Streak laments Zimbabwe's missed opportunity

From allowing Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich to put on 212 for the eighth wicket to the soft dismissals of Solomon Mire and Craig Ervine, day four in Bulawayo didn’t go to plan for the hosts

Liam Brickhill in Bulawayo01-Nov-2017

Heath Streak watches on•AFP

Zimbabwe coach Heath Streak admitted it would be tough for his side to bat themselves back into the match after conceding a 122-run first innings lead against West Indies in Bulawayo.”There’s still a long way to go, 92 overs,” he said. “And it’s slow going out there, not an easy wicket to score quickly on. So we’ve got to get through a session and get ourselves into a position where we can maybe consider giving them a target. But it’s very tough, especially with the deficit we’ve had to make up, and the pitch being so slow.”Zimbabwe found themselves 23 for 3 in their second innings before a half-century from Sikandar Raza – his second of the Test – took them to 140 for 4 at stumps.”There’s still a lot of cricket to be played tomorrow,” Streak said. “A hard fighting day and a hard fighting first session. It’s not too far until the new ball, and we’ve got to get through that and see if we get some sort of total to defend.”He added that, after several missed chances in the field, Zimbabwe had only themselves to blame for allowing Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich put on a record 212-run partnership. “They put us under pressure, and we didn’t help ourselves with a few dropped catches,” Streak said. “We’ve got ourselves to blame for giving them that lead, but we’ve just got to deal with where we’re at now.”He lamented the soft dismissals that heaped pressure on Zimbabwe’s middle order once again, suggesting that wickets in hand could have helped Zimbabwe push for more of a lead heading into the fifth day.”Hamilton [Masakadza] got out to a good ball that hooped back quite a bit, but then Solomon [Mire] got out to a soft dismissal even by his own standards,” Streak said, describing Mire’s swipe across the line at a ball from Kemar Roach that trapped him lbw. “He does play aggressively, but on that wicket and with that length, it’s very difficult to play that type of shot, especially on a fourth-day wicket when you’ve had a lot of evidence of balls keeping low. So those are the sorts of dismissals we want to get rid of. Even Craig Ervine, if he’s honest with himself, got out to a pretty soft dismissal. It wasn’t like the ball did a heck of a lot.”If we had taken maybe two wickets off there, Mire and Ervine’s wickets, then it’s 140 for 2 and that’s a pretty good score. We’d have wickets in hand if we want to push on and try and get some sort of lead and put them in.”One bright point for Streak was the batting of Raza and Peter Moor, who reined in his attacking instincts to finish on 39 not out from 152 balls at the close. ” PJ [Moor] is a very determined guy first of all, and he’s a very intelligent guy who has worked out watching the other guys,” Streak said. “It’s not easy to just go out there and play shots, so he’s adjusted his game accordingly to the wicket. His batting in the first innings has also given him some insight into how to do it. Anyone who has gone out there and batted for a period of time, you can see there haven’t been easy or free flowing innings from anyone.”Apart from being slow, the pitch also fell short of Zimbabwe’s expectations in terms of help for the spinners. “Having a bit of cool weather around, has meant that the wicket hasn’t dried and dusted up as much as we would have liked,” Streak said. “So it’s been a little more placid than what we’d hoped. We wanted a wicket that would spin and break up, but the weather conditions on day one and two made the deterioration of the wicket much slower than it ought to be. Normally in October you get hot, dry days and then that deterioration happens a lot quicker.”

Spectators walk out of Cardiff stalemate

Conservative tactics and a batsman-friendly pitch meant that there was barely a soul in the ground by the time the two sides gave up on what had long become a tiresome affair

ECB Reporters Network22-Sep-2017

File photo – Nick Selman in action•Getty Images

Glamorgan supporters would have been heartened by the performances of their young batsmen on the final day of their last home game of the season, but would also been disappointed not have witnessed a positive outcome to the game. Glamorgan, who led by 43 going into the last day, were never in a position to declare after Phil Mustard had opted to prolong the Gloucestershire first innings, instead of declaring some 100 runs adrift.Mustard said at the end of the third day that he had hoped to gain a lead on first innings, and then take some early wickets to put the opposition under pressure. This was unlikely to happen as Liam Norwell, his leading wicket taker this season, was unable to bowl, while the Cardiff pitch did nothing to encourage the bowlers throughout the game.A defeat for either team would not have made any significant difference to their respective positions in the Division Two, and although Mustard did bring himself and Chris Dent into the attack, and offer some easy runs, it was a token gesture with only 47 overs left in the day.Nick Selman and Andrew Salter batted throughout the morning session, and had put on 185 in 51 overs for the second wicket, before Salter’s career best score of 88 – his previous best was 84 in the first innings -, was caught at slip off Jack Taylor’s off spin.Selman went to score his fourth century of the season, before proceeding to his career best, and also share a rapid 89-run partnership with Kiran Carlson, who made 53, before he went lbw to Dent.As the light worsened and Mustard hinted he would recall the seamers, the umpires called an early tea.There were barely 50 spectators left in the ground when play resumed, and the ECB could consider a move in future that a game could end before the scheduled close on the final afternoon, if there is no chance- of a result.Glamorgan ended on 353 for 3, a lead of 396, with Selman undefeated on 142, and Chris Cooke 46.

سيميوني: برشلونة لم يستحق الهزيمة في جميع المباريات التي خسرها.. وأتلتيكو مدريد عانى

علّق مدرب أتلتيكو مدريد، دييجو سيميوني، على الفوز المهم الذي حققه فريقه أمام برشلونة في الدوري الإسباني، مشيدًا بالأداء الدفاعي القوي للاعبيه في مواجهة فريق يلعب بكفاءة عالية.

سيميوني تحدث عن صعوبة المباراة وأهمية صمود فريقه أمام هجمات برشلونة المستمرة، مشيرًا إلى أن الفوز تحقق بفضل تماسك المجموعة واستغلال الفرص.

وفي حديثه عن منافسه برشلونة، أكد سيميوني أن الفريق الكتالوني لا يستحق الخسارة في المباريات التي خاضها مؤخراً، مشيرًا إلى أن كرة القدم لا تمنح دائمًا المكافأة للأداء الجيد إذا لم يتمكن الفريق من التسجيل.

ويتصدر أتلتيكو مدريد الترتيب الآن برصيد 41 نقطة، ويليه برشلونة برصيد 38 نقطة.

اقرأ أيضًا | ترتيب الدوري الإسباني بعد هزيمة برشلونة أمام أتلتيكو مدريد

وقال سيميوني في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية: “سعيد، لا أستطيع أن أكذب، الفريق عانى، برشلونة يلعب بشكل جيد جدًا، يهاجم طوال الوقت، اليوم كان لدينا ليلة دفاعية رائعة من عدة لاعبين، وأوبلاك تحديدًا، هذا سمح لنا بالبقاء على قيد الحياة”.

وأضاف: “الشوط الثاني كان أكثر تنافسية، كانت لدينا فرصة باريوس مع التعادل 1-1، هم كان لديهم العديد من الفرص، كان لدينا حظ كبير في الحسم، من كثرة الهجوم قد تصبح الأمور فوضوية، لكن الفريق كان صبورًا واستغل الهجمة المرتدة لتسجيل هدف رائع، هدف سورلوث كان هدفًا رائعًا”.

وواصل: “اللاعبون مستعدون للمنافسة، أقوى شيء لدينا هو المجموعة، المجموعة تظهر ذلك بالأفعال، التغييرات عندما يدخل اللاعبون، يفعلون ذلك بشكل حقيقي، هذا ما يريده المدربون. أن يكون الجميع بنفس الطريقة، طريقتنا في المنافسة مع عملاقين مثل ريال مدريد وبرشلونة هي أن نكون جميعًا في أفضل مستوى”.

واستطرد: “بدأنا نجد أنفسنا مع مرور الوقت، يجب أن ندعم ما يفعله اللاعبون بشكل جيد ونحاول تحسينه ومنح الفريق هيكلًا، رؤية أن الفريق يمكنه التقدم، ذهبنا إلى باريس وكان نفس الشيء الذي حدث اليوم، ما تركه النادي من إرث لجميع اللاعبين الذين مروا هنا هو ذلك”.

وعن لاعبه جالان، أفاد: “ما يفعله جالان شيء مذهل، لم نأخذ ذلك في الاعتبار عندما بدأ الموسم، كنا نعلم أنه قد يظهر، كنا نراه يتدرب ونشاهد أنه يمتلك موهبة رائعة، حصل على فرصة، ويلعب كرة القدم رائعة، إنه يقوم بذلك بطريقة رائعة”.

وأتم: “ليس لدي أي شك في أن جميع المباريات التي خسرها برشلونة، لم يكن يستحق الخسارة، ضد ليجانيس ولاس بالماس كان لديهم العديد من الفرص للتسجيل، لكن كرة القدم تحتوي على هذه المواقف، عندما لا يأتي الهدف، يبدأ الأمر في أن يصبح مشكلة”.

Defending champions Gujarat in danger of conceding lead

Bengal seamers B Amit and Ishan Porel picked up five wickets between them to trigger a middle-order collapse that left defending champions Gujarat at 180 for 6 and still 174 runs behind

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2017
ScorecardBhargav Merai celebrates his second first-class century•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Bengal seamers B Amit and Ishan Porel picked up five wickets between them to trigger a middle-order collapse that left defending champions Gujarat at 180 for 6 and still 174 runs behind.After Bengal were bowled out for 354, Gujarat didn’t have the best of starts, losing lost Samit Gohel to Ashok Dinda in the first over with the score still on 0. In the eighth over, Porel got Priyank Panchal, last season’s leading run-getter, to nick one to the wicketkeeper and Gujarat were a precarious 17 for 2. Bhargav Merai (67) and captain Parthiv Patel (47) went about restoring the innings with a 107-run stand but as soon as it was broken, Gujarat found themselves back in deep trouble.They slipped from from 124 for 3 to 144 for 6, losing Merai, Manprit Juneja and Chirag Gandhi in the space of 13 deliveries. Juneja was the first to go when he was trapped in front by Amit in the 43rd over. In the first ball of his next over, Amit prised out the big scalp of Merai, knocking over his stumps. Five balls later, he induced an edge from Chirag to give Shreevats Goswami his third catch of the innings. Rujul Bhatt and Piyush Chawla (22*) then made sure there were no further casualties with an unbroken 36-run stand.

New Zealand level series with Munro's blistering 109*

The opener scorched his way to a 54-ball hundred – his second in T20Is this year – to break India and force the series into a decider in Thiruvananthapuram

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu04-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:16

Agarkar: India need to look past Dhoni in T20Is

Colin Munro scorched his way to a 54-ball hundred – his second in T20Is this year – to break India and force the series into a decider in Thiruvananthapuram. He made excellent use of four chances to launch New Zealand to 196 for 2 after they had opted to bat and though Virat Kohli made a vintage 65 in response, the rapidly rising scoreboard pressure was just too much to overcome.India were forced into a situation where they had to score more than two runs a ball in the last 10 overs. Even the best finishers struggle to maintain such a high pace for such a long time. Hardik Pandya, new to the role, fell for 1 and even an old hand like MS Dhoni never got going. At a stage when the asking rate was nudging 15, he was playing a run-a-ball innings, unable to hit Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi off their plan of attacking his pads.A better fielding effort could have helped the hosts as well. Bhuvneshwar Kumar dropped a very tough chance at deep midwicket – the kind where a player has to decide whether to take the catch or save a six. Munro was on 36 then. He gave a far simpler opportunity to Shreyas Iyer at long-on but the ball was parried the ball over the rope for six. A wayward throw from Rohit Sharma came to Munro’s rescue in the 12th over. And finally, on 79, he was dropped by Chahal running back from cover.Given so many lives, Munro capitalised. His batting is founded on a simple strategy: stay leg side of the ball and belt it and an easy-paced hit-through-the-line Rajkot pitch was right up his alley. He crunched seven sixes – all in the arc between deep midwicket and long-on. The carnage began when he welcomed Mohammed Siraj into international cricket with a punched four to the backward point boundary. Siraj then switched to slower offcutters, but Munro waited for those and carted a brace of sixes. By then New Zealand had passed their first fifty opening stand in the limited-overs tour of India.At the other end, Martin Guptill played a Jekyll-and-Hyde innings. He laboured to 14 off 22 balls against pace and hit 31 off 19 balls against spin. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar had shackled him with seam movement and bounce, but he broke free against Chahal, who oddly bowled into the batsman’s hitting arc. Guptill simply planted his front foot down and took the legspinner for three successive boundaries in his first over, including a signature loft that sailed into the sightscreen. Chahal, however, recovered to best Guptill for 45 with a front-of-the-hand flipper. Three overs later, Siraj had Kane Williamson holing out to deep square leg for 12.But even with six bowlers, India couldn’t stop Munro. Axar Patel and Pandya were also lined up and sent over the boundary. Munro reached his first fifty off just 26 balls – after Iyer’s drop – and brought up his second off 28 balls. This meant he joined Brendon McCullum – his former captain and someone he still seeks out for advice – in elite company. They, along with Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis, are the only batsmen with two T20I tons.Munro had a job to do with the ball too. He introduced the world to his knuckle ball and snaffled a skier of a return catch to cut short Iyer’s innings at 23. The Mumbai batsman had added 54 for the third wicket with Kohli to give India hope after Trent Boult’s double-strike in his first over. The left-arm quick first burst through the gate of Shikhar Dhawan with a nip-backer and four balls later, he coaxed an outside edge from Rohit with extra bounce. When Pandya was fooled by a googly from Ish Sodhi for 1, India were reduced to 67 for 4 in the 10th over.The early wickets, however, did not bother Kohli. He forayed down the track and drilled Boult over his head. Then he targetted Santner and hit him for three boundaries in five balls, including a shovelled six over long-on. However, as the ball got older, it began to grip in the pitch and that brought Sodhi into the game big time. A peach of a legbreak in the 13th over very nearly had Dhoni stumped for 8.Spin continued being New Zealand’s trump card through the middle overs as they tied down one end which kept piling the pressure on Kohli at the other.An equation of 85 off 30 balls needed both batsmen to fire but try as Dhoni might, he couldn’t find his range. He came down the track but rarely got the leverage he was looking for. He nudged the ball into the deep to steal twos but the fielders were wise to that trick. He even swung right across the line but nothing worked. He was 28 off 28 at the end of the 18th over.To compensate for that, Kohli charged out to Santner and was caught behind. Boult then took over, picked up a couple more wickets and wrapped the game up with a career-best 4 for 34. He had recorded his worst ODI and T20I outings over the past week but found a way to raise his game when New Zealand needed it most.

Ishant to join Sussex for first two months of county season

The India seamer, who became available when he went unsold in the IPL auction, should be available for five County Championship fixtures and eight Royal London One-Day Cup matches

George Dobell15-Feb-2018

BCCI

Ishant Sharma is to join Sussex for the first two months of the 2018 county season as an overseas player.The India seamer, who became available when he went unsold in the IPL auction, is expected to join the club on April 4. That means he should be available for five County Championship fixtures and eight Royal London One-Day Cup matches. He will provide a significant boost for a squad that will be without Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan for much of that period due to their IPL commitments.”Securing Ishant’s services has been very important for us,” Sussex’s director of cricket Keith Greenfield said. “Once Jofra and Chris were picked up in the IPL draft, it became crucial to sign an experienced international-quality seam bowler who could provide valuable support and know-how to the rest of the seamers.”Ishant has the attributes to be very successful in early season English conditions and a great role model. He fits the bill perfectly and we look forward to welcoming him to Sussex Cricket.”The signing may not please everyone, however. England coach Trevor Bayliss has previously expressed frustration at the way in which the counties allow overseas players to prepare ahead of Test series in England and, with India playing a five-Test series in England in the second half of the year, Ishant will have an ideal opportunity to adapt to the conditions and the Dukes ball.He is far from inexperienced in such conditions anyway. As well as having toured with India’s Test squad in 2011 and 2014 – when he was named Man of the Match for his Test-best 7 for 74 in the second innings as India won at Lord’s – he played in the 2009 World T20 and 2013 Champions Trophy teams, with his spell in the 2013 final (he dismissed the well-set Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara from successive deliveries) proving crucial.The signing continues the recent relaxation of rules as regards India players featuring in foreign domestic competitions. Appreciating that increased experience of such conditions could help India improve their overseas record, the BCCI also allowed R Ashwin to play for Worcestershire towards the end of the 2017 season – where he played a significant part in their County Championship promotion – while Virat Kohli has already expressed a desire to follow suit should a suitable gap in his schedule be found. Cheteshwar Pujara, who has become a regular face on the county scene after spells with Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, has already confirmed he will return to Yorkshire for the early part of the 2018 campaign.Whether there is scope for further members of the India Test squad to feature in county cricket this year remains uncertain. Their schedule – which includes a one-off Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru in mid-June – is hectic and, while the Test series in England does not start until August 1, the limited-overs section of the tour beings in early July.While Chadd Sayers, the Australian swing bowler, had claimed last week he was hoping to sign for Sussex for the same period, it appears the club had accepted that gaining a work permit for him (he has not played any international cricket) could have become a significant challenge.”We’re delighted to secure the services of an experienced and very skilful international seamer,” Sussex head coach Jason Gillespie said. “We believe Ishant will fit right into the Sussex dressing room and we are all really looking forward to welcoming him to Hove.””It’s a great honour to represent Sussex CCC, the oldest first-class county, and I am looking forward with excitement to my maiden stint in county cricket,” Ishant was quoted as saying in a club press release.”I would like to extend a special thanks to Sussex for taking note of my ongoing performances and deeming me suitable for this opportunity. I hope to add value during my time as part of the Sussex family this season.”

India-Bangladesh soap opera set for new season

India, who suffered a limited-overs series defeat against Bangladesh last year, are back in the country, with the added twist of Asia Cup and World T20 implications

The Preview by Alagappan Muthu in Dhaka23-Feb-2016Match factsWednesday, February 24, 2016
Start time 1930 local (1330 GMT)4:18

Agarkar: Good test for all teams ahead of World T20

Big PictureIt was all telenovela in 2015. MS Dhoni as the hero who had gone on to be perceived as villain. “If I am the reason for all the bad that is happening to Indian cricket, definitely I would love to step away.” R Ashwin was the steadfast sidekick. “If my captain asks me to die on the field, I’ll do it.” And Mustafizur Rahman was the shy, rising star; he had become a world-record holder after playing two ODIs and you could barely get two words out of him. All he would do was flash that big, toothy grin and say he was happy to perform for the team. There is no sign of a resumption of the ad wars, but the rest of the protagonists are back for season two, with the added twist of an Asia Cup and World T20 implications.Bangladesh’s limited-overs team has maintained their Mirpur stronghold jealously since failing to chase 106 against India in 2014. They have played 19 matches and won 14 of them. The trouble is, out of those five losses, three have come in T20Is. With their one-day cricket in prime order, the coach Chandika Hathurusingha has been concentrating on building skills that are vital to success in the shortest format. The team goes into the Asia Cup after a couple of camps in Khulna and Chittagong.India are not light on preparation either. They have been playing T20 cricket since the start of the year (the carnival continues through to May with the IPL) and are quite certain of their first XI. The only issue might be some of the players in that XI have not had enough match practice. Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and the returning Virat Kohli have been merciless in their plunder of runs that the middle order has not had much to do. Over six matches, Yuvraj Singh has faced only 26 balls and rookie allrounder Hardik Pandya 18. India do not seem to be worried though, as both Dhoni and Kohli have said their players are well tuned to T20 cricket thanks to the IPL.Form Guide
(last five completed matches)India WWLWW
Bangladesh LLWWLWatch out forYuvraj Singh signs in at the dotted line under returning old favourites. Fifteen years since his international debut, he is still madly sought after. The last three IPL auctions have netted him a whopping Rs 37 crores. At the team hotel in Dhaka, he was spirited aside by a few players from the Oman team to take some pictures and share some secrets. It is unlikely that anyone will ever forget what happened the last time he was in these parts, but with a Sri Lanka rematch and a clash with Pakistan around the corner, maybe he has the opportunity to do something about that.Mahmudullah signs in at the dotted line under captain’s understudy. He is seen as an option to take over Bangladesh after Mashrafe Mortaza having led Barisal Bulls, a team sans any big names, into the final of the Bangladesh Premier League. But he is not seen as the best fit for T20s. He tends to be grilled about his strike-rate a lot and when the question was put forward this time, he quipped that he will try to hit the first ball he faces in the Asia Cup for six.Team newsDhoni returned fitter and leaner after a rare break from international cricket just before the Australia tour in January, but suffered an onset of back spasms two days out from India’s first match of the Asia Cup and three weeks out from their first match of the World T20. The team management said he was recovering well and will be assessed before the match. If he is not fit, Parthiv Patel, who last played for India in 2012, has arrived as back-up. But if Parthiv is brought in, will he fit in the middle order or at the top where he’s had most of his success in domestic limited-overs cricket?India (probable): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk)/Parthiv Patel, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Ashish NehraCoach Hathurusingha was impressed by Mohammad Mithun in the Chittagong camp, so he could get a first look in ahead of Imrul Kayes. Both Taskin Ahmed and Abu Hider might miss out while Nasir Hossain too could be benched with Nurul Hasan taking wicketkeeping and late-hitting duties.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Soumya Sarkar, 2 Mohammad Mithun, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mahmudullah, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim, 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Arafat Sunny, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Al-Amin HossainPitch and conditionsMirpur sprung a green pitch on India’s juniors at the Under-19 World Cup and more recently, the final game of the Asia Cup qualifiers played under lights helped the new ball dart around considerably. If the early phase is seen through, however, lots of runs are on offer. There is also the slim possibility of rain playing spoilsport.Stats and trivia Since 2014, Bangladesh batsman have scored at 132.33 in the last four overs, which is the worst among Full Members in T20Is. In the Powerplay, the Bangladesh batsmen’s strike-rate of 112 is second worst after Pakistan’s. In T20Is since 2014, India’s No. 5 to No. 7 have averaged just 16.78 – only Hong Kong, Nepal and Papua New Guinea have averaged worse.Quotes”As many different teams as we play before the World T20, it gives us an opportunity to assess what the teams are like, what the balance is like, what their strengths and weaknesses are and where we stand against them.”
“We had all our experiments done against Zimbabwe in January. There’s no room for any such experiments in the Asia Cup. This is a very important tournament ahead of the World T20.”

Rabada reaches career-best No. 3 ranking

The fast bowler has now moved above R Ashwin and Rangana Herath among Test bowlers, while Dimuth Karunaratne has entered the top 20 in the Test batting rankings for the first time

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2017

Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images

Kagiso Rabada has climbed two spots in the ICC Test rankings for bowlers to reach a career-best third place. The South Africa fast bowler now has 876 ranking points, and sits behind James Anderson (896) and Ravindra Jadeja (884). R Ashwin (852) and Rangana Herath (833) have now dropped to fourth and fifth.Rabada took five wickets in each innings in the second Test against Bangladesh in Bloemfontein, picking up his third ten-wicket match haul in only his 22nd Test. In the process, he picked up his 100th Test wicket and became the fifth-youngest bowler to do so, behind Kapil Dev, Daniel Vettori, Waqar Younis and Harbhajan Singh.Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s 2-0 series win in the UAE has moved them to sixth in the Test team rankings, above Pakistan. Dimuth Karunaratne, who scored 196 in the first innings in Sri Lanka’s 68-run in Dubai, has moved up to 17th place in the batting rankings, entering the top 20 for the first time in his 44-Test career.Click here for the full rankings.

Sodhi return offers Notts T20 certainty

Nottinghamshire’s T20 batting line-up will look different this year but the overseas pairing of Dan Christian and Ish Sodhi offers stability

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2018Birmingham Bears have announced the return of explosive New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme as the dedicated T20 overseas player for 2018.De Grandhomme, who scored the second fastest Test century by a New Zealander in December off just 71 balls, will be available for all games in next year’s T20 Blast campaign after helping the Bears to the final at Edgbaston in 2017.Ashley Giles, Warwickshire’s sport director, said: “I spoke about Colin being a moneyball player when we announced his signing last year. He was still establishing himself in the international game, but had made plenty of game-changing performances for Auckland. We also recognised that he is an outstanding character who would be a good addition to the dressing room.”He went on to play a huge role on our path to the final last year and we saw him change the outlook of several games very quickly, particularly his innings against Derbyshire Falcons at home, and Northants Steelbacks and Surrey away.”He’s incredibly popular with everyone at Edgbaston and we’re looking forward to welcoming him back to the club in July ahead of our first game away to Notts Outlaws.”De Grandhomme played in Birmingham Bears’ 16 NatWest T20 Blast games in 2017, scoring 322 runs at a prodigious strike rate of 170.32 and taking five wickets.”We came very close to winning the T20 Blast on Finals Day,” Grandhomme said. “We’ve got a young squad with plenty of firepower, and I believe that we have every chance of going one step further in 2018.”

بينهم محمد صلاح.. 6 لاعبين من أوروبا على قائمة اهتمامات برشلونة

كشفت تقارير صحفية إسبانية، عن دخول قائد منتخب مصر وفريق ليفربول، محمد صلاح، ضمن قائمة اللاعبين المطلوبين للانضمام إلى برشلونة في فترة الانتقالات الصيفية المقبلة.

وسينتهي عقد محمد صلاح مع ليفربول بنهاية الموسم الحالي، صيف 2025. ولا يزال مستقبل الدولي المصري مغموراً مع فريقه الإنجليزي على الرغم من إعلان رغبته بالبقاء داخل جدران أنفيلد.

ويحتل محمد صلاح، صدارة ترتيب هدافي الدوري الإنجليزي برصيد 15 هدفاً، متفوقاً على المهاجم النرويجي إيرلينج هالاند، صاحب الـ13 هدفاُ. 

اقرأ أيضاً.. سبورت: برشلونة يقترب من حسم أولى صفقات الموسم المقبل

ووفقاً لما جاء في صحيفة “موندو ديبورتيفو”، فإن نادي برشلونة قد وضع 6 لاعبين من القارة الأوروبية بهدف التعاقد معهم في الصيف المقبل، مع إقتراب نهاية عقدهم مع فرقهم.

وضمت قائمة اللاعبين المطلوبين في برشلونة كلًا من مهاجم ليفربول، محمد صلاح، والغاني توماس بارتي لاعب آرسنال بالإضافة إلى المهاجم الكندي جوناثان ديفيد مهاجم ليل الفرنسي.

وشهدت القائمة أيضاً تواجد ثنائي بايرن ميونخ، جوشوا كيميتش وألفونسو ديفيز، بالإضافة إلى جوناثان تاه مدافع باير ليفركوزن الألماني.

وبحسب ما جاء في الصحف الإسبانية فإن إدارة برشلونة تعمل على التعاقد مع اللاعبين الذين تنتهي عقودهم بنهاية الصيف المقبل، نظراً للظروف الإقتصادية التي يمر بها النادي الكتالوني.

ومع اقتراب نهاية عقد هؤلاء اللاعبين، يحق لهم التوقيع لأي نادي بداية من شهر يناير المقبل، ومن المقرر أن تشهد الفترة المقبلة تطورات جديدة حول إمكانية تعاقد برشلونة معهم.

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