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The Colorado Rockies finally ended their devastating 22-series losing streak on Tuesday night by beating the Miami Marlins 3-2. They won Monday night and Tuesday, putting them ahead 2-0 in the three-game series—that's an official series win.

And, the Rockies sealed the win with a pretty epic ending. In the bottom of the ninth with the Rockies leading 3–2 and one out away from victory, Marlins pinch hitter Heriberto Hernandez crushed a ball to center field. Off the bat, it looked like Hernandez had tied the game, but center fielder Brenton Doyle spoiled the Marlins' chances by running over and reaching up for an incredible catch.

Check out Doyle’s heroic play.

This was Colorado's 11th win of the extremely disappointing season. Before Monday's win, the Rockies became the quickest MLB team to reach 50 losses in a season since 1884. Now, they're on a two-game winning streak.

The Rockies will look to sweep the Marlins on Wednesday afternoon. After that, they will go on to face the NL East leading New York Mets starting on Friday.

Leeds United moved out of the relegation zone in the Premier League this week with an impressive 3-1 win over Chelsea at Elland Road on Wednesday night, in a game that was underpinned by Daniel Farke’s structural changes.

The German head coach, who has typically deployed a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 formation during his time at the club, opted to start with a 3-5-2 system against Enzo Maresca’s team.

It worked wonders for the Whites as they went on to claim all three points, thanks to goals from Jaka Bijol, Ao Tanaka, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Why Leeds United's formation change worked so well

Changing from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 worked so well for the Whites because it allowed Jayden Bogle, who assisted the second goal, and Gabriel Gudmundsson to push higher up the pitch with three centre-backs providing enough cover defensively.

It also meant that the Whites could play with two strikers, instead of leaving one isolated on their own, and that led to Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha causing plenty of problems.

The two centre-forwards combined to win 13 duels against the Chelsea defenders and won four fouls, without committing any, per Sofascore, which shows that they were a nightmare to deal with throughout the game.

Nmecha, in particular, has benefitted from having Calvert-Lewin’s physicality alongside him. The German forward, who has scored four Premier League goals, has lost 69% of his ground duels this season, per Sofascore, which shows that he struggles with the physical side of leading the line on his own.

Having another, more physical, striker alongside him means that he can focus on making runs in behind and pressing opposition defenders, which is what makes it such an effective pairing, or at least what made it so effective against Chelsea.

In The Pipeline

Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

Whilst Nmecha and Calvert-Lewin got the job done on Wednesday, Harry Gray could be perfect for the new role that Nmecha is now playing for Leeds.

Why Harry Gray should be unleashed in Lukas Nmecha's new role

Bringing young players into the first-team is difficult in any circumstance, but even more so in the Premier League with all that is at stake in a relegation battle.

Academy talents are not used to the physicality of professional football and may need time to adapt, particularly strikers, which is why this new role that Nmecha has could be perfect for Gray.

Farke must finally unleash the 17-year-old centre-forward for his Premier League debut in the coming weeks because playing alongside an experienced striker like Calvert-Lewin could be an ideal introduction to regular football at senior level.

Gray, who was described as the club’s “newest Wonderkid” by talent scout Jacek Kulig and his contributor Joe Blackburn, has scored a whopping ten goals in 11 games in all competitions for the academy this season, per Transfermarkt.

As you can see in the table above, the teenage forward has scored two goals in three EFL Trophy games, playing against League One and League Two sides, but has struggled with the aerial duels in those games.

This suggests that he would not be well-suited to playing as a lone striker in the Premier League for Leeds, as he would need to duel with towering top-flight centre-backs and hold the ball up under intense pressure, which is also where Nmecha struggled earlier this season.

Therefore, playing alongside Calvert-Lewin, who won six of his nine aerial duels against Chelsea (Sofascore), could be the perfect way for him to be introduced into the first-team this season.

Gray’s return of 14 goals in 20 U21s games and eight goals in 11 U18s matches for Leeds, per Transfermarkt, shows that he has the technical and goalscoring qualities to potentially make an impact for the Whites, but it is the physicality that is questionable.

Leeds now prioritising £35m move to sign South American defender ahead of Juventus

He’d be one of their most expensive arrivals.

By
Tom Cunningham

Dec 5, 2025

This change in formation from Farke, though, may alleviate those concerns because of how the two-striker system works, and that is why the manager should unleash the teen sensation in Nmecha’s role in the coming weeks.

The World Cup draw yielded a number of fascinating groups – and the hype for the 2026 tournament can truly build

Are you excited yet? Can you feel it properly? Do you know, exactly, how this is all going to go? The World Cup is always fun in abstract. There are ideas, dreams and hopes. What this thing look like? Who do we our team to get? But the hypothetical discussion runs out, and it all feels a bit silly. What can you say when you don't relly know anything? Not all that much. 

Well, now we know things. FIFA's gaudy 48-team World Cup was unveiled in baffling fashion at the Kennedy Center Friday afternoon, and amid the pomp and circumstance of it all, the balls coughed up a pretty compelling draw. The host nations are all in intriguing groups. There will be some terrific matchups: Portugal-Colombia, France-Norway, Brazil-Morocco. 

There really isn't a dud here. Even the groups that seem a little more predictable feature some good games – at least, on paper. It's now time, officially, to get excited. But which groups are the best? Which favorite can feel pretty good about their chances? And who might get grouped early? GOAL U.S. writers break down the draw in another edition of… . 

• Imagn
  

  Which of the co-hosts got the best draw?

  TH: The USMNT, and by some distance. Australia, Paraguay and likely Turkey? That's a winnable group. Canada did OK, too, but Switzerland aren't pushovers, and Italy, should they make it, will be tough. But Mauricio Pochettino is the guy who can be happiest. 

  RT: The USMNT will feel good. While none of their games are slam dunks, they are all winnable, which gives them a realistic path to the knockouts. Looking ahead, there’s a date with Belgium lurking, which is a lot better than France or Argentina. Overall, the USMNT will be pretty happy, although Mexico’s draw could have been a lot worse, too.

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• AFP
  

  What's the best group?

  Tom Hindle: Well, they're all pretty good! Is there a single dud here? Sure, we're supposed to get hyped and reactionary and giddy, but it's hard to see any weaknesses – even in an oft-maligned 48-team field. The safe bet has to be France, Senegal, Norway, and whichever playoff team makes it (likely Bolivia). There is a real chance that France, among the faves, could lose two of those games. Now THAT could make things interesting. 

  Ryan Tolmich: Group I gets it. France-Norway is going to be fantastic as it gives us that mouthwatering Mbappe-Haaland matchup. Then there’s Senegal, a team with the ability and experience to play with both of those sides. Mix in an underdog with a point to prove from the playoffs, and you have a very fun group.

• Getty
  

  What's the least competitive group?

  TH: It was a BIG day for stat-pad-Ronaldo. Portugal did OK, didn't they? Colombia will push them – and could win the group – but Uzbekistan and whoever wins the first FIFA playoff will surely struggle. It's pretty easy to pick No. 1 and 2 there, even if the exact order is up for debate. 

  RT: See you in the knockouts, Argentina. They’ve been given an easier run there with Austria, Algeria, and Jordan on the docket. That should allow the champions to surge through the group and really peak later on.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  Based on the groups, who is your early favorite to win it?

  TH: This might be a regrettable prediction later. But, , England have done rather well here. They should navigate their group pretty easily, and the likely sequence of knockout fixtures looks OK, too. Then again, the answer is Spain, who appear to be better than pretty much everyone else at the moment. 

  RT: There are a lot of good teams, perhaps more than ever before, with real ambitions of winning this thing. Until someone knocks off Argentina, though, they’re a team worth backing, particularly given their group stage draw.

Over eight hours and 42 minutes, the senior pro led the way as Bangladesh showed they are capable of out-batting strong opponents away from home

Mohammad Isam24-Aug-2024Nineteen years at the highest level. Eighty-nine Test matches. Mushfiqur Rahim has seen it all, but there was some unfinished business. Like scoring a century against Pakistan. His preparations leading up to the Rawalpindi Test showed it meant something big to him.He played for Bangladesh A for the first time in 16 years just to prepare for the Test series. He was always the last to leave practice sessions leading up to the Tests. And then, fully prepared, with eyes on the ball, Mushfiqur got going like classic Mushfiqur. Every shot meant something; even when he left the ball, it was an attempt to wear down the bowler. He went on for eight hours and 42 minutes and constructed a modern Bangladeshi epic.His 191 in Rawalpindi took him past Tamim Iqbal’s records for most runs and centuries in overseas Tests for Bangladesh. It was also Mushfiqur’s first overseas ton in seven years. Test batting in overseas conditions is an elevated challenge for Bangladeshi batters. They don’t play a lot abroad. Of late, run-making has been difficult in their home conditions too, so they tend not to build up much confidence before going on tours. It was all on the seniors to do something big, and Mushfiqur stepped up to the challenge.Related

• Tamim: Mushfiqur's 100th Test 'should be celebrated by every Bangladesh cricket lover'

• Muted Rawalpindi shows little love for a Pakistan in rehab

• Shadman Islam digs in to lift Bangladesh out of a hole

• Mushfiqur 191 hands Bangladesh 117-run lead, and clear advantage ahead of final day

• Mahmood: Rawalpindi pitch 'didn't play like we thought it should'

Mominul Haque, who scored a fifty on the third day, felt that Mushfiqur’s experience allowed him to assess circumstances faster than the rest.”Mushfiq is a very dedicated individual,” Mominul said after day three. “Whatever I will say about him will not be enough. He plays very differently than the rest of us. He bats every ball with a lot of care. It shows his vast experience. Watching him bat is a lesson in how he manages the innings with the rest of us.”As pleasing as Mushfiqur’s milestones were the partnerships Bangladesh strung together in this Test, having come into the game after struggling with the bat over the last 12 months.Every shot Mushfiqur plays seems to mean something when he’s batting at his best•AFP/Getty ImagesWhen Mushfiqur walked in to bat on the second morning, Bangladesh’s 147 for 3 was a reminder of their problems of the last 12 months: a good start followed by a cluster of wickets. Mushfiqur had missed Bangladesh’s last Test series against Sri Lanka, in which they only crossed 200 just once.Mominul believes Mushfiqur’s arrival at the crease impacted the way Shadman Islam went about his innings. Shadman was batting on 57 off 132 when Mushfiqur walked in. He soon moved up the gears, and scored 36 off his last 51 balls at the crease. He had reached a point in his innings where he felt comfortable unfurling his drives and cuts, and Mushfiqur’s solidity at the other end must have helped free him up.”When I got out, (Mushfiqur) immediately assessed the situation to make sure there wasn’t much trouble from that point,” Mominul said. “He must have said something to Shadman because he started to accelerate shortly after Mushfiq arrived at the crease. He played an important role.”Shadman fell for 93, after adding 52 for the fourth wicket with Mushfiqur. It was a critical innings for the left-hander, who is looking to cement his place after coming back into the side as a replacement for the injured Mahmudul Hasan Joy.Bangladesh then lost Shadman and Shakib Al Hasan in quick succession either side of the tea break. Pakistan may have thought the game was in their hands after Shakib’s wicket, particularly since the batter to follow, Litton Das, had not had a great few months. Litton had only scored one fifty in his last 29 international innings across formats, and had even been dropped once from the ODI side.Now, however, he strode out and played with purpose, initially looking to rotate strike before opening up against Naseem Shah late on the third evening. He took 18 runs off one over, including a pulled six that deposited the ball outside the stadium. Mushfiqur and Litton added 114 for the sixth wicket.Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mushfiqur Rahim added 196 for the seventh wicket•AFP/Getty ImagesWhen Litton was out on the fourth morning, Bangladesh were still 116 runs behind Pakistan. The home side may have sensed an opening, but Bangladesh had, at No. 8, a cricketer who has come a long way since his early bits-and-pieces days.Mehidy can now walk into the ODI side as a batter and has gained enough exposure in Tests to be considered an allrounder. Bangladesh see him as more than just their last line of defence at No. 8, and he was just the right kind of batter at the other end for Mushfiqur. They piled on the misery for the Pakistan bowlers, adding 196 runs, a Bangladesh record for the seventh wicket.At the end of day four, Mehidy gave an insight into Mushfiqur’s calming effect on his partners.”I was quite nervous about the wicket when I reached the crease,” he said. “Mushfiq really helped me. He gave me a briefing about the wicket, telling me to make sure I play out a few deliveries. I will get used to the pace. I liked the wicket. I started to rotate the strike. I think I played 160-170 balls, but it was only possible because I was batting with Mushfiq . We were also the last recognised pair. We only had bowlers left. My target was to bat as long as Mushfiq was at the crease.”It’s a rarity for Bangladesh to out-bat the opposition away from home in this manner. Pakistan may be tearing their hair out looking at how little this Rawalpindi pitch has responded to their efforts, but the Bangladesh batters have played a significant role in amplifying their struggle. For Bangladesh, this performance couldn’t have come at a better time.How unsurprising it was, though, that it was Mushfiqur who led this batting resurgence, setting an example of how to build partnerships. Along the way, he may have laid out a blueprint for Bangladesh’s future successes.

After carrying a 10-game win streak heading into the 2025 All-Star break, the Boston Red Sox have returned to their middling ways. The Alex Cora-led squad has regressed to playing at or below .500 ball and, with less than a week to go before the MLB trade deadline, has some big decisions to make on whether they want to buy—or sell—ahead of the second half of the season.

For the sake of this exercise, let's assume that Boston's front office—led by Craig Breslow—is going to be buyers prior to July 31 deadline. With a loaded outfield, a hit or miss infield, and a pitching staff that could certainly use some help, here are three players who would be perfect fits for the Red Sox down the stretch of the 2025 campaign:

3. 1B/DH Ryan O'Hearn, Baltimore Orioles

A hugely influential Aston Villa player is now believed to be close to signing a new contract at the club, in a significant new development.

Aston Villa fans banned from European game

The Villans return to Premier League action on Sunday afternoon, making the trip to Tottenham for a tough game, but a key update has emerged regarding the Europa League.

On Thursday, Villa’s official website released a statement confirming that supporters won’t be able to go to the home clash with Maccabi Tel Aviv next month, due to safety reasons.

“Aston Villa can confirm the club has been informed that no away fans may attend the UEFA Europa League match with Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday, November 6, following an instruction from the Safety Advisory Group.The Safety Advisory Group (SAG) are responsible for issuing safety certificates for every match at Villa Park, based on a number of physical and safety factors.

“Following a meeting this afternoon, the SAG have formally written to the club and UEFA to advise no away fans will be permitted to attend Villa Park for this fixture. West Midlands Police have advised the SAG that they have public safety concerns outside the stadium bowl and the ability to deal with any potential protests on the night.

“The club are in continuous dialogue with Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local authorities throughout this ongoing process, with the safety of supporters attending the match and the safety of local residents at the forefront of any decision.”

Away from safety issues and on-pitch matters, a huge update has now dropped regarding the future of one of the most popular players at Villa.

Aston Villa hero close to signing new contract

According to The Telegraph‘s John Percy, John McGinn is now “close” to signing a new deal at Aston Villa, also describing him as “one of the bargains of the decade” on X.

The 30-year-old’s current contract expires at the end of this season, but it looks as though his stay at Villa Park will now continue beyond 2026.

This has to be considered great news, considering the leadership, experience and quality that McGinn has flowing through him at this point in his career.

Granted, he may not be at the absolute peak of his powers now, which is no great shock at his age, but that’s not to say that he doesn’t still have a huge amount to offer.

McGinn has been a magnificent signing since arriving for only £2.5m from Hibernian in 2018, and as Percy alludes to, he has been an unbelievable bargain, and there is still plenty more to come.

Forget Rogers: Aston Villa's "explosive" star looks like another Grealish

One new signing is emerging as Aston Villa’s next Grealish-type creator under Unai Emery

By
Will Miller

Oct 17, 2025

If the midfielder can help Villa win a trophy or two before his time at the club is up, he has every chance of departing as a genuine legend in the future.

The Red Sox are back in the playoffs.

Cedanne Rafaela's clutch walk-off triple to bring in Romy González gave Boston a 4-3 win over the Tigers and clinched the Red Sox' first postseason appearance since 2021 in dramatic fashion. The party started immediately on the field to celebrate Rafaela's big moment that returned the storied franchise to October as they officially claimed one of the AL's wild-card spots.

Champagne bottles and goggles awaited the group in the locker room to continue the well-deserved celebration. Before the champagne showers began, though, Red Sox manager Alex Cora made sure to give an absolutely electric message to exclaim that his team was only getting started.

"You could feel the energy in that game," Cora said during his postgame speech to his team. "I want to thank you for the effort, I want to thank you for everything that you guys have done. But, you guys know, we didn't come here to play only 162. We came here to win the World Series."

What a perfect message to start the absolute chaos that ensued.

Cora's squad is currently set for a wild-card series with the AL's first wild card, which will be whoever falls short of the AL East crown between the Yankees and the Blue Jays. Boston has won five of their past seven games and seems to be hitting their stride at the right time as they march toward October.

Matchwinner Mignon du Preez says England win gives South Africa belief they can go all the way

Annesha Ghosh at the WACA Stadium23-Feb-2020“Shosholoza
Ku lezontaba
Stimela si qhamuka e South Africa
Stimela si qhamuka e South Africa…”
The media centre at the WACA, like most press boxes in cricket stadiums around the world, denies its occupants many aural pleasures that lay at the heart of the game’s visceral appeal. On Sunday night, when South Africa’s women beat England for the first time at a T20 World Cup, the best part of the sounds of South Africa’s historic victory remained on the other side of the glass. One of the few that consistently penetrated through the gaps of its two doors was verses of “Shosholoza”, emanating from the Bradman Room, adjacent to the media centre.”That was the main song we were singing all through this game,” said Mapumi Mabuza, general manager (stakeholder relations) at Brand South Africa, a government-owned agency, who was among the 60-strong South Africa contingent in the Bradman Room, singing away, raising toasts. “It’s like an anthem of unity. Used back in the day by migrant labourers, South Africans sing it to encourage each other, cheer them on. And it seemed to have worked for our girls today, in the presence of such a strong South Africa support.”I found out recently from the high commissioner that the estimate [of the number of South Africans living in Australia] is about close to half a million. A lot of them have lived here for a while, some have come here for work. For our girls to win for the first time… it’s a proud, proud day for all of us present here, and back home too.”ALSO READ: Du Preez holds nerve in 100th T20I to seal thrillerAs celebrations among the Brand South Africa revellers picked up, Mignon Du Preez, barely catching her breath back from the thrill of the six and four she struck off the last two balls to seal South Africa’s chase, went about a string of post-match interviews near the boundary overlooked by the Bradman Room.In the lead-up to the game, too, much of the focus had been on du Preez. In a career spanning over 13 years, with more than 200 international caps across formats and appearances in all six editions of the T20 World Cup prior, du Preez, a former captain and senior batter in the side, was to become the first South African woman to play 100 T20Is. It was fitting therefore that standing atop a national record, she should go down on a knee to reflect for a moment after top-edging the third ball in the last over, with the six putting South Africa one run shy of victory.”Everybody who knows me knows that religion is very important for me, so before I go to bed, I say, ‘God gave me the story and he got me on the bus, now play for him’,” du Preez said after the match. “And in that moment also, I just said, ‘Please, just be with me. And thank you for being with me before, when I hit the six, because that was probably the hard part but now stay with me to make sure that and finish it off for the team.'”In her 99 T20I matches prior, only three times had du Preez struck the winning runs. Here then was an opportunity for her to not only make her milestone match a historic one for her team, but to also overcome an opponent that thwarted their progression to the final and semi-final in the last two world tournaments.

This will give us the boost we need to go one step further than the semi-finals and take a World Cup trophy home. We know we’re good enoughMignon du Preez

“I’ve played enough games in my career to be able to step up in crucial moments and I think to finally do that and contribute to the team is really special,” du Preez said. “It’s nice to finally beat them in an ICC tournament. This is the seventh one I’ve played in and we’ve never got close before. To put that behind us and move forward is really exciting.”We’ve always known how strong we are and that within the team we have match-winners but we had a monkey on our back. This will give us the boost we need to go one step further than the semi-finals and take a World Cup trophy home. We know we’re good enough, we just have to play well and enjoy it.”South Africa’s landmark win also coincided with the WACA recording its highest attendance – 2008 – for a women’s match. Sunday’s figures surpassed the combined numbers from Saturday’s double-header (ticketed as one game) by a count of four, the spectators including a strong travelling contingent from the UK, including families of players and members of the Barmy Army.The turnout at the WACA on Sunday was only a fraction of the 16,000-plus attendance at the Sydney Showground Stadium, where India stunned defending champions Australia two days earlier in the tournament opener. However, South Africa sinking a higher-ranked England has only underscored just how closely contested a world tournament this could be, and just how important for teams to hold their nerves.”At the halfway…she [Dane van Niekerk, the captain] said she wants every batter that walks into the crease tonight to bat themselves and know they’ve got a job to do and they can finish it off,” du Preez said. “The way she and Kappy [Marizanne Kapp] set the example, the brilliant partnership [of 84 for the second wicket] in the middle, that definitely got us close to what we needed.”We know we’ve got batting depth. I think it’s important for them to take it as deep as possible. And every batter that walked into the crease just know that you have the ability and you can win a game for your country.”

Unfancied Leicestershire clinched one of the closest title races there has ever been

Paul Edwards23-Jul-2020June 24, 1996
September 22, 1996
In 1996 Leicestershire began their County Championship programme away at Derby. Let us assume the match was not an all-ticket affair. And although this was still the era when the and the covered every first-class game, let us also hazard the view that the press box was not crammed. Heavy rain fell on the first day and play was abandoned, so the journalists, whether local or national, could repair to one of the city’s many fine pubs. The second morning was equally dreich but Derbyshire’s skipper, Kim Barnett put on an extra sweater and made an unbeaten 200. So bleak were the conditions and so isolated Leicestershire’s successes that James Whitaker’s players gathered in a huddle at the fall of each wicket.Visiting supporters probably regarded their attendance on such deliciously grim days as a demonstration of devotion: “My County Wet or Dry”. Yet Whitaker later replied with a century and the left-arm seamer Alan Mullally took half a dozen cheap wickets in the home side’s second innings to set up a six-wicket victory. By the season’s end Leicestershire would be champions for only the second time in their history and Derbyshire would be runners-up, their best position in 60 years. This took place only 24 summers ago.ALSO READ: Shepherd, Majid and Glamorgan leave Gloucestershire second bestWhitaker’s team stuck with the huddle. “It was windy and cold, and we were a bit disconnected, as you can be when it’s windy and the fielders are spread out,” the skipper recalled. “After a long partnership a wicket fell, and we all came together in a huddle, part out of coldness, part out of a feeling of ‘Bloody hell, we’ve got a wicket.’ Then we got another one quickly so we decided to do it again. And the more we did it, the more we found we were enjoying it.”Nobody predicted Leicestershire’s triumph in 1996 apart from Whitaker. They had finished seventh the previous year and were 40/1 outsiders when the season began. Apart from Phil Simmons, their overseas signing, the team was hardly stacked with stars. Yet their unity of purpose was sufficient to defeat a Derbyshire team that included six Test cricketers and they were to go through the 17-match season losing only to Surrey and defeating ten teams, most of whom were far better financed than the Grace Road club.Members of successful sides almost always cite collective spirit as a factor in their triumphs. Has there ever been a successful team – in any sport – whose members did not encourage each other yet still managed to win trophies? What was different at Grace Road in 1996 was that a team of mostly young, ambitious cricketers came together with relatively little expected of them while expecting much of themselves. Moreover, Whitaker and Jack Birkenshaw, the captain and coach, were prepared to try fresh approaches. “It was in that age when a lot of county cricketers seemed to be doing just enough to hang on,” Whitaker said. “We wanted to do something different from that. We decided right from the start that we’d get back to the basics of why we were all professional cricketers – and that was to enjoy it.”Birkenshaw suggested that Leicestershire’s players would savour away matches a little more if they arrived at lunchtime on the day prior to the game and had a net at the venue where they were to spend the next four days. This was possible now that teams were no longer playing two three-day games each week. The result was that five of Leicestershire’s victories were achieved on the road and they came within one wicket of defeating Glamorgan at Swansea in August. However, Neil Kendrick and Colin Metson survived the final eight balls of the game and when Hampshire’s last pair, James Bovill and Simon Renshaw, blocked out the last six overs a fortnight later at Grace Road, Leicestershire’s players were entitled to believe this might not be their summer of jubilee.

We were like the closest family you could imagine. It’s the best team environment I’ve ever known. Every morning we leapt out of bed and galloped in to workPaul Nixon

Other counties remained in contention until summer’s last knockings. Six teams led the table in the last two months and Derbyshire looked likely champions when they won four successive games in August. A battle-hardened Essex side were favourites on September 1, only for Richard Kettleborough’s single Championship century to transform their match at Headingley. By contrast, Leicestershire found their very best form in the final month of the season, winning their last four matches, including a couple of two-day hammerings of Somerset and Durham. And maybe Whitaker’s players had “seen” it all coming. The Leicestershire skipper had introduced visualisation skills to his players and the 22-year-old Darren Maddy described their effects: “We’d think about how we wanted the day to go, what sort of effect we wanted to have on the opposition. It was all about self-belief and relaxation.”Supporters of other counties and many neutrals took the view that it was largely about Simmons. The West Indian’s 1186 runs and 33 catches at slip were valuable enough but he also took 56 wickets with his seam bowling. That made him a perfect new-ball partner for David Millns in a summer when Mullally played all six Tests. But arguments about Simmons’ dominance could go only so far. Six of Leicestershire’s victories were achieved by an innings and the Trinidadian played a supporting role in the successive midsummer annihilations of Yorkshire and Essex.In the first of these games Vince Wells and Whitaker both made double-hundreds as the visitors piled up 681 for 7 declared, which remains the highest total ever made against Yorkshire. Then Gordon Parsons – “Roaring Gordon” to his later opponents in Minor Counties cricket – took four wickets in the home side’s first innings and Millns chipped in with another four in their second. As ever there were Leicestershire huddles. “We were squeezing up as close as possible just to warm up,” Simmons said. But it was a sad ending to first-class cricket at Park Avenue, Bradford. The ground was once a Tyke stronghold with an imperial pavilion but by 1996 the only intimidation was provided by razor wire on the perimeter wall.A fortnight later Leicestershire’s players returned to Grace Road, where the problem was getting people in rather than keeping them out. Undaunted by the absence of acclamation found at Welford Road or Filbert Street, Millns and Parsons took four wickets apiece as an Essex side that included Graham Gooch and Stuart Law were put out for 163 on the first day. Wells, who was in the best nick of his career, then notched 197 and put on 187 with Millns, who made his maiden hundred before taking six wickets when Essex batted again. He thus became only the fourth Leicestershire player to make a century and take ten wickets in the same match. It was that sort of summer for players and supporters at Grace Road. Almost every match brought some delights. “We were like the closest family you could imagine,” said Paul Nixon, for whom effervescent enthusiasm is a default position. “It’s the best team environment I’ve ever known. Every morning we leapt out of bed and galloped in to work.”Phil Simmons led the way with 1186 runs in the season for Leicestershire•Allsport/Getty ImagesThe Grace Road cavalry were no doubt particularly keen to leave their stables on the first morning of the season’s final game. They knew that Surrey needed maximum batting points to have a chance of pipping them and that even that possibility would be removed if they took care of business against Middlesex. Whitaker’s bowlers began that task by dismissing the visitors for 190 on the first day and a Simmons century built a formidable lead on the second. But at tea on the following afternoon, matters were taken out of Leicestershire’s hands in the pleasantest way possible when Surrey forfeited their first innings against Worcestershire. “Leicestershire clinched the second Championship in their history over a pot of tea and ham sandwiches on the penultimate day of the season,” reported ‘s delighted correspondent Chris Goddard.Something like 3000 spectators gathered beneath the players’ balcony on that famous afternoon. To cap off a football summer that had featured Shearer, Skinner and Baddiel, Nixon led a conga of supporters onto the outfield singing “Cricket’s coming home”. Then more or less everyone got drunk. Next morning Millns sweated off his hangover by taking four of the last five wickets to complete an innings victory.September 21 was the latest date on which the title had ever been won. So much was clear. Making sense of what had happened was trickier, although there was no doubt about Leicestershire’s collective endeavour: four batsmen had scored over a thousand runs and eight had made centuries in Championship matches. Seven bowlers had taken at least 24 wickets each, including the frequently overlooked spinners, Matthew Brimson and Adrian Pierson. Stability was also important: the champions had called on only 13 players in the entire season. Other reasons, perhaps the most important ones, could not be quantified. They included self-belief, enthusiasm and the energy that fills any cricket dressing room when a team is doing well.And yet still people were unsure what to say about it all. As so often, Martin Johnson captured the mood: “When the County Championship went to Grace Road, it was greeted with the kind of embarrassed silence associated with a rag and bone man’s horse winning the Derby. In fact, if they ever built a ring road next to Leicestershire’s ground they would have to call it the Charisma By-Pass.” Of course, you needed to be a former cricket correspondent of the to write such things. Match from the Day

South Africa played like a team intent on silencing the noise around them but still came up second to England once again

Firdose Moonda27-Nov-2020International cricket is back. In South Africa. And by South Africa. But England are still the masters of the white-ball.As recently as 12 days ago, this series was in danger of not happening and CSA was in danger of having its status as the national body of cricket in this country stripped away. The sports minister was ready to step in and potentially prevent them from fielding a team that could call itself South Africa.As recently as Thursday, South African cricket’s chief medical officer warned that if a significant number of players contracted Covid-19, matches could be called off. Two of the 24-man squad had returned positive tests so his fears were not entirely unfounded.And here we are. For the first time in almost eight months, the South Africa men’s team got on the park and it was clear they had something to prove. Until the 17th over of England’s innings, South Africa played like a team intent on silencing the noise. Like a team that wanted to end the wittering around themselves and their culture, the whispers around the administration and the crisis. And even in that over that cost 28 runs and put England on the path to victory, South Africa still played in a way that amplified the sound of bat on ball. Finally. There was cricket.ALSO READ: Bairstow 86* powers England to five-wicket winIn the lead up to this series, the conversation has been about sportsmen and social justice especially when it comes to racial prejudice. Given the history of Apartheid, colonialism and slavery, South Africa could be one of the countries that could best understands and embodies the antiracist doctrine, but it is still grappling with recent schisms and trying to find solutions.CSA’s attempt was to put up two large banners with the message “We stand in solidarity against racism and gender-based violence” and drape them over stands at opposite ends of the ground. But on the day that New Zealand and West Indies took a knee and Australia and India formed a barefoot circle, the absence of any gesture from South Africa was glaring. They are the only one of the six teams that were in action who have not symbolically shown their support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, even though they insist they are working on living out a doctrine of equality.On top of that, they also have other causes to be concerned about. The first 16 days of next month are dedicated annually as days of activism against gender-based violence and both teams wore black armbands to mourn those who lose their lives to abuse and those who have died from Covid-19. In South Africa, the latter has risen to more than 21,000 and with infection rates rising, there are fears of many more. Ten minutes before the start of play, flags were frantically lowered to half-mast, where they should have been flying since Wednesday. Among the many things that needed to be done as Newlands got ready for international cricket, it seemed someone remembered that one just in time.As South Africa lined up to sing their national anthem, directly in front of the SuperSport commentary team, they could hear JP Duminy being asked about BLM and supporting the activist sportsman. An aura of awkwardness settled over the opening salvo and when the final chords of “Nkosi Sikelel’i Afrika” rung out, and everyone remained standing, it felt as though something had been left unsaid, or undone. History will judge South Africa’s (in)action and assess how well they have applied the principles of inclusion they have committed to.It may also see this season as one in which South Africa built on the foundation stone’s laid last summer, when a new coaching regime took over. Their tenure showed promise, with a Test victory but it was clear they needed time. The longest off-season since readmission may not have been exactly what they had in mind but it gave them room to reflect and reimagine the kind of team they want to be.We need more than one match to be able to see what their new approach of “aggressive, but smart,” means but we can already make some deductions. Faf du Plessis best demonstrated it with the bat when he twice went close to hitting one of the Egyptian geese that have made the Newlands outfield their home, but twice evaded them. While Harry the Hadeda, the avian superstar from England’s last tour, was nowhere to be found two adult and four teenage geese occupied positions from the covers to long-on, walking in to almost every ball and scurrying away as soon as it was hit.Kagiso Rabada’s catch gave George Linde a wicket•Getty ImagesDu Plessis played around them and in the same vein as he had been doing at the IPL. In the fifth over, he changed the tone of South Africa’s start from unsure, on a pitch where the ball was not coming on as quickly as might have been expected, to in control when he buried a ball in the construction site, smoked the new one down the ground and on to the railway stand, where the absence of fans meant the few in the ground could hear the ping as it hit a flagpole, and then mowed it through midwicket.The way George Linde, the debutant, was used was the other example of how the new style of play may reveal itself. Linde was tasked with opening the bowling and rewarded his captain with a wicket off the second ball and then switched ends to claim another as Rabada took a stunning low catch. South Africa seldom give a spinner or a new player that level of responsibility but Linde plays his franchise cricket here and has the experience of 81 domestic T20s so they trusted him and it paid off.More’s the pity that Linde did not have his home crowd cheering him on but these are the times. Newlands is not ready for visitors anyway as the construction of an office block continues. And who knows what commentary might have provided late in the game when, with England needing 84 runs from 48 balls, Quinton de Kock turned to Heinrich Klaasen to bowl at Ben Stokes. That was South Africa saying they thought they were so far ahead they could do anything. And they were wrong. Not aggressive, and definitely not smart.Klaasen conceded 14 runs, before de Kock went back to his premier spinner Tabraiz Shamsi. In hindsight, he should have let Shamsi bowl his full quota of four overs, although even that may not have stopped what happened later. Beuran Hendricks conceded 28 runs, including eight wides in an over where he lost control.Some will question why Anrich Nortje, who has just come off a fantastic IPL, didn’t play. Perhaps South Africa thought the pitch would better suit those who take pace off the ball – it looked that way when England was bowling. Perhaps there were transformation targets to consider, which could have been solved in other ways.Or perhaps still it’s that England, who are unbeaten in seven T20 series, are a bloody good team, who bat deep and back themselves until the very end. There is no better opposition to return to international action against. Welcome back, England. Welcome back, international cricket.