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James Vince did the hard work but gave his innings away in a worryingly familiar manner. He is running out of chances to prove his worth

George Dobell at Edgbaston06-Aug-2016The reaction said it all. James Vince stood frozen in horror after steering one to slip. He knew he needed a score here. He knew his career could depend upon it.Instead, after three hours of resistance, he had been drawn into a familiar error. Seduced into feeling at one angled across him against the new ball, he had edged to second slip for the second time in the match and the third time in the series. Like a former smoker who can’t resist, the habit he had tried to cut out had done for him once more. The slow trudge off the pitch, head shaking in dismay and disappointment, spoke volumes.But if this was a familiar end, it was not an entirely familiar innings. It felt like a step forward. It wasn’t just the score – 42 equalled his best Test effort so far – but the maturity he demonstrated in steering England away from trouble after the loss of Alastair Cook and Alex Hales. He had left more deliveries, he played a little straighter and he picked his aggressive strokes more selectively. Not too many batsmen are dropped after contributing 81 runs in a game. Not under this regime, anyway.There had been some nervous moments along the way, though. On 22, Vince was beaten as he attempted to drive one from Sohail Khan that left him just a touch and, on 23, he pushed at one from the same bowler and was fortunate to see the ball bounce just in front of Mohammad Hafeez at slip. On a quicker wicket – and that is just about every wicket – it would have been a chance.This wicket is unusually slow. While it is not easy to score quickly – it is, in truth, a pretty disappointing wicket which does nothing to sustain the viability of Test cricket – it is the sort of wicket on which dislodging batsmen is tough.That is when bowlers even attempt to dismiss them. But, while Vince was at the crease, Pakistan instead concentrated on damage limitation and attempted to frustrate the England batsmen into making errors as they sought to accelerate the run-rate. Vince faced just one delivery from seamers in his entire innings that would have hit the stumps. That’s one delivery out of 65. So, it’s hardly surprising he managed to survive for longer; they were hardly blowing to dismiss him. And Vince, for all the runs he has scored, is the only man in England’s top seven not to have made a half-century in the match.All of which leaves England’s selectors with a tricky decision. They have invested heavily in Vince and they may well feel they could see signs of progress here. He clearly has time to play the ball and a wide range of strokes. The raw talent is pretty obvious.But at the same time, Trevor Bayliss has said several times that batsmen will be judged not by how they make their runs but by how many runs they make. Vince has now been given six Tests and nine innings. How would other leading contenders – the likes of James Hildreth, Scott Borthwick or Ben Duckett – fare if given such a run? Is it unrealistic to expect them to have supplied at least a half-century? A generation of former players – the likes of Paul Parker, Alan Jones, Alan Wells and Paul Terry among them – could only dream of such opportunities.Comparisons with more modern players are no more enlightening. While Sam Robson and Adam Lyth were given 11 and 13 Test innings respectively before they were dropped, both men registered centuries in their second Tests. Such early success naturally extended their run.We are getting to the stage, too, where Vince’s issue may become mental as much as technical. The analysts working with the England teams over recent years have conducted research into the importance of players performing well early in their international career. Their conclusions, unsurprisingly, suggested that it becomes disproportionately more difficult to succeed if the early memories and associations of the England environment are not positive.Vince appears admirably calm at the crease and can only benefit for the backing he has received from the management. But it is only human nature that, with every setback, his self-confidence ebbs a little more. He is up against a fine attack in this series, for sure, but he will rarely play on more batsman-friendly wickets. It is probably provocative to point out that Vince’s average over his first six Tests – 23.44 – is more than 10 lower than Kevin Pietersen in his final six – 33.83 – but it might also be illustrative of the suspicion that selection is not always entirely on merit.Vince has the great advantage over the likes of Wells, Terry and, yes, Pietersen, that he is playing in a relatively successful side. For that reason, his struggles can be overlooked and the investment period can be lengthened. He hasn’t, by any means, looked completely out of his depth and the continuity of selection policy remains, even taken to an extreme, far better than the alternative extreme.But by persisting with him at this stage, the selectors are also denying themselves the opportunity to look at other players. They are denying themselves the chance to see how Adil Rashid could perform as a second spinner or to see how a left-arm spinning all-rounder could manage ahead of the seven Tests England play in Asia before Christmas. They are denying themselves the chance to see how a specialist wicketkeeper could be assimilated within the team or giving another batsman a chance to gain some experience ahead of the winter tours.But in order to experiment, the selectors first have to start coming to some conclusions. Their failure to do so with Vince is starting to look, not so much consistent, but soft.

Plays of the day from the match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in Chennai

Devashish Fuloria10-May-2015The scoop that worked
A few years ago, the scoop-shot was a novelty; now, there are a million versions of the shot. Brendon McCullum added one to it. In the eighth over, he got into the position early but was made to wait for the slower ball from Rajat Bhatia. Instead of going towards the ball, though, he stayed beside the line, let the ball pass him and just before it was about to reach the wicketkeeper’s gloves, he shovelled it over Sanju Samson’s left shoulder.The scoop that didn’t
By the 17th over, McCullum was exhausted in the Chennai heat. He tried to play a scoop, but the length was a bit too full from Shane Watson, and the ball went in front of the batsman rather than behind him. As Faf du Plessis charged down the pitch, he should have known McCullum was not going to run. By the time he got the message, he had come too far. Watson, the bowler, picked up, turned back and hit the stumps direct.The defensive punch
Watson found his timing in the fifth over of the chase as he hit his first boundary – a crisp cut shot. The next ball confirmed it. As he defended the length ball solidly, the connection was so sweet that the ball bounced on the sluggish pitch and leapt so high that by the time the bowler got to the ball and threw at the non-striker’s end, the batsmen had sneaked a comfortable single.Jadeja’s wait
Ravindra Jadeja’s wait for a wicket was on its 15th day. Since taking three wickets against Kings XI Punjab, he had drawn a blank for five games. He hadn’t been scoring runs either. To top it all, he had also dropped a catch in Super Kings’ previous match. Then, just when he thought he had beaten Steven Smith’s sweep and hit the leg stump, the umpire’s made him wait some more as they checked with the TV umpire. To Jadeja’s delight, the finger was raised.Bravo’s leap of faith
Dwayne Bravo loves to dance for the crowd. And invariably, he does something every match to give himself an opportunity. When Watson drove Jadeja towards the sight-screen, he would have not expected Bravo to come in between. Even Bravo, moving to his left from long-on, did not expect to intercept it. But he jumped up a couple of feet anyway, stuck his right hand out and came down with the ball. He ran towards long-off, eyes on the crowd, then pulled off his favourite moves.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the second ODI

David Hopps02-Mar-2014Blow of the day
The days of lightning-fast Caribbean pitches appear to be behind us but, although a fairly docile surface in Antigua, there was still some encouragement for a bowler prepared to bend his back. Stuart Broad did just that at the start of Dwayne Bravo’s innings with a sharp bumper which Bravo turned his head from and received a nasty smack in the back of the neck, the helmet only partially taking the impact. It shook Bravo up and he was down for a while and needed treatment from the physio.Error of the day
There was general agreement that Jos Buttler’s attempting stumping of Dwayne Bravo was inconclusive. Even Buttler’s sheepish expression seemed to give the game away. The decision by TV umpire Marais Erasmus took the wind out of West Indies’ sails as they entered the Powerplay with a new batsman at the crease. There again, you could wonder what Bravo was doing charging down the pitch to James Tredwell in the first place.Catch of the day
James Tredwell does not immediately strike the onlooker as a slick fielder, but his slip catching has long been held in respect by those most au fait with his game. His quick catch to remove Kirk Edwards was further evidence of his ability: a lightning-fast dart with the right hand to hold a thick edge that came to him very quicklyBefuddlement of the day
Luke Wright’s understated gesture to Michael Lumb at the non-striker’s end told it all: he cannot pick Sunil Narine. Narine bowled him three legspinners in an over, he did not connect with any of them and the third smacked into his offstump. Narine is a special talent, but it all encouraged the belief that, whatever Wright’s qualities in T20, he does not warrant a place in England’s ODI side.Walk of the day
Ben Stokes walked when he tickled Nikita Miller down the legside, oblivious to the fact that the umpire, Joel Wilson, was shaking his head to reject the appeal. It was not immediately apparent whether he would have been given out on review. If it is unfair to castigate the likes of Stuart Broad for following the majority attitude by not walking, it would be shameful if Stokes was lectured within the dressing room for his honesty.

The twists and turns in India and Pakistan’s cricketing relations between late 2008 and mid-2012

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2012December 18, 2008
India calls off its scheduled tour of Pakistan in early 2009, following a directive from the government that it was not feasible “in the prevailing circumstances” in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.February 2, 2009
Pakistan bars its players from participating in the IPL after its foreign ministry deems it unsafe for the cricketers to travel to India after the terrorist attacks.March 3, 2009
Members of the Sri Lanka team are injured after a terrorist attack on the team bus in Lahore. The attack kills six security men and two civilians. Pakistan’s status as an international sporting venue, subsequently, comes under doubt.April 17, 2009
The ICC strips Pakistan of hosting rights for the 2011 World Cup because of the “uncertain security situation” in the country.September 19, 2009
Ijaz Butt, PCB Chairman, says India are open to resumption of ties in neutral venues and that the ICC has agreed to factor it in in its Future Tours Programme (FTP) post 2012.October 28, 2009
Ijaz Butt visits India as the guest of BCCI president Shashank Manohar, prompting speculation in the Pakistan media that the visit is aimed at reviving cricket ties between the two countries.November 2, 2009
The Indian board rules out the immediate resumption of bilateral matches with Pakistan, saying a call on the issue would only be taken in late 2010.December 14, 2009
Pakistan explores the possibility of playing its ‘home’ series (the one initially scheduled for early 2009, which India pulled out of) in India. Ijaz Butt says that if the BCCI is willing to reschedule the tour of Pakistan, they won’t mind playing that series in India.January 19, 2010
David Morgan, the ICC President, says he is working on persuading BCCI to play bilateral series with Pakistan.January 19, 2010
No Pakistan players are picked in the third IPL auction, prompting angry reactions from them.September 15, 2010
Ijaz Butt meets Sharad Pawar in Delhi to discuss bilateral relations and issues related to World Cup revenues.March 27, 2011
Pakistan prime minister Yousuf Gilani accepts the invitation of his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, to attend the World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan (it is only bilateral ties that are severed, the two countries continue to face off in multi-nation tournaments) in Mohali.April 16, 2011
The Pakistan board says it has initiated talks with the BCCI over resuming cricketing relations between India and Pakistan.Pakistan’s Sialkot Stallions were invited to the 2012 Champions League T20•Shakir KhiljiJuly 6, 2011
The PCB says it is awaiting word from the BCCI on whether the Indian government will grant clearance for their scheduled tour to India in March-April 2012. Eventually, the series does not go ahead.April 9, 2012
The BCCI vice-president and IPL chairman, Rajiv Shukla, says the participation of Pakistan cricketers in the IPL is dependent on the resumption of India-Pakistan bilateral ties.May 12, 2012
The BCCI says it has no objection to a team from Pakistan participating in the Champion League.May 20, 2012
The BCCI invites PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf to watch the IPL final in Chennai.May 28, 2012
The Champions League T20 governing council approves the inclusion of Pakistan’s Sialkot Stallions for the 2012 tournament, which will be held in October.May 30, 2010
Following Zaka Ashraf’s trip to India for the IPL final, during which he had discussed the possibility of a bilateral series between the two countries, he says plans for the series could be firmed up on the sidelines of the ICC’s conference in Kuala Lumpur in June.June 5, 2012
Zaka Ashraf talks to senior politicians in Pakistan about a possible series with India.June 29, 2012
BCCI president N Srinivasan and PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf meet on the sidelines of the ICC conference and agree on a series in principle, but not on any specific details. Srinivasan says he would only be able to commit after checking with the Indian authorities.July 5, 2012
Indian foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai says the resumption of India-Pakistan bilateral cricket ties is dependent on the BCCI and the PCB.July 16, 2012
The BCCI confirms a three-ODI, two-Twenty20 series will be played between India and Pakistan in December 2012 and January 2013, when England – who will be touring India at the time – head home for a Christmas break.

After pushing the lead past 500 in the final session it was pleasing to see that Andrew Strauss wanted to declare

Andrew Miller at Lord's18-Jul-2009As dusk began to fall and the evening clouds closed around the pavilion, Andrew Strauss cut an animated figure on the balcony. With a lead of 521, his team’s advantage was formidable to say the least, but having made one massive captaincy call in the morning by declining to enforce the follow-on, Strauss seemed set to trump it with a cunningly timed declaration. His plan was to unleash a half-hour new-ball burst in intensely atmospheric conditions, and see how a demoralised Australia responded. Having themselves floundered to 20 for 2 in seven overs before tea on the fourth day at Cardiff last week, England knew only too well the pressures that can follow a long hot day in the field.In the end his best-laid plans were undermined by rain, but nevertheless, Strauss’s intent was a welcome indication of ruthlessness, for if there is one area in which he has struggled since assuming the captaincy at the start of the year, it has involved that thorny question of the fourth innings. Twice in three Tests on their recent tour of the Caribbean, England came agonisingly close to bowling out West Indies and squaring a series that they eventually lost 1-0 – first in Antigua, where a solitary wicket remained unclaimed after a day-and-a-half of hard graft, and then at the last ditch in Trinidad, when they picked up eight wickets in 62.4 overs to leave the region on tenterhooks, but could not achieve two more breakthroughs in the last 20 balls of the series.”With declarations it’s just as much about the opportunity for putting pressure on,” said England’s wicketkeeper, Matt Prior, whose sparky 61 had given his captain the confidence to contemplate such a move. “Six overs at the end of the day is a great opportunity for putting pressure on, because no opening bat wants to walk out after fielding all day and having to put his pads on. I think that comes into it as much as a [specific] score a lot of the time.”The Saturday of the Lord’s Test, usually an event in itself, was a peculiarly stage-setting affair. Everything about the approach of both sides revolved around the fourth-innings tussle that lies ahead, and the speed and certainty with which England motored through that final session, having been held in check during a cat-and-mouse afternoon, indicated that, mentally, Australia were already steeling themselves for the rearguard, having briefly believed, at 147 for 3 with a becalmed Kevin Pietersen at the crease, that they could still somehow keep themselves in contention.”Famous last words,” countered Prior when asked if England were in a no-lose situation, which reflected the odd times into which Test cricket has moved. In December last year, in the space of a week, both England and Australia were involved in spectacular fourth-innings heists, and both ended up on the wrong end of historic beatings. At Chennai, in a match that Strauss had graced with centuries in each innings, Sachin Tendulkar sashayed in to produce arguably the finest of his 42 Test centuries, an unbeaten 103 as India romped past a target of 387. And then in Perth six days later, AB de Villiers built on Graeme Smith’s agenda-setting century, as South Africa shocked the Aussies by chasing 414.”This is a funny game, and everyone’s seen and played enough cricket to know that [certain victory] is never the case,” said Prior. “However, we are in a very, very good position. We’ve played great cricket for three days and deserve to be in the position we are in, and we are certainly going to be putting a lot of pressure on the Aussies for the next two days. You talk about putting your foot on someone’s throat and not letting go, and we’ve done that very well. They threw punches like any Australian team does, but we managed to cushion those blows and come back even harder, and that’s a credit to the England dressing-room.”

There was a huge amount of discussion tonight and this morning, but I think the decision was only made about three seconds before it was announcedMatt Prior on the talk about the follow-on

Everyone, however, will be casting a glance to the heavens over the next six sessions, and perhaps uniquely among the world’s 100 Test venues, it will be England, not Australia, who find themselves praying for rain. The drainage at Lord’s is of such spectacular quality that even the heaviest deluges, as occurred against India in 2007, are slurped away so quickly that play can resume after minutes, but more importantly, the ball only talks when the clouds are closed around the ground.As James Anderson put it after his four-wicket haul on Friday, England’s intention to enforce the follow-on depended on whether the sun was “cracking the flags” or not, and as the last wicket fell with Australia 210 runs adrift, Strauss dashed back into the pavilion, but his opening partner, Alastair Cook, did not. “There was a huge amount of discussion tonight and this morning,” said Prior, “but I think the decision was only made about three seconds before it was announced.”I think it was the right decision as it happened, because today was a great day for batting,” added Prior. “The sun shone most of the day, the wicket played well and we put ourselves in a good position. At Lord’s, the overheads, they all come into play, and we wanted to leave the decision open this morning. There was nothing set in stone.”Equally, there may be nothing set in stone tomorrow. If the sun is shining brightly when the five-minute bell is rung, England would be within their rights to carry on batting, keep Australia guessing, and wait for the heavens to roll into place. If that seems unnecessarily cautious, then a quick glance at the recent record at Lord’s would be prudent. Aside from a supine victory over a West Indies side that didn’t want to be here, England have not forced a positive result since the visit of Bangladesh in 2005. Six consecutive draws have been racked up in the interim, including the most recent, and the most traumatic, against South Africa in 2008 when Smith, Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla patted their way through 167 of the most placid conditions imaginable.”I wasn’t involved in that match against South Africa, but by all accounts they played brilliantly and teams are allowed to do that,” said Prior. “If the Aussies play brilliantly and bat for two days, then hats off [to them]. All we can control is how we perform and feel as a unit, but it’s an Ashes series, and things are slightly different. When you’re 500 runs behind, there’s a lot of scoreboard pressure involved which makes things tricky as well.””But the worst thing we can do is be complacent,” he added. “I think there’s no place for that in international sport, let alone in an Ashes series. We’ve seen funnier things have happened and that’s something we will guard against, but in the first innings we bowled them out for 215, it’s the same wicket, and we’re very confident we can do it again. We’re in a great position, and though it’s what you do with it those positions that count, we’ve certainly got the firepower and the skill in the changing-room to make it count.”

Wrexham have been warned they may be "caught out" in the Championship, with co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac facing a "massive shock".

• Wrexham promoted to Championship
• Warned they face a "massive shock"
• Told they could get caught out

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Former Manchester United star Gary Pallister believes that the Welsh outfit are in for their toughest test yet as they prepare for life in the Championship. Despite securing three promotions in as many years, the ex-Middlesbrough man feels reaching the Premier League in 2026 may be a long shot.

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• WHAT PALLISTER SAID

  He told Betvictor: "Wrexham are in for a massive shock in the Championship. I've always thought that between League One, League Two and National League, there's not a great deal in terms of quality as you go up the ladder there. I think when you go from League One to the Championship, it's a step up. Obviously the Championship to the Premier League is an even bigger step. But first to the championship, I think it can catch a lot of people out. I've not seen what they've done in terms of transfers and bringing people in with the experience of Championship football, but they've certainly got momentum behind them. Everybody's talking about Wrexham. I went to a game there last year. The atmosphere was terrific. I think a lot of people are loving Wrexham because of the guys who are in charge, the documentary that we've seen and the way they seem to be embracing it all. They're getting the fans on the journey, they're creating a great feeling about the place and I think it's exciting. I've got Mickey Thomas telling me how good they are and what a place Wrexham is at the moment and they're only going to go onwards and upwards. I'm loving the story. I'm loving the owners. Wrexham back in the day were a big club and it'd be great to see them getting back somewhere near to that."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Wrexham created history when they secured a record third-straight promotion earlier this year but this next hurdle could be their toughest one yet. The Red Dragons will no longer have one of the biggest budgets in the division; they need to get their signings spot on, and manager Phil Parkinson's tactics will be severely tested this campaign. But they are riding the crest of a wave, and momentum can certainly help a team kick on.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Parkinson's Wrexham side begin their Championship campaign away to recently relegated Premier League side Southampton at St Mary's on August 9. That may be a good barometer to see where they are at for the upcoming season.

MatériaMais Notícias

O São Paulo conheceu a tabela com horários e datas dos confrontos da Copa do Brasil e do Campeonato Brasileiro. As informações foram divulgadas pela Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF), na noite deste domingo (2).

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No Brasileirão, como era esperado, o Tricolor estreia no dia 15 de abril. A partida será contra o Botafogo, no Rio de Janeiro. O jogo acontecerá às18h30 (de Brasília). Até o momento, foram disponibilizados os horários das nove primeiras rodadas da competição.

Praticamente um reforço por mês! Relembre as contratações do São Paulo na gestão Casares

Veja tabela da Copa do Brasil e simule os próximos jogos

Na Copa do Brasil, segundo o sorteio que aconteceu na última semana, o Tricolor já sabia que enfrentaria o Ituano. Os mandos de campo também eram conhecidos, no caso, o primeiro jogo aconteceria no Novelli Júnior e o segundo no estádio do Morumbi. Porém, ainda faltavam as datas e horários.

continua após a publicidade

O jogo de ida acontecerá no dia 11 de abril, às 21h30 (de Brasília). O jogo de volta será no dia 25 de abril, às 21h30 (de Brasília).

Veja a tabela dos jogos no Campeonato Brasileiro:

1ºrodada: Botafogo x São Paulo – sábado (15/4) – 18h30
2º rodada:São Paulo x América-MG – sábado (22/4) – 18h30
3º rodada:Coritiba x São Paulo – sábado (29/4) – 16h30
4º rodada:São Paulo x Internacional – domingo (7/5) – 16h
5º rodada:Fortaleza x São Paulo – quinta (11/5) – 20h
6º rodada:Corinthians x São Paulo – domingo (14/5) – 16h
7º rodada:São Paulo x Vasco – sábado (20/5) – 18h30
8º rodada:São Paulo x Goiás – sábado (27/5) – 21h
9º rodada:Grêmio x São Paulo – domingo (4/6) – 16h

Veja tabela da Copa do Brasil:

Ida: São Paulo x Ituano – terça-feira (11/04) – 21h30
Volta: Ituano x São Paulo – terça-feira (25/04) – 21h30

The Afghanistan captain says they are no longer reliant only on their spinners

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jun-2024Over the years, Afghanistan’s bowlers, especially spinners, have been the driving force behind their success but their captain Rashid Khan believes their batting is now at a stage where they can chase down 200 in a T20I.”In the past, we were struggling a little bit in the batting area,” Rashid said on the eve of Afghanistan’s T20 World Cup 2024 opener against Uganda. “Earlier our bowlers would do a lot more and help us win the games. Later, we got those young batters, especially from the Under-19 cricket, and the way they came up to the national side, and the way they have worked hard, they got the opportunity to play for Afghanistan at a very young age and then start exploring all around the world, playing leagues where they got better and better.”I think we have that kind of batting line-up where we can say it’s fine if there is a target of 200 as well on a wicket. We have that kind of ability and skills and talent that we can express on the ground and chase that. T20 cricket is all about the mindset. As long as you have the right mindset, and you have the belief that we can do, anything is possible.”The other thing is the actual cricket. I think we have played enough cricket in the past couple of years where our skills have got better and better. And we have been challenging the opposition.”Afghanistan and Uganda are in Group C, alongside West Indies, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Out of those five, the top two will progress to the Super 8s, and many experts believe Afghanistan could be one of them. But can they surprise everyone by making it to the semi-finals?”Yeah, a few people have mentioned Afghanistan is going to be there for semis,” Rashid said. “We take that as a very positive sign. Earlier, it used to be hard for us to even qualify. And now to be nominated to be there in the top four, I think it’s a big thing for us.Related

'We carry a whole country's hopes on our backs,' says Uganda captain Brian Masaba

Rashid: 'As long as we play our own style of the game, we can beat any side'

Do newbies Uganda have the spunk to challenge star-studded Afghanistan?

“But we don’t look at those things a lot. It’s all about how we’re going to be there on the ground, delivering. We were very nearly in the last [ODI] World Cup semis as well. We were just one game away from being in the semis and that’s where I feel the belief started that nothing is impossible for us as a team. So yeah, we are really excited about this World Cup but as I said before we take one game at a time and then see how it goes.”Afghanistan arrived early in the Caribbean and held a two-week preparatory camp ahead of the World Cup, though many of their players have the experience of playing on these pitches during the CPL.”Well, I think preparation has been great so far,” Rashid said. “A couple of weeks back, we had a domestic T20 competition, which really helped the guys to get the kind of preparation they need as a player and as a team. And then we were here two weeks earlier as well. So we got the preparation we wanted as a team.”We have those players who played recently here in the CPL, and they got that experience. And we share that experience with the boys. But I think in the ICC events, you always expect something different. You never know what’s going to be the behaviour of the wicket. And you have to react to that. You shouldn’t already have in mind that this is how it’s going to be, this is how it’s going to swing, spin, or things like that.”

حصن نادي ريال مدريد وبشكل رسمي منذ قليل موهبته الشابة ضد اهتمامات الأندية الأخرى، وقام بتجديد عقده لفترة طويلة الأمد.

ريال مدريد يستعد لبداية الموسم الجديد، حيث سيواجه نظيره أوساسونا يوم الثلاثاء المقبل، ضمن منافسات الجولة الأولى من بطولة الدوري الإسباني للدرجة الأولى.

أقرأ أيضًا .. ماستانتونو: ريال مدريد أعظم نادي في العالم.. وهذه رسالتي للجماهير

وأعلن نادي ريال مدريد عن تجديد عقد تياجو بيتراتش، موهبة الفريق الشابة، في وقت سابق من اليوم السبت وبعقد طويل الأجل.

وجاء قرار ريال مدريد بتجديد عقد بيتراتش، في ظل المستويات المتميزة التي يقدمها اللاعب البالغ من العمر 18 عامًا مع فرق الشباب في الفريق الملكي.

ويلعب بيتراتش في ريال مدريد تحت 19 عامًا، لكن في ظل تميز مستواه وموهبته الواضحة فقد ضمه مدرب الكاستيا، ألفارو أربيلوا، إلى فريقه خلال هذا الشهر.

كما جعل مستوى بيتراتش المتميز مدرب ريال مدريد، تشابي ألونسو، يستدعيه إلى اللعب مع الفريق الأول والتواجد مع معسكر الفريق الملكي في النمسا والذي كان الأسبوع الماضي.

بيتراتش شارك خلال مواجهة ريال مدريد الودية أمام تيرول الأسبوع الماضي، والتي انتهت بفوز ريال مدريد بأربعة أهداف نظيفة.

وقد يكون بيتراتش هو الحل السحري لمشاكل ريال مدريد في خط الوسط، مع غياب جود بيلينجهام وإدواردو كامافينجا بسبب الإصابة وقدرته على اللعب في كافة مراكز خط الوسط.

The third day saw 24 wickets tumble as the home side swept to a dramatic win

Andrew McGlashan30-Nov-2023

Chris Tremain and Jackson Bird secured New South Wales a dramatic Sheffield Shield victory at the SCG as Tasmania were bundled out for 68 on a pitch that offered the bowlers plenty.On an action-packed third day, 24 wickets fell after play had resumed with the visitors’ first innings still in action. Tasmania drew within 24 runs of NSW’s total then the home side collapsed to lose 9 for 55 (and 7 for 19) leaving a target of 143.That quickly grew to significant proportions on a surface providing variable bounce and significant seam movement for the quicks. Bird, against his former team, and Tremain reduced Tasmania to 12 for 3 then returned to halt a recovery and blast through the middle and lower order, taking all 10 wickets between them to give NSW their second win of the season.Related

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Perhaps unsurprisingly there were contrasting views on the pitch which used a new type of grass the SCG is trying this season which encourages greater growth.”I’m definitely going to go into bat for the groundsman,” Tremain told ESPNcricinfo. “Ask the batsmen, they’ll tell you something different. They were at the mercy of the weather leading into the game so don’t think the pitch was underprepared. Over the first two innings it created quite a few divots as it was a little soft on top with that good grass cover.”When those divots harden up they get a little bit sporting. The crack played a lot of a part in things this afternoon, but don’t think that wicket was poorly prepared. In the balance of bat versus ball obviously ball was the winner, but I wouldn’t be too quick to hang the groundsman out to dry.”Tasmania captain Jordan Silk said he was all for wickets that had something in them for bowlers, but believed that the uneven bounce was the concerning factor about this pitch.”I’ve played quite a lot Shield cricket and can’t say I’ve played on a wicket quite like that where the ball was nipping around a lot, there were cracks on lines and it was snaky,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “You had not just the sideways movement but you had a few balls climbing up then some climbing down.”Think you can cop a bit of wear and tear over the course of a game, but when there’s been 40 wickets in 160 overs of cricket you probably think it’s a bit too heavily weighted towards the bowlers. And that’s coming from someone who is really keen on having some sporting wickets, but it was slightly too far towards the bowling side.”There were some unplayable deliveries among the wickets on the third day, not least Bird’s wicked ball to seam past Caleb Jewell’s bat from around leg stump and take the top of off at the start of Tasmania’s chase.Tremain, who took 5 for 35 in his previous SCG outing against Western Australia, then had Charlie Wakim caught at slip and followed that by nipping one back through Silk to leave himself on a hat-trick.That was not forthcoming, and for a while either side of tea Tasmania made positive progress as Jake Doran took an aggressive route which included cutting Nathan Lyon’s first deliveries through the off side.Gabe Bell battled through injury for a five-wicket haul•Getty Images

But Bird produced another cracking delivery to nick Doran’s off bail after the runs required had been brought below 90. Beau Webster has been one of the form players of the season and early indications were that he was going to take the game on as he pulled his first ball through midwicket, but in the next over he went too far across against Tremain and was lbw.There was no stopping Tremain as he ended Tim Ward’s hard-working stay with an edge to the keeper then castled Mitchell Owen, who had been unbeaten on 70 in the first innings at the start of the day, and Jarrod Freeman, with batters regularly left starring down at the pitch.The final two wickets went to Bird, the game ending when Lawrence Neil-Smith, who claimed career-best match figures of 10 for 104, lobbed to cover.A few hours earlier, Neil-Smith had walked off alongside a limping Gabe Bell having shared eight wickets in NSW’s second innings to bundle them out for 118.With a narrow lead under their belt, NSW had started positively and reached 30 in the fifth over before Bell broke through, and at 63 for 1 there was no imminent sign of the carnage to come.Bell had left the field midway through his sixth over with a groin strain. However, during lunch he went through a fitness test and told Silk he was “about 80%”. Ryan Hackney and Jason Sangha had been dismissed in consecutive overs, but Moises Henriques and debutant Sam Konstas battled through 11 overs to start another partnership.Then the clatter started. Henriques was caught at slip off Neil-Smith and Konstas fell to the last ball before a rain delay. Ollie Davies, batting with a fractured finger, edged behind three deliveries after the resumption and the rest went quickly.But both sides knew 143 was going to be tough. “Mo [Henriques] said before we went out that 120 was par,” Tremain said. “Don’t know if that was bravado or he was serious. He was probably serious, he’s a very serious character. We had a bit of confidence knowing anything can happen, and anything did happen.”Tasmania bat very deep and Silk backed them to get over the line, but the reality was different. However, he refused to be too downhearted with the team still having a chance of topping the Sheffield Shield table at the BBL break and three home games to come when it resumes in February.”We knew it was going to be difficult,” he said. “There was a lot of belief that we could chase 140 but we knew it would take a group effort to get it done. Against high-class bowling in Bird and Tremain in conditions that are favourable to them, you have to bring your best and unfortunately it wasn’t good enough to keep out their good stuff.”I’m really proud of how this group have gone about the first six games. Probably a lot of people will be speaking about who we are playing, but we have a lot of belief within those four walls that we are a good enough team to mix it with a lot of sides. One bad week won’t our thinking.”