Steve Waugh, Ian Chappell, Clive Lloyd, MAK Pataudi: some of cricket’s finest captains speak about their craft

Mike Coward15-Oct-2013, Mike Coward spoke to a selection of the game’s most prominent leaders about the demands of captaincy and how they dealt with them. He started with an erudite England tactician and thinker. Mike Brearley: When I started captaining Middlesex I found it much harder to captain people who were older and had better careers than mine. I readily made contact with the younger players but I found it a bit more difficult with the older players.One of the difficulties I had was if people were critical or contemptuous of me I would react either coldly or hotly and not get the best out of them. You have to balance consultation and learning from people – finding out their ideas and knowing their feelings. You need the ability to say things straight from time to time. So the balance is the very key and depends on knowing people well. You have to be able to say things to people they don’t want to hear. You have to be able to take on decisions that aren’t in their personal interests; people are dropped or they don’t get the new ball or they’re demoted from a role in the team as they see it. Or you have to challenge them with the way they’re behaving or the way they’re not practising or not doing this or that or causing difficulties in the group.So you have to have the capacity and the relationship from which you can stand back. But, on the other hand, it’s no good if you’re aloof or distant. People in a team will forgive you more if you’re passionately involved. You may get too angry at times or too impatient or show your feelings in a way that’s not particularly helpful. But if you can sort of say sorry and get on with it and you’re basically on the side of the players and the team and you show passion, I think they’ll forgive you much more than if you’re cold.Ray Illingworth: I always tried to get the players on-side. I always insisted we played under one rule. I used to have a meeting and say: Look, if you want to say anything now’s the time to say it. You’ve an open market, have a go. But I don’t want to hear anything outside this room that you haven’t mentioned in it. So I always brought all the players into it and made them feel part and parcel of it. I think that’s very important. It’s also important that the players think that you know what you’re doing. If they don’t feel that you know what you are doing, you’ve got problems.These days I do look at team photos and there is all this backroom staff. I didn’t need psychiatrists and trick cyclists and all these people. Mine was all in my head. If I’d seen a batsman play once I knew where to put a field to him. That was very, very important. Knowing the game completely and knowing the players, I think, is very important. I knew every player I played against.I learned from playing under a lot of different captains. Going back to my early days, Norman Yardley [captain of England against Don Bradman’s Invincibles in 1948] was a lovely man and a technically good captain. But he wasn’t strong enough on players and they did what they wanted to do.I played under two or three captains that I always felt pushed people one way or the other. You can’t have favourites. You’ve got to be honest and equal with everybody. So I learned from that, and so by the time I took over I think I had a pretty good knowledge of what captains were like and what they could and what they couldn’t do.Kumar Sangakkara: I think you have to enjoy the leadership, because there are a lot of things about it that you don’t enjoy. The one thing that keeps you going and keeps you fresh and keeps you happy is your team performing well on the field. Then you know that whatever happens outside with the petty politics and erratic administration, we are doing our job properly. It becomes a nudge, a little push for us to get better at what we do because then we’re stronger than anything else. The most important thing is to set an example for the younger players.You have to depend on one thing and that is your ability to perform every single day out on the field. And the more you perform, the more respect you gain. People who don’t like you will not like you and people who try to manipulate you will still try to manipulate you. But if you commit to the team and the team stays strong, no outside influence can touch you. You can’t say this is the same everywhere; it’s just unique to Sri Lanka.

“I didn’t need psychiatrists and trick cyclists and all these people. If I’d seen a batsman play once I knew where to put a field to him”Ray Illingworth

There’s always the case of the artist educating the critic and that’s always been one thing I’ve believed in no matter what anyone says. It’s all up to you at the end and you can make people change opinions. You don’t have to care about them, but I think it’s important to know that there’s a lot you can do, and when you do things people change, attitudes and opinions change. So continue doing things that you know educate the critics.Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi: Captaining India is not very easy. Captaining any team is not easy, but India is particularly difficult – different backgrounds, different languages, different food habits, all those different cultures. I think the best thing to do was to remain as fair as you could to ensure that people never felt that you were being in any way biased or unfair, or you were selecting on a personal basis or something of the like. And, of course, you had to be pretty strong on your strategy and tactics. I think you have to understand the game and they [the players] have to realise, and they did realise, that this chap understands.India had just achieved independence and we were lacking a certain amount in confidence, especially against the white [teams]. I think my first job was to ensure that this lack of confidence, this kind of complex, was dissolved pretty quickly. You have to study, you have to read, and you have to look at your mistakes. You have to read about other situations, how people reacted, how the captains thought. Instinct to me is a mixture of experience and common sense.Clive Lloyd: You have to work with all the ingredients – different islands, different backgrounds, different religions and all speaking differently, thinking differently. We had Hindus, we had Muslims, we had black, we had Portuguese, we had a combination of races. That’s why I always had a Barbadian with a Trinidadian and a Jamaican with a Guyanese and the like. That’s the way you get to understand one another. Michael Holding [Jamaica] and Andy Roberts [Antigua] roomed together during their careers because they got on so well you wouldn’t want to break up that partnership.Really and truly it was so many things you had to get right. You had to say to the guys: we have to dress properly, have to behave in a certain manner and respect not only our teammates but the people that are backing us. You have to respect the crowds and you have to sign an autograph. We were in a privileged position. As a cricketer you get everything done for you – you travel club class and you had good salaries, your food is paid for, your laundry is paid for, so you have to put something back and not only into cricket but to those less fortunate.West Indians everywhere were proud that this small “nation” for 20 years was the best team in the world and nobody could touch them. People were proud of us because we were not snobbish, we would sign autographs we would do anything to please people. We were happy, they were happy, the Caribbean was happy. Cricket is a very important part of our structure and we need to bring that back. We need to get people together and thinking as one. You know Guyana has got the right motto: “One people, one nation, one destiny.” That’s what the West Indies should be. If it’s possible we should have one flag, one anthem and a motto for all. We are one although we are spread round and we play as one. I learnt from the mistakes we made in the past so it was important for me to pass that on. That is what we need to do with our young players. If you don’t know where you come from you don’t know where you’re going. You must respect what other people have done.Kumar Sangakkara: “It’s all up to you at the end and you can make people change opinions”•ICC/GettyMS Dhoni: I try to be honest – that’s the one thing I’m very particular about. I try to be fair in whatever decision I take, and no human emotions should come and affect that feeling. I try to keep things simple and do things that are in the best interests of the team and get the players together in the right attitude. And it’s tough at times. So I’m the captain who has to realise what are the problems in a particular game and generalise the solutions. I just generalise it for the best interests of the team, and I’ve been blessed with a very good side. All of them put in a lot of effort, you know. It’s not always the result that’s important. I think that way I’m very blessed. As captain, I think Test cricket is slightly tougher compared to the other two formats, the reason being the time span. I always felt Test cricket is something that’s a bit tough to captain, especially outside India.Steve Waugh: I had the luxury and freedom of developing my own game before I became captain, and that’s a big positive for any captain. You know, I felt a little bit for people like Graeme Smith and Stephen Fleming, who got thrown the captaincy at a young age.I think it’s almost impossible to captain a cricket team at a young age because, one, you don’t know yourself, two, you don’t know your game, and three, it’s hard to man-manage 15 people, because the captain’s role was basically that in those days. It’s changed a bit now but you really have to manage a whole lot of different personalities and egos and if you are not experienced in life situations it’s a tough job. I think I was really well prepared to take it on.I’m an observer of a lot of stuff. Although I don’t study people intensely, I observe. I learned what does work and how to manage players and expectations. And I learnt most of this from losing. Actually, I don’t think you learn a lot from winning. I learnt the tough facts about being an international cricketer and what it takes to be a good cricketer and a good team from losing. It’s almost a checklist of what not to do. And then, when you are winning, you get the feel or vibe of what you are doing well and try and remember it.Ultimately I had to captain my way and that’s something that took a little bit of time. I think I was captaining by consensus and trying to please everyone because I’d been one of the boys for 14 or 15 years. It’s a big change, you know, from mucking around and pulling pranks and being on the social committees to all of a sudden being captain. The role has changed a lot so it took me a little while to get used to the change.I like to empower people, to give them opportunities. I think I listen and I like to observe. It’s all about putting people in positions they’re probably not accustomed to. I would like to think that by challenging them and putting them in different situations, I made people believe they could do things they didn’t even think possible themselves – treating people equally but differently. You know there’s non-negotiables, like being on time and wearing the right uniform, but then trying to push the buttons to make them the best cricketers and, I guess, the best people they can possibly be. Some people were very low maintenance and some people were high maintenance. Other people you had to give confidence to in the media. It was about pushing the right buttons. I think a leader is about listening and observing.I was more the one-on-one stuff away from the game. I was never big on the big speeches before the game. I felt players were there because they were good players and didn’t need too much talking to at that level. It might be just a couple of words here or there. So it was about backing people and always being positive and having that goal or the team vision. You had to give people with individual flair opportunities but at the end of the day we had to try and achieve something as a team.Richie Benaud: When you go through all the captains, the successful ones have been lucky. I’m not saying luck outweighed it but once, when asked about prerequisites for an outstanding Test captain, I said: It’s 90 per cent luck and 10 per cent skill. Just make sure you’ve got the 10 per cent or you might as well go home.

“It’s 90 per cent luck and 10 per cent skill. Just make sure you’ve got the 10 per cent or you might as well go home”Richie Benaud

Ian Chappell: If I was asking for their loyalty as a captain I thought it was only fair I should return it in the same vein. I think it’s part of what our players want out of a captain. You’ve got to earn their respect. I think that’s probably, if not the most important, it is one of the two most important characteristics. The other thing they want from you is honesty. If I’m asking them to bust a boiler on the field they expect me to be busting one for them.I’m not sure when I came up with the quote but I did say that once you’re their captain you’re their captain for all time. I’ve always felt that. If there is a cricketer in trouble, particularly one that I respect, I’ll try and do something to help. And they don’t have to have played under me. But, you know, it’s a bit more so if you’ve captained them. All of those guys did something to enhance my record as a captain, so why am I just going to brush them [off] if they’re in trouble? When I was captain of Australia there was no players’ association, so there was no one there to fight the fight for the players. I always thought if they give me 100 per cent out on the field then I’ve got to return the compliment off the field.Mark Taylor: Probably during the early ’90s I was always thinking about who I’d bowl, where I would put a fieldsman. I think every player should think like that, to be totally honest, and not enough do. I don’t think I ever aspired to be a leader and I was a little bit surprised when I got a phone call in 1992 before the Sri Lankan tour to take over from Geoff Marsh, who was vice-captain. I don’t think I ever thought it was going to happen but I wasn’t shocked either, because I thought I had something to offer as a leader, because a: I didn’t bowl, b: I was an opening batsman, and c: I fielded at slip, which I think is a great place to watch the game.As vice-captain to Allan Border on the 1993 Ashes tour I got to captain a few games and do things the way I thought was right. AB left me to do my own thing and that was, in hindsight, very generous of him because that’s what should happen. I think if a guy takes over he should be left to his own devices. If he needs help a captain should be prepared to ask for help, but [he should] be left to captain the side the way he feels is right. The only real piece of advice I ever got from AB was to captain my way. So taking over from AB was not daunting because he had given me a side that was playing well. We weren’t considered the best in the world but we were close. I was lucky to take over then but I was also very mindful not to captain as AB would do it. I wanted to have my own way of doing things and went about doing it the way I thought I wanted to captain the side. I think my philosophy of captaining certainly developed.All of a sudden I was asked how I was going to take the team forward and what my philosophy was and I didn’t really have anything planned. I remember saying that the team were not going to be pussycats under my captaincy and that was the headline the next day. So I learnt to captain the side by the old “school of hard knocks”, and you said what you thought but with certain reservations. Obviously you worked out very quickly that if you said something that was slightly controversial you could bet it would end up in the news the next day.There is a difference between being a captain and a leader. I think every person who plays in the Australian cricket side should be a leader because you’ve been picked from various states or provinces into a representative cricket team. So, really, you are a leader – you’re a leader of your own country from that point of view. Captaincy is different because all of a sudden you become the leader of the leaders and I think that’s an interesting way to look at it when you take over the captaincy.You are not necessarily going to know everything about the game, because the other 11 guys around you also know a lot about cricket. So I think it’s important that you tap into them, make sure you work with them, because they’re going to be very helpful to you. But also be prepared to make a decision which doesn’t always make them feel happy or make them all agree with you. That’s what captaincy is all about – finding a way of working with those other leaders in your team for the good of the game. And that may not be in the best interests of all the players who are around you. And the more you keep the game simple the better you’ll be.Allen and UnwinAllan Border: Initially I was reluctant. I wasn’t sure that I was the right bloke, whether I wanted to do it. I was quite happy being one of the boys, so that affected captaincy and leadership.I think captaincy on the field is pretty routine. Marshalling the troops out on the field is one thing. It’s more what goes on behind the scenes that’s probably more important. And to be honest, initially I wasn’t very good in that area.When a philosophy starts to develop you realise you have to take this role a bit more front-on. You’ve got to be a bit more of a leader behind the scenes. Then I did start to think it was about creating an atmosphere – an atmosphere where people could play at their best. I tried to promote that environment where players were happy and enjoying themselves. Obviously disciplines are important, because you can’t let certain little things develop that are not for the team. So philosophies did, I think, develop over time.That was my situation. I got better as I evolved as a captain over a 10-year period. I don’t think you’ve got those luxuries in the modern world. I think you’ve got to get into the job and, boom, develop your own style straight away. I think I was given a three- or four-year ride initially to work into becoming a better leader.The Captain Grumpy tag? Oh, look, I think it was justified in the difficult times in the first three or four years as captain. I’m a very hard marker of myself, my own performance, and that sort of spills over into team performance. I just don’t like failure, particularly if you feel you haven’t given it your best. I just felt that was the situation at that period and I could have been doing better. I was probably aware that I wasn’t being the captain and leader I should have been, and that our performances both personally and collectively weren’t up to scratch. So that came out, I suppose, when you have to front the media and some of the questioning is difficult at times. I think I had a pretty good relationship with the cricketing media but sometimes the external media was more difficult. But generally I think I was pretty fairly treated. This is an edited extract from by Mike Coward, published by Allen & Unwin, A$29.99, available now

Dean Elgar, South Africa’s Test captain, has stood up for the team’s coaches and management, whom he believes have not received the backing they deserve. Elgar’s comments come in the wake of the decision by CSA to launch a formal inquiry into the conduct of Graeme Smith, South Africa’s director of cricket, and Mark Boucher, their head coach, after a report by the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) commission implicated both – and others including former captain AB de Villiers – of unfairly discriminating against players on the basis of race.The independent inquiry is set to take place in early 2022. Smith and Boucher will remain in their roles for now, and will carry out their duties during the home series against India, which begins with the first Test in Centurion on Boxing Day.Related

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• SJN report says CSA discriminated against players on the basis of race

While addressing a pre-series press conference, Elgar made mention of the difficult period South African cricket has endured over recent months. Asked what the toughest thing about this period had been, from a players’ perspective, Elgar responded with his comment about the coaches not being adequately backed.”It’s a tough one,” Elgar said. “We’ve had so many different administrators that we don’t even know who’s there now. I think maybe backing has been something that’s been pretty tough, especially backing with regards to our coaches and our team management. I don’t think we’ve received a lot of good stuff around that.”From a players’ point of view, we maybe have to say, you know what, we back our coaches, we back our management, we need to give them a lot of love. I think sometimes they put in so much work, it gets unnoticed, and it gets watered down by media, and it gets watered down by articles, and I think that’s the biggest thing, because I know what they do behind the scenes, and for me that speaks volumes when it comes to our environment.”One of the biggest things is that we haven’t had a lot of stability from an administrative point of view, and hopefully sooner than later there’s a lot more stability that comes within Cricket South Africa. But yeah, it’s not nice to see our coaches get lambasted for things, and I know the work they’re putting in behind the scenes, which no one else sees. Only us as the players group – we notice that and we see that and we’re extremely grateful for the hard work that they put in.”Elgar did not get a chance to elaborate on what specific criticisms of the coaches he was referring to.The most serious charges against Boucher date back to his playing days, and the use of a racist nickname by him and other players for Paul Adams, a team-mate of colour. While Boucher apologised for this in a submission to the SJN, the report suggested that his response revealed a “lack of sensitivity and understanding of the racist undertones” of his comments, and that he is “apathetic towards diversity and transformation.”Smith, meanwhile, was South Africa’s captain when Thami Tsolekile – who had been selected as Boucher’s long-term replacement as wicketkeeper – was overlooked in favour of de Villiers taking on the role. According to the SJN report, “CSA, Mr Graeme Smith and some selectors at the time really failed Mr Tsolekile and many black players of this time in many ways.”Apart from the charges of prejudicial conduct, another major talking point of the SJN hearing was the appointments of Smith and Boucher during the tenure of Jacques Faul as interim CEO following the suspension of Thabang Moroe. Faul conceded in his testimony at the hearing that the optics of a white CEO appointing a slew of high-profile white men to senior positions “were totally wrong”, and that he did not anticipate that “we would be viewed as a white takeover”.The inquiry aside, South African cricket has also had to deal with the cricketing fallout of the Omicron strain of Covid-19 – with the first-class domestic tournament stalled, the Mzansi Super League cancelled, and the upcoming Test series forced behind closed doors. Elgar said the team’s on-field performances wouldn’t be affected by any of this.”What happens off the field, for me, is irrelevant now,” he said. “Us as a players’ unit, we’ve been through such crappy times that we’ve actually formulated such a good bond within our group, and for me it’s not an excuse for us to use.”If we were in the first month of all these bad kind of scenarios, then it might be that, but we’ve been there, and I think we’ve formulated something that works for us. I referred to us as the players’ group – we’re extremely strong, our culture’s been tested and pushed to levels that I didn’t think it would be pushed to in my short term of being captain, and I think we’ve come out on top of it.”It’s all about the learning processes behind all that. We must always be mindful that even if things are bad off the field, we can’t use it as a cop-out for us. We’re a professional team, we’re professional players, we want to strive to areas still with regards to where we want to go as a team. We want to go up the rankings system still, and that’s our process going forward. We focus on cricket, and hopefully cricket will look after us.”

Southampton find themselves without a win, and only a goal next to their name from their opening four Premier League fixtures.

It's been a less than ideal start, to say the least for Russell Martin's men, with their dominance of the ball away at Brentford last time out in the top-flight at 63% possession meaning very little, as Thomas Frank's Bees ruthlessly put three past Alex McCarthy in a 3-1 win for the hosts.

Martin will be understandably concerned, but a recent entertaining game versus Cardiff City in the EFL Cup will provide glimmers of hope for the Saints boss, with a whole host of young Southampton talents impressing in the Welsh capital.

The raw gems that did impress making the jump up to the senior fold in this mid-week clash will hope they can gain Premier League experience soon too, as the South Coast club is known to be a top environment for youngsters to develop in, with Theo Walcott's rise to stardom starting at St. Mary's one obvious example.

Walcott's rise at Southampton

Now a face on the punditry scene after retiring, it feels an awfully long time ago now that Walcott was once tipped for greatness when first rising up the youth ranks at Southampton to the first-team.

Walcott would become Southampton's youngest-ever goalscorer when he made his men's debut for the Saints back in 2005, gifted the opportunity to shine in the first-team spotlight by then-manager Harry Redknapp.

He ended up never looking back, firing in four goals from 21 senior appearances, before costing Arsene Wenger's Arsenal an initial £5m just a year after his emergence into the senior team.

Going on to feature a staggering 397 times in total in the Premier League, with 108 goals fired into the back of the net when donning a Gunners strip, Walcott would go down as a memorable icon in the elite division's history when he called time on his playing days in 2023.

Southampton's next Theo Walcott

Exciting Saints winger Samuel Amo-Ameyaw will want to replicate Walcott's meteoric rise with Martin's men now, with the 18-year-old standing out in that recent 5-3 win over the Bluebirds.

It's obviously going to be tricky for Amo-Ameyaw to immediately break into the Southampton first-team set-up, especially after the deadline day deal to re-sign Ryan Fraser permanently bolstered the South Coast side down the wings, but the wide-eyed teenager will fancy his chances regardless.

The former Tottenham youngster, who has been described as playing in a "flamboyant" manner by football talent scout Jacek Kulig previously, certainly entertained those in Wales with his display in that back-and-forth Tuesday night contest.

Minutes played

89

Goals scored

1

Assists

0

Touches

63

Accurate passes

43/49 (88%)

Key passes

2

Successful dribbles

1/1

Fouled

3x

Total duels won

5/8

Holding his own in the game against Erol Bulut's hosts, with five duels won from eight attempted, the promising Saints number 27 would also constantly look for an opening against the Championship opponents, with two key passes registered.

Of course, the main highlight from his evening would be firing home his first-ever professional goal for the South Coast side, placing a wonderful effort past Jak Alnwick after a fast-paced and intricate passing move found him kindly in space.

Labelling Amo-Ameyaw as an "exceptional" talent when first taking on the Saints reins last summer, Martin could be prepared to be the 18-year-old's very own Redknapp and gift him more and more minutes in the men's team to come, having already thrown him into action against Newcastle United on the opening day.

The teenage attacker certainly has time on his side, as Southampton aim to discover their next wave of top young talents, akin to Walcott and many others who have gone on to be esteemed professionals away from first learning the ropes at St. Mary's.

Worth more than Ramsdale: Southampton missed out on magic Smallbone upgrade

Southampton could live to regret not sealing a deal for this top star.

1 ByKelan Sarson Sep 1, 2024

da poker： The clock is now ticking down to the end of the transfer window, and while they've had all summer to conduct their business, some in the fanbase feel that Arsenal haven't quite done enough.

da cassino： Edu Gaspar and Co have sold incredibly well over the last month or so, with Emile Smith Rowe going to Fulham for a fee that could reach £34m, Aaron Ramsdale on his way to Southampton for up to £25m and Eddie Nketiah finally leaving to join Crystal Palace for up to £30m.

However, as things stand, the only new additions to Mikel Arteta's first-team squad have been Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino, and as exciting as they are, it feels somewhat inadequate in the face of Manchester City.

Fortunately, the club themselves clearly believe they need to strengthen their forward options, as recent reports have linked them to a top-class attacker who's been compared to Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal transfer news

According to a recent report from the Mail Online, Arsenal are still interested in Bayern Munich star Kingsley Coman.

In fact, while Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal are keen to sign the player, the report claims that the Gunners are eyeing up a 'last-minute move' for the Frenchman before the window slams shut.

A potential price is not mentioned in the report, but stories from earlier in the window revealed that the Champions League winner would be available for around £34m, or even on a season-long loan, which would be ideal for the North Londoners.

It could be a complicated transfer to get over the line, but given Coman's incredible ability, it's worth pursuing, especially as he's been compared to Saka.

Why Coman would be a great signing and his comparison to Saka

Okay, before we get into why Coman would be an excellent signing for Arsenal, let's examine this comparison to club poster boy Saka and where it comes from.

It stems primarily from FBref, which compares players in similar positions across Europe's top five leagues, the Champions League and the Europa League. It creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one and, in this case, has concluded that the Englishman is the ninth most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Bayern ace.

Now, there are some apparent similarities between the two internationals, like their positions and goalscoring abilities, but to understand how FBref came to such a specific conclusion, you need to look at their underlying numbers and the ones in which they rank closely, such as expected assists and actual assists, progressive passes received, goals per shot, short passing accuracy, through balls, blocks, dribblers tackled touches in the attacking third, goal-creating actions and successful take-on percentage, all per 90.

Coman & Saka

Stats per 90

Coman

Saka

Expected Assists

0.31

0.32

Assists

0.24

0.28

Progressive Passes Received

16.9

16.9

Goals per Shot

0.09

0.10

Short Passing Accuracy

86.4%

88.9%

Through Balls

0.08

0.12

Blocks

1.21

1.33

Dribblers Tackled

0.73

0.80

Touches in the Attacking Third

41.4

40.4

Goal-Creating Actions

0.57

0.65

Successful Take-Ons %

43.3%

40.2%

All Stats via FBref for the 23/24 League Season

However, while a comparison to arguably the Gunners' most important player is undoubtedly an encouraging sign and a reason the club should consider signing him, it's not the only one.

For example, one of the other most significant advantages of signing the "unbelievable" attacker, as Rio Ferdinand dubbed him, is his versatility.

In his career to date, the former Paris Saint-Germain gem has started 171 games off the left and 118 off the right. This ability to play on either side of a front three could make him such an important player for Arteta, as he could act as cover for Saka one week and then compete with Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli the next.

Moreover, he's scored 64 goals and provided 66 assists in 296 appearances for Bayern over the years, which equates to a goal involvement on average every 2.27 games, meaning he wouldn't just be competing for competition's sake; he would contribute.

Related Personal terms done: Arsenal making last-gasp move to seal Merino repeat

The highly-rated ace would be a great addition to Arteta’s squad.

Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes Aug 29, 2024

Ultimately, Arsenal need to add to their attacking options before the clock strikes 11 tomorrow night, and given his impressive ability, positional versatility, and similarity to Saka, bringing in Coman on loan or permanently would be an excellent idea.

تمكن وست هام يونايتد من تسجيل هدف التعادل في وقت قاتل أمام ليفربول في المباراة التي تجمع بينهما ضمن الجولة 32 من بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

ليفربول يستضيف وست هام ضمن الجولة 32 على ملعب “أنفيلد”، وكان قد تقدم في الشوط الأول بهدف لويس دياز بعد تمريرة رائعة من محمد صلاح.

طالع أيضًا.. فيديو | بأسيست رائع من محمد صلاح.. لويس دياز يسجل هدف ليفربول الأول أمام وست هام

في الشوط الثاني، خرج محمد صلاح قبل 5 دقائق من نهاية المباراة، وبمجرد خروجه، تلقى ليفربول هدف التعادل، ليجد آرني سلوت نفسه في مأزق.

الهدف جاء بعد عرضية من بيساكا من الجانب الأيسر، حولها أندي روبرتيون بالخطأ في مرماه، ليعلن عن تعادل المطارق أمام الريدز.

Tottenham Hotspur are prioritising a late window move to sign a midfielder after selling Oliver Skipp for over £20 million, with Ange Postecoglou and co not quite done in the transfer market just yet.

Spurs offload Hojbjerg and Skipp with Postecoglou left short

Alongside Skipp, Denmark international midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg completed a season-long loan move to Marseille earlier in the summer, which includes a £17 million obligation to buy.

Ange desperate to sign Bentancur alternative as Tottenham eye £50m star

Postecoglou wants a new man for his midfield.

1 ByEmilio Galantini Aug 22, 2024

This has left Spurs with just Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma as Postecoglou's senior first choice options in the middle of the park, while summer signing Archie Gray has come off the bench in both of their two Premier League games so far this campaign.

It is unclear whether Postecoglou plans to use Gray, who predominantly starred at right-back for Leeds United last season, in the middle throughout 2024/2025 – with some reliable media sources like Fabrizio Romano previously claiming Tottenham could swoop for another natural midfield option before the window closes.

Newcastle United (away)

September 1

Arsenal (home)

September 15

Brentford (home)

September 21

Man United (away)

September 29

Brighton (away)

October 6

"It is a possibility for Tottenham to bring in a new midfielder after Hojbjerg's exit," said Fabrizio Romano to GiveMeSport in late July.

"I still think that they want to do something in the offensive position."

More recent reports state that Postecoglou is desperate to sign an alternative to Bentancur for Spurs, with Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes among the names linked to joining them before the August 31st cut-off.

Tottenham have already sealed four major summer signings this window, including their season-long loan extension for Timo Werner, with Gray, striker Dominic Solanke and highly-rated young winger Wilson Odobert coming in to bolster key areas.

Postecoglou's side chalked up their first victory of 24/25 with their 4-0 home win over Everton last Saturday, and the Australian will be looking to build upon that impressive win over the Merseysiders as they seek to improve on last season's fifth-placed finish.

A strong end to the summer window, and potentially one last signing to bolster the squad, would hugely benefit them as they face a more congested fixture calendar with their involvement in the new Europa League format – starting next month.

Tottenham prioritising late move to sign midfielder for Postecoglou

According to Football Insider and journalist Pete O'Rourke, Tottenham are indeed still in the market for one last transfer in a new midfield option.

Indeed, it is believed Spurs are prioritising a late swoop for one new midfielder after selling Skipp for over £20 million, as the Englishman's transfer to Leicester City has both freed up space in the squad and bolstered their summer budget.

It is unclear exactly who they are planning to move for, with no specific targets named in the report, but perhaps supporters could expect some activity in the last few days of August.

MatériaMais Notícias

da betano casino： Com o contrato encerrado com a Portuguesa-RJ, o lateral-esquerdo Sanchez vai seguir a carreira longe da Ilha do Governador. O jogador, que foi escolhido para formar a seleção de melhores jogadores do Carioca de 2022, tem como objetivo jogar na elite do futebol nacional, mas já recebeu propostas da Série B. Sanchez e seu estafe devem decidir o futuro até a próxima semana.

Contratado no fim de 2021, Sanchez foi um dos principais destaques da Lusa na temporada. O lateral-esquerdo foi titular em todas as 11 partidas da Taça Guanabara, onde marcou um gol, contra o Flamengo, na estreia, e deu uma assistência, na goleada por 5 a 3 sobre o Botafogo, que encerrou um jejum de 56 anos que o Rubro-Verde não vencia o Glorioso.

No estadual, o defensor ainda recebeu o prêmio de melhor jogador em campo contra o Audax e concorreu cinco vezes à votação de melhor lateral-esquerdo da rodada – na primeira, segunda, quarta, sétima e décima rodada -, por definição da FERJ.

Pela Copa do Brasil, o jogador protagonizou um dos momentos mais importantes da história do clube, ao marcar o primeiro gol da Lusa na competição, tento que garantiu a classificação sobre o CRB, na primeira fase. A Lusa disputa a Copa do Brasil pela primeira vez em seus 97 anos.

Somando o Campeonato Carioca e a Copa do Brasil, Sanchez jogou 13 dos 15 jogos da Portuguesa, todos como titular, e não foi substituído uma vez sequer. Dentre todos os jogadores inscritos no Carioca, o lateral foi o 2º atleta de linha que mais atuou na Taça Guanabara, com 1.124 minutos, atrás apenas do zagueiro Anderson Conceição, do Vasco, com 1.129.

Captain wants his side to build on experience for next T20 World Cup

Matt Roller07-Nov-20212:49

Masood: Shoaib and Hafeez will be big-match players in the semi-finals

Kyle Coetzer has called upon Cricket Scotland to be “bold and brave” in order to “push our whole organisation forward” after his side’s T20 World Cup campaign ended with heavy defeats against India and Pakistan.Scotland defied the odds to qualify as group winners from the first stage of the competition in Oman, beating the hosts, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea to reach the Super 12s stage for the first time in their history, but struggled in the second round, losing all five of their games.They are already assured of a place in the first round of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia by virtue of their Super 12s qualification, and Coetzer said that their success had inspired young players in Scotland and that his side had learned a lot they could take into next year’s campaign.”I’m extremely proud of how we’ve played and what we’ve achieved,” Coetzer said. “We’ve got an excellent group and the guys are willing to learn and are trying to learn as fast as they can. Being exposed to what we have been in the Super 12s is only going to make us stronger and make us realise some of the skills and efforts you have to put in to achieve it at this level.Watch cricket live on ESPN+

Sign up for ESPN+ and catch all the action from the Men’s T20 World Cup live in the USA. Match highlights

“Reaching the Super 12s was our immediate goal and we achieved that, but we need to learn as much as we possibly can because 12 months down the line, we’ve got another World Cup to go to. It’s going to be in different conditions so we’ll have to factor that in, but because we’ve experienced it, we now know what to expect.”When we go home we have to be bold and brave, and make sure we push our whole organisation forward. We have to find a way to improve our ‘A’ team structures when we’re at home and find a way to keep developing this team, this squad of players that we have. We’ve got a long journey to go on but it’s an exciting one to be part of: who wouldn’t want to be part of Cricket Scotland right now?”Coetzer said that Scotland had three key areas of improvement following the tournament: making better use of the powerplay with the bat, playing high-quality spin, and being “a little bit braver” with the ball by bluffing with field-sets.Kyle Coetzer wants Scotland to build on their Super 12s experience•ICC via Getty Images”Not that we have never played here before – we have done quite a few times – but what we’ve realised is the importance of the powerplay,” he said. “We haven’t really nailed that yet with the bat.”[We’ve learned] the importance of how to play high-quality spin bowling. I believe we’re a very strong side and very capable of playing spin bowling but it’s a different story when you come and play at Sharjah and some of these grounds out here, and the style in which the mystery spin is coming down. We have to go away and see how we can develop that.”We need to be a little bit braver as a bowling unit, perhaps. We’ve noticed a number of the teams out here have actually been double-bluffing quite a lot, setting fields and bowling balls that don’t necessarily match up – but what they do do is they nail and execute those deliveries extremely well.”Scotland have been in the Gulf since late September, having played World Cricket League fixtures against Oman and Papua New Guinea before their T20 World Cup preparation, but Coetzer denied that fatigue had been an issue, highlighting Richie Berrington’s innings of 54 not out in their failed run chase against Pakistan as evidence.Related

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“I wouldn’t like to say that,” he said. “We’ve prepared well. We think we’re playing pretty decent cricket but the standard has certainly gone up when we hit the Super 12 stage and we had to find a way to adapt as quickly as we possibly could. Playing cricket out in the UAE isn’t easy and we’ve learnt a lot from this occasion.”We have been away from home for a little while but I wouldn’t like to use that as an excuse. We’ve got to look at ourselves and see where we can continue to improve. We’ve shown signs of that: look at Richie Berrington’s innings against a fine Pakistan attack. I thought he played outstandingly well and it may well go under the radar because we lost but it was a great knock.”Hopefully from the seven weeks or so we’ve managed to inspire as many associate nations as we possibly can and hopefully inspire young cricketers back in Scotland. That’s why we’re here: we get to try and give it all for our country and be able to inspire as many people as we possibly can. That’s how I started many years ago, watching Scotland play in the World Cup and hopefully there’ll be a few more boys and girls coming through that will want to play cricket for their country.”

Both sides might be in a dilemma with the potential return of Shikhar Dhawan and Kieron Pollard in their respective XIs

Hemant Brar10-Feb-20221:44

Should India test their bench? Should West Indies rejig their batting order?

Big pictureSince the start of the ODI series against South Africa, India have been talking about building a side for the 2023 World Cup. One of their pain areas in the last couple of years has been the lack of a wicket-taking seamer in the powerplay and middle overs. They changed their strategy in the third ODI against South Africa by picking a tall, hit-the-deck bowler in Prasidh Krishna, and continued with it in the West Indies series too.The rewards are there to be seen. Hitting the short-of-a-good-length area, Prasidh picked up 2 for 29 in the first ODI and 4 for 12 in the second. One would think he has presented a strong enough case to be in the XI even when Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami return. In the batting department, Suryakumar Yadav seems to have made a middle-order spot his own. Now that India have won the series, they might consider trying out even more options in the third ODI.West Indies, on the other hand, have been let down by their batting. Before the series, their captain Kieron Pollard underlined the importance of playing out full 50 overs but his side failed to do that in the first two ODIs. On paper, West Indies have a long batting line-up – Odean Smith came in at No. 9 in the last game – but their batters don’t bat deep. Can the likes of Shai Hope, Darren Bravo and Nicholas Pooran take the responsibility and step up?Related

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West Indies might have lost the series, but they would like to avoid a whitewash. In more tangible terms, there are ten World Cup Super League points at stake, and West Indies are currently ninth on that table in terms of percentage points.Form guideIndia WWLLL (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
West Indies LLLLWIn the spotlightSince his last ODI hundred, Virat Kohli has made ten half-centuries in 20 innings in the format. However, in the last few weeks, the narrative has shifted from Kohli-not-getting-a-hundred to Kohli-needs-a-break. In the first ODI in this series, he played a strange four-ball knock where he seemed to be in a hurry. In the second, he was more measured but a loose shot outside off stump ended his stay on 18. On Friday, the question will once again be: will he get his 71st international hundred?West Indies will expect more from their opener Shai Hope•BCCI

Among those who have scored at least 1000 ODI runs for West Indies, no one averages higher than Shai Hope’s 51.13. He doesn’t have a great strike rate (74.70), but it’s his ability to play the anchor’s role that makes him a valuable asset in this West Indies line-up. He has an excellent record against spin too. With the team struggling to last 50 overs, West Indies will expect more from their opener. He wasn’t as tidy behind the stumps in the second ODI, so eyes will be on his wicketkeeping as well.Team newsAfter the second ODI, Rohit Sharma had said Shikhar Dhawan would be back for the final match. That means either Suryakumar or Deepak Hooda will have to sit out; this, despite Suryakumar doing well in his limited ODI appearances, and Hooda providing India with the sixth bowling option. Therefore, it is also difficult to see Shreyas Iyer getting a game, even though he is out of isolation now after testing positive for Covid-19. In the bowling department, India could play Kuldeep Yadav.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 KL Rahul, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Deepak Hooda/Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Mohammed Siraj, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal/Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Prasidh KrishnaSmith was impressive with both bat and ball in the second ODI. So if Pollard returns, West Indies will have a tough call to make. Can they retain Smith and leave out Bravo, who has had scores of 1, 18, 18, 0 and 2 in his last five innings?West Indies (probable): 1 Shai Hope (wk), 2 Brandon King, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Shamarh Brooks, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Kieron Pollard (capt), 7 Jason Holder, 8 Fabian Allen, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Kemar RoachPitch and conditionsThe pitches so far have helped both seamers and spinners, and it will not be a surprise if that’s the case on Friday as well. The temperature is expected to hover around mid to late 20 degrees Celsius for the majority of the match. There was no dew during the second ODI, and it could stay that way for the third as well.Stats and trivia Prasidh has an economy rate of 2.15 in the series. Since 2020, Rahul has had an average of 67 and a strike rate of 109.23 in the middle order in ODIs. West Indies have failed to last full 50 overs in the last seven ODIs where they batted first.Quotes”I have been striving to get more consistent. When I started, I used to get excited and have too many emotions running through me. But over time, I have had my plans and I have been very clear on what I needed to work on.

Teenage wonderkid Lamine Yamal has demanded that his EA FC 25 card be upgraded after delivering another trivela assist for Barcelona.

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• Euro 2024 winner has overall rating of 81
• Looking for additions to Playstyle+ attributes
• Has been showcasing his skills in real life

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  La Masia academy graduate Yamal, fresh from helping Spain to Euro 2024 glory over the summer, is working on an overall rating of 81 in the latest release from EA Sports. His pace and dribbling ability has been recognised, but there are notable omissions from his base card.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Regular gamers will be aware of how productive the so-called ‘three-finger pass’ can be, along with shots that are also fired in using the outside of any given boot. As things stand, Yamal’s likeness in FC25 is unable to pull that piece of magic out of a limited bag of tricks.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  That is despite the 17-year-old proving on a regular basis in real life that he definitely has the trivela in his locker. Yamal delivered an assist for Barca in a Catalan derby date with Espanyol using the outside of his boot, before seeing the same action contribute to the scoring of two goals in a meeting with Mallorca.

• WHAT LAMINE YAMAL SAID

  Yamal believes the time has come for EA Sports to give him an upgrade, with questions being put to them on social media. In a couple of posts on Instagram Stories, the youngsters has highlighted his ability and asked: “@easportsfc trivela+ when?”

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