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Sam Billings is back in charge of a Kent side that has handled his absence as well as he would have ever dared imagine

Matt Roller29-Jun-2018Sam Billings’ appointment as Kent captain in January seemed symptomatic of a turbulence that the county would not escape easily.After an underwhelming 2017, which saw group-stage exits in both white-ball competitions and a mid-table finish in the Championship, Kent’s relationship with captain Sam Northeast had broken down. One of county cricket’s most exciting batting line-ups had lost its talisman, and the man to fill the void was to miss the first six weeks of the season after signing an IPL deal.The news was met with distaste by the members; how could the county’s decline be arrested by Billings when he was carrying drinks in Chennai, rather than scoring runs at Canterbury?Four months later, Billings is lying on the St Lawrence Ground outfield, basking in the late afternoon sun after his first Championship game as captain. A record 342-run win against Middlesex has taken Kent top of Division Two, with a first Lord’s final in a decade to look forward to; not bad, for a club supposedly in turmoil.Billings looks on it all with understandable pleasure. Absentee captains are quickly forgiven when things are going swimmingly. And to lead the side out at Lord’s against Hampshire on Saturday will be a cause for special pride.”I’ve been here since the age of seven or eight, so it means a huge amount,” he said. “With all the different teams I’ve played for, you get a different buzz playing for each. But nothing beats coming home and playing for your home side: it means a hell of a lot.”It’s now about channelling that emotion and putting it into a good performance. It’d be great to take Kent back to where we should really be as a side – and that means winning silverware.”It would be wrong to cast Billings as the hero of the hour at Kent, although who is to say he will not be come Saturday evening. For all his brilliance with the bat, and for all that matchwinning ability, he has only played six games for the county this season, with a top score of 29.But Kent’s success has not been down to individual brilliance. Of course, it would be wrong to understate the impact of Heino Kuhn’s four white-ball hundreds, or Matt Henry’s 49 Championship wickets, but Billings’ task of slotting back into the side – purportedly his side – has been helped by the environment created by Matt Walker and the coaching staff, which includes Paul Downton as director of cricket and Allan Donald as assistant coach.”When you get people in the right places, there’s no doubt that’s going to help,” Billings said. “A structure has been put in place…the place as a whole is really coming together.”And the captain thinks that the ease with which the match-winners against Middlesex, Grant Stewart and Harry Podmore, stepped up in the absence of Henry and Darren Stevens was testament to the squad’s self-belief.”I said to the lads before the game how glad I was to come back into the side. I was really excited. There’s no doubt confidence is high in the group at the moment, and the team spirit is as good as I’ve ever seen here.Pitted against Kent are two players with obvious connections to Billings himself. James Vince remains a rival for Billings’ role of perpetual cover batsman in England’s one-day side and Sam Northeast was captain before him, only to leave the county when he was told he must commit to a new contract a year in advance or lose the job”Hampshire have got some very good players: Vince is in fantastic form, and we know how good a player Sam Northeast is,” Billings observed. “But we’ve got some seriously good players here as well. And if we play to the best of our abilities, we’ll win the game of cricket.”

David Munden, photographer and former county batsman, has died at the age of 60 after a battle with Parkinson’s Disease

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Mar-2018David Munden, the renowned cricket photographer and former county batsman, has died at the age of 60 after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease.Munden, who was a fixture on England cricket tours in the 1980s and 1990s, had been on Leicestershire’s books from 1975 until 1981 when, as captain of their second XI, he signed off with a century in his final appearance against Worcestershire at Grace Road.He was a contemporary of David Gower’s at the club, with whom he also represented England Under 19s on their tour of the Caribbean in 1976.”His passion for cricket was evident in the way he took to photographing the game once he realised he would not go on to enjoy a senior county career,” said Mark Baldwin, the chairman of the Cricket Writers’ Club.”He was a highly popular and much-respected colleague in and around press boxes at home and abroad. Cruelly, David’s illness eventually forced him to retire from his photographic work and he fought against the debilitations of Parkinson’s for many years.”In 2015, Leicestershire held a fundraising testimonial for Munden at Grace Road, where his father Victor and uncles Donald and Paul had also represented the club.The news of Munden’s death comes in the wake of the loss of Dave Callaghan, the BBC Yorkshire broadcaster, and Neil Bell, the BBC South East sports reporter.”In different ways and across different mediums the three of them contributed much to the promotion and presentation of cricket to a wide audience,” added Baldwin, “and they will be remembered with huge affection. What they shared, meanwhile, was a deep love of cricket and respect for the game.”

The Mitchells have kept the Brisbane pitch in the family for over 30 years

Peter English21-Nov-2010The Gabba pitch has been the Mitchell family business for more than three decades, and the latest offspring is causing excitement and fear ahead of Thursday’s opening Ashes Test. Brisbane’s stereotype is a swing-bowling paradise but the generalisation doesn’t often apply for more than the first couple of sessions in five-day affairs. This time it might be different, threatening old-fashioned thrills for the bowlers and unfamiliar spills for batsmen who have grown up on undeviating wickets.Seam, swing, bounce and speed are the perfect storm for bowlers and the attributes have rumbled during an unusually wet Brisbane spring. Only 31 overs were possible in one four-day game in October and the past two fixtures have been no fun for the batsmen. The Sri Lankans were knocked over for 115 in an ODI that came a week after the local Queenslanders, who say they are used to surfaces “with branches growing on them”, were dismissed for 75 and 96 in the Sheffield Shield.Showers have been predicted in the lead-up to Thursday’s Test and the curator, Kevin Mitchell jnr, is likely to bring forward the intensive phase of his preparation in case there are too many disruptions. The lack of sunshine being forecast will create a ripple of nerves for the groundstaff and run-makers.”If that’s the case over the final days and it’s humid and cloudy for the match, it could be a little bit more lively than usual,” Mitchell jnr told ESPNcricinfo. “Our wickets are definitely quick and pacy, which is what we are trying to do. If the conditions overhead are in favour of the bowlers, you can get a double whammy: swing in the air and cut off the pitch, and bounce and pace as well.”Under Mitchell jnr’s watch, which began when he took over from his father, Kevin snr, in 1991, the Gabba has overtaken the WACA as the quickest pitch in the country. The surface gives character to a ground built on a swamp in the late 1800s, and one that has grown into a modern stadium. For a Test the pitch is usually green on the opening morning, providing the bowlers with a chance, before it loses its colour and supports the batsmen. Towards the end it suits the spinners, who enjoy the extra bounce even if the ball isn’t turning.When the wicket is topped up by Queensland’s summer rain and thunderstorms the usual order becomes mixed up. Two years ago, when Australia were hosting New Zealand, the covers were blown off during a mini-cyclone the night before the game and one set of sails in the grandstand were ripped. Mitchell jnr went into the ground at 1.20am and saw the heavy sandbags had been blown away and water was on the square, but couldn’t believe his luck – there were only two puddles on the side of the Test pitch.”It was not a problem,” he said. “You could have started on time, but we started 30 minutes late.” Australia were bowled out for 214 on the opening day, but it was enough to stay well ahead of New Zealand. New South Wales won outright on their visit north last month by scoring 262 in the first innings. When it’s hot and dry, 400 is not enough in a Brisbane first innings, but when it’s damp or humid a total of 200 can make a side feel rich.

Under Mitchell jnr’s watch, which began when he took over from his father, Kevin snr, in 1991, the Gabba has overtaken the WACA as the quickest pitch in the country

Mitchell snr’s last game in charge was water-damaged, but not weather-affected. It was the Ashes Test of 1990-91, a three-day affair because someone had put a hose under the covers before the match. “Half was green, half was brown,” Mitchell snr said. “It was a shock. Half of it was a wet wicket. It was someone being smart.”Australia won by 10 wickets in a match in which the highest score was England’s 192 on the opening day. The tourists haven’t always been disadvantaged by the Queensland weather. An ear-splitting, stand-wobbling electrical storm made their life easier on the final day in 1998-99. England were 6 for 179, with all their specialist batsmen gone, when the sky almost literally opened up after tea.Mitchell snr, now 75, grew up near the Gabba, collecting bottles at the ground for pocket money as a child, and watching Don Bradman play there in the 1940s. He returned by accident in the 1970s, filling in to help a friend while taking a break from his carpentry business. Soon the main job became vacant and he said he’d do it for the season. “Then I’m off,” he said. “I’d spent 15 years in the army, and being out there on the ground was like being in jail.”His son visited from Mt Isa in 1987, planning a short stay – and still hasn’t left. The pair’s most famous partnership came during a one-dayer between Australia and New Zealand in 1987-88. Mitchell jnr spotted dark storm clouds to the west of the ground and crossed the road to pull his dad from the pub, where he was feasting on mudcrabs. Within a couple of minutes Mitchell snr was racing on to the field – the sun was still out and the sky was blue – to tell the shocked umpires and players that “it’s going to rain like buggery”. He ripped out the stumps, stuck the covers on, and the heavens quickly opened. The unconventional intervention saved the game, which Australia won.If something unorthodox is needed over the next week Mitchell jnr will be well prepared. Having learned off his father, and developed his own techniques, he and his beautiful pitch will be ready. Rain, hail or shine.

Sachin Tendulkar’s 134 in Sharjah in 1998 set the bar for his centuries in a one-day final, but damned if today’s effort doesn’t at least nip at its skirts

Jamie Alter at the Premadasa Stadium14-Sep-2009Sachin Tendulkar’s 134 in Sharjah in 1998 set the bar for his centuries in one-day finals, but damned if today’s effort doesn’t at least nip at its skirts. The biggest performers – and few come any bigger than Tendulkar – invariably deliver on the big occasion and today, with India looking to snap a run of five straight completed finals defeats to Sri Lanka, Tendulkar dazzled. When Tendulkar bats like he did today, he is as irresistible as he is artistic, and you can only sit back and enjoy it.He had got starts in the previous two games, but India’s decision to send Dinesh Karthik to open meant Tendulkar was under pressure from ball one. When Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid walked out today, there was a tinge of the 1990s solidity. As it panned out, the innings that followed harked back to the Tendulkar of yore. Dravid, for long India’s most technically sound batsman, allowed Tendulkar to play his game. They did their job efficiently, taking the shine off the new ball, wearing down the quick bowlers, denying Ajantha Mendis a wicket, and paving the way for the batsmen to follow.From the first ball Tendulkar faced, when he stood tall and punched Thilan Thushara wide of mid-off, he oozed confidence. Batting wasn’t too difficult in the first ten overs against a tidy bowling attack on a flat track, but he was intent on sticking around. This wasn’t the kind of pitch to chase the ball and apart from one delivery that he flashed at and edged for four, Tendulkar was patient. A couple of deliveries beat the outside edge; he bided his time and then pushed Nuwan Kulasekara superbly through the covers for four. It helped that the opening bowlers didn’t pitch the ball up enough, and when Kulasekara did, Tendulkar drove past extra cover and clipped past midwicket.Between overs, Tendulkar twirled his left arm and tapped the track. These were the moments needed to gather his thoughts. Significantly, he drew on all his experience to upset the bowlers, especially when they tried something different. Thilan Thushara veered his line to just outside off stump, and Tendulkar forced the ball through the off side for four. Lasith Malinga bowled a couple of testing deliveries, but when he held back the length marginally, Tendulkar glided back and forced the ball through the covers. Tendulkar judged the line flawlessly and was lissome with his footwork as he turned length deliveries away at precisely the right moment. His cover and square-driving were of the highest quality: the balance was perfect, the weight transfer faultless and the ball seldom hit in the air.On a surface where other batsmen often failed to work the ball off the square, Tendulkar’s fluency was astounding. He struck the ball with grace, either when going back or working it across the line. Deliveries pitched on a length were turned through midwicket and square leg, others back of a length were crisply steered between cover and point.As the ball got old in the middle overs, Tendulkar and MS Dhoni found the gaps and rotated the strike. Dhoni complemented Tendulkar beautifully, and the two denied Sri Lanka any wriggle room. On 87, Tendulkar waltzed out and drove Mendis over extra cover for four. A punch off Mendis past mid-off took him to 99, and a single pinched through cover took Tendulkar to three figures for the 44th time. A raise of the arms, a wave of the bat to the dressing room, a lingering look at the heavens and a hug from Dhoni followed, and then he marked his guard again.Dhoni tried to up the tempo in the batting Powerplay and fell for 56. Here Tendulkar’s batting shifted down a gear as he batted with cramps, using Dravid as a runner, but he was no less determined. His strike-rate slowed down as he worked the ball around to get Yuvraj Singh on strike, yet the shot selection was impeccable. Seemingly invigorated by not having to run, Tendulkar launched an onslaught against Mendis in the 45th over, when in three successive deliveries he smote a six over extra cover – the high elbow said much about the strength needed to execute the shot – and reverse-swept fours. He fell attempting another, but his work allowed Yuvraj to smack a belligerent half-century that helped India set an unachievable target at this venue under lights, despite Thilina Kandamby’s bravado.The last time India played a final here it appeared they had forgotten how to play like a half-decent team. Today they took a massive step toward, freeing themselves from a spectre that had haunted them for too long. In Tendulkar – who has now scored nine international centuries and seven 90s since May 2007 – India have a batsman showing no signs of slowing down. With the Champions Trophy next week and the World Cup in 2011, this becomes especially relevant.

Following their shock decision to sack Tony Mowbray, Sunderland's first priority must be finding a new manager and one who can pick up where Mowbray left off to guide the Black Cats towards the play-offs in the Championship.

So far, we've seen the likes of Will Still and Kim Hellberg linked with the Sunderland job, as those at the Stadium of Light continue their search for the next manager in the all-important hot seat.

Whoever arrives will have the almost immediate responsibility of making their mark on the Sunderland side through the January transfer window, which could make or break their season. That said, the Black Cats are reportedly already eyeing a move for one particular La Liga gem.

Sunderland transfer news

Sunderland don't operate with the biggest budget in the Championship, instead often relying on cheap moves or smart loan deals to keep their promotion hopes alive. We've seen the likes of Amad Diallo arrive before becoming a crucial player in a short loan period at Sunderland in what is the perfect example of how wise they can be in the transfer market. Now, they could show off this transfer tactic yet again to welcome a La Liga gem to Wearside.

According to TEAMtalk, Sunderland are eyeing a move to sign Sevilla youngster Musa Drammeh, who is available for a cut-price in January with his contract coming to an end in six months. The Black Cats have already reportedly sent scouts to watch the forward play for Sevilla Atletico – Sevilla's B team – this season and could now strike to land a bargain deal.

Sunderland aren't the only Championship club reportedly interested in Drammeh, however, with Birmingham City also eyeing a January move for the young striker, who is on the verge of a first-team debut at Sevilla.

Drammeh is ready for first-team football

Drammeh's stats show that he is a player ready for first-team football, whether that be for Sevilla or, indeed, another European club. The forward has scored five goals and assisted a further two strikes in 13 appearances for the La Liga side's B team in the current campaign so far. And at 22 years old, Drammeh must start making steps towards bigger and better things.

We saw last season just how much young players can thrive at Sunderland through the success of Diallo. If the Black Cats can now land another young gem in the form of Drammeh, they could finally have a replacement for their former loanee's star power. Heading into the weekend, only Watford and Preston North End have scored fewer goals than Sunderland in the Championship's top ten this season, highlighting just how important it is for them to reinforce their attacking options when the January transfer window opens.

Sunderland could forget Still by appointing EFL boss who plays "similar system"

The Black Cats could poach this exceptional EFL manager to replace Tony Mowbray, forgetting about Will Still instantly if the deal was successful.

ByKelan Sarson Dec 8, 2023

Of course, Sunderland must first find a new manager after Mowbray's dismissal before turning their attention to additions who have the chance to transform things at the Stadium of Light ahead of a key promotion push. Whether Drammeh is part of that push as a new arrival remains to be seen, however.

Leading the two-Test series 1-0, Sri Lanka may once again go in with the three-pronged spin-attack that fetched them 17 wickets in the first game

The Preview by Firdose Moonda19-Jul-2018Big PictureSoon, Sri Lankans might be making jokes about how the captain, the coach and the manager should be banned more often. Dinesh Chandimal, Chandika Hathurusingha and Asanka Gurusinha will miss four of the five ODIs against South Africa, after the ICC meted out its most severe punishment earlier this week since the demerit points system was introduced, but that is not a concern for the next five days.The trio is also out of this second Test but, even sans their engine room, Sri Lanka had trounced South Africa so soundly in Galle that they can confidently say they don’t need the big three back just yet. Rather, it’s the other three Sri Lanka will rely on: the three spinners.Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan made South Africa look like amateurs on a surface that was challenging but nowhere near a minefield, and they will look to do it again in Colombo. It’s difficult to imagine South Africa’s batting line-up doing worse, but stranger things have happened.For a start, South Africa have to decide on their approach against spin. Are they going to attack, with the mentality that they have to get runs before the ball gets them – something Ottis Gibson said was a tactic on seamer-friendly pitches – or are they going to show patience, bat time and trust that runs will follow? The latter sounds more sensible, the former more desperate, and desperate is what South Africa are.In 2014, South Africa reached the SSC 1-0 up in the series and were dogged in their determination not to lose the advantage. What followed was a blockathon that made the rain breaks more entertaining than play. Four years on, Sri Lanka are 1-0 up at the SSC and will want to turn the screws. South Africa will be happy to draw the series, but whether they are capable of that is the real question.Form guideSri Lanka: WWDLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: LWWWLIn the spotlightWhile Dimuth Karunaratne scored more than the entire South Africa team in the first Test, he also made more runs than any of his team-mates, which puts the onus on Angelo Mathews, among others, to step up. In absence of Dinesh Chandimal, Mathews is the senior-most batsman in the line-up and will want to show that. He was their second-highest run-scorer, behind Chandimal, when they visited India last year, before missing two of the three Test in the West Indies for personal reasons. He has not got past the 30s in his last five innings, numbers that simply won’t do for the man who should be leading with the bat.On his first tour of the subcontinent, Aiden Markram already showed improvement from one innings to the next in the first Test and will want to leave his mark on the series in Colombo. Markram faced 46 balls in the second innings, six times more than what he faced in the first, and, though he was stumped trying to charge the spinner, he showed a little more patience and a little more finesse the second time. Batting coach Dale Benkenstein expects Markram’s ability to adjust quickly to bring more rewards in the second Test.Team newsThe major decision South Africa have to make is whether or not to leave out Vernon Philander – who, despite his efforts with the bat, bowled only 11 of the 112.1 overs they delivered in the Galle Test – and finding a suitable replacement. If it’s an extra batsman they’re looking for, Theunis de Bruyn will slot in. If it’s a bowler, Lungi Ngidi could come into contention.South Africa: (possible) 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Temba Bavuma, 5 Faf du Plessis (capt), 6 Quinton de Kock (wk), 7 Vernon Philander/Theunis de Bruyn, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Tabraiz ShamsiHaving had success with a three-pronged spin-attack against Australia at the SSC in 2016, Sri Lanka will probably go with a similar strategy.Sri Lanka: (possible) 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Dhananjaya de Silva, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Roshen Silva, 7 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Suranga Lakmal (capt), 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Lakshan SandakanPitch and conditionsThe SSC surface is expected to take substantial turn in the latter half of the Test, but it does also tend to be conducive to seam bowling on the first morning and generally has more runs in it than the Galle pitch.Some rain is forecast for every day of the match. However, the second day is the most likely to be affected, with an 80% chance of showers.Stats and trivia Hashim Amla needs three more runs to become the third South African, after Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith, to 9000 Test runs. Angelo Mathews is eight runs away from 5000 runs. He will become the ninth Sri Lanka batsman to reach the milestone. In Galle, South Africa lost 17 of their 20 wickets to spin. In Colombo in 2014, they lost the same number of wickets to Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera, but managed to draw the Test and win the series.Irrespective of the outcome of the series, both South Africa and Sri Lanka will remain in their current positions – No. 2 and No. 6 respectively – on the ICC rankings table. If Sri Lanka win 2-0, they will gain six points, and South Africa will lose six. If the series is drawn 1-1, Sri Lanka only gain two points and South Africa lose two.Quotes”It is very important that we win a series, and that we win at home. They are the No. 2-ranked team. We need a victory to gain confidence, so it’s a very important game.”
“I will give him a kiss on the cheek.”

For Rahul Dravid, analysing his cricket and working his weaknesses out methodically was a way of making up for his relative lack of conventional talent

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2012Timeless SteelOn being seen as an intellectual, and whether he is comfortable with the tag
I am comfortable with that tag because that’s who I was. I’m not hiding away from the fact that I did think deeply about this game, and I thought deeply because I loved it. I wanted to know how good I could become. I challenged myself, I asked questions. That’s who I was.People are different. I am not the only intense or intellectual cricketer. I played with other cricketers who could be pretty intense and intellectual. I know Sanjay was too – not to the obsessive levels that I was sometimes, but he was. The beauty of this game is, it allows different people to succeed; it allows everyone to express themselves. In some ways, this intellectualism, or this curiosity, was a strength for me. As well as a weakness sometimes.On his obsession with technique
There are many who would say that. There were times when I thought too much about it. But that was who I was. Thinking about the game, working my weaknesses out, worked for me. I wasn’t the most prodigiously talented cricketer in Karnataka, let alone India. Some of my team-mates in my school team could hit the ball cleaner than I do. I had to work through that lack of talent, so to speak, that lack of natural flair. Runs never came easy for me. That was the foundation for this thinking. It was a strength. I was able to overcome a lot of things. There were times in my career when I overdid it, and that was a red flag.I realised it myself too, and a lot of senior players would tell me too, like you [Manjrekar], Anil [Kumble] and [Javagal] Srinath constantly being in my ear, telling me to just relax. But as a young kid growing up, desperate to do well, it was not always the most natural thing for me to do. As I matured, I managed it better. I don’t think the basic trait will ever go away, but I managed the whole process better.On the idea of being “less talented”
I think we judge talent wrong. What do we see as talent? I think I have made the same mistake myself. We judge talent by people’s ability to strike a cricket ball. The sweetness, the timing. That’s the only thing we see as talent. Things like determination, courage, discipline, temperament, these are also talent. I think when we judge talent, we have got to look at the whole package.The talent I was mentioning was about striking the cricket ball. It’s difficult to explain but some people just have it. You can look at a kid and say he has got it. Sourav Ganguly just had it – to time the cover-drive. You could see it. Sachin has it. Viru has it. You won’t necessarily say that about Gautam so much. Not that he is less successful. That’s what we see as talent.We don’t actually look at the other side of talent. We say a talented player didn’t make it, but maybe he didn’t have the other talent. I hate to bring this example up: Vinod [Kambli] is one of the nicest guys I have met. When [Karnataka] played him in Rajkot, Vinod got 150 against Srinath, Anil. First ball Anil came on to bowl, he hit him straight into the concrete wall. At short leg, you said, “Man, amazing, how did he do that? I wish I could do that.” But maybe he didn’t have the talent in other areas. Of just understanding what it took to be an international cricketer, or dealing with the stress and pressure. I can only guess. But maybe Sachin had that much more. Maybe in that other side of things, I was luckily much more talented.On reading, conversing, showing an interest in others’ lives
It was a way to escape. I thought about cricket a lot. I needed to get out of this bubble of mine. I found it in books and conversations with other people about other things. I was a curious person and this was my release. I like being challenged intellectually. I hated at the end of the day to talk cricket to someone else. I was talking to myself about cricket all the time, so I needed to talk to somebody else about something else. Took a lot of pressure off me. When I was reading books, or trying to find out what was interesting in others’ lives, I wasn’t thinking about cricket.On getting angry, particularly the one incident described by Sehwag to his wife, Vijeeta, where he threw a chair in the dressing room
I don’t think I was a person who got angry easily. I didn’t need to be conscious of it, but I did realise that when I did get angry or let someone enter infiltrate my cocoon, I didn’t play well. I was almost playing for the wrong reasons. There were a lot of times I was trying to prove someone wrong. In those cases I would never do well. Sometimes I tried to manufacture it to see if motivated me, but it didn’t.[On that occasion] I was partly angry with myself. We were leading the [2006] series 1-0, going into Bombay against England. I won the toss and I bowled first, which I don’t think in hindsight was a smart decision. We bowled badly on the first day on a wicket that did help the seamers a bit, we batted terribly, and in the end I was angry at myself too, because I hadn’t batted particularly well. I thought I made a wrong decision upfront. And then to end up capitulating on the last day when we could have easily played out a draw… I got a bit upset that day.On captaincy
Let me say, it’s been a great honour and privilege to captain India. When I got the opportunity, I took it up with a certain amount of energy and enthusiasm. I wanted to do it. At the time I gave it up, I felt that somehow, over a period of time, that had gone. Maybe it was the amount of cricket we played, or some of the up-and-down results we had. We had some good results, and crushing disappointments was well. All that took a toll on me. When I gave up, I wasn’t enjoying it. I was getting up in the morning, before a one-day game, and thinking, “Oh god, another game of cricket.” I had never felt like that about a game of cricket.It’s a tough job. It’s a challenging job, no doubt about it. There is a lot of stuff that happens outside the field that you need to deal with quite well. In hindsight there is a lot of stuff that I can look back on and say, “Maybe you could have done that better.” I don’t know any captain who will not look back and say, “Maybe some things I could have done better.”I’d like to believe I still did a pretty good job. I could have done a better job, yes. If I paced out better, maybe if some results had gone our way, especially the World Cup. It takes a toll on you emotionally. If some results had gone our way, I would have been able to carry on.On Greg Chappell
Right from the first time I met him in Australia, and Sourav introduced us, I thought he was a terrific man to talk cricket with. People like Greg have grown up with the game. They talk the game, they discuss the game, they have grown up in an era of Australian cricket where they would play the game and sit back and spend hours at the bar discussing the game. There was a lot he could offer, in terms of knowledge, from his experiences of having played the game so much. He was a great batsman, he knew batting, he understood batting. There was a lot he could help young kids with.On the impression that it was Chappell’s team and not Dravid’s
It was my team. It was obviously my team. Because Greg was a strong personality, because he was himself a great cricketer, and because of the fanfare and the publicity that came with whatever he did, it sometimes gave the impression that it was his team more than my team or our team or the Indian team. That’s the nature of the person; he is the kind of person who can polarise opinion. He is a strong personality. Comes across like that. I always felt that it was my team. I was always happy with the way things went.On the decline of cricket conversation among cricketers
It definitely happens less and less. In a way it is a sign of professionalism. People are cooling down, having ice baths, having stretches, going to the physio. Getting together happens less and less. I am sure when guys get together they talk about cricket, but I think there are more distractions – so much more to do. A lot more external entertainment. People don’t want to hang around in dirty, smelly dressing rooms, you know. That’s one of the sad things about the game.I remember long train journeys in our time, when playing first-class cricket. And in the evening you hear GS Viswanath and Syed Kirmani talk about the game, or Carlton Saldanha or Roger Binny. You have their undivided attention. You are pestering them with questions. They are having conversations among themselves, and you are eavesdropping on those conversations. A lot of my learning happened on these train journeys; I really enjoyed them. Sometimes I miss that. Creating that environment for that sometimes is missing.People do talk cricket, but it is different when it is casual and relaxed. Someone asks you specific advice, it is different. The best learnings happen in these casual conversations. You are talking to someone else, and someone eavesdrops – those are some of my fondest memories.On eliminating his exaggerated trigger movement, and whether it contributed to his getting bowled repeatedly in Australia
I did try and stay stiller rather than have that exaggerated shuffle. Actually, after I started playing well, it happened naturally. As time went on, as I batted better and better, that trigger movement became less and less. I tried to try and stop doing it. Partly because I was falling over a lot.My timing went off a little bit. It’s a tricky one, timing. Probably I was late on the ball. The timing of the coming down of the bat, maybe I lost that a little bit. Maybe they bowled well. Thing with these tours is, there is not a lot of time in between to analyse too much. There is not a lot of time to go back and work on some of these small things that come into your batting.On his possible future in cricket administration
Nobody can do anything about the governance of the game. It’s an impossible task I think.I’m joking. It’s a great game, it has been part of my life, I will always love to be some way involved in it. What form that takes, and how it happens, you never know. I have got to be humble about it. A lot of people who I respect and who have been able to make a contribution have always taken some time away from the game. I have lived this game, played this game, for about 25 years. I think it’s not a bad idea to step away from it, look from outside, get a perspective and then come back. I don’t know what form it might take. It’s too great a game for me to “give back to it”, but I will love to be associated.India readers, get the book here at a special price

A dry but much needed account of Sri Lanka’s startling ascent to the summit

Daniel Brigham04-Apr-2009

Ivo Bligh captained England’s first team to play in Sri Lanka on Friday the 13th, October 1882. There was no bad luck that day – they won comfortably – but their fortune did not last: setting sail for Australia a few days later, they collided with a ship in mid-ocean and had to struggle back to Galle for repairs. Well over a century on and England – along with all other Test nations – are still leaving the island of Sri Lanka shamefaced.Sri Lanka are cricket’s biggest success story. Given Test status in 1981, they have overcome a civil war and political interference to become a top Test side, redefine one-day cricket and reach two World Cup finals, winning one.Their short acclimatisation period makes a mockery of Bangladesh’s Test status. It also makes a mockery of Kapil Dev, who captained India in Sri Lanka’s first Test win in 1985 and said: “Sri Lanka will never win a Test outside her shores.”How they got to that stage is a fascinating story that goes unheard in this country. Mahinda Wijesinghe is our guide and an internationally respected one too – he submitted the first third-umpire proposal to the ICC back in 1984.This is a mixed book of his own essays and statistics. You will surely learn a great deal – from how the locals routinely beat European settlers in early 20th-century matches to the first hero of Sri Lankan cricket – “Derrick” de Saram, who won an Oxford Blue at cricket in the 1930s but refused to tour with MCC in order to play for his own country.The fun is in the learning, not the reading – Wijesinghe prefers his prose dry. He also writes on umpiring, dissent, and his dislike of Bishan Bedi – odd in a history of Sri Lankan cricket. It turns the whole book into a bit of a vanity project and leaves one hoping that a more skilled and objective writer will one day tackle the subject of cricket’s greatest underdog story. Sri Lanka Cricket at the High Table: the amazing feats in her first 25 years
by Mahinda Wijesinghe
self-published

أعرب علاء حبيل لاعب منتخب البحرين، عن سعادته بعد الفوز في مباراة اليوم على عمان بهدفين مقابل هدف، ضمن منافسات بطولة كأس الخليج “خليجي 26″، والتتويج باللقب.

والتقى منتخب البحرين مع عمان، على أرضية استاد جابر الأحمد في المباراة النهائية لبطولة كأس الخليج 2024 “خليجي 26” المقامة في الكويت.

وقال علاء حبيل في تصريحات عبر قناة “صدى البلد”: “نبارك للبحرين، المباراة النهائية لم تكن بالمستوى المطلوب، ولم يُقدم المنتخب نفس المستوى الذي كان عليه من بداية البطولة، شيء طبيعي كان على اللاعبين نوع من الضغط، لكن الحمد لله في النهاية الأهم هو حصد البطولة”.

طالع أيضاً.. فيديو | منتخب البحرين يقلب الطاولة على عمان بثنائية ويتوج بطلًا لـ كأس الخليج “خليجي 26”

وتابع: “الحمد لله أن البحرين لا زالت ولادة باللاعبين الموهوبين، وحققنا اللقب للمرة الثانية، وإن شاء الله نستمر في حصد الألقاب جيل بعد جيل”.

وأتم: “مستوى البحرين لم يكن مُقنعاً في تصفيات آسيا، لكن للأمانة ما رأيناه في كأس الخليج مختلف تمامًا، وأظهر اللاعبون الوحوش الوجه الآخر من القتال والإصرار على تحقيق اللقب، في بداية البطولة لم يكونوا مرشحين وهذا منحهم دافع أكبر”.

Glasgow Rangers could need to sign a new centre-forward to bolster their squad before the summer transfer window slams shut at the start of September.

Russell Martin currently has Danilo, Hamza Igamane, and Cyriel Dessers at his disposal at Ibrox, but it remains to be seen if all three of them will still be at the club when the window closes.

After the 2-2 draw at Ibrox on Sunday, the Rangers head coach officially confirmed that the club have rejected an offer that was way below their valuation for Dessers, which shows that there is concrete interest in the attacker.

Meanwhile, Lille have reportedly been in talks over a potential deal to bring Igamane, who scored 16 goals last season, to Ligue 1 this summer.

This means that Rangers may lose two of their three centre-forward options during the window, which may be why they have been linked with an interest in veteran forward Jamie Vardy.

Why a move for Jamie Vardy could make sense

It was recently reported that the Scottish giants are the ‘frontrunners’ to secure a deal for the free agent number nine after Genoa dropped out of the race for his signature.

Vardy ended his long-term association with Leicester City this year after a return of 200 goals in 500 matches for the Foxes, helping them to win a Premier League title and an FA Cup.

He turned 38 in January, which means that the forward is in the latter stages of his career, but the former England international still has the capability to make a big impact in front of goal at the top level.

Vardy ended the 2024/25 campaign with nine goals in 35 Premier League starts for Leicester, despite their relegation from the division, which came after the attacker had managed 20 goals in 37 games in all competitions when they were in the Championship in the 2023/24 campaign.

Mo Salah

29

33

Chris Wood

20

33

Raul Jimenez

12

34

Danny Welbeck

10

34

Jamie Vardy

9

38

Tomas Soucek

9

30

Bruno Fernandes

9

30

Jacob Murphy

8

30

Leandro Trossard

8

30

Heung-min Son

7

33

As you can see in the table above, the English dynamo’s nine-goal haul in the Premier League last season was particularly impressive, when you see that he was the only player aged above 34 within the top ten scorers over the age of 30 in the division.

This shows that he is still at a very high level in front of goal, despite his age, which is why Vardy could make a lot of sense as a short-term addition for Rangers.

Striker considering move to Rangers this summer

However, the Scottish giants appear to have an opportunity to sign another experienced free agent centre-forward who could be an even better signing than the former Leicester man.

Transfer Focus

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

According to journalist Sebastien Vidal, veteran Dutch striker Luuk De Jong is “considering” a potential transfer to Rangers after his exit from PSV.

The 34-year-old attacker became a free agent at the start of the month and is currently weighing up his options, with a switch to Scotland seemingly a realistic option for him.

Meanwhile, PSV boss Peter Bosz, when asked about interest from Rangers in the striker, revealed that he has spoken to De Jong about the possibility of him signing for Martin’s team.

It now remains to be seen whether or not the Light Blues can tempt him enough to make the move to Ibrox, as he is still ‘considering’ his options at this moment in time.

Why Rangers should sign De Jong over Vardy

If presented with the choice, Rangers should decide to sign De Jong instead of Vardy because he could be an even better signing for the Scottish side this summer.

The former Netherlands international is four years younger than the ex-Leicester marksman, which means that he may have a few more years of service to offer on the pitch for the Gers, making him a potentially better medium-term addition to the side.

His goalscoring record in the past two seasons for PSV also suggests that the Dutch dynamo has the potential to deliver more than Vardy in front of goal for Rangers, if he can adapt to Scottish football and hit the ground running at Ibrox.

In the 2024/25 campaign, the 34-year-old striker plundered 18 goals and 12 assists in 47 matches in all competitions. That came after the veteran attacker produced a staggering haul of 38 goals and 18 assists in 48 appearances in the 2023/24 season for PSV.

This means that De Jong has scored 56 goals and assisted 30 for the Dutch giants in the past two seasons, whilst Vardy managed 30 goals and six assists in that time for Leicester.

These statistics suggest that the former Barcelona ace could offer way more to Rangers as both a scorer and a creator of goals than the Englishman, whilst also being four years younger, because, quite simply, he has scored and assisted significantly more goals.

Appearances

34

31

Goals

29

14

Minutes per goal

96

175

Big chances created

18

16

Key passes per game

2.0

1.8

Assists

15

8

As you can see in the table above, De Jong has consistently provided goals and assists over the past two years at league level, and has even been unfortunate not to have more assists to his name.

He is an experienced and lethal marksman who can find the back of the net on a regular basis whilst also creating high-quality chances for his teammates week-in-week-out, which could make him a fantastic all-round centre-forward option for Martin.

More exciting than Aasgaard: Rangers chasing deal to sign £10m star

Rangers are interested in a deal for a Premier League forward who would be more exciting than Thelo Aasgaard.

ByDan Emery Jul 7, 2025

Whilst, at 34, De Jong may not represent the future for the Ibrox giants, the Dutch striker could make a big short-term impact as the Gers look to wrestle back control of the Scottish Premiership next season.