تحدث أسامة عرابي لاعب ومدرب الأهلي الأسبق، عن مباراة المارد الأحمر أمام القطن الكاميروني المؤجلة من الجولة الأولى من دور المجموعات ببطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

طالع.. فيديو | الأهلي يحقق الفوز الأول في مجموعات أبطال إفريقيا بثلاثية أمام القطن

وقال عرابي في تصريحات تلفزيونية ببرنامج “الماتش” على فضائية “صدى البلد”: “أداء الأهلي لم يكن الأفضل، وأحمد قندوسي قدم مباراة جيدة ومع اندماجه أكثر سيظهر بمستوى أفضل”.

وأضاف: “يجب على كولر أن يبدأ بـ محمد مجدي أفشة ولكن حسب المباريات، خاصة أنه توجد مواجهات يكون أفشة مفيدًا لها، وفي مباريات أخرى قندوسي له الأولوية”.

وتابع: “النادى الأهلى يخوض مباريات كثيرة وبالتالى يحتاج إلى جاهزية كل لاعبيه”.

واستكمل: “حسين الشحات في آخر 10 مباريات من أفضل اللاعبين في الفريق، رغم تراجع مستواه في فترة ما، وأفشة حقق الفوز للأهلي في أكثر من مناسبة من قبل”.

طالع | طبيب الأهلي يعلن موقف محمد شريف من مباراة المقاولون.. وآخر تطورات المصابين

واستطرد: “أتوقع أن يتخذ كولر قرارًا بإراحة بعض اللاعبين الأساسيين فى مباراة المقاولون العرب، ويوازن بين الأساسيين والبدلاء”.

وأتم: “علي معلول يحتاج لراحة، والأهم خلال المرحلة الحالية مباراة صن داونز، لأننا نحتاج تجميع النقاط في دوري الأبطال، لكن في الدوري الوضع المختلف، الكل يفقد النقاط”.

ScorecardRamnaresh Sarwan made 41 on his Leicestershire debut•Associated Press

Leicestershire staged an astonishing fightback against Glamorgan on a dramatic opening day of the new County Championship season at Grace Road.They recovered from the shock of losing two wickets to the first two balls of the game to post a competitive total of 249, with Claude Henderson scoring an unbeaten half-century and Ramnaresh Sarwan making a vital 41 on his Leicestershire debut.Then Matthew Hoggard, Robbie Joseph and Nadeem Malik had Glamorgan reeling with devastating spells as the Welshmen staggered to 25 for 5 in 11 overs at the close of a remarkable day’s cricket.Joseph, making his debut after being released by Kent, struck first with a successful lbw shout against Stewart Walters. In the next over Hoggard dismissed Gareth Rees in similar fashion and then clean bowled Ben Wright.Joseph picked up his second wicket when William Bragg edged to Sarwan at slip and Moises Henriques was caught behind in Malik’s first over, meaning 15 wickets had fallen in the day for 274 runs.The start to the game was one of the most dramatic openings to a season seen on the ground. After putting Leicestershire in to bat on a damp pitch, Glamorgan had them 1 for 3 from three overs.Huw Waters took two wickets with his first two balls, having Greg Smith caught at short leg by Gareth Rees and then pinning Jacques du Toit lbw. He struck again with the fifth ball of his second over when Matt Boyce popped up another catch to Rees at short leg and there seemed no way back for the hosts who finished bottom of the Second Division last season.But a brisk 26 from Josh Cobb, who hit two fours and two sixes, and then some stout and sensible batting from the middle and late order batsmen pulled Leicestershire out of trouble.Sarwan, who had to come in and face the hat-trick delivery from Walters, looked impressive in his 110-ball stay at the crease. He mixed solid defence with some sweetly timed boundaries, six in all, before being trapped lbw by Graham Wagg.Henderson then spearheaded the recovery as he did a year ago in the same fixture, when Leicestershire beat Glamorgan on opening day to claim their only Championship win of the season. He made an unbeaten 80 on that occasion and once again frustrated the Welshmen with another 57 not out. His half-century came off 108 balls and included a six and two fours.He was given excellent support by Ned Eckersley (25), Wayne White (37) and Joseph (29) before Leicestershire’s seamers completed the stunning fightback.

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Pune Warriors and Kolkata Knight Riders in Pune

The Preview by Siddarth Ravindran18-May-2012Match factsSaturday, May 19, 2012
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Gautam Gambhir has led the way with six half-centuries this season•AFPBig PictureAs the league phase enters its final weekend, the priorities are completely different for the two opponents meeting at the Sahara Stadium in Pune.Kolkata Knight Riders are enjoying their best IPL season, and are looking for a victory that will grant them a chance of finishing at the head of the table, or at least secure them a place in the top two and guarantee them two shots at making the final. Pune Warriors, on the other hand, are striving to end one of the longest losing streaks in IPL history. Eight defeats in a row have crushed their chances of making the playoffs, and another reverse will leave them open to the possibility of finishing last, if Deccan Chargers win their final game.One area of concern for Knight Riders is their batting, and its dependence on Gautam Gambhir, who has six half-centuries this season. Gambhir leads the way with 546 runs at 144.06, but the next three highest run-getters for the team – Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary and Brednon McCullum – are all scoring at a strike-rate of 106 or lower. With Yusuf Pathan also out of form, can Knight Riders put up a big score in case their captain fails?Form guide
Pune Warriors: LLLLL (most recent first)
Kolkata Knight Riders: WLLWWPlayers to watchJacques Kallis might not have hit top gear with the bat, but he has been invaluable with the ball this season for Knight Riders. He showed it again in the game against Mumbai Indians, dismissing the finishers from the West Indies, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith, off successive deliveries, to dent the chase. He had similarly got rid of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers off consecutive balls to derail Royal Challengers Bangalore at Eden Gardens.This could well be Sourav Ganguly’s final competitive match. The years have caught up with him, slowing his reflexes and the imperiousness of old has been missing from his batting. There were flashes of his abilities, especially in the game against Delhi Daredevils, and he will be hoping for a similarly inspirational showing to sign off the season.Stats and triviaWarriors have only taken 65 wickets this season – the lowest of all teams, including Chargers, who had one game washed out Knight Riders have hit the lowest number of sixes (55) this season and the second-lowest number of fours (166)Quotes”The one in Mumbai, where we defended 140. Mumbai had 10 internationals in their line-up. The outfield was fast, the wicket decent and the ground small… Yet, the boys did it.”

أعلن نادي ليفربول عن هوية الفائز بجائزة أفضل لاعب في صفوف الفريق الإنجليزي، عن شهر فبراير الماضي.

وتنافس على تلك الجائزة كل من النجم محمد صلاح، داروين نونيز، إلى جانب ستيفان بايتيتش.

وحسب الموقع الرسمي للنادي، حصل نونيز على جائزة لاعب شهر فبراير في ليفربول، متفوقًا على الثنائي المرشح.

اقرأ أيضًا.. نونيز يوضح تطور علاقته بـ محمد صلاح في ليفربول وتأثير ذلك على مستواه

وشارك داروين نونيز في 4 مباريات مع ليفربول في الشهر الامضي، وسجل هدفين وصنع هدفًا.

جاءت أهداف نونيز أمام نيوكاسل يونايتد في الدوري الإنجليزي وريال مدريد في دوري أبطال أوروبا، بينما صنع هدفًا لـ محمد صلاح أمام إيفرتون.

Daniel Vettori, the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, has said the lack of a quality fifth bowler was an important factor in his team’s 59-run defeat to Rajasthan Royals at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Royals chose to bat and scored 195 for 2, with Ajinkya Rahane scoring 103 and Owais Shah 60.They scored 70 in the 12 overs bowled by Zaheer Khan, Daniel Vettori and Muttiah Muralitharan, and 120 in the remaining eight overs. Chris Gayle conceded 21 in one over, Vinay Kumar 51 in four and S Aravind 48 in three overs.”The problem is that we could not get through the overs from our fifth bowler. It is something we must rectify as it has hurt us in every game,” Vettori said. “We need to work hard on that fifth bowler, as teams are being very aggressive and we are not getting the results that we need to compete.”In their previous game in Chennai, Virat Kohli conceded 28 in the penultimate over and Royal Challengers failed to defend 205. They are presently second last in the league, having lost three out of four games.Vettori also said he was disappointed with his middle-order batsmen. “There’s a lot of expectation on the top four but they can’t do it every time, so they guys in the middle need to step up. We must find a solution quickly as we play Pune [Warriors] in a day and we need to get back to winning ways.”Royals batsman, Shah, whose 60 came off 26 balls, credited Rahane for the win and praised his batting style. “There is a calmness about him that shows he’s always in control,” Shah said. “He plays the ball very late and times the ball beautifully. He’s got a bright future ahead of him.”

Fast bowler Mohammad Sami and middle-order batsman Faisal Iqbal, neither of whom have played for Pakistan since 2010, have been recalled for the Sri Lanka series

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2012

Fast bowler Mohammad Sami and middle-order batsman Faisal Iqbal, neither of whom have played for Pakistan since 2010, have been recalled to the Test squad for the series in Sri Lanka starting next month. Afaq Raheem, the 26-year-old Islamabad batsman, and 32-year-old Sialkot batsman Mohammad Ayub, who were the top two run-getters in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy this season, were the new faces in the 16-man squad.Sami also featured in the one-day pool for the tour of Sri Lanka, and there was a recall for opener Imran Farhat, who was dropped for the Asia Cup. Rahat Ali, the 23-year-old Khan Research Laboratories left-arm fast bowler, was a new inclusion in the ODI squad, while fast bowler Wahab Riaz and allrounder Hammad Azam were left out.Wahab was also excluded from the Test squad and so was Mohammad Talha, the 23-year-old National Bank of Pakistan fast bowler. Neither of them had played the Tests against England though they had been part of the squad. Umar Akmal and Farhat, two other players who had been on the fringes of the Test starting XI, were also left out.Ayub, who took one of their spots in the batting line-up, has been close to national selection for several years, having been among the top performers on the domestic circuit. He has played 93 first-class matches and was last in contention before the England series earlier this year.Raheem is also an experienced batsman, having played 75 first-class matches. His career was disrupted by a knee injury which cost him nearly two seasons starting from June 2009. He returned last year and capped a successful season by top-scoring in the Quaid-e-Azam.Opening bowler Ali had not played much List A cricket in the 2011-12 season, but put in a fine showing in first-class cricket, in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division Two. He finished fourth on the wickets charts, with 44 scalps from nine games at 17.45.Comeback man Iqbal has previously failed to make establish himself in the Test team, playing 26 matches over the past decade. The highlight of his career came in early 2006, when he scored a second-innings century to help set up Pakistan’s 341-run win against India in Karachi. Following a steady Quaid-e-Azam 2011-12 season, in which he averaged 46.87, he scored two hundreds in the two games he played for Sind in the Faysal Bank Pentangular Cup. He aggregated 263 runs at an average of 87.66 in the tournament, a performance that probably prompted his national recall.Test squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Sami, Faisal Iqbal, Junaid Khan, Afaq Raheem, Mohammad Ayub, Aizaz Cheema
ODI squad: Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Umar Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Rahat Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Sami, Asad Shafiq, Aizaz Cheema, Azhar Ali, Imran Farhat

MatériaMais Notícias

O Londrina vem protagonizando uma arrancada surpreendente no Campeonato Brasileiro da Série B. O time saiu da 17ª colocação, já dentro da zona de rebaixamento, para o 9º lugar, brigando, agora, ponto a ponto por uma vaga no G-4 da competição. Toda essa reviravolta passa também pelos pés de Higor Leite, destaque do ABC na serie C e contratado pelo Londrina . Após apenas sete jogos com ele, o time paranaense mudou o cenário na competição. Para ele, a equipe ainda pode sonhar com a classificação para a Série A do ano que vem.

– Eu vim para o Londrina, porque acreditei no projeto que me foi apresentado. Sabia que era questão de tempo até o time conseguir sair daquela situação incômoda. O nosso elenco é recheado de bons jogadores, eu pude entrar e me adaptei rápido ao estilo de jogo da equipe. Acho que isso me ajudou bastante, todos me deram confiança e eu me senti leve, como se eu já fizesse parte do grupo há muito tempo. Eu venho conseguindo mostrar meu futebol e, gradativamente, venho crescendo de produção também. Nossa arrancada é fruto de muito trabalho e dedicação de todos. Vejo que temos condições de brigar por uma vaga na Série A do ano que vem, então vamos fazer de tudo para que esse sonho vire realidade. Nossa equipe não quer se acomodar na tabela, e nem eu quero isso, vim aqui em busca de coisas grandes, e é isso que eu vou buscar ate o final.

Desde que chegou ao Londrina, Higor Leite atuou como titular em todas as partidas da equipe, e vem chamando atenção pelas atuações de alto nível, bem como pelo comprometimento tático em campo. Nos sete jogos com a camisa do clube, Higor acumula cinco vitórias e apenas duas derrotas, com um aproveitamento de 71,4%. Sem ele a história é diferente, já que foram 20 jogos com apenas cinco vitórias, seis empates e nove derrotas, totalizando um aproveitamento de apenas 35%. Ou seja, com o camisa 11 em campo o Londrina dobra seu aproveitamento.

– Fico muito feliz por ver meu desempenho em campo surtir efeito prático, afinal, eu fui contratado para isso, para ajudar o time a sair da zona lá de baixo e brigar pelo que o Londrina merece está brigando, que é o topo da tabela. Realmente os números são bastante expressivos e isso me motiva ainda mais a querer treinar, focar, brigar até o final. Tudo isso é parte de muito trabalho e entrega, não só minha, mas de todo o elenco. Temos um objetivo na competição e ele ainda pode ser alcançado. Quero ajudar cada vez mais minha equipe, e, se Deus quiser, poder comemorar ao final do ano – disse.

E não é só o aproveitamento de vitórias do Londrina que aumentou com a chegada de Higor à equipe. O principal artilheiro na competição, Dagoberto, dobrou seu número de gols e também elevou suas atuações.

– O Dagoberto é um cara que eu tenho muito carinho, porque me recepcionou muito bem quando cheguei e me passa muita confiança dentro de campo. Quando se tem um jogador do nível dele no elenco é fácil jogar. Eu fico feliz por estar podendo contribuir para que ele consiga marcar os gols. Esse é meu estilo de jogo, eu gosto de preparar as jogadas e deixar o centroavante na cara do gol. Agora, preciso continuar trabalhando para que esses números cresçam ainda mais, e que possamos terminar bem o campeonato, que é o que realmente importa – apontou.

O próximo adversário do Londrina é o Figueirense, terça-feira (18), às 21:30, no estádio do Café, no Paraná. O Tubarão é hoje o 9º colocado do campeonato com 36 pontos, enquanto o Figueirense é o 8º com 39.

RelacionadasGoiásDe volta ao time titular do Goiás, Tiago Luis festeja vitória em clássicoGoiás17/09/2018AvaíAndré Moritz quer vitória sobre o Sampaio Corrêa e lutar pelo acessoAvaí17/09/2018CruzeiroArrascaeta não viaja para Argentina e desfalca Raposa contra o BocaCruzeiro17/09/2018

England Women began their home series against India Women with a clinical performance with both bat and ball

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jun-2012
ScorecardLaura Marsh hit ten boundaries in her half-century•Getty ImagesEngland Women began their home series against India Women with a clinical performance with both bat and ball, not allowing the visitors into the contest after a minor blip early on in the first Twenty20 international. Sarah Taylor was the star with the bat in Canterbury, scoring a brisk half-century to set up a strong total, after which Katherine Brunt and Danielle Wyatt led an all-round bowling effort.The only time England Women were on the back foot was when they lost their captain Charlotte Edwards early after getting sent in to bat. She was lbw to N Niranjana, leaving England 1 for 1 in 1.1 overs. The recover began immediately, though, with Laura Marsh and Taylor adding 105 runs for the second wicket.Marsh scored 41 off 39 balls and Taylor 69 off 49 deliveries, with ten fours. By the time they were separated in the 15th over, England were scoring at more than a run a ball. Gouher Sultana dismissed both batsmen in successive overs, which meant England were deprived of momentum towards the end and reached 137 for 5, when they could have got a little more.India’s chase began poorly when Brunt dismissed both openers in successive overs to reduce the visitors to 20 for 2 in five overs. Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur had begun a useful partnership, adding 30 before two more wickets fell in the space of four runs to leave India 54 for 4 in 13th over. There was no coming back from there. India were restricted to 107 for 8 and Wyatt picked up two wickets in the final over to finish with economical figures of 4-1-10-2.

كشفت تقارير صحفية إسبانية، عن موقف نادي ريال مدريد من إمكانية التعاقد مع الفرنسي زين الدين زيدان، للمرة الثالثة لخلافة كارلو أنشيلوتي في تدريب الفريق.

زيدان تولى قيادة ريال مدريد في ولاية أولى من يناير 2016 حتى مايو 2018، وحقق خلال تلك الفترة بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا 3 مرات من ضمن بطولات عديدة محلية وأوروبية ودولية، بعدما حل محل رافائيل بينيتيز، الذي خلف كارلو أنشيلوتي في صيف 2015.

طالع أيضًا | ريال مدريد يُحدد خليفة أنشيلوتي من الدوري الألماني

قبل أن يعود زيدان من جديد في مارس 2019 خلفًا لـ سانتياجو سولاري، ولكنه رحل عن تدريب النادي الملكي في صيف 2021، ليترك مكانه لـ كارلو أنشيلوتي، الذي توّج مع النادي الملكي في الموسم الماضي 2021/2022، ببطولة الدوري الإسباني ودوري أبطال أوروبا، وكذلك لقب كأس السوبر الإسباني.

رغم افتتاح الموسم ببطولة كأس السوبر الأوروبي، ثم مونديال الأندية في فبراير الماضي، إلا أن سجل النادي الملكي قد يكون صفر هذا الموسم، بعد خسارة لقب السوبر الإسباني، بجانب تأخره في الذهاب أمام برشلونة 1/0 بنصف نهائي كأس ملك إسبانيا، وانتهاء الليجا اكلينيكيًا، بعدما أصبح الفارق 12 نقطة لصالح برشلونة.

ما سبق ذكره، كان سببًا لتسلل الأفكار لدى ريال مدريد بقيادة فلورنتينو بيريز رئيس النادي، من أجل إقالة كارلو أنشيلوتي بعد نهاية الموسم الجاري إذا لم يحقق ألقابًا.

العديد من الأسماء ارتبطت بخلافة أنشيلوتي، ولم يُستبعد زين الدين زيدان سلف الإيطالي في النادي الملكي، حسب ما أكدت إذاعة “كادينا سير” الإسبانية، والمقربة من ريال مدريد.

وأشارت التقارير إلى أن زيدان كان قد أكد منذ فترة قصيرة، أنه اقترب من العودة مرة أخرى للتدريب، حيث لم يتولى قيادة أي فريق منذ صيف 2021، ويقترب من نهاية الموسم الثاني على التوالي دون نادٍ.

انتظر زيدان خلال تلك الفترة قرارًا بتعيينه مدربًا لمنتخب فرنسا خلفًا لـ ديديه ديشامب، خاصة بعد بطولة كأس العالم قطر 2022، لكنه تلقى صدمة بتجديد عقد زميله الأسبق، لتتبخر أحلامه بتدريب منتخب بلاده.

ارتبط زيزو بالعدد من الأندية مثل يوفنتوس وباريس سان جيرمان، وكذلك المنتخب البرازيلي لخلافة تيتي، ولكن حتى الآن لم يتم حسم أي شيء بشأن مستقبل الفرنسي.

وفي حالة توليه قيادة ريال مدريد، سيكون زيدان ثاني مدرب في تاريخ النادي الملكي يقوده فنيًا على 3 فترات متتالية، بعد الإسباني لويس مولوني، الذي درّب بطل أوروبا التاريخي على 4 فترات، من يناير حتى مايو 1974، ثم منذ سبتمبر 1977 حتى يونيو 1979، وفترة مؤقتة لمدة شهر من مارس إلى أبريل 1982، وأخيرًا من أبريل 1985 حتى 1986 لمدة عام كامل.

وكان فيسنتي ديل بوسكي أيضًا، قد درّب ريال مدريد على 3 فترات متتالية، من مارس حتى مايو 1994، ثم الفترة من يناير 1996 حتى يناير 1997، وأخيرًا من نوفمبر 1999 حتى يونيو 2003.

ScorecardDarren Bravo made his third half-century of the tour against Leicestershire•Getty Images

Sometimes a person’s absence is more notable than their attendance. So, just as Kate Middleton might have provoked even more column inches had she not shown up to her wedding, so Sunil Narine’s absence from the first day of the tour match at Grace Road was arguably more surprising than anything he might have achieved on the pitch.Narine, the 24-year-old spinner, was called up on Wednesday to replace the injured Kemar Roach in West Indies’ squad for the third Test at Edgbaston which begins on Thursday. But Narine, it turns out, has not even arrived in the UK yet. Instead he spent Friday playing club cricket in Trinidad – T20 club cricket at that – and is expected to arrive in England on Sunday. He will not, therefore, have the benefit of any match practice or even an extended period of acclimatisation before the Test. Ottis Gibson, West Indies’ coach, admitted that he did not know if Narine had ever played in England.But it appears that will not prevent Gibson selecting him on Thursday. Nor will the fact that Narine has only played six first-class games, or that the last of them was in February. Indeed, Gibson expressed the belief that Narine’s lack of exposure was a significant bonus for West Indies.”He’s just come back from playing a hell of a lot of cricket, so I’m sure he’s been bowling a lot,” Gibson said. “I think it’s his first time playing international cricket in England and there’s a disadvantage playing for the first time in these conditions but it’s an advantage because the opposition haven’t seen him yet.”If he were to play this two-day game then there would be some footage of him for them to go and have a look at. He isn’t playing and it means that if he plays [at Edgbaston] it will be something completely new to them so that could be a bit of an advantage for us.”It is an interesting replacement. He’s somebody we’ve identified from the shorter version of the game but the selectors also believe he can play the longer version and this is an opportunity to put that to the test.”The one major flaw in Gibson’s argument is that Narine has just finished playing in the IPL; the most high-profile domestic tournament in world cricket. Still, the spinner’s record is exceptional: his last three first-class games have brought 31 wickets at an average of 9.61, while he could also claim with some justification – he was the second-highest wicket-taker and had the second-best economy-rate – to have been the best bowler at this year’s IPL. Bearing in mind England’s recent struggles against high-quality ‘mystery’ spin and there is the possibility that Narine may prove something of a game-changer. It is, however, asking a great deal of a young man with so little experience to adapt to new conditions and a different format so quickly.Narine is also unlikely to solve West Indies’ problems with their top-order batting. There were, however, some welcome signs of improvement on the weather-shortened first day of the game against Leicestershire. With Adrian Barath and Darren Bravo both recording half-centuries and adding 111 for the third-wicket, two of West Indies’ top four will arrive at Edgbaston with renewed confidence and the benefit of having spent time in the middle.Both played very well. Barath, who has shown glimpses of his ability in the Test series, again left the ball well and demonstrated his pleasing cover drive without the moments of lost concentration that have dogged him of late. Bravo, having survived some loose shots early on, calmed down to play some delightful strokes including a six over long-on off rookie left-arm spinner, James Sykes.It was a less happy day for Kirk Edwards, despite being promoted to lead the side, and Kieran Powell. Powell – who has scored 47 in four Test innings on this tour – was drawn into an edge as he pushed at one he might have left before Edwards, with the footwork of a statue, was bamboozled by swing. Both wickets were claimed by Nadeem Malik who, aged 29 and nine years into his first-class career, will be out of contract at the end of the season.Edwards’ failure means he has scored just 20 runs in eight innings on this tour. While he can take comfort of sorts from the fact that this game against Leicestershire does not have first-class status, he will also know that his travails over the last month have left his international future in jeopardy. When he arrived in the UK he had a Test average in excess of 50, two Test centuries to his name and he had recently been elevated to the vice-captaincy.With English conditions – and English bowlers – exposing some obvious technical flaws, however, Edwards currently looks bereft of form and confidence. His third-ball duck here begged the question as to whether he was enduing the most miserable tour of England in history by a specialist batsman. The Maharaja of Porbandar – who scored only two first-class runs on the All-India side’s 1932 tour of England – has strong claims to that title but, as he was selected more due to his wealth and perceived social standing than any ability with the bat, it is probably unfair to consider him a specialist batsman. It may be relevant that West Indies also used this game as an opportunity for Assad Fudadin and Narsingh Deonarine to apply pressure on their under-performing top order.This Leicestershire attack is perfectly respectable. Robbie Joseph generated pace even on a sluggish surface, Malik bowled some dangerous deliveries and Sykes, while raw, could go a long way in the game. Suffice it to say, however, that whoever England select at Edgbaston will provide a substantially sterner test.