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England made life harder for themselves than it should have been on the opening day, but their pace attack – and those vying for selection – are offering the suggestion of a strong pack

George Dobell at Headingley20-Jun-2014A maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket is “just the beginning,” according to Liam Plunkett. Recalled to the Test side for the first time in seven years in the first Test of this series, he produced a display of pace, skill and heart to prevent embarrassment on the first day of the second Test.England squandered half-a-dozen chances and gambled on inserting Sri Lanka in conditions that offered little to their seamers but, thanks to Plunkett’s sustained hostility and a hat-trick from Stuart Broad, still finished the day in a good position.It was another step in the remarkable resurgence of Plunkett who, a couple of years ago, was reduced to playing second XI county cricket and must have thought his days as an international cricketer were over. It was also witnessed by his father, Alan, who required a kidney transplant seven years ago, but declined Liam’s offer of one of his to ensure that his cricket career was not jeopardised.”I would never have dreamed of this happening 18-months ago,” Plunkett said. “But it was important for me to show I could perform at Test level.”As soon as I played last week – even from the moment I turned up – I felt it was more for me. I felt I bowled well last week and created chances. It was my job to try to create chances on a flat wicket and I felt I did that. It just wasn’t to be.”I wanted to perform to prove that and to pick up a five is just the start. I feel confident here [in Test cricket]. I back myself and everyone in the dressing room backs each other, which is great.”This was not a particularly quick track. Certainly it was nothing compared to those seen in Perth or Brisbane over the winter. So to have a top-order batsman fending to short-leg off a brute of a lifter – as was the case with Lahiru Thirimanne – bodes well for the future.After a winter when the difference in pace between the England and Australian attacks was marked, England are beginning to assemble a group of bowlers who just might be able to fight fire with fire. With Chris Jordan, Steven Finn and Plunkett all vying for on-going selection at present, and the Overton twins and Tymal Mills offering hope for the future, England’s seam attack, at least, is beginning to look a little more potent.It is to be hoped that the ECB coaching staff do not interfere. Finn and Plunkett have both suffered from over-coaching in the past, while Jordan only started to deliver on his potential after he moved to a county that allowed him to simply play cricket and not think too much about technique.The last thing Plunkett requires is to be sent to the ECB’s academy at Loughborough for any extra assistance. He was described, by virtue of his height and the bounce he generates, as “totally different to other fast bowers” by Dinesh Chandimal after play. In days gone by, England might have tried to homogenise him.The excellence of Plunkett and Co saved Alastair Cook and Matt Prior, in particular, from an awkward day. There were several times when it appeared the decision to insert Sri Lanka was incorrect – not least when they negotiated the first hour without loss and when they reached 108 for 2 – and there was little movement or pace in the pitch to justify Cook’s decision.Had Plunkett and Broad not performed so well, the criticism of Cook’s tactical acumen would surely have grown and it might have been asked whether the criticism from Shane Warne and others had goaded him into attempting something rash and out of character. Sri Lanka later confirmed that they would have batted first anyway.There might also have been questions about his use of Plunkett. While Plunkett has rebuilt his reputation largely through running down the hill at Headingley and operating in short spells, here he was asked to run up the hill and operate in spells of up to eight overs. If England want to retain him at his best, Cook may well have to use him more sparingly.Prior endured a disappointing day. As well as missing a straightforward edge offered by Sangakkara on 27, he also failed to appeal for another edge from the same batsman on 16 – replays suggest it would have been given out had England reviewed or, perhaps, even appealed fully – and failed to insist on utilising the DRS for a lbw appeal when Kaushal Silva had 10. Had England done so, Billy Bowden’s decision would have been overruled.This was not the easiest day on which to keep wicket, with the ball moving substantially after it passed the bat, but Test keepers cannot afford to drop chances like the one Prior missed off Sangakkara. Having kept wicket very little since he was dropped in Australia, the doubts over Prior’s future are still prevalent. If a keeper in county cricket was in better form – and Jos Buttler remains a work in progress with the gloves – his place would be in jeopardy.This was also a worrying day for Headingley. While 11,000 tickets were pre-sold for the first day, about half of that number attended in the first session. While the crowd numbers edged up over the day, they remained modest bearing in mind that there are three Yorkshire players in the England side and that this game has been staged a little later in the season than recent early-summer Tests. In short, Yorkshire are running out of excuses for their continued failure to attract spectators to international cricket.Some will say ticket prices remain too high. But with a starting point of £32 for adults and £15 for concessions, they compare favourably with most leisure pursuits. Perhaps people are put off by the poor spectator experience that was quite common here a few years ago. It takes time to change public perception and the club’s recent attempts to reach out to people from beyond their traditional support base has yet to bear much fruit.Saturday’s sales are stronger – around 15,000 are expected – but day three sales are dismal. The fact that play was briefly delayed after a minor disturbance, a spectator was arrested having hit Shaminda Eranga on the back with a piece of cheese thrown from the White Rose Stand (formerly the Western Terrace), will do nothing to improve their reputation.With Yorkshire having a staging agreement with the ECB that guarantees them a Test every year until the end of 2019, they look, at present, certain to host an Ashes Test that year. With England hosting the World Cup that season, only one team – Australia – is currently scheduled to arrive on a Test tour and only five Tests are planned. It is, though, just possible that Ireland or Afghanistan will have gained Tests status by then.With a capacity of just 16,000 and a modest sales record, Headingley could count itself fortunate if it gains another high-profile Ashes Test and looks unlikely to be able to sell enough tickets for any other game. Even with the help of their in-form England contingent.

For 16 years, Shane Warne was Australia’s primary match-winner. Now he hopes Australia can accept spinners whose main role is support.

Brydon Coverdale23-Oct-2012Shane Warne had a bowl in the MCG nets on Tuesday. At 43, he is slim and fit, but he has plenty of rust to shed over the next couple of months, before his first match as captain of the Melbourne Stars. Even the greatest legspinner the game has seen was unable to land his first ball, a full toss. As Warne has been saying ever since his retirement, spin bowling is damn hard. Spinners need to be treated with patience.It is nearly six years since Warne last wore the baggy green. Throughout that time he has been adamant that Australia’s selectors should choose a spinner and stick with him. Show some faith. Give him a chance to settle in. Instead, they used 11 slow bowlers in Test cricket in four years. Not even Elizabeth Taylor discarded men at such a rapid rate.But over the past year, Warne’s words have been heeded by a new panel of selectors, who have chosen Nathan Lyon for 13 Tests, flinching only when they chose four fast men who ended up demolishing India in two and a half days at the WACA last summer. Now that patience has been shown, Warne wants Australians to accept that spinners in this country are unlikely to be match-winners over the next few years.That doesn’t mean they can’t do an important job. Without question, there is depth in Australia’s pace bowling stocks at the moment, from the older, tougher trio of Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Ryan Harris to the stars of the future, James Pattinson, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. If Lyon can play the kind of supporting role Ashley Mallett did to Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and co during the 1970s, he will have done his job.”We’re very lucky that we’ve got some super quick bowling, a great corps of quick bowling,” Warne said. “It might be an era where the quicks dominate and the spinner takes a bit of a backward role and just does his job. When the time comes, when the pitches start to rag, whether it be Adelaide on day five or Brisbane on day five or Sydney – although Sydney hasn’t turned for ten years – we get on a wicket that starts to really turn, that’s when it’s payday for them and they go ‘hang on, it’s my turn now’.”The idea of playing a spinner who was more foil than frontline wicket taker was common throughout the 1970s and 80s, from Mallett to Bruce Yardley to Greg Matthews to Tim May to Peter Taylor. It was only when Warne redefined legspin in the 1990s that the perception changed. The presence of Stuart MacGill as his backup re-enforced the notion that the spinner could, and should, deliver regular victories for his side.”We’ve just got to have a bit of patience with them and let them develop,” Warne said of the next generation of slow bowlers. “They’re not going to be matchwinners from day one and in their first season take 50 wickets – no one has done that for ages in Shield cricket.”Not since MacGill has a spinner really dominated the Sheffield Shield. In the past decade, there have been 86 occasions when a fast bowler has claimed 30 wickets in a Shield season. In the same period, spinners have done it only five times (MacGill three times, Bryce McGain and Dan Cullen once each). That is as much a product of green seaming domestic pitches as a decline in the quality of Australia’s spin bowlers.The lack of turning surfaces has done little to encourage legspinners in particular. Queensland’s Cameron Boyce is the only wrist-spinner currently being given regular Shield action. Steven Smith now considers himself a batsman who bowls occasionally, the same career progression that was followed by Cameron White. South Australia’s Cullen Bailey was given a few chances last summer under the state’s open-minded new coach Darren Berry, but hasn’t been sighted this season. Nor is there an abundance of legspinners coming through the junior levels.”I’ll tell you why there’s no wrist-spinners … It’s hard. It’s not easy. You need encouragement,” Warne said. “I think sometimes the captaincy at junior level that I’ve found with a lot of the kids playing is when they do get to 14 or 15 and they get smacked around the park, or they bowl a few double-bouncers, the encouragement is not there and they get taken off and they say this is a bit hard, let’s just go with a medium pacer.

“They’re not going to be matchwinners from day one and in their first season take 50 wickets – no one has done that for ages in Shield cricket”Shane Warne on the next generation of spinners

“A lot of people who had a lot of talent around 15 or 16 and wanted to do it then lose interest and go, ‘well I might go to the beach instead, this is not much fun’. Cricket back in the under-age [levels] should be fun. If they can have fun as kids and have a bit of fun with the ball and get supported by their captain and coach, be encouraged rather than ‘let’s not do that, let’s bowl really fast and don’t get hit’. That’s not really encouraging spin bowling.”It’s not just the way spinners are used in junior cricket that has occupied the thoughts of those in cricket recently. After returning home from the World T20, where unconventional spinners like Ajantha Mendis, Sunil Narine and Saeed Ajmal were stand-out performers, Australia’s T20 captain George Bailey said he hoped that Australia could one day find similarly unusual bowlers, which could only happen if they were encouraged at under-age levels. But Warne doesn’t believe it should be a major point of concern.”I don’t think in Australia we do that. We do the basics, we’re traditional,” Warne said. “Sure, we do a few things out of left field and always look to improve the players, but I don’t think we’re into all the different [styles]. How do you coach it? If someone comes along that’s really unique you’ll embrace them and encourage them, but you’re not going to go and teach doosras and all those sorts of things, because really, great if you can do it, but for me I’m all about the basics.”It’s all about the mindset and how they approach the game. Sure, you have to spin the ball if you’re a spinner… That’s the first thing you work on is spinning it and if you can make it go a few different ways, then great. But I wouldn’t be coaching different sort of techniques that might push the 15-degree level.”And that goes to the heart of Warne’s argument about the state of spin bowling in Australia. Get the basics right, play a role and don’t worry if it’s the fast men who take all the accolades. Because as Warne himself showed on Tuesday, it’s not always easy to make the ball talk. Even if you were once the best in the world.

There was a hint of Virender Sehwag in the way Tamim Iqbal tore into England’s attack and for a while they were helpless to stop him

Andrew Miller in Dhaka20-Mar-2010The first day of the Dhaka Test was Tamim Iqbal’s 21st birthday, and with the poise, panache and sheer arrogance of youth, he elected to stage his coming-of-age party right there in the middle of the pitch at Mirpur. For a scintillating hour right from the start of play, none of England’s bowlers had the foggiest how to deal with him – not even Graeme Swann, the only man who entered the contest with comparable levels of self-belief.Not since Virender Sehwag battered his way to 83 from 68 balls on the fourth evening of India’s historic run-chase in Chennai have England’s bowlers been hit so hard and so often, and with such certainty of shot selection. Until he succumbed to a sweep on 85 from 71 balls, with five men back on the ropes and Alastair Cook back-pedalling like a rickshaw-wallah in a bottleneck, a century in a session was utterly at his mercy.Sadly – both for his own sake and for that of his team – Tamim failed on this occasion, and by the close, Bangladesh’s finest day of the series to date had lost some of its sheen thanks to a procession of late wickets and a familiar failure to convert solid starts into formidable finishes. Nevertheless, the faith in the team’s advancement grows with passing performance, and even taking into account his century in the first ODI and his 86 at Chittagong, few performances snatched the plaudits quite like this one.”The first thing was that I was feeling really well when I went to bat,” said Tamim, who is clearly still young enough to embrace, rather than dread, each passing birthday. “I don’t know why, but when I was about to face my first ball, I was feeling really well and from then it all started. I was seeing the ball nicely, I was moving my feet okay, and that’s the most important thing for a batsman, I think.”However, Tamim did require one huge birthday-cake-sized slice of good fortune on 35, when Alastair Cook, who endured a torrid day in the field, dropped a sitter at mid-on off the bowling of Stuart Broad. Having earlier slashed a fast and furious chance through Paul Collingwood’s fingertips at slip, he knew it was his day in every sense. “The first one I won’t call that was a catch, because that was too high,” he said. “But the second one was a gift. That’s true, but it happens in cricket. I didn’t tell him to drop it!”Regardless of the slightly flighty approach to his innings, the manner of Tamim’s dismissal – caught on the sweep while trying to work the ones and twos – was further confirmation that his natural game is to remain on the attack where possible. “Every batsman has a different game style,” he said. “I am still trying to work out whether I should leave many balls or attack, but I think the way I am batting, this is my style. Sometimes it will look fantastic, sometimes it will look ugly. But I think this is the way I should continue.”The contrast between Tamim’s approach to Swann, whom he bludgeoned for 37 runs from his first four overs, and Tredwell, who completed seven overs before his analysis reached double figures, was marked. “It was nothing personal [against Swann],” he said. “I was just taking my chances and I knew that he will give it some flight. So I was ready for it and every shot that I played it paid off.”But they had five fielders wide when the debutant [Tredwell] came on to bowl,” he added. “Normally this does not happen so early in Test cricket, but I knew it would have been very bad if I got out trying to hit big. For Swann, the fielders had been close so I took my chance, but I would have had to take a big risk against Tredwell, and this was only reason for me to slow down. There was no other reason.”However, regardless of the brief elation that Tamim’s innings caused, by the close he was still some way short of satisfaction, after another day in which Bangladesh’s best efforts fell just short of excellence. “Of course I am very disappointed,” he said. “I think if I could play a big innings, we would have scored 400 runs. If you look at the scoreboard, me, Shakib, Riyad [Mahmudullah], we all were out after getting a start. It’s good for one-day cricket maybe, but someone has to put on a good score in Test cricket.”Some time soon, however, you sense that person will be Tamim. He’s only just entering full adulthood, after all.

One-time Test batter suffered symptoms after a blow to the head in a 2nd XI game last week

Alex Malcolm01-Feb-2024Will Pucovski has been ruled out of Victoria’s Sheffield Shield clash with South Australia after experiencing delayed concussion symptoms after a blow to the head in a 2nd XI game last week.Pucovski, 25, was struck on the head attempting a pull shot off South Australia quick David Grant in a match at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide and was forced to retire hurt. However, he passed his initial concussion tests and was cleared to resume batting. He went on to make 89 from 146 balls to help set up a Victoria win but he was subbed out of the match after the first innings as a precaution ahead of the Shield season recommencing this week.However, Victoria did not name Pucovski in their 13-man squad to face South Australia at the Junction Oval starting on Saturday with Cricket Victoria’s head of male cricket David Hussey revealing that he had suffered delayed concussion symptoms.Related

• Will Pucovski joins Leicestershire on short-term deal

• Sam Harper hospitalised after blow to the head

• Pucovski able to resume batting after retiring hurt due to helmet blow

“Will passed the relevant tests following the knock in Adelaide last week but has subsequently experienced symptoms over the following days,” Hussey said. “We’ve spoken to our medical staff and the advice is clear that he won’t be able to play this match. While he’s in otherwise good spirits, it’s important that Will focuses on recovering with the support of our broader team.”It is estimated that Pucovski has had up to a dozen concussions in his career dating back to playing multiple sports as a junior. It was hoped he would have an uninterrupted run this summer for Victoria having spent the winter playing club cricket in England. He played five of the first six Shield games before the BBL break but did miss one against Queensland as part of his ongoing management.Since making his debut for Victoria in February 2017, Pucovski has not managed to play a full domestic season. The closest he has come was the 2019-20 season where he played the first half of the summer for Victoria, four List A and six Shield matches, before taking an indefinite break in December of that summer and not returning until the 2020-21 season.Pucovski has signed a short-term deal to play for Leicestershire in the first five games of the County Championship season starting in April.In better news for Victoria, wicketkeeper Sam Harper has been cleared to play after suffering a horrific head injury at Melbourne Stars training in the later stages of the BBL. Harper ramped a ball into his throat while batting in the nets and was sent to hospital. He missed the last three games of the BBL with a severe concussion but has been cleared to play against South Australia.”Sam has completed all stages of the medical return to play,” Hussey said. “He has no ongoing symptoms and feels confident ahead of Saturday’s game.”Victoria’s Shield captain Will Sutherland and allrounder Matt Short are unavailable after being included in Australia’s ODI squad for the three-match series against West Indies. Victoria’s 50-over captain Peter Handscomb will lead the side in Sutherland’s absence.Nic Maddinson has been named to play his first Shield game of the season after missing the early part of the summer due to a knee injury. Scott Boland also returns after being carefully managed before the BBL due to his inclusion in the Test squad but he did not play any of Australia’s five home Tests across the summer.Victoria Sheffield Shield squad vs South Australia: Peter Handscomb (capt), Scott Boland, Xavier Crone, Sam Elliott, Marcus Harris, Sam Harper, Campbell Kellaway, Nic Maddinson, Jon Merlo, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Mitch Perry, Tom Rogers

Three Premier League clubs have made tentative approaches for Cherki, who is available for a bargain price.

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• Liverpool to battle Spurs and Man City
• Cherki has impressed in Ligue 1

• Could leave for just €22.5m

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Premier League champions Liverpool have made an enquiry over the signing of Lyon star Rayan Cherki but are expected to face competition from Manchester City and Tottenham, according to Le Parisien. The 21-year-old eventually stayed at OL last year having courted interest from Paris Saint-Germain, but the Ligue 1 winners are not keen to wait around again and aren't expected to make another move, opening the door for Cherki to depart for an English side.

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  Cherki ended up renewing his contract with Lyon but there is a release clause of just €22.5m written into the deal. The price represents a bargain in the current market and Tottenham and Europa League final opponents Manchester United were both reported to be ramping up their interest in the talented youngster at the end of last month. However, City are also on the lookout for fresh legs in midfield and the prospect of playing a prominent role in a planned resurgence under Pep Guardiola could be an enticing one for Cherki.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Cherki scored in both legs of Lyon's Europa League quarter-final with United as the Ligue 1 side were knocked out of the competition in extraordinary fashion. He has registered eight goals and ten assists in Ligue 1 this season, but there is a danger of Lyon failing to qualify for European football next season as they currently sit seventh in France's top flight.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR CHERKI?

  Cherki will be keen to help Lyon achieve continental qualification on the final Ligue 1 weekend of the season. Paulo Foncesca's outfit host Angers on Saturday night.

MatériaMais Notícias

Navegar é preciso. Para a Dragões da Real, o ditado português eternizado nas linhas do poeta Fernando Pessoa nunca fez tanto sentido. Afinal, desde 2012, quando apareceu pela primeira vez na elite do Carnaval paulistano, a agremiação ligada a uma torcida organizada do São Paulo encanta pelos belos desfiles. Mas, dois vices à parte, nunca disputou de fato o título. E agora pediu auxílio a João Pessoa, capital da Paraíba, para quebrar a escrita.

Com apoio financeiro da Prefeitura da cidade nordestina, a Dragões tem o auxílio também de um personagem mais do que tarimbado: Jorge Freitas. Carnavalesco formado no Rio de Janeiro (RJ), chegou em São Paulo (SP) em 2000 e desde então já abocanhou seis títulos do Grupo Especial, além de revolucionar a forma como as escolas desfilam, trazer outros profissionais que viraram carnavalescos e inspirar outros artistas. Reforço de peso para a agremiação tricolor dar o seu passo além para o troféu.

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+Federação internacional atualiza ranking de melhores times do mundo; veja o top 50

– Falar de título é claro que todos querem. Não vamos ser demagogos. Nós estamos indo pra lá pra disputar e ganhar, mas hoje a nossa preparação é de fazer um grande espetáculo. A gente vai fazer com que as pessoas que estiverem assistindo carnaval, que brinquem com a Dragões. Um carnaval descontraído, solto e alegre para que os componentes possam realmente se divertir, brincar e, acima de tudo, um comprometimento muito grande com a nossa comunidade e por parte de todos os integrantes da Dragões – apontou Freitas, ao site ‘Carnavalesco’.

O enredo ‘Paraíso Paraibano – João Pessoa, a Porta do sol das Américas’ vem com a marca do Freitas: muito luxo, capricho e perfeccionismo. Freitas promete inovações na parte plástica e um contexto que deve levar o Anhembi a uma catarse digna de uma das favoritas da temporada.

– O módulo visual contempla enredo, alegoria e fantasia. A parte plástica, todos que puderem ter a oportunidade de ver a Dragões, é totalmente diferente do que a escola vem mostrando, mas também é uma ousadia pela questão do folião. Ele que vai ter que trazer a questão do aplauso. Ele vai brincar de Carnaval. As pessoas vão poder ver um Carnaval muito bem construído.

Freitas já teve experiência com um enredo semelhante. Em 1999, na carioca Unidos de Vila Isabel, assinou o enredo ‘João Pessoa, onde o sol brilha mais cedo’. Entretanto, segundo o carnavlesco, o contexto atual é totalmente diferente. Houveram mudanças na capital paraibana. E a abordagem terá uma temática completamente diferente.

– Fiz esse tema em 1999 com uma abordagem completamente diferente do que vai ser hoje. João Pessoa cresceu muito. Além de ser a terceira capital mais antiga do Brasil, ela passou por uma evolução muito grande. Muitos acham que é um enredo CEP, mas não. É o fato de você valorizar as cidades que tem o foco no que me interessa. O que me interessa em João Pessoa é que ela preserva as suas raízes mesmo com o contemporâneo. A questão cultural que a gente vê muito na Europa, onde constroem uma cidade preservando a história da cidade antiga e João Pessoa também faz muito isso. Acho que é por isso que o pessoense se tornou um ser humano muito enraizado, mas de uma cultura muito diversificada, porque é um povo cultural. O que nós vamos colocar na avenida são as manifestações culturais de João Pessoa.

– O que eu queria fazer no meu primeiro carnaval da Dragões era um enredo descontraído. Nada melhor do que eu ter uma linha histórica apurada de diversos anos que eu vou a João Pessoa para desenvolver um tema que eu acho que logo assim que foi apresentado o enredo para a escola e logo assim que foi escolhido o samba, houve uma comoção muito grande por parte dos componentes. Eles se integraram muito bem ao tema e ao samba- concluiu Freitas.

RAIO-X

GRÊMIO RECREATIVO CULTURAL ESCOLA DE SAMBA DRAGÕES DA REAL

Fundação: 17/03/2000
Cores oficiais: vermelho, branco e preto
Presidente: Renato Remondini (Tomate)
Carnavalesco: Jorge Freitas
Mestre de Bateria: Klemen Gioz
Casal de mestre-sala e porta-bandeira: Rubens de Castro e Janny Moreno
Direção de Carnaval: Marcio Santana
Direção de Harmonia: Rogerio Magalhães Felix
Rainha de bateria: Karine Grum
Coreógrafo da Comissão de Frente: Ricardo Negreiros
Colocação em 2022: 7º lugar – grupo Especial
Ordem de desfile em 2023: Sábado (18 de fevereiro) – sétima escola a desfilar (5h, de Brasília)

SAMBA ENREDO

PARAÍSO PARAIBANO — JOÃO PESSOA, A PORTA DO SOL DAS AMÉRICAS

Autores: Thiago SP, Renne Campos, Léo do Cavaco, Marcelo Adnet, Darlan Alves, Rodrigo Atração, Jairo Cruz, André Carvalho, Paulo Senna e Tigrão
Intérprete: Renê Sobral

Isso aqui tá bom demais, incendeia (bis)
O seu nome eu escrevi na areia
Dragões: seu grito ecoa
Arreia o canto pra João Pessoa

Voar, voar, voar
E ver o sol nascer primeiro
No infinito mar encontrar
O paraíso verdadeiro
Nego viver outros amores
Na bandeira nossas cores
E sonhos de carnaval
Nesse zum zum zum maneiro
De janeiro a janeiro
Alegria é geral

Hoje tem arrasta pé, quadrilha de cariri (bis)
Isso aqui é São João, a poeira vai subir
Se avexe não, minha flor
Eu esqueci de dizer
Que o sanfoneiro vai até o amanhecer

Oh, mãe
Senhora da fé paraibana
A mulher tem sua luz
Emana uma força soberana
Mãos talentosas moldando
Um tantinho de algodão
Transformam em lindas lembranças
Riqueza e tradição
Dá gosto ver de novo
O orgulho brotar da raiz

Dessa terra arretada (bis)
Lugar de gente feliz

تحدث المدير الفني لفريق كولومبوس كرو، ويلفريد نانسي، عن مشاركة النجم الفلسطيني وسام أبو علي في مباراة يوم الأحد ضد نظيره نيو إنجلاند، في بطولة الدوري الأمريكي لكرة القدم.

وخاض كولومبوس كرو مباراته في الجولة الثامنة والعشرين من الدوري الأمريكي، نسخة 2025، ضد نيو إنجلاند، حيث فاز الأخير بهدفين مقابل هدف (لمطالعة التفاصيل من هنا).

وشهدت تلك المباراة المشاركة الأولى لـ وسام أبو علي، حيث دخل كبديل في الدقيقة 56 من عمر اللقاء.

وانضم وسام أبو علي إلى صفوف كولومبوس كرو، قادمًا من الأهلي المصري، في وقت سابق من موسم الانتقالات الصيفي الحالي.

وقال ويلفريد نانسي، في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “dispatch” الأمريكية: “أردت من وسام أن يظهر طاقته وأن يسجل الأهداف، وكذلك أن يهاجم منطقة جزاء الخصم”.

وأضاف في تصريحاته: “لقد رغب أن يبلي بلاءً حسنًا، لكن سيتاح له الوقت أيضًا من أجل التأقلم”.

ويخوض كولومبوس كرو مباراته المقبلة في بطولة الدوري الأمريكي لكرة القدم ضد ريد بولز يوم الأحد القادم.

Australia are strong and settled as they aim to close out a memorable year with victory

Andrew McGlashan25-Dec-20233:33

Australia settled, Pakistan have more questions than answers

Big Picture: Pakistan search for inspirationAll we want for Christmas is a contest, right? Well, Pakistan will hope for a miracle. If they topple Australia at the MCG it would come close to that.After just about holding their own, to a degree, across the first three days in Perth, things unravelled quickly on the fourth, albeit the surface was tricky by the time Pakistan started their second innings.Related

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So they came to Melbourne somewhat battered and bruised, but at least had a slightly longer gap to collect their thoughts. They have played two days of cricket – whether that time at Junction Oval will make any significant difference is debatable – and have also lost two players to injury and illness.Despite Pakistan’s second innings collapse last week, their biggest challenge appears taking 20 wickets with what looks a fairly threadbare attack. If the top order can build on the starts they got in the first innings in Perth they can at least have hope of building a total, although Australia’s attack is relentless.There is barely a flicker of concern around the home side, and even the talk around David Warner has diminished after his 164. Now it’s all about the farewell, rather than whether he deserves it.When Marnus Labuschagne averaging 35 for the year is perhaps an area of concern, or whether Alex Carey can recapture the batting touch that brought him a maiden century this time last year, things are tracking nicely. Things are so stable that the MCG crowd won’t even be able to cheer on Scott Boland.A final, and not hugely uplifting note for Pakistan: last time they played a Test at the MCG they made 443, only to see Australia rattle up 624 (Warner 144 off 143 balls) and win by an innings.Form guide(last five matches, most recent first)
Australia WLDLW
Pakistan LWWLLCan Babar Azam lead the way for Pakistan?•AFP

In the spotlight: Marnus Labuschagne and Babar AzamIt’s been a lean year by Marnus Labuschagne’s high standards with an average of 35. In Perth, he was lbw in the first innings having moved compactly to 16. He was given a working over in the second, including a painful blow on the hand, before top-edging a short ball. This time last year his Test average was 59.05 and now it’s 52.15. He will, no doubt, turn things around and Boxing Day at the MCG – a ground where he hasn’t had a huge amount of success – could be where it starts.At 181 for 3 in the first innings in Perth, Pakistan were making a good fist of it. Then Babar Azam edged Mitchell Marsh to Carey who clung on to the chance. Pakistan lost seven wickets for 90 and the game was done. There was nothing Babar could do about the wonderful delivery from Pat Cummins in the second innings, but Pakistan need him to find the groove that brought scores of 104 and 97 on the tour four years ago. “He’s still in his shell, not really playing his natural way,” Waqar Younis told ESPN’s show. “I know the bowlers are too good, it’s hard to get on top of them, but you have to find a way, good players do that.”Team news: Australia unchanged…Barring any late Christmas-dinner related injuries, Australia will be unchanged which means no place for hometown hero Boland who averages 13.80 at the MCG.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Mitchell Marsh 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh HazlewoodPakistan have named a squad of 12 and will make a final decision on the XI at the toss. Mohammad Rizwan replaces Sarfaraz Ahmed as wicketkeeper. Khurram Shahzad has been ruled out of the tour with a rib fracture and Faheem Ashraf has been dropped. That means two of Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza and Sajid Khan will play. Sajid appears likely to be included unless the pitch looks better for four quicks and Agha Salman.Pakistan 1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Agha Salman, 8 Hasan Ali/Mir Hamza, 9 Sajid Khan, 10 Aamer Jamal, 11 Shaheen Shah AfridiPitch and conditionsThe groundsman, Matt Page, has promised a well-grassed surface with pace and bounce – although the latter two factors may not reach Perth levels. Life has been tricky for batters at the MCG in recent seasons. But this pitch only has 6-7mm of grass compared to 10mm plus on previous Boxing Days and is less thatchy. The pitch has been under the covers since December 24 due to relentless rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The forecast is not ideal with a high chance of more showers on the first day more on the second, but an improvement after that. However, things can change quickly in Melbourne.Stats and trivia Travis Head needs 42 runs to reach 3000 in Tests Steven Smith’s MCG average of 84.75 is second only to Don Bradman for those to have played at least 10 innings at the venue Saud Shakeel needs 73 runs to reach 1000 – he has currently batted 15 times, and the record for Pakistan to that landmark is 20 innings by Saeed Ahmed Since the start of the 2018-19 season, the MCG has the lowest Test batting average of Australia’s venues, other than Hobart which has hosted just one game.Quotes”It looks really good, fair bit of grass, probably a fair bit harder and not as green as last year, knowing it was potentially going to be under covers today and for a little bit tomorrow maybe, so we’ll see how it plays but it looks like a really good wicket.” “It was hard out there in Perth. But I still feel there were some positives that probably we didn’t do back when we were here in 2019. We don’t want to force people to play a certain way. But we’ve sort of outlined certain things that we want to do better.”

Former Barcelona star Rivaldo sent a message to Lamine Yamal as the wonderkid is set to take over the iconic No.10 shirt at Camp Nou, following in the footsteps of the legendary Lionel Messi. While no formal announcement has been made by the club, it is widely understood that Yamal has given his blessing for the reveal to coincide with his 18th birthday.

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• Yamal to inherit Lionel Messi's iconic No.10 shirt
• Decision to be made official on his 18th birthday
• Rivaldo lavished praise on the Barcelona teenager

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  At just 18 years old, the Spanish winger is expected to inherit the legendary No.10 shirt at Camp Nou, a number once worn by the likes of Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, and most famously, Messi. Yamal's path to wearing the iconic shirt has been cleared by Ansu Fati’s loan move to Monaco.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Fati had held the No.10 jersey since Messi’s departure to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021. His exit has left the number available for a new bearer, and Yamal’s rapid rise at both club and national levels has made him the clear frontrunner to receive the honour. Currently, Yamal wears the No.19 jersey, a number he has made his own with several breakout performances. The youngster initially debuted with No.41, then transitioned to No.27 before settling on No. 19.

• WHAT RIVALDO SAID

  Brazilian football legend and former Barça No.10 Rivaldo has publicly expressed his admiration for Yamal and his excitement about the youngster’s future. Speaking as an ambassador for Betfair, Rivaldo said he was thrilled upon hearing that Yamal would be taking on the number he once wore, especially given the player’s rapid development and international accomplishments with Spain.

  "Barca's number 10 shirt is in very good shape," he said. "I think he deserves it, because this number demands a lot of responsibility, but he has a lot of personality."

  Rivaldo emphasized that Yamal's mentality is what truly sets him apart.

  "I don't think it's going to be a problem for him, because he plays with incredible calmness and doesn't seem to be the age he is when you see him on the pitch. Yamal has the personality that is expected of a 25 or 26-year-old player," he added.

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• DID YOU KNOW?

  The timing of Yamal’s shirt change is not just symbolic; it’s strategic. Barcelona has just launched their new home kit for the 2025–26 season, and the club aims to align the release with Yamal’s promotion to the No.10 shirt. This move is part of a broader strategy to position him as the new global face of Barcelona.

Wolverhampton Wanderers will be looking to strengthen their squad when the summer transfer window opens in June.

Vitor Pereira looks to have done enough to retain the Old Gold’s status in the Premier League as they sit nine points clear of Leicester City.

Ahead of next season, can the manager tempt some high-profile players to join the club? As they have been linked with someone who used to shine at Molineux…

Wolves' interest in Diogo Jota

It was reported earlier this month by TEAMtalk that Wolves were showing interest in former hero Diogo Jota, with Pereira keen on signing him this summer.

This season, the Portuguese star has scored eight goals while grabbing four assists in 29 matches for Liverpool, but it appears as though Arne Slot could cash in on him when the season is over.

His three-year spell in the Midlands was extremely productive, registering 63 goal contributions in just 131 matches for the club. He was sold to Liverpool for £41m, which was a deal too good to turn down.

Could he return before the start of next season? Only time will tell.

Does Pereira need to splash the cash on him, however? The club could be brewing their next Jota in a talented 20-year-old with the world at his feet.

Leo Lopes could be Wolves’ next Diogo Jota

The club are developing a few highly-rated youngsters, none more so than Leo Lopes. Signed in the summer of 2023, the Portuguese talent is similar to Jota in that he can operate across a range of attacking positions.

Used on either wing or through the middle during his embryonic career thus far, Lopes has scored once and grabbed five assists for the U21 side since his arrival in England.

He was praised by Harry Hooman, head of the UK academy at Wolves when he arrived at the club:

These qualities are certainly like the ones Jota exuded during his spell with the Molineux side between 2017 and 2020, no doubt about that.

The former Zurich starlet has yet to make a matchday squad for Wolves since swapping Switzerland for England, but surely the time will come sooner rather than later.

Once it is mathematically possible that the club will remain in the top flight, Pereira might begin to give some of the club’s more talented youngsters some minutes in the league.

In The Pipeline

Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

If so, Lopes must be at the top of the list. His positional flexibility, plus a keen eye for creating chances for his teammates suggest he could be the club’s next Jota, without a shadow of a doubt.

£42m release clause: Wolves now want to hijack "fantastic" Man City target

He could be their Lemina replacement…

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Tom Cunningham

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