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The English Football League have officially come to a decision regarding the potential use of VAR in Nottingham Forest’s upcoming Championship play-off semi-final against Sheffield United.

The Lowdown: A top-four finish

The Reds narrowly missed out on automatic promotion to the Premier League, but were still able to successfully secure a play-off place after recording a fourth-place finish, where they will now face the Blades at Bramall Lane in the first leg of this crucial fixture on Saturday afternoon.

Just last week, The Telegraph claimed that all four teams who were still in contention to make the jump up to the top flight had been questioned over the use of VAR in the upcoming games, to which the response was overwhelmingly positive.

However, following a fresh update, it seems as though the clubs in question haven’t received the news that they were hoping for.

The Latest: VAR not in use

In a decision published in the last 48 hours by NottinghamshireLive, it’s stated that the EFL have concluded that VAR will ‘not be in use’ for any of the semi-finals involving Forest, Huddersfield Town, Luton Town, and Sheffield United.

The source goes on to say that it still ‘remains unclear’ whether or not this particular rule will be in place for the final at Wembley Stadium on May 29th.

The Verdict: Completely wrong decision

Not having VAR in use for one of the most important games of the season for the Reds is surely the wrong choice considering the number of matches that have been won and lost based on poor refereeing decisions this term – just look at the wrongly flagged offside decision against Sam Surridge at Bournemouth.

Manager Steve Cooper will already be familiar with the technology after it was used in Forest’s FA Cup game against Liverpool earlier in the campaign, and whilst it does have it’s pros and cons, clubs have generally been supportive of it’s use.

The east Midlands outfit will be making the trip to Yorkshire this weekend looking to gain a positive result and put one foot into that all-important play-off final at the end of the month.

In other news… a Sky Sports pundit has recently backed the Reds to gain promotion to the Premier League.

Despite the blistering form of Jos Buttler, England were undone by a familiar inability to play high-quality wrist-spin

George Dobell at Old Trafford03-Jul-20182:14

Can England get better against legspin in two days?

Had the theme played around Old Trafford the moment Kuldeep Yadav was thrown the ball, the sense of foreboding could not have been more apparent.For England were confronted by an old and familiar foe in Manchester. A foe that has seemingly taunted and tamed them for as long as most of us can remember. A foe that, in various guises, has inflicted Ashes defeats, subcontinent whitewashes and global event exits. Even as recently as the Under-19 World Cup. Wrist-spin. Even the words are enough to have them throwing salt over shoulders and standing on one leg at Lord’s.This was the second T20I in succession between these sides in which an India wrist-spinner has claimed a five-for and defined the game. On the previous occasion, in Bangalore, it was the legspin of Yuzvendra Chahal that inflicted a collapse of eight wickets for eight runs upon England. This time it was the left-arm wrist-spin of Kuldeep who, within three minutes, dismissed the cream of England’s limited-over batting on the way to achieving the first five-for by a spinner in a T20I in England. Turning the ball both ways, varying his pace by more than 20 mph from one delivery to the next, and retaining his control either way, it was fine bowling, certainly.But if something keeps happening, it can’t be dismissed as an aberration.It wasn’t just the number of wickets taken by Kuldeep that was striking (though that was plenty alarming enough). It was the manner of them. To see England’s two best batsmen of the last couple of years, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, prodding hopefully at the ball, no idea which way it would turn, was to see men confronted by something they didn’t recognise or understand.To see Alex Hales – the man with three of the four highest scores made by England batsmen in T20Is – rendered strokeless (his 8 occupied 18 torturous deliveries) was painful. England had no answer to India’s spin attack. And this on a fresh, if dry, track that offered no undue assistance to the bowler.”It wasn’t a case of us chipping it up in the air,” Morgan said. “He completely deceived us. He took three wickets in four balls and deceived us. I thought he bowled well.”But we know we can play him better than that. We need to. Between now and the next game, we need to assess our plans, make sure they’re the right ones and stick with them.”Might it be relevant that none of the three men Kuldeep dismissed in the 14th over – Eoin Morgan, Bairstow and Root – had played in the IPL in the past year? It might be. Just as it might be relevant that Buttler, who excelled in the IPL, was the one man to pick him. Either way, it underlined the impression that England lack exposure to such bowling. They face little – or any – of it in their own domestic cricket and they play few games on surfaces that encourage it. Indeed, as the example of Somerset shows, counties are actively discouraged from preparing such pitches. It means that, when they are confronted by it, the results are usually ugly.”It’s like any challenge,” Morgan added. “If you’re facing a guy who bowls 95mph it’s very difficult to replicate. And if you’re facing a guy who turns it both ways and disguises it well, it’s very difficult to replicate because there is nobody else who bowls like that.”Jos Buttler clobbers one off the back foot•Getty ImagesIt is not an ideal time to learn, then, that the ECB have cancelled both their pace programme and spin placements due to budget cuts. While there is some doubt over how much benefit the pace programme provided – too many pace bowlers have sustained injuries for its loss to be mourned – the system of placing young spinners under the mentorship of experienced pros, such as Jeetan Patel in Wellington, or Stuart MacGill in Sydney, during the English winter had clear benefits. Choosing that as an area to cut costs – rather than the increasing sums spent on bureaucracy, legal fees and consultants – suggests, once again, that cricket isn’t always the priority at the ECB.There were some positives. England’s running between the wickets was excellent, their ground fielding was good – it is the one area where they might be better than India – and David Willey, with the bat in particular, seems to be growing in stature as an international player. He is the only man in the side with a better strike-rate than Buttler. And Buttler’s enduring form and flair provides hope of many better days ahead. Nobody has ever made seven half-centuries in eight T20 innings before. He is a class act.Meanwhile, up the road, Ben Stokes returned to cricket with some success. Opening the batting for Durham in a warm-up match ahead of the T20 Blast, he thrashed an unbeaten 85 from 45 balls against a North East Premier League XI containing several players with international experience. It was his bowling that was missed here, but any England side is stronger for Stokes’ inclusion and his return is not far away now.Most of all, this was a chance to learn. England might have been lulled into thinking they were a little better than they are by playing an Australia side lacking several of its best players. Here they were given a masterclass in T20 cricket and a reminder of how far they have to go in this format. If they can learn from some of India’s tactics – the excellent use of the wider ball, in particular – and incorporate them into their own game, this could be a valuable experience.That problem with quality spin remains, though. While England continue to fail to nurture the skill among their own bowlers, their batsmen will continue to be exposed to it at international level. In Test, ODI and T20I cricket.

Pat Howard, Australia’s team performance manager, talks about the challenges of shaking things up over five years of mixed results for the national side

Daniel Brettig24-Aug-2016Walking behind the scoreboard on day three of the Pallekele Test, Pat Howard crossed paths with a pair of Australian cricket followers. The tale on the other side of the board was looking increasingly sickly for Australia. One spectator said loudly to the other, “A lot of high-performance work needed here…” Without breaking stride, Howard retorted, “very funny”, and continued on his way.If the result at Pallekele was instructive as to where the Test team must improve, then the above exchange was as telling about the way Howard is still perceived by many in and around Australian cricket. October will make five years for him in the job as Cricket Australia’s executive general manager – team performance, a role sculpted specifically through the review chaired in 2011 by Don Argus.This has been a most turbulent period, and Howard’s tenure has been marked by conflict and change. He has needed plenty of resilience in seeking to implement many of Argus’ recommendations. Through that time, Howard’s instinct has been to do much as he did in response to the “high performance” jibe – keep striving forward, if offering the occasional backhander along the way.

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In August 2011, at the time the Argus review findings were announced, Howard was chief of operations for Cromwell Property Group in Brisbane, having left a high-performance role with the Australian Rugby Union in 2008.”I was assistant coach of a rugby team at Queensland University helping out a mate, and by chance John Buchanan’s son was in that team,” Howard tells ESPNcricinfo. “I was chatting to him and away it went. Five years is a long time ago, my kids were a lot younger then, I can say that.”

“I’m very much a link between the playing group and CA, between the strategy and the team. I’m well aware I want to win as much as anyone”

Through rugby, Howard had experience in just about every role around the game, from representing the Wallabies and coaching Leicester, to serving on the board of the players’ association. Being based in Brisbane meant he could work out of CA’s Centre of Excellence – later expanded and renamed the National Cricket Centre – and in being the first post-Argus appointment, he had a say in the choices of John Inverarity as selection chairman and Mickey Arthur as coach. Quickly it became apparent that while Howard was willing to learn about the game, he was an equally hawkish advocate of change.”I have to really justify every decision, and that was the really hard bit about it,” Howard says. “I got a reputation as a bit of a data guy there for a while, but that was all about trying to justify decisions and justify points. The first couple of years you have to deal with differences if you want to make change, and that can upset people at times.”Without question at times I probably went too hard for change, but to a certain extent you’re always going to have positive and negative views on things. Hindsight is brilliant, you never have it beforehand, but we’ve made some good decisions, we’ve made some decisions where you think, could I have handled it better, could I have given people more time to digest it, sometimes less time to digest it and just go through with it. That’s aiming for perfection. Overall I think we’re pretty happy but not satisfied.”Howard’s level of energy is hard to match. One colleague remarks that it is difficult to work out when he sleeps, given the varied hours of the day and night that Howard emails tend to buzz their way into CA inboxes. Customarily visible in the early days of any cricket tour, he will help out in drills occasionally, and one morning at Pallekele could be seen juggling cricket balls in a nod to a childhood job, working sideshow alley.”We’ve got the highest regard for Mickey Arthur as a person, but at the same time we felt it was the right time of change and we needed to make a change”•Getty ImagesThe juggling balls have not always gone to hand, in private or public. The years of 2012-13 were marked by numerous spot fires, whether getting into shouting matches with Channel Nine commentators over the decision to rest David Warner from ODI matches following the home Tests, or in alienating Shane Watson by declaring he was prohibited from using the external physio Victor Popov. Howard also found himself negotiating the players payment MOU with the Australian Cricketers’ Association, an arrangement that irked many, as Howard had been styled as the national team’s man in the executive rather than the bad cop at the collective bargaining table.”It was really challenging, but a role I’d done before,” Howard says. “In many roles your manager has to decide where your remuneration is but also be really positive about where you’re going to grow. I’m very much a link between the playing group and CA, between the strategy and the team. I’m well aware I want to win as much as anyone and make sure the team has the resources to win. How do we give ourselves the best chance of winning?”

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The first half of 2013 placed Howard squarely in the spotlight as what Argus had defined as “the single point of accountability for the performance of the Australian team”. When the team management on that year’s India tour, primarily the coach Arthur, the manager Gavin Dovey, and the captain Michael Clarke chose to summarily suspend Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja and James Pattinson in response to mounting disciplinary problems on tour, Howard found himself having to defend a decision of which he had not been initially part.At a press conference in Brisbane on March 12, Howard’s bluntness got the better of him. Responding to a question about Watson, the vice-captain, he replied: “I know Shane reasonably well, I think he acts in the best interests of the team sometimes.” That comment drew a furious response from Watson and many in Australian cricket, including the following missive from Alan Jones on radio show 2GB: “You’ve got this other nobody Pat Howard, who knows nothing, saying he’s not a team man.”

Howard’s level of energy is hard to match. One colleague remarks that it is difficult to work out when he sleeps, given the varied hours of the day and night that his emails tend to buzz their way into CA inboxes

In keeping with his reputation for endless energy, Howard had been a hard-driving manager for Arthur, pressuring the coach for success and heightening his already prevalent outsider’s anxiety. Arthur felt compelled from several directions to act in India, and was then advised when Howard arrived for the final Test of the series in Delhi that “this better work”. The reason, of course, was that Howard’s own job would be placed at risk should further issues arise. When they did during the Champions Trophy in England, Howard and the chief executive James Sutherland began secret deliberations around replacing Arthur with Darren Lehmann. It was the tensest of times.”These decisions don’t come lightly. There was a fair bit of work done there and we understood this,” Howard says. “Mickey’s with Pakistan now and he’s obviously a very good coach, but that environment wasn’t working well. We made a change. We knew how good Darren was [with Queensland], we put him in the Australia A tour, he was with Rod [Marsh], so we knew that combination was going to be there and ready to go. I think we’d all admit that worked well and it’s credit to Darren in terms of how he’s come along.”Sutherland made rare appearances around the team either side of Arthur’s firing and Lehmann’s appointment. “That was a really difficult time for everyone,” he says. “It wasn’t personal; we’ve got the highest regard for Mickey Arthur as a person and we wanted to be as sensitive about it as we possibly could, but at the same time we felt it was the right time of change and we needed to make a change. It was a difficult time and history will ultimately be the judge as to whether that decision was vindicated, but you have to make decisions from time to time and we did.”Less edifying than the sacking itself was its aftermath. Howard handed Arthur only three months’ worth of severance pay, a decision the affable South African disputed after speaking to friends back home in Perth. That led to a statement of claim being lodged with Australia’s industrial arbiter, and the airing of dirty laundry in the days before the Lord’s Test match, namely the allegation that Clarke had referred to Watson as a “cancer” on the team. Arthur finished up with a fair settlement, and has rebounded admirably to mentor Pakistan. The terms of CA contracts and their internal oversight were understandably reviewed and changed to avoid a repeat.Nevertheless, Lehmann’s appointment proved to be a circuit breaker, not only in terms of the team’s fortunes but also the definition of Howard’s role. Having chosen a coach with very strong opinions, Howard was content to take a backward step from the team, and to support whatever Lehmann and the captain, Michael Clarke, needed. That changed dynamic helped in an improving display across the Ashes tour, and ultimately the raucous 5-0 sweep of England at home. Where Howard had started 2013 highly visible, he ended it much more in the background, working on the underpinnings of national teams rather than dictating as much at what he calls “the front end”.Having appointed Darren Lehmann as coach, Howard was content to take a backward step, and to support Lehmann and Clarke•Getty ImagesVarious measures at lower levels have included an overhaul of the Sheffield Shield points system, the addition of a CA XI to the Matador Cup, and moving that tournament into a carnival-style event at the start of the season. There has also been the increasingly strategic use of substitute players in the Shield to allow CA to manage the workloads of fast bowlers in particular, and injury incidences have declined steadily.Earlier this year a Shield fixture was played in New Zealand for the first time, in the absence of a tour match before Australia’s Test series win. Howard was also an advocate for the reduction in the number of grassy strips being prepared for first-class matches in order to help batsmen build bigger innings. That diktat, and the installing of spin-friendly wickets at the NCC, are yet to reap Asian dividends.”For everything you implement, three go well and two go poorly,” Howard says. “I am happy to change things that haven’t gone well. I’m absolutely free to admit there are things we’ve tried that haven’t worked. But at the same stage there are things we’ve tried where we’re not quite sure of the end product yet. The Sheffield Shield points change, I wasn’t sure it was going to deliver what we were after, but we’ve seen a lot more spin bowling played, seen a lot of young players score centuries, and the balance between bat and ball, both anecdotally and by the stats, has been better.”There are things you try and say, ‘Gee, I hope this works well’, and for all the planning you do sometimes once you’ve had enough information you have to try it, and then adjust. That’s what we’ve done with the Shield points – we’ve put it in, it’s worked pretty well, then we’ll just tinker around the edges to get it even better.”

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The sense that Lehmann was now running the show took something of a hit in 2015, when the Ashes were given up with a pair of horrendous batting displays in Birmingham and Nottingham. Subsequent to that result, it is said that Howard took back a measure of control over proceedings, as reflected by how the support staff around Lehmann has been turned over in large measure. Howard is adamant he doesn’t mind working with others of strong opinions, highlighted by the hiring of David Saker as Lehmann’s new assistant.”We’re not after yes-men,” Howard says. “I remind Darren we had some challenges in this period [before hiring him], and David’s the same. A challenging environment helps cricket grow. So we want to stay ahead in Test cricket, and that means people challenging you. David with England won in India, he’s come in for a year of Shield and has been a head coach, so we know he can step up into that role when required and he will.”We thought Justin Langer went very, very well in the West Indies [for the triangular ODI series] with a new group. We want to keep investing in coaching and coaching depth to strengthen the whole system. Rod and I have fantastic conversations and challenges. “You can imagine how different our views are sometimes. The same with Darren, the same with David Saker, and I’d have to say the state coaches. We have them up in May all around the table. I was in the room, so was Rod, so was Darren, and we want that challenging environment where we’re all trying to improve.

“For everything you implement, three go well and two go poorly. I am happy to change things that haven’t gone well. I’m absolutely free to admit there are things we’ve tried that haven’t worked”

“Introducing people like Saker, people like Darren, that stream of professional conflict is a way of challenging how we do things. Sometimes you come out of those meetings thinking, ‘You know what, we’re doing the right thing, let’s keep going’, or ‘Why don’t we try this.’ That to me is a really good way to do things. Not throw the baby out with the bath water all the time, but continue to grow and try things as you progress.”

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Howard is presently under contract until 2017, but is yet to receive the same two-year extension granted to Lehmann. Whether it is healthy to keep Howard on for any longer than his current term is a matter for conjecture, as is the question of whether, having had a change agent in place for half a decade, it is now time for CA to choose someone else with greater cricket pedigree to re-examine the fundamentals that have gone so badly awry in Sri Lanka, the UAE and India.”[We’ve been] No. 1 in two of the three formats, there’s been a World Cup, Ashes at home was comprehensive but the two Ashes away weren’t good enough,” Howard says. “What’s most disappointing for some people is, most of us believe we had the capability to win there. Playing well in the subcontinent and improving in those conditions is obviously a huge thing for us.”As we’ve seen, playing in different countries is hard, and we’ve got to adjust and adapt, and just because you see something on a video doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to translate that on the ground straight away. But over time, with as much lead-in as you can, multiple Tests as well, how people learn. We’ve got that India tour again coming up and we’re seeing we’ve got to continue to improve. It’s hard, and we know we’ve got to continue to grow.”While Australian cricket is much better aligned in 2016 than it was in 2011, Howard’s presence will always be a source of scepticism so long as results divert from the strongest possible. No matter how long he stays, he will always be seen by some in the disparaging terms Jones offered a little more than three years ago. How justified they are remains a matter for debate; more certain is the fact that Howard will keep arguing his corner.

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2015Ricky Ponting rings the five-minute bell•Getty ImagesDavid Warner started aggressively before falling in the 30s…•AFP… he holed out in Moeen Ali’s first over•Getty ImagesChris Rogers made watchful progress on his Middlesex home ground•Associated Press… while Steven Smith produced his usual flamboyant strokeplay•Getty ImagesRogers brought up his eighth fifty-plus score in nine Test innings…•Getty Images…as Smith also ticked to a fifty after twice falling having done the hard work in Cardiff•Getty ImagesBen Stokes saw a chance go down when Ian Bell could not cling onto an edge off Smith at slip…•Getty Images…a blemish in the field for England after their impressive work in the first Test•Getty ImagesSmith was first to reach three figures – his 10th hundred in Tests•AFPRogers was not far behind when he punched down the ground•Getty Images

Many Indian players from small towns with little to no cricket facilities have made it big recently. One of them is India’s Under-19 captain, Vijay Zol

Kanishkaa Balachandran13-Feb-20140:00

‘Familiarity with conditions gives us an advantage’

When Vijay Zol was in class nine, he had had enough. The promising left-hand batsman was busy playing matches in his district, but at the expense of his school attendance, which had fallen well below the minimum 75%.”My school timings were from 8am to 5pm. I would be up at 5, practise in the morning, head to school, practise again in the evening for a couple of hours, head to tuitions, and then return home only at 9,” Zol says. “It was difficult and I did that routine for a year. But despite that, I wasn’t allowed to sit for the exams. I was quite pissed”.Juggling cricket with studies was clearly proving to be unmanageable, so Zol decided he had to quit one. He hasn’t been back at school since.It was a decision driven by his passion for the game and a determination to succeed. His parents supported his move, which, in academics-obsessed India, is unimaginable. The most common reason for cases of students dropping out of school is a cash-crunch at home, but in Zol’s case, money was not the issue.Zol’s father, a criminal lawyer in Jalna, Maharashtra, where the family lives, had the resources to prepare a cement wicket in their backyard so his son could practise. The small town, hardly a nerve centre of sport, had barely any cricket facilities to speak of. The only ground was used for football and there were no turf wickets.

“I remember Sachin [Tendulkar] telling us that come what may, when the chips are down, you need to deal with it as a team. We really back each other when someone fails or is feeling down”

Zol may not yet have transformed his town’s reputation as a cricketing backwater, but he has certainly put Jalna on the map while still in his teens. An aggressive batsman who initially shot to fame with a monumental 451 in a Cooch Behar Under-19 game in 2011, he is now India’s U-19 captain, hoping to defend their World Cup title in the UAE. He was part of the previous World Cup as a player, and is now in charge of the most successful U-19 team in the world, on current form. India have won all four series they have played in the lead-up, defeating Australia and South Africa in two finals. Zol’s century in the Asia Cup final, against Pakistan, showed his big-match temperament.Aside from junior cricket, his impressive CV includes a century on first-class debut – against an international attack – and a double-century on Ranji Trophy debut for Maharashtra. His rise coincided with Maharashtra’s in this year’s Ranji Trophy, in which they finished runners-up. His unbeaten 91 helped beat defending champions Mumbai in the quarter-final, and though the U-19 camp was gathering steam ahead of the World Cup at the time, he was asked to play in the final. Though he wasn’t as successful in Maharashtra’s last two knockout matches, he remained a player to watch.On paper, Zol’s transition from U-19 cricket to first-class may appear seamless – with an average pushing 50 after 11 games – but he says it has been a humbling experience. “I learnt how to react if things don’t go your way. In U-19 cricket you sometimes dominate, but the Ranji Trophy is a different league in which you have to be very patient. I have played well in patches.”Zol was fast-tracked into the India A side before his Maharashtra debut. Against a New Zealand A attack that included Mark Gillespie and Doug Bracewell, he smashed 19 fours in his 110. Recounting the innings, he says he told himself not be overwhelmed by the occasion or the bowlers. “When I went in, the ball wasn’t doing much, but I was still nervous. I just focused on facing the ball, not the bowler. I attacked their legspinners.”Zol’s father can take some credit for his son’s achievements. It was when Zol was recovering from a knee surgery a few years ago that his father had the cement wicket made. There are shades here of the Yuvraj Singh story, but unlike Yograj Singh, Zol’s father only mentors his son, leaving the technical aspects to Zol’s childhood coach.”He [my father] is a big follower of the game and understands the game really well. We never discuss technique much, he mostly advises me on the mental side of the game, boosts me when I lose confidence, tells me to stay balanced and not let success get to my head. Even when I achieve something, I don’t feel as happy. I would rather see my father happy, and that’s not always easy, I know,” Zol says with a chuckle.”So long as I work hard and smart, the facilities don’t really matter. The hunger was always there to play for India. My dedication and motivation always made up for it”•ICC/GettyWhen he scored his quadruple-century against Assam in December 2011, his father refrained from gushing about the innings. Zol understood then that while it’s good to toast a headline-grabbing innings, you’re only as good as your last knock. “On day one I was on 261. I got a call from my dad and he told me to chill and play [according] to the merit of the ball. When I passed 400 my coach called my dad. He was happy but he didn’t show it. He just told me to concentrate on the next game. [That innings] has a special place in my heart.”That knock, and his latest exploits, have underlined the fact that small-town players have taken Indian cricket by storm of late. Zol insists there was no temptation for him to move to a bigger centre like Mumbai or Pune for the sake of his cricket. In fact, he says the lack of facilities in his town fuelled his determination to grab every opportunity.”So long as I work hard and smart, the facilities don’t really matter. The hunger was always there to play for India. My dedication and motivation always made up for it [lack of facilities]. But cricketers have to face certain difficulties or you don’t get there very easily. There are so many players from the bigger cities who have the best of facilities and still don’t make the cut.”The squad Zol will lead has a blend of players from cities and towns of varying sizes and cricketing pedigree. He says the sense of “togetherness” has been carried forward in every series and that has made his job easier.”I remember Sachin [Tendulkar] telling us that come what may, when the chips are down, you need to deal with it as a team,” he says. “We really back each other when someone fails or is feeling down. We enjoy each other’s success. I don’t feel any pressure, because we understand each other’s roles.”While Zol will look to take his cricket forward after the World Cup, he insists that he hasn’t abandoned his books for good. His brother is also a lawyer and his sisters are teachers. “I come from that environment, so I have to study,” he says with a smile, shrugging his shoulders.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the second semi-final in Colombo

Andrew Fernando in Colombo05-Oct-2012Knockout of the day
George Bailey had led a mini-resistance alongside Pat Cummins, and thanks to their 68-run partnership from 36 balls, Australia had cause to hope again. Kieron Pollard and Bailey had stared each other down even before the over began, and though Bailey hit four from the first ball, Pollard dismissed both him and Cummins from the second and third balls of the over to effectively seal the result and send West Indies to the final.Celebration of the day
Gayle’s Gangnam Style dance has been a theme of West Indies campaign, and over the three weeks, his teammates, and even the West Indies Women have imitated him in their wicket celebrations. West Indies took it to a new level after completing their semi final victory, when the entire team met mid-pitch and performed the dance, lasso move and all, while the DJ blasted the K-Pop phenomenon. It is rumoured the team hope to have large amounts of trash blasted at them if they win the final on Sunday.Dismissal of the day
When David Warner under-edged the last ball of the first over and the stumps were broken, even the bowler Samuel Badree seemed uncertain of what had happened. Initially it looked like wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin was appealing for a stumping, but replays showed Warner remained well in his crease. Eventually it dawned that the ball had dislodged the bails on the way to the wicketkeeper, and what is usually the most obvious and comprehensive dismissal in the game required a ruling from the third umpire.Shacklebreaker of the day
Chris Gayle appeared to be playing the same sort of frustrating innings Tillakaratne Dilshan had played in the first semi final when he had managed only 4 from nine balls. He finally connected with the last ball of the sixth over and the colossal strike over long off from Shane Watson lurched Gayle’s innings into top gear. It was the first of 14 sixes Australia suffered in the innings.Fielding of the day
Usually it’s batsmen who face chin music, but fast bowler Mitchell Starc got a little bit of his own medicine when Chris Gayle swatted one flat and fast to cow corner. Starc came in hoping to catch the ball on the full, but the ball bounced well short of him and the best he could do was stop it with his face.Relaxed running of the day
Coaches will tell young players to always run the first one hard, and then look to take a second, but Kieron Pollard and Chris Gayle did exactly the opposite in the sixteenth over, when they took two runs off Pat Cummins. Having hit the ball softly into a wide open space on the leg side, the pair sauntered casually for the first, before looking up and realising the fielders were still nowhere close to the ball. Almost reluctantly, Gayle realised they should probably take two, and began sprinting back down the pitch, and Pollard followed suit.

Some have found the spotlight, some have found extensions to their career, the lesser known South African players talk about their IPL experience

Firdose Moonda20-May-2009It appears as though South Africa and the IPL have exchanged eternity rings. South Africa, the knight in rainbow-coloured armour, galloped to the tournament’s rescue when it searched for a new home. While not everyone in the country has embraced the IPL with loving arms, South Africa has presented some of its best cricketing crowds to the tournament.The IPL, in return, has gifted its temporary home with a brand of cricket it would never otherwise have had played on its soil, resurrected veterans such as Matthew Hayden, and provided the Twenty20 specialists such as Albie Morkel with a platform to perform. But the tournament’s greatest gift has been the birth of new stars such as Dirk Nannes and Shadab Jakati. More so the South Africans who were little known outside their country.One of those offspring has been 24-year old Roelof van der Merwe. The sturdily built left-arm spinner made his mark during South Africa’s ODI series against Australia in April. He played in four matches and took eight wickets at an average of 18.62. That, and his superb domestic form, earned him a place with the Royal Challengers Bangalore.van der Merwe has had two dream seasons for his domestic franchise, Titans. In 2007-08 he was the third-highest wicket-taker in the domestic Twenty20s, with 13 wickets at an average of 13.92, and received the Player-of-the-Year award. He also took away the Domestic Championship (45-over competition) Player-of-the-Year and Newcomer-of-the-Year awards.He followed that up with 30 wickets, at an average of 13.96, 14 more wickets than any other bowler in the 45-over competition in 2008-09. He has also been selected for South Africa’s World Twenty20 squad. van der Merwe regards his stint with the IPL as the best preparation for that tournament. “Being in a side with a lot of South Africans has meant we have a similar work ethic to the national side, so that’s going to be handy ahead of the World Twenty20,” he says.While he credits his dogged domestic determination for launching his career, he admits that the IPL will thrust him further into the spotlight. “Given the size of the spectacle, and the money involved, if you’re not already on the map, it will certainly put you there. And if you are on the map and do well, I can see it being a big advantage.”Dillon du Preez, who also plays with Bangalore, is hoping the event will bestow on him some of the benefits van der Merwe has experienced. du Preez originally played for the Eagles, but signed as a Kolpak player for Leicestershire in March last year and played a season in England. This year it all went bust.”I haven’t been able to secure a work permit for this season, so I won’t be going back,” he says. “At the same time, I still desperately want to play for South Africa, but given the calibre of players in the set-up it seems almost impossible.”He isn’t rolling over and playing dead just yet, and bared his eagle talons in his debut IPL match, taking two wickets in two balls of his first over, including that of Sachin Tendulkar. He also claimed JP Duminy in that match. Even though his future hangs by a filament, he doesn’t want to rely on the IPL to relaunch his career, and is trying to enjoy it as an isolated experience. “I am really enjoying being in the same change room as guys like Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid – and even Kevin Pietersen,” he says. “The only complaint I have is that I have probably had enough of Indian food for a while. I went for a steak the other night and it was beautiful.”

“Given the size of the spectacle, and the money involved, if you’re not already on the map, it will certainly put you there. And if you are on the map and do well, I can see it being a big advantage”Roelof van der Merwe

Over in the Kolkata Knight Riders side, Morne van Wyk views the event as an extension, and possibly a resurrection, of his career. “There are two things I would still really like to do in my cricketing career: play Twenty20 and ODI cricket for South Africa, and I would like to have a county stint,” van Wyk says. “But whether the IPL will pave the way for that, I can’t say, although I hope it will.”van Wyk, an Eagles opening batsman and wicketkeeper, is a seasoned campaigner and was the highest run-scorer in this year’s domestic competition, with 269 runs at an average of 38.42. Unlike some of the other South African players, who have been grateful the tournament has allowed them to spend time at home, van Wyk says he is looking forward to spending six weeks in India next year. “I was contracted on the day of the auction, long before it was announced that the tournament was coming to South Africa, and I was gearing up to play in India,” he says. “I was really looking forward to crowds of 70,000 or 80,000, the kind we never see at home.”van Wyk seems to see the half full glass in every situation and speaks of Kolkata Knight Riders’ failure without too much disappointment. “We all came into this tournament with high hopes and let our imaginations run wild about how well the team would do,” he says. “To be honest, it’s felt like being in a boxing match most of the time: we work hard and we’re up and ready to go, and then we keep getting knocked down. But it hasn’t been terrible. The real make-up of people is tested when disaster hits, and we have had no bust-ups, which is a credit to the calibre of players and management we have.”While he does hope the tournament will provide a much needed career injection, he is also blissfully soaking up the Bollywood-ness of being part of the most glamorous franchise. “I didn’t know anything about Shah Rukh Khan before this, and when I met him I thought he would be like any other celebrity. It’s been a real eye-opener to meet a man who is powerful yet so humble. He really did take the time to speak to all the players, not just a small chat, but really spent time getting to know us all. He calls himself our big brother, and he really is.”While most of the South African players in the IPL view the tournament by what they can take out of it, some are looking at things a little differently. Charl Langeveldt, also with Kolkata, says, “This is not about what value I am getting from them, but what value they are getting from me. I’ve brought lots of local knowledge and bowling experience to the side.” It has puzzled most that Langeveldt, who was the local Pro20 competition’s highest wicket-taker, with 16 wickets at an average of 13.31, has not played, particularly given the success of another local swing bowler, Yusuf Abdulla. That doesn’t seem to bother Langeveldt much, who shrugged off being left out of the starting XI and said, “The balance of the side is not quite right, which is the reason I will not play.”Morne van Wyk has had his fill of superstars, both cricket and Bollywood•AFPOne who is not laughing off being a paid spectator is Tyron Henderson. With the most wickets in Twenty20’s short history to date, a total of 75 at an average of 21.41, it’s similarly mind-boggling that he is sidelined. “I was initially bought because with the tournament in India they thought I could do a job with the ball, given the conditions,” Henderson says. “But now with Smith and Warne already occupying two of the four positions for internationals, there’s only two left, and unfortunately I’ve been the one who has had to sit out.”Even though he has been forced to warm the dugout, Henderson’s record in the game speaks for itself. In the 2008 Twenty20 Cup he scored 281 runs at 40.14 and took 21 wickets at 16.61 for Middlesex. He thinks this format of the game has given his career new legs, and allowed him to keep playing when he might otherwise have retired. “I’ll be playing in three different competitions: from here, I’m going to Middlesex, then I’ll come back home to play for the Titans in the Pro20 domestic competition and then back to the IPL. So, in a way this has allowed me to become a specialist Twenty20 player and given me a longer career.”Henderson has been serenaded by the IPL because it has given him the opportunity to eke out that extra bit of cricket, while most of the other South Africans’ love affair with the tournament has been sealed because it has allowed them to live some of their dreams. du Preez summed it up perfectly: “It’s really been something wow.”

The winger is dealing with a minor injury and Milan are reportedly hesitant to risk him ahead of the Serie A season

Pulisic dealing with injuryCould miss final preseason gamesMilan set to face Leeds and ChelseaFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED?

U.S. international Christian Pulisic could miss the rest of AC Milan's preseason, including an upcoming clash with former club Chelsea, due to a reported knock suffered earlier in the tour.

The U.S. men's national team star played Milan's preseason opener against Liverpool but reportedly suffered a minor injury in the 3-2 win in Hong Kong. He sat out the subsequent match against Perth Glory, with Milan's staff preferring to rest him rather than risk him in a friendly against the Australian side.

Now, per Gazetta dello Sport, Pulisic's condition is still seen as being day-to-day, and he will continue to be evaluated by the club's medical staff. It's uncertain at the moment if he'll feature in the club's final two preseason friendlies against Leeds on Aug. 9 and Chelsea on Aug. 10.

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Pulisic is no stranger to injury issues, and he suffered through a few during his standout 2024-25 season. Throughout the campaign, he missed several matches due to muscle issues, but ultimately did go on to make 50 appearances in all competitions for the second consecutive season.

Heading into the summer, though, Pulisic opted out of playing in the Gold Cup, telling USMNT boss Mauricio Pochettino that he needed a summer of rest one year out from the 2026 World Cup. That decision, ultimately, sent shockwaves throughout American soccer, putting Pulisic in the spotlight ahead of this 2025-26 AC Milan campaign.

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Pulisic had his best season for Milan in their most recent campaign, totalling 17 goals and 11 assists in all competitions, helping the club win the Supercoppa Italiana. It wasn't enough for Milan to earn European soccer, though, as they finished eighth in Serie A, prompting the arrival of new manager Massimiliano Allegri.

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR PULISIC?

Following the two upcoming friendlies against Premier League sides, Pulisic and AC Milan will kickstart the campaign in the Coppa Italia against Bari on Aug. 17 and then open their Serie A season at home on Aug. 23 when they face Cremonese.

Tottenham forward Brennan Johnson was delighted to end the club's long trophy drought due to their fans being 'battered' over a lack of success.

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Spurs end trophy drought with Europa League winJohnson proud to deliver success to 'battered fans'Says Postecoglou earned his 'mic drop' momentFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Johnson scored the decisive goal as Spurs won the Europa League final against Manchester United on Wednesday, ending their 17-year wait since their last trophy – the 2008 League Cup.

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Rival Premier League fans have enjoyed mocking the north London side over their inability to add to their trophy cabinet, and Johnson is proud to finally give his team's supporters something to celebrate at the end of an otherwise woeful season.

WHAT JOHNSON SAID

"I'm so happy right now. This season has not been good at all, not one of us players care about that now. This team has not won a trophy for 17 years, it means so much," he told .

"All the fans get battered, we get battered for not winning a trophy. We had to get the first one, I'm so happy. Ever since I came here it has been: 'Tottenham, good team but can't get it done', but we got it done."

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JOHNSON HAILS POSTECOGLOU

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has carried the brunt of the criticism amid his team's disastrous domestic form – they are 17th in the Premier League heading into the last game – but the Australian was vindicated when they fulfilled his promise of always winning a trophy in his second season in a job.

"He has done his job," Johnson said of his coach. "He said he wins in the second year and he has, if there's ever a time for a mic drop, it's now [when he speaks to the media]. I can't thank the manager enough for how much trust he has in us and he has a really good way of getting us up for it."

Tottenham Hotspur have shifted their focus to Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers after missing out on Eberechi Eze, with the winger now their new ‘priority target’. Spurs have already made contact with intermediaries to explore a potential deal, but the Villans remain reluctant to sell their prized asset unless a huge bid comes in as they continue to struggle with PSR compatibility.

Tottenham shift focus to RogersArsenal hijack of Eze move forces Spurs into rethinkRogers could cost Spurs more than £80 million to signFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

claim Tottenham have made Rogers their main target after Arsenal hijacked their deal for Crystal Palace's Eze. Initial contacts have been made to assess the chances of a deal for Rogers, though Villa remain firm in their stance. The 21-year-old recently won the PFA Young Player of the Year award, strengthening his value even further.

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Villa do not want to lose Rogers, who is tied down until 2030. However, financial constraints and previous UEFA fines for overspending could eventually push them to consider a sale. Spurs’ problem is that Rogers may cost more than Eze, with figures above £80 million ($107m) already being discussed.

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Tottenham’s interest comes amid growing frustration at their transfer struggles. They missed out on both Morgan Gibbs-White and Eze, while a £67m move for Savinho also faltered. Spurs are also tracking Maghnes Akliouche, Tyler Dibling and even Xavi Simons as alternatives to strengthen their attack.

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AFPWHAT NEXT FOR TOTTENHAM?

Spurs and Thomas Frank must now decide if they are willing to meet Villa’s huge demands. A formal bid could tempt Unai Emery's side into talks, but it would require a club-record outlay. With pressure mounting on the board, Tottenham may be forced into a decisive move soon.