Inter director Beppe Marotta insists that Simone Inzaghi "wants to stay" at the club in a hands-off warning to any potential suitors.
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The Belgian was the architect of a superb turnaround for Pep Guardiola's side, scoring the equaliser before laying on the winner for Oscar Bobb
Everything felt like it was falling into place for Manchester City even before they had kicked a ball at Newcastle due to Kevin De Bruyne's long-awaited return, with the Belgian then inspiring an incredible comeback win after coming off the bench.
It now feels like a case of when rather than if City will win a fourth consecutive Premier League title. Pep Guardiola's side produced one of their best performances of the season in a stunning first-half display at St James' Park and took the lead with an audacious backheeled finish from Bernardo Silva.
But then the champions inexplicably found themselves behind after brilliant goals from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon in the space of three minutes. So Guardiola turned to De Bruyne and the assist king, making his first Premier League appearance in five months, duly delivered.
De Bruyne stroked the ball into the net to level the match and then in injury time he played an outrageous pass to Oscar Bobb, who calmly danced the ball into the net. City were dancing at full-time and celebrated like they had won the title. It felt like they had.
GOAL rates Man City's players from St James' Park…
Former Barcelona full-back Junior Firpo has detailed to pressures of playing in Catalonia, taking aim at former boss Ronald Koeman.
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Josh Hazlewood felt a fifth bowler would allow him, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins to bowl at their best and fastest, while easing some of the load off Nathan Lyon
Daniel Brettig02-Nov-2017Josh Hazlewood’s return to fitness will mean New South Wales will field Australia’s Ashes bowling attack against Western Australia in the unassuming surrounds of Hurstville Oval from Saturday, though the tall fast man admits he would like to see some extra bowling cover in the Test squad when it is finally announced.The certainty around the shape of Steven Smith’s top four bowlers and top five batsmen is in sharp contrast to the vast speculation about who will fill the spots at Nos. 6 and 7, in recent times nominally the preserve of an allrounder and a wicketkeeper. Australia’s selectors will not be unveiling their Gabba squad until the day after the third round of Sheffield Shield matches on November 17, having gained precious little relevant information from the first, floodlit fixtures.Returning to the state team following a side strain in Bangladesh and a 10-over spell in Sydney club cricket on the weekend, Hazlewood said he would like to see a fifth bowling option present in the Australian Test side. That balance would aid him, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins in bowling at their best and fastest, notwithstanding the outstanding recent displays of the spin bowler Nathan Lyon. Moises Henriques is the allrounder for NSW, while Hilton Cartwright and Marcus Stoinis seem the most likely contenders to fulfill that role in the Test team.”It’s always nice having that allrounder to maybe bowl five or six overs throughout the day,” Hazlewood said. “I think the way Gaz has bowled over the last 12-18 months has been fantastic and he’s been shouldering the workload if it does get put upon the quicks. But for balance you want runs and wickets from that No. 6 batter … you could go either way.”It’s always great to have a full-strength NSW side, a lot of Test experience, the skipper and vice skipper there as well, so yeah really looking forward to getting out there. Western Australia are really strong at the moment in all formats, so looking forward to a good game.”It’s usually one or the other [of Starc or Cummins] at different stages, so it’s great to get them together. We’ve got a pretty good record when we’re all together bowling. We’re pretty used to bowling together these days, whether it’s for Australia or NSW, so we’ll just take it as another game and try to get those 20 wickets.”In making his recovery from the side strain, Hazlewood was several weeks behind Starc’s own rehabilitation from a foot problem, meaning he was unable to play in the first Shield round. This means he will play consecutive Shield games before the Gabba Test, creating a delicate balance between the demands of Smith, the selectors and medical staff trying to manage his workload.”The other guys played last week and this week and I think they’re having a rest for game three,” Hazlewood said. “I’m playing game three since I missed the first one. It’s a good build-up, two Shield games before the first Test, and hopefully get through the first Test as well. Ideally you’d want to play the same as Mitch and Pat, the first two, but I don’t see it as much of a big deal, we’ll just bowl a little bit less in the nets leading into it if we bowl a bit more in the game.”It feels really good, it’s got better every session from when I started bowling probably four or five weeks ago, it feels good now, nice and strong, so hopefully it stays that way. Very close to, if not, 100%.”Another contender for the Ashes, Nathan Coulter-Nile, has been bizarrely withdrawn from WA’s Shield team to face NSW at Hurstville and will instead bowl a limited number of overs for an invitational XI against the Englishmen in Perth on November 4 and 5. Hazlewood, who has himself had his bowling load closely managed over numerous years, took the view that it was a chance for a speedy compatriot to place some early doubts in the minds of the touring team’s batsmen.”I see it more as a positive I think, that he can maybe crack open a few of them early and create a few scars in their top order and middle order maybe,” he said. “Disappointing he’s not playing in the Shield game against us, but he’s had trouble with injuries in the past few years so that’s the reason he’s playing there.”Their top order, it’ll be their first hit on tour, and to have a guy there like Coults there to warm them up I guess to maybe create a few scars would be nice. That’s their plan too, to start with the bounciest, quickest wicket and get used to that straight away.”Elsewhere, the national selectors named the Cricket Australia XI squad to face Joe Root’s England tourists in a pair of Ashes warm-up matches, first in Adelaide (November 8-11) and then Townsville (November 15-18). The experienced Tim Paine and the NSW seamer Gurinder Sandhu add experience to the side, which also features the more youthful talents of Will Pucovski and Jason Sangha.Cricket Australia XI squad: Jake Carder, Jackson Coleman, Michael Cormack, Daniel Fallins, Ryan Gibson, Nick Larkin, Simon Milenko, Tim Paine, Will Pucovski, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Matthew Short.
Ireland’s crushing innings-and-146-run victory in the Intercontinental Cup against Bermuda brought the curtain on an eventful season for Irish cricket
Andrew McGlashan01-Sep-2007
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Ireland’s crushing innings-and-146-run victory in the Intercontinental Cup against Bermuda last week brought the curtain down on an eventful season for Irish cricket. Under new coach Phil Simmons, who replaced Adrian Birrell after the World Cup, they have consolidated their position as the leading Associate nation. It hasn’t, though, quite been the triumphal march that had been hoped for after their heroics in the Caribbean.Many of the players will find it hard to remember the last time they had a significant break. Before the World Cup they spent time in South Africa, at a high-performance camp. They then found themselves in various far-flung destinations such as Mombasa, Nairobi and Abu Dhabi. Welcome to the world of international cricket.A matter of days after returning from the Super Eights, they were back in action, in the Friends Provident Trophy. But after the giant-killing against Pakistan and Bangladesh, they couldn’t manage a single win against the counties. However, there were mitigating circumstances.Key players already had county contracts: Boyd Rankin, Eoin Morgan and Niall O’Brien quickly disappeared after the post-World Cup back-slapping and celebrations had been completed, although Morgan and O’Brien did turn up for Ireland later in the season. Trying to hold on to their top players would become the defining theme of Ireland’s summer.”It was always going to be tough to maintain the momentum from the World Cup,” Simmons told Cricinfo. “Considering we lost three or four of the players who led the team to their glory, it’s been a very good season. We lost the two matches against India and South Africa, but didn’t lose a game against the other Associates.”It’s going to be difficult to keep hold of players with county contracts. But it’s not something I can do anything about, and it has given me a chance to work with new players who have come in this year.”For a few weeks Irish cricket was the centre of the universe, but it wasn’t going to last, especially after the team started losing matches and unfamiliar faces began showing up in the side. To add to the problems there was growing discontent in the ranks when players didn’t see immediate rewards for their success in West Indies.
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Considering we lost three or four of the players who led the team to their glory it’s been a very good season |
While some players decided they had to return to a normal life, others voiced their disapproval about how the Irish Cricket Union was conducting affairs. Loudest among them was Jeremy Bray, the left-hand opener, who scored a century against Zimbabwe and another in the Intercontinental Cup final against Canada. He made himself unavailable for the ODIs against South Africa and India, plus subsequent fixtures against fellow Associates.But he wasn’t the only person unhappy. During the quadrangular tournament staged in Belfast and Dublin during July, the players refused to undertake post-match media commitments following the match against Netherlands, in protest over non-payment of World Cup fees.In many ways Ireland’s progress to the Super Eights created problems for the ICU. Despite the additional prize money, and the boost it provided to the game, there were increased outgoings in terms of costs of the team’s stay in the Caribbean and wages for the players. There was hopeful talk of central contracts being introduced to give players some security and encourage them to stay with Ireland, but reality quickly began to sink in.To try and generate some much-needed income, and make the most of the team’s new-found marketability, the ICU dipped its toe into the offshore ODI market, only to experience its first taste of the volatile world of international TV rights when the matches involving South Africa and India nearly fell through. However, although Sachin Tendulkar and Co. did make it to Belfast, the weather was poor and the crowds even more so. In the end the ICU only broke even.”Partly it was down to the crowds,” said the chief executive, Warren Deutrom. “But that, in turn, came because of the fact that Zee TV pulled out three weeks before the event and there was very little time for advertising. Nimbus came on board, but we only had one hand and weren’t able to negotiate. Advertisers wanted to know what channel they would be on and we weren’t able to tell them until a couple of days before the match.”The weather didn’t help, either, with people not enticed to the matches in the cold and damp. We didn’t get any walk-up sales, compared to 2000 when Ireland played England [in 2006].”
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When faced with international opposition on the field, Ireland continued to perform admirably without managing a scalp to match Pakistan or Bangladesh. At least the absence of some key players allowed Simmons to explore the depth available to him. Greg Thompson, a legspinner, was handed more opportunities, as was left-arm spinner Gary Kidd. Gary Wilson, who plays for Surrey 2nd XI, covered for O’Brien and Alex Cusack’s Man of the Match display against South Africa was a good-news story.”In many ways it was a good thing that we were without some of the top players,” said Simmons. “It gave other guys a chance and they have done well. There are some good cricketers coming through the Under-19 system and in two or three years I can see a very strong Ireland team.”The side’s Intercontinental Cup form remained impressive when they retained the title against Canada at Grace Road in May. The bowling attack, led by David Langford-Smith and Trent Johnston, was well clear of the next best. William Porterfield remained brilliant in the field and helped form a strong top order. Andre Botha, whose medium pace was key at the World Cup, suddenly found a new lease of life with the bat with back-to-back centuries to end the season. At youth level, too, there was no match for the Irish as they enjoyed success at Under-19, -17 and -15 level. The next major challenge comes for the new generation at the U-19 World Cup in Malaysia next February and March.”Porterfield was excellent throughout the season, right from before the World Cup to the final game [his career-best 166 against Bermuda],” said Simmons. “But many others have done well, and hopefully young players will look at what they’ve achieved and think that it could be them in a few years.”The ICU hopes to organise a pre-season tour in February or March next year, but for most of the players it will be a winter of day jobs and indoor nets. It is a far cry from the year they have experienced and there are many challenges for Irish cricket to face if the success of 2007 is not to be a false dawn.
As rain put a dampener on The Oval’s 100th Test celebrations, one England batsman was concerned not with marking the past but protecting his future
The Report by David Hopps29-Jul-20170:56
Temperament wins over technique for Jennings
As rain put a dampener on The Oval’s 100th Test celebrations, one England batsman was concerned not with marking the past but protecting his future.Keaton Jennings’ England place was under threat after making only 44 runs in his first five innings against South Africa, his hundred on Test debut against India in Mumbai in December now a distant memory.Jennings was 34 not out – his best score of a draining summer – when rain arrived shortly before 3pm and prevented further play. England, at 74 for 1, were building an impregnable position, leading by 252 with nine wickets remaining, but will fear more disruption from the weather over the last two days. As for Jennings, he was just relieved that one of those nine wickets remains his.Vernon Philander had been conditionally discharged from hospital, coming out to bat for South Africa at No. 11 as they were dismissed before lunch for 175 and then summoning what strength he had left for a few below-par overs.His viral infection had not yet departed and he was still vomiting and suffering from abdominal pain. But NHS nurses presumably got him back on his feet by whispering the words “Keaton Jennings” kindly into his ear because it has proved to be a pick-me-up all series.Jennings was chary against Philander from the outset and might have fallen twice in successive balls in his second over. He inside-edged past leg stump for his first boundary, looking round uncertainly as if he had stumbled over a paving slab. The next ball, on 6, he was dropped by Dean Elgar, head high at third slip. South Africa’s cordon was bunched and close and, on this occasion at least, suffered for it.Jennings routinely stands as straight as a sentry at the crease. Put him in a bearskin hat and he could easily double as a guardsman at Buckingham Palace where he would have the discipline to stand still for hours while tourists snapped away intrusively. But it was movement, not stillness, he hankered after and he danced around on the spot in an attempt to rid himself of the stilted footwork that has bedevilled him all series.Alastair Cook departed for 7, undone by a top-notch delivery from Morne Morkel which he straightened from around the wicket to crash into the top of off. Too good for Cook, one imagines it would have defeated Jennings, too, but he watched from the non-striker’s end, a batsman spared.Kagiso Rabada’s first over afforded a release. He had the poise to crash two short and wide deliveries through the off side. In the next over, he tucked Morkel off his pads for another boundary: 19 and vulnerable had become 32, a score to build on, in a matter of five minutes.Not that he suggested permanence. He needed a review to survive an lbw decision in Rabada’s favour on 33, replays suggesting the ball had both pitched outside leg and would have passed over the stumps.While Jennings struggled, Tom Westley again played with elan, six boundaries in his 28. The best of them as far as Jennings was concerned was the one that persuaded Philander to leave the field for another toilet break. Before too long, everybody followed him into the dressing room, never to re-emerge.Toby Roland-Jones leads the team off after his debut five-for•Associated Press
The morning belonged to Toby Roland-Jones, who completed a five-wicket haul on Test debut as South Africa were dismissed for 175 – a deficit of 178 . Eight down for spit overnight, with Philander carded at No. 11, South Africa might have folded in no time. Instead they added another 52 in 15.4 overs.Roland-Jones led England from the field, raising his cap slightly bashfully, after returning 5 for 57- the first English quick to take a five-for on debut since Graham Onions in 2009. His last wicket was a good one: Temba Bavuma pushing forward to a ball that left him to fall to a keeper’s catch after making 52 from 120 balls.Bavuma had been a serene figure even on the previous evening, as South Africa collapsed to 61 for 7 with the floodlights cutting through a grouchy south London evening, and he looked at ease again in what were initially more inviting batting conditions.The stumps were blue to mark Cricket United day, as were much of the crowd, an annual fund-raiser at The Oval for three charities. It is a pragmatic choice. If you are going to ask a fair proportion of blokes to dress up in a colour for charity, it’s best to choose blue. It’s all some have in their wardrobe.After his dream sequence on the second day, Roland-Jones found life had returned to normal as he began at the Vauxhall End. The comparison between him and the quick he replaced – Mark Wood – is instructional.Roland-Jones is a classic English seamer, hitting the seam at an average of 83mph. Wood is the sort of explosive quick needed on more benign surfaces. But Wood has only averaged 86mph in his two Tests against South Africa. Averages tell only half the story, of course, as the potential for an occasionally quick ball is also important, but explosive bowlers need to explode.Bavuma had attractive moments, particularly when driving through the off side, striking Stuart Broad to the extra cover boards to take South Africa past the follow-on and then stretching his diminutive frame to the utmost to plant Anderson in the same direction, although he was dropped off Broad on 40, Ben Stokes failing to cling to a rapid chance as he dived to his left in the gully. His half-century was also raised streakily when he edged Roland-Jones wide of the slips.Morkel also put up stubborn resistance, reaching 17 before he edged a back-of-a-length delivery from Anderson to Cook at first slip.Roland-Jones might have picked up Philander on 5, but his edge flew wide of third slip. A one-legged flat-bat then lobbed over mid-off. But Philander survived, albeit not particularly healthily. He, at least, would have welcomed the rest.
Liverpool's Curtis Jones has sent a message to England boss Gareth Southgate as he believes that he is doing well enough to warrant a call up.
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Moeen Ali has admitted England “let themselves down” with the bat in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane
George Dobell at the Gabba26-Nov-20171:03
Moeen refuses to blame glued finger for poor bowling
Moeen Ali has admitted England let themselves down with the bat in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane.On a blameless batting track, England failed to make 200 in their second innings with none of their batsmen scoring more than 51. But while Moeen accepted England weren’t going to win on the final day, with Australia requiring just 56 more runs with all 10 of their second-innings wickets in hand, he took some encouragement from his side’s performance and suggested Australia are “not as good as we sometimes make out”.”We’re very disappointed,” Moeen said. “For the first three days, we played well and were in the game. Today we let ourselves down with the bat.”A few players got in, but nobody made the big score that we needed. We couldn’t get that big hundred. It was a good pitch to bat on but we haven’t made a hundred in the game. When you come to the Gabba, you have to have guys who get hundreds if you’re going to have any chance of winning. We’ll have to score hundreds in the next four games.”Moeen did not spare himself from such criticism. Despite a slightly controversial dismissal in the second innings, Moeen insisted he had nobody to blame but himself after making scores of 38 and 40.In that second innings, he was adjudged out stumped when the TV umpire, Chris Gaffaney, concluded (after multiple replays) that he had dragged his back foot out of a crease that appeared to be slightly unevenly painted. It was a desperately tight decision, certainly, but Moeen had no criticism for the umpire or any of the groundstaff.”If I was bowling I’d want it to be given out,” he said. “I thought I was all right at the time, but the replay looked very tight. It depends at what angle you look at it. You have to respect the umpire’s call.”I’m just disappointed with myself for getting out like that. I was most disappointed in the time I was out. Jonny Bairstow and I were building a good partnership.”They were under a little bit of pressure then. If we could have carried on, we could have set them 220 or even more than that. So to get out then was very disappointing.”Moeen also refused to make excuses for a disappointing personal display with the ball in the second innings. While he said he had struggled with a cut spinning finger in the first innings, he admitted he just bowled poorly in the second when he was removed from the attack after four expensive overs.Moeen Ali was stumped off a ripper from Nathan Lyon•Getty Images
“I ripped my spinning finger after about 15 overs of the first innings” he said. “It’s not been easy since then. I’ve had to have it glued and filed and tried to keep it hard.”But today it felt much better and I just didn’t bowl very well.”Most of all, though, he was frustrated that England had failed to take opportunities against an Australia side that are good, certainly, but not unbeatable.”We feel Australia are a good side,” he said. “But they’re not as good as we sometimes make out. We know we have to compete very well in the next four games.”Steve Smith has probably been the difference. Without him they would have struggled to get anywhere near 300. He played very well.”We scored 300 in our first innings without Alastair Cook or Joe Root scoring many runs. That’s a positive. And the new guys played quite well. We had big partnerships and the run-out of James Vince, in the first innings, was a big moment. Then we had them at 70 for four but we couldn’t take the next wicket.”Inevitably, Moeen was asked about the absence of Ben Stokes and he admitted he had been missed.”In the last couple of years, we’ve been very good at getting a big score despite losing wickets at the top of the order,” Moeen said. “The lower order have contributed a lot.”Here it us cost us in both innings. But it’s more an issue for the top six or seven: we have to be the ones to score big hundreds and put the opposition under pressure.”Obviously Ben is a very good player. He gives us great balance coming in at No. 6, with Bairstow No. 7 and me at No. 8. It means we can get lower-order runs. So he’s always going to be a miss. But we know he’s not here and we have to get on with it.”
India women’s wicketkeeper-batsman Sushma Verma, who hardly got batting opportunities in the past, cashed in on the chance against Pakistan with a 35-ball 33
ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-2017Sushma Verma has established herself as India’s first-choice wicketkeeper since making her debut in 2014. However, her contribution as a batsman has been minimal, largely because she has hardly had opportunities to prove herself. Prior to Sunday, she had batted just eight times in 22 ODIs, facing a grand sum of 56 deliveries, off which she scored 13 runs, a strike rate of 23.21.She batted at No. 8 or lower in seven of those eight innings. The last time she batted before Sunday, she was sent in at No. 10, even below Ekta Bisht, no more than a tailender. Until the Pakistan game, India’s third at the World Cup, this hardly mattered thanks to robust contributions from the top order. But on a sticky wicket with the top order having a rare off day, the team needed Verma to overcome her battles, and she did.Promoted to No. 7 ahead of the more-accomplished Jhulan Goswami, who has a reputation of being a big hitter, Verma exhibited tremendous composure and match awareness to make a 35-ball 33 to help India recover from 111 for 6 to 169 for 9. Her 34-run stand with Goswami for the seventh wicket, significant in the context of the game, earned plaudits from her captain Mithali Raj.”At that point in time, when we were losing wickets, it was important to slow down a little,” Raj explained of Verma’s promotion. “On a few occasions in domestic cricket, when our Central Zone side was in similar situation, she bailed us out. We expected her to play that role and she did until the 48th over. Those boundaries were also very crucial.”Her partnership [with Jhulan] got us to 170. We were looking for 170 when we lost the top four. When you play such matches, it’s important to continue the momentum but not every day will the same batters will score runs, so I’m happy someone has stood up to get those runs. It’s important we got this opportunity to reflect on our batting order.”Opportunities have been rare for Verma in domestic cricket too as she started her career with Himachal Pradesh and moved to Railways for better cricketing prospects. But moving to a more-established outfit also brought about a fresh set of challenges. Playing in a team that has a star-studded batting line-up that boasts of Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Punam Raut has largely meant that a berth in the top order, which she may have been guaranteed at Himachal, has been non-existent.In the entire 2016-17 season, she had four opportunities to impress, twice each in the one-dayers and T20 competition. She managed 21 in those four knocks. It’s a role she has taken awhile getting used to, but one she has grown to accept, Verma said. “The team management has been working a lot on the lower-order batting. We have been getting equal attention as the top and middle order. I was waiting for this opportunity.”I’ve understood I will have minimum balls to face, I need to make maximum impact. Today, there was such an opportunity. It’s not that I’m confident only because of wicketkeeping. For me, the main concern and focus is to score as many runs as possible in as little balls as possible.”
The fan demonstration – shouting slogans and hooting – delayed the Sri Lankan team’s departure by close to half an hour after their drubbing in the opening ODI
Andrew Fidel Fernando21-Aug-2017A section of Sri Lanka spectators held up the team bus and voiced raucous displeasure at the performance of players and administration following the nine-wicket loss against India in Dambulla.A group of about 50 fans had stood in the vicinity of Sri Lanka’s parked bus, hooting and shouting slogans such as “we want our cricket back” and “no politics in cricket”, until police stepped in and cleared the gathering. The incident had delayed Sri Lanka’s departure from the venue by close to half an hour.The fan demonstration follows months of increasing dissatisfaction with on-field results. Social media has been aflame with scathing satire, taking aim at selectors and administrators in addition to players, in a year in which Sri Lanka has slipped to several unprecedented losses.Aware of the rapidly declining popularity of the national team, present and past players have implored fans to support the side through the slump. Ahead of the series, ODI captain Upul Tharanga made an impassioned plea to fans in a board release, stating: “The support of our fans plays a big role in the morale of the team. We play for our country and our goal is to bring pride to our family of 20 million in this nation – so your support is something that matters greatly to us … trust in us, and stick with us, so that you can be our strength as we rise again like lions.”Though presently playing at the CPL, Kumar Sangakkara has also taken to social media to voice his own appeal to fans. “When we won, you celebrated with us, and when we lost, you grieved alongside us,” he said. “When the team was struggling – when we were most in need – your love and support was our strength. Now, what our cricketers need is that same, love, support, patience and effort. Let’s hope for the team’s victory, and support them as one.”