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ScorecardNeil Dexter closed the day with an unbeaten half-century•Getty Images

Somerset supporters concerned that their talented yet unfulfilled team is growing old together can take heart from days like this: the young ‘uns are coming. Foremost among the new breed is Jamie Overton whose career-best 4 for 65 challenged Middlesex’s visions of supremacy at the Tractor Ground.It is not really the Tractor Ground, of course, but “County Ground” is always so unimaginative (its only saving grace is that it is not named after an airline) and it sounded like the Tractor Ground shortly after lunch when Tractor himself – arguably Somerset’s most famous fan and ill-advisedly unprotected against the unseasonable chill – was on full revs, bellowing for all he was worth for Alfonso Thomas to slow Middlesex’s progress.Thomas failed, largely because Joe Denly, whose first 10 scoring shots were boundaries, reached 40 by a mixture of good fortune, easy pickings and a decent shot or two. But what the Great Alfonso could not deliver, the Young Pretender did, finding the outside edge to take three of the first four Middlesex wickets to fall. Toby Roland-Jones made up the foursome with two for grabs on the morrow.The Middlesex wickets that matter are those of the openers, Sam Robson and Chris Rogers. Neither particularly catch the eye, but they have an adhesive quality which is at the heart of Middlesex’s championship challenge and which makes up for a flaky middle order. Overton removed then both, at which point five more wickets tumbled for 66 in 18 overs before Neil Dexter summoned a necessary response with an unbeaten 73. Rogers’s Australian late coming this summer might not set the Ashes alive but England will value his wicket as much as most. Like many squat batsmen he can look frustratingly immovable.Overton, still only 19, and still routinely confused by all but the most committed Somerset observer with his equally promising twin brother, Craig, bowled at a fair lick in his 21 overs. The first thing that strikes you about him is his robust appearance for one so young; he may need it at Taunton which is not exactly a fast bowler’s dream. Somerset’s skipper Marcus Trescothick put Middlesex in on a green pitch, but Rogers and Robson dealt with what limited threat there was..Somerset recovered in the afternoon session with three wickets in as many overs. Rogers, who had not been as solid as his young fellow Australian, Robson, nicked Overton to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler. The next over saw the left-arm spinner Jack Leach bowl Denly shouldering arms and then Overton struck again when Dawid Malan was snapped up by Trescothick in the slips off Overton.Leach, like Overton a promise of good things to come, bowled with good control and finished the day with three wickets as James Hildreth snapped up John Simpson at short-leg off Leach and Gareth Berg swept a catch to Peter Trego at mid wicket.”Nailed on draw and you don’t get many points for a draw,” muttered one Somerset sage soon after lunch as Middlesex prospered. He will doubtless return with a more optimistic slant on things for the second day. At Taunton, 293 for 8 at the end of the first day suggests that stalemate should be avoided and it is Somerset who have the edge.

نجح فريق حرس الحدود في تحقيق الفوز على أسوان بهدف دون رد، خلال المباراة التي جمعت بينهما اليوم ببطولة الدوري المصري.

حرس الحدود واجه أسوان على أرضية استاد المكس بالإسكندرية، في إطار مواجهات الجولة الـ30 من عمر المسابقة المحلية.

وسجل إبراهيم القاضي هدف حرس الحدود في الدقيقة 52 من عمر المباراة، بعد كرة عرضية لداخل منطقة الجزاء بقدم أحمد شديد قناوي استقبلها القاضي برأسية قوية من أمام المرمى لتمر داخل الشباك.

طالع | محمود الخطيب: الأهلي يساعد الدولة بالأفعال.. وفرع القاهرة الجديدة لن يكون الأخير

بهذا الفوز، رفع فريق حرس الحدود رصيده إلى النقطة 19 محتلاً المركز الثامن عشر والأخير في جدول ترتيب الدوري المصري، بينما يتواجد أسوان في المركز الرابع عشر وفي جعبته 31 نقطة. هدف فوز حرس الحدود على أسوان في الدوري المصري

The Delhi Capitals opens up about his philosophy as captain, instincts vs data, and “the thin line” he wants all his players to keep in mind

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Apr-20251:42

Pujara: Rahul needs to go hard even after the powerplay

If a captain is only as a good as his results, Axar Patel is the class-topper at IPL 2025.He has led Delhi Capitals (DC) to five wins in six games so far – in what is his first season as captain of a team in the competition – and, crucially, has found the right people to do the right jobs for him in crunch situations. Mitchell Starc on Wednesday evening, for example. And a lot of the success is down to “trusting my instincts”, Axar said after the Super Over win over Rajasthan Royals (RR).”You take on the responsibility when you know you will have fun with it. I was doing it for my state team, so I knew what to do and what not to do. So when you get an opportunity to lead a side the way you want to and you can play the game the way you want to, why not?” Axar said at the post-match press conference, where he spent a fair bit of time making wisecracks and laughing.Related

• Versatile GT seek first win against well-rounded DC at home

• Axar hopes to have du Plessis back for DC's next game

• Reverse in fast forward – Starc's three overs of yorker mayhem

• Mott on Axar the captain: 'He's not taking it all on himself'

• DC win an IPL classic in Delhi after Super Over drama

“I am having a lot of fun on the field and off the field. I am doing what I think is right. I am not following a template. I back myself. I am not too experienced [as a captain] but it’s not like I am turning to other people for help. Of course, I listen to everyone, but I back myself for the decisions I am making. Because you need to know what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. I am enjoying myself so far.”Instincts and gut calls are fine, but T20 cricket has evolved so much that it’s often what happens in the meeting rooms – plans and tactics using data – that supersedes all else.”It’s not like I only go by my instincts,” Axar said. “There is a lot of planning in the background. That is important for my awareness, and it’s very useful at times. But it’s not like I have all the data in front of me and I am following it word for word – bowl this one against that batter and so on. It doesn’t work like that.”Sometimes someone is in form. I see that as a captain, and I decide based on the match situation. Of course, sometimes instincts kick in. But I will take a call based on what I think is best for the team. I choose the option thinking what will work best. Am I taking a gamble? I go by what, in my mind, is 60-40 or 70-30 in my team’s favour. The data is important to know the opposition.””No one should think that the captain is only having fun”•AFP/Getty Images

And Axar is sensible enough despite the lack of experience in leading teams to know how to deal with the mistakes he is bound to make from time to time.”I can’t speak for other captains, but the way I see it, if I have made a mistake, what’s the problem with owning up to it,” he said. “But I won’t necessarily call it a mistake. If two left-hand batters are out there and you need to get an over out of the way, you take a tactical decision based on your resources. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I can’t call it a mistake. It’s a decision that didn’t work. If it works, you get praised. If it doesn’t, you get criticised. I just do what I feel is right.”That’s an almost constant refrain for Axar – “I do what I feel is right”. Like when it comes to creating a happy atmosphere for the players but also making sure he is respected as the captain of the ship.”I think it shows on my face. Is the captain angry right now, is he a bit serious…,” he joked, before elaborating. “It’s a thin line. I want to keep the team environment friendly and lively, but no one should take things for granted. No one should think that the captain is only having fun. There is a line. What needs to be done to win the game needs to be done first. Then we should have fun. It’s working at the moment. I believe that if you’re having fun, you do better.”

‘I wasn’t able to put pressure on the injured finger’

Axar has bowled just 17 overs in his six games so far – the wicket of Riyan Parag on Wednesday was his first – and he said it was because of a cut in the index finger of his bowling hand.”During the Champions Trophy, I got a cut in this finger,” Axar said, holding the finger up. “The skin isn’t properly back yet. And bowling was a little difficult because the skin would keep peeling. So I was being careful. It’s only when I felt that the team needed me to bowl that I bowled one or two overs. The whole layer of skin came off when I bowled four overs against SRH [Sunrisers Hyderabad]. I wasn’t able to put pressure on that finger.2:19

Kuldeep Yadav 2.0 – DC’s trump card

“I felt I was bowling well but wasn’t able to have an impact because of this. If I am bowling well, I don’t mind if I don’t get wickets. I ask myself if I have executed my plan well, and if the answer is yes, I am happy.”As a batter, he has moved himself up and down the middle order, batting at No. 4, 5 and 6 in different games. On Wednesday, Tristan Stubbs walked out before him at No. 5. Axar batted at No. 6 and scored 34 off 14 balls.”As a batter, it’s about doing what the team needs you to do,” Axar said. “I think the same way as the captain. I take a call on where to bat based on the resources we have. It’s tempting to promote myself, but it’s a team game. I kept myself back today since we had a right-left pair going, and asked Stubbs to go ahead of me.”I think I am batting well for the last one and a half years. But I haven’t been able to have an impact with the bat in this tournament. Some soft dismissals, sometimes I was over-aggressive. Today I was clear in my head. I knew whom to target. Instead of targeting the faster bowlers who were bowling slower bouncers, I targeted the spinners, who had three overs left. I didn’t play any fancy shots. It worked.”Like most other things he has done so far in IPL 2025, where his side DC are looking like the team to beat at this juncture.

يبدو أن الموهبة الإسبانية صاحب الأصول المغربية، لامين يامال، ناشئ نادي برشلونة، على وشك الخروج من النادي الكتالوني، حيث تتعارض مطالبات والده مع الإدارة.

ويعتبر لامين يامال من أكثر اللاعبين موهبة في برشلونة، وتم استدعاؤه إلى الفريق الأول للمباريات الثلاث الأخيرة، ويمكنه الظهور لأول مرة بشكل رسمي قبل انتهاء الموسم.

وعلى الرغم من أنه قد تم تصنيفه كموهبة بدرجة عالية بشكل لا يصدق، فقد لا يكون في برشلونة لفترة طويلة، بحسب موقع “فوتبول إسبانيا”، حيث إن مستقبله معقد بسبب عدد من العوامل المختلفة.

اقرأ أيضًا.. سبورت: تشافي يعطي الضوء الأخضر لرحيل لاعب برشلونة.. ويرفض بيع آخر

إن والدا لامين يامال من أنصار ريال مدريد، لكن وجوده في برشلونة لم يكن سيئًا للغاية، وينتهي عقده بنهاية الموسم المقبل، ويريد النادي أن يقدم له صفقة احترافية هذا الصيف.

وطلبت إدارة برشلونة من صاحب الـ15 عاما البقاء في لا ماسيا (أكاديمية برشلونة)، من أجل ضمان أن تأثير والديه لا ينعكس على اتخاذ قراره، لإقناعه بشكل أكبر بالتوقيع، وتم استدعاؤه إلى أيام المباريات للفريق الأول، على الرغم من أهميته لفريق تحت 19 سنة بالنادي.

يخشى برشلونة خسارة يامال، الذي يُعتقد أن إمكاناته يمكن أن تقارن مع ليونيل ميسي وأندريس إنييستا، وسيكونون في أمس الحاجة لتوقيع عقد عقد جديد معه، وسيساعدهم في ذلك وكيل أعماله، خورخي مينديز الذي يتمتع بعلاقة جيدة مع الإدارة، وليس والديه.

تأهلت 8 أندية إلى دور ربع نهائي بطولة الكونفدرالية الإفريقية 2023 بعد نهاية دور المجموعات اليوم الأحد من المسابقة القارية.

ومن مصر، تأهل فريق بيراميدز من المجموعة الثالثة بعدما انتصر على فيوتشر في مباراة الجولة الأخيرة من دور المجموعات.

طالع | فيديو | عبد الله السعيد يسجل هدف بيراميدز الثاني أمام فيوتشر

بيراميدز جاء ثانياً في المجموعة بعد الفوز في 3 مباريات والتعادل في مواجهتين ونال الخسارة في لقاء وحيد.

وتصدر المجموعة فريق الجيش الملكي المغربي برصيد 11 نقطة. الفرق المتأهلة لدور الـ8 من بطولة الكونفدرالية 2023

المجموعة الأولي:

– مارومو جالانتس (جنوب إفريقيا).

– اتحاد العاصمة (الجزائر).

المجموعة الثانية:

– أسيك (كوت ديفوار).

– ريفرز يونايتد (نيجيريا).

المجموعة الثالثة:

– الجيش الملكي (المغرب).

– بيراميدز (مصر).

المجموعة الرابعة:

– يونج أفريكانز (تنزانيا).

– اتحاد المنستير(تونس).

كشف ياسر عبد الوهاب مدرب فريق كرة السلة بنادي الزمالك عن تفاصيل إصابة مهاب ياسر التي تعرض لها خلال الفترة الأخيرة.

وكان فريق الزمالك قد تعرض لهزيمتين متتاليتين أمام الأهلي والاتحاد السكندري ضمن منافسات دوري سوبر كرة السلة.

وقال ياسر عبد الوهاب في تصريحات خاصة لـ”بطولات”: “مهاب ياسر تعرض لإصابة بقطع في غضروف الركبة، وهو أصيب في الركبة السليمة وليست المصابة سابقاً”.

واختتم: “مهاب أصيب وهو يتدرب منفردا وحاولنا الحفاظ عليه بكل الطرق حتى لا تتجدد الإصابة السابقة”.

The BCCI’s working committee has rejected the key recommendations of the Woolf report concerning the restructuring of the ICC, the Indian board president N Srinivasan has said. This is the first formal response from any national board to the recommendations – made public ten days ago – and, given the BCCI’s dominant position in world cricket, could render the report a non-starter for all practical purposes.”The working committee discussed all the main recommendations of the report submitted to the ICC by a committee headed by Lord Woolf. The working committee was of the opinion that these recommendations were not acceptable and rejected it,” Srinivasan said after the meeting in Chennai. “The working committee was in particular not agreeable to the changes in the structure of the management of ICC that had been proposed.”Srinivasan, however, did not specify which of the several recommendations of the Woolf report the BCCI was opposed to.The suggestions of the review are not binding on the ICC, which will examine it at the next board meeting in April.The ICC’s independent governance review, headed by Lord Woolf, had called for sweeping changes in the administration of cricket and the functioning of its governing body. It recommended a restructuring of the ICC’s executive board to make it more independent and less dominated by the bigger countries and also a re-examination of the rights and benefits of the Test-playing Full Member nations, calling for measures to increase transparency in dealings by the ICC and its members.The most important recommendation concerned revamping the ICC’s executive board, its top decision-making body, to reduce the numerical strength of the Full Members and to offset their influence by bringing in independent directors, in keeping with best corporate governance practices.The board currently comprises the heads of all Full Member nations, three representatives from the Associates and Affiliates and the ICC’s president, vice-president and chief executive. Woolf’s plan incorporated five independent directors – three from within the game and two from outside to bring in diversity of opinion and experience – with voting rights and the additional stipulation that they should not be in a minority. It suggested that the Full Member nations eventually have four representatives, and the Associates two, with the chairman, president and chief executive making up the desired dozen.It also suggests that an ICC director should not concurrently hold any leadership or executive post with their home boards. For example, N Srinivasan is currently both an ICC director and president of the Indian board but, if the recommendations are accepted, he can’t retain both posts. As for independent directors, they must not have recently held positions of authority on any member board or any commercial body that has had significant contractual relationships with the ICC.

MatériaMais Notícias

Filas gigantescas tomaram conta do arredor do Pacaembu na noite desta quinta-feira. O torcedor santista que foi ao estádio para assistir ao clássico contra o Palmeiras encontrou enormes dificuldades para entrar no local, já que as catracas, administradas pela Redegol, estavam sem sistema – antes da partida, o sistema da empresa foi hackeado e ficou fora do ar, dificultando e até impossibilitando a compra online por alguns momentos.

Com o aglomerado se formando e a impaciência dos santistas, que viram o horário da partida se aproximar sem conseguir entrar no estádio, os funcionários deslocados para cuidarem das catracas passaram a permitir a entrada dos alvinegros – sócio precisou falar o número da matricula e torcedor comum entregou o ingresso físico.

Em rápida conversa com a reportagem do LANCE!, o presidente do Santos, José Carlos Peres, prometeu se reunir com a empresa para discutir quais serão os procedimentos a serem adoados nos próximos jogos como mandante e também entender o que houve de errado no clássico.

O estádio foi lotando aos poucos e uma parte da torcida só conseguiu acessar o Pacaembu depois do início da partida. No Twitter, o Santos divulgou uma nota se desculpando pelo ocorrido e prometendo tomar providências.

RelacionadasSantosGerente diz que Santos está perto de fechar troca entre Bueno e GonzálezSantos19/07/2018SantosAtaque de hacker faz santistas sofrerem para comprar ingressosSantos19/07/2018SantosAmérica-MG libera Serginho para ser vendido pelo Santos a time japonêsSantos19/07/2018

O Santos Futebol Clube lamenta e se desculpa humildemente com seu associado e torcedor por todos os problemas ocorridos nesta partida desde o processo de compra e acesso ao Pacaembu. Melhores esforços e mudanças serão efetivadas para que tais transtornos não mais ocorram.

— Santos Futebol Clube (@SantosFC) 19 de julho de 2018

Former India offspinner Erapalli Prasanna has questioned the effectiveness of his contemporary counterpart Harbhajan Singh, who has endured a poor run of form and fitness in recent times

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2011

Former India offspinner Erapalli Prasanna has questioned the effectiveness of his contemporary counterpart Harbhajan Singh, who has endured a poor run of form and fitness in recent times. Harbhajan has 406 Test wickets, the highest among all bowlers currently playing the game, but has managed only 51 in his last 15 matches, a period in which he has picked up a solitary five-wicket haul. Prasanna attributes Harbhajan’s woes to poor technique.”He [Harbhajan] is delivering from a very chest-on position,” Prasanna told the . “Consequently, his length has suffered. He has got his length right only 25 to 30% of the time. If your length is awry, your line is affected as well. The fact that his basics are not strong, he does not pivot or get his body behind his action, is not helping matters either. There is very little follow-through.”Prasanna also believes that Harbhajan’s recent reluctance to use the doosra has made it easier for batsmen to handle him. “I think he is conscious of his action coming under a cloud when he bowls the doosra,” Prasanna said. “This has affected him psychologically. He has not employed this delivery much in recent times and has become predictable.”Harbhajan’s struggles came to a head in India’s ongoing tour of England. He managed combined figures of 2 for 287 in the first two Tests, before a stomach strain ended his tour. His replacement, legspinner Amit Mishra, fared only marginally better and was dogged by a tendency to bowl no-balls, which left Prasanna appalled.Prasanna played 49 Tests for India, picking up 189 wickets, of which 116 came in 23 Tests under Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, whose captaincy he was full of praise for. “Tiger Pataudi, with all his intelligence, was different [from captains of this age],” Prasanna said. “There is no aggressive skipper like him around now.”R Ashwin, the Tamil Nadu offspinner who has succeeded in the IPL, has emerged as a future contender for the spinner’s berth, but Prasanna said he wanted to see him play the longest format before passing judgement on him.

Little more than a week since greeting the Australian team, Steve Rixon is already assuming a position far more influential than that of a mere fielding coach

Daniel Brettig11-Jul-2011

Little more than a week since Steve Rixon joined the Australian team, Brett Lee says he is already assuming a position far more influential than that of a mere fielding coach.Australia’s notable intensity in a pair of pre-season training camps at Allan Border Field in Brisbane is attributable to the team’s current standing as a humble group with much to improve upon. But it has also been described as an indicator of Rixon’s instant impact on the players since replacing Mike Young.Lee, no longer a part of Test plans, has seen the drive and energy in evidence among the squad in Brisbane, as one-day and five-day exponents alike prepare for the task of visiting Sri Lanka. Familiar with Rixon during his dual stints as the coach of New South Wales, Lee said the former Australian wicketkeeper had quickly assumed the mantle of mentor.”Steve Rixon has come in, not only as fielding coach but also as a bit of a mentor as well, and whatever Steve’s touched in his life in coaching has turned to gold,” Lee told ESPNcricinfo. “Think back to the 1990s with the Blues, what he’s done with New Zealand cricket, ICL, IPL … everything he’s worked with has turned to gold. I’m certainly enjoying having his presence here, working alongside Tim Nielsen and the rest of the coaching staff.”It’s not just his fielding [coaching], it’s him in all facets with batting, bowling, playing a bit of a mentor role as well. This is not saying Steve’s come in as our fielding coach and going to change things and revolutionise the game, because we’re really happy with what Mike Young did.”But it’s something fresh, it’s new, he’s been around a long, long time, he knows his stuff and his record speaks for itself. So having him on board as a coach and a mentor as well, [allows] a lot of young guys can have a chat to him, and even the older guys can do the same.”Though Lee is an enthusiastic character, his ebullient description of training suggests that the advent of Rixon, the new bowling coach Craig McDermott and the fledgling captain Michael Clarke has begun to reinvigorate a set-up that looked outmatched and out-energised during the Ashes.”I was saying to a few of the blokes, I haven’t seen the Australian cricket team be this energetic for a long, long time, which really excites me,” Lee said. “With the young guys coming into the side and having that raw energy, but also the inclusion of a guy like Steve Rixon, it has breathed a whole new lease of life into the Australian cricket set-up.”The way he’s going to work beautifully with Tim Nielsen, and with Craig McDermott coming on as the full-time bowling coach now and Justin Langer signed on for another 12 months, the way we’ve trained the sessions last week, it’s like we’re almost on a different level now. It’s really exciting so I hope that keeps going.”Certainly the way we’ve been fielding, running around, throwing ourselves around the field, with the way our sessions have been structured, guys are eager to get out there and bowl in the nets and work on different stuff and being hard upon ourselves.”It’s been absolute quality, rather than quantity. It hasn’t been like we’re going to have a 4-5 hour training session without a break. This has been about short, sharp sessions, so we’ve had two sessions, one in the morning, one in the afternoon with lunch at the ground, trying to get it as realistic to playing cricket as possible.”While we’ve been doing our certain skills, whether it be batting or bowling, it’s been full-on. Even in the nets we’ve been challenging ourselves against the best batsmen, the bowlers have been having competitions amongst ourselves, trying to get batsmen out, the fielding’s been of pure quality, making sure we’re holding our catches, making sure we’re hitting the stumps. “McDermott, too, has followed up on his promise to demand a more systematic approach from his bowlers, commanding them to prepare with purpose.”I think it’s about us being consummate professionals and that’s something that McDermott was always known for,” Lee said. “He was always the guy who would go about his business in a professional way and he has definitely brought that through in his coaching as well, and that’s great when the sky is as high as we need to aim.”If you’ve got guys who are just going about their business and turning up and not really doing what they should be doing then you’re not going to improve as a player, but if you’ve got someone who wants to show you things, take you down a different path and enhance what you’ve already got but improve you. As any player gets older they’re always learning new stuff, and even the day that Glenn [McGrath] hung his boots up, he was always working on new things.”