أعلن مجلس إدارة نادي الاتحاد السكندري، برئاسة محمد سلامة القائم بأعمال رئيس النادي، عن المدير الفني للفريق الأول للكرة.
وكان الاتحاد السكندري، قد وجه الشكر لأحمد سامي وجهازه المعاون بسبب تراجع النتائج خلال الأيام الماضية بعد الخسارة أمام كهرباء الإسماعيلية.
طالع.. كهرباء الإسماعيلية يكتب نهاية مشوار أحمد سامي مع الاتحاد السكندري
كشف الاتحاد عن تعيين تامر مصطفى مديرًا فنيًا للفريق الأول لكرة القدم، وذلك عقب الاجتماع الذي عُقد معه واعتمد خلاله التشكيل الجديد للجهاز الفني.
ومن المقرر أن يبدأ الجهاز الفني الجديد مهمته رسميًا اليوم السبت حيث يقود تدريبات الفريق استعدادًا لمواجهة نادي زد.
ويلتقي الاتحاد السكندري مع زد يوم الاثنين المقبل 22 سبتمبر، ضمن منافسات الأسبوع الثامن من بطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز، والتي ستقام على استاد القاهرة. الجهاز الفني الجديد للاتحاد السكندري
The proposed venue at Macquarie Point is part of a Tasmanian team joining the AFL in 2028
Andrew McGlashan12-Jul-2024
A concept design of the proposed new stadium in Hobart•Tasmania Government
There are ambitions to host indoor Test cricket at a new stadium proposed in Hobart as part of a Tasmanian team joining the Australian Football League (AFL).The Tasmania Devils are due to become the AFL’s 19th team in 2028 and part of the deal is based around there being a new stadium constructed. It is being earmarked as a multipurpose 23,000-seater venue at Macquarie Point with a transparent roof to allow daytime cricket as well as floodlit T20.”We want to get to red-ball [cricket], that’s our focus,” Macquarie Point Development Corporation CEO Anne Beach told . “The tricky thing is…we can’t be accredited until it’s built so what we need to do is keep working through the detail and design process with Cricket [Tasmania] and Cricket Australia and work with them to brief ICC to make sure they have all the information available.”We are workshopping with them through detailed design so we are making sure we are factoring in everything they need, [so] they have a clear understanding of how it’s coming together then hopefully that sign-off process is pretty smooth. But we do want to get that red-ball sign-off and that’s critical I think to enable that full content to be in the stadium.”Concept designs of the Macquarie Point stadium were released earlier this week. Ball-tracking data has been used in developing the plans to ensure the roof would be higher enough for cricket.”Cricket’s biggest concern was the height of the roof…they cited concerns with Marvel Stadium [in Melbourne] where the ball could potentially hit the roof,” Cox Architecture CEO Alistair Richardson said.”What we’ve done is we’ve worked through looking at Hawk-Eye and the ball-tracking technology, to actually assess the maximum height that anyone’s hit a ball, which is quite interesting. “Then, actually, [we’ve] pushed the roof to 50 metres, which cricket was really happy with, because there’s no instance of anyone hitting a ball at 50 metres.”Experts have said that the design of the roof means there will be very little impact from shadows on the playing surface.Marvel Stadium hosted indoor ODIs back in the early 2000s and BBL matches can be played with the roof closed, but Test cricket has never taken place at an enclosed ground.Cricket Tasmania chair David Boon reiterated the state’s aim of playing cricket at the new stadium although it would likely lead to debate around the future of Bellerive Oval.”There is a wonderful opportunity for Tasmania to be a leader in innovation for the future of the game,” Boon said. “We want to play cricket in this stadium and look forward to working collaboratively with all parties over the coming months as the design is finalised.”Tasmania last hosted a Test in the 2021-22 season – its first since 2016 – when the final match of the Ashes was switched to Bellerive Oval from Perth due to Covid travel restrictions into Western Australia. It is unlikely to stage another Test in the remainder of the current Future Tours Programme. Australia’s men will play a T20I against Pakistan in November followed by the third ODI of the Women’s Ashes in January.
Positivity has been a short-lived thing at Manchester United in recent times, although the past week has provided reason for optimism, following a pivotal few days off the field.
With manager Ruben Amorim confirming his future at the club ahead of the final game of the season against Aston Villa – which ended in a rare victory – the Red Devils were further boosted by the news on Tuesday that his compatriot and captain, Bruno Fernandes, has turned down a move to Al-Hilal.
Despite admitting to having held talks with the Saudi side, the 30-year-old outlined that he remained committed to the Old Trafford outfit, with the club seemingly only intending to cash in had the playmaker requested to leave.
Elsewhere, meanwhile, United have also confirmed that an agreement has been reached for the signing of Wolverhampton Wanderers talisman, Matheus Cunha, with that £62.5m deal looking set to be followed by the capture of Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo.
The latest on Mbeumo's move to Man Utd
Much to the irritation of rival supporters, a United side who finished 15th in the Premier League last season still appear to have some of the old magic left, having been able to convince Cunha into sealing a move, despite the lack of European football next term.
The same looks to be true in the case of Mbeumo, with The Athletic’s David Ornstein breaking the news on Monday evening that the Cameroon international wants to join the Red Devils, with club-to-club talks set to take place with the Bees.
Ornstein revealed that despite rival interest from the likes of Arsenal, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur – all of whom have qualified for the Champions League – the 25-year-old’s preference is to move to Manchester, should a deal be agreed.
While a stumbling block could emerge amid reports from The Times that the winger is set to demand a wage increase to £250k-per-week, it would be a surprise not to see the former Troyes man lining up under Amorim next season.
With Cunha and perhaps Mbeumo in the bag, United could now turn their attention to another Premier League star in the bid to bolster the forward line.
Man Utd keeping tabs on Premier League forward
The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell – writing in the Transfer Deal Sheet – noted that the ‘priority’ for United this summer is ‘adding goals to the team’, with the top-flight strugglers netting just 44 times in total in the league. For context, Cunha and Mbeumo alone scored 35 league goals between them.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
That search for more firepower has led to INEOS turning their attention toward Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo, with Whitwell outlining that the Ghanaian is a player being ‘looked at’ by the club.
This follows prior reports which indicated that United were actually leading the race for the 25-year-old’s signature, albeit with it yet to be seen if they would be willing to meet the Cherries’ reported £60m asking price.
Antoine Semenyo for Bournemouth.
Having already missed out on Chelsea-bound striker, Liam Delap, moving for another Premier League-proven talent like Semenyo could be the perfect solution for Amorim this summer.
Why Semenyo can thrive with Mbeumo
While there will be the question of whether Mbeumo will be able to replicate his recent heroics amid the pressures that come with playing for the Red Devils, there will also be an intrigue as to whether he can thrive without his current partner-in-crime, Yoane Wissa.
Mbeumo and Wissa
Indeed, under Thomas Frank’s guidance in 2024/25, the United target scored 20 goals in the top-flight, with the 28-year-old Wissa registering a remarkable tally of 19 league goals of his own.
That deadly and fluid combination saw the in-form pairing dovetail beautifully as the spearheads of Brentford’s frontline, with the duo both able to operate on the flanks or in a central role.
It could be argued that bringing Semenyo into the fold could allow Mbeumo to find his new Wissa in the process, with the former Bristol City man also a highly flexible and versatile asset who can thrive out wide, through the middle or even in a wing-back role.
Described as “almost unplayable on his day” by journalist Ed Aarons, Semenyo enjoyed a positive season of his own at the Vitality Stadium, having registered 11 goals and five assists in the Premier League, after previously racking up eight goals in 2023/24.
The beauty of the 6 foot 1 sensation is just how two-footed he is, with the record above outlining his similarity to Wissa, with regard to his ability to score with either foot, thus making him a particularly dangerous proposition.
What is particularly key regarding the Wissa-Mbeumo combination has been their speed on the counter-attack, something that pundit Danny Murphy noted last year, after highlighting the “width and pace with Wissa and Mbeumo, two players playing with confidence with a real threat.”
Non-penalty goals
0.31
Top 24%
Assists
3.51
Top 5%
Shots
0.14
Bottom 43%
Shot-creating actions
3.71
Top 34%
Pass completion
73.4%
Bottom 35%
Progressive carries
3.06
Bottom 42%
Progressive passes
3.93
Top 29%
Successful take-ons
1.94
Top 20%
Tackles
1.55
Top 40%
Aerial duels won
1.85
Top 8%
*compared to attacking mid/wingers in PL
Those attributes are certainly shared by the Bournemouth man, his former Bristol boss Nigel Pearson having described him as “very difficult to play against” due to his “power and pace”.
Semenyo’s ability to thrive in tandem with his fellow forwards is also showcased by the fact that he created 11 ‘big chances’ in 2024/25, while averaging 1.2 key passes per game, thus ensuring that Mbeumo would again have quality service to thrive off.
While not an orthodox striker by trade, having Semenyo operating through the middle could then allow Mbeumo to flourish alongside him, with that final attacking berth taken up by the aforementioned Cunha.
Having so often witnessed a limp attacking unit at the Theatre of Dreams of late, what a mouthwatering prospect that trio would be.
He's outscored Mbeumo: Man Utd weighing up bid for £40m Delap upgrade
Manchester United are preparing a move for a star who could thrive at Old Trafford.
Believe it or not, Liverpool fans, the summer transfer window hasn’t actually opened yet. You’d be forgiven for assuming the contrary, with sporting director Richard Hughes moving like a man possessed before the Premier League campaign has even concluded.
Arne Slot has bagged the league title in his maiden year at the helm, and will celebrate in front of the fans as Anfield hosts FA Cup winner Crystal Palace in the final fixture of the top-flight season tomorrow afternoon.
Liverpool manager ArneSlotcelebrates after winning the Premier League
The frustration and negativity around Trent Alexander-Arnold’s decision to leave at the end of his contract and join Real Madrid has been offset by a flurry of exciting activity, to be sure.
His direct replacement, Jeremie Frimpong, has completed his medical and will likely be announced next week. Meanwhile, talks for Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez are advancing, Fabrizio Romano confirming the news.
These deals in themselves are rather spectacular, but that’s without even acknowledging Florian Wirtz, who looks set to move to Merseyside.
The latest on Florian Wirtz to Liverpool
This one’s moving apace. Liverpool have long held an admiration for Bayer Leverkusen’s Wirtz and have joined Manchester City and Bayern Munich in pursuing a deal for the Germany international, but developments in the past day or two have swung the pendulum in Anfield’s favour.
With Pep Guardiola’s side having pulled out of the race earlier in the week, Liverpool were poised to lock horns with the Bundesliga champions for German football’s brightest talent, and they’ve won the battle.
As per The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Liverpool are engaged in official talks with Leverkusen for the talented number ten, having already opened communications through the nearly-complete transfer of Frimpong.
Leverkusen value Wirtz at about €150m (£126m), though whether FSG can engineer a more agreeable figure, and how the structure of the deal will play out, remains to be seen at this stage.
Bayer Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong
Any move for the German would make him the most expensive in his country’s history and indeed Liverpool’s record signing – but maybe not for all that long.
isak-wirtz-liverpool
But, Liverpool could also be in the market to add another attacking player on top of Wirtz, and he could an even better signing for the club…
Liverpool confident about signing new striker
As per GIVEMESPORT, Liverpool are growing increasingly confident they can convince Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak to jump ship this summer, financially secure after several windows on the low.
The windfall from winning the Premier League and returning to the Champions League will have helped, of course. However, it will prove strenuous to drive a deal toward completion, for United are holding out for around £120m, though other reports suggest that figure could stretch toward the £150m mark.
Newcastle United's AlexanderIsakcelebrates scoring their first goal
Liverpool know that Eddie Howe will fight tooth and nail to keep his focal frontman at St. James’ Park, but FSG are willing to test Newcastle’s resolve with a formal offer in the coming months.
Why Liverpool should sign Alexander Isak
The justification behind an official bid for Newcastle’s star striker is pretty self-explanatory: he’s an incredible goalscorer, and with a dynamic and nuanced skill set which would be perfect for Slot’s specific system.
Newcastle United's AlexanderIsakcelebrates scoring their first goal
It’s hard to see a world in which Isak wouldn’t hit the ground running at Liverpool. He’s powerful, athletic, pacy and deadly in front of goal. He’s the finishing piece from which someone like Wirtz could target to create an unstoppable attacking line.
Leverkusen’s man has been hailed as “a defender’s nightmare” by journalist Bence Bocsak, now imagine him combining with Isak, a terror in his own right.
The 25-year-old joined Howe’s side from Real Sociedad in 2022 for a club-record £63m fee and has since hit 73 goal contributions from 108 matches in all competitions, bringing a completeness that could be perfect for Slot’s fluent system.
Described as “the best striker in Europe” by Toon teammate Anthony Gordon, Isak would of course be a stunning addition to a winning Liverpool formula, replacing the flagging Darwin Nunez, the declining Diogo Jota, and taking Slot’s system to the next level.
Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota converse on the bench
It’s for this reason that Isak could be the better signing, surpassing Wirtz, especially with an overreliance on a soon 33-year-old Mohamed Salah being a dangerous thing moving forward.
Isak has just produced his finest campaign, behind only Salah in the Premier League’s scoring charts. It’s frightening to think the pair could ply their trade side by side next term, and with Wirtz nestled in behind them too.
1.
Mohamed Salah
37
28
2.
Alexander Isak
33
23
3.
Erling Haaland
30
21
4.
Chris Wood
35
20
5.
Yoane Wissa
34
19
5=
Bryan Mbeumo
37
19
Salah is one of the greatest goalscorers the Premier League has ever known, but Isak is proving himself quite the menace on Tyneside, five goals behind the Egyptian but having played five matches fewer.
He’s also missed just 18 big chances in the top flight this term, as per Sofacore, denoting a cutting edge that Liverpool’s central striking options simply haven’t showcased since Slot took to the dugout.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
Now that is a style Wirtz would delight in playing with. The German ranks among the top 9% of positional peers across Europe this season for assists and the top 7% for both shot-creating actions and progressive passes per 90, as per FBref, illustrating an approach which would overwhelm Liverpool’s opponents.
While Wirtz has also created 17 big chances in the Bundesliga this season, his creativity is only one facet of a kaleidoscopic skill set. His combativeness, tenacity and workrate all make him the player he is, a superstar in the making.
This just goes to show he’s tailor-made for a place in Slot’s title-winning squad. For sure, Liverpool have a load of technical quality in their ranks, but they are built on their determination and application, flair enabled through hard graft and toil.
Make no mistake, if Liverpool manage, somehow, to sign both Isak and Wirtz, they will be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come, if they are not already.
Isak, however, might just take the cake as the cream of an audacious transfer window, should he sign.
Open to leaving: Liverpool “machine” would be finished if FSG sign Wirtz
Liverpool are going punch-for-punch with Bayern Munich in the fight to sign Florian Wirtz.
Chelsea are set to have a busy summer on the pitch, even with the Premier League season almost at its conclusion.
Indeed, they are taking part in the inaugural 32-team Club World Cup in the United States of America, with the first game on the 16th of June against Mexican side Club Leon.
Thus, they might be looking to make some early transfers. The 2025 summer window opens for ten days at the start of June, to allow teams competing in the Club World Cup the chance to strengthen their squad beforehand.
It might well be in the Blues’ interest to sign someone in that short window, and they have actually been linked with one attacker who could even move at the start of June.
Chelsea looking to sign a new striker
It may not seem surprising that Chelsea want a new striker this summer, given they are the sixth biggest underachiever for expected goals in the Premier League, as per Understat.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
Well, the man who could help solve those issues is Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy.
According to recent reports from Spain this week, Chelsea are one of the sides who ‘have already initiated’ a move for Guirassy this summer. There is thought to be a ‘real possibility of leaving Germany’ for the striker in the coming months.
However, the West Londoners are surely going to face stern competition for Gurassy’s signature. Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus are also interested in signing the striker, who has a £60m release clause in his contract, should anyone want to bring him in.
Why Guirassy would be a good signing
It has been an incredible season for Guirassy in 2024/25, who has excelled leaps and bounds in a Dortmund side that has struggled overall. He has 29 goals and five assists in 41 games played so far this term.
There is certainly a case to be made that the striker has done his best work in the Champions League. He’s scored an incredible 13 goals in 14 games, notching up four assists alongside those strikes.
It is perhaps not too difficult to pinpoint the best performance from the Guinean striker in Europe’s premier club competition. He scored a hat-trick in the quarter-final against Barcelona, which proved to be in vain as his side got eliminated 5-3 on aggregate. However, it was still an mightily strong performance to grab a 3-1 home win on the night.
Perhaps Guirassy could provide the goals that Nicolas Jackson has struggled to score at times in 2024/25. The Chelsea striker is talented but perhaps a little inconsistent, with nine goals and five assists in 29 games in all competitions.
When comparing the goal-to-game ratio of Jackson and Guirassy, there is a clear difference. The Dortmund number nine is currently scoring 0.7 goals per game this term, whereas Chelsea’s main man up front averages just 0.3, a stark contrast.
Indeed, one thing the “unstoppable” Dortmund star, as scout Antonio Mango once described him, has on his side is experience.
At 29 years of age, the Dortmund sensation has plenty more years in professional football than the Chelsea number 15, who is just 23 years of age. With that being said, there is still a difference in how clinical they are in front of goal.
Interestingly, a statistical comparison via FBref can be drawn between Guirassy and former Blues striker Kai Havertz, now an Arsenal player.
He scored 32 goals for the club over three years, including a winner in the Champions League final in 2021.
Chelsea attacker Kai Havertz
As for the numerical comparison between the two, there are several areas where the pair are similar. For example, Guirassy averages 0.50 goals per shot on target compared to Havertz’s 0.43 goals per shot on target each game and they link up play in a similarly strong way, with only 0.10 difference in the number of key passes they supply per 90 minutes.
Goals per shot on target
0.5
0.43
Expected goals
0.72xG
0.46xG
Key passes
0.88
0.78
Shot-creating actions
1.84
2.01
Goal-creating actions
0.28
0.15
It is hard to see a reason why Gurassy wouldn’t succeed at Stamford Bridge. The Dortmund star is deadly in front of goal, as the numbers show, and in that sense would be an upgrade on Jackson.
Chelsea fans will surely hope he can replicate what Havertz did in that famous Blue shirt. They probably wouldn’t say no to a Champions League final winner, a competition in which he has serious pedigree already.
Chelsea preparing £43m offer for "surprising" new striker target
The west Londoners have another name on their agenda.
O São Paulo divulgou que a cirurgia de Rodrigo Nestor foi bem sucedida. O meio-campista, que teve uma desinserção no menisco e uma lesão no ligamento colateral medial, realizou o procedimento nesta quarta-feira (8).
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Nestor deverá receber alta hospitalar já nos próximos dias, quando iniciará a fisioterapia no CT do Tricolor. O clube não estipulou um prazo para a recuperação do jogador, mas o camisa 11 não atua mais nesta temporada e deverá ficar de três a quatro meses afastado dos gramados.
Rodrigo Nestor foi peça fundamental do São Paulo para a conquista da Copa do Brasil de 2023, em cima do Flamengo. O gol de empate do Tricolor, que valeu o título, foi marcado pelo meio-campista, que ganhou a condição de herói após enfrentar uma série de críticas de parte da torcida.
➡️ Veja a tabela e simule as últimas rodadas do Brasileirão 2023
Além do gol que valeu a conquista, Nestor foi o autor da assistência para o gol de Calleri na vitória por 1 a 0 fora de casa, no jogo de ida da decisão. O camisa 11 fez 54 jogos na temporada, com dois gols e sete assistências.
Their win at The Oval is a reminder that conversations about saving the game can begin with recognition that there is a great world out there
Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Sep-2024If Test cricket is constantly on the therapist’s couch trying to work through its never-ending existential crises, Sri Lanka are the 11 trishaws outside, incensed that Test cricket’s SUV is blocking half the lane, honking up a storm.This, at least, tends to be the Sri Lanka men’s Test side’s vision of itself, forever outsiders, forever straining against bigger powers than they could ever meaningfully have sway over.They are often justified in feeling this way. Their schedule is largely dictated by when other teams would like to play them. They would like more Test cricket but their board has genuine trouble organising a busy schedule for them. (Their own board doesn’t merely schedule the profitable tours, by the way; Sri Lanka have hosted both Afghanistan and Ireland for Tests in the last 18 months.)Related
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But this is an island of 22 million whose economy has crashed since 2021, and as such has limited financial clout, as far as brodcasters are concerned. It is also a team that fans in the biggest cricket economies – England, Australia, India – do not necessarily believe are particularly serious rivals.And so every big tour becomes a de-facto referendum on their invite-ability. Are they up to adapting to these conditions? If they won’t beat an imperious England, can they at least sufficiently resist them? Will they compete? For the first time ever, Sri Lanka were in England for the fancy part of the English summer – their August/September fixtures. For the first time in almost six years, they were playing a three-Test series.There is the pressure you feel when you go out to bat and the ball is hooping, and the slips are licking their lips. Then there is this pressure: don’t let your team down here, because if you do, no team from Sri Lanka may ever get the chance again.Sri Lanka lost day one at The Oval, their bowlers fruitless in many spells, England easing to 221 for 3 in 44.1 overs by stumps. They closed down England’s innings quickly early on day two, but still were themselves 93 for 5 in response to England’s 325, in serious danger of crashing to a 3-0 defeat.And yet there Sri Lanka are, on so many of these fighting-for-their-lives tours, finding startling comebacks, discovering bright new gems, raging against the mere idea that there should be a dying of the light. On day three, their seam-bowling demolition of England was so spectacular, and so conseqential to the outcome, it gains immediate entry to the highest halls of the nation’s Test-cricket lore. Pathum Nissanka’s ice-cold 127 off 124, bears comparison to some of the greatest Sri Lanka innings in England – particularly those played by Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva in that 1998 Test at the same venue.Asitha Fernando finished as the top wicket-taker of the series•Getty ImagesAnd do Tests really want to sideline, or shunt into a second tier, the likes of Asitha Fernando, who would never get called up to a Test side merely on the basis of his height and his pace – as Josh Hull sort of has for England – and yet has blasted out 17 batters to sit atop the wicket-takers list in an away series?Can it really do without the likes of Kamindu Mendis, who has struck two fiftes and a hundred across five innings in his first series in England, averaging 53.40 and striking at almost 63?How about Nissanka, who began his international career as Sri Lanka’s premiere first-class batting talent, before taking a long detour through white-ball formats to return to Tests as a fearless, and dynamic opener?There is only so much a single Sri Lanka victory can achieve. But with luck, this will be some reminder that what is good about Test cricket isn’t only a conversation about scoring at more than four runs an over. It’s not just about reverse-sweeps, reversing pressure, scooping over the shoulder, bludgeoning the bouncers, never letting the bowlers settle.Perhaps it is a reminder that conversations about saving Test cricket can begin with recognition that there is a great world out there, in which teams concoct all sorts of mad new narratives. That there is a world beyond The Ashes, or the Border-Gavaskar, or England vs India series, that is full of life and vibrance that is worth taking more seriously than cricket currently seems to be.
They’re like oil and water, they’re the top two teams on the WTC table, and their meetings usually fill both ends of the newspaper. What more can you ask for?
Firdose Moonda13-Dec-20224:29
Elgar: T20 World Cup is water under the bridge
In the home corner, in the off-white with yellow trim, with the leading two batters and top-ranked bowler in the long format, the World Test Championship table-toppers Australia, await their next bout.In the away corner, with pristine white shirts and no team sponsor, with only one superstar in their squad whose shine has dimmed somewhat, are second-placed South Africa, tiptoeing into the ring.Related
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The three-Test series has all the makings of a heavyweight fight, with the trash-talk to match. Words like “cowards” and “confrontation” have been used before any mention of cricket and there’ll be as many sports fans’ eyes scanning the front pages as the back ones from December 17. Meetings between these two teams, especially over the last decade, have usually been worth writing about on both ends of the newspaper.This is their first meeting in Test cricket since the biggest of their scandals: Sandpapergate in 2018. In Australia, it was an event that shook the game to its core as characters were scrutinised and sanctioned and a culture shift propagated. South Africans have never really understood any of this. Why would they?Prior to Sandpapergate, South African players had been caught tampering three times in as many years, Faf du Plessis twice (in 2013 and 2016, the latter as captain) and Vernon Philander in 2014, and were defended, not punished, by their board. In du Plessis’ cases, CSA mounted the everybody-does-it-defence strongly; in Philander’s, they threatened the broadcaster not to air footage of him gouging the ball with his thumbnail. It was shown anyway and Philander was fined 75% of his match fee but there was no contrition from South Africa. To see the Australians launch an investigation, to hear their prime minister speak on the matter and to discover the sentences handed out to the guilty was bemusing for South Africans. There are actual criminals in this country that get off lighter.Steven Smith will face South Africa in a Test match for the first time since the events of Newlands 2018•Gallo Images/Getty ImagesNow, four years and a global pandemic later, to find Australians still talking – no, handwringing – about Sandpapergate and how it will affect the mood ahead of this series has left South Africa, as Rassie van der Dussen put it, “amazed”. It returned to the forefront in recent days with David Warner’s shock statement about withdrawing his appeal against his leadership ban.When pressed, Test captain Dean Elgar and interim coach Malibongwe Maketa have called Sandpapergate “unfortunate”, but listen to the tone and the totality of their answers and what they’re really saying is that it’s just not such a big deal to South Africans. A bit like the debates over run-outs at the non-striker’s end, it’s a cultural difference.That may seem surprising because, on the face of it, Australians and South Africans would appear to be quite similar. They’re both from sunny, outdoorsy places with the best beaches the world has to offer, and they both regard the ceremony of cooking meat over open coals (the Aussies say barbecue, the Saffers say braai) as a social occasion. Their cricket teams are built on big, bad fast bowlers and a crew of steady batters, with the occasional sensational one. They are the teams that made fielding as much a discipline of the game as batting and bowling and put emphasis on fitness before others did. But, like oil and water, though South Africa and Australia’s cricket teams have obvious similarities in structure and consistency, there’s some things about them that just don’t mix.Australia have always had more bite and bark than South Africa. They are the inventors and masters of the sledge. Over the years, South Africa have tried to match them but until they started beating Australia, their words had little effect. And then in 2018, they had maximum effect, but we’ve already covered that ground. Similarly, South Africa have attempted to match Australia’s body language, and again, in 2018 it went too far.Kagiso Rabada’s shoulder brush against Steven Smith in Gqeberha earned him sufficient demerit points to result in a ban, although he was able to get it overturned on appeal. Rabada has since acknowledged “some sort of feud between South Africa and Australia”, but also prefers to view this series as an opportunity to “just focus on cricket.”In essence, that sums up South Africa. Despite Elgar all but baiting Australia to bring the fight to them, they actually prefer to keep the cricket on the field, often tunnel-visioning themselves as sportspeople only and it’s as much as a strength as it is a shortcoming. Unlike Australia, whose captain Pat Cummins was vocal in his opposition to an energy company sponsoring the team because their business is in conflict with his climate consciousness, South Africa have yet to utter a word against their own power regulator, who have plunged the country into a record year of rolling blackouts. Cricket is only inconvenienced in a very minor way – with the occasional domestic day-night match being rescheduled as a day game – and cricketers are among the privileged classes who can secure a back-up system but it is precisely that kind of silence that can make the team appear disconnected from the people they play for. And that was never more evident than when the team tried to confront racism.Dean Elgar has promised plenty of chitchat with Marnus Labuschagne in Afrikaans•Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesIt was against Australia at the 2021 World Cup that South Africa’s disjointed approach towards showing support for anti-racism was at its starkest. While the entire Australia team took a knee, only some South Africans did as others raised a fist and the rest stood to attention. Cricket South Africa’s board was understood to be angered by this image and went on to issue a directive compelling the team to collectively take a knee for the rest of the summer. Initially, Quinton de Kock refused and sat out the next match but then apologised and joined his team-mates in making the gesture, only to retire from Test cricket less than three months later.There’s some irony in all this because Australia is a place where South African cricketers have reported being racially abused, and a place that became a popular immigration destination for mostly white South Africans as Apartheid was being dismantled. Australia are also a step ahead when it comes to recognising indigenous rights. Australia’s players stand in a barefoot circle before all home matches, in acknowledgment of the indigenous land which they occupy. In South Africa, discussions around the recognition of the Khoi and San people (the First Nations’ people of the geographic areas of the Western and Northern Cape) remain in their infancy.All that may sound like too much intellectualising, but take it as a palate-cleanser before what we could see plenty of over the next few weeks: emotion. This series is going to be full of it. Recent history means it’s unavoidable and the current context makes it inevitable. On paper, this is Test cricket’s closest rivalry – No.1 plays No.2 in a championship race – and even though in reality, the Ashes and series involving India could be considered bigger for both sides, the context to this series means it will be the headline act of the summer.One of the most anticipated match-ups will be between Elgar, who is also South Africa’s most experienced player, and his opposite number Cummins, who is recovering from a quadriceps injury. Of South Africa’s batters, only Elgar and his deputy Temba Bavuma have played Test cricket in Australia before. Many eyes will be on Bavuma, who endured a torrid T20 World Cup and has yet to add a three-figure score to the Test century he celebrated at Newlands in 2016 but has been South Africa’s best long-format batter in the last two years. The only other batter to have played against Australia is Theunis de Bruyn, who featured in two of the four Tests in 2018, and is not guaranteed to start this series.Contrastingly, the only batter of Australia’s top four who has not played against South Africa is South African: Marnus Labuschagne, and he is also the top-ranked batter in the format at the moment. Labuschagne has played against South Africa in ODIs and gone from the lows of a first-ball duck to the highs of a first international 50-overs hundred. He knows what it feels like to play against people he could have been playing with, but that doesn’t make it any less of a talking point. Elgar even expects some of it could be done in Labuschagne’s mother tongue. “My last encounter with him was in a county game, and he spoke Afrikaans to me,” Elgar said.Labuschagne against Rabada and Anrich Nortje is the kind of story that could define the series. And there will be others. Smith and Warner’s comeback against the team who witnessed their lowest moment nearly five years ago is a must-watch; the contest between Cameron Green and Marco Jansen is as much about height as allrounder ability; and whether the spinners on either side, Nathan Lyon and Keshav Maharaj, will have a say is an interesting subplot. Whatever you’re doing this festive season, this series must be on your to-do list.
ESPNcricinfo’s staff picked their Test, ODI, T20 and women’s T20I teams of the year. Do they resemble yours?
Matt Roller30-Dec-2020Even including the three Boxing Day fixtures, there have been fewer men’s Test matches played in 2020 than in any year since 1991, and the same is true of men’s ODIs. Even still, that hasn’t stopped ESPNcricinfo’s staff from completing an annual ritual: testing our ability as selectors and picking our teams of the year. Don’t forget to let us know where we’ve got it wrong.Girish TS/ESPNcricinfo LtdOnly four teams played more than three men’s Tests in 2020 before our Christmas cut-off date, so it is no surprise that their players dominate the team of the year. England lead the way with four players included, and three New Zealanders, two Pakistanis, a West Indian and an Australian join them.
Dom Sibley is an automatic selection, having scored more than twice as many runs as any other opener in the year, while Shan Masood joins him at the top thanks to hundreds at home against Bangladesh and away in England. Kane Williamson slots in behind them, following his masterful 251 against West Indies, while Babar Azam and Ben Stokes, who had prolific years, are in at No. 4 and 5. Zak Crawley, whose 267 against Pakistan was the biggest innings of the year, is a notable omission.Jos Buttler’s place in the England side was under immense scrutiny back in January, but he put doubts over his Test credentials to bed with a superb series with the bat against Pakistan. He also led the way for most dismissals behind the stumps, helping him earn selection ahead of Quinton de Kock in this side. Jermaine Blackwood would have seemed an unlikely candidate for this XI at the start of the year but he earned a West Indies recall thanks to four-day runs for Jamaica, and played two of the most entertaining innings of the year: a match-winning 95 in England, and a counter-punching 104 in New Zealand.The three front-line seamers were easy picks, all averaging around 15: Stuart Broad passed the 500-wicket mark in Tests, dominating the English summer after being left out at its start, while Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson tore India and Pakistan to shreds. In a year dominated by seamers, Nathan Lyon takes the spinner’s berth despite only playing two Tests.Girish TS/ESPNcricinfo LtdAfter losing series to India and South Africa at the start of the year, Australia have been dominant in post-lockdown ODIs, winning both in England and at home against India. As a result, their players make up the majority of this team, with Aaron Finch and David Warner in as openers.It speaks volumes about Virat Kohli’s lofty standards that even in a year in which he has seemed to underachieve, he still managed five half-centuries in nine ODI innings and averaged a shade under 50 to slide in at No. 3 in this side, while Steven Smith and KL Rahul were both popular selections in the middle order. Glenn Maxwell brings his power-hitting to the No. 6 role, with a strike rate of 145.26 and an average above 70 in 2020, while Ravindra Jadeja slides in at No. 7 to balance the XI.Adam Zampa is the leggie to complement Jadeja and Maxwell’s fingerspin, leading the wicket charts for the calendar year with 27, and he is joined by his two closest competitors on that front in Alzarri Joseph and Josh Hazlewood. Jofra Archer played only three ODIs, but terrorised Warner sufficiently to earn a place in this side.Several players’ cases would have been stronger if the pandemic had allowed them to play more games, with South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen, Bangladesh’s Liton Das and Oman’s Aqib Ilyas all impressing with the bat in their limited number of games.Girish TS/ESPNcricinfo LtdWhile there was a Covid-induced pause in the otherwise relentless calendar of T20 tournaments, almost all major leagues were held at some stage in the year, meaning this XI did not suffer from a small sample size to the same extent as the others.Look away now, Pakistan fans: there is no place for Babar Azam in our side. He was beaten to the opening slots by only a couple of votes. In his place, de Kock takes the gloves after a stellar year for both South Africa and the Mumbai Indians, while Buttler made up for his hit-and-miss IPL with some belligerent innings at the top of the England batting order.Rahul’s orange-cap-winning IPL and consistency for India pushed him ahead of Mohammad Hafeez for the No. 3 slot, while AB de Villiers, Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard’s middle-order fireworks form the side’s engine room, from No. 4-6.Shadab Khan’s breakthrough year with the bat combined with his wicket-taking threat sees him picked at No. 7, forming a mouth-watering legspinning partnership with Rashid Khan, the year’s standout spinner as usual. Haris Rauf may have been the leading wicket-taker for 2020, but his relatively high economy rate means he misses out to three seamers who form a compelling trio: Shaheen Afridi and Archer take the new ball, with Jasprit Bumrah doing the heavy lifting at the death.Andre Russell, Mushfiqur Rahim, Marcus Stoinis and Dawid Malan are among the honourable mentions with the bat, while Sandeep Lamichhane, Samit Patel and Kagiso Rabada had successful years with the ball.Girish TS/ESPNcricinfo LtdWith a T20 World Cup at the start of the year and most nations frustrated by a lack of playing opportunities since, performances in that tournament, unsurprisingly, carry plenty of weight among these selections. Six Australians from their World Cup-winning side make it to this team, with three of them – Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney and Meg Lanning – forming the top of our batting order.Sophie Devine averaged 54.66 and scored 492 runs in the year – comfortably twice as many as any of her New Zealand team-mates – but she moves into the middle order thanks to the quality of Australia’s top three. Heather Knight, a transformed T20 batter in recent times, slots in at No. 5, following her best year in the format by a huge margin, and the middle-order batting is rounded off by Ashleigh Gardner, who edged out Nat Sciver by a single vote.With the ball, Katherine Brunt and Megan Schutt form an enticing new-ball partnership after leading the wicket-taking charts among seamers for the year, while Sophie Ecclestone and Jess Jonassen with 19 wickets apiece, are both picked as left-arm spinners. Poonam Yadav’s beguiling start to the T20 World Cup – and her four-wicket haul against Australia – earned her inclusion as the main legspinner.Fellow leggies Sarah Glenn and Amelia Kerr are both unfortunate to miss out, after finishing the year with 18 and 14 wickets respectively and economy rates below 5.5. Despite India’s run to the final, Yadav is their only representative in the XI, with Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma both overlooked.More in our look back at 2020
Danny Rohl is close to being named as the new Rangers boss, and Sky Sports have shared a live update from outside Ibrox after an “11th hour and 59th minute” twist.
Rangers on brink of Rohl announcement after late breakdown in talks
“Let’s start with the huge developments in the last half hour,” said a Sky Sports presenter live on TV on Monday afternoon. “Danny Rohl looks set to be named as the new head coach at Rangers.”
The 36-year-old former Sheffield Wednesday head coach had ruled himself out of the race to become Russell Martin’s successor last week when Kevin Muscat appeared to be front runner.
However, it emerged on Sunday night that no agreement could be reached with Muscat, which threw the Ibrox club into managerial limbo ahead of the Thursday night’s Europa League clash with Brann in Norway.
Sky’s Adam Binnie has now reported live from outside Ibrox, shedding some light on just how close they were to appointing Muscat: “The club continued into advanced talks with Kevin Muscat which fell through at the 11th hour, or the 11th hour and 59th minute.
“After all that falling out, that meant that Rohl was back in contention… now he is the leading candidate and is expected to take over.”
Rohl, who Binnie confirms was third choice after Steven Gerrard and Muscat, led The Owls to a 12th-place league finish in his only full season as a manager before leaving the troubled Yorkshire club in July.
Rangers’ Under-19 boss Stevie Smith was in interim charge for the 2-2 draw with Dundee United at Ibrox on Saturday. Former Gers defender Smith took over first-team training along with B team coach Brian Gilmour, goalkeeping coach Sal Bibbo and head of performance Rhys Owen, on Martin’s departure.
The Ibrox club sit sixth in the William Hill Premiership with nine points from eight fixtures and are 13 points behind leaders Hearts.
Gers fans disgruntled by the failure of Martin, the start to the season where Rangers were also bounced out of the Champions League play-off on a 9-1 aggregate defeat by Belgian side Club Brugge, and latterly the new boss recruitment process, have turned against chief executive Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell.
A banner was held up at half-time during the Dundee United game which read: ‘Stewart, Thelwell pack your bags and go before we pack them for you’.