An “amazing” Everton player is now thought to be “seriously considering” leaving the club when the January transfer window arrives.

Beto under-fire among Everton fans

In the Blues’ 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday, Beto again failed to score, meaning he has only found the net once in the competition this season.

Sky Sports reporter Alan Myers has revealed that one Everton fan slammed the Portuguese after the game, comparing him to “that riderless horse in the Grand National that keeps going even though he’s never going to win the race,” and adding that “hard work cannot be criticised but as a striker, you will be judged on goals and he just isn’t scoring enough of them”.

Beto hasn’t managed to consistently shine for the Blues since arriving at the club, but he isn’t alone, with too many new signings flattering to deceive in recent years.

While Jack Grealish has made a positive start to life at Everton, other fellow arrivals haven’t managed to hit the ground running, and one such figure is already reportedly eyeing a fresh challenge in his career.

Everton player "seriously considering" exit

According to Africa Foot [via Sport Witness], Everton left-back Adam Aznou is “seriously considering” leaving the club in January, having not yet played a single minute of football for the Blues this season.

The £25,000-a-week Spaniard only moved to the Hill Dickinson Stadium from Bayern Munich in the summer window, but it looks as though a loan move away could be on the cards. A switch to La Liga is most likely, with Getafe leading the race, and Everton are open to the idea of loaning him out.

Aznou must be frustrated with how things are panning out at Everton, but there is no need to panic about his early struggles, considering he is a young player in a new country, especially given how tough the Premier League is.

Alongside Beto: Moyes must drop 4/10 Everton star who lost possession 19x

Everton were humbled on their own patch as Tottenham Hotspur ran out convincing 3-0 winners.

ByKelan Sarson Oct 27, 2025

The former Bayern teenager is clearly a talent, being described as an “amazing player by scout Jacek Kulig, and a loan move elsewhere in the second half of the season could be more beneficial instead of him not even being involved in matchday squads.

أصبح برشلونة، فريق الرديف، بحاجة شديدة للتعاقد مع مهاجم، وقد بدأ بالفعل بالبحث عنه بسبب إصابات طويلة الأمد تعرض لها ثنائي الفريق باربيرا وجيستاو.

وذكر الصحفي المقرب من برشلونة أشرف بن عياد أن حمزة عبد الكريم مهاجم الأهلي الشاب هو اللاعب المختار، بعد مراقبة وبحث من قسم الكشافة عن لاعب يتميز بحس تهديفي غزير.

ووفقاً لصحيفة “سبورت” الإسبانية، فإن المصري حمزة عبد الكريم أصبح هدف برشلونة المفضل، ويعد عامل السن الذي غالباً ما يمثل عائقاً أمام انتقال اللاعبين القاصرين من خارج الاتحاد الأوروبي والذي أفشل العديد من الصفقات بسبب لوائح الفيفا، عاملاً إيجابياً لبرشلونة.

وسيبلغ المهاجم المصري الشاب حمزة عبد الكريم عامه الـ18 في يناير المقبل، وهو الموعد الذي يرغب برشلونة من خلاله ضمه لصفوفه، وتقدم النادي بعرض رسمي للأهلي لضمه بصيغة إعارة مع خيار الشراء، لكن النادي المصري لن يسهل الأمر على العملاق الإسباني.

أقرأ أيضاً.. حمزة عبد الكريم يتحدث عن العروض الأخيرة.. وسر تواجده في قائمة منتخب مصر

ووفقاً للصحيفة، فإنه بالتواصل مع مسؤولين من النادي الأهلي، فقد أكدوا تلقي عرض رسمي بحانب عروض مالية أعلى للاعب، حيث أبدى كل من سبورتينج لشبونة وأوليمبيك ليون وبايرن ميونخ اهتمامهم بخدمات حمزة عبد الكريم.

ويؤكد الأهلي أنه لا يرغب ببيع حمزة عبد الكريم حالياً وسيحاول النادي المصري الاحتفاظ بخدماته، حيث يعتبرونه أفضل لاعبي مصر الواعدين، وأحد أبرز مواهب الكرة الإفريقية، ومع ذلك أيضاً لا يملكون كل الصلاحيات لأنه يتبقى فقط في عقد المهاجم الشاب مع الأهلي 18 شهراً ويمكنه الرحيل مجاناً بعد عام ونصف.

وبحسب مصادر مقربة من حمزة عبد الكريم، فإن رغبته هي الانضمام لبرشلونة وقد حسم موقفه بالفعل ويريد الذهاب للبلوجرانا مهما كانت الظروف، ومع ذلك فإن القرار النهائي يعود للأهلي الذي سيقرر إذا كان يرغب في التربح من بيعه أو الاحتفاظ بخدمات موهبته رغم علمه برغبته بالرحيل لتحقيق حلمه بالانضمام لناديه المفضل.

ويرفض الأهلي المصري تماماً بيع حمزة عبد الكريم، ويتعين على برشلونة الانتظار لرؤية تطور المفاوضات في الأيام المقبلة، وينتظر معرفة ما إذا كان البارسا سيقدم عرضاً ثانياً للتعاقد مع الجوهرة المصرية أم سيتحرك لضم مهاجم آخر.

Dave Roberts has made his pitching decisions for the next few games.

On Tuesday, the Dodgers' manager announced that Tyler Glasnow will start Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, while Shohei Ohtani will start Game 4. That follows Blake Snell's start in Game 1 and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2.

L.A. entered Tuesday with a 1–0 lead over the Brewers in the series after a tight 2–1 win in Game 1 that featured a truly absurd double play.

It's easy to extrapolate from there that Snell would be back on the mound for Game 5 if necessary, with Yamamoto following for a potential Game 6, then Glasnow for Game 7 if the series goes that far.

Game 4 will mark Ohtani's second start of the postseason. He earned the win on Game 1 of the NLDS against the Phillies when he went six innings and allowed three runs on three hits while striking out nine.

Dodgers starting pitchers are dominating the postseason

So far during the 2025 playoffs, L.A.'s starting rotation is dominating the competition. The Dodgers have played seven games, and their starters are a combined 5–1 with a 1.65 ERA, a 0.76 WHIP, and opponents are hitting .141 off of them. They have also only allowed two home runs as a group. The WHIP and ERA are both the best among active teams.

Snell has been phenomenal. After being sidelined for much of the season due to shoulder issues, the 32-year-old lefty has been outstanding since the postseason began. Through three starts, the two-time Cy Young Award winner is 3–0 with a 0.86 ERA, a 0.52 WHIP, and 28 strikeouts against five walks in 21 innings. Opponents are hitting .090 off of him.

Yamamoto (1–1, 2.53 ERA) and Glasnow (0–0, 0.00 ERA) have also been solid, though the latter has only made one start and thrown 7 2/3 innings.

L.A.'s weak spot all season has been the bullpen, and that has continued into the playoffs. While Roki Sasaki has helped solidify the ninth inning a bit, as a group Dodgers' relievers have a 5.91 ERA, a 1.92 WHIP and 18 strikeouts against 18 walks in 21 1/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .280 off the team's bullpen.

If L.A.'s starters continue to dominate and go deeper into games, their weakness at the back end won't be as troubling.

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.

Chaos was on the menu in Williamsport, Pa. Wednesday night.

In an elimination game that went to extra innings at the Little League World Series, the team representing the Southeast region from Irmo, S.C. gave up five runs in the top of the seventh inning to their opponent out of the Midwest region from Sioux Falls, S.D.

With just three outs for South Carolina to overcome a five-run deficit to keep their LLWS title hopes alive they somehow pulled it off.

The rally started right away in the bottom half of the seventh as South Carolina had their first batter draw a walk to fill the empty first base before they drove in a run on their next at-bat. Brayden Gerard doubled next to drive in the second run of the inning to trim South Dakota's lead to three runs.

Then South Dakota let up two walks in a row, first to load the bases and then to force in a run. South Carolina's next batter struck out, putting South Dakota two outs away from shutting the door, albeit in a bases-loaded jam.

Another bases-loaded walk drove in one more run that cut the lead down to one run, which put South Carolina one base away from completing a miraculous comeback in extras. Their catcher, Andrew Bogan, played hero when he stepped up to the plate, doubling to right to secure the walk-off win despite a valiant effort from South Dakota right fielder Grayson Rehfeldt who laid out to try and make the grab.

You can watch the wild sequence with all of South Carolina's scoring plays to win the game in extras below:

Great time for an offensive explosion from both sides who each scored one run apiece in the first six innings.

South Carolina keeps the dream alive and will play the team from Las Vegas representing the Mountain region Thursday in yet another elimination game. The winner of South Carolina and Las Vegas will move on to the United States final against Fairfield, Conn. out of the Metro region. We'll see if South Carolina has some magic left.

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.”

Whether they’re having casual conversations with team-mates on Instagram Live, making entertaining Tiktok videos or creating trick-shot challenges, these cricketers are ensuring fans aren’t starved of entertainment

Kaustubh Kumar and Annanya Johari 22-May-2020Lockdown may be keeping cricketers at home but it isn’t stopping them from entertaining their fans. Many have increased their social media activity and have allowed glimpses of their private lives and conversations. We’re particularly impressed with the content these five have put out.Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer has always had a strong social media game, but the lockdown has seen him elevate it. He’s got the whole family involved. His sister and mother make sure him having to do household chores doesn’t mean he skips fielding practice.

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Fielding practice is everywhere you look

A post shared by Shreyas Iyer (@shreyas41) on May 3, 2020 at 12:30am PDT

And his dog, Betty, has brushed up on her slip catching.

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Betty wanted to have a go too after watching @kane_s_w’s beautiful dog Sandy nail that catch. Took Betty a while but she got her first catch and immediately ran to celebrate

A post shared by Shreyas Iyer (@shreyas41) on Mar 30, 2020 at 7:07am PDT

Poor Betty doesn’t quite catch on when Iyer plays pranks on her, though.

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Betty here, Betty there. Shreyas here, Shreyas where?!?

A post shared by Shreyas Iyer (@shreyas41) on Mar 23, 2020 at 1:17am PDT

And there’s a secret member of the family too.

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Did you guys know I have a twin

A post shared by Shreyas Iyer (@shreyas41) on Apr 10, 2020 at 7:25am PDT

Matthew Cross
The lockdown may be stopping cricketers from playing cricket, but it was never going to stop them playing the sport they truly love most: golf. So what if the courses are shut? You can always improvise at home. And no one did it better than Scotland wicketkeeper Matthew Cross. His trick shot involving three cricket bats and a jar sparked a full-on competition with Shaun Pollock, complete with sledging and wild celebrations.

friend not food… pic.twitter.com/2YBLPyY1lJ

— Matthew Cross (@crossy16) April 9, 2020

Chipping practice….Inspired by a link to @crossy16 pic.twitter.com/8LAJ8EjECS

— Shaun Pollock (@7polly7) April 11, 2020

Over to you @7polly7 pic.twitter.com/ehl50RA1qJ

— Matthew Cross (@crossy16) April 16, 2020

Sorry bud but I couldn’t count how many….. pic.twitter.com/lUHXPRtBTs

— Shaun Pollock (@7polly7) April 18, 2020

Cross wasn’t about to stop with cricket bats. He used everything from kitchenware to shoe boxes to his college degree to create more trick shots.

Finally putting my degree to use… pic.twitter.com/YIaY2qMARu

— Matthew Cross (@crossy16) April 30, 2020

Celebrating cause I can make dinner now… pic.twitter.com/5rYyCbmfdP

— Matthew Cross (@crossy16) May 7, 2020

Rohit Sharma
Away from the stuffy post-match presentations, press conferences and television interviews, cricketers have dropped the cliches and allowed fans to listen in on casual, candid conversations with their team-mates and opponents. Several have interviewed other cricketers on Instagram Live, and, among them, Rohit Sharma has got the tone spot on, being forthright with his opinions, eliciting similarly forthright opinions from others and ensuring plenty of interesting anecdotes find their way into the conversations. Ever wanted to ask Harbhajan Singh what his Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni’s retirement plans are? Or were curious about how Rohit and Yuvraj Singh struck up such a close friendship? Or wanted to know what Rohit has in common with David Warner? You’ll find it all on Rohit’s Instagram live chats.

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A post shared by ESPNcricinfo (@espncricinfo) on Apr 24, 2020 at 7:09am PDT

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A post shared by ESPNcricinfo (@espncricinfo) on Apr 11, 2020 at 5:27am PDT

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A post shared by ESPNcricinfo (@espncricinfo) on May 9, 2020 at 7:15am PDT

David Warner
You know the world has really undergone a seismic change when David Warner is suddenly the cuddly dad making funny Tiktok videos featuring his wife and two girls. But Warner really has shown comic timing, whether he’s dancing to Tollywood songs, lip-syncing Michael Jackson’s Bille Jean or on percussion duty in the family band.

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It’s tiktok time #buttabomma get out of your comfort zone people lol @candywarner1

A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31) on Apr 29, 2020 at 11:58pm PDT

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Let’s see if you can better this @aaronfinch5 lol thoughts??

A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31) on May 4, 2020 at 2:21am PDT

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When you know you have officially lost it in isolation!! #canwegooutsidenowplease

A post shared by David Warner (@davidwarner31) on May 5, 2020 at 2:52am PDT

Kevin Pietersen
If you’re looking for variety, Pietersen’s feeds are the place. He’s got fitness videos, Tiktok videos complete with special effects, golf and live chats with players all in one place.

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TRIATHLON! #Ride #Walk #Run #Swim. Have a lekker weekend!

A post shared by Kevin Pietersen (@kp24) on May 9, 2020 at 12:38am PDT

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Cricket GLADIATOR! #tiktok cc – @thecrankhead

A post shared by Kevin Pietersen (@kp24) on May 16, 2020 at 4:26am PDT

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Cruising through the 5.5M views currently…! #TikTok

A post shared by Kevin Pietersen (@kp24) on May 8, 2020 at 12:54am PDT

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

A reverse-scoop off Jofra Archer for six after being hit on the helmet was one of the many jaw-dropping shots during his 47-ball 79*

Deivarayan Muthu07-Oct-202013:48

T20 Time Out | Mumbai vs Rajasthan, post match show

Suryakumar Yadav jumps across off stump even before Jofra Archer delivers a lifter. He is pinged on the badge of his helmet and goes down on his haunches, needing medical attention. After seemingly clearing a test from the team doctor, Yadav puts his helmet back on. Archer attempts a wide yorker the next ball, but under-pitches it. Having jumped outside leg, Yadav gets his hands low and pulls off an outrageous reverse-scoop over wicketkeeper Jos Buttler’s head for six.The likes of Buttler, AB de Villiers, Niroshan Dickwella and Yadav himself make that shot look easy, but you need a strong base, a still head, quick hands and an uncluttered mind to execute it. Though the pace of the Abu Dhabi pitch may have helped Yadav, it’s still a tough shot to execute against Archer, one of the best white-ball bowlers in the world, especially after copping a blow on the head.Yadav and Ankit Rajpoot are in a cat-and-mouse game in the next over, the final over of the Mumbai Indians’ innings. Rajpoot knows that Yadav will shuffle across off and scoop him over short fine leg if he misses the yorker. The seamer misses the yorker and pushes the full-toss wider than a set of stumps outside off. Yadav is on the move while he meets the ball, but adjusts well enough to lift the ball over short fine leg.ALSO READ: How did Mumbai’s top order manage to play with so much intent?The Rajasthan Royals had reserved two overs of Archer for the death against Kieron Pollard – and Hardik Pandya – but without Pollard batting, Yadav outscored Hardik in a 76-run stand off six overs to propel Mumbai Indians to 193. Yadav is no stranger to finishing an IPL innings – he was designated for that role when he was with the Kolkata Knight Riders – but in a Mumbai Indians line-up filled with six-hitters, Yadav is the anchor.The role of a T20 anchor has come into sharp focus recently, with some top-order players this IPL striking at below 120 and failing to accelerate. For instance, KL Rahul, the Kings XI Punjab captain, was on 46 off 44 balls at the end of the 14th over against the Chennai Super Kings on Monday, but was dismissed for 63 off 52. The Super Kings’ M Vijay and Kedar Jadhav, too, have also been a touch too conservative this IPL.ESPNcricinfo LtdAfter a rapid opening stand from his captain Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock, Yadav was similarly conservative in the early exchanges. He had only passed 20 twice in five innings this season before Tuesday, so he took his time to suss the conditions. However, after being on 12 off 11 balls, he unfurled his wide range of strokes, ensuring Mumbai’s run-rate hovered around 8.50 in the middle overs before upping the ante further at the death.Yadav used the extra pace of debutant Kartik Tyagi to his advantage and manipulated him either side of third man for fours. Tyagi’s short deliveries at the start of the ninth over weren’t particularly bad ones – he had bounced out de Kock and drawn a top-edged hook from Sharma earlier – but Yadav’s supple wrists and pinpoint placement made those look worse. Then, against legspinner Shreyas Gopal, he deployed a longer stride to counter the break and even though he didn’t take too many risks, he still got 17 off nine balls from him. His confident footwork against spin provided a throwback to his match-winning half-century against the Super Kings in the first qualifier on a turning track in Chepauk last year.ALSO READ: Report – Suryakumar and Bumrah dismantle RoyalsIn the slog overs, he brought out the more inventive sweeps, scoops, and ramps to throw Archer, Tom Curran, and Rajpoot off their lines and lengths. When others may have expected Pollard to close out the innings by peppering the ‘V’ in front of the stumps, Yadav peppered the ‘V’ behind it. Thirty-seven of his 79 runs came in the region between third man and fine leg. Only Rishabh Pant, during his unbeaten 128 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018, has scored more runs – 42 – in that region in an IPL innings.At the innings break, Hardik said that he had “no words to describe” Yadav’s reverse-scooped six off Archer. As for Yadav, he told host broadcaster Star Sports that he was rusty heading into this game and was relishing the responsibility of batting at No.3. “In the last few games, personally, I was just finding ways to get out,” he said. “I just backed myself and tried to bat till the end. I’m loving the added responsibility given to me right now; there’s not much pressure on me. They [the team management] just told me to play my game and express myself and bat as long as I can.”Yadav appeared frazzled in the slog overs, but batted till the end, making an unbeaten 79 off 47 balls – his highest IPL score. Five out of Mumbai’s top-seven batsmen have rattled off 50-plus scores this season, with Yadav being the latest to the landmark. Buttler cracked 70 off 44 balls in the chase, but Yadav trumped him, and put Mumbai on top of the points table.

The possible return of David Warner should provide the batsmen with an ideal exemplar of proactive Test-match batting

Daniel Brettig06-Jan-2021As a Test-match debutant with an exhaustively documented history of struggle against short-pitched bowling, Will Pucovski’s problem this week will be a more acute version of the difficulty facing Australia’s entire top six, after their collective failure to fire in either Adelaide or Melbourne against India’s precision. The batsmen concerned will more or less know what is coming, having dealt with it previously and shown enough evidence of susceptibility. The Indian bowlers will have plenty of reason to take the same tack once more.In the instances of Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith and Matthew Wade, the successful corralling of scoring zones, whether they be boundaries or singles, has reaped rich rewards for an Indian team that knew before the tour that the traditional fifth-stump lines of attack had been proven faulty against Australia’s Nos. 3 and 4 in particular.The scenario, rightly pointed out by Ricky Ponting, has become one where the Australians are simply trying to survive after having their usual strike rotation zones blocked off. Against good enough bowling on a sporting enough pitch, this has primarily served to make them, in Ponting’s carefully chosen words, “sitting ducks”. The captain, Tim Paine, was of similar mind on match eve as he pondered how to escape India’s stranglehold.Related

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“We’ve just spoken about mindset. We think we’ve actually got some decent plans, it’s just a matter of going out and having the courage to execute them,” Paine said. “So if you’re a guy who wants to take them on and hit over the top, or if you’re a guy or wants to sweep or reverse-sweep the spinners when they’re bowling – then we’ve just been encouraging guys to do that. To have the courage to take the game on and play the way you want to play.”At times, we’ve just let them dictate to us a little bit, let them build pressure. Then, with pressure, you get wickets at times. It’s about being really clear in your plans and now having the courage to execute it and do it in your way.”Being clear was missing when Pucovski plonked forward to Kartik Tyagi during the Indians’ tour game at Drummoyne Oval a month ago, and seemed to be both ducking and trying to play the bouncer that dented his helmet and caused the latest in a series of concussions. It was clearly also somewhat elusive until Pucovski received a second expert neurological opinion about the potential for his concussions to have long-term effects: the verdict, if not completely cut and dried, was favourable enough to have him in line to play.Will Pucovski stayed down after ducking into a short ball from Kartik Tyagi in the tour game•Getty ImagesWhat Pucovski will be seeking to remind himself, as undoubtedly the coaches and team-mates around him will too, is that on days when he has a clear mind and a focused approach – making early decisions on whether to evade or hit the short ball – he plays it as well as most. His state coach, Chris Rogers, was at Drummoyne and contrasted that incident with what he had seen before and during Pucovski’s two double-centuries in the Sheffield Shield to begin the season.”When I first turned up as coach of Victoria, him and Sammy Harper, they do a lot of work with tennis balls, getting in really close with a tennis racquet and firing them in at each other. Will’s done a heap of work where he wants to stand up and roll the ball down to fine leg. You’ll see that shot from him quite a bit,” Rogers told RSN Radio. “Then it came to the matches and we played SA early on and Wes Agar came on first change and went straight to bouncers at Will, and he pretty much ducked them for the whole first session.”Then after lunch he played one of these rolling pull shots and from there he never looked back. They targeted him with the short ball for prettymuch the whole game and then WA did it from about the ninth over onwards as well. He would have faced a heap of short balls and he looked comfortable doing it and the way he stood up and played it, he made it look easy. So when that happened on day three at Drummoyne, it was an awkward situation where there was nothing to gain and he probably just got caught in two minds, so hopefully he’ll learn from that.”

“It’s not like he doesn’t practice this, he does a heap of work. So they will bowl short at him, and hopefully he’ll be prepared”Chris Rogers on Will Pucovski

Paine, himself no stranger to being targeted by short stuff in the wake of the serious finger injuries and subsequent mental hurdles that threatened to prematurely end his cricket career, noted that in Test cricket, Pucovski needed to be capable of dealing with spells like the one hurled down by Mitchell Starc at the Indian tail at the MCG, where 24 of 30 deliveries were short. As much as the Australians have Pucovski’s welfare at heart, they also know that Test matches are played more uncompromisingly than any other form of the game.”Playing Test cricket is difficult and playing the short ball at that pace is uncomfortable,” Paine said. “I think if you’re someone who is perceived to have a weakness in that area, or even if you’re not, it’s part of the game. It’s how teams test your mettle, test what you’re made of, until you show otherwise. I think the short ball is a great option and it’s going to continue to happen. It’s a tactic that we’ve used so we expect to get plenty back as well.”I think it’s a tactic we use pretty consistently, particularly to the lower order. I think lower order batsmen are getting better and better as well so the fast bowlers’ pact of not bowling bouncers to each other is well and truly dead by the looks of it. They love peppering each other these days. I think it’s a tactic that’s already in the minds of batsmen when they come to Australia to play against our attack. We don’t have to show it in the first game. They know it’s coming; we know it’s coming and we know it’s going to come back so we’re also planning and thinking about it.”David Warner’s presence should help the other batsmen•Getty ImagesLike tailenders waiting for the short ball without total confidence as to how they might play it, Pucovski will need to put any thoughts about concussions and his unfortunate history to the back of his mind once he walks out to bat if given the opportunity as seems likely. A clear mind and an instinctive response to the ball coming down tend to work in symbiosis, with any hesitation at such high speeds likely to result in a wicket, an injury or both.”The worry is I think with him, when he does get hit, the effects linger for a bit longer than perhaps other people,” Rogers said. “It’s never nice, you just worry about him, but he’s the one who gets to make the decisions. He’s gone and sought expert advice, and good on him for doing that.”You just hope if it does happen again he’ll be fine, but that’s his choice and it’s up to him and if he does get this opportunity hopefully he can play well and get out of the way of them. The other thing about it is he’s done a lot of work on this as well. It’s not like he doesn’t practice this, he does a heap of work. So they will bowl short at him, and hopefully he’ll be prepared.”As for Smith, Labuschagne and the rest, the return of David Warner from a groin injury should provide them with an ideal exemplar of proactive Test-match batting, where no bowler is given the chance to settle entirely, even if the left-handed opener is judicious about which balls to attack. Success at the crease often depends upon how a player’s natural game can best be married to the challenges being presented by a particular opponent and the set of conditions in which they meet one another, and Warner has mastered this balance more often than most in Australia.”We want to be batting for long periods of time but how you do that is very much on the player,” Paine said. “Davey is known as a dashing opening batter, but if he goes out tomorrow and they bowl to him well then he’ll respect that and get through it.”He likes to be aggressive, no doubt about that, but he’ll play the ball as it comes and he’s got great hand-eye and great skill so he can often score a bit quicker than others, but I don’t think he goes out there with the intent of just taking it down. He goes out and plays what comes at him, and if they bowl well then he’ll respect that.”