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West Indies’ bowling coach had good things to say about his wards, especially legspinner Devendra Bishoo who has found form once again after a disappointing tour of England

Liam Brickhill in Bulawayo22-Oct-2017

West Indies bowling coach Roddy Estwick credited an “outstanding” bowling attack for setting up West Indies’ first-innings lead over Zimbabwe in the first Test at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Estwick, who has worked with the team’s bowlers for the last 18 months, gave special mention to legspinner Devendra Bishoo, who had a quiet tour of England but came to the fore with 5 for 79 against Zimbabwe.”Over the last year the bowling department has been functioning well, so I’m not surprised that we were able to bowl them out under our score,” Estwick said. “The bowling unit has been outstanding all year, and once Bishoo came to the party. I wasn’t surprised we restricted them to this score.”Bishoo, who took just three wickets across two Tests in England, picked up the fourth five-wicket haul of his career and ran through Zimbabwe’s top order with a combination of spin, bounce and accuracy in helpful conditions on the second day.”He didn’t have the best tour of England,” Estwick conceded. “It’s a difficult place to bowl. But if you look [at the last year], he got 30 wickets in that period so he’s been quite successful. He got eight wickets in Dubai on a flat track as well, so he does his job. The bowling unit has been outstanding; you can’t fault them. They’ve been able to stay on the park and stay fresh. It’s been a long year but we keep going and we keep getting teams out.”Estwick suggested that West Indies had taken their cue from Zimbabwe’s first-day bowling effort, when the patience and consistency of the seamers set up the spinners’ demolition. “Obviously we learnt from the way that Zimbabwe bowled in their first innings where they were patient and soaked up pressure,” he said. “We tried to do the same thing, block it with our seamers and try to get wickets from the other end.”West Indies’ lead stood at 148, with nine wickets standing, at the close of play, but in what has been a fast-moving, see-sawing Test match so far Estwick also warned against any complacency. “[The pitch] is going to get a bit more difficult because it’s going to lose pace, and that means strokemaking is going to get difficult. Zimbabwe lost 7 for 53 [58] after lunch, so the game can change very quickly on a pitch like this. We’ve got to try and take the game as long as possible. Bat until lunchtime and then assess from there. You can’t get ahead of yourself on this pitch. There’s a lot of cricket left.”

Despite objections from the larger provinces, the PCB arrived at a compromise that will aim to push nepotism out of domestic team selection

Umar Farooq29-Jul-2017

Regional sides in the 2017-18 Quaid-e-Azam trophy will be selected, in part, through a draft process, after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) voted the changes through at a board meeting. Karachi, which represents the largest regional association in the country (a city with nearly 25 million residents), led the objections and walked out of the meeting on Friday in protest. But that was the only significant objection to what is now a reality: a radical new model whereby regional first-class sides will pick players through a draft process and not, as has been traditionally the way, through their own inter-districts cricket.”There were animated discussions on the domestic revamp,” PCB chairman, Shaharyar Khan said in a press conference after the meeting in Lahore. “Karachi said this new system was wrong. But we have taken the position that the draft will happen, otherwise there is corruption and nepotism in the system. It happens often in some regions where the president wants to play his players. Karachi did raise an objection and then, yes, they did walk out of the meeting.”Problems with non-merit based selections is one of the main reasons the PCB has come up with this new model, as well as a desire to enhance the competitiveness of regional sides who have struggled to compete against department sides in the QEA; historically, when regional and department sides have been grouped together in the tournament, the latter have fielded the better players, enabled by greater financial resources at their disposal.The move has come in for some criticism, and it was partly that which led the board to agree to a compromise on the balance of players picked by a draft process and players picked through more conventional routes.Initially, the model envisaged that 12 players out of a regional squad of 20 would be picked through the draft. Lahore, another major regional association, had suggested a reversal, where eight players would come through a draft. In the end, a compromise was reached: eight players will be picked through a draft, 10 through the usual selection and two will be emerging players from the region’s Under-19 circuit.Najam Sethi, the PCB’s executive committee head, said all stakeholders had been taken on board. “Ejaz Farooqi (head of the Karachi association) wrote a letter of objection to the board and spoke about it as well at the meeting. Shakeel Sheikh, who is the head of the committee, has made those decisions with all stakeholders involved. Lahore wanted a 12-8 model (with 12 from region and 8 from a draft). So the compromise we worked out is 10-10. Selection will remain with regional heads and regional coaches. It won’t be such a big issue.”The decision was taken in the final outgoing Board of Governors (BoG) meeting under the leadership of Shahryar Khan – whose tenure ends next month. It was the last meeting chaired by Khan as well as for the 10 governing boards members; next month, a new board with a new chairman will be formed.Four new regions – Lahore, Sialkot, Quetta and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) – will replace Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi and Peshawar. United Bank Limited (UBL) and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) will retain their spots as departments on the board on the basis of their standing in the 2016-17 QEA, while Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Sui Southern Gas Corporation (SSGC) will replace National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL).Sethi, who heads the Pakistan Super League (PSL), is the leading candidate to take over as board chairman from Khan. He was recently named as one of two direct nominees on the BoG, appointed by the patron of the board, the prime minister of Pakistan. Until Friday, Nawaz Sharif was that man, but he was disqualified by Pakistan’s Supreme Court in a situation that has been building up since the Panama Papers. His disqualification, for the moment, leaves Pakistan without a functional government, and the PCB without a patron.Coinciding as it does with the ascension of a new board head, ordinarily, the political uncertainty would ripple out into the board as well. But Sethi was confident that movement in Islamabad would not affect the PCB’s imminent changes next month. “What happened in Islamabad has no relation to the PCB,” Sethi said. “Today the PCB has no patron. But now a new one will come. It’s not such a big deal, there is no constitutional issue.”Sethi’s prospects will, however, depend heavily on who takes over from Sharif as the prime minister and patron of the PCB. Even before Sharif’s dismissal, a Supreme Court advocate had filed a writ petition against Sethi’s nomination in the Islamabad High Court. The court hasn’t admitted the case but is assessing the maintainability of the petition and the hearing has been adjourned until August 10.

اختتمت مباريات الجولة الأولى من مواجهات المجموعة الثانية، لـ بطولة كأس الخليج 2024 “خليجي 26″، المقامة في الكويت، بعد فوز العراق على اليمن وانتصار البحرين أمام السعودية.

وانطلقت بطولة كأس الخليج “خليجي 26” مساء أمس السبت، وتستمر حتى 3 يناير 2025، بمشاركة 8 منتخبات.

وتضم المجموعة الثانية، ببطولة كأس الخليج “خليجي 26″، العراق والسعودية والبحرين واليمن.

وفي المباراة الأولى التي أقيمت اليوم الأحد، فاز منتخب العراق على اليمن، بهدف دون رد.

طالع | ترتيب المجموعة الثانية في كأس الخليج 2024 “خليجي 26” بعد فوز السعودية على اليمن

وفي المواجهة الثانية من المجموعة، حقق منتخب البحرين انتصارًا مثيرًا أمام السعودية، بنتيجة 3-2.

وبتلك النتائج، يتصدر منتخب البحرين ترتيب المجموعة الثانية، في بطولة كأس الخليج “خليجي 26” برصيد 3 نقاط، متساويًا معه العراق بنفس عدد النقاط، لكن الأفضلية في الأهداف لصالح منتخب البحرين. ترتيب المجموعة الثانية في كأس الخليج “خليجي 26”

1- البحرين – 3 نقاط.

2- العراق – 3 نقاط.

3- السعودية – بدون نقاط.

4- اليمن – بدون نقاط.

يمكنكم متابعة ترتيب مجموعات بطولة كأس الخليج 2024 “خليجي 26″، بشكل محدث باستمرار.. من هنا

The legspinner, who was bashed for three consecutive sixes by Hardik Pandya in the first ODI, feels bowling bad balls willfully could sometimes buck the pressure off bowlers

Alagappan Muthu in Kolkata 19-Sep-20172:45

Bowling right lengths important in India – Zampa

Perhaps because three of his deliveries – at a length he was meant to bowl – disappeared for sixes, Australia legspinner Adam Zampa realises the value of willfully bowling bad balls in one-day cricket.He was bashed for three consecutive sixes by Hardik Pandya during the course of a lower-order recovery that became match-changing for India. In the aftermath of that 26-run defeat, captain Steven Smith admitted that his lead spinner may have bowled a bit too full. On Tuesday, Zampa said the same, contemplating the possibility of giving up a single to deep point as a good option against a batsman on a roll.”The length over here is very important, particularly with the size of the grounds,” he said. “In Australia, you can mix up your length a little bit and you’ll get away with it purely because of the size of the Ovals. And here, sometimes I think you’ve got to try and bowl a bad ball, almost, to buck the pressure off you, to get a player off strike. A cut shot out to deep point can play a good role, sometimes. I was thinking the other day but just didn’t execute it well enough. I pride myself on bowling well under pressure and the other day I just didn’t execute as well as I’d have liked to.”R Ashwin had echoed similar sentiments to ESPNcricinfo in 2016 that an over of six well-constructed dot balls might be the way forward – although he was talking specifically about T20 cricket. As Pandya showed, batsmen are happy to get under a bowler – especially a spinner – when he hits a good length and hit straight – which carries much less risk than cross-bat slogs.”You never like to be hit for three sixes in a row,” Zampa said. “But I guess it does happen, it’s probably happened to Shane Warne and guys like that too. As long as you don’t put yourself under too much pressure and learn from those situations, and hopefully if it happens again, I’ll get him out earlier, I’ll get out of that situation better.”Zampa eventually got Pandya out for 83 – although too late in this case – in his ninth over with a flatter, faster ball. “It is tough sometimes knowing that you just have to execute this ball because if you don’t, it’ll probably going to be the same result. So as I said, a bad ball can sometimes be your best way out and just getting the wicket, that’s your job as a spinner in the middle overs.”Against teams like India, there’s always going to be a partnership, and there are going to be situations like that that you have to get out of and I think the best thing to do in those situations is to just take a deep breath and think about what the team needs – whether getting that player off strike or getting him out and that could be the difference of 20, 30, 40 runs that you have to chase.”

Alex Hepburn has been charged with two counts of rape and Worcestershire’s director of cricket Steve Rhodes put on leave because of the way he handled the matter

George Dobell29-Nov-2017

Worcestershire have been thrown into disarray after a player was accused of rape and the director of cricket put on leave by his county because he did not properly bring it to their attention.Alex Hepburn, the 21-year-old allrounder, was charged with two counts of rape on November 9 while Steve Rhodes, the club’s long-serving director of cricket, has been put on leave by Worcestershire and England after failing to report the player’s arrest in a timely fashion.Rhodes, who had been appointed to coach the England U19 team at the World Cup in the new year, has also been relieved of those duties and replaced by Gloucestershire’s Richard Dawson.It is alleged that, when Hepburn was first arrested on April 1, he approached Rhodes for assistance. Rhodes agreed not to pass on details of the allegation to the club’s board and, while the investigation continued, Hepburn was selected for the first team (in T20 cricket) and signed a one-year contract extension with the club.News that he had subsequently been charged resulted in the matter coming to the attention of the club and the ECB. It is understood they were told on November 9 and 10.Alex Hepburn has been charged with two counts of rape•Getty Images

Hepburn is suspended on full pay. He will appear in court on December 7. Rhodes is currently the subject of an internal disciplinary hearing, run by independent board members, which is expected to conclude within the first week of December. There is every chance is career at the club – extending back to 1985, is over.A West Mercia police statement said: “A man has been charged in connection with a rape investigation in Worcester. Alex Hepburn, aged 21 of Diglis, Worcester, was charged on 9 November with two counts of rape of a woman 16 years or older.”The charge is in connection with an investigation into the rape of a woman on 1 April 2017. Hepburn will appear at Worcester Magistrates Court on 7 December 2017.”Rhodes and the Worcestershire chief executive, Tom Scott, fell out earlier this year over the handling of Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s move to Yorkshire.Partially as a result and partially because the structure of the club prevented him from effectively managing Rhodes, Scott tendered his resignation and leaves the club at the end of the year.”The ECB can confirm Steve Rhodes will not be travelling to South Africa as head coach to the Young Lions on secondment fromWorcestershire,” an ECB spokesman told ESPNcricinfo. “Richard Dawson, the Gloucestershire head coach, will take on the role of head coach to the Young Lions squad in South Africa.”Hepburn moved to England from Australia in 2013. Having played for Western Australia U17, he represented Worcestershire twice in List Acricket in 2015 and made it into their T20 side in 2017.

Hardik Rathod, who took late wickets on the second day of the Ranji Trophy final to keep Saurashtra’s hopes alive, said his team hopes to clean up Mumbai’s lower order early and bat well on the third day

Shashank Kishore in Pune25-Feb-2016

Think of Saurashtra’s bowling and Ravindra Jadeja comes to mind immediately. Scratch the surface, and then there’s Jaydev Unadkat. Eye-catching moments with the ball have been far and few if you look beyond these two. But on Thursday, there was a ray of hope in the form of Hardik Rathod.The 27-year-old isn’t a tearaway quick, but his ability to swing the ball can be mighty effective when he lands them in the right spot. While he was anything but consistent when Shreyas Iyer was at the crease, he found his rhythm towards the end of the day; his three late wickets of Abhishek Nayar, Dhawal Kulkarni and Shardul Thakur gave Saurashtra hope after they were sent on a leather hunt in the afternoon.Rathod’s career, although in its nascent stages, hasn’t panned out the way he would have liked. His last first-class appearance before the quarter-final was in December 2013 against Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow. Modest returns – 21 wickets in 11 matches – didn’t inspire confidence within the team management. But an injury to Shaurya Sanandia, that drew curtains on his season, proved to be a blessing in disguise for Rathod. He justified the call-up by picking up six wickets in the semi-final and complementing Jaydev Unadkat who finished with a 11-wicket haul, as Assam were handed a ten-wicket thrashing.A repeat of that show didn’t seem coming when Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav combined to flatten Saurashtra’s bowlers in the second session. “In the first spell, when Iyer was batting, he was going for his strokes and we were trying for wickets,” he explained. “The aim was that we should get him out as quickly as possible. In trying to try too hard, we either bowled too short or too full, and gave away a lot of runs. But in the evening, after tea, the plan was to limit the runs and create pressure. As runs dry up the pressure will tell.”When Suryakumar and Iyer were playing, we couldn’t execute our plans. Suryakumar was taking singles and Iyer was playing his strokes. So we had to keep changing the fields and our bowling strategies often, as a result of which our consistency went for a toss.”The tea break came to Saurashtra’s rescue. They had just taken the wicket of Iyer, and were two wickets away from breaking into the lower order. Cheteshwar Pujara, who briefly led the side in Jaydev Shah’s absence, brought the team together and gave them a pep talk. The bowlers, particularly, were all ears. The plan, according to Rathod, was as simple as it could get.”Both the captain (Jaydev Shah) and Cheteshwar Pujara told us not to try too many things, to bowl one line and length. ‘Force the batsmen to make mistakes and don’t vary too much from your disciplines. Let them play their shots, you just remain consistent’, that was the message they gave us,” Rathod said. “It worked for us towards the end.”On another day, it may have come a little too late, but in slicing through the lower order, Saurashtra have given themselves an opening. “On the first day there was moisture but today, second day, it played well, both for batting and, if you put in some effort, for the bowlers as well,” Rathod said. “You have to try harder on day three with the ball than on day one. The match is wide open. Tomorrow, we will look to get them out as quickly as possible. The less the lead, the better because there is every chance of this being an outright game. Get the two wickets early and bat well, that is the plan for tomorrow.”One man the team can take a cue from is Prerak Mankad, the debutant, who was fast-tracked into the team after consistent returns for Saurashtra Under-23s. He battled hard to make a composed 66, after walking in to bat at 108 for 7. It helped Saurashtra get past the 200-mark on a surface where batsmen needed to graft.”Ever since we got here, I had feelers from the coach that I would play, because this is a seaming wicket,” Mankad said. “The plan was to bat normally, but I hadn’t faced an attack of this quality before. Maybe in an Under-25 game against Rajasthan, we played on a similar surface, but not this kind of attack. The plan was to play close to the body and leave balls that are outside off stump, that was the plan.”From the morning, when I was included in the XI, the team motivated me. The environment was good, everyone was pushing me and my self-belief was good. When I walked out, Arpit Vasavada was already batting. That was very important for me because he is my captain in inter-district cricket, I have been playing with him for a long time. He kept giving me advice and I followed that.”

The top-order batsman said that T20 is not played with only power shots, and that his role was to “play the anchor while the team plays around me”

Umar Farooq in Karachi03-Apr-2018

Babar Azam has made a name for himself in the last couple of years with his strokeplay and consistent scores. A batting average of 53.15 in T20Is is compelling. He endured an underwhelming start to his career in 2015 but is now seen as a level-headed batsman in Pakistan’s top order. Even though his strike rate in T20s has been a talking point in recent times, he scored an unbeaten 97 off 58 balls against West Indies in the second T20I in Karachi, but regretted missing out on a century in front of a home crowd.Azam was on strike on 89 when Pakistan’s last over started, but he managed only eight runs off the five balls he faced from Kesrick Williams.”I went with a hundred in sight. That’s why I took a chance, but I wasn’t able to utilise a couple of balls, which is why I missed it,” he said after the match. “I had an experienced man – Shoaib Malik – at the other end, and was coordinating with him if I should take a chance or go for a single or double. I think that is where I lapsed, and I didn’t read a few balls that slowed things down. This is unfortunate for me, but only I am responsible for it. But I have another game tomorrow, and hopefully I can score a century this time.”Azam recently scored 402 runs in the Pakistan Super League, with the help of five half-centuries, and was the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament. He was promoted in this series to open in place of Ahmed Shehzad, and he pounced on it by smacking 13 fours and a six on Monday night, after scoring 17 in the opening T20. He was often criticised for his slowness and inability to shift gears with the pace of the match, as his strike rate of 122.18 showed in the PSL.”Runs are runs, even if they are coming off playing cut shots or in front, but it’s not like T20 can only be played with big shots,” he said. “It is not my role to go out and do the power hitting, my job is to play my natural game. There is always a plan, and that is very simple – to lead the game till the end, and my role is to play the anchor while the team plays around me. I know I shift gears, and when power hitting is required, I do it, but mostly, I just try to be myself and play my natural game.”Azam made it sound simple, but his innings during the second PSL eliminator, against Peshawar Zalmi in Lahore last month, was a major talking point. He had the composure but lacked the acceleration in the end overs. His knock of 63 off 45 balls at No. 3 for Karachi Kings went in vain as they fell short in their chase of 171 by 13 runs despite having eight wickets in hand.”I do not pay any heed to the negative thoughts, I just go with the plan my team gives me,” he said. “People do talk, but my job is to play cricket with 100% commitment. I also have no concern if I play as an opener or one-down, it’s all about what my team requires and I go with that. There is no pressure as such on me because I have a very strong belief in myself. I know if I have to play all three formats, I have to be fully fit with a positive mindset. Being a batsman, runs are always on my mind, otherwise the tension starts to mount. Playing all three formats is very demanding, and I know I can only do this by keeping myself fit.”Karachi is hosting international cricket after nine years, and even though Pakistan have clinched the T20I series with a 2-0 lead against a depleted West Indies side, Azam said winning was still important to boost their confidence.”Wining the series is always very important because it brings a lot confidence in you for the next tour,” he said. “We don’t consider them a weak opponent. They are the world champions, but we are given our plans, and we are just sticking to it and executing them accordingly.”No doubt, when you play in front of home crowd, it gives you immense confidence. You understand the home conditions very well and have the knowledge about playing at home in domestic cricket which helps you a lot for international games.”

The long list submitted to the eight franchises contains 1122 players and is set to be pruned further once the teams submit their wishlists to the IPL

Nagraj Gollapudi13-Jan-2018

Still waiting for his disciplinary or legal charges for the Bristol incident in September, Ben Stokes is among the 36 players who have listed their base price at the maximum of INR 2 crore (USD 315,000 approx) ahead of the IPL auction on January 27 and 28.The most notable names among the 13 Indian and 23 overseas players in the highest-price band were Mitchell Starc, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Brendon McCullum, Rashid Khan, Chris Gayle and Eoin Morgan.Players with top base prices

INR 2 crore (USD 315,000 approx.):
Indian players: R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, M Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Karn Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa. Overseas players: Rashid Khan, Pat Cummins, James Faulkner, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Johnson, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Cameron White, Eoin Morgan, Liam Plunkett, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Corey Anderson, Brendon McCullum, Quinton de Kock, Colin Ingram, Angelo Mathews, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard.
INR 1.5 crore (USD 235,000 approx.): Aaron Finch, Amit Mishra, David Miller, Evin Lewis, Faf du Plessis, Harry Gurney, Hashim Amla, Jason Holder, Jason Roy, Jaydev Unadkat, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Kagiso Rabada, Kane Williamson, Kuldeep Yadav, Kyle Abbott, Lendl Simmons, Mark Wood, Michael Klinger, Moeen Ali, Mohit Sharma, Moises Henriques, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Nathan Lyon, Peter Handscomb, Ravi Bopara, Shaun Marsh, Steven Finn, Travis Head, Trent Boult, Washington Sundar.
INR 1 crore (USD 160,000 approx.): Adam Zampa, Alex Hales, Andrew Tye, Ben Cutting, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Jordan, Dale Steyn, Daniel Christian, Dwayne Smith, Jason Behrendorff, JP Duminy, Lasith Malinga, Manish Pandey, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Imran Tahir, Mustafizur Rahman, Parthiv Patel, Piyush Chawla, Sam Billings, Samuel Badree, Sanju Samson, Shakib Al Hasan, Shane Watson, Tim Southee, Tom Curran, Tymal Mills, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha

On Friday, the IPL sent the long list of 1122 players to the eight franchises which includes 281 capped players and 838 uncapped players, including 778 Indians and three players from the Associate nations. A final auction pool would be prepared by the end of next week once the franchises submit their wishlists to the IPL.As the franchises get ready for the mega two-day auction, one name at the top of their wishlist would be Stokes. The allrounder became the most expensive overseas player bought at an IPL auction when Rising Pune Supergiant paid INR 14.5 crore (USD 2.16 million approx in 2017). Stokes lived up to the hype by helping Pune to the final, which they lost to Mumbai Indians, as he earned the Player-of-the-Tournament award in his maiden IPL.Stokes scored 316 runs at a strike rate of 142.98 including an unbeaten century while chasing down 162 against Gujarat Lions. He also picked 12 wickets with an economy rate of 7.18 from the 12 matches he played, missing the final because of national duties.Stokes has not played for England since his arrest on September 26 but represented Canterbury in three one-dayers and as many T20s in December, including a 47-ball 93 in a T20 against Otago. Last week, Stokes was named in the England squad for the two Tests in New Zealand starting in February, although his involvement is subject to any relevant legal or disciplinary developments.Fast bowler Tymal Mills listed his base price at INR 1 crore (USD 160,000 approx.). Last IPL auction, Mills not just set a new record price for a specialist bowler but was also the second-most expensive sale at the tenth auction when Royal Challengers Bangalore paid INR 12 crore (USD 1.8 million approx in 2017) for him. Mills’ returns were five wickets at an economy rate of 8.57 from five matches.Another international name that is likely to attract huge interest is Starc. Fresh after his Ashes heroics, Starc remains an attractive buy with his ability to deliver the ball at a fiery pace, dart in toe-crushing yorkers and also deceive batsmen with a change of pace. There was hardly any surprise when Royal Challengers paid INR 5 crore (USD 833,000) in 2014, although Starc could only play for them for two seasons; in 2016 he was injured while last year he parted ways with the franchise wanting to balance his workload.The most overseas entries in the auction came from Australia – 58 names. South Africa were close with 57, and Sri Lanka and West Indies had 39 each. There were 23 players from England and 13 from Afghanistan.Although most of the top names kept their base prices high, there were some exceptions. India fast bowler Ishant Sharma listed his base price at INR 75 lakhs (USD 118,000 approx). Incidentally, Ishant went unsold at the 2017 auction having listed his base price then at INR 2 crore. His disappointment was soon washed away after he replaced the injured M Vijay for Kings XI Punjab.Manish Pandey, one of the contenders to lead Kolkata Knight Riders, has pegged his base price at INR 1 crore. Pandey is likely to be retained by Knight Riders through the right-to-match card option at the auction.Mohammed Siraj, one of the success stories last IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad, listed his base price at INR 1 cr, too. Siraj, who has played two T20Is for India since last year’s IPL, was bought by Sunrisers for INR 2.6 cr last year (USD 3,88,000 then). Young Indian offspinner Washington Sundar, who also made his international debut recently, set his base price at INR 1.5 crore (USD 235,000 approx.). Sundar was one of the go-to bowlers for Pune last year and along with Rahul Tripathi, he was instrumental in the team ending as runners-up.In contrast to the high base prices of Siraj and Sundar, some of the uncapped top performers of last IPL set their price much lower. While Tripathi listed his base price at the minimum – INR 20 lakhs (USD 31,500 approx), Basil Thampi and Krunal Pandya listed theirs at INR 30 lakhs (USD 50,000) and 40 lakhs (USD 63,000) respectively. Thampi was bought by Gujarat Lions for INR 85 lakhs (USD 126,000) last year and was their second-highest wicket-taker in his maiden IPL with 11 wickets, but with an expensive economy rate of 9.49.Krunal superseded senior bowler Harbhajan Singh with his wickets tally for Mumbai Indians who won the IPL for a third time last year. Krunal scored 243 runs at 34.71 and struck them at 135.75 alongside his 10 wickets and an economy rate of under seven per over. Incidentally, Mumbai were keen on retaining Krunal, but eventually picked his younger brother Hardik. With two right-to-match cards in hand, Mumbai are likely to retain Krunal at the auction.Assam’s 16-year old batsman Riyan Parag was the youngest player on the auction list while Mumbai legspinner Pravin Tambe, 46, was the oldest.

Glenn Maxwell hit form with a half-century, but Victoria lost four wickets in the space of two overs as stumps neared on day two against South Australia in Melbourne

Daniel Brettig05-Nov-2017
Marcus Harris celebrates his century•Getty Images

Glenn Maxwell reminded the selection chairman Trevor Hohns of his desire to stay in the Australian Test team and Marcus Harris showed flashes of brilliance in a century that took Victoria into a first innings lead over South Australia, before the Redbacks fired back with the second new ball to leave the Sheffield Shield match tantalisingly poised after two days at the MCG.Playing with a considered, determined approach that mirrored his first Test century in Ranchi earlier this year, Maxwell made it as far as 60 before he was unfortunate to be dismissed when a Daniel Worrall short ball deflected from his body onto the stumps on the stroke of tea. The manner of the dismissal, in the face of a concerted short-pitched attack by Worrall, emphasised how Maxwell had been trying to occupy the crease rather than going for his many shots at every opportunity.In making his third Shield hundred for the Bushrangers, meanwhile, Harris showcased the talent that led to his selection by Western Australia as a teenager, now allied to greater consistency than he was able to demonstrate with the Warriors. He and Aaron Finch took a particular toll on the wrist spin of Adam Zampa, who claimed the opening wicket of the innings but was taken for more than six an over.Zampa had been unfortunate when he lured Harris out of his crease with the opener on 47. Alex Carey, considered a chance to take the wicketkeeper’s spot in the Australian Ashes XI, was unable to complete the chance, though he was later to claim a neat diving catch to dismiss Daniel Christian.As stumps neared, the Bushrangers seemed certain to build a major advantage, but the captain Peter Handscomb was freakishly caught and bowled by a diving Jake Lehmann, and after Worrall found some reverse swing to nab Sam Harper lbw a further four wickets went down in the space of two overs with the second new ball. Chadd Sayers claimed three of these in the final over of the day, the last two with consecutive balls to leave him on a hat-trick with one wicket of the Victorian innings available on day three.

اعترف أسامة إدريسي، لاعب فريق باتشوكا، بأنهم لم يتوقعوا مثل تلك المباراة الصعبة التي خاضها أمام الأهلي، من أجل الوصول إلى نهائي كأس إنتركونتيننتال.

ويلتقي باتشوكا المكسيكي مع ريال مدريد، مساء الغد على ملعب “لوسيل” في قطر، في نهائي كأس إنتركونتيننتال، نسخة 2024.

وتأهل باتشوكا إلى تلك المباراة بعدما فاز على الأهلي المصري، بركلات الترجيح، يوم السبت الماضي، بعد انتهاء الوقت الأصلي والشوطين الإضافيين بالتعادل السلبي.

وقال أسامة إدريسي، في تصريحات للموقع الرسمي لـ فيفا: “التواجد في هذه المباراة النهائية أمر كبير للغاية بالنسبة للاعبين والمجلس والنادي والجماهير”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. مدرب باتشوكا قبل مباراة ريال مدريد: التاريخ لن يلعب دورًا في نهائي إنتركونتيننتال.. ولن نمنح أنشيلوتي ما يريد

وأضاف: “من المثير للاهتمام دائمًا أن ترى أين أنت كلاعب كرة قدم، وأين أنت كفريق، وأن تتنافس ضد أحد أفضل الفرق في العالم، وأكبر نادٍ في العالم”.

وواصل: “أن تتنافس ضدهم هو أمر رائع لك كلاعب كرة قدم، وأن تحاول إظهار أفضل نسخة من نفسك، بكل تأكيد يمتلك ريال مدريد تاريخًا كبيرًا، ولاعبين يتمتعون بالكثير من الجودة والخبرة”.

وأردف: “كانت المباراة الأخيرة (ضد الأهلي) أثقل مما اعتدنا عليه، كانت هذه هي المرة الأولى هذا العام التي نلعب فيها 120 دقيقة، بالإضافة إلى ركلات الترجيح، لذلك كان لذلك تأثير كبير على التعافي”.

واستمر: “كنا سعداء حقًا بالحصول على يوم آخر للتعافي، لنكون جاهزين مرة أخرى للمباراة، كانت هذه أولويتنا القصوى، بالطبع نقوم بتحليل الخصم، وسنقوم بإجراء آخر جلسة تدريبية”.

وتابع: “اعتاد ريال مدريد على لعب مثل تلك المباريات، نحن نعلم أن كل لاعب في فريقنا يحتاج إلى تقديم 10 من 10 في أدائه الخاص، وكفريق نحتاج إلى تقديم أفضل أداء لدينا للحصول على نتيجة”.

واختتم: “لن تكون المهمة سهلة، لكن كرة القدم ممتعة، لا تعرف أبدًا ما قد يحدث، ولهذا السبب سنتنافس ونحاول الحصول على نتيجة”.