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Worcestershire will host their championship fixture against Surrey at New Road as originally planned as the flood that struck the ground again last week has receded.

George Dobell08-May-2012Worcestershire will host their championship fixture against Surrey at New Road as originally planned as the flood that struck the ground again last week has receded.The club had decided to switch the match which starts on Wednesday to Kidderminster following flooding at New Road. But a spell of improved weather and the utilisation of improved drainage since the last major flood in 2007 has seen a swift improvement in the state of the outfield and spectator facilities and Worcestershire have made the decision to return to New Road.While some areas of the outfield are likely to remain damp, the pitch for the game is on the far side of the square – near the cathedral – and most of the affected areas are beyond the boundary. The flood waters never reached the pitch that has been allocated for the game.”The outfield is actually bone dry,” Worcestershire’s chief executive David Leatherdale told ESPNcricinfo. “We had half a million litres of water on there at one time, but it has drained completely and we could have played out there on Monday. The forecast still isn’t great, but the rivers are back down to their normal levels and there is no prospect of another flood.”The last week or so has been painful and it has cost us some money. But, with a new pavilion out of the floodwater, with new drainage and with the notification we had before the flooding, we were able to move everything out of the way, The flood in 2007 cost us over a million pounds; this one will have cost us thousands or tens of thousands.”The big difference this time was that the flood water was pretty clean. In 2007 we were left with a layer of silt over everything. This time you could hardly tell there has been any water here.”The game is also notable for the reappearance of Kevin Pietersen on domestic duty. Pietersen, who has been performing in the IPL, will be playing his only first-class match ahead of the Test series against West Indies. Former Worcestershire players Gareth Batty, who was given a hostile reception on his previous return to New Road, and Steven Davies also both return to their former club.George Edwards, a seamer who has been impressing in the 2nd XI, is included in Surrey’s 13-man squad. Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker are not available, however, as they are required for the England Lions fixture against West Indies.

Andy Flower has described England’s loss to Pakistan in the UAE as “the wake-up call no one wanted to get.”

George Dobell in Abu Dhabi29-Jan-2012

Andy Flower, condemned to his first Test series defeat since he took up the England coaching job on a permanent basis, has described their loss to Pakistan in the UAE as “the wake-up call no one wanted to get.”Flower laid the responsibility for the two heavy defeats in Dubai and Abu Dhabi squarely at the feet of England’s batsmen and urged them to “face up to facts” and show “courage” in confronting their issues with high-quality spin bowling.England’s dramatic collapse in the second Test, when they were dismissed for 72 in pursuit of a target of 145, leaves them in danger of conceding their No. 1 Test ranking to South Africa if they do not win the final Test in Dubai. A 2-0 or 3-0 defeat, coupled with a 3-0 win for South Africa in New Zealand in March, would be enough for South Africa to take the top spot.Their long-standing reputation as strugglers in Asian conditions has also been painfully confirmed. In 19 Tests in India, Pakistan, Sri lanka and now the Gulf since winning in Sri Lanka in 2001, England have lost nine, drawn nine and won one – and a sixth series defeat in seven is now inevitable.”This is a great challenge for all of us,” Flower said. “We’ve got another Test, a one-day series, a couple of Twenty20 games and then we’ve also got Test series in Sri Lanka and India before the year is out. So these issues will not disappear and we’ve got to face them with skill and a bit of courage. We’ve got to be a lot better than we were yesterday. Each individual will have to work very hard in working out his method of scoring.”Yesterday was tough watching for anyone who loves England cricket. The guys played some really good cricket to get us into that position to chase a total of 145 to win a Test. It is exactly the sort of position you want to be in. But then we weren’t good enough to deal with their spinners; we weren’t skilful enough and we didn’t deal with the pressure well enough. We have to face up to those facts.Chasing a target of just 145, England’s passive approach – Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook laboured for 15 overs in scoring 21 – allowed Pakistan’s spin bowlers to build pressure on the batsmen and rendered them close to strokeless at times.”They made familiar mistakes,” Flower said. “We need our batsmen to learn. We didn’t put any pressure on their bowlers in the second innings. We allowed them to bowl and create pressure. The conditions to play against quality spinners were difficult and we weren’t good enough. We realise that we haven’t been veryskilful in dealing with that type of cricket.As demands sounded for changes in the third Test, with the Essex batsman Ravi Bopara looking certain to be given an opportunity, Flower said that he would not be afraid to drop players if necessary.”Continuity of selection has been part of our strength but very obviously we have to pick players who are most adept at dealing with these conditions,” Flower said. “That is what we tried to do. We have lost the series now and of course we have to go into this third Test and pick what we think is the best XI to try and win the game. If that means making a change here and there, then we won’t be afraid to do that.”Flower was keen to credit those England players who had enjoyed a good game and the excellent performance of the Pakistan team.”Maybe we dropped a couple of catches in that first innings that were quite important, but other than that the bowlers and fielders were outstanding and Monty Panesar was great in his comeback game. Jonathan Trott and Alastair Cook were outstanding in that partnership of 139. Stuart Broad was outstanding; he played an aggressive, courageous knock to give us the lead – that was a match-turning performance from him both with ball and bat.”It’s also right to praise the Pakistan team for what they have done. They beat us fair and square. They have beaten us properly in two matches. They have fought hard and worked hard at their game and in a way I’m very happy for them. It’s good for their cricket and it’s good for their country.”With all the attention falling on an underperforming batting line-up, England have decided not to send for a replacement for the injured seam bowler, Chris Tremlett. Instead the England management have reasoned that the Lions players in contention will gain more benefit from match practice on their tour of Sri Lanka and that, with the likes of Steven Finn and Graham Onions already with the senior squad, England have most bases covered.England have delayed the announcement of their squad for the limited-overs section of this tour until the end of the third Test. It remains unclear whether Tim Bresnan, who has returned to bowling in England, will have sufficiently recovered from his elbow surgery to warrant selection.

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O bicho pegou no desembarque do Bahia, em Salvador, nesta sexta-feira. Insatisfeitos com a péssima campanha da equipe no Brasileirão, cerca de 20 torcedores apareceram no aeroporto e cobraram os jogadores, Enderson Moreira e principalmente a diretoria, pelo desempenho no ano. Além da fraca campanha no nacional, a derrota na final da Copa do Nordeste foi lembrada pelas organizadas.

O protesto das organizadas vem em momento delicado, já que no próximo fim de semana, o Esquadrão de Aço encara o Vitória, na Arena Fonte Nova, pelo Brasileirão.

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Após 13 rodadas do Brasileirão, o Bahia está na 17ª colocação, com 13 pontos e ocupa uma das posições na temida zona do rebaixamento.

Intikhab Alam, head of the committee appointed to find Pakistan’s new coach, has said they may need to go with a foreigner since they wanted someone with the experience of coaching an international team. Zaheer Abbas, a member of the committee, and Ramiz Raja, who is assisting the committee, had both said they would prefer a local coach as he would have a better knowledge of the unique way in which Pakistani cricket functions. However, Alam, who has himself had two stints as coach of the national team and was recently replaced as team manager, said looking exclusively at coaches from within the country would limit their options.”Naturally we will be considering local coaches, but the fact that we want people with international experience would obviously reduce the chances of some domestic coaches being shortlisted,” Alam said. “I know opinion may differ on the matter and perhaps the other committee members won’t agree with me on everything. But we will reach a consensus in the end. I don’t see any real conflict in shortlisting names.”Abbas and Raja had cited the political situation in Pakistan as something that may make it difficult for a foreign coach to adjust, but Pakistan’s last foreign coach Geoff Lawson said he had no trouble when he was in Pakistan and in fact thought another foreigner was the way for them to go.The two names that have emerged as candidates from within Pakistan are Aaqib Javed and Mudassar Nazar. Javed has been involved in coaching within Pakistan for a decade now, having started at the Lahore Regional Academy and then moved on to stints as Pakistan Under-19 coach and head coach at the National Cricket Academy. He has been involved with the national team on-and-off since 2009, first as bowling coach and then as assistant coach, from which post he was removed before the Zimbabwe tour and replaced with Ijaz Ahmed. Nazar has coached Pakistan before, for a brief period between 2001 and 2002, and also coached Kenya in 2005, apart from roles as head coach of the NCA in Pakistan and then as part of the coaching staff at the ICC’s Global Cricket Academy.Nazar has himself backed Javed to be the next coach. “I have lot of faith in Aaqib as he has come through the Pakistan system,” Nazar told . “He has been working in different roles for the last ten years. He is a good coach and I think he should be given a chance. I would be happy if he was given the role, provided he is given some support with a batting coach.”The final decision on who will replace Waqar Younis after the tour of Zimbabwe will be made by the PCB, Alam said. “We will be drawing up a list of coaches and recommending names to the PCB, who will then make a call.”Given Pakistan’s history of conflicts occurring between coaches and players, with outgoing coach Waqar’s public dispute with former one-day captain Shahid Afridi being the most recent example, Alam said the team needed a coach who could handle individual players. “It’s a big task, but we want to find people who have already coached an international team and have a good reputation, so we have be very thorough while shortlisting the candidates. We want a coach with good man-management skills, who can cope with the differing psychological make-ups of players; his own cricketing experience must also measure up.”The committee will pick a new coach before Pakistan’s series against Sri Lanka in the UAE this October.

Alex Hales,a batsman who is beginning to warrant the attention of the England selectors, hauled Nottinghamshire back into the match

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge12-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Steve Kirby made early breakthroughts but Nottinghamshire closed in on Somerset’s total•PA Photos

Stuart Broad did what was necessary to remain the centre of attention here by picking up the 13th five-wicket haul of his career. His performance was rightly put in its place though, as a sub-plot to the bigger story, as Alex Hales, 22, a batsman who is beginning to warrant the attention of the England selectors, hauled Nottinghamshire back into the match with the second century of his first-class career.It was a moment he greeted with a measure of relief as well as pleasure, having developed a tendency to lay the foundations of good scores without making them count. When he reached 50 it was the 14th time he had done so in 46 first-class innings, which is a measure of how often he has been frustrated.There is always the danger, in such circumstances, for mental barriers to emerge, which is probably why he celebrated with a clenched fist rather than any more exuberant display of elation. It signalled determination and the feeling that he had proved something to himself.Then again, a little impetuosity is forgivable in a batsman of relative youth, particularly from a natural stroke-maker, endowed with the advantage of height and strength. And pitches at Trent Bridge in the three seasons since he made his Championship debut have hardly been the ideal surface on which to build confidence.A broken jaw inflicted by a ball from Yorkshire’s Ajmal Shahzad early in May this year, moreover, has hardly been conducive to uninhibited progress. Yet he has scores of fifty or above in six of his last eight first-class innings either side of the injury, and has outshone David Hussey and Adam Voges, Nottinghamshire’s two Australians, in their successful Twenty20 campaign.This innings was not without errors. A leading edge on 59 just eluded the fingertips of Chris Jones at mid-off, while James Hildreth got both hands to a difficult chance at backward point when he was on 68.He went to 50 with a four and celebrated with a six off Murali Kartik, but mindful of having been out six times in the 80s and 90s, he negotiated the last 15 runs of the century with due care, which was just as well given that Steve Kirby was bowling particularly well at the time. But finally he was presented with an opportunity to cut Kartik for four to move to 102.His century followed a fluent 57 from Voges in a stand of 101 for the fourth wicket, which looked to have the legs to go further had the Australian not left a ball from Adam Dibble that cut back and took his off stump. It was young seamer Dibble’s first Championship wicket.Steven Mullaney, dropped at second slip by Marcus Trescothick on 29, played some pleasing shots as he and Hales added 87 for the fifth wicket before Mullaney was caught behind off Kartik, one short of a half-century. Hales is still there on 130, having given Nottinghamshire the substance they needed in response to Somerset’s 386, after Neil Edwards, Riki Wessels and Samit Patel had all gone cheaply.Somerset, who had been 341 for 5 overnight after Broad’s dismissal of Hildreth shortly before stumps, were bowled out for 386, having lost their last six wickets for 48 in a way that emphasised how well Hildreth and Craig Kieswetter had played in their 290-run partnership.Kieswetter passed his previous career-best when he pushed Broad away for two off the back foot to move to 154 in the first over of the day, but Broad claimed his third wicket when his appeal for lbw against Steve Kirby was granted by umpire Neil Mallender to the visible annoyance of the batsman.Kirby’s thumping of the turf with his bat after the finger had gone up will not have pleased Marcus Trescothick, who is already facing a possible ban because of his side’s poor disciplinary record. Trescothick is due to face an ECB tribunal on Friday because five of his players have had disciplinary issues in the last 12 months, which may explain why he has been ‘rested’ from Somerset’s three-day match against India this weekend, in which the England captain, Andrew Strauss, is playing as a guest.Kieswetter fell nibbling a perfect away swinger by Andre Adams, who claimed his fourth wicket when Peter Trego skied one to backward point. Broad, whose bowling so far has probably encouraged national selector Geoff Miller without removing all doubts from his mind, completed the 13th five-wicket haul of his first-class career and his first for a year by dismissing the debutant, Adam Dibble, and Murali Kartik.He has an impressive record for Nottinghamshire, for whom he has taken 53 wickets in only 10 matches. As a press box colleague pointed out, though, his victims here are hardly or the calibre of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid.However, his captain, Chris Read, who as wicketkeeper is ideally placed to offer an assessment, was impressed enough to offer only compliments. “From my point of view, he bowled with good pace, moved the ball off the pitch and through the air, and to get five wickets was a fine return,” he said, adding that he did not believe the selectors were about to lose faith in him.”He has been among the leaders of the England attack in the last couple of years. He is still a young bowler who bowls at 90 mph and we all know what he can do with his height and the bounce he can generate.”

New Zealand opener Martin Guptill found his form at the right time to fireDerbyshire to a five-run Friends Life t20 victory over Durham at Derby

10-Jun-2011
Scorecard
New Zealand opener Martin Guptill found his form at the right time to fireDerbyshire to a five-run Friends Life t20 victory over Durham at Derby.Guptill hit 60 off 43 balls and Wayne Madsen made his first half-century in thecompetition as the Falcons scored 183 for three to set up an opening win in theNorth Group.Gordan Muchall led Durham’s chase with 62, but after Derbyshire’s spinnersremoved the dangerous Paul Collingwood and Ian Blackwell cheaply, the Dynamoscame up short on 178 for five.Guptill looked in good touch from the start as he dispatched the second andthird balls of the innings from Graham Onions to the mid-wicket boundary.The Durham seamers tended to pitch too short and Guptill and Wes Durston tookadvantage until Gareth Breese stemmed the flow with his off-spin.But Guptill still reached his maiden 50 for Derbyshire off 35 balls beforelaunching Ian Blackwell over mid-wicket for six.The opening pair put on 88 in 11 overs, but when Durston tried to reverse sweepBreese he was caught behind for 25 and Guptill followed in the spinner’s nextover caught at extra cover off a full toss.Chesney Hughes hit Breese over long off for the second six of the innings butBreese took a fine running catch to remove him when he pulled Onions to deepmid-wicket in the 15th over.The Falcons were in danger of falling short until Madsen improvised well toreach 50 from only 28 balls as 53 came from the last four overs.The South African ensured Durham faced a challenging chase but Mustard andMuchall quickly moved into overdrive despite Falcons skipper Luke Suttonrotating his bowlers.Muchall reached his half-century off 30 balls and the pair equalled the Falconsopening stand before Mustard gave Hughes the charge with rain falling and wasstumped for 36.Hughes varied his pace intelligently to restrict the batsmen to just oneboundary in his four overs and with young spinner Tom Clarke also keeping ittight, the pressure told on Blackwell who drove the teenager into the hands oflong on.Durston then landed two big blows as Muchall skied to cover and Collingwood’sattempt to clear the ropes landed in the hands of deep mid-wicket.The Dynamos needed 56 off the last four overs and despite Dale Benkenstein andDavid Miller plundering 18 from Durston’s third over, the advantage shiftedtowards the Falcons when Benkenstein pulled a Steffan Jones full toss to deepmid-wicket.Although Breese pulled Tim Groenewald for six, 15 off the final over was toomuch for Durham as Jones used all his experience to seal victory.

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Cria do Ceará, o atacante Arthur Cabral, 19 anos, é o artilheiro do futebol brasileiro (16 gols) neste início de temporada e conquistou o bicampeonato cearense pelo Vozão, no último domingo, após vitória sobre o Fortaleza, por 2 a 1. Fundamental na conquista estadual marcando 12 gols e com quatro assistências, o goleador vibrou com o título e destaca a importância do torcedor alvinegro.

– Essa conquista significa muito para o nosso grupo de jogadores e todos que trabalham no Ceará, desde o porteiro até o presidente. O nosso torcedor merece. Joga junto, lota estádio e incentiva. É muito bom ver a massa feliz. Merecemos a conquista por tudo que plantamos. No final prevaleceu a força do elenco. Isso é Ceará – disse o artilheiro do Vozão.

Cobiçado por alguns clubes do Brasil, como Grêmio e Atlético Mineiro, Arthur Cabral mostra tranqüilidade em relação ao seu futuro e garante que o único pensamento dele é campo e bola.

– Nós últimos dias muito tem se falado do meu nome em alguns clubes. Sou jogador do Ceará e tenho contrato até 2019. Estou aqui desde os 15 anos, tenho identificação com o clube e com o torcedor. Sobre o meu futuro, eu deixo nas mãos do meu pai. Ele cuida disso com meu empresário Luis Portella, que está comigo desde que cheguei ao Ceará e o Paulo Pitombeira. Agora é festejar essa conquista e terça já pensar no Brasileirão da série A, pois é uma competição importante para o clube – finalizou o Rei Arthur, como é chamado pela torcida do Vozão.

وجه قائد منتخب إسبانيا الأسبق، سيرجيو راموس، رسالة إلى لاعبي الماتادور، بعد الخسارة أمام المغرب بركلات الجزاء الترجيحية والخروج من دور الـ16 من كأس العالم قطر 2022.

وفشل منتخب إسبانيا في تسجيل أي ركلة جزائية أمام العملاق المغربي، ياسين بونو، حيث انتهت النتيجة 3-0 بعد التعادل السلبي في الأشواط الأصلية والإضافية.

اقرأ أيضًا.. جوتي يوضح سبب تفوق المغرب على إسبانيا في كأس العالم

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ونشر راموس رسالة عبر حسابه الرسمي على موقع التواصل الاجتماعي “إنستجرام”، وكتب: “اليوم أكثر من أي وقت مضى، فخور بعلمنا، فخور ببلدنا، فخور بلاعبينا”.

وتابع: “إسبانيا لا تخسر، إسبانيا تتعلم دائمًا، إسبانيا تسقط، تتعثر، لكنها تنهض وتستمر”.

وأتم: “سنعود وسنعود أقوى، تحيا إسبانيا”.

Australia coach Tim Nielsen has suggested that batsman Callum Ferguson has a “big chance” of playing in the first Ashes Test at Brisbane on November 25 after an impressive start to the domestic season.Ferguson cracked 129 off 143 balls in a Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia at Adelaide on Saturday, an innings watched by national selector Greg Chappell. His knock increased the pressure on Test incumbents Mike Hussey and Marcus North, both of whom failed in WA’s first innings of that match.”I think he’s a big chance, runs do the talking, don’t they?” said Nielsen. “I think he’s done a tremendous job. He’s gone from strength to strength over the last couple of years. He had a real breakthrough season two years ago then unfortunately hurt his knee. He’s come back from injury and made runs whenever he’s been given the opportunity.”All he can keep doing is making sure that whenever the opportunity comes he puts his best foot forward and gets runs. There’s plenty of pressure on spots and plenty for the selectors to think about.”Both Hussey and North fell to offspinner Aaron O’Brien, who picked up four wickets as Western Australia were bowled out for 295 in their first innings and forced to follow-on. Hussey, who has scored two Test centuries in almost two years, drove his first ball straight to cover while North, who was dropped before scoring, was bowled for 10 not long afterwards.”It would be nice for him to get some runs, but we can’t panic too much,” Nielsen said of Hussey. “That [a golden duck] is going to happen in the game of cricket. The thing for ‘Huss’ would be to get a couple of really big scores to confirm in his mind that he’s back in form.”Nielsen said North, who has made five centuries from 19 Tests but averages under 38, needed to demonstrate consistency at Test level. “There’s been a lot of talk about Marcus North, for example. He’s made five Test match hundreds now – there is a lot of blokes that play 50 Test matches and don’t make five Test match hundreds.”Every chance these players get is another chance for them to push their own cause for being in that [Test] side. Marcus is coming off a Test match hundred, he played really well in the one-day game against Victoria. That’s one of the things in his favour, when he goes back to the domestic level he plays well and shows that he plays well. The challenge for us and for him is to show he can be consistent at that top level.”

Newcastle United are set to miss out on target Nico Schlotterbeck with the Freiburg centre-back close to a move to German giants Borussia Dortmund.

What’s the story?

According to 90min, the 22-year-old, who had been a January target for the Toon Army, is set to stay in Germany and make the move up the Bundesliga table to join Dortmund this summer.

The Freiburg defender opted against a move midway through the season in order to fully weigh up his options and will now snub a move to St.James’ Park for the Signal Iduna Park.

PIF and Howe headed for their first error

With the takeover of Newcastle by PIF, the North East outfit instantly became ambitious, with the upcoming summer transfer window set to see serious spending.

However, it already looks as though the Magpies will miss out on one defensive target in Sven Botman, who could be headed for AC Milan, and now missing out on another isn’t a great start to PIF’s dynasty.

Granted, the major first step was to secure Premier League survival this term which looks all but guaranteed with Newcastle on 40 points with five games remaining.

Moreover, Schlotterbeck would’ve undoubtedly improved Eddie Howes’ side’s defence.

The 22-year-old has been a kingpin in Freiburg’s success this term, with the Black Forest club currently fifth in the German top tier.

Averaging a colossal 81.6 touches per game, the centre-back is incredibly active, making 2.8 interceptions, 2.4 tackles and four clearances a league match, according to SofaScore.

Moreover, the German’s passing is excellent at 81%, averaging 50 passes a match whilst winning 67% of all duels.

Despite newfound solidity over recent months, Newcastle are still of the Premier League’s worst sides defensively, having conceded 55 goals in 33 games. Only Watford, Norwich and Leeds have shipped more.

According to SofaScore, January signing Dan Burn has been the Magpies’ best centre-back this term, but Schlotterbeck’s greater quality is clear to see.

Burn averages 57.3 touches a match whilst making 1.5 interceptions, 1.3 tackles and 4.6 clearances with the Englishman’s passing also at 81%, although the defender averages 35.8 passes.

Furthermore, the 29-year-old wins fewer duels with a 58% success rate.

Despite having serious ambitions, right now Newcastle aren’t the same sort of prospect as Dortmund are and will now have to seek new defensive targets.

However, it is crucial for the football club’s success that Howe and PIF aren’t snubbed again as they look to reshape the structure of the Magpies as missing out on both Botman and Schlotterbeck should be seen as a disaster.

AND in other news: Fewer passes than Dubravka: NUFC dud who lost the ball every 2.3 touches let Howe down