled at deliveries outside the offstump against pace there, West Indies haven’t been helped by going back to play spin on rank turners. The inability to adjust to conditions has been the common thread.In Chattogram, all 20 West Indies wickets went to spin as they were bowled out twice within three days. Here in Mirpur, they slipped to 29 for 5 in the first 12 overs of their reply to Bangladesh’s 508. This is the lowest score where a team has lost five wickets against Bangladesh.West Indies’ saving grace so far has so far been the 46-run unbroken sixth-wicket stand between Shimron Hetmyer and Shane Dowrich, incidentally the two batsmen who batted with some composure in Chattogram too.In Dhaka, Kraigg Brathwaite and Kieran Powell were bowled leaving a huge gap between bat and pad while negotiating spin. Sunil Ambris missed an ambitious lofted drive while Roston Chase played for turn that wasn’t there.”I guess the guys played for too much turn and clearly the ball kept straight and lost the key wickets,” said spinner Jomel Warrican, who toiled for 38 overs to pick two wickets. “We just need to apply ourselves better.”Mahmudullah felt the key wasn’t to be obsessed about picking a wicket every delivery. “I don’t think it will be easy to bowl them out. We can’t think of getting a wicket every ball. Shakib stressed on bowling in good areas. There is variable bounce, which can be useful if you bowl in the right areas, sticking to the plan.”The good news is that Taijul Islam and Nayeem Hasan, the other half of Bangladesh’s spin quartet in this Test series, have only bowled four overs between them. Nayeem became the youngest cricketer to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut in Chattogram last week, while Taijul’s 6 for 33 was decisive in the fourth innings.Like the spin duo are handing it to West Indies, the pace pack of Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Miguel Cummins and Keemo Paul took 38 of the 40 wickets in the July Test series.West Indies’ current series batting average stands close to their lowest 17.07, against Sri Lanka in 2005, and only a desperate effort from the Hetmyer-Dowrich pair can get them somewhere better in Mirpur.How quickly can they turn around a batting approach that isn’t clearly working could determine if there’s a fight to follow in the second innings.

Several different things – from the toss to various on-field performances – fell in place for the visitors in Sylhet

Liam Brickhill06-Nov-2018Zimbabwe completed a remarkable turnaround to snatch a victory in their first Test of the year, having endured a torrid, winless streak in limited-overs cricket since the World Cup Qualifiers in March. While their white-ball cricket has suffered from inconsistent performances, the change in format against Bangladesh came along with successful contributions in virtually every department. Here are the six key factors that set up Zimbabwe’s first away win in 17 years:Regis Chakabva’s wicketkeepingRegis Chakabva hasn’t played an ODI for Zimbabwe in three years but he’s a Test regular, having played in nine of their last 13 games, and is widely regarded as one of the finest wicketkeepers in the country. Chakabva kept himself busy playing club cricket in Kent’s Premier League over the English summer while Zimbabwe were playing limited-overs cricket, taking 13 catches and three stumpings for Sandwich Town while also topping their batting tables with three centuries. He didn’t appear the slightest bit rusty at the top level during Zimbabwe’s 151-run win in Sylhet. He batted out 150 balls to stretch Zimbabwe’s two innings but, as would be hoped of a specialist ‘keeper, he also put in a quality performance behind the stumps. He let just 11 byes past him over the whole Test and took six catches, three of those off the spinners in conditions where the ball turned and bounced prodigiously.The seamers’ controlEveryone thought the Sylhet surface would turn, and it did, but Zimbabwe gained their first advantage with the ball through the fast bowlers. The combination – or ‘synergy’, as bowling coach Douglas Hondo put it – of Kyle Jarvis and Tendai Chatara brought six wickets in the match but, perhaps even more importantly, their discipline and control with new and old ball allowed Zimbabwe to keep themselves in the hunt even when when wickets weren’t coming. Their early spells on the second day turned the game, setting up Zimbabwe’s first-innings lead of 139, and they kept things tight thereafter, racking up a combined 13 maidens and not conceding a single no-ball or wide.Success against left-arm spinSuggesting that Zimbabwe’s success had anything to do with how they combated the home spinners when those spinners shared 19 wickets in the game might at first appear to be a bit of a tough sell, but consider this: Taijul Islam had to toil for more than 68 overs for his 11-wicket match haul, and Zimbabwe’s patience with the bat meant they were able to stretch their two innings out for more than 182 overs in total. The collapses against spin that have haunted their previous tours to Bangladesh were staved off by a willingness to play patient, attritional cricket, and the first-innings contributions from Sean Williams and Peter Moor were exemplary in this regard. Both are natural strokemakers, but they dug in to face 173 and 192 deliveries each in the first innings, setting up the rest of the match after Zimbabwe had opted to bat first at the toss.Winning the tossSpeaking of the toss, on a pitch that turned almost from the first day, this was a lucky one to win – particularly as the coin has not been falling in captain Hamilton Masakadza’s favour recently. He called incorrectly three times in a row in the preceding ODIs, contributing to the severity of Zimbabwe’s defeats as they had to deal with evening dew, and also saw the coin fall on the wrong side three times out of five on their previous tour to South Africa in October. That he got it right this time around meant Bangladesh were left facing the daunting task of batting last, bringing Zimbabwe’s spin attack right into the game on a wearing fourth-day pitch.The spinners’ incisionsWith allrounders Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams in their line-up, alongside debutants Brandon Mavuta and Wellington Masakadza, Zimbabwe had a varied, spin-heavy attack to wear Bangladesh down, and then knock them out. While Williams’ golden arm was used sparingly, Raza was a workhorse, bowling 17 overs in a row during a marathon two-hour spell on the fourth morning and collecting six wickets in the game. When Mavuta and Masakadza struggled for rhythm in the first innings, Zimbabwe had the cushion of their experienced spinners to fall back on, and Raza’s hard work in the second innings was a major factor in the build-up of pressure that allowed Mavuta and Masakadza to shine on the final afternoon.Bangladesh’s batting woesBangladesh’s capitulation for 169 in the second innings marked the eighth successive Test innings in which they failed to reach 200, but what really stands out is how their batting malaise is only a feature in Tests. Bangladesh’s batsmen have had a fantastic year, just not in this format, and having played 12 ODIs since August, it soon became apparent that they were still batting in one-day mode in their first innings four days ago, something that Chatara said Zimbabwe had been expecting. Balls that might easily have been left alone instead brought wickets, and when the going got tough on day four, wickets tumbled amid a flurry of shots. The patience with which Zimbabwe had gone about their batting was completely lacking.

How much did Umesh Yadav’s drop, which gave Steven Smith a life, affect the game? More such questions answered with EPSNcricinfo’s Superstats

ESPNcricinfo Stats Team02-Apr-2019Shreyas Gopal, who had already taken six wickets in his two previous games against Royal Challengers Bangalore, again proved to be the matchwinner in Jaipur. He threw a spanner in the works early in RCB’s innings by dismissing Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Shimron Hetmyer. Considering the quality of the batsmen dismissed and the stage at which the wickets were taken, ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats estimates that Gopal’s three wickets were actually worth four. Gopal was very economical too conceding only 12 runs off his four overs. He was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match, and rightly so.ESPNcricinfo LtdAccording to ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats, Gopal’s impact on the match was the greatest as shown by the contribution he made to the game. At 27%, Gopal’s contribution to the match was the highest. While Parthiv Patel had the next-highest impact with a contribution percentage of 22.7, the third spot went to another legspinner in Yuzvendra Chahal with 16.1% contribution. The two legspinners had a collective contribution of 43% in the match – a number that neatly illustrates how the googlies bowled by them spun a web around the batsmen. (The contribution percentages are calculated by combining the batting and bowling efforts of all players in a game, and add up to 100 for all 22 players who played the match.)ESPNcricinfo LtdButter-fingered RCBRajasthan Royals got their maiden win of the penultimate delivery of the match. They had already lost two close chases – against Kings XI Punjab in the first match and against Chennai Super Kings in the last game. The story could have been similar in this match as well, had they not got lucky in several ways. There were five catches dropped by RCB – of three batsmen – and there were five misfields or overthrows. In a T20 game, all these small events matter much in the end.In his post-match interview, skipper Virat Kohli hinted at the catches dropped by RCB playing a role in his team losing the match. ESPNCricinfo’s Luck Index looks at how the individual drops affected the outcome of the game.

Cost of the catches dropped of Rajasthan Royals’ batsmen

Batsman Drop cost (runs)Ajinkya Rahane -3Steven Smith 3Rahul Tripathi 5Ajinkya Rahane was dropped in the second over of the innings when he had faced just one ball. He added 20 runs after the drop, but Luck Index estimates that the drop actually cost three runs to Royals. Why? Because Rahane could not score quickly after that and ended up scoring 20 runs off 18 balls. According to Luck Index, other Royal batsmen could have used these 18 balls, given the conditions, and scored three extra runs. However, Steven Smith’s drop helped Royals score three extra runs, while the drop of Rahul Tripathi in the 19th over added another five lucky runs. Had the catches been taken ESPNcricinfo’s Luck Index estimates that RCB would have had 10 runs to defend off the last over instead of five runs. Royals had lost chasing 15 runs against Kings XI and 12 runs against Chennai Super Kings in the final overs.

West Indies didn’t do too much wrong, it was just that Bangladesh did it better

Jarrod Kimber in Taunton17-Jun-2019When we watch sport, we’re drawn to the result, it colours how we see the rest of the match.When West Indies made 212 in their last match, against England, they didn’t look like an ODI batting line up. They looked like a T20 side confused by a helpful pitch, good bowling and a large playing surface. In this match they made it to 321, so obviously they batted better, and more like a proper ODI team.Except, they didn’t.When West Indies bowled, they went with the short ball, as that is what their attack is set up for. And they used it relentlessly, their pacers bowled tonnes of short-of-a-length and short balls, and Bangladesh scored 190 from them. So they tried too many short deliveries.Except, they didn’t.WATCH on Hotstar (India only) – Highlights West Indies still went after this innings like a T20 match, they blocked the ball or bashed it. West Indies did bowl a lot of short deliveries, but Bangladesh were incredibly lucky from them.ALSO READ: Shakib simplicity keeps Bangladesh’s complex challenge aliveIn their batting, there were signs they had changed their thinking for this game. Darren Bravo came into the side for Carlos Brathwaite, weakening the bowling and giving their top order some cover.Chris Gayle started with 12 dots, and while that seems incredibly slow, Gayle can start slow. His strike rate in the first ten balls of ODIs over the last five years is 61.5. This was slower than that, of course, but it’s not unheard of for Gayle.Evin Lewis and Shai Hope stayed in this time, but it’s not as if last match they didn’t try that. At Southampton, Hope was out trying to flick a single, and Lewis was bowled when he misjudged a straight one. Neither batsmen were out at Southampton attempting to slog. The real problem was both failed, and there was no other regular batsman to come.Against England, it was Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer, two firecrackers in human form, who put on the best partnership. Sure, they still did it their way, and at least one should have made a more significant score. Here they were both free to be themselves; both were caught playing shots they’ve been selected to play.The main difference in the batting was that several of their players did the role they are in the side for.Lewis handled the new ball well when, as assistant coach Roddy Estwick said, “it moved all over the place”. Then Lewis struck hard when it was in his zones and tried to cash in on balls spinning towards him. Hope had a high dot-ball percentage for most of his innings and never scored many boundaries. Both are standard for him, but by batting into the 47th over, he allowed his team to do what they do. Hope may not have scored many boundaries, but he allowed his team-mates to score a bunch.Darren Bravo probably came into the side to bat No. 4; he finally came out at eight, as they just kept picking the best batsman for the situation. If Hope had gone earlier, Bravo probably would have been used then. They perhaps went too hard in the middle, meaning that poor Oshane Thomas had to faff about at the end and knock his own bails off in confusion. It meant that instead of smashing the ball at the death, Hope and Bravo were out there, and for the last couple of overs Bravo was stuck at the wrong end. “If you look at 40-50 overs, we scored 79 runs, on a field like this we should have got 100-110,” Estwick said.But there’s no one reason they didn’t get the big score they wanted. They were put in for a tough 10 overs, had scored at 4.3 after 20 overs, lost Gayle early, no one made a hundred, Andre Russell failed, Hope went slow, the tail couldn’t get them runs at the death and they still made 327.If they won, it would have looked enough, that’s how it works, right? But regardless of the result, they left runs out there. It was always short; you can blame the first 10 overs, the lack of hitting at the end or Hope’s lack of “a little bit more intent” as Jason Holder put it. But they didn’t score enough. “A par score on this wicket was 365-370,” said Holder.At the halfway point, Shakib Al Hasan said of the Bangladesh changing room “everyone was confident and chilling”.Watch on Hotstar (India only) – Evin Lewis’ 70With the bowling, or more accurately, the short bowling, just a few balls told a story. Soumya Sarkar flayed and missed his first back of a length ball outside off. Next delivery he sliced one down to third man on the bounce. His following ball he guided one down on the bounce to slip. The ball before he was dismissed Soumya cut the ball over point for six, next ball he guided a short ball to third slip.No length in ODI cricket has a better strike rate than the short ball, but it still goes for runs. There is risk with reward.The short ball is popular in this tournament. With four men out during the middle overs, taking out shots down the ground by bowling short makes it easier to set the field. And teams have more quick bowlers than ever. West Indies have four bowlers in their squad who can bowl 90mph plus, as well as two bowlers who get freaky bounce. Their one win came from bouncing Pakistan out, they should’ve beaten Australia with a similar tactic. This is their bowling.With Sunil Narine not here, Devendra Bishoo losing form, and Ashley Nurse not a wicket-taker, they have no frontline spinner. Had they won the toss and bowled when there was some freshness in the surface, they would have bowled a lot more length, and attacked the channel. But by the time they bowled, they went for the short ball.The Bangladesh players had already been bounced by England, they’d been facing it in the nets, and their players were ready for it. Shakib said: “We knew it was going to come, we prepared for those challenges, and the wicket played really well today.” Liton Das admitted that for the first 15 balls he struggled with the short one. Even when well set towards the end of his innings he played and missed at a pull, top edged another one, scooped one short of a hobbling Russell and was struck on the helmet by Sheldon Cottrell.Shai Hope hit a patient 50•Getty ImagesWhen pushed further on their bowling, Shakib said: “At certain times they bowled well, good areas, but they were not patient enough to bowl in good areas for a long enough.”Now there are two ways to look at this. You can say they weren’t patient for continually going for the short ball, or you can suggest they were patient by delivering 44% of their balls back of a length. They saw Bangladesh’s weakness, and they kept going for it, even when it seemed to an outsider it was wrong. Only two times had a team bowled more balls on that length all tournament: West Indies against Australia, and England when they bowled to Bangladesh. Both occasions, short deliveries accounted for lots of wickets and averaged 24 and 22. In this game, the short ball averaged 85 for West Indies.So based on that you’d say they bowled too many, but 41 balls of the 111 short ones delivered, Bangladesh were not in control of. That’s 36%, or one in three. Balls lobbed up all over the place, some carrying over the keeper’s head, other times fine of third man and fine leg. According to ESPNcricinfo data, short-of-a-length deliveries that batsmen are not in control of result in a dismissal every 8.35 balls, so to only get two wickets to this seems unlucky.More than just luck, as Holder noted. “We missed a crucial chance when Shannon [Gabriel] should have gotten in and taken a chance.” That was in the 22nd over, Bangladesh were 143 for 3, the batsman was Shakib. He made 72 more runs, and Bangladesh never lost another wicket.But if you use mammoth fast bowlers in the field, there’s also a chance that some of them will not get to catches. If you bowl a lot of short balls on a small ground, a few are going to fly to the boundary. Maybe the West Indians should have changed their attack, some will suggest huge Nurse could have helped, but as Estwick said: “If we sat here, and we played spin against Bangladesh, you know what you’d be saying to me, you should have bowled your pace, because pace is your strength. Four games ago everyone was saying how exciting and refreshing West Indies cricket looked, four games later, it’s the worst tactic in the world.”Their tactics were not terrible; their execution could have been better. Estwick put it best: “At the end of the day we lost a cricket game to a team that played a lot better than us. Bangladesh played better than us, and we lost a cricket game.”West Indies played reasonably well, except Bangladesh played better.

Stats highlights from the opening day of the Visakhapatnam Test, where Rohit stroked his way to a sixth consecutive 50-plus score in India.

Bharath Seervi02-Oct-20194- Number of Indian batsmen who scored a century when opening for the first time in Tests. Rohit Sharma joins Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Prithvi Shaw in doing so. Dhawan and Shaw achieved this feat on their Test debuts.ESPNcricinfo Ltd6- Number of consecutive fifty-plus scores for Rohit in Tests in India. Before his century this innings, he scored 82 and 51* against New Zealand in 2016, and followed it with 102*, 65 and 50* against Sri Lanka in 2017. Rahul Dravid is the only other Indian batsman to have made six consecutive 50-plus scores at home, between 1997 and 1998.98.22- Rohit’s average in Tests in India. He has played 15 innings and scored 884 runs with that healthy average, until Tea, and has four hundreds and five fifties. His average is the joint-best among all batsmen with 10-plus innings, sharing top spot with Sir Don Bradman, who also averaged 98.22 at home in 50 innings.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2015- The last time India had a 200-plus run opening stand in Tests, which was for 283 runs against Bangladesh in Fatullah.3- Number of double-century opening partnerships for India against South Africa. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag had added 218 in Kanpur in 2004, while Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer put together 213 in Chennai in 2008. Overall, there have been five century opening stands for India versus South Africa, and three of them have been 200-plus.19- Runs scored by Rohit off his first 45 balls, at a control% of 82.20. He had control of over 90% after that and also scored runs at a quicker rate. For instance, in the second 45 balls, he smashed 38 runs whereas in his last 39 balls, he scored 34 runs.

Rohit Sharma’s innings progression on Day 1

Balls Runs SR Control%0-45 19 42.20 82.2046-90 38 84.40 91.1091-135 24 53.30 97.80136-174 34 87.20 92.304- Number of fifties for Mayank Agarwal in Tests, in eight innings. His score of 84 not out is the highest score of his short Test career. He had hit two fifties in Australia and one in West Indies before this knock.

A review of how England, Australia, Pakistan, West Indies, women’s cricket, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka fared between 2010 and 2019

27-Dec-2019 Read part two hereEnglandby Andrew Miller
Farewell, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Graeme Swann. Hello, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jason Roy and Jofra Archer. Farewell to Test cricket as England’s only true love. Hello to a brave new world of white-ball glory.Farewell to timid, antiquated, doomed-from-the-outset one-day campaigns. Hello to England’s masterplan, a four-year bid for world white-ball domination, and a shot at a once-in-a-lifetime World Cup final at Lord’s.Farewell, in the process, to England’s standards as a consistent and respected Test opponent. Farewell to three innings victories in four successive Tests in Australia in 2010-11, and the subsequent capturing of the ICC Test mace against India. Hello to Mitchell Johnson, hello darkness my old friend.Farewell, in bitter acrimony, to Pietersen. Did we ever really know you? Thanks for the World T20 trophy, by the way…Farewell Andy Flower, whose reign achieved rare glories but turned as sour as his eventual mood. Hello again Peter Moor… oh, gone so soon?Hello to Trevor Bayliss and “positive” intent at all costs. Hello to a generation of white-ball batsmen whose “it’s the way I play” swagger was eerily reminiscent of … nope, beats me.England’s Test XI of the decade

Alastair Cook
Andrew Strauss
Jonathan Trott
Joe Root
Kevin Pietersen
Ben Stokes
Matt Prior
Graeme Swann
Stuart Broad
James Anderson
Steven Finn

Hello to a revolving-door Test top three (Alastair Cook excepted, of course, but farewell, in the end, to him too). Hello to a run of ten defeats and three draws in 13 overseas Tests.Hello, at long last, to Eoin Morgan, six years an England regular, but from 2015 onwards, finally the supreme white-ball commander. Hello to the final to end all World Cup finals (except that it was never-ending). Hello to the vindication to end all vindications.But now, farewell to all that as well, as the cycle begins again and those long-lost Test standards prepare for a reboot. Hello James Anderson and Stuart Broad. The floor is again yours to do what you’ve been doing for the past 12 years and counting.High point
Roy’s shy, Buttler’s gather, England’s World Cup! With apologies to England’s triumph in Australia in 2010-11, and the defeat of India the following summer that sealed their No. 1 status, the rags-to-riches rise of the ODI team was the decade’s most extraordinary narrative arc.Low point
The 2015 World Cup was the most emblematic embarrassment of the decade, but the true nadir had come some 12 months earlier. As if a 5-0 Ashes thrashing wasn’t bad enough, the subsequent blame game (with Kevin Pietersen front and centre) showed English cricket at its prickly, thin-skinned and dysfunctional worst.Results
Tests: P125, W57, L45, D23
ODIs: P218, W123, L82, T4, NR9
T20Is: P91, W47, L39, T2, NR3Australia have scaled heights and plumbed the depths in a roller-coaster decade•Getty Images

Australia

by Daniel Brettig
The title of the Powderfinger song “Up and Down and Back Again” is an apt descriptor for Australia’s decade. They began it having lost the Ashes won so decisively at home in 2006-07, and would lose them again in humiliating circumstances at home in 2010-11, before also ceding their ODI World Cup title to India.These results brought changes – Ricky Ponting to Michael Clarke, the Argus review – but the team’s fortunes remained topsy-turvy. They bottomed out with nine consecutive Tests without a win in 2013 in India and England, either side of Mickey Arthur’s replacement by Darren Lehmann. The comeback that followed was furious, with another Ashes sweep at home and then a thrilling away defeat of a strong South Africa.But after Pakistan exposed plenty of flaws in the UAE, the game was rocked by the death of Phillip Hughes – an event the team did extraordinarily well to deal with. Australia then lifted the World Cup at home in early 2015. More Ashes pain abroad brought a raft of retirements, and a younger team, led by Steven Smith, continued to perform far better at home than away. Regaining the Ashes in 2017-18 took place in a somewhat sour series, before the Newlands scandal laid bare the rot at the heart of the national team’s culture, which had its origins in the broader approach of Cricket Australia.Australia’s Test XI of the decade

David Warner
Chris Rogers
Steven Smith
Michael Clarke (c)
Michael Hussey
Shane Watson
Brad Haddin (wk)
Mitchell Johnson
Pat Cummins
Ryan Harris
Nathan Lyon
Josh Hazlewood (12th man)

Duly chastened, a fresh outlook brought slow, steady improvement, and a team coached by Justin Langer and led by Aaron Finch and Tim Paine managed both to contend for the World Cup in England and then bring the Ashes home. This all took place while the Big Bash League sprouted and grew to fundamentally change the landscape of the game down under.High point
There were many home successes over the decade, which made rare overseas victories all the more worth savouring. The peaks came in the 2014 defeat of the Proteas on South African soil at a time when they boasted the world’s best Test side, and then with the 2019 retention of the Ashes, an achievement all the greater for the trials that had preceded it.Low point
For all the humiliations that surrounded the Newlands scandal and its aftermath, the death of Phillip Hughes was the most awful episode of Australian cricket’s decade. The loss of a talent so bright, just as he seemed about to mature into a Test batsman of high class, hit everyone hard, and is still a source of anguish five years later. As Steven Smith put it after his eerily similar blow to the neck during this year’s Lord’s Test: “My first thought was, I got hit in a pretty similar place to where Hughesy got hit, and I was like, ‘I’m okay’ – it’s not fair in a way.”Results
Tests: P111, W56, L38, D17
ODIs: P216, W125, L79, T1, NR11
T20Is: P98, W54, L40, T2, NR2
Pakistan hit peak unpredictability and the pinnacle of their decade simultaneously with their Champions Trophy win•PA PhotosPakistanby Danyal Rasool
One look at how Pakistan started the decade and the mere fact they are still in the conversation at the table of Full Member nations feels incredible. They entered the 2010s homeless because of a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, and now end it hosting the Sri Lankans at home once more. The Sydney Test to kick-start the decade was inauspicious, and the bans for spot-fixing for Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif disastrous.Pakistan’s Test XI of the decade

Mohammad Hafeez
Azhar Ali
Younis Khan
Misbah-ul-Haq (c)
Babar Azam
Asad Shafiq
Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk)
Yasir Shah
Mohammad Amir
Saeed Ajmal
Mohammad Abbas

At rock bottom, though, Pakistan found an anchor in Misbah-ul-Haq, who led them not just to stability but prosperity. They would reach the top of the Test rankings six years later, and under Sarfaraz Ahmed repeat the feat in T20Is. A glorious Champions Trophy win over India was the jewel in the crown, but over the final three years of the 2010s much of the good work has been undone, and Pakistan have taken their place in the relative mediocrity of the lower-mid region of the table. Ten years ago, though, they would have snapped your hand off for suggesting they might end the decade like this.High point
Easy choice. Barely eligible to qualify for the Champions Trophy, they rode their luck to the final, where India awaited them. Pakistan would roll back the years, India powerless in the face of a tidal wave of emotion and blinding brilliance. It’s obviously a one-off, and all the more special for it.Low point
The Lord’s spot-fixing scandal that saw their captain and two best bowlers go to jail and be banned for five years. Pakistan’s ability to resurface may be exemplary, but that shame and its consequences still hurt both its cricket and its soul.Results
Tests: P83, W33, L37, D13
ODIs: P217, W104, L106, T2, NR5
T20Is: P122, W69, L50, T2, NR1
In this decade too, Australia continued their domination over women’s cricket•ICC/GettyWomen’s cricketby Annesha Ghosh
In the 2010s, women’s cricket made a belated leap into the future. A shift from part-time to full-time professionalism and the birth of full-fledged T20 leagues headlined a time of extraordinary change in the women’s game.The ICC Women’s Championship (IWC) added more context to ODIs and certainty to the calendar of the top eight teams, with direct qualification for the 50-over World Cup up for grabs.Team-wise, Australia led on most fronts, winning five world titles and the inaugural IWC. The Women’s Big Bash League, branded identically to its men’s equivalent and rolled out in 2015, paved the way for the ECB to come up with the Kia Super League in 2016, and for the BCCI – if belatedly and reluctantly – to take a first, decisive step towards a women’s IPL with an exhibition match in 2018.Increased television coverage, better marketing from the ICC, and social-media innovations helped the 2017 World Cup achieve a record global reach. The first standalone T20 World Cup a year later summarised the evolution of power-hitting in the women’s game.High point
In 2013, Cricket Australia raised the annual central-contract wages to an amount resembling full-time pay for any top female athlete in the country. By 2015, all Full Member countries, India the last of them, had implemented full-time contracts for their women’s cricketers. Ireland completed the move away from amateurism among the top ten nations by awarding part-time central contracts for the first time in May 2019.Low point
The ICC’s focus on promoting the women’s game primarily through T20Is sacrificed Tests at the altar of what most boards called “financial non-viability”. Only eight women’s Tests were played in the 2010s – the least in the past five decades – and only two of those outside of Ashes series, raising serious concerns over the future of the format.West Indies are the only team to have won the World T20 twice, yet they finish the decade at No. 10 in the rankings•Ryan Pierse/IDI/Getty ImagesWest IndiesBy Nagraj Gollapudi
West Indies cricket achieved redemption this decade after staring down the barrel in the first ten years of the 21st century. A highly bitter and toxic relationship with the cricket administration, which has been that way for over two decades, might have forced many Caribbean players to pick playing in various T20 leagues rather than for the region, but those very men came together to help West Indies become the only team to win the T20 world title twice.Strangely then, West Indies will finish the decade ranked No. 10 in T20Is. In ODIs they are ninth, and in Tests seventh; and it was in Tests that West Indies achieved significant progress in the 2010s: against England at home, they drew 1-1 in 2015 and beat them 2-1 in 2018-19. They won a thrilling Test at Headingley in 2017, and beat Pakistan in a Test in the UAE in 2016-17.Caribbean fans can hope for a bright future. They have multiple match-winners now: batsmen Shai Hope and Kraigg Brathwaite, and captain Jason Holder, who has grown into an able leader and will finish as one of the decade’s best Test allrounders.West Indies’ T20I XI of the decade

Chris Gayle
Lendl Simmons
Marlon Samuels
Shimron Hetmyer
Nicholas Pooran (wk)
Kieron Pollard
Andre Russell
Dwayne Bravo
Darren Sammy (c)
Sunil Narine
Samuel Badree

The challenge now for West Indies is to attain stability.High point
The first one was in 2012, when Marlon Samuels’ masterful innings led West Indies to the World T20 title against hosts Sri Lanka. Four years later, on a humid evening at Eden Gardens, Samuels danced bare-chested while the usually mellow Ian Bishop bellowed emotionally on air after Carlos Brathwaite hit four consecutive sixes in the final over to win the title for a second time.Low point
The two-time T20 World Cup winners faced the embarrassment of being forced to play the 50-over Qualifiers to earn the right to participate in the 2019 World Cup. It proved they had barely improved in the format since the 2015 World Cup, where they had been defeated by Ireland. But the biggest embarrassment was the walkout by Dwayne Bravo’s team mid-way into the 2014 tour of India after a spiteful dispute between the players and the West Indies cricket administration of Dave Cameron.Results
Tests: P83, W22, L43, D18
ODIs: P196, W69, L114, T5, NR8
T20Is: P101, W43, L53, T1, NR4The Test win in Sylhet was Zimbabwe’s first away win in the format since 2001•Getty ImagesZimbabweby Firdose Moonda
This was the decade when the impact of Zimbabwe’s financial and political crises was most keenly felt in cricket circles. A six-year self-imposed exile from Test cricket for the team ended in August 2011, with victory over Bangladesh in Harare followed by home series against Pakistan and New Zealand. But the costs of hosting were too high and Zimbabwe played only 11 more home Tests in the decade and ten away. They had poor World Cups in 2011 and 2015, and failed to qualify for the 2019 one as well as for the main draws of the 2014 and 2016 T20 World Cups. They also went through several coaches and suffered a player drain. Zimbabwe now enter the 2020s having lost ground to Namibia as Africa’s second team.Zimbabwe’s ODI XI of the decade

Chamu Chibhabha
Hamilton Masakadza
Brendan Taylor (c)
Craig Ervine
Sikandar Raza
Sean Williams
PJ Moor (wk)
Graeme Cremer
Kyle Jarvis
Tendai Chatara
Chris Mpofu

High point
Beating Bangladesh in their comeback Test and registering an away win in Sylhet – only the third in their history and first in 17 years – come close, but the zenith was their 3-2 ODI series win over Sri Lanka in 2017. The series started with Zimbabwe completing a record chase of 317 in Galle and ended with them winning a decider with 11 overs to spare. It proved their potential sometimes pays off, and what fun it can be when it does.Low point
Their three-run defeat to UAE, chasing a modest 230 in 40 overs, denied them a place in the 2019 World Cup – their first absence from the event since 1983. If that wasn’t bad enough, Zimbabwe incurred an ICC suspension in July 2019, and although it was lifted in October, it was too late for them to play in the qualifiers for the 2020 T20 World Cup.Results
Tests: P24, W4, L19, D1
ODIs: P159, W44, L111, T2, NR2
T20Is: P67, W16, L50, T1In 2019, Sri Lanka came to South Africa in the depths of turmoil, with a second-rung team, and beat the hosts 2-0•Getty ImagesSri Lankaby Andrew Fidel Fernando
A whole slew of greats retired – Muttiah Muralitharan, Mahela Jayawardene, TM Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Rangana Herath. The younger crop have since struggled to replace them. And yet, there have been some dazzling successes in recent years, the likes of which evaded even Sri Lanka’s finest-ever players in the past. There was the 3-0 demolition of Australia at home in 2016, and flabbergastingly, a 2-0 victory over South Africa in South Africa in 2019 by what appeared to be one of the weakest Sri Lanka teams to ever tour that country. In between, there were bruising failures, such as a home drubbing at the hands of England, and an abysmal tour of Australia as well.On the limited-overs front, Sri Lanka entered the decade as one of the strongest and most consistent teams, reaching the 2011 ODI World Cup final and the 2012 World T20 final, before going on to win the 2014 World T20. They end the decade a mediocre white-ball outfit – an aged but fiery Lasith Malinga is seemingly all that separates them from full-blown freefall.The domestic cricket system is outdated in the extreme. The board is worse than ever.Sri Lanka’s ODI XI of the decade

Dimuth Karunaratne
Upul Tharanga
Kusal Mendis
Dinesh Chandimal
Angelo Mathews
Dhananjaya de Silva
Niroshan Dickwella
Dilruwan Perera
Rangana Herath
Suranga Lakmal
Nuwan Pradeep

High point
Although the Test series wins in England (2014) and South Africa were sensational, no win meant more to the nation than the 2014 T20 World Cup, which sparked a three-day party in Colombo.Low point
Sri Lanka had an abysmal 2017, when they lost seven Tests and won only four, lost 23 ODIs and won only five, and lost ten of the 15 T20s they played. An ICC investigation into corruption in the country’s cricket was announced that year, one that would ultimately lead to a two-year ban for Sanath Jayasuriya.Results
Tests: P95, W31, L40, D24
ODIs: P256, W113, L127, T2, NR14
T20s: P98, W44, L51, T2, NR1
More in the decade in review, 2010-19

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly made contact with an “exciting” manager who’s drawn comparisons with former Spurs favourite Mauricio Pochettino, as chairman Daniel Levy draws up a shortlist of potential Ange Postecoglou replacements.

The managers targeted by Tottenham to replace Ange Postecoglou

It has been a dismal second full season in charge of Spurs for Postecoglou, with his side languishing in 14th after 15 Premier League defeats in total.

Fabrizio Romano: Tottenham eyeing £169k-p/w title-winning coach with Iraola

Spurs are considering an array of interesting managers.

ByEmilio Galantini Apr 2, 2025

Amid the mounting pressure surrounding his long-term future, Fabrizio Romano stated earlier this week that Postecoglou is reliant on a good run in the Europa League to save his job at Spurs, and if they fail to impress, then it is highly likely he’ll be replaced.

Chelsea (away)

April 3rd

Southampton (home)

April 6th

Wolves (away)

April 13th

Nottingham Forest (home)

April 21st

Liverpool (away)

April 27th

This echos a previous report from The Athletic, who claim that Postecoglou’s future is in “serious doubt”, so it appears the Australian’s potential dismissal is far more likely than not at this stage.

Taking this into account, Levy is now believed to be making contingency plans in the event Postecoglou is indeed shown his P45.

Tottenham have shortlisted Brentford boss Thomas Frank as a target, according to reports, while it is also believed that Fulham manager Marco Silva is under consideration at Spurs as well.

Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi, who is currently attempting to defend the Nerazzuri’s Scudetto title in a close race with Antonio Conte’s Napoli, also has admirers at N17 (Fabrizio Romano).

However, one name who stands above all the aforementioned candidates is Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola.

The 42-year-old has done a very impressive job since joining them from Rayo Vallecano, with the Cherries competing for a European place and maintaining real consistency throughout 2024/2025 despite injury problems.

Iraola is reportedly Tottenham’s top target to replace Postecoglou as a result, and it is believed that Spurs have already made contact with the Spaniard’s close circle (GiveMeSport).

Andoni Iraola an "exciting" manager target for Tottenham

Now, speaking on The Athletic FC podcast, journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke has shared insight on the tactician after this rumoured approach by Tottenham.

Pitt-Brooke claims that Iraola is viewed as the next exciting young manager in football, likening him to former Lilywhites head coach Pochettino, who was a fan favourite for many years and guided them to an unprecedented Champions League final.

“There just seems to be a consensus in football that he is the next new, exciting young manager,” said Pitt-Brooke.

“I think he is at that sweet spot where he’s only 42, so he’s young enough to be original, brave and really convinced about the strength of his ideas, but he’s also experienced enough that his ideas have been tested.

“He did really well in Spain at Rayo Vallecano, and then he came over to Bournemouth and done well, so from a Tottenham point of view, if you’re thinking who reminds us most of Mauricio Pochettino in 2014, then Iraola is the obvious choice.”

It is worth noting that Iraola’s contract, which expires in 2026, also includes a £10-11 million release clause, so Spurs know the price of his appointment.

The main obstacle will lie in Iraola’s willingness to join the north Londoners, considering the excellent job he’s doing at Bournemouth right now.

It is set to be a busy summer for Manchester City.

On the pitch, the Sky Blues are competing at the FIFA Club World Cup, kicking off their campaign on 18 June in Philadelphia against Wydad Casablanca, before also meeting Al Ain and Juventus.

Meantime, the Citizens are also likely to be busy in the transfer market, as they were in January, spending a reported £180m to recruit Abdukodir Khusanov, Omar Marmoush, Nico González, Vitor Reis and Juma Bah.

There is a clear strategy to make this squad younger, so are the Sky Blues now leading the chase for another highly-rated youngster?

Manchester City preparing a bid for a new full-back

According to reports from Spain, Manchester City are ‘preparing’ a bid to sign Benfica left-back Álvaro Carreras.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

They claim the 21-year-old ‘has caught the attention of Pep Guardiola’, making him a ‘priority option’ as Man City seek to bolster their left-back options.

Carreras actually spent time in Manchester United’s academy, making 42 appearances during a season-long loan spell at Preston North End in the EFL Championship, but he has really taken his game to a new level since joining Benfica for a reported fee of €6m (£5m) in the summer 2024 – after an initial loan move – featuring 61 times for As Águias so far.

Now, could the one-time Real Madrid starlet – who reportedly has a release clause of €50m (£41m) – be making the move to the other side of Manchester, but how well would he fit in at Man City?

How Álvaro Carreras would improve Manchester City

Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout describes Carreras as an “excellent left-back”, while Portuguese Football Expert Kevin Fernandes believes he is “one of the best” players in his position on the market this summer, describing him as “defensively solid” having enjoyed a “meteoric” rise since making the move to Lisbon.

The former United man has also been lauded by Kulig for his “amazing engine and quality” at left-back, potentially proving a solution to what has been a problem position for Manchester City all throughout this season.

Right now, Nico O’Reilly, a 20-year-old, inexperienced attacking midfielder, is being deployed there by Guardiola, following a game-changing second-half appearance off the bench during last month’s FA Cup victory at Bournemouth, in which he scored and registered an assist.

At other times, Joško Gvardiol had appeared to be the undisputed first-choice for this role, while Rico Lewis, a versatile full-back, isn’t starting very much on either side, with Matheus Nunes the most common starting right-back in recent months.

So, considering Carreras would probably be usurping Lewis in the full-back pecking order, let’s asses how the two youngsters compare.

Appearances

66

71

Minutes

4,557

4,822

Pass completion %

79.6%

92.1%

Progressive passes

71

226

Progressive carries

34

92

Take on success %

60.5%

46.3%

Shot-creating actions

46

97

Goal-creating actions

4

12

Crosses

135

14

Tackles won

61

49

Interceptions

77

31

Ball recoveries

99

196

% of aerial duels won

54.4%

23.3%

Errors leading to an opposition shot

1

3

The table makes for interesting reading because, based on statistics from the start of last season, Lewis significantly comes out on top when it comes to both possession and chances created metric.

Meantime, Carreras is a vastly superior out-of-possession defender, emphasised by his tackles won, ball recoveries and percentage of aerials duels won, albeit the latter is slightly harsh on Lewis, considering he’s 5 foot 7 in. Even so, the addition of such competition could be bad news for the young England star.

This season, as Manchester City have struggled significantly more, they’ve been tasked with doing a lot more defending, a challenge some of their defenders have not been able to cope with, so Carreras would certainly address this issue and be an excellent addition.

Worth even more than Wirtz: Man City struck gold on "extraordinary" star

Man City have hit the jackpot with one of Pep Guardiola’s star men

ByJoe Nuttall Apr 18, 2025