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The horror start to the Ashes shows they might have lost sight of what’s most important in the game
Mark Nicholas24-Dec-2021It is that time of year, on repeat it seems, every four years. It is the time of Pommie-bashing down under, when England’s shocking inability to cope becomes the Groundhog Day of its genre. This is agony from afar – oh, the darkness of the early morn! – and gut-wrenching up close. It’s not just the drip of torture – we can steel ourselves for that – it’s the overwhelming humiliation that gets you. Like English cricketers simply can’t play.Is the unilateral criticism fair? Or are the circumstances so extreme as to now provide a clear explanation? Obviously enough, the players have made basic mistakes. Equally, selection has been odd. The management of the team appears never to have been to Australia before, which of course they have been, all of them. The captain is the first to have a second crack at the Great Southern Land since Andrew Stoddart in the latter part of the century before last. Stoddart won the first time but failed to defend. Joe Root is on course for a double disappointment. Is the Ashes really the one event that defines an English or Australian career? No! But the Ashes can make the man – check Lord Botham, Andrew Flintoff and Ben Stokes, allrounders who have stopped the nation.Let’s pause for a moment and consider the circumstances within which the current England players have had to perform – this is Covid we’re talking, and the bubble. Cricket is as much a game of the mind as it is a game of talent, application and of technique. Perhaps more so. It requires patience and concentration, a kind deal of the cards and a fair wind.Related
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Cricket is the most artistic of all games. Batting is frequently difficult and frustrating but even the most prosaic of batters can give pleasure with a mighty stroke or an unlikely rearguard. It is a mainly instinctive skill and yet relies on method for its excellence. Nothing, not even ballet, could be more graceful than Babar Azam’s off-side play or an on-drive by VVS Laxman. Batting pleases the eye because it is a thing of angles and dimensions.Above all, batting is fragile. One minute you have it, the next it is gone. A single ball will undo hours, days, weeks of preparation. For sure, batting – cricket indeed – is not to be trusted. It is played out on the edge of nerves. It examines character, explores personality and exposes vulnerabilities. A man scores a hundred one day and nought the next. This is both wicked and unkind but also, it is tempting and exhilarating. Raise your bat once and you will ache to do so again.For the moment, at least, England have mislaid the art of batting as a unit. This puts undue expectation on Root – and, presently, the feisty Dawid Malan – as well as on the bowlers, the leading practitioners of whom are aged by the standards of high performance. Though James Anderson played a stellar part in England’s stunning 2010-11 triumph under Andrew Strauss and bowled with a huge heart four years ago, neither he nor Stuart Broad have always fired as effectively in Australia as they have done elsewhere. The answer, if you must, is to alternate between them.Rory Burns couldn’t buy a run in his first three innings of the series•Getty ImagesThe rest of the attack is in new territory: a territory that is harsh and unforgiving. Ask Jack Leach: thumped in Brisbane and binned. In contrast, Mark Wood appeared to revel in it but he was rested for Adelaide. Rested? For what? He came to play! Ollie Robinson has manfully rolled in, Angus Fraser-ish, but the ball doesn’t move sideways much, and when it does, he needs it to do so a tad quicker. A yard on Robinson would feel like five to his opponent. Chris Woakes has so far failed to master Australian conditions with the ball, and he’s had a few cracks at it.Back to the batting, where the rot started. Both Root and Malan sniffed hundreds but lost the scent. No raising of the bat for them, while no one else has been close. Haseeb Hameed is rooted to the spot. A cutter of the ball denied his strongest suit by good bowlers, he looks like a fellow who went to the nets in desperate search of a front-foot drive, promptly eased a couple of long half-volleys through the covers and then watched in horror as he chipped the next one into the hands of mid-on. You couldn’t make it up. Out there with him is Rory Burns, the gamest of cricketers but with a method too often exposed by the best users of the new ball. And so on. Ollie Pope is wretchedly low on confidence, while Stokes tries so hard to occupy the crease and defy the bastard enemy that he forgets how damn good he is. Free up Ben, unleash hell!What of Jos Buttler, whose highs and lows are bewildering: a clanger one minute, a hanger the next; a boundary a ball, a block for 207 of them. There is no more thrilling talent out there but the inconsistency is a menace. Where has Jos gone, you think, and then he plays that Cook of an innings at Adelaide Oval: a knock, if you can call it that, in which he scored nine runs between lunch and tea. In Dubai, against the same opponent at the T20 World Cup, he scored close to nine every ball. Remarkable.Which brings us back to the question of circumstance. How demanding is it to live for much of an 18-month period in a bubble that includes numerous periods of quarantine, and still give this trickster of a game your best shot? Martin Crowe called it traffic – can’t play with, can play without.There’s a lot of traffic in quarantine and not much less in the bubble. The wife’s on the phone morning and night, saying it’s all very well for you out there in the sunshine but the kids are coughing and spluttering their way around Grandpa’s Christmas tree and Grandma’s a bit jumpy about you know what, all masked up and that, in her own gaff. And all the while, you’re tripping the light anything-but-fantastic from hotel room to coach to ground and back again, wondering whether the next game will even go ahead. Not easy and probably not much fun either. Think Miller and Compton, Lillee and Botham, Gough and Warne living in the bubble, never mind the quarantine. Hardly, where’s the fun in that? Sure, the guys today earn big bucks but money can’t clear the mind.Jos Buttler has alternated between despair and ecstasy of late•PA Images/GettySo it doesn’t really matter whether cricket is artistic, it just matters that you get the job done and make it home safe and sound. Right now, for the England players, there is nothing especially beautiful about it either: there never is when you’re losing by a distance. Beauty, pah!England were woefully underprepared. Bubble or no bubble, Root and the lads not in Dubai could have been in Australia a fortnight earlier, thus making time for full-on first-class matches against the states or an Australia A team. Ashley Giles, the director of England cricket, should have insisted upon it, ensuring such matches were a pre-condition for the tour. Of the team for the Adelaide Test, only Malan, Buttler and Woakes were in the T20 group, along with Wood and Jonny Bairstow, both of whom should play on Boxing Day in Melbourne. That left a team of cricketers looking for a game. There were England Lions out there too, also eager.Granted, this was more complicated than it appears because Queensland was in lockdown and therefore required of its visitors a period of quarantine. No matter, England could have played one game in Adelaide against South Australia (with a pink ball) and then nipped up to the Sunshine State for a bit of quarantine and a game against Queensland.Year upon year, touring teams come to Australia and get kicked about at the Gabba, as much because they are not ready for its stern test as because the Australians are so good on a ground that most plays to their strengths. Yes, India beat them there at the start of this year but it was the fourth Test, and by then the Indians were flying up the eastern seaboard on something of a magic carpet.The ball, the pitch, the light, the heat and humidity, the intensity – oh, man: the newspapers, the talkback radio, the TV reporters, the commentators, the spectators who know if you’re any good, the bloke in the street who thinks he does; the beer, the wine, the surf – live it, love it, play great because of it. This is Australia, mate.It is one thing to be less good than the Aussies but quite another to turn up late and fail to give yourself the best chance. In 1986-87 Mike Gatting’s team made a right mess of two of the three state games that preceded the first Test. “Can’t bat, can’t bowl, can’t field” was the famous headline on a piece filed by the ‘s unflinching cricket correspondent Martin Johnson. Then Allan Border sent England in to bat, and Bill Athey fought for his wicket like a man instructed solely to protect the trenches, before Botham charged out of them to slaughter a withered attack. If ever one innings changed the preconception of a cricket series, that was it: 138 he made, helmetless and gung-ho. (Hadn’t that happened somewhere before?)Remember when Brisbane didn’t spell bogey: Botham seals the deal for England at the Gabba in 1986•Ben Radford/Getty ImagesIn 2010-11, Strauss’ team made relatively light work of the state teams but found themselves drowning in a sea of Australian optimism after such moments as Strauss himself – having chosen to take first use of the pitch – slapping the third ball of the match into the hands of gully and Peter Siddle roaring in to take a hat-trick.But, like Gatt’s buccaneering band, Strauss’ disciplined players were by then embedded in the local culture, both on the field and off it, and duly battled the odds for two long days to save the game. No way that was possible if they had only just arrived. This isn’t only England. Every team that comes to the Gabba undercooked gets eaten alive. Raw meat is all about the blood. The Australians haven’t lost a first Test there since Gatting and Botham. It is a fortress, and so, just quietly, is Adelaide and the pink ball day-nighter: yes, they are unbeaten at that little party as well.In short, you can practise among yourselves all day long, but it’s not the real thing. Giles and Chris Silverwood, between them director, coach and national selector of England cricket, surely take responsibility for the threadbare schedule. Add in Root when it comes to selection, plus the nod of a couple of senior players – though Broad doesn’t seem to be one, given his inexplicable omission from the first Test – and you’ve got the gamut of those running the show day to day.It is fair to be critical, though I’d go easy on the decision to bat first in Brisbane. That was a dog of a toss to win because every piece of data on the ground points to the advantage of batting first, and the data has it. What’s more, Pat Cummins would have batted first too.As the rain fell in the days leading up to the game, Root will have scratched his head during numerous mid-pitch conversation about that 22 yards of Queensland turf and resolved to not do as Nasser Hussain, Len Hutton and others from other lands had done before him. He knew the pain of bowling first at the Gabba – probably has images of Phil DeFreitas and Steve Harmison writ large in the memory bank. And yet, the grass on the thing, usually so straw brown, kept springing up from beneath the covers with a damp feel and green tinge. As the coin hung in air, Root doubtless thought, “Oh god, it’s a bowl-first pitch for a bat-first match. We have to look this bull in the eye and show him we mean business, but what exactly does that business look like this morning…” Pause. “We’ll bat.” Nice, thinks Cummins. Root got it wrong. Even Mark Taylor, that old hawk of the bat-first message, said he would have bowled. Blimey – if only Root knew that.Any joy, boys? If England don’t rediscover their sense of adventure and fun, they’ll be all adrift soon•William West/AFP/Getty ImagesThen, no Broad or Anderson but instead, Woakes and Leach. Was Anderson really injured or was he being saved for Adelaide, where, the assumption was, the pink ball would swing as it did four years ago? Assumptions, huh. Was Broad so badly out of nick? He had David Warner in his pocket, for goodness’ sake, and more generally, loves a left-hander, of which Australian have a few. First match of the Ashes, the Gabba: you go with your best team, don’t you, and let the devil…Then Burns missed a half-volley, first ball of the match, falling across his stumps like an off-balance Gold Coast surfer. Then England were three down, then six. Oh, the inglorious nature of a collapse. You can’t win a Test match on the first morning (though it’s a daft cliché, because Australia did) but you can sure lose one. On the subject of the toss, it is in that mantra that reasonable criticism of Root’s decision can be found, simply for the fact that his ill-prepared team needed some time to bed in. Imagine the Australian dressing room, delighted that England were choosing the options that most played into their hands.We could tear strips off the Adelaide Test performance too – no Leach or Dom Bess, really? – but does it help? And that was a grim toss to lose. The fact is that, again, England weren’t ready. Had Adelaide been a four-day first-class match against South Australia, the players could have shrugged it off in the name of the learning curve.Let’s go back to India in February. Rather brilliantly England won the first Test, in Chennai, whereupon the in-form Buttler went home for a predetermined rest. Bairstow wasn’t even there – he was home too, having a kip perhaps. Ben Foakes played in the second Test, along with Dom Sibley, Dan Lawrence, Moeen Ali (who went home soon after) and Olly Stone. (Burns, Root, Stokes, Pope, Broad, Leach made up the team.) England were beaten, and then beaten again and again, by heavy margins.Rest through rotation to compensate for bubble life has done little good for performance. Winning away had never been straightforward but in the current environment has turned hellishly difficult. The thinking behind rotation is flawed. The tough question is the one that asks whether the England players are enjoying themselves. On any level, can they find a sense of adventure and fun in a land that has long offered the most exciting tour of all? Or has the year of living limited and lonely turned the greatest game into an obligation? Are the players comfortable with their thoughts or weary with regulation and instruction? Initially, some were undecided about going: what space do they occupy now?The art of cricket is a beautiful journey and should become a beautiful result. This beauty holds its place in our heart even at a time when all roads point to change. It is why there is an immense responsibility as we frantically modernise a game that has its roots in the past. After all, it is the roots that define it. Right now, one imagines such thoughts are far from the minds of the beleaguered English cricketers. Perhaps, Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground will remind them of the glory of the game and, thus, bring excitement and inspiration. England are quite good enough to beat Australia but first the traffic must clear and the collective mind become committed.
A veteran journalist recalls the BCCI president’s playing days, and his relationships with John Wright and Rahul Dravid, in an excerpt from a new book
Pradeep Magazine16-Dec-2021I interviewed Sourav Ganguly for the first time in London after the 1999 World Cup. His reputation preceded him: a snooty, temperamental person who had been spoilt by his rich father. This was what people talked about more than his talent. I was determined to find out if this image was accurate, as in my few brief interactions with him until then he had come across as a polite, well-behaved person.Ganguly has a very disarming, welcoming smile. He may not always arrive for an interview at the promised time, or might ditch you altogether, but once he meets you, he is all courtesy and it is difficult not to like him. That day in London, he was on his best behaviour. Ganguly’s fist-pumping, aggressive body language on the field, which he displayed when he became captain later was not associated with Indian cricket then. Off the field he was usually a well-mannered and pleasant person. On that day in England, he was a very satisfied man, having performed well on world cricket’s biggest stage.While I interviewed him in the lobby of the hotel, there were a number of Bengali journalists loitering around in the hope of catching his eye and getting a quote from him. For the vibrant regional press and its cricket journalists, Ganguly was growing in status. The man himself was aware of the significance of the Bengali press, and treated them with a familiarity and warmth that one reserves for one’s family.There was a freelance photographer from Bengal who would keep his luggage in Ganguly’s room if he could not find a convenient place to stay on tours, and Ganguly sometimes even let him sleep in his room. There were many others who believed he was their close friend and that he shared his secrets only with them.Related
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As Ganguly grew in stature and began to control and dominate Indian cricket, his relationship with them only strengthened, despite his not having enough time now to indulge them. He knew exactly when to be warm towards them and when to ignore them.In response to my question about why he did not seem to get annoyed at the constant presence of journalists from Bengal around him, he told me that his home in Behala, Calcutta, was always open to friends and well-wishers, who would come in great numbers to congratulate his parents on their son’s achievements. I later discovered his home is a huge mansion with sprawling lawns that could easily host events with hundreds of attendees.Ganguly understood the needs of the Bengali journalists and the demands their respective newspapers put on them because a local lad was doing so well in the Indian team. “They need a few quotes and a bit of access,” he said, “and I am okay with it.” It was hard for me to associate arrogance, conceit or self-absorption with Ganguly after that interview.Ganguly, it should not be forgotten, was made captain of a team that had other strong candidates for the post, including his senior, Anil Kumble. In fact, Kumble perhaps had reason to believe that he was the logical choice, and Rahul Dravid may have felt he was in with an outside chance.I remember interviewing Dravid in England after India had won the Headingley Test on the 2002 tour. Ganguly had made a statement of positive intent by choosing to bat first in overcast, seaming conditions, and India saw out hostile seam and swing bowling to rack up a huge first-innings score. The innings rode on the technical brilliance of Dravid and Sanjay Bangar, who set a great platform for Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly.Ganguly mobbed by press photographers at Eden Gardens, 2004•Deshkalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty ImagesIn the interview, I asked Dravid whether he nursed captaincy ambitions and would at some time in the future want to lead the team. He replied in the affirmative, saying that he, like most players, did wish to captain the national team someday. It was an innocuous and honest answer. In fact, Dravid commanded tremendous respect for the dignified manner he handled himself in public. He always chose his words with great care, not wanting to say anything that could create a controversy.Later, when I was writing the article, Dravid came to me and said, “Pradeep, please drop that captaincy question.” I understood his dilemma and agreed to his request. While there was nothing wrong in what he had said and in no way was he trying to create any discord in the team, he did not want his answer to be misconstrued as being a challenge to Ganguly’s throne.
****
John Wright is a tall man with piercing eyes. He generally kept to himself, especially when it came to interacting with journalists. However, with a glass of beer in hand, he would be more warm and friendly, and liberal with his opinions. Yet, even after having spent the previous evening drinking with you, he would sometimes not acknowledge you at the ground the next morning. He could be abrupt, even appearing rude.He was a committed professional, working in chaotic conditions, where proper planning, training schedules and discipline were terribly lacking. In India, cricket stars could be hard to manage and to succeed a coach had to keep his star players happy. Once, Wright revealed one of the more creative methods he employed to get the players to follow his inputs without ruffling their pride. “I know they are huge stars with big egos,” he said. “I have to be careful as they don’t like to be given instructions. You don’t point out mistakes to people who are like rock stars. I work very subtly on their mind. Plant an idea slowly, till a stage is reached that they come to me and say themselves, ‘Hey John, I have decided to do this’, and it is the very thing I had wanted them to do in the first place. The difference is that now they believe that it was their own idea and I had nothing to do with it. I didn’t mind that, as I had achieved my aim.”John Wright (centre) and Ganguly had a fairly successful relationship as coach and captain, but it wasn’t without its tetchy moments•Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty ImagesI have seen Wright fretting and fuming over Ganguly doing exactly the opposite of the dressing-room strategy out on the field. In the hotel bar after the day’s play, Wright would be cursing the captain for not listening to him. But he never let his frustration spill over and destabilise the team.A lot of the credit for maintaining a healthy balance in the relationship between the coach and the captain and players should go to Ganguly as well. He knew when to stand by his demands and when to give in. Speaking about his later differences with Greg Chappell, Ganguly said, “There were times when Wright would be so upset with me that he wouldn’t even talk to me for days.” During these periods, Ganguly too would remain quiet and not precipitate matters. Eventually things would return to normal, and “we both would move on”.Ganguly’s first-class debut in the 1989-90 Ranji Trophy final had seen him come up against a Delhi team that was foul-mouthed and abusive. They incessantly sledged the Bengal players. In that Delhi team were Kirti Azad, the late Raman Lamba, Manoj Prabhakar, Atul Wassan and Maninder Singh, while the Bengal side included the likes of Arun Lal, Ashok Malhotra and Pranab Roy. Due to a combination of bad light and excruciatingly slow batting by both batting sides, neither team could bat a second time. Ganguly scored a crucial 22 and saw some of the best-known players of his time at their worst behaviour. However, Delhi’s intimidating tactics failed, and Bengal won that match. They were crowned Ranji champions for only the second time ever.Right from that first match, Ganguly had been exposed to the on-field tactics that didn’t appear in coaching manuals, and over the years he developed an understanding about what worked and didn’t work tactically. He did not always keep faith in strategies drawn up in dressing rooms; his responses on the ground were dictated by his intuitive reading of the moment.For instance, Harbhajan Singh was proving ineffective during a Test match, and during a session break the coach and captain decided to give the ball to someone else when play resumed. However, just before they went back to the field, Ganguly spotted Harbhajan bowling with great rhythm on the side of the ground. “When the match resumed, I handed the ball to Harbhajan, going against the plan,” recalled Ganguly. “He immediately got us wickets.” But he accepted that there would be times when his gut feeling would not work. “The coach may then justifiably be upset,” he said. “What matters in the end is your intention, the result is not always in your hands.” Ganguly said this while his personal battle with Greg Chappell was going on, trying to put the coach-captain relationship in perspective.Ganguly embraces Rahul Dravid after India’s famous win in Adelaide, 2003•Tony Lewis/Getty ImagesThe Ganguly-Wright combination was in charge during the 2003 Adelaide Test, where India chased 230 runs for a historic win. I have three very contrasting anecdotes that are revealing about the different emotions that play out in the minds of those in the centre of these high-voltage situations.At the end of the fourth day, India still needed another 193 for victory. Dravid came to my room at the hotel that evening, probably to take his mind off the pressures of the match. He started a light-hearted conversation but the journalist in me tried to move the talk towards the match. Dravid quickly made it clear that he didn’t want to talk or think about the match.During India’s chase, Virender Sehwag played a wild heave against Stuart MacGill and was out for 47, putting the Indian team under pressure. India managed to win the Test on the back of Dravid’s unbeaten 72. Ganguly contributed only 12 in a torturous 41 minutes at the crease.After the victory, the Indian captain was excited, thrilled and in a joyous mood. When I asked how he had soaked in the pressure, he was frank enough to confess, “When I was batting, I was so nervous that I could hardly see the ball.” The restless Ganguly had spoken to Dravid during his innings and explained his state of mind. He was grateful to his deputy for taking India to victory.HarperCollins IndiaThe third incident occurred later that night, and illustrates Wright’s all-consuming passion to see his team follow the processes set in place. If a player deviated from the norm, the coach would be extremely unhappy, even if the end result was a happy one, as it was on that day. Wright was in the bar with trainer Andrew Leipus. I congratulated them and joined the celebrations.Though very pleased with the victory, he was upset about the manner of Sehwag’s dismissal. For Wright it was an unpardonable act to throw away your wicket in attempting such an outrageous shot, that too in a situation where India was chasing a historic win. “What the hell was he thinking,” Wright muttered in a string of expletives. I could understand his frustration at the pressure that dismissal had put on the team.Wright was like that. He would prefer to err on the side of caution. For him, process and discipline were everything.Not Just Cricket: A Reporter’s Journey through Modern India
The pair’s 204-run stand, steered by Liton Das’ maiden Test ton, countered Pakistan’s early surge when they reduced the hosts to 49 for 4
Mohammad Isam26-Nov-2021After more than a month of international cricket without registering a 50-run stand or a half-century from any of their batters, Bangladesh’s batting finally breathed easy, in Chattogram on Friday. The relief came via the 204-run unbroken fifth-wicket stand between Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das, who struck his maiden Test hundred.Both batters found instant reward in their first match back in the Bangladesh XI, after being dropped from the T20I side last week. It was perceived as a punishment for their sub-par T20 World Cup performances. Liton played a first-class match in the National Cricket League in the interim, while Mushfiqur spent the time presumably facing hundreds of balls in the nets, as well as slamming the selectors.The partnership provided for a stunning comeback for the home side, who had lost four wickets in the first session of the Test. It was shaping up to be yet another batting debacle when the top four succumbed to Pakistan’s bustle. Taking into account Bangladesh’s mentality, 49 for 4 could have easily become worse.Related
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Liton and Mushfiqur changed the complexion of the day in three phases. First, they gritted out 40-odd minutes in the first session when they shifted the focus from scoring runs to stalling Pakistan’s surge. They carried that confidence in the second session, typically a quiet time for bowling sides. Liton and Mushfiqur did that with 102 runs in 31 overs, gradually raising the scoring rate, and building their own confidence.They both reached fifties, which probably freed them up for more consolidation after the tea break. The last session was mostly about reacting to the situation. Both had their eyes out on keeping Pakistan at bay. As Liton inched towards his hundred, things got a bit nervy as he struggled with cramps. Mushfiqur kept feeding him the strike, to make sure he got to the landmark. When Liton reached the three-figure mark, Mushfiqur too appeared equally delighted.Batting coach Ashwell Prince was proud of how Mushfiqur and Liton lifted Bangladesh out of a difficult situation. He was especially pleased to see Liton reach his century by fighting cramps.”I think the guys showed a great deal of character and skills after we were 40-odd for four today,” Prince said. “Mushfiqur was very patient at the start. He is an experienced player. A lot of younger players might have panicked at the low strike rate, and not being able to get the ball away. But he is an experienced Test player. He stayed calm. He knew runs can come in faster periods in Tests. He played a great innings.Liton Das soaks in his maiden Test century•AFP/Getty Images”I was really impressed by how calm and composed Liton was today. He was solid in defence. He was decisive in leaving balls outside the stump. He was committed and positive when playing an attacking shot. I think the most nervous everyone got was when Liton started getting cramps. We were hoping that his body can hang in there till the end of the day. The dressing room was extremely happy when he got the hundred.”Liton has bonded with Prince ever since he was appointed as batting coach in July. Prince said that they worked on minor aspects of Liton’s stance and balance ahead of this Test series.”I didn’t ask anything of him during the T20 series [against Pakistan],” Prince said. “He came here earlier to prepare for the Tests. We worked on one or two little technical things.”It was more about changing his stance, and basically his alignment to get him lined up better. I think he showed good balance at the crease. He is such a joy to watch. He makes batting look so easy when he is batting well.”Liton focused heavily on the zone square on the off side, where he got three quarters of his 12 boundaries. He abstained from forcefully driving the fast bowlers straight, and only pulled the ball when it was too short.Mushfiqur, too, struck plenty of fours through point, backward point and cover, but he drove straight almost regularly. He struck three fours in the range between mid-off and wide mid-on.The way Mushfiqur and Liton batted should spread confidence across the dressing room. Here were two cricketers who were shown tough love by the team management, albeit somewhat unwarranted, but they bounced back strongly.The partnership also sets Bangladesh up for a stronger second day, and it is sure to serve debutant Yasir Ali a great platform to benefit from, even though Bangladesh don’t really have a target in mind for the first innings.Prince said the straw-coloured Chattogram pitch was a sight for sore eyes in the Bangladesh dressing room. “The pitch makes a big difference. It is a good pitch. The guys played well. It is nice for our batsmen to bat on good pitches more regularly. But is 400 or 500 enough? No one knows. We just have to keep batting until the captain feels we have enough to declare.”
Aston Villa are still looking to fill the void left by Jhon Duran as the summer transfer window enters its embryonic stage.
The Colombian was sold for £71m in January after scoring 12 goals for the club during the first half of the season.
While Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford contributed well between January and May, scoring 12 goals between them, both have since returned to their parent clubs.
This means Unai Emery enters the market looking for a forward who can make a difference. Might he turn to Ligue 1 again?
Aston Villa lead the race for Belgian sensation
It appears as though Rashford won’t return to Villa next season. The club have shown interest in Tyler Dibling and Jadon Sancho in a bid to improve their wide options next season.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
Rather than focus on Premier League talent, the manager also has eyes on the continent. According to TEAMtalk, Villa are among the clubs leading the race for talented Lyon winger Malick Fofana.
Liverpool and Arsenal are also in contention for the player and the report states that Lyon’s financial troubles could see Fofana available for just £40m this summer.
A young, left-footed talent ready to make his mark in the Premier League. Can Emery sign his new Duran in a move for Fofana?
Why Villa must sign Malick Fofana
Duran certainly had the potential to become Emery’s main attacking option, but the offer from the Middle East was too good to turn down.
The youngster dazzled with his displays off the bench for the Midlands side, eventually scoring 20 goals in 78 appearances, yet only 17 of those were starts.
Metric
Ligue 1
Europa League
Goals
5
6
Assists
4
1
Big chances created
6
1
Key passes per game
0.9
1
Successful dribbles per game
0.8
0.9
Emery has been craving a talent like Duran ever since he departed, and in Fofana, the Belgian starlet could become his next exciting young forward. Indeed, journalist Antonio Mango has lauded him for his “frightening speed” and “game-changing potential” – remind you of anyone?
The 20-year-old made his debut for Gent during the 2022/23 campaign, impressing sufficiently to secure a move to Lyon in January 2024.
His spell with the French giants has been a major success. Across 62 games, the youngster has registered 22 goal contributions – 15 goals and seven assists – particularly impressing last term.
Indeed, in April, talent scout Jacek Kulig hailed the winger for “showing flashes of his enormous potential” and he was especially dangerous in the Europa League.
When compared to his positional peers in the competition, Fofana ranked in the top 1% for non-penalty goals (1.05), progressive carries (7.88) and touches in the attacking penalty area (8.23) per 90 in the Europa League.
His explosiveness and desire to make things happen in the final third make him an excellent prospect, and he could continue his development under Emery at Villa.
Like his fellow left-footer, Duran, he would be an exciting young signing with potential, and there is no doubt Fofana could have a similar sort of impact as the Colombian forward.
With Villa playing in the Europa League – a competition Fofana excelled in – then bringing the Belgian sensation to the Midlands this summer could turn out to be one shrewd move by the manager.
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Maddy Darke’s unbeaten 106 along with Katie Mack’s 68 set up Australia A’s eight-wicket victory over India A in the second one-dayer in Mackay. The openers added 131 as Australia A chased down India A’s 219 with ease to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.Having been put into bat, Raghvi Bist and Tejal Hasabnis hit fifties helping India A fight back with a 124-run stand for the fourth wicket. But Charli Knott and Grace Parsons triggered a collapse as the visitors slumped from 176 for 3 to 218 all out.The game started with Tayla Vlaeminck’s superb opening spell of 4-3-3-1 where she had Priya Punia caught behind. Nicola Hancock replaced Vlaeminck and dismissed Shweta Sehrawat in her first over before Knott sent back Shubha Satheesh for a 38-ball 24.Bist and Hasabnis started slowly before picking boundaries in overs from Parsons and Kate Peterson. They focused on rotating the strike in the middle overs and eased past fifties. But India’s acceleration was cut short by Parsons having Hasabnis caught and bowled and Knott having Minnu Mani caught behind in successive overs.Shipra Giri got going with a couple of fours but with Bist getting run out in the 45th over, India slipped to 203 for 6. Maitlan Brown cleaned up the tail in a triple-wicket maiden over, which included a run out, as India were bowled out in 48 overs.Mack and Darke were aided by wides and a couple of threes from Soppadhandi Yashasri and Sayali Satghare’s opening spells as Australia A coasted past fifty in the 11th over. Between overs eight and 16, every single one went for at least five as Mack reached fifty in the 16th over. Darke reached hers in the 21st over with Australia A on 121 for 0.Satghare trapped Mack lbw in the 23rd over but Darke carried on. Her 38-run stand with Knott included just one boundary but brought the asking rate well under three. Tahlia McGrath hitting four boundaries in her first 15 balls quashed the little chances for a visitors’ comeback and allowed Darke to complete a century in the 37th over. The duo stayed unbeaten to take Australia A home with 58 balls to spare.Australia A had swept the T20I series 3-0 and have the chance to repeat the feat in the ODIs at the Gold Coast on Monday.
Garber declined to address any potential suspension for the Miami star duo, pointing to Inter Miami's recent matchload
Garber wouldn't discuss potential suspensionCommissioner did say rules are rulesPointed to Messi's overall impact for MLSGet the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowGetty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED?
AUSTIN, Texas – Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber declined to say whether Inter Miami stars Lionel Messi or Jordi Alba will be disciplined for their absence at this week's MLS All-Star activities, but admitted the league should have been more proactive in confirming the players' status ahead of its marquee summer event.
"Yeah, we should have known earlier. We should have addressed it earlier. No doubt about that," Garber said in his midseason address prior to the All-Star Game.
MLS didn't publicly announce that Messi and Alba would not play in the All-Star game until the roster was confirmed Wednesday morning, and offered no specifics behind the absences. Many of the other 28 MLS All-Stars had expressed their excitement to play with the eight-time Ballon D'Or winner.
But after the Argentine and his teammate Alba were absent for the second ASG training session, several players mentioned their surprise that the two were no-shows.
READ MORE: Messi's ASG absence stained league – and MLS must clean it up
Garber stressed that MLS and Inter Miami are communicating as to why neither were available for Wednesday's game, but he also pointed to Miami's heavy schedule – playing nine matches in just more than a month – spread across the Club World Cup and MLS action.
"Miami has had a schedule that is unlike any other team," Garber explained. "Most of our teams had a 10-day break. Miami hasn't. We had Leo playing 90 minutes in almost all the games that he's played."
The Herons did have a 14-day break prior to their participation at the Club World Cup, with their last MLS match ahead of the competition on May 31. Miami then opened the Club World Cup on June 14.
By comparison, the Seattle Sounders – one of the two other MLS teams in the tournament – had just seven days off prior to the Club World Cup. LAFC had eight days between competitions.
AdvertisementTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Garber noted that Messi and Alba did not participate in recent practices, alluding to a potential injury for Alba. Miami is set to return to MLS action against FC Cincinnati on Saturday.
"We have to manage that as a league, but at the same time we do have rules and we have to manage that as well," Garber said. "So we would have loved to have Leo here. We love to have every player that was selected for the All-Star team here. And after this All-Star game, we'll figure out what needs to happen this weekend.
"I was told this morning that neither Jordi nor Messi practiced today. So Jordi came up with an injury in the last game, and we'll have to manage through what Miami is going to say about that."
WHAT GARBER SAID
Garber pointed to Messi's immense social media following as a significant boost to MLS. He also compared the forward's impact on the league that of David Beckham – one of the owners of Inter Miami now – during his time in the league.
"MLS wouldn't be what it is today without David Beckham, but MLS wouldn't be what it is today without Leo Messi," he said. "I don't think any of us realized what impact this player would have on our league, on our global exposure, on our credibility, on creating the thrills and and just unique experiences that he's done over just the last couple of weeks – scoring multiple goals in multiple games, playing 90 minutes over the last four or five games and not wanting to come out of the game.
"He's an incredible competitor, and he's performing at a really high level. So we are perceived very differently globally because Leo Messi is in our league. But we are very different from the way the world thought of us because David Beckham not only played in our league, but also because he's built a team that is globally popular."
DID YOU KNOW?
Messi currently has 18 goals and nine assists in 18 MLS matches.
Aiden Markram vowed that South Africa’s near-miss in the T20 World Cup final will “fire us up” for future tournaments, but admitted that their failure to win their first major title after needing 30 runs from the final five overs was “gut-wrenching” and “pretty tough to deal with”.This was South Africa’s first men’s World Cup final in either white-ball format and they looked nailed on to chase 176 after the 15th over of their innings, which saw Axar Patel concede 22. But India’s bowlers conceded a single boundary – via Kagiso Rabada’s outside edge – in the final 30 balls to pull off a seven-run win and leave South Africa to dwell on what might have been.Asked to put his emotions into words, Markram said: “I don’t think I can say them yet, to be honest. It’s tough. This group is a great bunch of people. In my opinion, they deserve really good things to go their way.Related
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“I had a really good feeling about this competition before we came here and as the competition went on, that feeling got stronger and stronger. It’s pretty tough to deal with now, but it’s sport at the end of the day: someone’s going to win, someone’s going to lose. And we’ll try to use it to fire us up for future events.”The core of South Africa’s side are aged 28 to 34, with Marco Jansen and Tristan Stubbs the only younger players picked for the final. Some of them will have moved on by the time of the next T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in early 2026, with Quinton de Kock’s retirement expected imminently, but Markram believes the rest will use this defeat to spur them on.”It’s a great group of guys that’s been together for quite a long time now,” he said. “To get to our first final, like I mentioned a few days ago, it’s something we can be proud of [but] still, in our eyes, not good enough. You’re not satisfied with making a final… it’ll take a bit of time for us to reflect back on all the good things that we’ve done, but obviously for the time being, it just hurts a lot.”David Miller wonders what could have been•ICC/Getty Images
Markram said he was “proud” of how his team performed throughout the competition, winning eight games out of eight to reach the final: “In hindsight, things will still feel really good about this competition. Just for the time being, it stings a bit, but it’s good for it to sting. It gives you that little bit of fire in the belly for the next time that you’re here.”He also said that by reaching their first final, South Africa have become “one step closer” and that when they finally win one, there will be “a snowball effect of quite a few to come… It’s tournament cricket, it’s tough cricket. It’s not easy to win trophies and you’ve got to take your hats off to a team like India for lifting the trophy. A lot of hard work goes into it.”It’s just gut-wrenching. That’s really what it is. Each player has been on a different individual journey to get to this first final. Ultimately, you become really tight as a group and you want good things to happen to this group because you know they’re great people.”When you get really close like that, especially the nature of how the game went, obviously adds to the emotions. It’s one of those things but, we can channel it moving forward. I think for the next couple of days you let it be, you let yourself feel the way you want to feel and then really start reflecting in a positive manner.”Markram also singled Heinrich Klaasen out for praise, after his innings of 52 off 27 balls took South Africa into their position of strength with five overs remaining. “It was special,” Markram said. “We’ve seen him do it many, many times around the world.”To deliver it on a stage like this is a really special effort. It’s going to be tough for him [but] when we reflect back, there’s going to be lots of things to be happy about and I’m sure that knock would have made it really tough to put in a performance like that.”
MatériaMais Notícias
da betway： O meia-atacante Guilherme Soares, de 16 anos, é o novo reforço para as categorias de base do Bahia. Ele chega ao Tricolor após se destacar no Campeonato Paulista Sub-17, neste ano, ao defender a camisa do Botafogo-SP, com contrato definitivo de três anos.
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da fezbet： Natural de Rio das Ostras, Região dos Lagos do Rio de Janeiro, Guilherme iniciou no futebol nas categorias de base do Macaé. Após chamar a atenção pela boa qualidade técnica, agilidade e a finalização precisa, o meia-atacante se transferiu para o Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto. Com números positivos, ele reforça o Bahia e espera crescer dentro das quatro linhas.
– Estou feliz com essa grande oportunidade de estar jogando num dos maiores clubes do Brasil. Vou me dedicar bastante, buscar sempre melhorar em campo e poder realizar um grande trabalho. Espero conquistar o meu espaço, títulos e grandes triunfos para o clube – projetou Guilherme, que fez questão de destacar o ponto principal que o fez optar pelo Esquadrão:
– Entre as propostas apresentadas, a que mais me chamou a atenção foi justamente a do clube. Junto aos meus representantes, da Pantera Sport, escolhemos o Bahia por conta do seu projeto e pelo novo momento vivido através da SAF – complementou o meia-atacante.
Guilherme vem se preparando para a disputa do Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-17, que terá início em julho. O Bahia está no Grupo B ao lado do Atlético-GO, Cruzeiro, Fortaleza, Goiás, Grêmio, Palmeiras, Santos, São Paulo e Athletico-PR, adversário da estreia. A partida será no dia 5, às 15h, no Estádio de Pituaçu, em Salvador.
Nottingham Forest are in for an exciting end to the season under Nuno Espírito Santo, with their Champions League ambitions firmly within their own hands.
The Reds are just two points off third place with five games to go, with their game in hand against Brentford on Thursday night crucial to any success they could achieve in the near future.
If they were to finish in the top five and secure elite European football, it would be a truly remarkable feat, opening the doors for added investment from owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Given the Greek’s previous tendencies within the transfer market, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him once again delve into the window and splash the cash to sustain such success endured in the Premier League throughout 2024/25.
With the window not far from opening, plans have already been put in place to help the side compete at the top level on a consistent basis, resulting in numerous names touted with a move to the City Ground.
An update on Forest’s pursuit of new signings this summer
Qualification for the Champions League could see Forest handed a huge injection of cash to invest further, handing Nuno the tools to try and repeat similar success for many years to come.
Matheus Cunha has been one name constantly touted for a move to join the Reds in recent months, but it appears that the Wolves star is in favour of a deal with Manchester United.
As a result, Manchester City attacker James McAtee has emerged as the club’s top target ahead of the summer window, according to Football Insider’s latest report.
They state that the 22-year-old is in favour of a switch to the East Midlands to kickstart his career after making just two league starts at the Etihad this campaign.
With just over a year left on his current deal in Manchester, Pep Guardiola’s men could be tempted to cash in, with other reports claiming a deal could set the Reds back £30m.
Why the £30m PL star would be perfect alongside Gibbs-White
Morgan Gibbs-White has been one of Forest’s leading stars over the last few seasons in the Premier League, joining in a deal totalling £42.5m in the summer of 2022.
He’s registered 16 goals and 25 assists in his 113 appearances for the club, even taking the captain’s armband in the absence of academy graduate Ryan Yates.
Such form has led to links with Manchester City over the last couple of weeks, but Nuno’s side appear to be holding firm on their £100m asking price for the England international.
Undoubtedly, all supporters will be wanting to keep hold of the 25-year-old this summer, potentially striking up a superb partnership with McAtee in the final third on the banks of the River Trent.
The City talent, who’s been labelled “sensational” by journalist Zach Lowy, has completed 90% of the passes he’s attempted to date, whilst also achieving 67% dribbles completed – having the tools to provide endless opportunities in the final third.
Games played
15
Goals scored
3
Pass accuracy
90%
Dribbles completed
67%
Duels won
54%
Recoveries made
5
Progressive carries
2.8
However, despite his outstanding attacking figures, he’s also impressed without the ball, winning 54% of duels and completing five recoveries per 90 – fitting into Nuno’s hard-working and counter-attacking system at the City Ground.
The most important aspect of the manager’s tactic is to take the opportunities that present themselves when in attacking areas, something which the City youngster has done, as seen by his tally of three league goals in 2024/25.
There’s no denying that Gibbs-White has been the player the Reds have relied upon to create chances for other attackers this campaign, subsequently putting too much pressure on the midfielder to perform.
A move for McAtee this summer would help balance the attacking output across the squad, handing the manager another superb option in forward areas to cause damage in transition.
£30m may seem like a hefty sum for the 22-year-old, but should he get anywhere close to the levels produced by Gibbs-White in recent seasons, it would be a bargain – potentially allowing for another huge profit in years to come.
Instead of Cunha: Nottingham Forest now eyeing "incredible" £50m PL forward
The Tricky Trees are now considering a surprise move for a Premier League forward, who may join instead of Matheus Cunha.
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