Tag Futebol

Leeds United supporters are arguably blessed at this moment in time as the West Yorkshire giants regularly flirt with promotion up to the Premier League.

Not too long ago, the Whites were seen as mid-table fodder in the Championship, with a number of poor finishes in the competitive division regularly dampening the mood at Elland Road before Marcelo Bielsa graced the famed dugout.

Daniel Farke will hope he can follow in Bielsa’s footsteps by guiding his side to a triumphant title success in the second tier, with the German already having to make some cutthroat calls to try and steer his team to said glory by ditching Illan Meslier.

What the future holds for Illan Meslier at Elland Road

It’s fair to say Meslier finds himself on extremely thin ice at Leeds at this moment in time, with stand-in goalkeeper Karl Darlow the chosen man now in between the sticks away from the wobbly Frenchman.

Before that, Meslier had started every Championship game available to him this season, but errors seeping into his game at an alarming rate means the former Newcastle United ‘keeper is now Farke’s surprise number one.

Coincidentally, the aforementioned Bielsa was the first boss at the Elland Road helm to hand Meslier senior chances, with the ex-Lorient shot-stopper up to 214 appearances and 72 clean sheets for the promotion chasers before falling out of favour.

Now, it seems Meslier will be heading for the exit door, with rampant reports suggesting that Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale is on the summer shopping list.

Frustratingly, if Leeds could reverse time, they’d potentially opt to have a different stopper back over splashing excessive wads of cash on new personnel.

Former Leeds goalkeeper is now better than Meslier

Of course, if Darlow continues to perform competently, he too will be in the running to be Leeds’ first-choice ‘keeper for the foreseeable.

Yet, if Farke had a figure like Kasper Schmeichel at his disposal right now, it would be a no-brainer as to who would pull on the Whites’ number one jersey, with the Danish veteran going on to have a distinguished career after leaving Leeds behind all the way back in 2011.

Simon Grayson was the boss in the Whites hot-seat when a far younger and rawer Schmeichel departed the building, with the Scandinavian stopper only going on to make 40 appearances for his ex-employers all across the 2010/11 campaign.

He wasn’t helped by the poor environment he found himself in, considering the West Yorkshire titans finished outside the playoff spots in seventh during his one and only full season, with Schmeichel only able to collect a low ten clean sheets along the way.

Games played

603

Clubs played for

4

Goals conceded

710

Clean sheets

192

Premier League title wins

1

Looking at the table above, however, the Copenhagen-born ‘keeper has never let this swift exit from Elland Road impact him, with Schmeichel going on to assert himself as a Premier League regular at Leicester City where he even lifted a dramatic top-flight title.

Picking up a bumper 192 clean sheets since walking out of the Whites too, the “outstanding” 38-year-old – as he was once lauded by his ex-Foxes boss in Brendan Rodgers – is continuing to age like a fine wine with current side Celtic, who are funnily enough managed by the aforementioned Rodgers.

A regular in the Champions League this season, if his wealth of experience wasn’t enough to prove his credentials above Meslier, the Bhoys’ number one also has a gleaming record of 22 clean sheets this campaign from 40 appearances.

Of course, playing for Leeds in the Championship is a far trickier situation than playing your part in Celtic’s dominance over Scotland, but the Whites must still rue letting Schmeichel leave so prematurely, especially with their recent ‘keeper woes.

Not just Darlow: Farke has revived £70k-per-week Leeds star's career

Karl Darlow is not the only Leeds star who has revived his Elland Road career.

ByDan Emery Apr 13, 2025

Jadeja’s game has turned him into a globally respected cricketer who remains somewhat under-analysed, and whose nuts and bolts remain somewhat underappreciated

Karthik Krishnaswamy09-Oct-20255:13

Jadeja on vice-captaincy, batting higher and playing without Ashwin

Sometimes, great bowlers bowl balls of high quality at such frequency that the viewer doesn’t quite realise how good they are. Take the ball Ravindra Jadeja bowled to dismiss Brandon King on day three of the Ahmedabad Test between India and West Indies. The trajectory drew the batter forward, and the length didn’t let him get near the pitch of the ball.Having put King in that position, the ball could have had him in trouble no matter what it did next. On this occasion, it turned sharply to find the outside edge of the sticker on King’s hesitantly prodding SS bat.It may have looked, to the viewer, like this ball hung momentarily above King’s eyeline – and it did – but it still left Jadeja’s hand at 91kph. Generations of visiting left-arm orthodox spinners have watched Jadeja bowl ball after ball on Indian pitches with this combination of pace, trajectory and fizzing revolutions, and watched him do this with a run-up and delivery style that looks utterly natural, and utterly effortless. They’ve all tried to match him, and most have only discovered how difficult it is to do what he does.Ask Jomel Warrican. He has a terrific record in every other Asian country. In nine Test matches in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, he has 52 wickets at an average of 19.92, with two five-wicket hauls. West Indies have won three of those nine Tests.Related

• 'It's about taking the right options' – Gill on first series win as Test captain

• Can Rahul close gap between his stats and his ceiling?

• India trying to ready Reddy for greater challenges

• India look for clean sweep in cool Delhi as West Indies continue search for solutions

In India, however, Warrican has taken four wickets in three Tests – including one against Afghanistan – at 67.25. While those numbers might have looked better had he had the chance of bowling on the dustbowls India have prepared in many of their series in recent years, all his Tests against India in India have come on true, traditional Indian pitches.On pitches like that, you need Jadeja’s combination of pace, revolutions, trajectory and accuracy to make an impact on batters.Throughout India’s innings in Ahmedabad, Warrican struggled to achieve the full combination. He naturally bowls at a slower pace than Jadeja, typically in the 77-81kph range, and like so many visiting spinners before him, he tried to bowl quicker: this was how he began his first spell. But his lengths suffered, and his fields, even at the start of his spell, suggested he was aware this might happen, with deep point back on the boundary for damage control on the occasions when he dropped short.Ravindra Jadeja celebrates his sixth Test century•Associated PressWhen he came back for his later spells, Warrican mostly bowled at his natural pace, and his lengths immediately improved. But the slower pace gave India’s batters time either to go deep in their crease or step out to get to the pitch of the ball, so the better lengths did not trouble them unduly.And to one of India’s batters, the lengths simply didn’t seem to matter. That batter, of course, was Jadeja, who stepped out gleefully to Warrican and launched him for five big sixes, hitting cleanly and with the turn, on his way to a breezy, unbeaten 104.Given how dominant India were, Warrican didn’t do all that badly: 29 overs at an economy rate of 3.51, and the wicket of KL Rahul achieved via a clever change of pace and line. India’s other batters scored 55 off 105 balls off Warrican. Jadeja knocked him around for 47 off 69.Put yourself in Warrican’s shoes. You’re a left-arm spinner who’s trying extremely hard to do what Jadeja does with the ball. You do an honest job, within your limitations. Then Jadeja himself comes along, bat in hand, and makes you look utterly ineffectual.ESPNcricinfo LtdQuite naturally, Jadeja ended the Ahmedabad Test with the Player-of-the-Match award. It was his 11th in Test cricket; since his debut, only Joe Root, Steven Smith (both 13) and Ben Stokes (12) have won more. If that’s elite company, how about this three-man club he’s 10 runs away from joining? Or this one-man club that’s also, quite possibly, within his reach? Jadeja and Kapil Dev. We are going to hear a lot of conversations involving both those names.That’s the level of cricketer Jadeja is, while being a batter and bowler of deceptively simple processes that are all about repeatability and percentages. The high level at which he executes these processes, ball after ball, isn’t immediately apparent to the viewer, and the subtleties of his craft, such as his clever use of the bowling crease to vary his angles, only really come alive from watching him over long periods. He doesn’t make any special effort to illuminate his methods to his fans, and he routinely tells mediapersons at press conferences – often framing this in humour – that he doesn’t want to give away his secrets.All this has turned him into a globally respected cricketer whose game remains somewhat under-analysed, and whose nuts and bolts remain somewhat underappreciated. So go watch that ball to King again, and give it the reverence it deserves. Go back and watch all those other seemingly routine dismissals of all those batters from all those teams over all those years, and marvel. You’ll miss the inevitability of Jadeja’s excellence when it’s no longer running live on your screen.

With both KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja ruled out of the second Test, the hosts have to make some big selection decisions

Alagappan Muthu29-Jan-202411:42

Newsroom: How do India replace Jadeja and Rahul?

On the back of a loss to start the series, India have lost their best batter from the Hyderabad Test and one of their biggest match-winners at home to injury. KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja have been ruled out of the second Test in Visakhapatnam which starts on Friday and India face a bit of a challenge in balancing their XI, starting with…

Who is the new No. 4?

Shreyas Iyer, probably. He did not cover himself in glory in the second innings – but then again none of the Indian batters did. When the loss became a possibility, the pressure seemed to get to them and the aggression that they showed that threw England spinners off their lengths in the first innings vanished. India will need someone in the top four who can do that and Iyer is as good an option as they’ve got right now. Because all of a sudden, after Rohit Sharma at the top, the experience that India can call on in their batting line-up has fallen into a crater.

Who replaces Jadeja

Kuldeep Yadav is the frontrunner. He has three five-fors in eight Tests. He has been in fine form in limited-overs cricket, displaying the very trait that is essential in the longer format – accuracy. That along with the X-factor of his wristspin made him a tempting option even in Hyderabad but India went with Axar Patel because they wanted the batting depth. Now with Jadeja out, their hand has been forced.Related

• Jadeja and Rahul ruled out of second Test against England

• Bumrah reprimanded for physical contact with Pope during Hyderabad Test

• India slide to fifth on WTC table after defeat to England in Hyderabad

• India fall short in the Hyderabad sweep-stakes

India have called up two other spinners to the squad as well – Saurabh Kumar, a veteran from domestic cricket and an ever-present in the India A squad, and Washington Sundar, a decent left-hand batter which helps when you’re playing an opposition with two left-arm spinners, one of whom has just made history.The trouble with replacing Jadeja is that he is among their best bowlers and their best batters in the recent past. Kuldeep and Saurabh will give India reliability in one discipline – at least in terms of trusting them to bowl a ton of overs – but not in the other. Washington is the other way around. He has almost as many fifties as he has wickets in Tests.

Rajat Patidar vs Sarfaraz Khan

Patidar would be the front-runner considering he was already in the squad as Virat Kohli’s replacement, but is there place for Sarfaraz as well in the XI? India need batting depth and those two have been on the fringes of selection for a while.Patidar is known for his big-match temperament. And Sarfaraz, who was due in Bengal to play for Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy but is now another step closer to making his long-awaited international debut, tends to score lots of runs quickly. One of them is almost certain to make it to the XI in Visakhapatnam, but if India choose to replace Jadeja with Kuldeep then they might consider picking both Patidar and Sarfaraz to shore up the batting.Playing both of them, though, will mean India have to drop the fifth bowler and go with a four-man attack. Mohammed Siraj bowled only four of the 64.3 overs in the first innings and seven of 102.1 in the second, so will India borrow from England’s playbook and pick just the one fast bowler?

As India prepare to play their 1000th ODI, ESPNcricinfo looks back at some of their most iconic moments in the format

Yash Jha04-Feb-2022Belief from the Berbice win

Eleven weeks ahead of the third men’s ODI World Cup, India’s ODI record made for bleak reading: 11 wins in 38 matches. And although six of those wins had come outside India, only one happened to be in a World Cup, when they beat East Africa in 1975.But in Berbice, and amid a raft of issues – Sunil Gavaskar’s sacking as captain, and talk of a zonal rift in the camp – they became the first team to beat a full-strength West Indies in their own backyard.Gavaskar played one of his finest one-day knocks – 90 off 117 balls – and Kapil Dev bludgeoned 72 off just 38 deliveries as India posted 282 in 47 overs, a score which would remain their highest ODI total till 1987. The seamers Kapil, Balwinder Sandhu and Madan Lal then took two wickets apiece, while Ravi Shastri took 3 for 48, as the two-time world champions were held to 255.”It’s this particular win that helps convince many of us that we may well be able to pull our weight together as a team,” Kapil would write in his autobiography .Kapil Dev cracked 175* off 138 balls and rescued India from the depths of 17 for 5•Getty ImagesTurnaround at Tunbridge Wells

The game that no one saw; yet the game that no one has forgotten.India began their 1983 World Cup campaign with a famous win over West Indies at Old Trafford – the first time the champions had lost a World Cup match – but one week on, having suffered a heavy loss to Australia before West Indies avenged their defeat, India had entered virtual knockout territory.And against Zimbabwe, the pressure told: the wheels had come off less than an hour into the match. After deciding to bat, India’s top five were all gone with the total at 17, as Peter Rawson and Kevin Curran did the early damage. And it was after this that Kapil cracked 175* off 138 balls, single-handedly taking India all the way to 266.Quite possibly, it was the most important innings in Indian cricket history, arguably one of the finest ever in limited-overs cricket and certainly the greatest knock for which there is no footage available anywhere.As Kapil soared to a then world-record ODI score, India’s flight of fancy had truly taken off.Lords at Lord’s

Zimbabwe had been defeated, Australia were brushed aside in a virtual quarter-final and England were eliminated in the semi-finals. Yet, no one gave India a chance in the final, as they stepped onto Lord’s to take on West Indies for the third time in the tournament.With India bowled out for 183 and Viv Richards having led West Indies to 50 for 1, even the optimistic few had given up. But that is when Richards top-edged a pull off Madan Lal, and Kapil at square leg turned around and ran, and kept running until he completed the catch close to the boundary rope.A few hours later, with West Indies crumbling as Lal and Player-of-the-Final Mohinder Amarnath bagged three wickets each, the Indian flag was flying over the home of cricket. The world champions had been dislodged; a force had awakened.If you thought 1983 was a fluke, 1985 proved you wrong•Getty ImagesAnother global crown

Less than two years after the 1983 World Cup triumph, another ODI crown was up for grabs – this time the World Championship of Cricket in Australia. The reigning world champions lived up to their billing with an unblemished group-stage display, earning comfortable wins over Pakistan, England and Australia, before overcoming New Zealand in their semi-final to set up a title clash with Pakistan.Kapil – no longer captain, with Gavaskar reinstated in 1984 – provided a dream start with the ball along with Chetan Sharma, as Pakistan crumbled to 33 for 4. Just as Javed Miandad and Imran Khan appeared to be stitching a recovery, up stepped Laxman Sivaramakrishnan to have Miandad stumped, and Pakistan eventually ended with 176.A century opening stand between Kris Srikkanth, who was the Player of the Final, and Shastri, the Player of the Tournament, rendered the chase a mere formality, as India won by eight wickets. As far as India-Pakistan showdowns go, this was far from a classic, but it stamped India’s arrival as a consistent side in the format.125 and all that

Less than two weeks later, the arch-rivals were locking horns in another multi-team tournament, all the way across from Melbourne to Sharjah. Pakistan seemed headed for instant redemption when Imran Khan’s stunning 6 for 14 saw India dismissed for just 125.But Kapil – clearly the man for rainy days – wasn’t giving up so easily, and with spinners Sivaramakrishnan and Shastri providing admirable company, India bowled Pakistan out for just 87. No lower total had been successfully defended in men’s ODIs at the time; only once has the mark been bettered since.India chased down a 300-plus target for the first time to win the Independence Cup final in 1998•AFPBattle of Bangalore

India and Pakistan have met several times at the World Cup, but hardly any of their contests have had the edge of this feisty encounter at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium: co-hosts against defending champions in a knockout clash.Pakistan captain Wasim Akram’s last-minute pullout added to the tension, but it wasn’t a patch on the drama that was to follow. Navjot Singh Sidhu’s 93 gave India a platform to build on, before Ajay Jadeja’s stunning assault on Waqar Younis propelled them to 287, as 50 runs came from the last three overs.But Pakistan blazed away to 84 in their first ten, and despite Saeed Anwar’s dismissal, Aamer Sohail continued hitting. He took on Venkatesh Prasad, at one stage gesturing to the local boy to go fetch the ball from the boundary. Prasad, though, had the last laugh. Eventually, India waltzed into the semi-finals, where their hopes were dashed by Sri Lanka.Another decider, and another India-Pakistan match

Before this match, India had only ever posted 300-plus twice in ODIs, and only once in the history of ODIs had a target of 300-plus been successfully chased down.Saeed Anwar – that constant thorn in India’s flesh – and Ijaz Ahmed hit hundreds to take Pakistan to 314 for 5, but the Indian top order seemed to have it covered: they had coasted to 250 for 1 in 38 overs, on the back of Sourav Ganguly’s 124 and Robin Singh’s 82, to go with a 26-ball 41 from Sachin Tendulkar.With 65 required from the last ten overs – the match had been reduced to 48 overs each – a mini-collapse ensued, and it boiled down to three to win off the last two balls. That is when, in the fading Dhaka light, Hrishikesh Kanitkar swatted Saqlain Mushtaq for four and made himself a pop-quiz favourite for the ages.Sachin Tendulkar celebrated his 25th birthday with a century in the Coca Cola Cup final•AFPDancing in the aisles

It had already taken one of India’s most classic losses for them to be in this final – Tendulkar’s desert-storm epic two days earlier against the same opponents had been enough for India to cross the score they required to qualify for the title clash. But in the final, Tendulkar went the distance to celebrate his 25th birthday.Nearly 25 years on, the sights and sounds of that April evening remain a clear memory for so many: Tendulkar dancing down the track for fun against Shane Warne, memorably, but also against Tom Moody and Steve Waugh; the spectators, immortalised by the words of Tony Grieg on air, dancing in the aisles, and India acing a steep chase to land another multi-team trophy.And this one also had Kanitkar applying the final touch with a boundary.Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif conjured up a magical partnership at Lord’s•PA PhotosMiracle at Lord’s – again

The trophy cabinet had started to run dry post the 1998 high – after winning five out of six multi-team tournament finals in 1998 alone, India had lost nine successive finals from 1999 to 2001. There was a loss in the ICC Champions Trophy final in 2000, there were maulings to sub-continent rivals, there were tough defeats to higher-ranked teams, there were unexpected losses to lower-ranked teams… it was becoming an unwanted specialty.With this backdrop, cut to the halfway stage of the second innings at Lord’s: chasing 326, India were 146 for 5 after 24 overs, Tendulkar had just walked back to the pavilion, and at the crease were two youngsters with less than 60 matches between them.That was when Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif conjured something magical. Yuvraj dominated the 121-run association, and Kaif kept his nerve in a tense finish.It was, at the time, the second-highest successful chase in ODIs. And Ganguly, captain through most of that barren finals run, expressed his relief with a topless celebration on the Lord’s balcony.The wheels for India’s success in 2011 were set in motion with the CB Series win in 2008•Getty ImagesOn top down under

Twenty-three years on from their World Championship of Cricket triumph, India hadn’t won another final in Australia. In three attempts, they had failed to take any of the best-of-three finals to even a third game. This time, they were up against an Australian outfit that might have been on their final legs, but were still three-time defending ODI world champions. India, starting their own transition, faced an early test in their three-year plan towards world domination with a new captain at the helm.For all the talk of transition, and in the midst of some high-profile exits, it was the old guard who dominated the deciders: Tendulkar chose an opportune moment to register his first ODI hundred in Australia, helping India complete a 240-run chase in Sydney. He almost got another two days later, scoring 91 in Brisbane, before Praveen Kumar and co defended 258.The third final wasn’t needed this time either; the wheels had been set in motion.Yuvraj dethrones the champions

A little over three years later, and almost exactly eight years on from the day Australia demolished their World Cup dream in Johannesburg, India ended the longest reign in the history of the competition.While they didn’t quite have the same aura as earlier, this was still an Australia that hadn’t lost a World Cup knockout game since 1996, and Ricky Ponting wasn’t done: the Australia captain’s century took his team to 260.Only twice in the history of the World Cup had higher totals been successfully chased down in knockout contests. Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir made fifties, but a middle-order meltdown meant that when MS Dhoni departed, India still needed 74 from 75 balls with the last recognised pair in the middle.Yuvraj and Suresh Raina, two men who hadn’t entered the tournament in the best vein of form, fought resolutely at the erstwhile Sardar Patel Stadium, and gave wings to India’s title hopes.Raina made among the more vital 30 not outs India have ever seen, and Yuvraj – well on the way to winning the Player-of-the-Tournament award – followed his 2 for 44 earlier in the day with an unbeaten 57, belting a drive through the off side for the winning runs before letting out a guttural roar to belie the physical strife through which he was playing the tournament.MS Dhoni promoted himself in the 2011 World Cup final, and won India the match•Getty Images Sealed with a six
The vision from 2008 came to fruition in 2011. No team had won a world title on home soil until then, and the ride had been far from smooth for India: they lost to South Africa and tied with England after scoring 338 in the group stages before the aforementioned quarter-final win against Australia, and then defended 260 against Pakistan in the semi-finals.Mahela Jayawardene’s majestic 103* led a late onslaught that took Sri Lanka to 274; no team had ever chased more than 250 to win a World Cup final. And when Tendulkar exited the World Cup stage with India 31 for 2, the nerves were beginning to fray.But Gambhir kept the Lankans at bay, stitching two of the most important partnerships in modern-day Indian cricket: 83 with Virat Kohli, and 109 with Dhoni. He fell on 97, meaning Yuvraj – who had to contend with a demotion as Dhoni promoted himself to tackle the threat of Muthiah Muralidaran – joined the skipper for the final act.Dhoni finished off in style, Tendulkar finally got his hands on the trophy, and a generation of Indian fans got to live what they had only heard of so far: a World Cup victory.

أرسل الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم، خطاباً رسمياً للاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم “فيفا”، بشأن مباراة منتخب مصر أمام إيران والمقررة إقامتها في مدينة سياتل الأمريكية يوم 26 يونيو 2026 في الجولة الثالثة من دور المجموعات لبطولة كأس العالم 2026.

وكانت شبكة ESPN قد كشفت أن فيفا يخطط لجعل مباراة مصر وإيران في كأس العالم “لقاء فخر” لمجتمع المثليين، في قرار أثار جدلًا كبيرًا.

طالع | تقارير: فيفا قد يورط مصر وإيران في كأس العالم بقرار صادم

وأكد الاتحاد المصري في الخطاب المرسل إلى ماتياس جرافستروم، الأمين العام لفيفا، أنه تم تداول معلومات تفيد بقرار اللجنة المحلية المنظمة وتخطيطها لإقامة بعض الأنشطة المرتبطة بدعم (المثلية الجنسية) خلال تلك المباراة، وأنه يرفض تماماً مثل هذه الأنشطة، والتي تتعارض بشكل مباشر مع القيم الثقافية والدينية والاجتماعية في المنطقة، ولاسيما في المجتمعات العربية والإسلامية.

وأوضح الاتحاد المصري في الخطاب، أنه مع التزام فيفا بضمان بيئة محترمة وترحب بجميع الجماهير، ومن أجل الحفاظ على روح الوحدة والسلام، فإنه من الضروري تجنب إدراج أنشطة من الممكن أن تثير حساسيات ثقافية ودينية بين المشجعين، الحاضرين من كلا البلدين، وهما مصر وإيران، خاصة أن تلك الأنشطة تتعارض ثقافياً ودينياً مع البلدين.

واستند الاتحاد المصري في خطابه إلى مبادئ فيفا المقررة في لائحة النظام الأساسي، وتحديداً المادة الرابعة والتي تؤكد الحياد في المسائل السياسية والاجتماعية، والحفاظ على الحياد في القضايا السياسية والاجتماعية، خلال مسابقات فيفا، وضمان عدم استخدام كرة القدم كمنصة للترويج لقضايا، تكون ذات حساسية أو طابع خلافي.

كما استند الاتحاد المصري إلى قانون فيفا التأديبي، ولوائح الفعاليات، والتي تؤكد صراحة بأنه يجب أن تبقى مسابقات فيفا خالية من أي مظاهر تثير التوتر أو سوء الفهم أو النزاع بين جماهير من خلفيات مختلفة.

وكذلك استند الاتحاد إلى مبدأ فيفا الراسخ حول احترام الثقافات وتشجيع جميع الأطراف على تنظيم الفعاليات بشكل يراعي معتقدات وهويات المجتمعات المشاركة، وبالتالي من أجل ضمان إقامة المباراة في أجواء يسودها الاحترام والتركيز على الجانب الرياضي فقط، فإن الاتحاد المصري يرفض تلك الدعوات بشكل قاطع ويطالب فيفا بعدم إقامة أي فعاليات أو عروض ذات صلة بفعاليات دعم (المثلية) داخل الاستاد يوم المباراة.

يذكر، أن منتخب مصر وقع في المجموعة السابعة لمنافسات كأس العالم 2026، مع منتخبات إيران وبلجيكا ونيوزيلندا.

San Francisco Giants legend Barry Bonds may not have to wait much longer for his very own statue outside Oracle Park.

Giants president and CEO Larry Baer joined on Wednesday and candidly discussed the team's potential plans to honor Bonds in the future. Baer admitted there was "no disagreement" within the Giants organization on the topic of erecting a Bonds statue but didn't go into specifics.

"On the radar, I would say it's on the radar," Baer said. "Barry is deserving of a statue and I would say, should be next up. We don't have the exact location and the exact date and the exact timing, but you're saying things that we're totally in sync with.

"You probably notice, Barry's around a lot, more recently this year and last year as well … It's coming. All I can say is it's coming."

Bonds would be the sixth franchise icon to have his effigy sculpted outside Oracle Park, joining Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry.

Bonds belted 586 home runs in his 15-year stint with the Giants—including his storied 73-homer-season—and few would argue against the once-unstoppable slugger getting immortalized alongside fellow Giants greats. Though the seven-time MVP and 14-time All-Star's illustrious career was tarnished by his steroid controversy, Bonds is an obvious choice and fitting candidate for the Giants' next historic statue—the only question is if it'll be built right outside the ballpark or around his favorite splash zone, McCovey Cove.

His efforts handed India their biggest defeat in men’s Tests, and their second whitewash at home in three series

Sidharth Monga26-Nov-20256:06

Karim: ‘Harmer’s variations upset India batters’

In front of empty stands in India’s newest Test venue, South Africa competed their utter domination of the hosts with a whitewash and their heaviest Test defeat in terms of runs. More than just the order of session breaks was turned upside down in India’s eastern-most Test ground where South Africa sealed their first series win in India in 25 years and India’s second series defeat in 12 months after 12 years of spotless record.Simon Harmer out-bowled by miles the home spinners in a country, whose ordinary tour in 2015 resulted in a seven-year hiatus for him in Test cricket. No one has now taken more wickets at a better average in a series in India than his 17 wickets at 8.94. Marco Jansen was a little behind with 12 at 10.08, but he ended the series with yet another thing about which we can say: “only Marco could have done that”. A sensational catch over the shoulder, running back, diving and taking it one-handed. Just the kind of wicket Harmer won’t mind being denied a maiden 10-for by.This was the farthest result on India’s minds when Shubman Gill joked after losing yet another toss in Kolkata that it seems he will win only in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Since then, India lost Gill to injury three balls into his work, and then both the Tests to leave themselves a hill to climb if they want to entertain thoughts of the WTC final. They now have 48.15% points halfway into their league matches. Historically at least 60% has been needed to get through to the final.Related

South Africa prove again they can win the hard way, and anywhere

Gambhir: 'This is exactly what transition is'

Harmer flips Test cricket in India upside down

'Can't take anything for granted' – Pant rues missed chances after 2-0 clean sweep

The defending champions, who had to deal with some elitist sniggering about their schedule in the last cycle, now have 75% of their points. Temba Bavuma, the captain who brought home the mace, was still undefeated in Tests after 12 matches at the helm.That Bavuma wouldn’t lose this one had been clear halfway into this Test. Since then, South Africa played India out ruthlessly and started the fifth day needing eight wickets to take the full 12 WTC points from this match. This classic Indian Test pitch was now offering consistent turn and natural variation.Simon Harmer picked up his second Test five-for•BCCISo a combination of Harmer and Jansen, who took a five-for and a 93 in the first innings, was always going to test India’s resolve to bat the day out. The overnight batters, B Sai Sudharsan and nightwatch Kuldeep Yadav, enjoyed some luck with one wicket denied by a no-ball and another by a drop at slip by Aiden Markram, who took five catches in the first innings.The luck ended around half an hour into the day. It had always looked a matter of time against Harmer’s guile and persistence. Kuldeep was the first one to go, bowled by an offbreak that didn’t turn. You can’t quite make an offbreak not turn, but you can give it every chance to do so by changing the seam orientation, which Harmer did.In the same over, Harmer completed the brace of dream dismissals for an offspinner. He had bowled KL Rahul through the gate on the fourth evening; now he took Dhruv Jurel’s outside edge with drift and less turn than expected.Rishabh Pant is often criticised for taking too many risks, but this innings provided a counterpoint. Against a really slow offbreak from Harmer, Pant was a sitting duck the moment he decided to offer a forward-defensive. The extra bounce took the catch to Markram at slip, who was now moving rapidly towards the world record for most catches in a match.Sai Sudharsan enjoyed another dropped catch as he and Ravindra Jadeja took India into tea. Sai Sudharsan’s luck ran out in the first over after the break with Harmer getting a rest having bowled through the entire first session. He defended a Senuram Muthusamy half-volley. It didn’t turn, and Markram took another catch.South Africa registered their first Test series win in India in 25 years•BCCIAdequately rested, Harmer came back from the other end than the one that had been giving him wickets and took out Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy in quick succession. With a softer ball now, he started to bowl quicker and took the edge from Washington with a 90kmph offbreak. Markram took a sharp catch to go past Ajinkya Rahane’s world record of eight in a match.The right-hand batters were always going to struggle more now with three dismissals in play: bowled through the gate, outside edge and bat-pad catches. Reddy introduced the glove on the reverse sweep to give Harmer his best match figures, making him South Africa’s most successful bowler in India and the most prolific South Africa bowler after 14 Tests.Jadeja was the one India batter who swept well from the length that had other batters in trouble. He scored a consolatory half-century, read the room and shelved his sword celebrations, and was stumped when trying to take Keshav Maharaj on.The final moment, fittingly, belonged to Jansen. He scored quick runs when India were in control of South Africa’s scoring in the first innings, when it seemed no one could dominate the bowling. His long levers, which made this possible, also created the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first innings, then India’s only half-centurion. Then he unleashed bouncers when the pitch was still flat, taking more wickets with bouncers than anyone has taken in an innings in India.By the time South Africa bowled the second time around, the pitch offered consistent turn and didn’t call out for a superhuman effort from Jansen. Then again, why deny us when you can nonchalantly take an impossible catch to end the match and the series? Lest we forget.

Former England women’s head coach returns to home county in newly created role

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2025

Jon Lewis has joined his old county Gloucestershire in a newly-created director of cricket role which will cover both men’s and women’s cricket, after losing his job as England women’s head coach earlier this year.Lewis, who won 16 England caps across formats as a swing bowler, spent the vast majority of his playing career at Gloucestershire and has worked at the ECB in various coaching roles since, including as Under-19s head coach and fast-bowling coach in the men’s game. “It feels like I’m coming home,” he told the club’s YouTube channel.He took over as England women’s coach in late 2022 but paid the price for their disastrous 16-0 Ashes defeat in Australia last winter, which saw him replaced in the role by Charlotte Edwards. Lewis also spent three years at UP Warriorz in the WPL, and will oversee Gloucestershire’s push towards a fully professional women’s set-up in the years to come.Lewis will work closely with Mark Alleyne, Gloucestershire men’s head coach, who won the T20 Blast in his first season in charge but oversaw a disappointing 2024 campaign. His arrival will belatedly fill the vacancy left by Steve Snell’s removal as performance director midway through the 2023 summer.”It’s a big job. There’s a lot to do,” Lewis said. “I’m excited to be back at a place that has a really special meaning for me. It created a lot of opportunities for me to be better as a player, and hopefully I can give people opportunities to do the same things that I did here.”Ajeet Singh Dale is among several seamers leaving Gloucestershire•Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Lewis said that a long-term priority will be to bring through more players from the local area. “We haven’t had a really strong production line of cricketers coming from Gloucestershire and Bristol. That’s a high priority for us here at the club, to make sure that we put the processes in place that are able to produce Gloucestershire cricketers from Gloucestershire.”Gloucestershire’s men have already lost a swathe of seamers ahead of next season, with Archie Bailey (Durham), Ajeet Singh Dale (Lancashire), Zaman Akhter (Essex), Josh Shaw (Somerset), Dom Goodman and Tom Price (both Sussex) all leaving the club. Craig Miles (Warwickshire) and Will Williams (Lancashire) will both join, but Lewis wants further reinforcements.”It’s important that we try to work out how to replace those players, whether it’s from within the squad or also from outside, or from overseas,” he said. “We’ve got some real thinking to do in that space to make sure that the club becomes really competitive across all formats next year.”Gloucestershire’s women play in Tier Two of the ECB’s new domestic set-up, but Lewis hopes that will change in the long term: “That’d be a big goal for us here at the club… I’m hoping that this becomes a place where players become really fond of playing, and they feel like they’re able to grow, to learn, and to get a lot better at playing cricket.”Stevens returns to Kent for 2026Darren Stevens was a fan favourite in his playing career for Kent•Nathan Stirk/ECB/Getty Images

Meanwhile, Kent have announced that club legend Darren Stevens will work in Adam Hollioake’s coaching staff as a bowling consultant in 2026. Stevens left the county three years ago when, at 46, he was not offered a new contract and has since worked in coaching roles for South East Stars and Essex women.He will work alongside Kent’s newly-appointed bowling coach Sam Faulkner, who has progressed through the club’s backroom staff and will replace Robbie Joseph in the role. Jaahid Ali, a former Pakistan A player, has replaced Toby Radford as batting coach.”Stevo coming back to Kent to join our bowling coaching provision will undoubtedly by popular with our members and supporters,” Simon Cook, the club’s director of cricket, said. “His experience and coaching skills will be invaluable to our first-team bowlers as we head into a new season under Adam Hollioake.”With Sam and Jaahid, there will be clear guidance and mentoring for our young talent at first-team, Academy and Pathway level to make any transition to a higher level more seamless from a playing perspective. Both Sam and Jaahid have worked closely with our Talent Pathway for a number of years now and are both held in high regard by our Pathway players and staff.”

An ACB statement says that Naveen-ul-Haq is still recovering from a shoulder injury and has not been declared fit by the medical team

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2025Afghanistan fast bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has been ruled out of the ongoing Asia Cup, and Abdollah Ahmadzai has been named his replacement.Naveen had been named in the Asia Cup squad despite missing the UAE tri-series prior to the tournament. According to an Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) release, Naveen is still recovering from a shoulder injury and has not been declared fit by the medical team. “Naveen will continue to undergo intensive treatment and rehabilitation until he is fully fit,” the statement said.Ahmadzai, who was originally in the list of reserves for the Asia Cup, was a part of the UAE tri-series with Naveen out of action. He made his international debut in the series – also the only T20I he has played so far – where he took 1 for 31 in three overs against UAE. Overall in T20s, he has 15 wickets from 11 games.Naveen last played for Afghanistan in December 2024, against Zimbabwe in a T20I in Harare. He was part of the SA20 earlier this year, taking five wickets in eight games for Durban’s Super Giants. He also played MLC in June where he took eight wickets in five games for tournament champions MI New York.Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmad are the other specialist quicks in the squad, with Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib and Karim Janat the fast-bowling allrounder.Afghanistan have played only one match at the Asia Cup so far, the tournament opener, where they beat Hong Kong by 94 runs. Their next group match is against Bangladesh on September 16, and they play Sri Lanka on September 18.

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank has heaped praise on a member of the Spurs squad who he’s barely called upon lately.

Tottenham travel to Everton as concerns surround midfield

Spurs travel to the Hill Dickinson Stadium as they prepare to battle David Moyes’ Everton on Merseyside this weekend.

Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie and Dominic Solanke are the club’s most notable absentees, joining Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Yves Bissouma on their extensive injury list.

After a dismal 0-0 draw away to Monaco in the Champions League, where goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was on hand to spare their blushes time and time again with a string of excellent saves, Spurs supporters are concerned by their lack of control in midfield.

Joao Palhinha has been one of Tottenham’s players of the season so far, but his partnership with fellow in-form ace Rodrigo Bentancur has attracted debate.

While both men have performed brilliantly in an individual sense, as a pairing, they don’t appear to be connecting defence with attack that well, and this was on full display in France on Wednesday.

Concerns have also surrounded Xavi Simons, who’s largely failed to make the desired impact creatively since his £52 million move from RB Leipzig last summer, with the Dutchman having just one goal contribution to show for his efforts.

Lucas Bergvall was given the nod in Simons’ position against Monaco, but he was equally ineffective, leading to suggestions that their lack of creative guile stems from a broader tactical issue in the engine room.

Tottenham cannot keep relying on Mohammed Kudus to provide all of their cutting edge from the right-hand side, so it’ll be interesting to see if Frank shakes things up a bit for Everton.

Frank has also raised eyebrows with his decision to drop Pape Sarr, despite the Senegalese starting 2025/2026 in excellent form.

The 23-year-old hasn’t started a Premier League game since Tottenham’s 4-0 win at West Ham, playing just 33 minutes across their last four top flight games, leaving many to wonder if there is an issue with him behind-the-scenes.

Thomas Frank clarifys Pape Sarr situation at Tottenham

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Frank addressed the concerns around Sarr.

Spurs’ head coach insists that nothing is wrong with the African, and that he has been left very impressed by Sarr since arriving in north London.

The former FC Metz sensation was one of Fabio Paratici’s first signings at Tottenham, and he’s gone on to justify his bargain price tag by becoming a real success story at the club.

Physical and combative, Sarr’s work rate always catches the eye – breaking up opposition play and helping to launch attacks with his excellent turn of pace. His energy adds balance to Tottenham’s midfield, providing both cover and a steady link between the backline and their attack.

He is an excellent option to potentially partner Palhinha against Everton, and Frank should definitely consider recalling Sarr to the eleven amid the growing criticism surrounding Spurs’ engine room.