Once Head returns, Smith may have to give his No.3 position to Marsh, who opened in Head’s absence and play two-down

Sidharth Monga27-Oct-2023

As the snow on the higher peaks melted under the sun in perfect weather for cricket, Australia’s nets in Dharamsala suggested they were ever closer to playing a full-strength XI for the first time in this ODI World Cup.Travid Head, who narrowly missed out on the last game recovering from a broken left hand, batted in the nets for about 20 minutes without discernible discomfort, and had a bowl too. Marcus Stoinis, who missed the last match with a sore calf, had a long bowling stint and a decent hit towards the end of their session.However, Australia captain Pat Cummins finished his press conference before the training so there is no confirmation either of them will be back for the match against New Zealand. Yet he didn’t shy away from what has become a bit of a thorny topic since the last match: where does Head bat when he comes back, and consequently where does Mitchell Marsh bat?Related

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Mitchell Marsh will drop to No. 3 when Travis Head is back

The expectation all the while was for Head to slot right back into his opening role, for Marsh to bat at No. 3, and for Steven Smith to move a slot down. Smith, though, said after the last match that he was “a bit shocked” when told he would have to move down to No. 4.”It’s a different sort of mindset I think, when you come in at 3 to 4,” Smith had said. “So yeah, I got told if Trav was playing that I was going to be batting 4. I’ll do whatever the team wants. I’ve got a pretty good record at three, so I was a bit shocked in a way, but I’ll do what I need to for the team.Cummins said Smith didn’t take much convincing to agree to the switch. “I think he said himself, do whatever is best for the team,” Cummins said. “And Trav’s been amazing [at the top of the order] over the last 12 months. Mitch Marsh at the top has been amazing. Davey Warner’s obviously a superstar up there.”We think that’s the best way to set up the team and we’re really excited with how the batting line-up looks like. No, it’s been fine. We all do some roles that maybe is not your preference but it’s what’s best for the team so it’s fine.”They might only now be getting close to getting their best personnel together, but Cummins believes Australia have nailed the way they want to play after a slow start.”Our group’s big on talking about the style that we want to play,” Cummins said. “I think in the first two games not only did we not win, but I think we didn’t really nail the style that we wanted to play. In the last few games you’ve seen us be a bit more aggressive: batting and bowling. Bowling, everyone’s been really open-minded, tried different things; trying bouncers, different fields, one-over spells and it’s just been a real buy-in from the whole team, and yeah, it’s been fantastic last few games. That’s a standard we want to keep going with for the rest of the tournament.”

Melbourne Renegades are now in danger of finishing bottom having been promisingly placed for victory

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2023Melbourne Renegades appear at serious risk of claiming their second wooden spoon after a four-run loss to rivals the Melbourne Stars that went down to the final over with Australia’s past and future playing a key role.Renegades had looked on track, needing 26 off 19 balls with seven wickets in hand, when Georgia Wareham fell to Sophie Day then Annabel Sutherland dispatched Hayley Matthews and Sarah Coyte in consecutive balls in the 18th over to swing the momentum of see-sawing contest squarely into Stars’ favour.Related

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Sasha Moloney was able to defend 14 off the last over although there was a borderline wide not called on the fourth delivery.Sutherland earlier bowled Tammy Beaumount and had Harmanpreet Kaur caught behind after both internationals got a start on the road to 145 for victory.Jess Duffin needed a six from the last ball to snatch a win that had looked likely at the mid-point of the Renegades innings. But she could not find the rope past long off and the Stars held on.There is now a four-point gap between the seventh-placed Stars and Renegades, who likely need to win at least two of their last four games to climb from the bottom of the ladder. They have won only one of 10 matches this summer.Earlier, Meg Lanning led the Stars to 144 for 5 in her second knock since announcing her international retirement on Thursday.Dropped on 42, Lanning brought up her third half-century of the WBBL summer with a single to backward square leg in the 18th over.

رغم ارتباط اسمه مؤخرًا بإمكانية العودة إلى الدوري المصري عبر بوابة الأهلي، ومع وجود رغبة داخل نادي الزمالك لاستعادته، لم يتلق مصطفى محمد أي عروض رسمية من القطبين، وسط تكهنات متزايدة بشأن مستقبله مع نانت.

لكن الوجهة القادمة للمهاجم الدولي المصري قد تكون في الدوري السعودي، وتحديدًا مع نادي نيوم الصاعد حديثًا إلى دوري روشن.

اقرأ أيضًا | الزمالك لـ بطولات: نعم نفاوض مصطفى محمد.. وهكذا سنمول الصفقة

وكشف مصدر داخل نادي نيوم، في تصريحات خاصة لـ بطولات، عن دخول النادي في مفاوضات رسمية مع نانت للتعاقد مع مصطفى محمد خلال سوق الانتقالات الصيفية الحالية.

وقال المصدر: “نحن بالفعل في مفاوضات مع نانت لحسم صفقة مصطفى محمد، نحتاج إلى مهاجم جديد يكون بجوار ألكسندر لاكازيت الذي تقدم في السن، وسنستفيد منه غالبًا كمهاجم ثانٍ أو كصانع ألعاب”.

وأوضح: “قدمنا عرضًا بقيمة 10 ملايين يورو لحسم الصفقة، لكن نانت نادٍ صعب في التفاوض”.

وتابع: “بدأنا التواصل معهم خلال مفاوضات لضم المدافع ناثان زيزي ونجحنا، ونسبة نجاح صفقة مصطفى محمد الحالية هي 50%، لكننا سنواصل العمل لإنهائها ونحن واثقون”.

وعن إمكانية ضم لاعب الوسط إمام عاشور من الأهلي، ، علق المصدر: “لم نفكر مطلقًا في ضمه، لأن الفريق مكتمل في خط الوسط ولا يحتاج إلى تعزيز بهذا المركز حاليًا”.

MatériaMais Notícias

Júnior Santos chegou ao Botafogo em agosto deste ano com muita disposição para oferecer no setor ofensivo. Apesar das oscilações, o atacante vem sendo muito utilizado por Luís Castro nesta reta final de temporada.

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+Veja quais são os maiores campeões da Copa do Mundo

Desde a sua estreia contra o Juventude, o jogador atuou em todos os jogos do Glorioso no Campeonato Brasileiro. Por enquanto, o camisa 37 disputou dez partidas e marcou apenas um gol.

Nestes embates, Júnior Santos iniciou oito como titular e entrou duas vezes no decorrer do segundo tempo. Com o atacante em campo, o Botafogo obteve cinco vitórias, dois empates e três derrotas.

+Ao L!, Júnior Santos revela desejo de ficar no Botafogo, elogia Luís Castro e relembra momentos de dificuldade

JOGOS DO BOTAFOGO COM JÚNIOR SANTOS EM CAMPO

Juventude 2 x 2 Botafogo
Botafogo 0 x 1 Flamengo
Fortaleza 1 x 3 Botafogo
Botafogo 0 x 0 América-MG
Botafogo 2 x 0 Coritiba
Goiás 0 x 1 Botafogo
Botafogo 1 x 3 Palmeiras
Avaí 1 x 2 Botafogo
São Paulo 0 x 1 Botafogo
Botafogo 0 x 1 Internacional

Júnior Santos pertence aoSanfrecce Hiroshima e possui contrato no Botafogo até o fim do ano. Vale lembrar que o vínculo do atacante pode ser prorrogado para meados de 2023.

Independentemente do futuro, Luís Castro conta com Júnior Santos para os próximos jogos do Campeonato Brasileiro. Apesar da derrota sofrida no último domingo, o Botafogo ainda sonha com uma possível vaga na Libertadores.

BCCI secretary confirms tournament will begin in “second or third week” of February

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2023The second edition of the Women’s Premier League will take place in “one state” of India, starting from the “second or third week” of February. BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed as much on Saturday, talking to journalists after the WPL auction in Mumbai.”It is decided that we will have the tournament in February,” he said. “Most probably we will start in the second or third week.”As far as the venue is concerned, it will be held in one state only so that it is better logistically. Logistics are very important for us this time, next time we can figure it [having more venues] out.Related

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“We can do it either in Bangalore [Karnataka] also or Uttar Pradesh also. We have so many venues, even in Gujarat, where we have Ahmedabad, Rajkot and after a few years Baroda can build their own stadium. Basically, it is a joint call between the franchises and the BCCI. We will sit together and we will decide. We will let you know. It will be in one state, that is for sure.”Last year, the first edition of the WPL was played only in Mumbai, across two venues: the Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Sports Academy. India women’s ongoing international season, featuring series against England and Australia, will also solely be played in Mumbai. When asked if there was a plan for India Women to play in other cities or states, Shah said: “The domestic season is going on, so we will have to see – where the venue is available, we will have it. There are [other] matches happening in Gujarat, Chandigarh, Ranchi… it is not the case that we want to organise matches in Mumbai only.”The auction ahead of the second WPL was held in Mumbai on Saturday afternoon, with the uncapped Indian pair of Kashvee Gautam and Vrinda Dinesh commanding the biggest pay cheques.

Joao Felix's agent will hold talks with Chelsea to facilitate the forward's transfer to Benfica despite the clubs being far from an agreement.

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Joao Felix wants to return to boyhood club BenficaChelsea's valuation too high for BenficaAttacker's agent to mediate deal between the clubsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Felix's plans to return to Lisbon have come to a halt after Benfica and Chelsea weren't able to agree on the forward's valuation. According to , Jorge Mendes will now have to get personally involved to find a way out for his player and strike a deal between the two clubs. Mendes will talk to Chelsea's co-owner, Behdad Eghbali, to find an exit from Stamford Bridge for the 25-year-old.

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Chelsea paid Atletico Madrid €52 million (£45m/$60m) last year for the 2019 Golden Boy award winner. The player is now out of the club's plans and Benfica are the only viable option to offload the Portuguese. The London club want to recoup on their investment and have kept a price tag of €40m (£35m/$47m) on Felix; Benfica, on the other hand, want to sign 50 per cent of his rights for €20m (£17m/$23m).

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The Eagles can increase their bid for the ex-Atletico Madrid player, but it will still be way off the Blues' valuation. Chelsea have already declined to send Felix out on loan again and are looking for a permanent solution. The Portuguese forward has expressed his desire to play for his boyhood club and hence agreed to take a pay cut to aid the negotiations. Mendes will thus have to reach a common ground which benefits both parties.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR BENFICA & CHELSEA?

Benfica want to reunite Felix with his former coach Bruno Lage, under whom the forward rose to prominence. The Eagles have failed to win the domestic title for the past two campaigns and don't want to leave any stone unturned in their title pursuit in the upcoming season.

Driven by financial concerns, Chelsea have their own incentives to offload the player and should facilitate his transfer out of the club rather than playing hardball.

A year ago, Spencer Johnson hadn’t played a professional T20 match and it wasn’t long since he had been working as a landscape gardener. He still only has 20 official games under his belt and 17 wickets. But on Tuesday he became an IPL millionaire.While Mitchell Starc took the headlines for his record-setting price tag, it is a tale such as Johnson’s that is arguably more extraordinary as he went to Gujarat Titans for AU$1.78million. He had gone in with base price of 50 lakhs which is approximately AU$90,000.”Eighteen months [ago] I didn’t have a state deal or a Big Bash contract,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “I was working as a landscaper and greenskeeper. So fast-forward 18 months, yeah it’s definitely different situations.”Related

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• Tall, left-arm and fast: Spencer Johnson grasps his second chance

There was a time, not too long ago, when it looked like Johnson’s cricket career could be over. After suffering a stress fracture to his foot on his one-day debut for South Australia in 2017 he spent three years trying to get back on the park. In the end, last-ditch surgery was needed.”The surgeon said I’m not sure how this is going to go, I’ve never done this operation before,” Johnson told ESPNcricinfo in an interview in January. “And he was the best foot surgeon there was in Sydney. So that was really scary.”That conversation came during a breakout BBL campaign for Brisbane Heat where he soon got people talking. It wasn’t always the volume of wickets, but his nerves under pressure particularly at the death. Against Hobart Hurricanes he stopped Tim David from taking his team to victory and two days later against Melbourne Stars was too good for Marcus Stoinis.Spencer Johnson’s performances at the death stood out in last season’s BBL•Getty Images

Johnson has since become a target for overseas leagues with assignments in the Hundred, MLC and the Global T20 in Canada. The latter two do not appear in official statistics due to their lack of status, but he took nine wickets in nine games across those tournaments.In the Hundred he produced the stunning return of 3 for 1 against Manchester Originals and was handed Australia debuts in both T20Is and ODIs. After impressing in the Sheffield Shield for South Australia at the end of last season he had also been placed on standby during the Ashes in case Starc became unavailable.And then, in Dubai, after a selection of Australia’s World Cup squad had taken increasingly vast sums, the crores kept climbing for Johnson during the accelerated round of the auction and he eventually ended up at Titans where he sits second behind Rashid Khan as their most expensive player.”It’s obviously a pretty special moment, I never really thought I’d be in this situation,” Johnson said before heading to Melbourne to face Renegades in the BBL. “But it was nice to get on the FaceTime back home in Adelaide [with] mum and to see her smile. It’s not just my moment, I guess it’s a moment for my whole family and they’ve been there the whole way. So for them to experience it as well, it’s pretty special.”With this year being a mini auction and just 30 overseas spots up for grabs, Johnson thought his opportunity may not come. But it was a good night to be an Australian fast bowler. Between them, Starc, Pat Cummins, Johnson and Jhye Richardson went for more than AU$10 million.”I think the longer it went, I guess you start to lose a little bit of hope,” he said. “So the longer it was going, I think the less chance I had. But at the end of the day I was in a position where I was in the auction, and this time last year I wasn’t. So whatever happened was going to happen, and anything would have been a good result.”However, despite the vast sums of money on offer, Johnson does not want to go down the T20-only route and believes the red-ball game is actually where his strengths lie.”Ideally, I’d like to play more red ball,” he said. “I think my body’s just let me down over the last few years but my body’s hardening and I’m getting ready to play, hopefully, some longer format cricket, which is, I feel, my better format.”I think post-Big Bash, we’ll get back to South Australia and play the last four Shield games there. And then hopefully with a couple of performances, you never know what might happen.”

أشاد الإعلامي خالد الغندور، نجم الزمالك السابق، بالتصميم الجديد لقميص الفريق الأول لكرة القدم للموسم الكروي 2025-2026، مؤكدًا أنه يتميز بالأناقة والتفرد مقارنة بباقي أندية الدوري المصري الممتاز.

وكتب خالد الغندور عبر صفحته الرسمية على موقع التواصل الاجتماعي “فيس بوك”: “تيشرت نادي الزمالك في الموسم الجديد منتهى الشياكة، وأعتقد أنه الأجمل بين كل الفرق”.

وكان نادي الزمالك قد استلم مؤخرًا الدفعة الأولى من القمصان الجديدة من الشركة المصنعة، تمهيدًا لظهورها الرسمي الأول في مباراة الفريق أمام سيراميكا كليوباترا، المقرر إقامتها يوم الجمعة المقبلة في افتتاح مشوار الفريق ببطولة الدوري الممتاز.

طالع أيضًا | أحمد بلال: “مستحيل الزمالك ياخد الدوري”.. وطارق يحيى يرد بقوة: أنت بتألف؟

ومن المنتظر أن يُعرض الإعلان الرسمي للقميص الجديد خلال الساعات المقبلة، بمشاركة عدد من نجوم الفريق، في إطار خطة إدارة الزمالك لتجديد صورة الفريق وتطوير موارده التجارية.

ويواصل الزمالك تعزيز قائمته للموسم المقبل، حيث أبرم 8 صفقات حتى الآن في فترة الانتقالات الصيفية، شملت المهدي سليمان، شيكو بانزا، عمرو ناصر، أحمد شريف، آدم كايد، عبد الحميد معالي، أحمد ربيع، ومحمد إسماعيل.