Deco admits Barcelona are not aiming to sign a striker this summer, clearing the way for Arsenal and Chelsea to battle for Viktor Gyokeres.
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Sporting CP star linked with transferDeco rules Barca out of chasePL clubs ready to do battleFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Gyokeres has been heavily linked with a potential exit from Sporting this summer amid interest from a clutch of clubs. Barcelona had been touted as potential suitors as they looked to source a replacement for Robert Lewandowski but sporting director Deco says they are not interested.
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Chelsea have been linked with a late swoop to sign Gyokeres from under the noses of Arsenal, who have reportedly been leading the race. The striker scored 54 goals in all competitions for the Portuguese club this season, and reportedly has a €100 million (£83m/$107m) release clause.
WHAT DECO SAID
Deco said, per A Bola: "Gyokeres is a great striker who did excellent things at Sporting but we’re currently not looking for that position.
"We have Lewandowski at number nine."
Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?
Gyokeres' contract with Sporting expires in 2028 but he appears destined to leave the club this summer.
Manchester City are safely through to the FA Cup quarter-finals thanks to a 3-1 win at home to Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle.
This game had the potential to be a tricky one to navigate for the Citizens given the Pilgrims knocked out Premier League leaders Liverpool in the previous round.
As it happened, the visitors took the lead at the Etihad Stadium. It was a poor goal to concede from City’s point of view, as Argyle centre-back Maksym Talovierov found himself unmarked from a corner and rose highest to head home.
However, City did not have to wait too long for their equaliser. Youngster Nico O’Reilly levelled the game back up in first-half stoppage-time and got himself a second to give City the lead with 15 minutes left.
Pep Guardiola’s men sealed their place in the next round thanks to a goal from Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian, who put in an impressive performance, ran onto a through ball from talismanic striker Erling Haaland and poked home from just inside the six-yard box.
It was a professional performance on the whole from the Citizens, although one player who struggled at times was youngster James McAtee.
James McAtee's stats v Plymouth
Make no mistake, McAtee’s performance was by no means a poor one. However, the City ace, who operated in the No 10 role against the Championship outfit, did not really have a big influence on the game.
Manchester City'sJamesMcAteecelebrates after the match
That said, this was not through lack of effort. The midfielder, who was substituted on the hour mark for Haaland, worked incredibly hard, but simply struggled to get into the game.
McAtee’s stats from the game on Sofascore show just how tough of a match it was for him. The 22-year-old had just 35 touches, although he did manage to create two chances in that time.
Joe Krishnan, a journalist for The Express, gave the attacking midfielder a post-match rating of 6/10 for his efforts. He explained that he “looked bright in the early stages” and was “recognised with a warm ovation” upon his substitution.
It was certainly a mixed night for McAtee, although the same cannot be said for another City academy star who didn’t just outclass the academy graduate but also the great De Bruyne.
The Man City player who thrived most vs Plymouth
It was an excellent evening for Nico O’Reilly. The youngster has now played nine times for the first team this season following his performance against the Pilgrims, and has impressed with his ability on the ball and versatility.
On Saturday night, the youngster started at left-back, but he has also played at centre-back, across the midfield and even as a No 9 this term, which is certainly handy for Guardiola to rely on.
His goals were impressive, too. Both were headers from set-pieces, with the first a glancing effort from a De Bruyne cross that the goalkeeper got a hand to, but nothing more. O’Reilly’s was teed up by Phil Foden for his second, scoring with a towering effort at the back post from a corner.
The youngster’s stats from the game showed how big his influence was. He had 90 touches and completed 89% of his passes. The City left-back also made one clearance and one interception.
Stat
Total
Touches
90
Pass accuracy
89%
Passes completed
65/73
Shots on target
2
Goals
2
Clearances
1
Interceptions
1
Krishnan highlighted that O’Reilly had to grow into the game, pointing out that he “initially struggled to make the same impact” as Josko Gvardiol in an attacking sense. However, he gave him an 8/10 for what was ultimately a decisive performance.
O’Reilly is certainly an exciting talent and really feels like the future feature of the Citizens team for the coming years.
His ability to play anywhere required of him on the pitch and his capability of finding the net is extremely useful.
Nico O'Reilly for Manchester City
The 19-year-old has certainly not done his future first-team chances any harm after Saturday’s showing. Perhaps City will get used to the sight of him donning that famous sky blue shirt with Haaland and co on a more regular basis.
Man City hit the jackpot on £76m ace who has genuine Ballon d'Or potential
Ruben Amorim has explained why Viktor Gyokeres could reject a transfer to Manchester United, admitting that the Sporting CP striker “won’t come”.
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Swedish forward starring in Portugal
Premier League switch speculated on
Red Devils & Arsenal are both in the mix
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WHAT HAPPENED?
Swedish sensation Gyokeres has become one of the most sought-after talents in world football. The 26-year-old forward has hit 52 goals across all competitions this season, and 95 through 98 appearances during his time in Lisbon.
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
The former Brighton and Coventry frontman is now seeing a return to English football speculated on. Having previously worked with Amorim in Portugal, a reunion for the pair at Old Trafford has been mooted.
DID YOU KNOW?
United are, however, languishing 14th in the Premier League table. They are into the Europa League semi-finals, where they will face Athletic Club, and ultimate glory in that competition would secure Champions League qualification for 2025-26.
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WHAT RUBEN AMORIM SAID
Amorim admits that the Red Devils need to be rubbing shoulders with the European elite in order to stand any chance of signing Gyokeres. He has said of a player that he knows well: “I didn't talk to him. But if a player only wants to come to Man United to play Champions League, then he won't come. We want players who want to represent United, not players who want to play certain competitions.”
Yorkshire young guns Finlay Bean and George Hill posted superb centuries – 114 and 101 respectively – to ensure their side dominated the opening day of the LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Gloucestershire at Headingley.Left-handed opener Bean faced 153 balls for his second century of the Division Two season – and the second of the 21-year-old’s fledgling career. It was the main contribution in Yorkshire’s 393 for 6 from 91 overs.He shared a stand of 57 with Dawid Malan for the third wicket during the morning and then 153 for the fourth either side of lunch with fellow up and comer George Hill, who then faced 180 balls and shared 111 for the fifth wicket with Jonny Tattersall.It was allrounder Hill’s first century of the summer, with Gloucestershire too loose with the Kookaburra ball having been asked to bowl in excellent batting conditions.Left-arm seamer Taylor stood out like a sore thumb amongst his colleagues with three for 43 from 17 overs, including Tattersall late on for 79. Five overs were lost to evening rain.Play was watched by Yorkshire’s new chair Harry Chathli and also their former County Championship title-winning coach Jason Gillespie, the Australian bowling legend who was triumphant with the county in 2014 and 2015.He is back in the UK for the Ashes and back at Headingley for the first time since leaving. Things have changed dramatically since Gillespie departed at the end of 2016, his side having just missed out on a third successive Championship title to Middlesex.Not only has there been upheaval off the field, results have fallen drastically on it as well, highlighted by this being a Division Two encounter.Only Adam Lyth and Matthew Fisher from the current side played four-day cricket during the Australian legend’s golden tenure.But the performances of two young players who were only playing county age-group during Gillespie’s tenure should serve as indication of future promise.Lyth’s opening partner Bean, 21, was playing for Yorkshire Under 14s during Gillespie’s last year in 2016 and Hill for the Under 15s.Bean has enjoyed an encouraging start to life in senior cricket having returned to the club last summer following a brief break to go and work as a mechanic.He earned a rookie contract on the back of a record-breaking 441 in the second team last year and made his first-team bow in August.He played a trio of Championship matches last September, but was a first choice starter at the beginning of April and scored 118 in the opening round defeat here against Leicestershire.Bean watched on from the non-striker’s end as three senior partners departed before lunch, including Lyth and captain Shan Masood within four balls to Taylor as the score slipped to 33 for 2 in the sixth over. Lyth edged to second slip trying to leave alone before Masood was trapped lbw for a three-ball duck.Bean shared 57 with another left-hander, Dawid Malan, who looked in good order for 28 before being caught behind down leg trying pull Ben Charlesworth’s seam – 90 for 3 in the 17th.But Gloucestershire’s good early work was eroded thanks to their inability to limit the fours, especially to the short boundary towards the East Stand side of this ground.Hill, 22, is more advanced in his development than Bean – a right-hander particularly strong against spin. Hill has been frustrated by his inability to build on starts over the last couple of seasons. But he did here. This was his best of four times beyond 50 in the Championship this season.Bean reached his century off 140 balls midway through the afternoon. But he only faced 13 more deliveries and fell caught at deep square-leg pulling at Zaman Akhter – 243 for 4 in the 53rd over.After tea, Hill moved into the nineties and took Yorkshire beyond 300 by helping Tattersall take 19 from the 72nd over against Gohar, including a slog-swept six over midwicket.He reached his century off 177 balls before falling caught behind off Ollie Price’s offspin. And when Taylor, now bowling with the new ball, had Tattersall caught at second slip, Yorkshire were 368 for 6 after 86 overs.
Ashes-winning captain, autocratic “supremo”, Farsley CC groundsman – “Illy” was one of the game’s true greats
David Hopps25-Dec-2021Raymond Illingworth had a fair claim to be considered the most competent English cricketer since the war. He was not, as Yorkshire’s pointed out, a great batsman, nor a great bowler, nor a great fieldsman. But he was a professional’s professional, “sufficiently expert, in his employment of experience, knowledge, tactical insight and psychology as a captain to be remembered without qualification as a great cricketer”.In fact, there was little Illingworth (known throughout his career as “Illy”) did not know about cricket and virtually nothing he could not do in the game. As a small boy he would help prepare his local club ground for a match and when his race was run, and he had a distinguished record as a former England manager and captain, he still enjoyed rolling the grass and marking the pitch at his local Bradford League club, Farsley. He had opinions on groundsmanship as he had opinions on everything else that was cricket related. He was truly a cricket man for all seasons and for all moments, critical or contemplative.The son of a cabinet-maker and joiner, he inherited strong hands, long fingers, powerful arms and an attention to detail. He left school in Farsley at 14 with a batting average of 100 and a bowling average of two. He furthered his cricketing education on the damp pitches and in the stinging winds of the Bradford League which encouraged in him a pragmatism that never wavered. When he was only 15, he scored 148 not out in a Priestley Cup Final spread over several evenings.Related
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Illingworth was playing for Yorkshire’s 2nd XI before he gained wider prominence during national service when playing for the RAF and Combined Services. He was 19 when he scored 56 on his debut for Yorkshire in 1951 but was unable to compete for a regular place until after his release in 1953 when a series of mishaps to Yorkshire’s bowlers left a vacancy.Illy had bowled right-arm medium until he discovered, in a league match, a talent for offspin and it was as an offbreak bowler, with a well-disguised “arm” ball that he would be mostly remembered. His smooth, contemplative approach and curl of his bowling arm before delivery imposed an impression of order and he resented every run he conceded. His versatility was such that for a quarter century he was numbered among the world’s most reliable allrounders, as reflected in his career figures: 24,134 runs at an average of 28.06, 2,072 wickets at 20.28.He hit 22 first-class centuries and took 446 catches, usually at gully from where he kept an eagle eye on the play, as analytical as any player in Yorkshire’s history. As a young player, he had to withstand a bullying Yorkshire dressing room where senior players held sway. He was no more than an average fielder when he entered the Yorkshire team and suffered some sarcastic outbursts from the acerbic Johnny Wardle until, after a confrontation, he became Wardle’s favourite fielder in the deep.Many of Illingworth’s runs were made at a critical juncture in the innings when either defiance or dash was needed and his ability to provide either made him a major figure in Yorkshire’s seven trophies, including five Championships, in the 1960s. Cricket was a job and the job was to win, from the outset. Throughout he was captain Brian Close’s right-hand man and the story goes that when one of the ebullient skipper’s cunning wheezes went awry the team naturally turned to Illingworth to restore order. They were a potent blend, Close possessed of a gambler’s instinct, Illingworth shrewd and intense. They were solid friends, each convinced they knew more than the other.Judged a batting offspinner by the England selectors, he had to compete for a Test place with several expert practitioners, including his fellow Yorkshiremen Bob Appleyard and Jim Laker, who played for Surrey, and did not play for the first of his 61 Tests till 1958. He toured Australia in 1962-63 where public comments about the captaincy and the tour management made him a suspicious character to cricket’s establishment.
“Playing under Illy was a marvellous experience, going to school under a stern and humorous headmaster whose own foibles made him that much more of a human being”David Gower
His future at Headingley seemed considerably more stable when he followed Close as Yorkshire’s captain, but he was not a man given to gamble in cricket or in life and, in 1968, at 37, he sought some insurance from Yorkshire through a written contract. By a piece of mismanagement spectacular by even Yorkshire’s history he was sacked, became Leicestershire’s captain and transformed them into one of England’s leading teams, taking them to the Championship for the first time in their history.David Gower, a young aspirant when Illingworth arrived at Leicestershire and who was to one day follow him as captain of England, later remembered: “Playing under Illy was a marvellous experience, going to school under a stern and humorous headmaster whose own foibles made him that much more of a human being.”Above all this headmaster had standards. And only if you observed those standards were you admitted to the inner circle of his confidence. You had to look after yourself in what he considered to be a proper manner on and off the field. If you did all that he loved you; if you didn’t, he would be down on you. His attitude to any and every game of cricket was 100 percent effort.”Even the establishment was impressed and, strikingly late in his career, the England captaincy followed, a run of 31 successive Tests, plus five against the Rest of the World, which culminated in the regaining of the Ashes in Australia in 1970-71. It ended with his team triumphantly chairing him from the field in an obvious show of respect, but it was a controversial series and Illingworth’s demeanour and attitude brought criticism from the more traditional pundits. He argued on the field about short-pitched bowling with the Australian umpire Lou Rowan in the Sydney Test, and when bottles and cans were thrown on to the outfield in protest, Illingworth led his players off the field in protest. England played in his manner: tough, pugnacious, shrewd.The Yorkshire committee, beset by argument and furore over the future of Geoffrey Boycott, invited him back as manager in 1979 but such was the acrimony that by the end of the summer, he admitted he wished he had never returned from Leicester. Whatever the regrets he persevered in trying to restore the county’s fortunes and in 1982, 15 days after his 50th birthday, he found himself appointed Yorkshire’s captain, a post that should have been his more than a decade before. Yorkshire finished that summer bottom of the Championship for the first time, but Illingworth bowling many a crafty over, took them to the Sunday League title, their first trophy for 14 years.Devon Malcolm bowls as Ray Illingworth looks on•Getty ImagesThat triumph failed to save him from a sacking at the next annual general meeting when the Committee was overturned by Boycott supporters so Illingworth once more departed to the media where his printed and on-screen comments were trenchant and wise. Even then his career was far from over for such was his prestige that he was invited to become England team manager in 1986; he looked at the terms, felt that the authority granted was insufficient and demurred.Ten years later with England desperate for a saviour and with previous disagreements forgotten, Illingworth became chairman of selectors. While his brusque Yorkshire independence was enough for him to be the anti-establishment candidate, it was hardly a revolution – he became the oldest chairman of selectors for 40 years and had little patience with progressive ideas. Where he wanted assistants, he preferred old trusties.When he added the position of team manager, he became one of the most autocratic figures in English cricket history, Jack Bannister wrote in , a joint undertaking with Illingworth: “No one man has had so much power in English cricket at selection and managerial level.”The players, alas, were not of the kind he knew and he found it hard to adapt to changing social attitudes. Some of his selections might also have benefited from a stronger challenge from others. His most controversial run-in came with the fast but wild Devon Malcolm, who was dismayed by his hostility, but who later expressed regret at speculation that their fall-out had been racially motivated. Michael Atherton, a young captain with equally firm views, was not impressed. “My view was that the captain was there to make the important cricketing decisions and the manager was there to reduce the hassle,” he wrote in his autobiography. “Raymond obviously thought it was the other way round!”Illingworth became a CBE, and after his retirement he was a regular visitor to Headingley’s press box where he enjoyed a good moan, his uncompromising opinions laced with humour, and shared his knowledge on every nuance of play. Yorkshire made some reparation for previous injustices by electing him club president in 2010-11, a position he took up diligently until he had a heart attack in his second year. He loved cricket to the end. Afflicted late in life by esophageal cancer, in one of his last interviews he suggested that he would like nothing better than to finish his life by watching a game of local cricket before walking home on a sunny day.
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Liam Livingstone’s side suffer batting implosion as Bulls charge into T10 final
Aadam Patel03-Dec-2021Halfway into the Abu Dhabi T10, with five wins out of five, Team Abu Dhabi were looking like the team to beat with their imposing brand of cricket, instilled by Paul Farbrace, and the aggressive manner in which they were taking the game to the opposition.Captain Liam Livingstone said they would commit to that fearless style and strategy, knowing that one day they would get bowled out for 50 or 60. He just wished that day wouldn’t come when it really mattered.For much of the tournament, that approach worked – they became the first side to reach the play-offs and with last-ball sixes to seal victories against Deccan Gladiators and Delhi Bulls, the trophy looked destined to be theirs. Everything was going their way. But as so often happens in these competitions, it is about peaking at the right time.As the T10 journeyed towards its business end, their insistence on that identity remained; perhaps ultimately, it was the cause of their demise.It was at this very stage that Team Abu Dhabi fell in the last edition of this tournament, and as they were bowled out for 60 by Bulls in the second qualifier here, driven on by a determined Dominic Drakes who will no doubt be a man you will hear much more of in years to come, their inability to adapt proved to be the reason as to why it will be Gladiators and Bulls who will instead contest Saturday’s final at the Zayed Cricket Ground.After Gladiators had earlier beaten Bulls in the first qualifier to secure their place in the final, the Abu Dhabi outfit hammered Bangla Tigers to eliminate Faf du Plessis’ side. The final act of Friday’s triple-header thus saw sides led by Livingstone and Dwayne Bravo go head to head for a place in the final.Earlier in the day, Wanindu Hasaranga’s crucial removal of Rahmanullah Gurbaz – the star of the tournament – for just 19 offered a different challenge for the Bulls batters. Suddenly, they needed someone other than Gurbaz to step upDespite Eoin Morgan briefly threatening to pull off something special when he went after Andre Russell with three consecutive sixes, he hit a full toss the very next ball straight to Odean Smith and that was the end of that.Wahab Riaz stated how despite Gurbaz hitting the Sri Lankan for six in the first over after the powerplay, he continued with that match-up knowing that Hasaranga was his key wicket-taker. That decision worked as Gurbaz sent the first ball of Hasaranga’s next over straight to Tom Kohler-Cadmore at long-on and it was Gladiators, instead of Bulls, who would get Friday night off.A few hours later, Livingstone handed the ball to Sheldon Cottrell to open the bowling against Gurbaz. Cottrell started with a wide, but his first legitimate delivery was simply too good for Gurbaz. With a hint of extra bounce and a fraction of movement, the ball beat the youngster’s inside edge and crashed into his stumps.Related
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Livingstone again showed his quality with the ball, removing his England captain, Morgan, for the second night in succession and finishing with figures of 2 for 7 in his two overs.At the interval, needing 110 to reach their first ever Abu Dhabi T10 final, Team Abu Dhabi would have been quietly confident with the wealth of batting that they possessed – in Livingstone himself, accompanied by the likes of Chris Gayle, Phil Salt, Paul Stirling and Colin Ingram – yet, with an element of concern knowing that the night before they had struggled to 86 for 8 against the same opposition, largely thanks to an Adil Rashid hat-trick and three wickets for Drakes.When Salt and Stirling smashed 23 off the first over from Chandrapaul Hemraj, it looked like this was going to be their night.Instead, Bravo turned to his trump card in Drakes for the second over and the 23-year-old responded in style, getting the in-form Salt, before removing the powerful Livingstone for a golden duck as he edged through to Gurbaz. Sparked by a spirited celebration from Gurbaz, the Bulls players went wild – they sensed blood.And they didn’t take their foot off the gas. The wickets kept coming. Fazalhaq Farooqi had gone for 41 runs in his two overs earlier in the day, but with his first over, he dismissed both Stirling and Ingram. In the very next over, Gayle hit one from Romario Shepherd straight to Bravo at long-off and Danny Briggs was gone first ball as Gurbaz pulled off a brilliant one-handed catch. The wicketkeeper set about celebrating in style, knowing that the Bulls had one foot in the final.At 44 for 6 at the halfway stage, the game was all but done. Bravo turned again to the man from Barbados to make it a certainty and with his second over, he got rid of both Jamie Overton and Marchant de Lange. Drakes finished with stunning figures of 4 for 13 and joined Hasaranga with 19 wickets at the top of the tally. He has been a revelation this year and will no doubt make his West Indies debut on their tour to Pakistan. In the son of Vasbert Drakes they have a star in the making.As Cottrell heaved one out to Morgan to conclude the final rites, Team Abu Dhabi were all out for 60 with nine balls to spare. For Livingstone and co, that dreaded moment had come at exactly the wrong time. Their wait for a first ever T10 title goes on.Instead, it will be either Wahab or Bravo who lifts the trophy come Saturday evening.
The 32-year-old joins to boost promotion push following relegation to Division Two
ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2025Australia batter Marcus Harris has joined Lancashire for the 2025 season.The left-handed opener will be available for the club’s County Championship and Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaigns through to September. He is due to arrive in the UK ahead of Lancashire’s opening Championship fixture against Middlesex at Lord’s, which begins on April 4.Acquiring someone of Harris’ standing brings vital experience to Emirates Old Trafford, which head coach Dale Benkenstein cited as vital for an immediate return to Division One after the county were relegated in 2024. Lancashire were keen to bring back New Zealand star Daryl Mitchell, who impressed with bat and ball during a stint in 2023, only for the allrounder to secure a lucrative Platinum deal with PSL franchise Lahore Qalandars.Harris has 12 Test caps for Australia, three of which came in the 2019 Ashes when the tourists secured the urn in Manchester. He came close to a recall for the home Test series against Australia, only for selectors to opt for Nathan McSweeney and then Sam Konstas.The 32-year-old has been a consistent performer domestically, and currently boasts 445 runs at an average of 49.44 for Victoria in this season’s Sheffield Shield. He is also well-versed in county cricket following spells at Leicestershire (2021 and 2024) and Gloucestershire (2022 and 2023), averaging 48.39 from 29 first-class appearances across both teams, with nine centuries.”I am really excited by the opportunity to join Lancashire for the English summer and will give my all to help this great Club win promotion back to Division One of the County Championship,” Harris said, via a statement from Lancashire on Thursday.”Emirates Old Trafford holds some special memories for me after we retained the Ashes there back in 2019 and I know that Nathan Lyon and Chris Green have both spoken so highly about their time at the club.”I have really enjoyed my time playing county cricket in England over the last few years and to start a new challenge with Lancashire is something which I am really looking forward to getting stuck into.”Director of Cricket Performance Mark Chilton said: “Marcus is an experienced operator with international pedigree and has a proven track record of scoring runs at the top of the order in domestic cricket in Australia and England.”He has a strong record in England, following a number of games with both Leicestershire and Gloucestershire in recent years. We are looking forward to working with Marcus and believe that he will play a key role as we look to earn promotion back into Division One at the first time of asking.”It was important to us that we got somebody on board who was going to be available for the majority of the County Championship this summer with the appropriate pedigree, and Marcus ticks that box, while he will also add valuable experience to our side in the One-Day Cup during August.”Harris will play alongside James Anderson, who earlier this month signed on for the upcoming season with Lancashire having not played since last July, when he bowed out of Test cricket against West Indies at Lord’s.West Indies quick Anderson Phillip is the club’s other overseas signing, and is available through to July for the first 11 Championship matches.
The ICC’s broadcast partners ask the global body if it believes it delivered an event that justified the huge investment made in securing media rights
ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2024Overshooting its own budget is not the only fallout for the ICC from its recently concluded men’s T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. ESPNcricinfo understands that Disney-Star*, the ICC’s broadcast partners, have raised concerns about the event, asking whether the ICC believes it delivered a product that justified the investment made in the rights, and whether better value overall can be derived from the rights deal.Among the concerns raised was the schedulling of matches, in particular the timing of those games which ended up being broadcast in the early morning hours in the subcontinent, thereby affecting viewership significantly. These include most of West Indies’ games, the co-hosts and two-time champions, as well as the first semi-final between South Africa and Afghanistan.It is also believed that the broadcaster had communicated its worries about the drop-in pitches that were ultimately used for the Nassau County stadium for the New York leg of the tournament. The venue saw a succession of bowling-friendly surfaces on which two sides were bowled out for less than 100 and the highest completed score was 137.Related
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The first two surfaces were eventually rated as “unsatisfactory” by the ICC, only one rung above “unfit”. The venue also hosted the marquee India-Pakistan match, for which the pitch was rated “satisfactory” but where Pakistan failed to chase down a target of 120.Later in the tournament, the Trinidad surface for the semi-final between South Africa and Afghanistan, where the latter was routed for 56 on a brutish pitch with excessive seam and uneven bounce, was also rated “unsatisfactory”.Through its various iterations, Disney-Star has held the the rights to every single ICC event since the 2011 men’s ODI World Cup. Last year, Disney-Star acquired the rights to broadcast ICC events in the India market in a four-year deal worth just above USD 3 billion. Dissatisfaction from such a long-term broadcast partner is likely to be taken seriously, given the implications it has for all ICC members, who receive annual revenue derived from the rights deal. Most members, other than India, Australia and England, rely heavily on these revenues.ESPNcricinfo understands that there were discussions within the ICC to swap the USA-West Indies event with either India in 2026 or England in 2028 in order to give the venues more time to get ready, but those discussions did not go far.Apart from New York, Florida came in for criticism as a venue as well, where matches could not be held even though the majority of the rain there fell in the preceding week. The ground’s drainage was not up to date, and it didn’t have enough covers to protect the whole playing area, which led to frustrating scenes where the pitch was ready but there were wet patches on the outfield despite strong sunlight. Three of the four matches in Florida were abandoned, one of them an India game.ESPNcricinfo understands that the disgruntlement is limited to this event, the handling of which is already undergoing an audit after it emerged that the original budget for the US leg ballooned over by up to USD 20 million. The event has prompted one idea to be floated to convert the 2025 ODI Champions Trophy to T20Is. There has not been any development on this since the grievance was first raised a month ago. This issue was not discussed in the ICC meetings this Tuesday.
Manchester United legend Teddy Sheringham has slammed Marcus Rashford for disrespecting the club, claiming the forward doesn't "deserve" to join Barcelona this summer. Rashford fell out of favour under Ruben Amorim last year and was shipped off to Aston Villa on loan.
Rashford slammed by Sheringham
Told he doesn't 'deserve' Barca move
Rashford training alone at United
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WHAT HAPPENED?
Sheringham felt that Rashford speaking about leaving his boyhood club publicly last season was disrespectful to the institution, and he is now hoping that the 27-year-old's proposed move to Barcelona this summer does not materialise.
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WHAT SHERINGHAM SAID
Speaking to , the Red Devils icon said: "If you assess where Marcus Rashford is at as a professional footballer, you strive as a youngster to get to the very top and play for clubs like Manchester United, and when you’re there, you appreciate it. You don’t throw it away and say you want to leave. I find the whole episode very soul-destroying, compared to the way I was back in the day and how I strove to get the privilege to play for such a huge football club.
"To hear someone talking the way he is talking, saying he wants out – I didn’t like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doing that at Arsenal, I thought it was soul-destroying, and I hope Rashford doesn’t get the move that he’s hankering for. From my perspective, if you go from Manchester United to Barcelona, that’s a step up that he hasn’t deserved."
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
Rashford, along with Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia, are all being tipped to leave Old Trafford this summer. The five out-of-favour stars have been asked by the club to train alone after 5 pm, when the rest of the squad, along with manager Ruben Amorim, have exited the Carrington premises.
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WHAT NEXT FOR MANCHESTER UNITED?
Manchester United will face Leeds United in their first pre-season friendly on July 19 in Stockholm, after which they will jet off to the U.S., where they are scheduled to face West Ham, Bournemouth and Everton.