Former Chelsea star Sam Hutchinson underwent heart surgery after featuring for AFC Wimbledon against Grimbsby in League Two.
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
| Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱 |
Former Tottenham managing director of football Fabio Paratici attended the Europa League final on Wednesday as a return takes a step closer.
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
Paratici attends Europa League finalLeft Tottenham in 2023Return moves a step closerFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Tutto Mercato Web report that Paratici was at the game in Bilbao, where Spurs ended their 17-year wait for a major trophy by beating Manchester United 1-0. His presence appears to validate recent reports that he could return to the club, with the same publication claiming earlier that this month that the chances of it happening are "increasingly strong".
AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Paratici worked for the club from 2021 until he left in 2023 due to his involvement in the investigation, a financial scandal that hit Italian football. He was handed a 30-month ban from football but could return to the club in a director role when the suspension ends on July 20.
DID YOU KNOW?
Nine of Tottenham's starting XI in Bilbao consisted of players Paratici signed for the club during his first stint, the report states. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is said to still hold him in high regard.
ENJOYED THIS STORY?
Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR TOTTENHAM?
Tottenham face Brighton in their last game of the 2024/25 campaign on Sunday before attentions turn to building on their Europa League success next season.
Visitors recover from 65 for 4 and then 161 for 7 to go 1-0 up in Mirpur
Matt Roller01-Mar-2023Dawid Malan played the best innings of his ODI career to steer England to a tense three-wicket victory over Bangladesh in Mirpur and further his case for inclusion in their World Cup defence in India later this year.England made tough work of a target of 210, slipping to 65 for 4 and 161 for 7 as Bangladesh’s spinners squeezed the life out of their chase. But Malan, batting at No. 3, saw them home with eight balls to spare, adding an unbroken 51 for the eighth wicket with Adil Rashid to seal the win.Malan has been a peripheral member of England’s 50-over set-up for most of his career but has taken every opportunity that has come his way in the past nine months. He has now hit hundreds in each of the last four bilateral ODI series he has featured in; given the circumstances, this innings was the pick of them.This fixture started barely 24 hours after the remarkable climax of England’s Test against New Zealand in Wellington, some 7,000 miles away from Dhaka. They fielded completely separate sides – though Will Jacks, an unused squad member at the Basin Reserve, flew to Bangladesh on the second day of the Test, and won his first ODI cap.Joe Root, England’s leading scorer at the 2019 World Cup, was among those unavailable due to the fixture clash and is nailed on to bat at No. 3 when the schedule allows him to return to the ODI side. Yet Malan is also an experienced opener and, at this stage, looks as strong a candidate as any to fulfil that role alongside Jonny Bairstow.It was not easy-going for Malan, who battled his way to 50 off 92 at the second drinks break as England desperately looked to survive, in particular against the threatening Mehidy Hasan Miraz. But he relieved the scoring pressure after the interval, crashing Mehidy over cover and then lofting him for a straight six, eventually guiding them across the line by working Najmul Hassan Shanto through midwicket.Shanto had top-scored for Bangladesh with a gritty, 82-ball 58 from No. 3 – an innings that was not dissimilar to Malan’s. He extended his recent Bangladesh Premier League form – he was the league’s top-scorer – with his maiden ODI half-century, an overdue landmark in his 16th innings.Bangladesh struggled to build partnerships throughout their innings, with Shanto and Mahmadullah combining for Bangladesh’s only 50-run stand. England shared wickets around, with their three seamers and three spinners both accounting for five batters between them.Tamim Iqbal opted to bat first and made a bright start, hitting four early boundaries after surviving a chance when Chris Woakes put down a caught-and-bowled opportunity in the first over. Litton Das, his opening partner, pulled Woakes for six over square leg as Bangladesh raced to 33 for 0 in 4.4 overs, but was trapped lbw by the next ball he faced.Mark Wood and Jofra Archer were back in action•Getty ImagesShanto was also reprieved early, dropped by a sprawling Jason Roy at backward point, but hit his next two balls for four and settled into a rhythm on a slow, low pitch.Mark Wood, playing his first ODI since July 2021, bowled the final over of the initial powerplay and struck with his third ball to remove Tamim. He breached the 90mph/145kph mark with his second ball, then rushed Tamim with his third, a back-of-a-length ball which bounced appreciably; Bangladesh’s captain could only fend onto his own stumps, via his elbow.Adil Rashid had Mushfiqur Rahim caught at deep midwicket on the slog-sweep, and Bangladesh were 106 for 4 when Shakib Al Hasan was cleaned up by Moeen Ali. Shanto continued to accumulate, but after reverse-sweeping Rashid for four, he pulled Rashid’s googly straight to Roy at short midwicket to fall for 58.When Mahmudullah strangled Wood down the leg side, Bangladesh were in danger of being bowled out. Jacks took his maiden ODI wicket when Afif Hossain pulled tamely to mid-on, and Mehidy Hasan edged Archer behind cheaply. Taskin Ahmed hit Rashid for six and then four to ensure Bangladesh would post something competitive before he strangled Archer down the leg side, with Taijul skying a return catch to Moeen to end the innings with 16 balls unused.England struggled for fluency in the chase, and lost Roy in the first over as he chipped to mid-off while looking to hit Shakib over his head. Phil Salt’s scratchy innings came to an end when Taijul’s arm ball skidded into his leg stump via his pad and when James Vince was stumped charging the same bowler, England were in trouble at 45 for 3. Soon after, Malan survived a tight lbw shout on review, with ball-tracking predicting Taijul’s offbreak would have clipped leg stump rather than hitting it flush.Tamim attacked just before the first drinks break, bringing Taskin back into the attack and posting Shanto at slip in the 17th over. He was rewarded immediately, as Jos Buttler steered a back-of-a-length ball straight to the close catcher, bringing Jacks in at No. 6 on debut. Jacks, playing his first List A game since 2019, struggled early on but a flurry of boundaries took scoring pressure off Malan, who was battling hard against Mehidy’s offbreaks.But Jacks holed out to midwicket for a flashy 26, and when Mehidy’s final ball skidded into Moeen’s stumps after a 38-run stand with Malan, England were wobbling. Woakes chipped Taijul to mid-on with 49 runs required and three wickets left, but Rashid proved the perfect foil for Malan. He calmly rotated the strike as Malan opted to attack; with Mustafizur Rahman proving expensive, Tamim eventually ran out of options as England snuck home.
NSW lead by 341 runs but a thrilling final day is in prospect thanks to a bold declaration from Lehmann following his unbeaten century
AAP and ESPNCricinfo staff16-Mar-2023
Jake Lehmann celebrates his century•Getty Images
An audacious declaration from South Australia’s Jake Lehmann and a career-best score for New South Wales opener Ryan Hackney has brought the final-round Sheffield Shield match at Karen Rolton Oval to life on day three.On a docile pitch that had produced just 16 wickets in eight sessions, Lehmann declared South Australia’s first innings closed at 309 for 7, 138 runs in arrears of the visitors, just after posting his ninth first-class century.The Blues took up the baton in the final session thumping 203 for 2 off just 42 overs for a lead of 341. Hackney led the way in his fifth Shield match, ending the day unbeaten on 98 not out. After also scoring a half-century in the first innings, he struck 13 boundaries and a six in his 115-ball knock. Debutant opener Blake MacDonald also made 61 as the inexperienced pair added 143 for the first wicket.Ollie Davies helped the scoring along in the final half-hour with a whirlwind 31 off just 24 balls.Earlier, South Australia scored at just over three runs an over before declaring when their 100-over bonus point period ended.Lehmann impressed with an unbeaten 101, clocking up 13 boundaries in his 178-ball stay at the crease. Daniel Drew was more sedate during his four-and-half-hour innings of 85.Experienced paceman Chris Tremain and first-gamer Ryan Hadley both picked up 3 for 75 for the Blues. The inexperienced NSW side must collect victory in Adelaide to avoid a winless campaign for the first time in a 10-match season, while South Australia are seeking to hold off Tasmania and finish fourth.
Peshawar Zalmi were the side with the weakest death bowling, Islamabad United the team with the most fearsome power hitting. United were the imperious chasers, while just last week, Zalmi failed to defend 240 against already-eliminated Quetta Gladiators. The data, as Shadab Khan almost didactically likes to point out United operate by, all pointed to a United win, especially when fifties from Alex Hales and Sohaib Maqsood put their side 56 runs away with six overs and nine wickets to go. But, in defence of 183, Zalmi’s bowlers produced a monumental comeback, a masterclass of yorker bowling from Salman Irshad and Aamer Jamal battering down United’s defences. As the yellow storm surged, United were left high and dry, in the end falling comfortably short of the target by 13 runs.United had opted to chase, flying in the face of the partiality Gaddafi Stadium has shown this season to the side batting first; all six matches until tonight had been won by the defenders. But Shadab’s decision looked to be paying dividends when Hales and Maqsood struck up a magnificent second wicket partnership, accumulating 115 runs in 77 balls. Maqsood’s targeting of Azmatullah Omarzai was the catalyst after he smashed two fours and a six in the fourth over, and Alex Hales tore Wahab Riaz apart in the over that followed, plundering 18 of it. By the end of the powerplay, they had put together 67, and were on track.Zalmi continued to appear toothless as the field spread out, and the game looked set to be one of those clinics United put on every now and then. The stand was chanceless, and even Mujeeb ur Rehman found himself copping punishment by his final over as Babar Azam looked to be running out of cards to play.In fact, he, and Zalmi, had been holding out their best for last. Jamal bowled a toe-crushing yorker to burst through Maqsood’s defences. Yorker bowling suddenly became contagious, with Salman Irshad repeating the feat to see off Azam Khan cheaply, before Jamal saved his best for last, a peach that Hales had no answer to.While the toes were being threatened, Islamabad also lost their heads. A run borne of muddled thinking brought about Faheem’s run-out at the non-striker’s end and, all of a sudden, the runscoring trickled to a halt. It didn’t help that Colin Munro chose this moment to have his worst PSL game in ages, unable to find timing on anything before he fell for a limp nine-ball four.United were done by now, needing 24 off the final over. Against such quality, the very notion they might get close was fanciful, with Jamal duly closing out with United 13 runs away.The wheels for the Zalmi win, as Shadab pointed out post-match, had been set in motion in the first ten overs of the game, when Babar and Saim Ayub took the attack to United’s bowlers. The first nine balls saw six boundaries scored as Babar and Saim split them, and the 50 was brought up inside four overs. Shadab lamented the lack of intensity from his side, but with Ayub in sizzling form and Babar toying with the field, it was difficult to see what United could do. When Muhammad Waseem removed Saim, Haseebullah duly took his place, as Babar brought up a 28-ball 50 at the other end.Crucially, he didn’t slow down after the first six overs, and with Mohammad Haris at the other end, there was no respite for United. By 13 overs, Zalmi had soared to 137 before United’s bowlers finally turned things their way. Shadab was expensive, but changed momentum by trapping Babar in front, before Haris’ departure dragged Zalmi back. The final five overs saw just three boundaries scored as United established control, and a Zalmi side who had been on track for over 200 limped to 183.It didn’t look like it might be enough, and all the data suggested it wouldn’t be once Hales and Maqsood sunk their teeth into the chase. But Jamal, and Zalmi found something special in the moments that mattered, conjuring up a stirring finish to rip up all scripts and spreadsheets.
Captain hails performance of his England side in “another down-to-the-wire” Ashes Test in Leeds
Matt Roller09-Jul-2023Ben Stokes hailed the performance of his England side in “another down-to-the-wire” Ashes Test at Headingley, but insisted that their dramatic three-wicket victory is “just the start” of their bid to come back from two-nil down and win the series.Unlike four years ago, Stokes was not the protagonist of an England run chase at Headingley, scoring only 13 before being strangled down the leg side by Mitchell Starc. But contributions from Harry Brook – who top-scored with 75 – as well as Zak Crawley, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood were enough for them to hunt down a target of 254 inside 50 overs.”It’s obviously really big in the context of the series,” Stokes said. “We knew we needed to win this one to keep alive our hopes of winning the Ashes, so it’s a good win. If you look at the first two games in terms of how tight they were, getting over the line in another tight game can mentally help, knowing that it’s another close game but we’ve got over the line in this one.”The first two didn’t go our way. If you sort of flip it round and we didn’t win this one and it’s tight again, you would think, ‘It’s just not meant to be’. We’re obviously over the moon that we won this one but it’s just the start of what we know we need to do.”Related
Ollie Robinson fit to bat but England sweat on back spasms
Woakes, Wood and Brook keep England's Ashes hopes alive
Brook cherishes winning feeling after home-ground heroics
Stats – Brook's 1K speedrun and Bazball's chase mastery
England made three changes to their side ahead of the Headingley Test, in part due to Stokes’ own fitness issues. All three of the men who came into the side – Woakes, Wood and Moeen Ali – played important roles, taking 15 wickets between them and producing cameos with the bat.”Woakesy, being out of the team for such a long period of time, and to come back in and perform the way that he did both with ball and with bat… seeing Woody running in like he does, big smile on his face and enjoying every moment out there was great,” Stokes said.”[And] I said before the series started that we decided to go with Mo back into the squad because of the impact he can have on games. I’ve played a lot of games with him and I know the impact he can have on his best days.”You look at that little spell yesterday with 15 minutes when he took the wickets of Marnus [Labuschagne] and Steve [Smith] and that was a huge point in the game. That’s Mo as a cricketer. You bring him into the team and you want him to be impactful with the ball and the bat and he certainly was with the ball this game.”Pat Cummins and Ben Stokes at the presentation ceremony•Getty Images
Stokes also praised Brook’s innings on the final day. “The way Brooky controlled the game from ball one with the bat was amazing,” he said. “He went out there and put the pressure straight back on to them.”The way he played with Woakesy in that partnership was high-class; for such a young lad in a high-pressure situation in the Ashes, it was incredible. We’ve all seen what he can do with the bat. He’s an incredibly gifted player, and I think he’s only going to get better and better, the more pressure situations he’s put in.”Stokes was pleased with England’s approach across the four days at Headingley, but insisted: “I still think we can be better.” He added: “The thing about cricket is no-one has the perfect answer to everything. Everything will be assessed on the outcome. That will always be the case. No-one ever has the perfect answer for how it should be played.”We can be better in certain areas, and that’s all we can do, keep trying to be better and better and as clear as we possibly can as a team. People always seem to have an answer after the fact. I don’t think anyone will ever crack it; that’s why it’s such a great game.”There is a nine-day break in the series, which resumes at Old Trafford on July 19 – one which Stokes said “will do quite a few bodies the world of good” after three exhilarating, exhausting Tests to start the series. It remains to be seen whether Ollie Robinson, who suffered a back spasm on the first day, will be fit to play in Manchester.”We’ve kept the series alive and we just have to park everything from this week, but continue the way we play,” Stokes added. “I said last week we find ourselves in the perfect position with the way we play cricket.”It doesn’t change. After the Lord’s game and before this game, before the game in Manchester, we just have to do exactly the same thing: play cricket that gets a result, our way.”
Ben Stokes has implored Ollie Pope to take his new role as England’s official vice-captain “as seriously as I did” as concerns around Stokes’ fitness linger ahead of the first Ashes Test on June 16.Stokes reiterated before England’s 10-wicket win over Ireland at Lord’s that he intends to play a full part in all five Tests – “unless I can’t walk, I’ll be on the field” – but he did not bowl a ball in the match and was in clear discomfort on the final day, appearing to jar his troublesome left knee when taking a catch.Stokes has only bowled once since returning from the IPL, a 20-minute spell in the warm-ups ahead of the third and final day of the Test on Saturday, and it appears increasingly possible that Pope will deputise for him at some stage this summer, even if only for a brief period of time.Related
Moeen Ali considering Test comeback after England Ashes call
Rehan, Jacks… Moeen? Who are the candidates to replace Leach?
Leach ruled out of Ashes with back stress fracture
Root ready to 'just go and play' against Australia
Stokes 'definitely on course' to bowl in first Ashes Test
Pope has only captained one first-class match – an end-of-season County Championship fixture for Surrey – but has been groomed as future leader for more than six months. In Stokes’ absence, he captained England in both of their warm-up games over the winter: against the Lions in Abu Dhabi, and a New Zealand XI in Hamilton.When Rob Key became England’s managing director last year, he said that he was “not concerned with having to appoint a vice-captain” and that it was “low down on my priorities” but has gradually become convinced of the importance of the role – not least when observing Moeen Ali’s influence within England’s white-ball set-up.Stokes and McCullum told him last month that they wanted Pope to be made vice-captain in a formal capacity after deputising in the winter, and his appointment was ratified before the Ireland Test. “It really shows where Ollie Pope is – how far he’s come in a year,” Key said.On Pope’s promotion, Stokes said after the Ireland Test: “[We had] given him more responsibility over the winter, using him more out on the field, running things by him about what I think. Then we just naturally came to a decision together. And he’s excelled as a player and taken responsibility at No. 3.”I just thought it was the right time to finally, officially, name a vice-captain and Popey was the man for it. I think it will do him the world of good, getting a double-hundred on his vice-captaincy debut.”Stokes’ own reinstatement as vice-captain four years ago “meant the world” to him•Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Pope said that he saw the role as “a big honour” but that it would not represent a major change from the winter. “From what I was doing before, it doesn’t make a big difference,” he said. “I’m going to give my opinion and challenge Stokesy when he needs challenging. We’re going to be tested in the Ashes along the way, so it’s not always about going on and agreeing with him.”It’s about providing a different opinion to let ponder in his mind as well. Nothing’s really changed. He’s got a pretty clear vision, and he’s got 15 guys in that changing room who know our roles now, so that’s helpful for everybody.”Before his own appointment as captain last year, Stokes had served as Joe Root’s deputy in two separate spells. He cared deeply about the position, which he lost in the aftermath of the street fight outside a Bristol nightclub in 2017 that briefly threatened his career.He was reinstated in the weeks leading up to the 2019 Ashes after texting Tom Harrison, the then-chief executive of the ECB, to ask if he was eligible for the job. “Forty-eight hours later, I had Ashley Giles, the England managing director, in contact to offer me the position once more… it meant the world to me,” he wrote in his book, .”It’s a role that I took very seriously,” Stokes added on Saturday evening, “and I told him, I want him to take it as seriously as I did. That’s why me and Joe worked so well together: I didn’t take it just as a badge, almost, and we rubbed off [on] each other really well so I’m encouraging Popey to do the same role that I did.”Pope won the match award against Ireland at Lord’s•Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Pope believes that Stokes will do everything in his power to be on the field at all times this summer, but said that he feels “confident” he would be able to “implement the same ideas” as his captain if the situation arises.”Fingers crossed Stokesy’s body’s all good,” Pope said. “It’s going to take a hell of a lot for him not to be on the pitch even for a day’s play, knowing what he’s like.”But if it did happen, I feel confident. We’ve played a lot together as a team over the last year and a bit, and he knows a lot how he wants the bowlers to operate, the kind of fields he sets, and tries to get players to hit balls in areas that they don’t normally want to hit [them] in.”So I’ve got a pretty good understanding of how he runs things now and, if needs be, can implement the same ideas.”
Selected in the India Test squad for the West Indies tour, Jaiswal will be heading to the NCA in Bengaluru in a couple of days’ time to prepare
PTI23-Jun-20232:22
Has Cheteshwar Pujara played his last Test?
On Friday afternoon, when news of his selection in the India Test squad for the tour of the West Indies came in, there was emotion and elation in equal measure for Yashasvi Jaiswal.”My father started crying. I have not yet met my mother [since the announcement], I am going to see her in some time. I was out from the morning, had a practice session as well as some other work,” Jaiswal told PTI in an interview in Mumbai hours after his selection.”I am feeling good, I will try to do my best,” Jaiswal, who will be heading to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru in a couple of days’ time to prepare for the series, said. “I am excited but at the same time I just want to go out and express myself.”Related
Jaiswal a far cry from Dravid and Pujara, but can make No. 3 his own
Pujara dropped; Jaiswal and Gaikwad in India's Test squad
Samson, Gaikwad and Mukesh in India ODI squad for WI tour
Six players who could debut for India in the next WTC cycle
Jaiswal, 21, had lit up the IPL (625runs at a strike rate of 163.61) for Rajasthan Royals and has dominated in red-ball cricket too (he has a first-class average of 80.21 in 26 innings, and in his most recent first-class game, in the Irani Cup in March, made scores of 213 and 144). He was among India’s reserve players for the World Test Championship final earlier this month.Jaiswal said he was nervous heading into the squad announcement. “I was a little nervous, till the time you do not get to know that your name is there in the team, there are butterflies. But it is a good feeling.”My preparations have been going good and I got to interact a lot with the senior players [during the WTC final]. The conversation has been very simple – to focus on my work. I learned from them that in the end it is all about you, how you take it going forward.”The West Indies series includes two Tests, the first starting in Dominica on July 12 and the second in Trinidad on July 20.
Zinedine Zidane has reportedly turned down a one-year contract offer from the Saudi Pro League that would have earned him €100m (£84m/$113m).
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
| Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱 |
Erik ten Hag reportedly "did not support" spending £85 million on Antony but Manchester United "pushed through at all costs" to fend off Arsenal.
Article continues below
Article continues below
Article continues below
Man Utd spent big on Antony in 2022Followed his manager from Ajax to OTTen Hag was against the transferFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
In a surprising revelation, it has emerged that Ten Hag was not in favour of United's massive investment in the Brazilian in 2022. Antony had played under Ten Hag at Ajax, and the expectation was that the familiarity between the two would ease the transition to Old Trafford and spark immediate results.
AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE
According to multiple reports, it was only after United lost their opening two matches of the 2022–23 Premier League season that the urgency to bring in a high-profile attacker intensified. This urgency translated into action, with then-football director John Murtough submitting three separate bids to Ajax. The final offer was eventually accepted, despite Ajax’s reluctance to lose Antony.
WHAT HAS BEEN SAID
However, contrary to popular belief, Ten Hag tried to halt the move, as disclosed by Kees Vos, co-founder of SEG, the agency representing Ten Hag.
In the book , Vos states: "Ten Hag and Vos were not in favour of this and wanted to stop the transfer. But the club wanted to push through at all costs, because Arsenal was also interested in Antony. The risk of a stronger competitor would be great. Ultimately, Manchester United paid almost 100 million euros for Antony.
"Although Ten Hag did not support this transfer, it stuck with him throughout his entire time in Manchester that he took over the attacker from Ajax for this ill-fated amount, who was never able to fulfil his promise."
ENJOYED THIS STORY?
Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
DID YOU KNOW?
Over the course of 96 appearances for United, Antony only managed to net 12 goals and register five assists, figures that drew sharp criticism from fans. His tendency to perform flashy tricks without delivering tangible outcomes made him an easy target for those frustrated with United’s inconsistent performances. By the start of his second season, Antony had begun to fall down the pecking order. His limited impact saw him lose his regular starting role, and in a notable development halfway through his third season, he was loaned out to Spanish side Real Betis.