The toss became crucial on a surface that started out sticky before flattening out considerably

Sidharth Monga02-Oct-20214:55

Dasgupta: Gaikwad shows that this format is not just for power-hitters

When a side wins so comfortably after conceding a century to an opposition batter, the first thing you tend to do is look at that hundred with suspicion. Ruturaj Gaikwad’s came up in 60 balls, off the last ball of the innings. While batting first in the IPL, there have been 11 innings lasting 60 balls or longer and worth between 100 and 105. Eight of them, including Gaikwad’s, have come in defeats.Gaikwad’s innings, though, was not the problem on the night. It was a night on which the first 10 overs of the match produced just 63 runs, and the next 27.3 went for 316 at 11.5 an over. Gaikwad’s first 50 took 43 balls, the next 51 came in 17. All of a sudden you weren’t thinking of the field settings each time someone hit the ball in the air. This was a pitch different to what has been on display so far this season: everything was travelling with the ball beginning to skid onto the bat.Watch the IPL on ESPN+

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It was one of those unfortunate things that can happen in T20: you get put in on a slightly sticky pitch, the dew then settles in in about 10 overs, and the ball starts to come on nicely. In a contest as short as a T20 match, even a period of five overs before the pitch settles down can prove critical. MS Dhoni, Sanju Samson, Gaikwad and Stephen Fleming all said that was the case. When you are put in on such a pitch, the best way to be competitive is to post an above-par score, which, according to Dhoni, would have been close to 250 here.”My observations were that as the dew settled, the pitch just got better and better,” the Super Kings’ coach Fleming said. “The second half of our innings showed that as well. Initially there was a bit of stickiness so the ball just sat a little bit. Once the dew settled, it became an absolute road. Which is quite different to any other pitches we have played on so far. All games have been sort of 130-150.”The Super Kings have already qualified for the playoffs and look favourites to end up in the top two, which means the ideal response from them would be to forget such a match and move on. However, this is something that can happen in a knockout game too.If an identical match were to happen in identical conditions, Dhoni doesn’t believe it would be possible to set a target of more than 190 or 200. Dhoni said his openers have been really good at assessing the conditions, and while the idea is to prevent over-attacking and losing too many wickets early, this wasn’t a case of a hangover from earlier slow pitches and thus aiming too low.Ruturaj Gaikwad’s first 50 came in 43 balls, and his next 51 in just 17, but the difference wasn’t just about intent•BCCIWhat a side can change when they lose such a bad toss is either take that over-attacking route, which is a risk, or, as Dhoni would want, be smarter with the ball. In their ideal XI, Super Kings would have Dwayne Bravo and Deepak Chahar, who were rested against the Royals and should make a difference when they return, but Dhoni and Fleming would like to see better thinking from the bowlers when caught in another onslaught.”The wicket changed quite a bit,” Dhoni said when asked how much he missed Chahar and Bravo. “Both of them are quite experienced, but I felt their batters put us under pressure. What we could have done slightly better was maybe use the dimensions of the field. Or put fielders where you would like to bowl, make them go over the [boundary] fielders rather than go over mid-off or short cover.”Fleming echoed the sentiment. “It is not a bad thing to have a high-scoring game like this and be tested,” Fleming said. “It gives you some really good coaching points and improvement points. One of them is how to absorb an onslaught like that. It was spectacular and it was great play. The only criticism would probably be our adjustments were not as quick as they needed to be.”

The captains event is tentatively scheduled around February 16 or 17 in Karachi

Nagraj Gollapudi22-Jan-2025

There is no clear answer to whether India captain Rohit Sharma will travel to Pakistan for the ICC’s official captains call to ring in the 2025 Champions Trophy. The captains event, which as per practice happens in the host country, is tentatively scheduled around February 16 or 17 in Karachi, but the BCCI is yet to get any official communication on it from the ICC.”It [Rohit travelling to Pakistan] has not yet been discussed. It is not on the agenda yet,” Devjit Saikia, the BCCI’s newly-appointed secretary, told ESPNcricinfo.It could not be confirmed whether the BCCI would need the Indian government’s permission for Rohit to travel to Pakistan.Related

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Due to the climate of political tension between the two countries, India and Pakistan have played no bilateral series since 2012, but continue to meet at ICC tournaments. While Pakistan have travelled to India for ICC tournaments in this period, India have not played any international cricket in Pakistan since 2008.With the BCCI insisting that India would not travel to Pakistan for their matches, the ICC in co-ordination with the PCB, the tournament hosts, decided upon a hybrid model for ICC events until 2027, with Dubai named as the host of India’s Champions Trophy games.While there is no recent precedent for an India player visiting Pakistan in an official capacity, there is one involving BCCI officials. In 2023, Roger Binny and Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI’s president and vice-president, travelled to Lahore for an official PCB dinner during the Asia Cup, after being invited by the then PCB chair Zaka Ashraf.It is understood that the PCB has requested the ICC to ensure that, as per standard practice, all teams and captains are available for the Champions Trophy photoshoot, opening ceremony and other pre-tournament engagements. The ICC, it is understood, is still finalising logistics and travel dates for teams.Incidentally, the ICC did not organise a captains event ahead of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup which was co-hosted by the West Indies and the USA. With teams playing warm-up matches in several countries, the ICC instead opted to do the official launch via a lighting projection show that featured all 20 captains beamed onto the Rockefeller Centre building in New York City. It is understood that like in the 2024 T20 World Cup, teams will have the option of playing up to two warm-up matches each depending on their arrival time for the Champions Trophy.Saikia: ‘BCCI will follow every uniform-related ICC rule’Saikia, meanwhile, has clarified that India will adhere to the dress code set by the ICC for the Champions Trophy, responding to media speculation that the BCCI had objected to the host nation’s name on their jersey. Player jerseys during ICC events usually include the tournament logo with the name of the tournament, host country and year below it.”BCCI will follow every uniform-related ICC rule during Champions Trophy,” Saikia told . “Whatever the other teams will do regarding the logo and dress code, we are going to follow in true letter and spirit.”

“It was not an easy decision to make,” according to Johnathan Atkeison, CEO of USA Cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2024USA Cricket has announced the departure of Stuart Law as the head coach of the men’s national team. While the reason behind his departure has not been made public, Johnathan Atkeison, CEO of USA Cricket, said “it was not an easy decision to make”.The announcement came in the middle of USA’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 campaign, a day before their game against Nepal in Dallas.Law’s tenure, which started in April, lasted just over seven months despite the team beating Bangladesh in a T20I series and then advancing into the Super-Eights stage of the T20 World Cup for the first time in their history.USA beat Canada and more significantly, Pakistan, to progress in the tournament they co-hosted with the West Indies.”Given Stuart’s contribution to the program, this was not an easy decision to make,” Atkeison said in a press release. “Unfortunately, we felt that a change was necessary for the next phase of competitive preparation.Venu Pisike, Chair of USA Cricket added, “We thank Stuart for his contributions to USA Cricket during his tenure. We wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors.”USA are currently placed second on the Cricket World Cup League 2 points table with six wins in nine games, and are looking to qualify for the 2027 ODI World Cup.

تحدث جاري نيفيل، النجم السابق لفريق مانشستر يونايتد، عن سباق المنافسة على لقب الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، موسم 2025/26، مع نجاح آرسنال في الوقت الحالي وصدارتهم تحت قيادة المدرب ميكيل أرتيتا.

ويتصدر آرسنال جدول الدوري الإنجليزي برصيد 25 نقطة، ويليه بورنموث وليفربول بـ18 نقطة.

وقال جاري نيفيل، في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “مترو” الإنجليزية: “انظروا، قد يخسر آرسنال من الآن فصاعدًا، لكنهم الفريق الأكثر ثباتًا في الأداء، وقد واصلوا العمل على هذا النهج لثلاثة أو أربعة مواسم”.

وأضاف: “لقد رشحتهم للفوز باللقب في المواسم الثلاثة الماضية، لم يحققوا ذلك، كنت أعتقد أنه كان ينبغي أن يكونوا هناك الموسم الماضي عندما فاز ليفربول باللقب، لأنني اعتقدت أنه إذا تراجع مانشستر سيتي، فإن آرسنال هو الفريق الأنسب لتحقيق اللقب”.

وواصل: “لن يكون هناك الكثير من الأعذار لـ آرسنال هذا الموسم وهذا لا يعني أنني أضغط عليه، أنا فقط أعتقد أنهم أفضل فريق في الدوري ولديهم التشكيلة المناسبة”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ترتيب الدوري الإنجليزي بعد فوز ليفربول على أستون فيلا

وأردف: “ما زلنا في نوفمبر، لذلك من غير المنطقي أن نقترح الفائز بالدوري لكنهم يستحقون ذلك، وإذا لم تكن ميكيل أرتيتا أو لاعبًا في آرسنال، فيمكنك قول ذلك بثقة تامة”.

وشدد: “السبب الذي يجعلني أقول إني واثق من فوز آرسنال بالدوري هو أنك دائمًا تفكر فيما يمكن أن يوقف الفريق، لو خسر ليفربول فيرجيل فان دايك أو محمد صلاح في المواسم السابقة، لكان في ورطة”.

واسترسل: “لكنني لا أستطيع التفكير في إمكانية خسارة آرسنال للقب حال خسارته أي لاعب الآن، حتى قلبي الدفاع، بسبب التعاقدات الصيفية، جميع المراكز مُغطاة”.

وأوضح: “كان بوكايو ساكا هو ذلك اللاعب في الماضي (لا يمكن تعويضه)، لكن نوني مادويكي جاء عندما كان مصابًا، يُضاعفون من قوتهم في كل مركز، بنفس المستوى أو بانخفاض طفيف فقط، سيتعين على آرسنال أن يهزم نفسه حتى لا يفوز باللقب”.

وأفاد: “لا أعتقد أن مانشستر سيتي سيعود إلى مستواه السابق ويعود إلى منافسة آرسنال، بيب جوارديولا عبقري، لكنه لا يملك اللاعبين أو الفريق الذي يلعب بالمستوى المطلوب، ليفربول هو الفريق الوحيد ولكن سيتعين عليه العودة إلى المسار الصحيح بسرعة كبيرة”.

Stand-in captain, who is just one away from 10,000 Test runs, will rather look to “focus on job at hand”

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Jan-2025Sometimes it spins. At other times it goes straight. Be ready for both. This is stand-in captain Steven Smith’s advice to Australia’s less-experienced batters, as he prepares to lead them in a two-Test series against Sri Lanka in Galle. Of Australia’s batters on tour, Smith understands the challenge ahead more than most – he has two hundreds in Sri Lanka, and averages 49.75 on the island.”We have spoken about the differences in the surfaces,” Smith said on Tuesday, the eve of the first Test on Australia’s ongoing tour of Sri Lanka. “Last time we came, we played on one that spun from ball one and the other one was pretty flat in the first innings, and then spun a lot in the second innings.”So it’s important to have plans for both kind of surfaces. Then if it is extreme from the outset, then you need to be proactive and follow different methods to score runs. You just have to adapt as quickly as possible to what you get.”Related

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In 2016, Smith had overseen a tour in which Australia’s batters largely failed to pick the slider from the one that turned off the surface, thus going down 3-0 in the series. In 2022, however, their batters fared much better, even winning a Test on the more spin-friendly surface in that series.Among the more recent trends in countering the kind of spin often seen in Galle has been to focus on run-scoring, rather than on defence. Smith’s own 145* the last time he was at this venue was memorable for how quick he was to move around the crease to create scoring opportunities. Reverse sweeps, slogs, paddles around the corner, and more frequent trips down the pitch – these have all become much more commonly employed.”I think the game has changed a lot since I first came to the sub-continent,” Smith said. “Guys play different shots to put pressure on the bowlers. The game has evolved a lot in the last ten years, and it’s good to see some of the shots these guys play to take the game forward.”For Smith, this is a series that will almost certainly feature a major career milestone. He is one run away from becoming the fourth Australia batter to 10,000 Test runs. Smith only needed 38 more runs from the last Test of the home summer – in Sydney – to get to the landmark, but fell for 33 and 4 against India.”I’ll just try to put it out of my mind, to be honest,” Smith said of the milestone. “I probably thought too much about it in Sydney. This time I’ll just try to forget it and focus on job at hand.”

The 22-year-old missed nearly the entire second half of the 2024-25 campaign, but returned Wednesday wearing his shooting boots

• Pepi scores brace for PSV in preseason match
• Striker returned from injury with statement
• Forward touted for big season in Netherlands

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  U.S. men's national team forward Ricardo Pepi returned to the scoresheet for PSV on Wednesday in a preseason friendly against FC Eindhoven, scoring a first-half brace in their 3-2 victory.

  Former New England Revolution winger Esmir Bajraktarevic played a role in both goals, creating the opportunity for each that saw Pepi find the back of the net from close range each time.

  For Pepi, it was his second appearance this preseason, and his first start since suffering an injury in a Champions League match against Liverpool in January that sidelined him for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.

  Fellow American Sergino Dest was not named to the teamsheet for the contest on Wednesday. He suffered a minor setback in preseason, but is expected to be fit for the start of the Eredivisie campaign.

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• WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS

• AFP
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Pepi is set to play an integral role for both club and country this upcoming campaign, as PSV look to win their third-straight Eredivise title, and the U.S. men's national team looks to find a spell of form under Mauricio Pochettino.

  The U.S. has just 10 matches left across five FIFA international windows until the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and after falling short in the CONCACAF Nations League and the Gold Cup in recent months, they'll look to put in some positive showings.

  Pepi, meanwhile, will look to play his first minutes for the USMNT this September since November 2024, when he scored twice across two matches against Jamaica in the Nations League quarterfinals.

  To date, Pepi has 33 caps and has scored 13 goals, and has recorded three assists.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  This offseason, PSV awarded Pepi the historic No. 9 jersey at the club, a shirt previously worn by the likes of Romario, Ronaldo Nazario, and Dutch legend Patrick Kluivert.

Jos Buttler rampaged into form in his second innings back in charge of England’s T20I side, a brutal 83 off 45 balls helping to clinically ice a chase of 159 and give the tourists a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.Batting once again at No. 3, Buttler followed up the good work of his bowling attack by peeling off the 26th 50-plus score of his career in T20 internationals, eight fours and six sixes ringing off his bat during a century stand with Will Jacks that saw England cruise to their requirement with more than five overs to spare.Having again won the toss and opted to bowl, England made good use of the conditions to leave West Indies three down in the powerplay, Saqib Mahmood striking twice to continue his prolific start to the series. Rovman Powell provided some ballast for West Indies with a 41-ball 43 but Romario Shepherd was the only other batter to reach 20 as Dan Mousley, in his second T20I, and Liam Livingstone shared four wickets.Although England then lost their centurion from Saturday’s successful chase of 183, Phil Salt, to the first ball of the reply, Buttler and Jacks dispelled West Indies’ hopes of making a game of it with a domineering stand of 129 from 72 balls. Both fell in the same Shepherd over but there was no reprieve forthcoming for West Indies.Hosein’s opening salvo
Only three times had a score of 150 or less been defended in T20Is at Kensington Oval – and none since 2010. West Indies clearly needed to make early inroads with the new ball, and they couldn’t have gone any better in that regard. Akeal Hosein gave his first ball some air, found a little turn, and Salt’s aggressive thump went straight to hand in the covers. Buttler was then late in jabbing down on Hosein’s fourth delivery, the ball deflecting off the toe of the bat before bouncing over the stumps. Might the pitch still be tricky to master?Buttler serves up a classic
The short answer was: no. Jacks did the early running, picking off boundaries against Matthew Forde and Hosein, with Buttler scoring just three runs off his first 10 balls. Back-to-back fours off Forde followed, before Jacks deposited Hosein over long-off. England were beginning to feel a little more comfortable as Shepherd came on to bowl the final over of the powerplay – and they were metaphorically in a deckchair sipping from a cold bottle of Banks by the end of it.Jacks again took the lead, clubbing four high over mid-off, before ceding the stage to Buttler. His first of three consecutive boundaries was something of an ungainly hack that spun away to the rope at deep backward point, but that was followed up by emphatically drilling Shepherd’s slower ball over the sightscreen, then walking across to the change of length and flipping four more over the head of short fine leg, as England reached the end of the powerplay on 56 for 1.Another bludgeon down the ground off Gudakesh Motie meant a replacement ball had to be sent for, and Buttler went to a 32-ball half-century by smashing Roston Chase into the crowd in the 10th over of the chase. Terrance Hinds, making his debut for West Indies, was collared for 15 runs as England brought up their 100 in the next, before Buttler went 6-6-4 against Chase. He fell in the next over, three balls after Jacks – and one ball after being dropped in the covers. But the finish line was already in sight for England, Livingstone creaming four boundaries in 11 balls and sealing the result with a six.Mahmood in the mood again
There was early evidence of some juice in the pitch, with Bridgetown having been lashed by rain during the morning, as Evin Lewis edged Jofra Archer fortuitously wide of slip while attempting to leave in the first over. Brandon King was in no mood for sighters, though, and tried to thrash his second ball from Mahmood over the top: the ball stood up just enough off the surface to send a spiralling leading edge to mid-off.Archer had Lewis prodding and poking in the channel, before producing a brute of a lifter to flick the glove through to Salt. And although Mahmood struggled at times to control the amount of movement on offer, conceding 10 wides in his opening three-over burst, he picked up his fifth powerplay wicket of the series when beating Chase on the inside to win an lbw decision that was backed up on DRS as umpire’s call. West Indies were 35 for 3 inside the fourth over – marginally better off than their start to the first T20I, but not by much.Powell powers the revival
West Indies needed a partnership and they got one from Powell and Nicholas Pooran – but it was not fluent. Pooran soon opted for seeing off the new-ball pair, given the movement on offer, while Powell was also circumspect, seeing off a maiden from Sam Curran in the eighth. The pair put on 35 from 43, with just a boundary apiece, before Pooran was lured from his ground by Livingstone, whose flighted offbreak left the West Indies No. 3 stranded.Powell had crabbed his way to 18 off 28 before he found his range, panning Livingstone over the midwicket rope for the first six. He lost another partner in Sherfane Rutherford, England reviewing successfully for lbw, and then somehow managed to muscle Rashid on to the rope at extra cover, despite aiming down the ground. Another boundary at the end of the over brought up West Indies’ 100; but just as Powell appeared set to unleash through the death overs, he was undone by Mousley’s 116kph/72mph yorker, which dipped under the bat to hit middle stump and give the 21-year-old his maiden international wicket.Windies tail wags
The hosts only managed three boundaries between the end of the powerplay and the start of the 15th over, but after Powell’s dismissal, the lower order heaved away to good effect. Motie made good use of the extra pace Mousley put on the ball to thrash two fours in three balls, before Shepherd took back-to-back boundaries off Archer and crunched Curran down the ground. Forde also found the ropes three times in six balls, all them sweetly struck, while Hinds hit his second ball in international cricket for four – Mousley’s final over costing 15, including five wides down the leg side.

A crisis man, a tidy bowler and a compact batter – Chase ticks all the boxes for WI

Shashank Kishore21-Feb-2022Roston Chase wasn’t meant to play any of the T20Is and was only picked as a back-up allrounder. He not only ended the T20I series as the highest wicket-taker across both teams, and all but sealed his spot as a bowling all-rounder, who can offer batting flexibility when the team needs it.Early wickets lost, consolidation the need of the hour? Dial Chase. Wickets needed with the ball to win back some control? Dial Chase. Besides, Chase is also an excellent fielder inside the ring. He bowled his full quota of overs in each game; his six wickets in three games came at an economy of just 5.16.Jason Holder’s bruise on his chest prior to the series opener handed him an opportunity. In a modest 157 chase, India were cruising at 57 without loss when he was brought on. He bowled his four overs at a stretch mostly with a wet ball.He used the crease to vary his lines, and then his tall frame to bowl it into the pitch and extract bounce. By not allowing batters to get underneath the flight on a two-paced surface, he kept India honest. The rewards for these were the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan. He finished the first T20I with figures of 4-0-14-2.In the second T20I, West Indies won a crucial toss and elected to bowl because of heavy dew. This time, Chase wasn’t a last-minute inclusion, but a first XI player in place of Fabian Allen, who was meant to start. Chase’s terrific effort in the series opener had swayed the team management into playing him again.This time, he had better conditions to show off his wares. India began to get off the blocks quickly, with Rohit and Virat Kohli playing in a refreshingly attacking manner. Kohli batted with freedom and positivity, hitting six boundaries off his first 15 deliveries. When Chase came on to bowl in the eighth over, Kohli had raced to 29 off 18, Rohit was on 18 off 16. The signs were ominous, and he delivered yet again.Chase’s tall frame helps him operate with different trajectories compared to Allen or Akeal Hosein, the other two spin bowling allrounders. And he used every bit of it to his advantage. Four balls into his spell, he dismissed Rohit for the second time in the series, by having him slice a lofted hit to cover.Chase can land the ball on the same spot – much like Washington Sundar does for India – and he mixes this with subtle changes in grip. The one that got Rohit held its line instead of spinning in because he bowled it with a scrambled seam. Rohit, who was looking to muscle it over cover ended up slicing it to the fielder at the edge of the ring. Off his next over, he enticed Suryakumar Yadav to drive, only to get the ball to dip and spin as he gobbled up a forceful push.Chase ensured India didn’t hit a single boundary between the end of the powerplay and the start of the 13th over. After a pulsating beginning, Kohli had managed just 10 runs off his next 15 balls during Chase’s spell, with two big wickets having fallen. Once again, his subtle mastery was at play, allowing Pollard a degree of control over proceedings. Four overs of mayhem at the end – where the fast bowlers repeatedly lost their lengths and bowled into the slot – allowed Rishabh Pant and Venkatesh Iyer to feast on the bowling to set up a target of 187, which the visitors fell short of.On Sunday, Chase was once again at the forefront for West Indies. Not allowing India’s fearless band to break away initially. They wanted to bat with freedom and made four changes with the series in the bag. In came Chase again, keeping them honest and in the process. Kishan’s frustration stemmed from his inability to step out to Chase.The lengths he bowled didn’t allow him to go back and pull either, because it was the “in-between” length Chase often goes back to as a default setting. Eventually, he’d have Kishan bowled trying to pull a delivery that held on to the surface and had him play early. Once again, he bowled out with West Indies having a degree of control, with Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav having to rebuild the innings. Allen, the man who was set to play ahead of him when the series started, bowled just one wicketless over. How the tide had turned. If not for some poor death bowling, West Indies may have found themselves chasing 20 fewer than the 185 they were set.While his bowling has come up leaps and bounds, Chase the batter struggled for any sort of rhythm. In the first game, he pottered his way around before falling lbw to a Ravi Bishnoi googly. In the third, he came in much later, after the cream of the batting had all been dismissed in pursuit of a big target. For someone who is seen as an accumulator, who can shift up and down the order based on conditions, these were disappointing series with the bat.In a line-up full of explosive power, Chase is often seen as the calm amid the storm. His presence gives West Indies a degree of comfort with the bat at the best of times. He is an excellent player of spin because of the assuredness in his footwork. His role is mainly to knock the ball around after the power plays, pick up occasional boundaries and allow the power-hitters to come into their own.This has been the DNA of his T20 game ever since he made a serious pitch as a T20 player in 2020, when he was named as a replacement player in the CPL by St Lucia Kings. In the following season, he repaid the faith by being the season’s MVP, which got him a maiden T20 World Cup call-up. While his bowling continues to be on the rise, Chase will hope his batting returns in India were an aberration. If he can offer West Indies a bit more flexibility, his presence, amid a succession of bowling allrounders in Allen, Hosein, Odean Smith, Jason Holder and Romario Shepherd will help build a bouquet of options T20 teams around the world yearn for.

Australia’s qualification for the 2019 event might have been touch and go under the new rules

Daniel Brettig30-Jul-20202:16

The World Cup Super League explained

“Try explaining that to the man on the street.”Given the mouthful of terms and conditions plastered onto the screen during a rain delay in excellent coverage of the recent Test series between England and West Indies, it was perhaps understandable to hear Mike Atherton utter these words about the ICC’s new ODI league, after Ian Ward had wondered aloud why the existing rankings weren’t enough.What may have been more helpful, though, is to use a scenario from recent history to underline how different things will be in a world where cricket’s establishment nations actually face an equitable qualification bar to play in a global event. This is rather a change from the usual task of just turning up on the scheduled start date every four years and trying their luck from there, while the game’s other nations scramble, scrape and struggle to fight their way into the token couple of tournament spots left over.Of course, there had already been an attempt to use the rankings as a qualification method for 2015 to 2019, but it raised a couple of pretty large red flags. First, that historical points from a previous World Cup cycle still factored into rankings right up to the cut-off date – Australia, for instance, were still being pushed up the ICC table by their performances in the 2015 World Cup to ensure automatic qualification in late 2017, long after those results had lost currency.Second, and arguably more troublesome, is the fact that teams could manipulate the rankings by scheduling extra matches in order to try to reach the qualifying threshold. Essentially it was possible for nations to “game the system” by slotting in extra fixtures if needed.As the ICC’s cricket chief Geoff Allardice put it: “Ahead of the World Cup in England, in 2019, the qualification process was based on the ODI rankings. And the rankings can be influenced by the access to which opponents you get and if you end up playing against high rated teams you can move more speedily up the rankings.”So, the idea of creating a league and having each of the eligible teams competing over the same number of matches against the spread of opponents was felt to be a way to be able to bring a bit more meaning to the matches that were being played.”Funnily enough, there’s a terrific example of how greater meaning might have be gleaned from 2019, involving the eventual semi-finalists Australia, that clearly demonstrates how the new league, while far from perfect, will fundamentally change how “the man on the street” sees bilateral ODI series.

“The rankings can be influenced by the access to which opponents you get and if you end up playing against high rated teams you can move more speedily up the rankings.”Geoff Allardice

Having lifted the Cup on home soil in 2015, the Australian ODI team went more or less into mothballs as a competitive team over the next three or so years. With Test cricket as Cricket Australia’s publicly stated priority, ODI results were spotty at best, and often, as when they toured South Africa in late 2016 or faced England at home and away in 2018, downright embarrassing from one of the world’s best and certainly richest teams.”One of the challenges we know is trying to get our best players playing all forms of the game when they play most of the year,” Australia’s coach Justin Langer said. “So in the past it seemed to be that our ranking in T20 cricket wasn’t great because a lot of times some of our players were rested through that form of the game, and it’s the same now with one day cricket. It’s hard to have them playing all forms so you’ve got to work out what your priorities are.”The reality now though is that every form is a high priority, and we’ve been doing a lot over the last couple of months around how we can improve our 50-over cricket, we haven’t been great at it since the guys won the last World Cup in Australia. It’s certainly something we’re focusing on, and I guess it gives it more importance now with the table and new schedule as it is.”By unofficially ranking the world’s ODI teams on a win percentage basis in bilateral matches between the 2015 and 2019 Cups, Australia actually finished in seventh spot, just above the cut-off line for automatic qualification under the new league’s terms. In doing so they pipped Pakistan, while West Indies and Sri Lanka sagged a long way behind. Though they played fewer matches, Bangladesh and Afghanistan outperformed these “bigger” nations, illustrating why a more meritocratic system is long overdue.”The prioritisation even from a playing POV, prior to Covid-19, some countries talking about their series in the Super League, wasn’t as easy to rest players as it used to be because the matches all counted towards World Cup qualification,” Allardice said. “In terms of making sure teams were putting out their strongest XI, teams aren’t going to take any of these teams lightly and we’re probably going to see a higher quality of ODI cricket as a result.”What makes things still more intriguing for Australia however, is this. Because they had more or less ignored ODIs as a format of priority in intervening years, they entered their final three assignments: home and away ODI series against India and another in the UAE against Pakistan, struggling to maintain what would now be one of the automatic qualification places based on their winning percentage.Anyone who has watched the Amazon documentary will know that the early months of 2019 were far from easy for the Australians. Langer was struggling under the strain of the national coaching job, ODI captain Aaron Finch woefully out of touch as a batsman after being pitched into the Test team, and there was uncertainty about the looming returns of Steven Smith and David Warner from their Newlands bans.Australia’s win percentage between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups was fairly low•ESPNcricinfo LtdGiven their lack of context or any pressure in terms of qualification for the World Cup, the white ball matches against India and Pakistan ultimately served as a time in which, under less pressure, the Australian side was able to regroup and pull together a workable formula for playing ODIs, losing creditably to India at home, then coming from behind to win a thrilling series against Virat Kohli’s men 3-2 away, then swatting Pakistan aside 5-0 in the UAE. They won eight matches in a row to finish with a 50% winning record for the cycle.Contrast this with the kinds of suffocating pressure experienced by the likes of Scotland or Ireland in their failed efforts to qualify for a World Cup played more or less on their doorstep, or the cycle of anxiety and jubilation and/or desolation faced by major nations trying to qualify for a FIFA World Cup.Faced with the prospect of missing automatic qualification and then needing to enter an extra tournament just to take part in the World Cup proper, it is not hard to imagine Langer’s image in The Test coming to resemble that of the harried England football manager Graham Taylor during qualifiers for the 1994 football World Cup in an earlier fly-on-the-wall effort, An Impossible Job.”It certainly puts a new perspective on it,” Langer said. “For a long time there’s been discussion or whispers or observations that perhaps a lot of one day cricket is, not meaningless cricket, but people will say ‘what’s the point of it’ and we all know what the point of it is, but from a pure performance point of view, it gives us a whole new perspective and a really good one I think.”In terms of performance it gives it great relevance, so hopefully that means we have our best players on the park more often. You’ve got to make sure you qualify – with the schedule as it is, you don’t want to have to qualify for the World Cup. With the Ashes and probably India Test series now, the World Cup is numero uno in white ball cricket, so of course we want to be qualifying for it, playing great cricket and building up to the World Cup at the same time.”As it stands, the cut-off date for automatic qualification ahead of the 2023 event is likely to be around February of that year, before the qualification repechage event in June/July ahead of the World Cup itself in India in October and November. That sort of time-frame would mean that Australia’s typical program of home ODIs following a Test summer would loom as a last chance to qualify: either for the hosts themselves, or opponents including England and South Africa.That, undoubtedly, would be a pressure understood by “the man on the street”, regardless of how complex the ODI league might look at the current distance.

While last season wasn’t exactly the most enjoyable of campaigns for Arsenal fans, 25/26 is looking like it could be one to remember.

Just keeping their star players fit and available would be massive in the Gunners’ hunt for a Premier League title, but the board appear to be going all out in the transfer window to ensure Mikel Arteta has the best chance of success.

Martin Zubimendi is already through the door for a cool £60m, Noni Madueke has passed his medical, Christian Mosquera is set for his, and some real depth has been added to the squad with Kepa Arrizabalaga and Christian Norgaard.

That’s not all, though, as Andrea Berta looks to have finally secured the club a leading number nine in Viktor Gyokeres, and if reports are to be believed, he could soon sign another attacker who’s just as exciting.

Arsenal target attacker as exciting as Gyokeres

While there was quite a lot of work that had to be done to improve and reinforce the squad this summer, there is no denying that a new striker was priority number one for Arsenal.

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After all, Arteta’s outfit produced the best defence in the league last season, but just the third-best attack, and a distant third at that.

So, it’s undoubtedly excellent news that, after weeks of speculation, the club appear to be on the brink of agreeing a deal for Gyokeres, one that will cost them an upfront fee of around £55m.

The Swedish marksman, who scored 54 goals in 52 games last season, will be a hugely exciting addition to the North Londoners’ squad, but he might not be the only one.

At least that is according to BBC Sport’s Sami Mokbel, who on the latest episode of the Latte Firm podcast confirmed that “Arsenal are very interested in Rodrygo.”

The journalist revealed that the Gunners have “spoken to the relevant parties connected to the player” and, in good news, have received “positive feedback” that he would be open to the move.

However, to get their man, the North Londoners would have to pay up to £80m, but even then, Rodrygo would be worth it, and as exciting a signing as Gyokeres.

Why Rodrygo would be as exciting a signing as Gyokeres

The first thing to note is that, no, Rodrygo has not been anywhere near as prolific as Gyokeres has been over the last two years, but that’s an unfair comparison to make, given his position and the competitions he’s been playing in.

Moreover, the 24-year-old has still been a dangerous outlet for Real Madrid, as, since the start of the 2023/2024 campaign, the “world-class superstar,” as dubbed by Luka Modrić, has found the back of the net on 31 occasions and provided 20 assists in 105 appearances, totalling 7159 minutes.

In other words, the former Santos gem is still able to average a goal involvement every 2.05 games, or every 140.37 minutes across the last two years, which is undoubtedly impressive.

Appearances

51

54

Minutes

3707′

3452′

Goals

17

14

Assists

9

11

Goal Involvements per Match

0.50

0.46

Minutes per Goal Involvement

142.57′

138.08′

Additionally, he has done so while primarily playing out of his preferred left-wing position, and while he’d likely move back there at the Emirates, the fact that he’s so accomplished playing off the right or up top is another reason he’d be a tremendously exciting signing.

Finally, while there are some questions over how the Sporting CP star will cope in the biggest of games due to his relative lack of experience playing in truly elite competition, there are no such concerns when it comes to the Brazilian.

Since moving to Madrid, he has won everything there is to win, including two La Liga titles and two Champions League titles.

Moreover, he’s not just been a passenger for those victories, as he has a stellar record when it comes to Europe’s top competition, scoring 25 goals and providing 14 assists in 64 games.

Ultimately, Gyokeres’ absurd goal tally makes him a seriously exciting signing for Arsenal, but Rodrygo’s record and experience would make him equally so.

He'd be a dream for Gyokeres: Arsenal close in on signing £68m "superstar"

Arsenal are looking to conclude more business after agreeing a deal for Viktor Gyokeres.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Jul 15, 2025