Murphy managing new workload challenges at end of a big year

Todd Murphy is still getting used to the extra workload his body has been put through this year during his emergence as a Test bowler, but is hopeful he will be fit for the Prime Minister’s XI game against Pakistan in Canberra next week.Offspinner Murphy has missed Victoria’s last two Sheffield Shield matches due to shoulder soreness but returned to bowling on Wednesday with a view to fulfilling his selection in what is effectively an Australia A side for Pakistan’s pre-Test warm-up.Murphy made his Test debut against India in Nagpur in February where he claimed 7 for 124 on the back of just seven first-class matches – one of which was last year’s PM’s XI against West Indies – and went on to play all four matches in that series before somewhat unexpectedly being needed in the Ashes after Nathan Lyon’s calf injury at Lord’s.Related

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He had already shelved a county deal before the Ashes to manage his workloads, but he returned from the UK with some niggles which flared again after four Sheffield Shield outings this season – the last of which saw him bowl 45 overs against Tasmania.”It’s been a pretty big 12 months and something I hadn’t been exposed to, so it’s just been about trying to manage myself through that,” Murphy said. “There have been challenges with a few little niggles and think the shoulder is just another one of that.”It was a bit flared up after the UK series then a few Shield games with a high workload and some one-day cricket, it sort of fatigued a bit. So used the opportunity to try and give it a chance to settle down and strengthen it back up for what will hopefully be a pretty busy summer across the board then also some Shield cricket to finish the year. Had in mind it’s a long summer and don’t want to burn myself too early.”Murphy hopes to play the BBL with Sydney Sixers through December and January then the last four rounds of Sheffield Shield although that will depend on whether he is selected as back-up in the squad for the New Zealand Test tour.With Lyon having successfully returned from his calf injury he is likely to have to wait a considerable time for his next Test – unless the SCG offers conditions conducive for two spinners – but his experience of the Ashes tour means he always wants to be ready to go.”It’s one of those ones that you always want to make sure you are ready, but Nath’s been so durable so even going over to England I probably didn’t have it my mind that there would be an opportunity arise that means I would get a game,” Murphy said.”Obviously it was really disappointing to see him go down with an injury, but it probably reinforces the importance of having a squad that is ready to perform. For me it’s really important to be in a position that if that unfortunately does happen again – fingers crossed it doesn’t – but if something does arise that I’m in a place that I can take it.”With the two Tests in New Zealand unlikely to require extra frontline spin resources, Murphy’s next opportunity may not come until the tour of Sri Lanka in early 2025, but whenever he next gets his chance he feels this year will hold him in good stead.”Looking forward it’s about putting myself in the best place I can for any opportunities that arise down the track,” he said. “The intensity of both tours [India and the Ashes] was something I hadn’t experienced before. So being exposed to that early on is going to set me up going forward and it was great to be a part of. Hopefully in a home summer I can build off that and if there is an opportunity I’m set up to go well.”

Real Madrid's Galacticos, Steven Gerrard's slip and the worst title collapses in modern football history after Ajax's epic Eredivisie choke

The Dutch giants blew a nine-point lead in the final five games of the campaign to become the latest side to throw away an almost-guaranteed trophy

No matter how far clear a team is at the top of the table heading into the final weeks of a season, football fans around the world know that a title isn't won until it's mathematically won. Never more does that hit home when a team collapses from a seemingly impossible position to hand their rivals the league trophy in the final stretch.

In 2024-25, it is Ajax who have suffered the ignominy of bottling what looked an almost-certain triumph just a few weeks ago. Francesco Farioli's side sat nine points clear of second-placed PSV with just five games of the Eredivisie season remaining, and the vast majority of supporters in the Netherlands already believed that Ajax's name was on the trophy.

However, a run of four games without a win, including heavy defeats to both Sparta Rotterdam and NEC Nijmegen, as well as a draw with 10-man Groningen during which the mid-table side scored a 99th-minute equaliser, suddenly left Ajax a point behind PSV going into the final day. And though Jordan Henderson and co. got back to winning ways against FC Twente, PSV got the victory they needed to secure a title that they had all-but given up on less than two months earlier.

Ajax's collapse, per , is the biggest by any team in European football history, so with that in mind, GOAL has ranked the worst collapses in recent history to have preceded the Dutch giants' remarkable late-season fall…

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  • 6Manchester United (1997-98)

    In March 1998, Manchester United enjoyed a 12-point lead over Arsenal. However, the Gunners finished the season in incredible fashion, winning 10 games in a row to overtake the Red Devils at the top of the table, despite some bookmakers actually paying out on a United title triumph.

    The Gunners took advantage of their games in hand over United to pip them to glory, and sealed their victory with two games of the campaign remaining.

    United would have had a 14-point lead if they had beaten Sheffield Wednesday in March and, having thumped the Owls 6-1 at home earlier in the season, the result did not look in question. Instead, they lost 2-0, before then drawing 1-1 with West Ham.

    United were, though, still top going into their do-or-die clash with the Gunners at Old Trafford in May, but Marc Overmars scored a vital winner for the visitors, moving them six points behind their title rivals with three games in hand. And so by the time United kicked-off their final home game, Arsenal were already champions.

    Arsene Wenger's side subsequently became only the third team to win the Premier League title after United and Blackburn Rovers, but Ferguson's men would recover to win the treble the following season.

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  • 5Arsenal (2007-08)

    Arsenal sold Thierry Henry in the summer before the 2007-08 season, but without him they developed into a force to be reckoned with, having acquired striker Eduardo to replace the Frenchman, while also placing their trust in Emmanuel Adebayor, who would go on to score 24 league goals over the course of the campaign.

    With a new-look frontline, the Gunners opened up a five-point lead with 12 games of the season left having embarked on a run that saw them lose just once in the first half of the campaign. Then, they went to St Andrews to play Birmingham City. The game not only ended in a disappointing 2-2 draw, but Eduardo also sustained a horrific broken ankle while captain William Gallas had what can only be described as a meltdown on the pitch at full-time.

    With their captain abdicating responsibility, Arsenal won just one of their next eight games, drawing with the likes of Wigan and Middlesbrough, and were beaten by eventual champions Manchester United.

    Arsenal only lost three times in their 38 league games, but they eventually finished third, four points behind the Red Devils. Had Gallas simply kept it together, one has to wonder if the Gunners might have found a way to get over the line for the first time since 2004.

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    4Liverpool (2013-14)

    'This does not f*cking slip now'. Steven Gerrard's famous last words proved all too prescient for Liverpool.

    The Reds were five points clear after 35 games in 2014, and having beaten Manchester City 3-2 at Anfield, Gerrard gave the Reds a pep talk that was picked up by microphones, in which he maintained the players must keep their focus in the final weeks of the campaign as they needed just seven points from their final three games, against Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Newcastle, to win their first title in a generation.

    Instead, Gerrard slipped against the Blues as the Reds lost 2-0 at home before – as the commentary famously said – Liverpool "caved in" at Selhurst Park, throwing away a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Palace.

    Brendan Rodgers' side recovered to beat Newcastle on the final day, but it wasn't enough, and the title was on its way to Manchester City. It did, indeed, slip.

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    3Newcastle United (1995-96)

    Newcastle's Premier League title collapse in 1996 is probably the most memorable in England's top-flight history. With manager Kevin Keegan at the helm, the Magpies' free-wheeling attacking football saw them dubbed the 'Great Entertainers', and they enjoyed a 12-point lead over Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United by mid-January.

    The mind games, though, would begin thereafter, culminating in Keegan's infamous 'I will love it' rant.

    Between February and April, Newcastle won just two of their eight games, in a run that included one of the greatest fixtures the league has ever seen; their 4-3 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield. Keegan was left slumped over the advertising hoardings as Stan Collymore scored the Reds' late winner, and United only lost one more game for the remainder of the season to overtake the Magpies.

    Come the final day of the season, Ferguson's men were champions once more, four points ahead of Keegan's side. So close, yet so far.

'We will see' – Antony drops major hint on Man Utd future ahead of return to Old Trafford and explains why Real Betis fell to Chelsea in Conference League final

Antony has delivered a cryptic “we will see” message when it comes to his future, with the Real Betis loanee due back at Manchester United.

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Fell out of love with football at Old TraffordRediscovered lost spark during stint in SpainWaiting to discover what transfer window bringsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The Brazil international severed ties with the Red Devils when completing a switch to Spain in the winter transfer window. He has spoken of how unhappy he had become towards the end of his time in England, with the South American falling out of love with football.

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A spark has been rediscovered with Betis, netting nine goals and reaching the Conference League final, but it remains to be seen what the summer has in store. With his loan deal expiring, Antony will be due back at Old Trafford if no move elsewhere is agreed.

WHAT ANTONY SAID

Antony is reluctant to speculate on what the summer window will hold, telling when asked about what happens next: “I don't know what will happen in the future, only God knows.

“My work is playing and I'm doing that well. I have a lot of affection for Betis, for everyone but I have a contract with Man United and I don't know what's going to happen.

“Now I will go to the national team and then on holiday then we will see what happens in the future. I'm very happy here, everyone knows that but I have a contract.”

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Antony suffered Conference League heartache in his final outing for Betis, as they threw away a first-half lead to lose 4-1 against Chelsea, with the South American saying of that setback: “Right now it's difficult to say any words, we knew the importance of this final but we lost. Congratulations to Chelsea for the title. Concentration was our downfall.

“It was a good first half but in the second half, we didn't have the ball. We need to remember that it's a game of 90 minutes and we didn't concentrate for the entire game.”

'Oh, no!' – How Real Madrid star Arda Guler inadvertently turned Cristiano Ronaldo into Michael Jordan 'Last Dance' mode

Real Madrid star Arda Guler has revealed how he inadvertently turned Cristiano Ronaldo into Michael Jordan 'Last Dance' mode.

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  • Pair crossed paths at Euro 2024
  • Turkish star idolises Portuguese GOAT
  • Never got his post-match chat
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  • WHAT HAPPENED?

    Turkish sensation Guler was just a teenager when lining up against Portuguese GOAT Ronaldo during the group stage of Euro 2024. He had hoped to enjoy a special outing when facing his boyhood hero.

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    The plan was for Turkey to pick up a positive result before entering into a post-match discussion with CR7 – potentially swapping jerseys along the way. Events outside of Guler’s control ultimately conspired against him.

  • DID YOU KNOW?

    Unfortunate headlines in the build-up to a crunch clash in Dortmund provided added motivation for Ronaldo, who ended up on the winning side and opted to shun any discussions with rivals at the final whistle.

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    WHAT ARDA GULER SAID

    Reflecting on that encounter for , Guler said: "For our match against Portugal, I was a little nervous. I hoped that Ronaldo would talk to me after the game, because I respect him so much.

    "Then on the day of the game, Marca printed this front page: GULER CHALLENGES CRISTIANO. Oh, no…..

    "The truth was, I was honoured to share the pitch with Cristiano. Have you seen The Last Dance? Cristiano is like Michael Jordan. A headline like that is fuel to him. Portugal won 3–0, and after the game he did not speak to anyone."

Jose Mourinho 'equivalent of Floyd Mayweather' & Pep Guardiola a 'nuisance' but who would win boxing fight? Ex-world champion & Man City fan Ricky Hatton discusses manager feud

Discussing a possible managerial fight, Ricky Hatton says Jose Mourinho is the "equivalent of Floyd Mayweather" and Pep Guardiola is a "nuisance".

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  • Ex-Real Madrid & Barca bosses have clashed before
  • Both are passionate characters & born winners
  • A battle inside the boxing ring would be intriguing
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  • WHAT HAPPENED?

    Former world champion and passionate Manchester City fan Hatton is not convinced that current boss Guardiola would want to lace up a pair of gloves and step into the ring with outspoken Portuguese Mourinho, despite previous differences between the pair.

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    Both men have never backed down from a challenge and continue to talk a good game, with Mourinho famously billing himself as ‘The Special One’ during his memorable first stint at Chelsea while Guardiola has shattered records with Barcelona and City.

  • WHAT RICKY HATTON SAID

    Hatton told when asked for his take on a potential clash between two born winners: "Pep Guardiola looks very passionate on the touchline flying in there, here and everywhere and in the changing rooms talking to the boys, he’s also passionate so Pep may be a bit of a dark horse. Pep can be a nuisance. I’ve never met Pep, so I don’t know him personally. But it’s like Eubank vs Benn with Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.

    "I remember the one time Jose was sat on the bench talking to his assistant coach and somebody pointed that a Man City player should have a yellow card, so he sprints over to the referee and puts his hands in the air demanding a card. He hadn’t even seen it but what a character he is. I don’t look at Jose as someone who could have a fight though, I think of Sam Allardyce or Sean Dyche, you think they could have it but not with Jose Mourinho scaring anyone. But he is passionate, like Pep."

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    DID YOU KNOW?

    Hatton added on why Mourinho, despite not being a fighter, remains box office in sporting circles: "Jose Mourinho is the equivalent of Floyd Mayweather, very confident, very arrogant, and says he is the best and the Special One while Floyd calls himself ‘Money’ Mayweather.

    "They would get on well having a meal together. It would be interesting. You need characters and that’s what makes sport. We’d be lost without characters in boxing and football, it would not be very entertaining would it."

Bid already submitted: Rangers could sign a “very pacy” Gassama replacement

Glasgow Rangers head coach Danny Rohl was thrown into a difficult situation when he decided to take on the job as Russell Martin’s replacement at Ibrox.

The former Gers boss only won five of 17 matches in charge of the club, whilst the summer transfer window was navigated by Kevin Thelwell, who has since been relieved of his duties.

Now that Thelwell has departed, Rohl will have a chance to lead the charge to recruit his own players in the upcoming January transfer window, and a new winger has to be on the agenda.

Ranking Rohl's winger options for Rangers

Rohl has plenty of options who can play on the left or the right flank, but very few of them have shown that they have the quality to be reliable options in the present day.

Oliver Antman and Nedim Bajrami are both currently out through injury, which means that they are not current options for the manager, whilst Kieran Dowell has only just returned from injury and has yet to be given a chance to shine.

1

Mikey Moore

2

Djeidi Gassama

3

Findlay Curtis

4

Danilo

5

Kieran Dowell

N/A

Nedim Bajrami

N/A

Oliver Antman

As you can see in the table above, we have ranked Mikey Moore as the best current option on the wing for Rangers, because he has scored two goals in his last two Scottish Premiership games.

No other natural Gers winger, with Danilo a striker by trade, has scored more than one league goal for the Gers this season, with Djeidi Gassama on one goal and one assist.

Gassama has been particularly disappointing of late, with one goal and no assists in his last 11 matches, and Rangers could finally replace him as a starter by signing Yelimay Semey left winger Galymzhan Kenzhebek in January.

Why Rangers should sign Galymzhan Kenzhebek

The 22-year-old forward has been the subject of a bid from Rangers ahead of the January transfer window opening for business, and they should push to get a deal done for him because he could be an upgrade on Gassama.

Rangers should bolster their options in the wide areas in the winter market because we have ranked the Frenchman as their second-best wide option, despite the fact that he has only scored one league goal for the club.

A return of one goal and one assist in 15 Premiership matches for the Gers, per Sofascore, is not a good enough return for a team that should be competing to win the title, which is why Kenzhebek should be considered as a possible replacement for the starting XI.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

The young winger currently plays in Kazakhstan, which makes it hard to predict how he will adapt to the Premiership, but it is worth remembering that Hearts, who top the league, signed Alexandros Kyziridis from Slovakia and Claudio Braga from the second division in Norway.

There are hidden gems to be found in more obscure leagues, as evidenced by those two signings, who have combined for 15 goals and nine assists for Hearts, per Transfermarkt, this season.

Appearances

11

15

Goals

6

1

Minutes per goal

162

1,171

Key passes per game

1.7

0.9

Assists

4

1

Successful dribbles per game

8.6

2.0

As you can see in the table above, Kenzhebek’s form for his current club is far more impressive than anything Gassama has produced at the top end of the pitch for the Light Blues in the Premiership.

Whilst there is no guarantee that he can translate that form over to Scottish football, there is also no guarantee that signings from the Championship or other top leagues in Europe can adapt to the league or Ibrox.

It is also worth taking into account that Kenzhebek, who was hailed as a “very pacy” player by Rangers Journal creator Kai Watson, has also shown promise at international level.

The Rangers target has scored two goals and provided one assist in six World Cup qualifiers for Kazakhstan, per Sofascore, which shows that he can compete on the international stage, as well as impress for his club domestically.

On top of being an attractive target on paper because of his statistics, Kenzhebek’s contract with his club is due to expire at the end of this month, per Transfermarkt, which means that the Gers can pick him up on a free transfer.

Therefore, Rangers must push to get a deal done for the talented youngster because he could be a hidden gem, away from the usual markets that the club shop in, who could come in and take Gassama’s place in the side.

Rangers dud was as "rotten" as Miovski, now he's Rohl's most improved player

This Glasgow Rangers flop who looked as bad as Bojan Miovski is now Danny Rohl’s most improved performer.

ByDan Emery 3 days ago

If he can then translate his current form over to Ibrox, Rohl would finally have a consistent winger who can provide goals and assists on a regular basis.

Rajat Patidar appointed new RCB captain for IPL 2025

The batter has been with RCB since 2021, and has grown into one of their key players

Ashish Pant13-Feb-202511:44

Will RCB captaincy affect Patidar’s batting?

Rajat Patidar has been appointed captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for IPL 2025, which begins around March 21. The development was contrary to wide speculation that Virat Kohli would lead RCB again after they did not retain Faf du Plessis, their captain from 2022 to 2024, before the mega auction.RCB made the announcement in Bengaluru on Thursday at an event attended by team director Mo Bobat, head coach Andy Flower, and Patidar. He is the eighth captain for RCB and has played three seasons for the franchise since joining them in 2021 and has grown into one of their key batters, scoring 799 runs in 28 matches at a strike rate of 158.85.”I could speak for quite a long time about Rajat, but I’ve settled on three main things that I thought might be interesting to share,” Flower said. “The first one is there’s a calmness and a simplicity to Rajat that I think will stand him in really good stead as a leader and a captain, particularly in the IPL. As we know, the IPL is one of the premier competitions in the world and there’s pressures involved in that, and I think the calm, simple demeanour that inherently lives within Rajat is going to serve him really well in the hurly-burly of that tournament.Related

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  • IPL begins March 21 weekend; WPL to start from February 7

“And his decision-making will be tested like all of ours is. But I think these qualities will stand him in really good stead. We watched Rajat very closely as he captained Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament and we really liked what we saw around those qualities.”The second thing I’d say about him, he’s inherently quite a quiet guy, but observing him, he cares about the people around him, he cares about the people that he plays with, that he shares a dressing room with. And I think that’s a quality that means that he will instantly have the respect and care from other people. As a leader, those qualities are important. In that people will follow you and get behind you.”And then the third thing that stands out for me about him is that he’s got a stubbornness and a strength and a steeliness about him. I’ve seen it myself when I’m trying to coach him in the nets and he won’t listen to me, but you see it in the way that he plays. You see the bravery with which he takes on the game and I think that quality within him will be really important for him through the ups and downs, the inevitable ups and downs that come along with playing in the IPL, and now stepping up another gear into leading a big franchise in the IPL.”Bobat confirmed that Kohli was an option the team management had thought about.”With our retentions, it’s probably worth noting that we obviously retained three players, three Indians, and of those three, it’s worth saying that both Virat and Rajat were obviously credible captaincy options for us going into the auction,” he said. “And then at the auction itself, we spent quite a lot of time thinking about leadership characteristics. We didn’t necessarily want to go into the auction and have our heart set on a captain because we felt that was quite a dangerous approach and then you end up probably overvaluing somebody potentially.”Rajat Patidar has been a part of RCB for the past three IPL seasons•AFP/Getty Images

In a video released by RCB, Kohli congratulated Patidar on the appointment, emphasising that he has earned the right to be in this position.”The way you have grown in this franchise and the way you have performed, you have really made a place in the hearts of all the fans of RCB all over India and they get really excited to watch you play,” Kohli said. “I’ve seen Rajat evolve in the last couple of years as a player. He has got the chance to play for India. His game has improved many levels in the last couple of years.”The way he has led his state team as well and the responsibility that he’s taken and has shown everyone that he has what it takes to lead this amazing franchise and I just wish him all the very best and I would request all the fans to show him absolute support, get right behind him and know that he will always and always do what’s best for the team, what’s best for this franchise.”Discussions within the group confirmed to the coaches that Patidar was the right choice, Bobat said.”We spent some time discussing things with the likes of DK [Dinesh Karthik, the batting coach], who’s obviously a really important part of our management team now. [We] had multiple conversations with Virat, even had some discussions with Rajat and I say discussions, they probably felt a little bit more like interviews for Rajat. But Andy and I spent some time talking to Rajat about his captaincy aspirations and what struck us was that he was very determined and ambitious about leadership and captaincy and he really wanted to do this and that was really important for us to understand and feel.”Bobat also said that they wanted an Indian captain to lead RCB this time around.”Andy and I felt quite blessed that we had quite a few to choose from,” he said. “Whether we went Indian or overseas was an important discussion point for us. We felt quite strongly that an Indian captain was preferable.”That’s nothing against any overseas options, but we were really keen on an Indian option primarily because it’s an Indian competition on Indian pitches against predominantly Indian players. So somebody who’s got that local knowledge and insight is really, really helpful for us.”While this will be 31-year-old Patidar’s first captaincy stint in the IPL, he has captained MP in the 2024-25 season of the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (where they finished runners-up) and the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. Those tournaments were his first full-time assignments as captain in domestic cricket.”I had a conversation with Mo last year,” Patidar said. “I told him before getting the captaincy of RCB, I want to captain a state team. When they told me about this, that it could be between Virat and Rajat, I was happy. I can’t express my reaction.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I really feel good right now. If I talk about my way of captaincy, I’m not that much expressive, but at the same time, I’m aware of the situation of the matches. So I think for me it’s important to back my players and stand with them and give the sort of involvement where they feel relaxed and confident. So yeah, I’m lucky that I am surrounded by one of the best people in the team and we have a group of leaders as well where their experience and ideas will definitely help in my new leadership role and growth as an individual also.”Patidar was the second-highest run-scorer in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 428 runs in nine innings at an average of 61.14 and strike rate of 186.08. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he made 226 runs at an average of 56.50 and strike rate of 107.10.RCB have not won the IPL title yet, though they have been finalists three times, the last of which was in 2016. They have made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including in 2024, when they won their last six league matches to get into the top four but then lost the Eliminator.With RCB appointing Patidar, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) are the only teams yet to name their captains for the upcoming season. Shreyas Iyer, KKR’s captain last year, will lead Punjab Kings (PBKS) this year, while the former DC captain Rishabh Pant is now leading Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

The googly: Amelia Kerr

The leggie has honed her wrong’un for years to turn it into a deceptive and deadly weapon

Shashank Kishore18-Feb-2022Amelia Kerr is making her WBBL debut, in October 2019. She comes to Brisbane Heat with a big reputation. Can she live up to it?For a while, it appears as if she might not bat or bowl. And then in the ninth over of the chase, she is thrown the ball. Two uneventful overs pass but she already has the batters wondering: is she a legspinner or a googly bowler? It’s a question that player after player asks for the rest of the evening.In her third over, Kerr makes a splash. Out come three wrong’uns, again. This time, the over reads 0W0WW0 – no hat-trick, but she caps a memorable debut with a triple-wicket maiden.That over in itself makes for absorbing viewing because of her variations. The first wicket is off a googly that dips and spins gently to beat the inside edge and crash into the stumps. The follow-up is a flipper that is left alone on line and length. Then she bowls a fizzing googly that strikes the pad even before the batter has shaped to play the cut.Sydney Sixers are eight down and Kerr has a chance to close out the game in the same over. She brings out a flighted delivery. It drifts in, pitches on off and spins back in to beat a forward prod. Bam! Another googly, another wicket. It’s a dream beginning – a teenager varying her pace and trajectory like an international veteran.The story repeats in the Super Smash final of 2021. Kerr’s high-quality bowling leaves batters unsure of which way the ball is turning. They’re stabbing nervously at her, with leaden feet. They fall like ninepins. Kerr picks up a hat-trick, though Wellington Blaze lose out on the title to Canterbury Magicians, thanks to Lea Tahuhu’s cameo with the bat.”I called her a googly bowler,” laughs Ivan Tissera, Kerr’s childhood coach, who is now in charge of Wellington Blaze, her domestic team. Tissera first met Kerr when she was a ten-year old, who her father, Robbie, wanted to spend summers outdoors. As they began working together, Tissera remembers accuracy being Kerr’s first big strength.”She had a natural legspinning action – clean, good arm-speed, a lot of flight. As kids, the wrists are flexible, so she’d come to the nets and keep bowling, not knowing which way she’s turning the ball. She’d land the ball in the same spot outside off, see the ball rip away both ways and then ask in amazement how it’s happening.”As she grew up and hit her teens, Kerr began to understand the nuances of the googly. She worked on developing a quicker arm. “Initially, I just wanted her to enjoy bowling,” Tissera says. “Then she understood the googly needs to be subtle, but struggled a bit with drift. So the line would end up being middle and leg. It took a good two years of hard practice to get that balance right.”As Kerr began to travel the world and play in the leagues, the realisation dawned that she ought not to be a one-trick pony. She watched Rashid Khan and wanted to fizz the ball around like he did. It was her next project, to get quicker through the air but without losing the bite in her bowling.It’s this awareness of her craft, the ability to understand the subtle differences and work on them tirelessly, that helps her execute unfailingly in a match scenario. It’s also this aspect that sets her apart from the next best at the googly, Poonam Yadav.The India legspinner relies heavily on flight and dip, to the extent that her slower pace and trajectory can sometimes allow batters to line her up. This is perhaps what made her predictable when South Africa toured India last year. She finished the ODI series with no wickets, and managed all of two overs in her lone outing in the T20Is, a far different bowler than the one that bamboozled Australia on that magical opening night of the T20 World Cup in February 2020.”I think bowling at her usual speed, she has dismissed good batters like Meg Lanning, but it’s just that when you play non-stop, you want to pick up aspects of your game you don’t have, and that drives her,” Tissera says. “Now she bowls around 76-80kph, earlier she was around 65-67. Before, when she bowled quicker, she used to lose the shape of the ball. Now, she has lost that bit of extra turn, unless it is a rank turner, but her consistency in lines and lengths are amazing.”Who Does it Best?: The cutter | The pull | The googly | The cover drive | The yorker | The cut | The bouncer | The sweep

A vez de Erison? Sem Calleri, jogador terá 'período de teste' no São Paulo

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da bet esporte: Sem Calleri, que só deve retornar para a temporada 2024 por conta da cirurgia no tornozelo, Erison terá um desafio pela frente. Nesta temporada, ‘El Toro’ chegou com uma função: ser uma segunda opção no elenco justamente para a posição na qual o argentino ocupa.

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da bet7k: Mas com contrato até o final do ano, a temporada não foi das melhores para Erison. Isso porque o jogador sofreu bastante com lesões, o que causou uma perda de espaço na equipe. Em abril, sofreu um estiramento na coxa esquerda. O tratamento atrasou também por conta de um estiramento na fibrose pouco tempo depois.

Após três meses, retornou aos gramados, em um jogo contra o Bahia. Lá, deixou a partida chorando ainda no primeiro tempo ao sentir dores na mesma coxa que tinha lesionado. Nesta temporada, Erison atuou por oito partidas, mas desde o jogo contra o Bahia em julho, não entra mais em campo.

Mas quais os planos do São Paulo para o jogador? Como dito anteriormente, seu contrato com a equipe termina no final do ano. Com o retorno dos jogos após a Data Fifa e o período de convocações, Erison pode surgir como uma opção para o atleta. E por este motivo, esse período de ‘testes’ deve acontecer.

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A ideia é buscar um centroavante no mercado. Mas caso Erison mostre que está correspondendo, uma renovação pode ser feita. Tudo depende de como irá se desenrolar nos próximos jogos. O diretor de futebol do São Paulo, Carlos Belmonte, esclareceu a situação do jogador, comparando com o mesmo que deve acontecer com David – que vive um cenário parecido.

– Assim como o Erison, ele teve alguns problemas de contusão ao longo da temporada e ele acabou não tendo grandes sequências. Queremos ver um pouco mais até o final da temporada para decidir se vai fazer a aquisição, se vamos tentar novo empréstimo. O que eu posso dizer tanto do David quanto do Erison é que são excelentes profissionais, comprometidos – explicou sobre os jogadores em entrevista ao ‘Globo Esporte’.

O São Paulo volta a jogar na quarta-feira (18), pelo Campeonato Brasileiro, contra o Goiás. O jogo será às 21h30 (de Brasília), no estádio da Serrinha.

Palmeiras tem Mundial? Como foi a Copa Rio de 1951?

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da fazobetai: Chamada de “Torneio Mundial de Campeões” ou “Campeonato Mundial de Clubes” pela imprensa brasileira na época, a Copa Rio foi um torneio internacional de clubes de futebol disputada por dois anos seguidos, no Brasil. Em agosto de 2014, o campeonato de 1951 foi reconhecido como mundial pela FIFA. O vencedor naquele ano foi o Palmeiras.

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Com o retorno da Copa do Mundo em 1950, a ideia era realizar uma versão do torneio de seleções entre os melhores clubes do mundo. E foi o que acontreceu já em 1951, também no Brasil, como a Copa do ano anterior. Os idealizadores do torneio convocaram diversos clubes campeões em seus diversos países. A escolha dos países foi baseada no desempenho destes na Copa do Mundo de 1950.

No ano em que o Palmeiras venceu, 1951, também participaram: Vasco da Gama, campeão carioca de 1950; Sporting POR, campeão português da temporada 1950/51; Áustria Viena AUS, campeão austríaco da temporada 1949/50; Nacional URU, campeão uruguaio de 1950. Esses foram os integrantes do grupo “Rio de Janeiro”.

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No grupo do Palmeiras, “São Paulo”, participaram: o próprio Palmeiras, campeão paulista de 1950; Juventus ITA, campeã italiana da temporada 1949/50; Estrela Vermelha RSF, campeão da Copa da Iugoslávia de 1950; Nice FRA, campeão francês da temporada 1950/51.

Na final, o Palmeiras venceu a Juventus e foi reconhecido como campeão mundial. A FIFA, no entanto, mudou de ideia diversas vezes sobre o valor dessa conquista do Alviverde. No site oficial da entidade, somente são reconhecidos como mundiais os títulos a partir de 2000. Por isso, considerar ou não o título vai um pouco da opinião de cada torcedor.

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