Josh Philippe, Ben McDermott, Chris Green and Ben Dwarshuis will join for the end of the series with a host of players returning home

Andrew McGlashan28-Nov-20232:47

Andre Borovec: Australia happy with Smith as T20 opener

New South Wales and Sydney Thunder offspinner Chris Green is on the verge of an unlikely Australia debut having been called up to the T20I squad in India.Wicketkeeper-batters Josh Philippe and Ben McDermott are also joining the tour along with left-arm quick Ben Dwarshuis with a group of players leaving after Tuesday’s third match in Guwahati.Sean Abbott, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Steven Smith and Adam Zampa will return home following the ODI World Cup triumph but Travis Head remains meaning he will be the only player to finish the tour who is also set to feature in the opening Test against Pakistan in Perth next month.McDermott and Philippe have arrived in India while Green and Dwarshuis will link up when the series reaches Raipur for the fourth match.Related

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Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins was sympathetic to the demands placed on those players who had been on the road for a long time.”It’s been a busy few months,” he said during an event at the SCG to present the World Cup trophy. “It’s still games for Australia and think it’s great these tours do provide opportunity for younger guys or guys who might not be in your first XI.”Think they are still important tours where you’ll get a lot out of it but they’re humans, not robots, so putting everything into a World Cup then playing a couple of days later probably don’t begrudge them not being 100%.”It’s understood that the selectors have been as least disruptive to the ongoing round of Sheffield Shield as possible with none of those called up to India likely to have featured for their states.Green, 30, has largely made his name as a globe-trotting T20 cricketer although in the last 12 months has become a regular figure in New South Wales’ Sheffield Shield side. In the BBL he has taken 66 wickets at 29.56 and an economy rate of 7.14 for Thunder.Chris Green has played T20 cricket around the world•Getty Images

Philippe, the Western Australia wicketkeeper-batter, has long-been considered one of the most exciting prospects in Australian cricket and made his T20I against New Zealand in early 2021. He played a couple of impressive innings with 45 and 43 in his second and third games but did not pass 13 in his next seven knocks which included tours to West Indies and Bangladesh.He has struggled badly in the Sheffield Shield this season, averaging just 9.50 in five matches, and it’s understood he was facing being dropped for the current game against Queensland, but his Marsh Cup form has held up reasonably well with 179 runs at 35.80. He also scored a century for Australia A against New Zealand A early in the season.McDermott is the most experienced of those called up having played five ODIs and 23 T20Is, most recently against Pakistan in early 2022. Dwarshuis, who plays for Sydney Sixers in the BBL, has one T20I to his name having also faced Pakistan last year.The T20I squad in India has been a mixture of first-choice names and fringe players. The multi-format quicks and allrounders had already been rested ahead of the home summer and David Warner was withdrawn after the World Cup final.Australia trail 2-0 after defeats in Vizag and Thiruvananthapuram.

Rashid is also part of the side but is unlikely to play as he continues to recover from a back surgery

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2024Mujeeb Ur Rahman has been picked in Afghanistan’s squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series in India. The 22-year-old mystery spinner wasn’t part of the national side for the T20I series in the UAE and was instead in action for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL. Mujeeb’s BBL stint, though, was cut short after the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) revoked his No-Objection Certificate (NoC) for the remainder of the BBL.The ACB had announced on December 25 that Mujeeb, along with seamers Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq, would be sanctioned after telling the board they did not intend to sign central contracts for 2024. The three players were told they would be considered “non-eligible” for NOCs for the next two years, and that any current NOCs would be revoked.Farooqi and Naveen have since featured for Afghanistan in their most recent T20I series against the UAE after talks with the board in which they “demonstrated a strong desire to represent their country again”, according to the ACB.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe T20Is in India will be Mujeeb’s first since July 2023. Mujeeb is part of a strong spin attack that includes Rashid Khan, Qais Ahmad and Noor Ahmad. Rashid, Afghanistan’s designated T20I captain, has been included in the 19-member squad, but is unlikely to play as he continues to recover from a back surgery that had also put him out of the BBL and the UAE T20I series. It is understood that he will only start bowling again in 10 days. Batter Ibrahim Zadran, who had led Afghanistan to a 2-1 series win over UAE, will captain the side in India as well. Ikram Alikhil is the back-up wicketkeeper to Rahmanullah Gurbaz.Mohammad Ishaq, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli who were all part of the squad for the T20Is in the UAE have been left out for the series in India. Rahmat Shah retains his place in the squad; he is uncapped in T20I cricket and has not played a T20 since July 2022. Gulbadin Naib and Alikhil, who were among the reserves for the UAE series, have now been promoted to the main squad.Related

Rashid Khan ruled out of T20I series against India

Farooqi, Mujeeb and Naveen to get limited NOCs as ACB modifies sanctions

Suryakumar, Hardik ruled out of Afghanistan T20Is

Mujeeb's BBL season cut short by Afghanistan Cricket Board

Farooqi, Naveen in Afghanistan squad after 'demonstrating strong desire to represent country'

“We are delighted to be embarking on our maiden tour to India for a three-match series,” Mirwais Ashraf, the ACB chairman, said in a statement. “India is the top-ranked side in the world and it’s very pleasing to witness AfghanAtalan competing in a three-match T20I against them. We believe that AfghanAtalan are no longer underdogs & have excelled well in the recent past and we look forward to a highly competitive series against India.”This will be Afghanistan’s first bilateral T20I series against India. The three-match series will begin in Mohali on January 11 before the teams head to Indore and Bangalore for the last two games on January 14 and January 17 respectively.This will also be the last T20I series for both India and Afghanistan before the T20 World Cup gets underway in the West Indies and the USA in June later this year.Afghanistan squadIbrahim Zadran (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Azmaullah Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem, Qais Ahmad, Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khan.

علق أحمد فتحي، لاعب النادي الأهلي وبيراميدز السابق، على جلوس محمد الشناوي بديلًا لـ مصطفي شوبير، خلال مباراة الجولة الأولى من بطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز أمام مودرن سبورت.

وقال فتحي خلال تصريحات عبر قناة “أون سبورت” لبرنامج “ملعب أون”: “محمد الشناوي حارس كبير، من حقه أن يعلم من قبل أي مباراة بيومين أنه سيكون بديلًا، وليس من خلال المحاضرة، هذا يكون صعب جدًا”.

طالع | تشكيل الأهلي المتوقع أمام فاركو في الدوري.. من الحارس الأساسي وموقف أليو ديانج

وأضاف: “يوجد هجوم غير طبيعي على محمد الشناوي، هو من أفضل الحراس في آخر 7 سنوات للنادي الأهلي ومنتخب مصر”.

وتابع: “محمد الشناوي لم يخطئ بخطأ فج، حتي يتم الهجوم عليه بهذا الشكل، أشعر أنه ليس سعيدًا بجلوسة بديلًا”.

وأكمل: “مصطفي شوبير ومحمد الشناوي الحارسان جيدان بالتأكيد، لكن الخبرات لصالح محمد الشناوي”.

ويستعد النادي الأهلي في الوقت الحالي، لمواجهة فاركو، مساء اليوم الجمعة، في إطار مواجهات الجولة الثانية من عمر منافسات بطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

Kohli was named the men’s ODI cricketer of the year while Suryakumar took the honour for men’s T20Is

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2024 • Updated on 25-Jan-2024

Pat Cummins won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year for leading Australia to the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup titles, apart from helping the team to retain the Ashes. He staved off competition from team-mate Travis Head and India’s Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja to run away with the top honour.Cummins showed his worth throughout the year with bat and ball. He was the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 42 scalps, and capped off the year with his second ten-for in Tests. With bat, his unbeaten 44 in the first Ashes Test gave Australia a two-wicket win.England allrounder Nat Sciver-Brunt – who shone across formats, including in the women’s Ashes – won the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year for the second time in a row. She overcame stiff competition from Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu and Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney.Kohli, Athapaththu named ODI cricketers of the yearAn exceptional year in ODIs where he showed glimpses of being his old self saw Virat Kohli named as the men’s ODI cricketer of the year. He scored 1377 runs in ODIs in 2023, which included a tally of 765 in the World Cup alone. It was the most any batter had scored at a men’s World Cup, and he crossed fifty in nine of the 11 innings in the competition. He finished the competition with an average of 95.62 and a strike rate of 90.31, becoming the first man to fifty ODI hundreds in the process.Chamari Athapaththu, meanwhile, was at the fore of Sri Lanka’s first bilateral win over New Zealand, leading the way with bat. She scored two centuries in successful chases in the three-match ODI series. In the series-deciding final game, she struck an unbeaten 140 after Sri Lanka found themselves at 4 for 2 in the first four overs, chasing 196. She attacked her way to a 31-ball fifty and a 60-ball century – the fastest for Sri Lanka in women’s ODIs.Suryakumar Yadav named men’s T20I cricketer of the yearA stellar 2023 where he finished as the highest run-scorer in T20Is among Full Member nations has seen Suryakumar Yadav bag the men’s T20I cricketer of the year award for the second year running. He beat fellow competitors Sikandar Raza, Alpesh Ramjani and Mark Chapman to take the award home.Suryakumar started the year scoring just 7 against Sri Lanka but followed it up with scores of 51 (36) and 112 not out (51) in the next two matches. The middle-order batter went from strength to strength in the format thereon. In all, he played 17 T20I innings in 2023, recording 733 runs at 48.86 which included five half-centuries and two hundreds. More importantly, amidst the carnage, he maintained a strike rate of 155.95.No other batter from a Full Member nation had more T20I runs than Suryakumar Yadav in 2023•Associated Press

The 31-year-old finished 2023 on a high note with a 56-ball 100 against South Africa. With Rohit Sharma opting out and Hardik Pandya injured, Suryakumar was also handed the captaincy of the Indian T20I side. He gave a good account of himself taking India to a 4-1 series win against Australia at home before drawing a three-match series against South Africa 1-1.Khawaja Test cricketer of the year; Ravindra and Litchfield emerging players of the yearUsman Khawaja edged out Travis Head, R Ashwin and Joe Root to be crowned the Test cricketer of the year. He was the only one batter to score more than 1000 runs in the year; he amassed 1210 in 13 Tests, including a career-best of 195 not out against South Africa. He showed his mettle in spin-friendly conditions in India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, topping the charts with 333 runs including a century and two fifties, in four games. He was also the leading run-scorer in the Ashes with a tally of 496.A truly breakthrough year where he lit up the 2023 ODI World Cup has resulted in New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra winning the men’s emerging player of the year award. He overcame challenges from South Africa fast bowler Gerald Coetzee, Sri Lanka quick Dilshan Madushanka and India batter Yashasvi Jaiswal. Having made his 50-over debut against Sri Lanka in March, Ravindra played 25 ODIs in 2023, scoring 820 runs at an average of 41.00 while also picking 18 wickets at 46.61. Ravindra had a sensational time of it opening the batting for New Zealand as he amassed 578 runs in ten innings at 64.22.Australian Phoebe Litchfield was awarded the women’s emerging player of the year.Hayley Matthews crowned women’s T20I cricketer of the yearWest Indies captain Hayley Matthews capped off an excellent year by taking home the women’s T20I cricketer of the year award, overcoming stiff competition from Australia’s Ellyse Perry, England’s Sophie Ecclestone, and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu.No other batter had more runs than Matthews’ 700 in 14 innings at an average of 63.63. She also picked up 19 wickets at 16.21. Matthews had a particularly stunning tour of Australia in October 2023 where she finished the three-match T20I series with scores of 99*, 132 and 79. Her tally of 310 runs is the most by any player in a women’s T20I bilateral series.Matthews is the second West Indies player to bag the award after Stafanie Taylor in 2015.Hayley Matthews had a spectacular series Down Under•Getty Images

De Leede wins men’s associate cricketer of the yearA key component behind Netherlands qualifying for the main draw of the 2023 ODI World Cup, Bas de Leede has been named the men’s associate cricketer of the year. The allrounder finished the year with 31 wickets in 16 ODIs at 28.26 while also scoring 424 runs at 28.26 with one fifty and one hundred.In one of the most talked-about all-round performances of the year, de Leede picked 5 for 52 against Scotland in a World Cup qualifier game and then backed it up with a 92-ball 123 to almost single-handedly take Netherlands into the final.Meanwhile, Kenyan allrounder Queentor Abel has been crowned the women’s associate cricketer of the year. Abel scored 476 runs in 17 T20Is at 34.00 in 2023 with a top score of 109 against Lesotho. She also picked 30 wickets with an average of 7.36 and an economy of 3.81.Teams of the yearThe 2023 ODI World Cup runner-up India dominated the ODI team of the year released by ICC. Rohit Sharma was named captain of the side which had as many as six Indians in the XI. The Australians meanwhile hogged the limelight in ICC’s Test team of the year. The WTC champions had five members in the XI with Pat Cummins leading the side.Chamari Athapaththu was named captain of the women’s ODI team of the year which had five Australians in the mix. No Indian found a place in the ICC’s women’s team of the year. Athapaththu was also named captain of the women’s T20I team of the year.Test team of the year: Usman Khawaja, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kane Williamson, Joe Root, Travis Head, Ravindra Jadeja, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), R Ashwin, Mitchell Starc, Stuart BroadODI team of the year: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Travis Head, Virat Kohli, Daryl Mitchell, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Marco Jansen, Adam Zampa, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed ShamiT20I team of the year: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Phil Salt, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Mark Chapman, Sikandar Raza, Alpesh Ramjani, Mark Adair, Ravi Bishnoi, Richard Ngarava, Arshdeep SinghWomen’s ODI team of the year: Chamari Athapaththu, Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Ashleigh Gardner, Annabel Sutherland, Nadine de Klerk, Le Tahuhu, Nahida AkterWomen’s T20I team of the year: Chamari Athapaththu (capt), Beth Mooney (wk), Laura Wolvaardt, Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Megan Schutt

Paul Pogba showed off his keepy-uppy skills in a hotel room with a big smile on his face as he is preparing to return to football after spending nearly two years on the sidelines after being slapped with an 18-month doping ban. The Frenchman signed for AS Monaco this summer as a free agent, and as the Ligue 1 club face Nottingham Forest in a pre-season friendly, it could mark Pogba's return to action.

Pogba showed off keepy-uppy skillsCould make his Monaco debut against ForestPreparing for return to a football pitch after almost two yearsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

AS Monaco's preparations are in full swing as they are all set to face Premier League side Nottingham Forest in a pre-season friendly on Saturday, which could mark the potential return of Pogba on the football pitch after spending close to two years on the sidelines due to a doping ban.

Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Ahead of taking the field for the Ligue 1 giants, Pogba showed off his keepy-uppy skills in a hotel room with a smile on his face. Along with Pogba, Barcelona flop Ansu Fati could also make his debut for Monaco.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR AS MONACO?

After facing Forest, Monaco are scheduled to take on Arminia and Ajax in two more friendly matches before formally kicking off their 2025-26 campaign on August 17 against Le Havre.

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite is “quite clear” on the XI he will take into the first Test against Australia next week, which will include at least three debutants, and praised his largely inexperienced team with making good use of their warm-up match in Adelaide.Across the three days against a Cricket Australia XI, made up of players without BBL deals, a number of the top order spent useful time in the middle with wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva hitting a century on the final day while Kavem Hodge struck 52 and 99 and Justin Greaves was twice in the runs.The bowlers were able to knock over the CA XI for 174 in their first innings with an eye-catching performance from quick Shamar Joseph who is in line for a debut next week along with the senior pair of Kemar Roach and Alzarri Joseph.Related

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• Hodge, da Silva impress for West Indies after fast bowlers run through CA XI

• Da Silva hits century as West Indies find positives before Test challenge

“[I’m] quite clear on the XI,” Brathwaite told reporters. “Very happy with how all the guys went about the camp [and] went about this game. This time next week it’s about making West Indies proud.”While Brathwaite did not divulge further details of how West Indies will line up, if the warm-up game is an indication it will see Hodge and Greaves making their debuts at No. 5 and 6 respectively along with Shamar.Left-armer Gudakesh Motie, who took 13 wickets in the match against Zimbabwe a year ago, would appear to be the frontline spinner although allrounder Kevin Sinclair may have given selectors something to ponder.West Indies shuffled their batting order in the second innings with Da Silva, one of the players who was part of the Test series in Australia last time around, making the most of his chance with a hundred while Brathwaite was pleased with how Hodge twice made contributions.Joshua Da Silva spent useful time in the middle•CWI Media

“[Da Silva] took it with both hands, the opportunity to open, and he batted for a long period which is what you want In Test cricket so that was good to see,” he said. “Very pleased with how [Hodge] showed he [could] come again in the second innings and do it. That’s what we want.”Brathwaite (87 Tests) along with Roach (79 Tests) will have key roles to play in showing the way while Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Alzarri were also on the previous tour.”[You can talk about] different spells you would have faced, how the pitches played, there’s a lot of information shared,” Brathwaite said. “Obviously Kemar Roach leading the young bowling attack with experience of similar, how the Kookaburra ball reacts off these types of pitches, the lengths, especially with the new ball is very important.”West Indies also caught well during the game – something Pakistan were unable to do during their Test series, which may have cost them the Melbourne Test.”Catching is very important, especially here in Australia,” Brathwaite said. “The pitches get quite a bit of bounce so especially the slip fielders have to be sharp. That’s something the fielding coach speaks about, [but] we’ve got to keep working hard.”West Indies arrived in Adelaide on December 30 so have had the rare opportunity of spending two weeks in the same city to prepare for the opening Test, which this year will be a day game rather than Adelaide’s traditional day-night fixture with Brisbane instead hosting the pink-ball contest.”Having the time to practice here in Adelaide, get accustomed to the pitches and stuff, think that was great for us,” Brathwaite said. “As a team we are very pleased. The facilities here are outstanding and the boys made good use of them.”West Indies’ squad is missing a host of senior players including former captain Jason Holder and allrounder Kyle Mayers who opted to play in T20 leagues.

Manchester City have reportedly made a fresh approach for Newcastle United star Tino Livramento.

• Man City make move for Livramento
• Newcastle want to keep full-back
• Magpies ready to offer him new deal

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  According to TBRFootball, City made contact with Newcastle in June about signing Livramento, and now they have made a fresh move for the former Southampton man. The report adds that Pep Guardiola's side are even willing to bid in excess of £50m ($67m) for the full-back's services.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  This is turning out to be a painful summer for Newcastle so far. Star striker Alexander Isak reportedly wants to leave the club, Liverpool pipped them to Hugo Ekitike, long-term target James Trafford will head to City and not them, and now Livramento is a wanted man. Other than recruiting Anthony Elanga, the Magpies have had precious little to cheer about.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Newcastle are said to be intent on keeping the 22-year-old this summer and have approached his entourage about a new and improved contract, with the one-time England international's current terms expiring in 2028.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Newcastle, who have reportedly turned their attention to RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko if Isak leaves, have just over a month to try and keep their best players while also trying to strengthen the squad as the new Premier League season draws ever nearer.

MatériaMais Notícias

Gabigol já enfrentou diversos defensores qualificados ao longo da carreira, mas sempre existe um que que exige mais trabalho. Ao ser questionado sobre o zagueiro mais difícil que já enfrentou, o atacante escolheu justamente um jogador do próprio Flamengo.

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+Foto épica com Messi e Cristiano Ronaldo rende enxurrada de memes na web

– Se fosse para escolher um, escolheria um que joga comigo, pelo o que vejo nos treinos. É o Rodrigo Caio, que jogou no São Paulo. Já joguei contra ele e se jogasse de novo ia ser muito complicado. Rodrigo Caio é cara excepcional. Jogamos juntos há vários anos, inclusive na Seleção Olímpica. É um cara, realmente, não é só um jogador muito bom, mas uma pessoa muito boa – declarou Gabigol em entrevista ao programa “Altas Horas”, da Rede Globo.

+De férias, Gabigol declara: ‘Quero ficar muito tempo no Flamengo’

Rodrigo Caio é apontado por muitos como um dos principais defensores do futebol brasileiro, mas vem tendo dificuldades em adquirir sequência no Flamengo. O zagueiro sofreu uma lesão no joelhoem julho e atuou por somente 12 jogos neste ano.

Gabigol e Rodrigo Caio chegaram juntos ao Flamengo no início de 2019. Pelo clube, conquistaram duas Libertadores, dois Brasileiros, Copa do Brasil, duas Supercopas, Recopa e quatro Estaduais.

Gujarat Titans’ captain Shubman Gill said his side being bowled out for 89 against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday night had nothing to with the Ahmedabad pitch; the fault lay with his batters.”Our batting performance was very average,” Gill said at the post-match presentation. “I think the wicket was alright, to be honest. If you see our dismissals, the ball I got out to had nothing to do with the pitch. Even the way Wriddhi [Wriddhiman Saha] got out had nothing to do with the pitch, and Sai [Sudharsan] got run out. So I don’t think it had anything to do with the pitch. Just a bad batting performance and poor shot selection, I would say.”After being sent in, Titans lost Gill in the second over, caught at extra cover off Ishant Sharma. Two overs later, Saha played on against Mukesh Kumar, and by the end of the powerplay, they were 30 for 4.Related

• Report – A Capital win after Titans routed for season's lowest total

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Tristan Stubbs, bowling his part-time offbreaks, hurt Titans further. He had Abhinav Manohar and Shahrukh Khan stumped in the same over to leave them on 48 for 6. Chasing only 90, Capitals focused on improving their net run rate and achieved the target in just 8.5 overs.David Miller felt the pitch was “a bit sticky” but not one where a team would typically get bowled out so cheaply. “There was a couple of wickets that were really unlucky, just strange dismissals,” he said. “He [Gill] played a bit early and got caught at cover. Another day he is hitting that for four. So the wicket was a bit sticky but certainly not a 90-all-out.”We were definitely below par tonight. You can make all the excuses in the world, but at the end of the day, we didn’t play good enough cricket.”You are not going to win too many games when you are three or four wickets down in the powerplay. A score of 120-plus would have been at least something presentable for the bowlers to bowl at. But below 100 was just not enough. So, yeah, it’s one of those things and we just couldn’t get any momentum. Rashid [Khan, who scored 31 off 24] came in and played with good intent, and kind of proved maybe playing with a lot of intent was the way forward.”Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s analysis show Time Out, Ian Bishop said tonight’s showing added up to worrying signs for Titans.”It’s the second time this season,” Bishop said of Titans’ batting failure. “When they played Lucknow, and Lucknow got 160-odd and they didn’t even get close to it. To me, at that time, there was no reason why Shubman and his team shouldn’t have got that total. The ball didn’t do a whole heap off the surface. So this is quite worrying that at least on two occasions so early in the season they have capitulated when the pitch conditions suggested it should not have been like that.”In the last two seasons, a distinct feature of Titans’ success was different players stepping up in different games. This time, in the absence of Hardik Pandya (traded) and Mohammed Shami (injured), they have seemed over-reliant on Gill in the batting department, and Rashid Khan and Mohit Sharma in the bowling.Gill is their leading run-scorer, with 263 runs in seven games at an average of 43.83 and a strike rate of 151.14. He is also the only Titans batter to score a fifty this season. Sudharsan is the second on the runs chart for them but his 238 have come at a much lower strike rate: 127.95. In fact, as of Wednesday night, Titans’ scoring rate of 8.08 is the lowest among the ten teams in the competition.Their latest defeat means they are now seventh on the points table. Miller, though, was hopeful of a turnaround.”We got absolutely pumped but the thing is, if we had won tonight, we would have been four [wins] from seven [games],” he said. “It just was one of those games where I don’t feel anything went our way. As I said a couple of games ago, I don’t feel there are any areas of major concern. There have been one or two games where we haven’t played to our potential but if everyone just plays the way they can, I think everything is pretty sweet. I think it’s just looking at ourselves in the mirror, making sure that we’re ready for the next game.”Everyone wrote us off the last two years and we were in the finals both years. So it’s just about making sure everyone sticks to their contribution for the team and, most certainly, it was just one of those results tonight.”

County struggle amid cost-of-living crisis and abandoned ODI, with prospect of ground sale on agenda

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2024

Gloucestershire’s viability as a first-class county has been cast into renewed doubt after the club reported a loss of £1.19 million in their annual accounts, published on Monday, which is more than twice the shortfall of £570,000 that they accrued in 2022-23.In her report, Gloucestershire’s Treasurer Rebecca Watkin insisted that the club’s outlook for 2024 and 2025 was more positive, but blamed the current situation on the cost-of-living crisis that has raised the club’s day-to-day running costs, allied to the washed-out ODI between England and Ireland in September, which would ordinarily have been a vital source of revenue, given the club’s non-Test and Hundred-hosting status.”This has been a challenging year financially for a number of reasons and there is no doubt it is disappointing to be reporting a second consecutive financial deficit,” Watkin wrote. “Gloucestershire has experienced a tumultuous couple of years both on and off the field but despite that, we remain committed to pushing for success on the field with inspiring, competitive cricket, and will ensure all that can be done is done to return improved financial results in the years to come.”In December, Gloucestershire’s board had floated the possibility of selling up the club’s historic Nevil Road ground, which has been their home since WG Grace assisted with its purchase in 1889 and could now be worth between £25 and £40 million, and moving to a new out-of-town venue near the junction of the M4 and M5.That prospect could be one step closer now, following an independent audit by chartered accountants, Saffery LLP, which revealed net liabilities of £5,019,000, leaving Gloucestershire in breach of its banking covenants and casting “significant doubt on the Club’s ability to continue as a going concern”.A number of contributory factors were cited in the accounts, including a £67,000 increase in energy bills across four months, and an extra £43,000 in interest-rate payments. The annual £4 million funding that the club receives from the ECB is, Watkin added in her report, effectively worth around £750,000 less in real terms compared to four years ago, while other ventures – including a Ministry of Sound dance party held at the ground in July – “did not deliver the financial returns predicted”.In his own report, David Jones, the club chair, described the year as a “rollercoaster”, with Gloucestershire’s rock-bottom finish in the 2023 County Championship compounding their off-field struggles. However, with the bidding process now underway for the Women’s World Cup in 2026, he insisted the club remained well placed to ensure Bristol retained its status as a host city for such marquee events.On the prospect of the ground relocation, Jones reiterated the club’s need to remain “open-minded” in spite of the weight of history at the Nevil Ground, adding that the opportunity to relocate to a new, purpose-built and larger site would allow Gloucestershire to “flourish for future generations”.A formal update on the relocation plans are anticipated in May or June, following further discussions at the club’s AGM on April 29.