Jadon Sancho is closing in on a loan move to Aston Villa, which will clear the way for Emi Martinez to complete a transfer to Manchester United.
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The Senegal striker's red card against Newcastle kickstarted a pile-on, but he is not the only guilty party in the chaos of the BlueCo regime
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You have to be clever and cunning to get away with football's 'dark arts'. It's not only a matter of being snide, but deceitful and dastardly like a cartoon villain. Think about Jose Mourinho in Tottenham's documentary telling his new players they must behave like 'intelligent c*nts'.
Well, there was nothing intelligent about Nicolas Jackson's elbow square to the jaw of poor Sven Botman during Chelsea's trip to Newcastle on Sunday, one which ended with his dismissal and the Blues losing 2-0 in what was effectively a six-pointer in the race to secure Champions League qualification. There was no attempt to hide Jackson's contempt, staring down the defender long before the high ball from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez had returned to Earth, before planting his pointed forearm straight into the Dutchman's unsuspecting face. And he would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for that meddling VAR.
The knives were quickly out for Jackson, which was a fair reaction and reflection having acted so daftly rather than deftly in Chelsea's biggest game of the season so far. Defeat at St James' Park has left them just about in the Premier League's top five, only leading sixth-place Aston Villa on goal difference with two matches remaining. The club are desperate to secure a lucrative return to the Champions League, but blame cannot be solely or directly pointed at Jackson if they fall short now – this is a downfall of Chelsea's own making.
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Mohamed Salah sees this year as his best chance of winning the Ballon d'Or after playing a crucial role in Liverpool's Premier League title success.
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Australia overcame tricky batting conditions at the SCG to take a 2-0 lead
Andrew McGlashan04-Feb-2024Sean Abbott starred on his home ground with a standout all-round display as Australia overcame tricky batting conditions at the SCG to take a 2-0 lead in the ODI series. Abbott’s career-best 69 led a lower-order fightback for the home side then, after it was West Indies’ spinners who caused most problems, Australia’s quicks did the damage to the chase.Abbott finished with 3 for 40 – his third wicket coming courtesy of a stunning catch by Cameron Green at midwicket – to go alongside his half-century and for good measure added two well-judged catches. Will Sutherland, one of two debutants for Australia, claimed his maiden international wicket by removing Romario Shepherd. Josh Hazlewood, who was called up for this game as Australia managed their resources, showed his class with three scalps.Australia had been 91 for 5 and later 167 for 7, as Gudakesh Motie claimed 3 for 28, when Abbott dominated the closing stages with Sutherland offering support in an innings-high stand of 57. Abbott’s final score was the joint fifth-highest for Australia from No. 8 and below in ODIs.Related
Short ruled out of final ODI with McDermott called up
No rest on Abbott's mind: 'Hard team to get in, even harder to stay'
A number of Australia’s top order made starts without converting with four of the top seven falling between 26 and 41 before Abbott showed his prowess with a 54-ball half-century and struck consecutive sixes in the penultimate over before dragging on. In the 20 overs between Motie and offspinner Roston Chase there were just two boundaries as the spinners proved tough to get away.But Australia lost one of their spin resources for the second innings with Matt Short, who made 41, unable to field due to hamstring tightness. He was to be assessed in the coming days but must be doubtful for Canberra on Tuesday given the short turnaround.It meant all of Australia’s spin would be in the hands of Adam Zampa, so the early inroads made by the quicks were important. Aaron Hardie was given the new ball and started with an excellent spell that included two maidens as he found late movement. He claimed the opening wicket when Alick Athanaze skied to mid-off where Abbott added to his impact on the game.Hazlewood then had Justin Greaves taken by Sutherland at mid-off and when Abbott joined the wicket-taking, finding Kjorn Ottley’s edge, West Indies were 34 for 3. Captain Shai Hope and Keacy Carty, who played superbly at the MCG for 88, rebuilt for 13 overs before Hope was beaten by a ball from Hazlewood which kept low and smashed off stump. Soon after, Abbott struck again to end Carty’s promising stay with a thick edge to the keeper and things faded away.Australia handed out debuts to world-record holder Jake Fraser-McGurk, who replaced Travis Head at the top of the order, and allrounder Sutherland. Sutherland’s father James, the former Cricket Australia CEO, was at his cap presentation along with sister Annabel who had flown in early ahead of the rest of the Australia women’s squad to attend the game.Will Sutherland celebrates his first international wicket•Cricket Australia/Getty Images
Xavier Bartlett and Lance Morris were rested after their debuts at the MCG with the selectors wary of there being three games in five days.Fraser-McGurk’s first international innings was brief but not dull. He swiped and missed at his first ball, was beaten by the bounce from his second, clubbed his third straight of mid-on and launched his fourth into the second tier of the Bill O’Reilly Stand. With his fifth it was all over, as he edged Alzarri Joseph to the keeper.Joseph had a second when Josh Inglis drove to backward point and when Steven Smith chopped on against Matthew Forde, Australia were 50 for 3 in the eighth over.By then Green was up and running having played three sumptuous drives in consecutive deliveries against Joseph but having had his flying start pulled back he miscued to mid-on. In the next over Marnus Labuschagne drove Motie to cover to leave Australia 91 for 5 and more than 33 overs still to bat.Short and Hardie, two of the less experienced players trying to forge their way in the one-day side, batted steadily in a sixth-wicket stand of 51. Hardie was given a life on 18 when he reverse-swept to cover but Carty spilled the chance above his head. However, it didn’t prove costly as Hardie gave his innings away when he pulled Motie to long-on.When Short also fell to Motie it was left to the lower order to nurse the innings through. Scoring was hard work for Sutherland, who was brilliantly caught at cover by Greaves, but Abbott cleared the fence three times in four overs with the first blow leaving a spectator needing treatment when he was struck in the pavilion.
Lucas Vazquez has finally left Real Madrid after 18 years with the team. It looks like his boat could head to Italy to play against Luka Modric.
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Maphaka takes five as South Africa crush Zimbabwe, while Borson and Jibon set up Bangladesh’s win over Nepal
ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2024Australia captain Hugh Weibgen led his side from the front to dismantle England in a rain-hit game in Kimberley. England, who came into the game with just two points and an NRR of -0.08, are now on the brink of elimination.Weibgen made 120 after being sent in and lifted Australia to a competitive 266 for 6 on a tough pitch. He started watchfully along with Harry Dixon after Sebastian Morgan breached Sam Konstas’ defence in the first over.Both Weibgen and Dixon defended firmly and ran quick singles in the powerplay. England had a chance to break the promising stand in the 12th over but Luc Benkenstein dropped Weibgen – on 20 at the time – at backward point off seamer Eddie Jack.Dixon cruised along with Weibgen and reached his fifty in the 20th over. But Theo Wylie, the pick of the England bowlers, had him holed out at deep midwicket right after. Ryan Hicks and Tom Campbell were not quick to get off the blocks but stuck around with Weibgen as Australia moved to 176 for 5 in 38 overs.Weibgen hit a pair of boundaries in the 39th and did the same in the 42nd and brought up his hundred in the 44th. Wylie knocked over Weibgen on return but Raf MacMillan smacked two fours and a six in a 20-run final over that carried Australia to 266.England started positively, hitting ten fours and a six in the first 57 balls but also lost four wickets to a red-hot Callum Vidler. They were reeling at 60 for 4 in the tenth over when lightning and rain forced the players off the field.The revised target, after a 140-minute break, was a daunting 215 off 24 overs. So England needed another 155 from 87 balls. But Tom Straker and MacMillan took five wickets in the next six overs to flatten them. Campbell finished off the game by dismissing Tazeem Ali in the 17th over.
Ariful Islam and Rohanat Doullah Borson celebrate Akash Chand’s wicket•ICC/Getty Images
Medium-pacer Rohanat Doullah Borson and offspinner Sheikh Paevez Jibon shared seven wickets to set up Bangladesh’s five-wicket win over Nepal in Bloemfontein.After opting to bat, Nepal did not have a great start and lost three wickets for just 29 runs. Captain Dev Khanal and Bishal Bikram KC stabilised the innings by adding 62 off 115 balls for the fourth wicket. The stand was broken when Jishan Alam dismissed Khanal for 35.Bikram and Gulsan Jha had steered the side to 121 for 4 when Jibon triggered a collapse that had Nepal losing five wickets in 21 runs. He dismissed Jha and Dipak Bohara in his successive overs before Borson cleaned up Bikram, for 48, and the tail. Despite the last wicket adding 27, Nepal were all out for 169 on the penultimate ball of their innings.Nepal’s hopes of a comeback were dashed by Alam, who raced to 55 off just 43 balls at the top of the order. After he got out, Ariful Islam took over and smashed an unbeaten 59 off 38 to take Bangladesh over the line in the 26th over.For Nepal, offspinner Subash Bhandari made regular strikes and took all five wickets that Bangladesh lost but there were not enough runs on the board.
Kwena Maphaka took 5 for 34•ICC/Getty Images
Left-arm quick Kwena Maphaka picked up 5 for 34, including three of the top four batters, as South Africa crushed Zimbabwe in the Super Sixes of the Under-19 World Cup. Maphaka’s spell helped bundle Zimbabwe out for 102, with the hosts’ top order hunting down the target in less than 14 overs.Zimbabwe were reduced to 16 for 4 at the start of the fifth over, and three of those wickets had gone to Maphaka. He had struck first in the third over of the innings, removing both Brandon Sunguro and Campbell Macmillan without scoring. That is when Ronak Patel and Ryan Kamwemba got down for a repair job with a half-century stand.But right-arm quick Tristan Luus ensured that partnership didn’t last too long, as he started the 16th over by dismissing Ronak for a better-than-a-run-a-ball 32, which included five boundaries. Four balls later, Luus struck again to get the opposition captain Matthew Schonken for a duck. That started another slide for Zimbabwe, who lost 6 for 33 in a middle and lower-order collapse.Maphaka returned to nab two lower-order wickets, as he and Luus wrapped the tail up.South Africa’s chase got off to a flyer, with openers Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Steve Stolk pumping boundaries regularly. The first four overs fetched 42, while the powerplay ended with 86 runs already getting knocked off. Next ball, Anesu Kamuriwo got Stolk for 37, but Pretorius continued in a hurry, getting to his fifty off 38 balls to end the 12th over.Come the 14th over, David Teeger hit the winning runs, as South Africa won with plenty to spare. The victory put South Africa at second place in Group 2, with the margin of victory giving their net run rate a massive boost.
Ajit Wadekar, the former Indian captain, and Madhav Gothoskar, the former Indian umpire look back at some of their fond memories from India-England encounters
Sriram Veera24-Feb-2006Ajit Wadekar
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That 1972-73 series against England hung in the balance with both sides tied 1-1 as we entered the Madras Test. As the game entered the fourth evening, Mike Denness starred with a fine 76 to set us a small target of 86. I walked in after Farokh Engineer fell early to Chris Old, and slashed at an outswinger to trigger the controversy. The ball flew fast and low to first slip where Tony Greig stooped low to catch it. It had all happened in a flash and I was not sure whether it was a clean catch. Also, Greig was a guy who liked to win by any means and since I didn’t see it clearly, I stood my ground, waiting for the umpire to rule me out.Ahmad Mamsa was the umpire and he must also not have seen it properly. When he didn’t signal me out, Greig created a huge fuss. He ran from first slip, all the way to where Mamsa stood, uttering four-letter words and carrying on with his bullying act. Alan Knott threw his gloves down, and a few other English players also carried on. Mamsa then walked across to square leg to consult with his colleague Nagendra. From where he stood, Nagendra must have had a clear view and he conveyed to Mamsa that the catch had been taken cleanly. Mamsa then declared me out and I walked back. We went on to win, with Salim Durrani hitting a six to take us home in style.Donald Carr, the MCC manager, personally expressed his regret to members of the Indian board for the anger shown by Greig and others when the decision was delayed.Madhav Gothoskar
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I made my debut in the third Test of the 1972-73 MCC tour at Kanpur. However, the incident involving Geoff Arnold and Tony Lewis occurred at Bangalore in a South Zone v MCC match in January. In those days, umpires were introduced in a tour game before they stood in Test matches. South Zone were led by S Venkatraghavan and had Nawab of Patuadi and Brijesh Patel in their ranks. Arnold was bowling and I don’t know why he did it, but at one point, he used four-letter words against the Indians and the country as well.I went to Lewis, the MCC captain, and told him that I wouldn’t tolerate insults against my country, whereupon Lewis took Arnold out of the attack. At some point during the day, during a drinks break, Lewis approached me and said that English people have a habit of using foul words casually quite often. I then told him in humorous manner that when there is another organ for that particular action, why use his mouth?Just before close of play, Lewis looked at me and I nodded. Arnold then bowled the last over of the day. I reported the matter in writing to Mr Chinnaswamy, the vice president of umpires’ commission.At Kanpur, in my first Test and the fourth match of that series, there was an lbw appeal from Tony Greig against Sunil Gavaskar. After I had negated it, Gavaskar apparently commented quietly that I was his uncle – because he was Gavaskar and I was Gothoskar. Afterwards, Tony Lewis asked me whether I am really related to Gavaskar. I asked him why, and he told me that the last names were Gavaskar and Gothoskar. Then I told him that there were so many “Kars” in that team – Wadekar, Parkar, Solkar – and was I uncle to all of them? I told him that in that case, Sid Buller, the English umpire, and Keith Miller should also be related.In the same match, Nawab of Patuadi was beaten neck-and-crop and bowled, and the ball went to the boundary. But I had called it a no-ball and the tall Greig leant towards me (unfortunately, I don’t have the photograph with me now) and exclaimed: “Oh God! Why did you call it a no ball?” I told him, “Had you told me you were about to beat him neck-and-crop, I wouldn’t have called”.I umpired in the next Test at Mumbai as well. When Gundappa Vishwanath scored his century, Greig lifted him and cradled him like a baby, singing a lullaby. When Greig then scored a hundred, Gavaskar called Vishy and they both tried to lift Greig. Of course, they couldn’t!
Nobody made the game look better and few ever played it better than Brian Lara
Rahul Bhattacharya20-Apr-2007Brian Lara, maker of epics, will bat one last time on Saturday. As ever, man and batsman, leader and performer, will take stage together in familiar conflict. Appointed captain a third time specifically for the Caribbean World Cup, he had some encouraging success with the one-day side but ultimately leaves behind this botched campaign as his final mark. Humiliation still fresh in their minds, but still the momentousness of the exit of the most brilliant batsman of his time before their eyes, West Indians will be divided. To savour him one last time or blame him one last time?Always it has been so with Lara. I stumbled across an article from many years ago by BC Pires in Jamaica. To the Jamaican taxi driver the issue of Lara was clear: “‘im like a child, like my likka son at home: ‘im want captaincy, ‘im must get captaincy; ‘im wan’ to bat at number five, ‘im must bat at number five; ‘im don’t want captaincy any more, ‘im t’row it back; ‘im don’t wan’ play, ‘im don’ play, ‘im never care if the team need ‘im. No, bredren, West Indies parform better without him.”I also came across a short note on the message boards of caribbeancricket.com minutes after the understated announcement of retirement. “My hero since I was a very young boy. I’ve followed his career since de afro days at Fatima. Missed classes to watch him bat. This is a sad day for me.”It is for me too, because Lara’s batsmanship was the greatest pleasure I derived out of cricket in the last two decades along with the bowling of Wasim Akram and I could have watched the game if they alone played it in the field. Lara batted with sensual beauty and gluttonous appetite. To watch him move into position was to already understand the possibilities of this game. To study his figures was to marvel the scope of his conception. He made the most runs in an over, an innings, a career. Anything anyone did he did bigger. Can you imagine someone making five hundred runs at one shot?Nobody twinkled his feet so and angled his blade so and keep hitting gaps like Lara, an intuition sharpened in childhood when he arranged pots as fielders to practise. In 2003 a man at deep midwicket was taken out and put beside another behind point. This comes from Adam Gilchrist in a couple of seasons ago. “Mistake,” hissed Lara. Next ball Lara lofted to midwicket for six. Gilchrist taunted Lara to take on the two men behind point instead. Lara strung it between them for four. Next ball was straighter, Lara backed away and strung it through again. Best remain silent now, Gilchrist then decided. This was to demonstrate precision of his skill. But I particularly liked “mistake”. ‘You don’t know what I can do?’ was the strut. That is the Lara motif.The ambitions of his mind as much as the liquidity of his movements have been of fascination. A colleague from junior cricket told me about the time Lara the boy would come knocking at the door early in the morning every week when they published the averages, brandish the paper in his face with a great satisfied smirk and be off on his way to practice. When he was performing the improbable task of continuously taking apart Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka
Nobody could pack so much drama, meaning in every shot of cricket. Consequently nobody could so illuminate the point that this is a sport of such independent events, of an infinite number of worlds
in 2001, his likely successor Ramnaresh Sarwan, unable to summon such mastery, watched in awe from the other end. ‘Just watch how I do it,’ Lara is said to have advised Sarwan, testament to both the man’s ego and his genius.Five years ago after a fair chase I did a satisfying interview with him. He told me a little story behind the 153 not out against Australia, perhaps his defining work in a career full of defining works. You remember the scenario, pay dispute, 0-5 in South Africa, 51 all out in the first Test, and then the brilliant double-hundred to level the series before the classic Test at Bridgetown. A school friend, Nicholas Gomez, had presented him a Michael Jordan book. In it Jordan had spoken about his visualisation techniques. “I remember calling Gomez at six o’clock in the morning, the last morning of the Test match, and we went about planning this innings against the best team in the world.” This was Lara’s focus upon arousal, and if it deserted him he always found it back, and in the waxing and waning there was something reassuringly cyclical as it was frustrating.Seven years on from that Australia series came another contract dispute, and Lara among others was dropped for endorsing the wrong corporate. When he returned, 36 years old now, he walked out at 13 for 2 in the opening hour against South Africa, having not played a Test for seven months. He made 196; the next highest score was 35. Thirteen days later he emerged at 12 for 2, soon to become 12 for 3, again on the first morning, and made 176 from 224 balls out of 296. West Indies were drubbed in both Tests. To test the point that Lara inhibits the rest of the team, he was dropped for the following one-dayers against Pakistan. West Indies lost all matches. Back for the Tests, Lara now walked out at 25 for 2 – for a third time, in the opening hour of the match – and struck 130 from 120 balls , this the most sublime of the lot.Lara tees off against Harbhajan Singh in Trinidad last year•Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty ImagesHe bows out now in a one-day match but it was not his preferred stage. Though his magical wrists, his intuition for gaps, his talent at going aerial were all suited to one-day cricket, not so the scale. The canvas was too small. Lara was of odysseys. He liked to get in, bat one, two days, score two, three, four hundred runs. Before such calibre, the limitations of one-day cricket were too petty.Even so he was for a time – early in his career, when he batted always in the top four, rather than five or six where he has spent much of his last stint as captain – about the finest limited-overs batsman in the world too. He took 41 matches to get his first hundred. Then he added another ten in the next 70. His average passed 47. Those were the days of the mid-Nineties when the world of cricket turned for Brian Lara. All he touched turned to runs. Then came the slump, and while he regained his genius in Test matches, it wasn’t ever quite the same in one-day cricket. The same appetite he could not bring to the short form and many a potential masterpiece was sawn off. In the past eleven innings alone he has had scores of 44, 31, 37, 37, 21 and 33.But every now and then the brilliance shone through. His last one-day century, the only one in three years, was 156 against Pakistan at Adelaide last season. The final 57 balls of that innings brought 106 runs. It was a stunning reminder of his destructive potential and reminiscent particularly of his Sharjah blitz against Sri Lanka a decade ago when he had gone from 100 to 169 in 29 deliveries.Having been unlucky in that way, it is from a one-day match that I have the best memories of watching Lara live. This was in Trinidad last year. The position was carefully determined so as to find the most unfettered view of that great big glittering backlift and wind-up. We settled somewhere between wide long-off and extra cover. Till he closed the issue with triumphant sixes off Harbhajan Singh, he played an innings of hard grit. So it was an hour or two of watching him size it up and really it was all I wanted to watch.There comes a point in the Lara wind-up when all the game seems frozen. He is bent climatically at the knees, bat, as the clichĂ©’ has it, raised like a guillotine, eyes trained down the pitch and, surely, given his knack for reading of spin and swing, at the bowler’s wrist. Insofar as the life of a cricket stroke goes, this is the fatal moment, the hairline between death, glory and a day at the office. It is perhaps not normal to think of cricket shots in those terms. Yet nobody could make the spectator more alive to these possibilities. Nobody could pack so much drama, meaning in every shot of cricket. Consequently nobody could so illuminate the point that this is a sport of such independent events, of an infinite number of worlds. Nobody, for better or for worse, could so strongly confirm that this here is the ultimate individual sport played by a team.Nobody made the game look better and few ever played it better. So look hard on Saturday because we may not see the likes of this again and if we do we can think back to Lara and smile.
Following Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s heroics, Cricinfo looks back at similar one-day thrillers
Kanishkaa Balachandran03-Aug-2006
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Javed Miandad – Pakistan v India, Australasia Cup final, Sharjah, 1986
The most legendary of them all. Nobody could have scripted a better climax – a tournament final between India and Pakistan, four needed off the last ball, and a rampaging Javed Miandad fighting a lone battle. Chasing 246, Pakistan lost their ninth wicket with five runs needed to win, as Tauseef Ahmed joined Miandad, unbeaten with a dogged century. Chetan Sharma, who bowled the final over, dished out a slow, friendly full toss on leg stump which Miandad spanked over the square leg almost on his knees. His wild celebrations with Tauseef sent one nation into a frenzy and the other into a state of paralysis. It was Pakistan’s first victory in a one-day tournament, and its psychological impact on India was palpable for years, in contests between the two rivals.Lance Klusener – South Africa v New Zealand, Napier, 1998-99
This was a prelude to Klusener’s heroics in the World Cup. Chasing 193, South Africa needed 11 off the final over from Dion Nash with two wickets in hand. New Zealand drew first blood with Mark Boucher skying the ball straight to the fielder at midwicket, but significantly, the batsmen crossed. With ten still required, Klusener bludgeoned the third ball to the backward point fence. Two singles later, Klusener was back on strike for the last ball with four required. Nash’s attempted yorker went totally haywire, as Klusener duly smashed it over the long-on boundary. A dejected Nash failed to exorcise the ghosts of the previous year, when his attempt at guiding his team home in another thriller, in Brisbane, was foiled by a running catch at the boundary by none other than – you guessed it – Klusener.Asif Mujtaba – Pakistan v Australia, Hobart, 1992-93
Another typical Pakistan heart-stopper, this time off Asif Mujtaba’s bat. Needing 17 to win off the final over, Mark Taylor tossed the ball to the `Iceman’ Steve Waugh, whose famous last-over spells became a part of World Cup folklore during their successful campaign in 1987. Mujtaba lived up to his own reputation as a finisher, and paid scant respect to Waugh’s, carting the ball at will, with a last-ball six to level the scores. Technically, there was no winner, but the moral victory was certainly Pakistan’s.Brendan Taylor – Zimbabwe v Bangladesh, Harare, 2006
This time the minnows possessed the license to thrill. With Zimbabwe requiring an astronomical 28 off the last two overs, Brendan Taylor and Tawanda Mupariwa caused a few tremors in the penultimate over, taking 11 runs off it. The final over from Mashrafe Mortaza had it all – a six off the second ball by Taylor, a single which was refused, a run-out, a one-handed swish to midwicket for a boundary. With five required off the last ball, a six seemed the only option, as Taylor sent the home crowd into raptures with a lofted six over midwicket.
The one that got away – Australia v New Zealand, World Series Cup, Melbourne,1980-81
New Zealand were one big hit away from – a tie – but the thought of No.11 Brian McKechnie slamming Trevor Chappell into the stands of the world’s biggest ground was too much for his elder brother and captain Greg Chappell to take. What followed was one of the most controversial incidents ever witnessed on a cricket field. The captain instructed him to bowl an underarm ball,
exploiting a “glaring” omission in the playing conditions, which at that time deemed it a legitimate delivery. Scathing criticism followed and the loophole was soon rectified.
Stats highlights from the first day of the third Test in Perth
S Rajesh and HR Gopalakrishna16-Jan-2008
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