All posts by n8rngtd.top

Bangladesh bowling coach extends support to the beleaguered Liton Das, expects Mustafizur Rahman to have an impact soon

Mohammad Isam26-Oct-2021Ottis Gibson has urged the Bangladesh bowlers not to panic if – and possibly when – they come under the cosh from England’s big hitters during Wednesday’s T20 World Cup match in Abu Dhabi, explaining that the opponents’ aggressive style would offer chances for his side to pick up wickets.Related

• Left-arm spin test awaits England's top order in powerplay

• Bangladesh run into confident England in first T20I meeting between sides

• Bangladesh bungle with match-ups obsession

“We have to be on our A game if we want to challenge them and ultimately win the game,” Gibson, the team’s bowling coach, said. “We know that England are a very powerful batting line-up. The key is to be accurate with what we deliver, and back ourselves. We know they will come out hard, but they also give you chances.”The message is not to panic. Understand that you will get hit off a good ball. That’s their mentality. But they also give you opportunity to take wickets. We must be calm to execute our skills and plans, and considered about every ball we bowl.”England beat West Indies convincingly in their opening game but lost four wickets on their way to chasing down the paltry 56-run target in Dubai. Bangladesh have never faced England in T20Is, so they will bank a lot on Gibson’s knowledge of the opposition from his time working with them. But on the subject of “chances”, it is hard to forget how Bangladesh’s last match panned out, when Liton Das dropped Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Charith Asalanka at a crucial stage of the game.Bangladesh have dropped six catches in the tournament so far, but Gibson tried to play down the misses. “One or two catches get dropped in every cricket match. Obviously when the catches play a part in the result, it is highlighted more but we do a lot of catching practice,” he said. “When the guys are out in the middle under pressure, mistakes like catches going down happen. I won’t say it is a concern.”Gibson said that the coaching staff had been fully supportive of Liton, who has also been in the middle of a lean run with the bat, and was also fined for an argument with Lahiru Kumara during the game.”He is one of our best fielders. The fact that a couple of catches went down doesn’t diminish what he contributes to the team. Of course, anybody can drop a catch. It is highlighted because those catches, you can argue, contributed to the result,” Gibson said. “He has been one of our key players for a while. The reality is that any other fielder in that position could have dropped those catches as well. We remind him of his quality, and that he is a key player for us. We support the player, whether it is Liton Das or any other player.”Bangladesh also haven’t got the best from Mustafizur Rahman, who took a four-wicket haul against Oman, but has looked off-colour at times.”Fizz is a key bowler for us in any conditions. His cutters are more effective in Bangladesh but one thing I like about him is his ability to adjust to conditions very quickly,” Gibson said. “He is key especially in the backend of the innings, but he can also swing the ball back in now. We have worked very hard on it. He is a weapon for us with both the new and old ball.”

Erik ten Hag has criticised the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for the late penalty call that helped West Ham secure a 2-1 over Manchester United.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Man Utd lose 2-1 to West Ham
• Hammers score injury-time penalty
• Ten Hag slams VAR for 'unfair' decision

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  West Ham's Jarrod Bowen was on target from 12-yards in the second minute of injury time as the Hammers won 2-1 against Manchester United. Matthijs de Ligt was ruled to have fouled Danny Ings inside the area, even though it appeared as though the striker just ran into the Dutchman, and West Ham was given a late penalty after a lengthy VAR check. Referee David Coote had been called to the monitor to assess the incident and gave West Ham the penalty. Ten Hag has now bemoaned the decision made by the VAR to hand United their fourth Premier League loss of the season.

Advertisement

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT TEN HAG SAID

  Speaking to BBC MOTD, Ten Hag said: "Three times this season we feel injustice. We have to score, we created so many chances. We should've been two or three up. Second half we were forcing it but we allowed them into the game. When you are losing 1-0 you need big personality and character of the team and showed resilience to get back into it. Unfair and unjust the way we conceded the penalty."

  When asked about the penalty incident, Ten Hag said: "It was so difficult to see. Before the season there was the instruction about VAR only interfering in clear and obvious mistakes. That is definitely not a clear and obvious mistake from the on field referee.

  "More frustrations but I can do nothing with that. They don't collect points and that's what we have to do. We have to look in the mirror, we don't score in a good game from our side. Create loads of chances and concede none but when you lose in this way it's a bad feeling."

  When asked if he had spoken to the officials, he said: "I spoke with them. But the decision is made. There's no way back and that's football. That's a third time I have felt injustice in the season and it has a big impact on our team and on our scores and where we are in the table. It's not right."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Manchester United were the better side in the first half at the London Stadium and could have easily had a three-goal lead heading into the break. However, their poor finishing meant that they stumbled yet again as West Ham fought back admirably. Ten Hag added in his post-match press conference: "We create so many chances, the first half is exactly how I want to see my team playing. So dominant. Six or seven 100% chances we should score. When you don't you have to keep calm. That is a point of improvement but I had not so many criticisms of my team."

• WHAT NEXT FOR TEN HAG?

  The Dutchman's job remains under threat, and the loss will surely have put further pressure on the Manchester United board to dismiss him. The Red Devils will be in action next when they take on Leicester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, October 30.

Celtic could be closing in on their first summer signing, with one report now saying they’ve had a bid accepted for a long-term target.

Celtic want new goalkeeper

The Hoops and Brendan Rodgers are yet to make a summer signing following a Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup double last season, but a new goalkeeper to replace Joe Hart appears to be at the top of the list.

Alongside a shot-stopper, a winger and striker are also wanted at Parkhead, but when it comes to ‘keepers, there hasn’t been a shortage of targets.

Celtic hold talks to sign prolific teenage forward

He scored 16 goals in 17 starts last season.

By
Charlie Smith

Jun 25, 2024

Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher, Trabzonspor star Ugurcan Cakir, Sunderland’s Anthony Patterson, Werder Bremen colossus Michael Zetterer, Southampton’s Alex McCarthy, Koen Casteels of Wolfsburg and Dominik Livakovic are just some of the goalkeepers that have been linked with the Hoops.

Rumours have intensified over a move for Fenerbahce’s Livakovic who has been starting at Euro 2024 for Croatia, with a €9million (£7.6m) bid submitted to bring him to Scotland.

Celtic have Livakovic bid accepted

According to Turkish outlet Fotomac, Celtic’s offer for Livakovic has been accepted, with the player wanting to leave Fenerbahce this summer.

The €9m figure was mentioned again, and it is stated that an ‘official announcement will be made shortly’. Fenerbahce will reportedly replace Livakovic with Mattia Perin from Juventus, with Livakovic on course to become one of Celtic’s most expensive signings of all time, should a deal go through.

It looks as if Celtic could be about to seal a marque goalkeeper signing, and Croatian football expert Richard Wilson has explained to The Herald what he could bring to Scotland, highlighting his reflex saves as his main strength.

“His main strength would be his reflex saves, and he has that knack of getting to shots that 90 percent of goalkeepers can’t get to. It’s such a small difference between a good goalkeeper and a great goalkeeper at that level, and his reflexes have been shown to be among the true elite.”

Wilson then said a move to Celtic could be a “statement signing” for the Hoops.

“For Celtic to land a goalkeeper of his stature would be a statement signing, absolutely. Fenerbahce paid the best part of 7m Euros for him last summer, and they will make a profit on that, but if you compare Livakovic’s stature to Joe Hart’s, well, Joe Hart hasn’t been in World Cup semi-finals for instance.

“He’s one of the few goalkeepers that Celtic could get with a trophy cabinet of that size. It makes sense to me though because Celtic have been in for him before, so it is a renewal of interest.”

It could be just a matter of time until Celtic get their man, making this one to watch over the coming weeks.

Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues have had a quiet World Cup so far. India can’t afford for it to stay that way

Vishal Dikshit10-Oct-2025India are approaching the halfway mark of their Women’s World Cup campaign and their performances have not lived up to the promise they displayed in the lead up to the tournament. They haven’t come close to playing the perfect game, and Australia await on Sunday.India’s most severe problem is that their star-studded top five has been reduced to rubble and their innings has needed a lower-order rescue in all three games. They managed to recover well enough to win their first two matches but fell short against their toughest opponents yet, South Africa.The trend in this tournament has been for most teams to lose five or six wickets by around 25 overs, but India’s struggle stands out because none of their senior trio of Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues has made a half-century.When compared to the other seven teams at the World Cup, India’s top five averages 23.13, lower than all the other serious semi-finalist contenders England, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Among teams that have played at least two games, India are the only ones without a 50-plus score from their top five. It terms of run rate, India’s top five is third from the bottom.Related

• Unconvincing India face questions about the playing XI ahead of Australia test

• Harmanpreet: 'This time we will cross the line'

• Harmanpreet: 'It wasn't an easy pitch to bat'

• India need to fix flaws ahead of tougher challenges

During the previous game against South Africa, Mandhana broke a 28-year record held by Belinda Clark and is on track to become the first woman to score 1000 ODI runs in a year. She has eight hundreds since the start of 2024; the most recent of those – 125 off 63 balls against Australia last month – was the second fastest in the format.In the World Cup, however, she has made only 8, 23, and 23 so far. What was hard to believe was that her scratchiest innings – against South Africa – came on the flattest pitch India have played on to date. She was beaten frequently in Visakhapatnam and struggled against the swing of Marizanne Kapp before eventually holing out against left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba.It would have been even harder to believe for the Indian camp because in their two training sessions in Visakhapatnam, Mandhana batted like she did during that century against Australia: taking apart the swing of Renuka Singh, middling aerial shots against anyone who bowled to her, and shuffling around her crease to hit anywhere she wanted to.Jemimah Rodrigues has fallen to left-arm spin in all three games•ICC/Getty ImagesMandhana’s close friend Rodrigues was not far behind before this World Cup. She scored both of her ODI centuries in 2025 and her strike rate in a year was more than a run a ball for the first time. She had found success at No. 5, a position given to her only in 2023 after she spent her early years in the top order.To be fair to Rodrigues, the first delivery she faced in her maiden ODI World Cup is a contender for the ball of the tournament: Sri Lanka’s left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera used drift and turn from around the wicket to hit off stump. Rodrigues, however, fell to left-arm spin in India’s next two games, too. She was lbw to Pakistan’s Nashra Sandhu and lbw to South Africa’s Chloe Tyron, missing the sweep on both occasions. Her highest score so far is 32 off 37 against Pakistan, but she might have not even got that far had Diana Baig not overstepped when she was on 2.Harmanpreet hasn’t had a magical year so far, but she’s the sort of batter who can play a blinder out of nowhere, especially against India’s next opponents Australia. She played a cameo against Sri Lanka when India needed more, struggled for rhythm against Pakistan, and got totally stuck against South Africa, crawling to 9 off 23 before mistiming an on-the-up push to point that drew instant criticism from Anjum Chopra for getting through the shot too early against the left-arm spin of Tyron.You can bet on Harmanpreet raising her game against Australia, though, especially on the biggest stages. After her match-winning 171 not out in the 2017 World Cup semi-final, she nearly took India to the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, nearly secured a place in the 2023 T20 World Cup final, and ran them close in the 2024 T20 World Cup, too.Harmanpreet had hoped that the WPL, now three seasons old, would prepare India’s lower order to handle crunch situations better than they have in the past. The previous three games have proved that India’s Nos. 6 to 9 can dig the team out of a deep hole. The onus is now on Mandhana, Harmanpreet and Rodrigues to ensure they don’t find themselves in one, as the race to the semi-finals heats up with tough fixtures against Australia and then England.

Leicester City will hope their ongoing quest to replace Enzo Maresca doesn't stretch on for too long, knowing that they need to start adding players to their squad soon ahead of a season back in the top flight.

A large majority of the current Foxes camp, who are just fresh off being crowned as Championship title-winners, have tasted Premier League football before, however, with the likes of Jamie Vardy even boasting a Premier League winners medal on his mantelpiece, alongside that more recent second-tier success.

That means Maresca's replacement won't have his work cut out too much entering into the hot seat, knowing that the squad is littered with top talents already, but one major frontrunner for the King Power Stadium vacancy could get more out of a particular member of Leicester's defence, if appointed.

Leicester narrowing down their hunt for a new manager

Many different outlets have now reported that Graham Potter is the standout name the powers that be at Leicester want as their next boss, with a toss-up between the ex-Chelsea boss and Steve Cooper forming according to Football Insider.

Potter might well need some convincing to take on the Leicester vacancy, however, as the newly promoted side wait it out to see if the 49-year-old does want to take on the reins or not, with the precarious situation at Manchester United now settled, which Potter was previously in the running for.

If they are finally successful in their approach for the in-demand manager, players such as Wout Faes could be boosted by this news, having witnessed what the former Brighton boss did with Lewis Dunk when in charge of the Seagulls.

Dunk now finds himself in Gareth Southgate's England squad for the forthcoming Euros off the back of Potter's time on the South Coast, and so Faes will want to shine in a similar fashion for the East Midlands side next campaign, having found his introduction to Premier League football tricky under previous management.

How Potter could get the best out of Faes

The 6 foot 2 defender was always going to be expected to immediately set the world alight when joining from Stade De Reims in 2022, relocating to England for a bumper £15m.

It was somewhat of a disappointing debut season for the £50k-per-week signing therefore, not helped obviously by Leicester slipping down to the Championship during this same campaign, with the 26-year-old keeping just seven clean sheets from 31 contests.

Yet, making the drop-down, Faes has excelled – as can be seen when glancing at the table above – and will strive to continue being an "aggressive" gem, as he was labelled by Gary Lineker, when venturing back up to the Premier League.

Potter could be the exact manager the Belgian needs to truly help him come into his own in the top division, therefore, with the ex-Brighton boss turning Dunk into a fantastic performer in the elite division, having gifted the now 32-year-old the captain's armband on his arrival in 2019.

The England international would go on to shine after his manager's decision to gift him these duties, picking up three goals and three assists from the back during his first campaign as captain, whilst nearly matching Faes' passing accuracy total at 87% across his stellar 33 matches.

Even stating that he was "proud" of Dunk back in 2021, for how much he had seen his game be elevated under his management, Potter will hope he can have a similar transformative impact on Faes soon, who will want to kick on after an excellent second-tier campaign.

Leicester still eyeing Potter alternative who could be perfect for Justin

Leicester City look to be closing in on Enzo Maresca’s successor.

By
Kelan Sarson

Jun 12, 2024

Ninth-wicket pair summon 118-run resistance to give Lancashire belief on gripping afternoon

Paul Edwards08-Sep-2021
When he was looking forward to this day with a dollop of optimism which, as things turned out, was rather misplaced, a Lancashire cricketer pointed out that Nottinghamshire possessed only three front-line seamers. Fair point, perhaps, but one wonders what that player thought at just gone 5.15 when Saqib Mahmood fended a shortish ball from Brett Hutton into the hands of Ben Slater at short leg to clinch a wonderful victory and all but one of the visitors’ second-innings wickets had been taken by that trio.Steven Mullaney will have a different perspective on matters this evening. The Nottinghamshire skipper probably knows that when you have three fast-medium bowlers of the quality of Hutton, Luke Fletcher and Dane Paterson, a fourth quickie would be under-employed. The three he currently rotates have taken his side to the top of the Division One table by 10.5 points and in 16 days’ time they may help take his team to the title. Paterson’s four wickets have earned him most plaudits but the three will hunt as a pack until after the equinox.There are, though, two fascinating rounds of Championship cricket to be played before anything is known and this final day gave us some glorious portents as to the intensity those six Division One matches will probably contain. Only 11.5 overs remained when Mahmood was dismissed and that was testament to an extraordinary Lancastrian rearguard that threatened to secure a draw from an utterly unpromising situation. When Tom Bailey joined Danny Lamb just before 2.30 on this final afternoon Lancashire were 210 for 8 and had just lost three wickets in ten balls. Spectators were considering other plans for the evening. What happened next will be recorded with honour and regret in the Old Trafford Yearbook.Bailey and Lamb defied Mullaney’s attack for the next 30.1 overs with a quite remarkable display of defensive defiance. Both players reached their fifties and their stand of 108 set a new ninth-wicket record for their county in matches against Nottinghamshire beating the 112-year-old mark of 87 set by Bill Huddleston and Harry Dean at Old Trafford in 1909. Then, somewhere near the point when visiting supporters were venturing onto the quicksand of hope Bailey lost his middle stump to a ball from Paterson that tailed in and kept devilishly low. Seven overs later Hutton was racing madly towards Bridgford Road after taking the final wicket and a great game was done.As for Lancashire, they were overpowered in many sessions of this match and there is no shame in them admitting the fact. But they are not yet out of the hunt for the title. No county is, although it would require a general collapse of Foinavon proportions to see Somerset winning the pennant. Dane Vilas’ batsmen lasted until well after the arrival of the scones and they remain a tough bunch. It is quite possible to see them beating Somerset at Taunton and Hampshire at Aigburth while other, more obvious contenders scrap amongst themselves.Related

• Darren Stevens – aka 'God' – has a hand in hefty Kent victory over Worcestershire

• Simon Harmer takes season tally to 49 as Essex roll Gloucestershire by an innings and three runs

• Rob Yates, Dom Sibley bore for glory as Warwickshire take victory shot seriously

• Rob Keogh provides the ballast as Northants seal impressive 322-run chase

• Amar Virdi, Gus Atkinson join forces to help set Northamptonshire daunting target

This, though, was Nottinghamshire’s day and Nottinghamshire’s match. Its centrepiece was probably the spell of ten deliveries with the new ball in which Fletcher bowled Rob Jones off the inside edge for 33 and trapped George Lavelle leg before for nought, dismissals which sandwiched Steven Croft’s departure, caught at slip by Ben Duckett off Paterson for 6. At the beginning of that brief disintegration Lancashire were 210 for 5 and their chances of survival were slim; at its conclusion people were checking train times. They will have missed the early departures. This became a far closer affair than most envisaged.Just before lunch Fletcher had taken a painful blow on the foot from a George Balderson drive and his collapse had been vaguely reminiscent of the demolition of a 1960s tower block. But just before two o’clock here he was, rumbling in like a truck down the Mansfield Road, and by the end of the match, the country’s most successful bowler had 59 wickets against his name. There would be few more popular title winners.Fletcher had also been rumbling in at half-past ten to open a first session that nailed down the coffin on any notions that Lancashire might mount a glorious pursuit of the 444 runs they needed to win. Instead, the loss of three wickets for 55 runs in 30 overs prepared us for a gloriously tense afternoon.Nottinghamshire’s hopes were emboldened in the fourth over of the morning when Paterson angled one across Wells whose tentative defensive push merely edged a catch to the diving Tom Moores. Then, having cover-driven Fletcher for a fine boundary, Josh Bohannon remained runless for 20 balls, the last of which saw him leg before to Paterson for 8 when trying to work the ball away square rather than play down its line towards mid-on. Paterson’s celebrations reflected the value opponents currently place on Bohannon’s wicket but Vilas’s scalp is important, too, and that was taken by Hutton with nothing more than a fast straight delivery which somehow caused the Lancashire skipper to overbalance as he sought to play to leg. The ball thudded into his pad and Nick Cook wasted little time confirming the obvious.There should have been further celebrations in the Fox Road Stand four balls into the following over when Balderson drove the ball firmly back to Liam Patterson-White but the bowler could not cling on to the two-handed chance. Encouraged by this reprieve, the 20-year-old dug in with Jones for the 40 minutes until lunch and his most violent stroke was that straight drive that caught Fletcher on the foot.Ten overs into the afternoon session Nottinghamshire took the vital wicket of Balderson for 77 when Patterson-White bowled a rare long hop and the batsman, as though momentarily excused watchfulness, whacked it to square leg where Paterson dived to his right to take a superb catch. Having batted for 314 minutes and faced 235 balls, most of them on the spot, Balderson had fallen to a fairly rank delivery. But he had acquitted himself with honour and his stock will have risen in the Old Trafford dressing room. It will have risen at Trent Bridge, too, for this was a noble game of cricket and an honourably contested one.

They were once two of the most marketable teams, but now low ticket sales offer a damning a verdict of the state of the two nations

Danyal Rasool31-Jul-2025What a difference a few decades make. Through the 1980s and ’90s, these two sides were arguably the most marketable in world cricket, the three drawn Test series they contested during West Indies’ famous 15-year unbeaten run among the more iconic ones in cricketing history. Now, West Indies and Pakistan are fine-tuning their warm-ups ahead of a T20I series in Lauderhill, Florida, reportedly dogged by poor ticket sales amid last-minute slashed prices.Each side is coming off torrid T20I series. West Indies found themselves swept aside 5-0 at Australia’s hands over the last fortnight, while Pakistan spent that time losing 2-1 to a Bangladesh team that has struggled for T20 form leading up to those games. Both teams have been dragged down to the lower ends of the cricketing food chain, and with institutional problems plaguing each of them, the fear is that they look set to stay there for the foreseeable future.The lopsided scoreline against Australia perhaps does not quite do justice to West Indies’ top order batting, which made up in explosiveness what it lacked in consistency. However, injuries to Brandon King and Shimron Hetmyer, two of the hosts’ better batters against Australia, threaten to expose West Indies’ relative lack of depth. Alick Athanaze – with a T20 strike rate of 116.52 – and 36-year old Johnson Charles – whose best days are well behind him – have been called up to replace the pair.Related

• Charles, Athanaze replace injured King and Hetmyer for Pakistan T20Is

• Afridi back for T20Is, Nawaz earns maiden ODI call-up for West Indies series

However, that series against Australia certainly falls in line with the larger trend of a dismal T20 record for the side that, remember, is the joint-most successful in T20 World Cups. It is the 2026 edition of that tournament that this series is in service to as each side looks to mould themselves into their best version by that time.West Indies have won one just one of their 12 T20Is since December 2024, against Ireland. They were whitewashed 3-0 in a home series against Bangladesh last December as complete wipeouts have become the norm; it would be followed up by three losses against England in June before Australia made it five more.Pakistan’s situation isn’t quite as dire, but the picture isn’t rosy, either. The new coach Mike Hesson has attempted to rejuvenate the T20 side with a focus, theoretically anyway, on more aggression with the bat, and though it was realised in a trouncing of Bangladesh at home on pliant surfaces, Pakistan were reminded of the frustrating non-linearity of progress as they fell apart in the corresponding away series.West Indies will be without the services of the injured Shimron Hetmyer•AFP/Getty ImagesThat the T20 side needed an overhaul was obvious enough. Pakistan have been a bad T20 side for a long time, with the numbers to back it up. Since May 2024, they have won one fixture against one of the traditional top eight sides out of a possible 13 – a solitary win in a 4-1 series loss against New Zealand. Moreover, there have been losses against Ireland, USA, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in this time, with off-field mayhem closely tracking on-field performances. Four different men have taken the T20I captaincy in this time, three different coaches have attempted to lead them, and they have the squad turnover to show for it.While a wide variety between the ceiling and floor of the big-hitting batters is expected, Pakistan continue to wrestle with how to go about balancing their bowling line-up. Against Bangladesh, they almost tried to do away with full-time bowlers altogether, no fewer than six part-time bowlers available to make up the overs alongside Abbas Afridi and Ahmed Daniyal. Hesson has appeared to view the importance of specialist bowlers in T20 cricket almost as anachronistic, valuing the importance of “six, seven, eight bowlers…who if you get certain matchups can do a job”.It did mean leaving out all of Pakistan’s three biggest-name quicks – Shaheen Shah Afridi, the injured Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah. Perhaps with West Indies’ big hitting ability in mind, Pakistan have now walked that back somewhat, recalling Afridi and Haris, as well as Hasan Ali, who spent the last two months playing T20 cricket for the Birmingham Bears in England.In a way, though, this series is less about the sides playing as about where it is being held. For years, cricket has attempted to break into the United States’ colossal domestic market. That ambitious goal, however, is nowhere close to being realised.In its absence, cricket administrators have settled for the more modestly achievable aim of capitalising on a wealthy South Asian diaspora starved of live cricket in the region, with match and hospitality tickets orders of magnitude pricier than they’d be for equivalent packages in the Caribbean. Lauderhill has emerged as the most appropriate venue, owing to its mix of warm weather, proximity to the West Indies and sizeable South Asian and Caribbean diaspora.But in the nation that declared the customer always right in matters of taste, the relatively sluggish ticket sales offer as damning a verdict of the state of these two nations’ cricket as any win-loss chart.

Manchester United want to bring Ruben Amorim to Old Trafford before the club's upcoming Premier League clash against Chelsea.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Man Utd want Amorim before Chelsea clash
• In advanced talks with the Portuguese coach
• Red Devils take on Leicester City in Carabao Cup

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Portuguese manager has emerged as the favourite to replace Erik ten Hag at the helm and the Red Devils are now in advanced talks to finalise a deal, according to . The report further claims that United are hoping to complete the move as soon as possible as they want Amorim in their dugout for a crucial Premier League clash against Chelsea on Sunday at home.

Advertisement

• Getty Images
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The Premier League giants are negotiating the final bits of the coach's contract with Sporting CP officials and Amorim's agent Raul Costa, and if possible they will whisk the 39-year-old to Manchester on Wednesday. The Lions have already begun their search for Amorim's replacement and could consider promoting his assistant Carlos Fernandes as the club's new head coach.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  recently reported that United could appoint the Portuguese coach without paying his full €20m release clause because of a variant in his contract which allows top European clubs to sign him for just €10m.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER UNITED?

  For now, Ruud van Nistelrooy is in charge of the team as interim coach and will lead them in their upcoming fixture against Leicester City on Wednesday in a League Cup round of 16 clash.

The India fast bowler recalls an epic Test tour of England, and reflects on the challenges life has thrown his way

Shashank Kishore and Daya Sagar26-Aug-20254:33

Breaking down where Akash Deep can improve

In the weeks leading up to India’s recent tour of England, Akash Deep had one thought weighing on him: “How do I survive five Tests?”For over two months, Akash Deep had spent several nights in hospital, attending to his sister Jyoti who was undergoing cancer treatment. Diet and sleep had become luxuries. His training was haphazard. Cricket wasn’t the most important thing in his life at that time.It’s why Akash Deep spontaneously remembered Jyoti and dedicated his 10-wicket haul in his first Test of the series to her, after India made it 1-1 in Birmingham.”It was tough,” he says while in Bengaluru, where he is preparing for India’s home international season. “As such, a five-Test series is not easy. Especially if you’re a fast bowler. And at a time when I had to prepare, I was dealing with a lot of things.”Being in and out of hospital, your diet and sleep often go for a toss. I was actually wondering how do I survive five Tests because even during the IPL because of my sister’s treatment, my training was haywire for one, one-and-a-half months. Luckily, I got time in the lead-up to the series thanks to the India A tour, where I had 10-15 days of preparation. I used that time to prepare well.”It’s been three whirlwind weeks since Akash Deep’s return from England, where he played an important role in India drawing the series 2-2. After a dash home to see his family, he was away on a pilgrimage for ” (peace of mind),” and then visited his ‘AB Cricket Academy,’ which he had begun last year in his hometown Sasaram in Bihar.”When I was growing up, there was nothing here,” he says. “No ground, no practice facility. I didn’t even see a red ball until I was 17-18. My thinking was when I have some money and resources, I’ll try and help kids who aren’t from financially sound backgrounds. So that they don’t have to go too far away to train.”Not being financially strong should not come in the way of living your dreams of playing the game or getting opportunities. I’m glad I’ve been able to realise my dream [of building an academy]. I have a team that looks after most things, but I guide them and insist, if there are kids coming forward from disadvantaged backgrounds and have the talent, they should be prioritised.”Akash Deep took 13 wickets on the tour of England•Getty ImagesAkash Deep’s story is one of courage. Sharing a 150 square feet room with eight others in Kolkata, surviving on (lemon tea) to play club cricket, staying with his cousin in Durgapur in search of opportunities, losing his father and brother in the span of a couple of months, he has seen it all. It’s why he treasures every moment on the field. “If you find even a little happiness amid all your problems, it’s enough to bring a smile.”He wasn’t smiling on that tense final morning at The Oval when he dropped Gus Atkinson at long on and palmed the ball over the boundary for six. England needed 11 after that to win the series, India needed one wicket to draw it.”Maybe I could have tried to palm the ball in to save the six,” he says. “But I went to take the catch. Luckily in the next over (two overs later) we got the wicket [of Atkinson]. Immediately after I dropped the catch, there was really no time to dwell on it. Maybe if something else had happened I may have been thinking about it. Luckily I didn’t have to worry much.”I ran really quickly to Siraj [laughs] once we took the final wicket.”That was just one of several memorable moments involving Akash Deep on the tour. Earlier in the fifth Test, he had put his arm around England opener Ben Duckett and said a few friendly words after dismissing him in the first innings.”He had been out four-five times to me. Before coming out to bat in that innings, he said, ‘this time you won’t get me out’. I got him out and then said, ‘bro, now go and rest please’,” he says with a laugh.There’s a memory from Birmingham that stands out. He’s watched replays of that dream wicket on loop.”Joe Root,” Akash Deep says with a smile. “The way I got him (bowled). Set him up, and got him out exactly the way I wanted to.” For those who don’t remember, he pitched on a good length and angled the ball in, before getting it to nip away and beat the outside edge of Root’s defence to hit the top of off stump.0:42

Tendulkar: Akash Deep to Root at Edgbaston was ‘ball of the series’

Apart from his 13 wickets in the series, he also made a vital contribution with the bat, scoring a half-century after coming in as a nightwatcher in India’s second innings in the fifth Test at The Oval. Akash Deep made 66 in his partnership of 107 with Yashasvi Jaiswal for the third wicket, helping India set a match-winning target of 374.”Everyone expects me to contribute with the bat, but I haven’t been able to do it to all the time,” he says. “That innings, I learnt a lot. It taught me to not take my batting casually. When the team needs me, that time I’m motivated.”He also recalls his innings in Brisbane in 2024, when he helped India save the follow-on, to explain what he needs to motivate himself at times. “I think I should put extra pressure on myself as a batter to contribute,” he says. “That’s what it (The Oval innings) taught me. I was just thinking of building a partnership with Yashasvi.”They [his team-mates] were happy because the batters used to taunt us in a friendly way, ‘kabhi toh kuch kardo (can you also contribute once in a while)’, ‘dus to bana do, bees to bana do (make 10 or 20 runs at least)’, so I felt they’ll keep quiet now for some time [laughs].”Akash Deep is now at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, gearing up for the two-Test series against West Indies from October 2. For the first time in months, he has the mental space to breathe, train, and focus on his game. He doesn’t have to go to the hospital at present and he’s enjoying the luxury of being able to stay in the moment and do what he loves most.

He has been particularly taken by the innovations introduced to speed up the over-rate

Alex Malcolm24-Aug-2021Experienced allrounder Carlos Brathwaite believes some of the new Hundred rules could be phased into mainstream T20 to speed the game up after the original format had become “really, really slow”.Brathwaite, 33, captained Manchester Originals in the inaugural Hundred, in a year where he has played in the BBL, winning the title with Sydney Sixers, the PSL, and the T20 Blast. He is currently in St Kitts and Nevis ahead of the CPL where he will play for Jamaica Tallawahs, although he is in doubt for their opening match on Friday against St Lucia Kings after being forced into isolation following news that a passenger on his flight from Manchester had tested positive for Covid-19.He sees value in some of the innovations from the Hundred being used in other leagues and international cricket, particularly to speed the over-rate as some T20 matches are now taking more than four hours to complete.”The rules were interesting,” Brathwaite said. “The rules that I think will probably come into play into mainstream T20 would be the extra fielder comes into the circle if you are past the cut-off time. I think that would give more of a team effort to get the overs in. I think T20 has got really, really slow. It was supposed to initially last less than three hours. Sometimes we’ve got T20s going on to four hours plus. So I think that will help quicken the game.Related

• Australia's best are back, but will it be enough for a title tilt?

• BBL draft postponed again, tournament to finish in late January

• ECB set to increase women's Hundred salaries, committed to double-headers

• Carlos Brathwaite isolating after Covid-19 case on flight from UK

“I think two overs from the same end is probably something that could catch on as well. Again, just for speed of play. It now means that you [switch ends] 10 times instead of 20. And the idea of not crossing if the batter gets out caught – the new batter comes into bat. I think those three are ones that could potentially be implemented or phased into T20 cricket in the future.”Brathwaite, who has re-signed with Sixers ahead of the next BBL, has experienced rule changes in both the BBL – which brought in the Power Surge, X-Factor and Bash Boost last season – and the Hundred and believes the innovations in both leagues have added some variety to the game without affecting the core of the contest too much.”It was just something different,” Brathwaite said. “You play all over the world and one of the things you have to get accustomed to is the difference in surroundings, pitches, atmospheric conditions, cultures.”It just forces you to tactically think about something else. I think the majority of the time it still comes down to bowling well, batting well, doing all of the clichéd things that you need to do in T20 cricket. But I think it just adds a nice tactical dimension.”It’s just nice to see new innovations and it just kept you wondering what will happen next, who will do what, and kind of watching everything unravel and unfold is kind of exciting to be honest.”Brathwaite spoke fondly of his time in the BBL and credited Sixers for creating one of the best team environments he has ever been part of.Could some of the Hundred’s playing conditions speed up T20?•Stu Forster/Getty Images

The decline in quality of the BBL and the growing gap between the tournament and international cricket has been a hot topic in Australia over the last few weeks following the national team’s disastrous tours of the Caribbean and Bangladesh.Brathwaite, who has played 213 T20 matches globally, was not as downbeat on the quality of domestic T20 cricket in Australia, although he explained why he felt local players were stronger in certain elements and weaker in others.”Obviously pace-bowling wise Australia is right up there in terms of quality and depth,” Brathwaite said. “And then batting wise, No.7 and 8 don’t bat many balls in the Big Bash. The top-order batting and the fast bowling stocks are very, very high and very, very deep when you look at Big Bash.”I think one of the beauties of Big Bash as a top-order bat, because the pitches are so good and so true, you can play normal cricket shots from ball one to ball 120. So it feels as though you can actually pick Test players from the Big Bash because there’s no need to do anything funky.”You can just play proper cricket shots, hit gaps, and get value for runs. So overall I think the quality of play is right up there for those reasons.”Brathwaite did cite the two-month, 14-game long home and away season as one of the BBL’s major weaknesses.”One of the drawbacks of the BBL is how long a tournament it is,” he said. “Whereas more of the other franchise tournaments are more compact in length. One of my favourite things about the BBL pre-Covid was the interactions with the families and the kids after the games. And I felt as though the Hundred tried to emulate that model.”