Category Uncategorized

Chance to defend title comes after wrist surgery that showed level of support in women’s game

Andrew Miller10-Jun-2022Beyond the upbeat headlines and some well-deserved job security for the game’s elite players, the practical implications of professionalism within English women’s cricket haven’t yet been fully realised. But for Aylish Cranstone, the driving force behind South East Stars’ run to the Charlotte Edwards Cup Finals Day, there are all manner of reasons to be grateful for the regional contract that she received back in December 2020.Cranstone goes into Stars’ semi-final against Central Sparks on Saturday with 235 runs in six group-stage games, including three half-centuries and a towering average of 78.33 that is close to double that of any other batter with 100 runs in the tournament. But she might not have gone into the season at all had it not been for a bout of wrist surgery during the winter – a process that was made possible by her new standing within the game, and seems at this early stage of the summer to have helped her realise her potential.”I was having a lot of trouble with my wrist last year, and in November it was decided that surgery was the best option,” Cranstone told ESPNcricinfo. “It was a pretty difficult winter and, if I look back a couple of months, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be starting the season.”But the level of support I’ve had, from the surgeons and doctors, to having physio pretty much every single day, to the strength-and-conditioning coaches… it’s all been the next step above, and the support to get you back on the field is tremendous.”And it’s really nice for the team that has worked really hard, to see that I’ve come through the other side. And, fingers crossed, if I can keep going with this form, I can put my team in a position where we’ve got a really good chance of retaining our title.”If Cranstone can make a start on Finals Day, this season’s precedents suggest that Stars will be well placed in their quest. She’s yet to be dismissed in any of her three half-centuries in the tournament, and each has been in a winning cause, including a score of 59 not out from 53 balls to see off Sparks in their last encounter at Edgbaston two weeks ago.”I grew up very much as a 50-over player,” she says. “Opening the batting, leaving the ball, defending the ball, and then working your way into an innings. It’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve been moved forward into this opening role for the Stars, so I’ve really had to learn how to adapt and change my style.”It has been a little bit alien at times, but it’s also nice to play with that freedom,” she adds. “Our head coach Johann Myburgh is always promoting that positive play and to play with freedom. And that’s been really nice. I just want to keep going, and thriving, and see how far I can go with it.”At the age of 27, Cranstone is very much a senior pro within the women’s game – a player who clearly retains international aspirations but whose truest value right now is as one of the building blocks of the nascent domestic game. Earlier this year she took over from Hannah Jones as the new captain at Surrey, and as a former head of women’s cricket at Epsom College, she is already well used to being a role model for the coming generation of players.”When I’m working with the county age-group girls, it’s really great for them to see that pathway and to be able to have attainable goals,” she says. “There’s only so many people that are going to go and play for England, and it’s fantastic to have that goal, but 10 years ago, that was the only option and it was really difficult.Cranstone turned professional in December 2020•Alex Broadway/Getty Images”So the fact that that now there is this pathway, there is a structure in place, I think it keeps girls hungry. It keeps girls in the game. They want to work hard and train hard because they can see that there’s a career to be had out of cricket. So it’s nice for them to see me as an example of their way forward. It can only be a positive thing.”There certainly wasn’t that same structure in place when Cranstone graduated from Exeter University, and started out on her journey within cricket. “When I came out of uni, I did a lot of accountancy jobs, and I was temping in lots of different places. I guess I enjoyed it, but I wanted to do something a bit closer to my ideal goal.”So I had two years at Epsom College which I really enjoyed. It really helped enhance my coaching and I still look to put something back into the game with the age-group girls, the emerging player programme, and the South East Stars Academy. Being professional does take up a lot of your time physically, but also mentally, so it’s nice to have something that you can focus on for a day, and give your brain that bit of a rest.”Cranstone travels to Northampton with fond memories of last year’s Charlotte Edwards Cup triumph, in which she helped to cap Stars’ dominant campaign with 35 from 27 in the final. Chasing 139, she and Bryony Smith added 71 for the first wicket to break Northern Diamonds’s resistance as the title was sealed with 12 balls to spare. This time, however, it’s clear that Southern Vipers – whom the Stars haven’t met in the group stages – will start as favourites after receiving a bye into the final with six wins out of six.”Obviously we’re really excited to get to Finals Day, but the two teams that we’re up against, they are so strong,” Cranstone says. “We’re not naive to the fact that we’re going to need to put our best performances forward. Vipers in particular have had some really good, really strong performances.”Win or lose, however, it’s just the start of a thrilling season for the women’s game. The second season of the Hundred is looming in August, and this time it will be less of a journey into the unknown given the proven success of the women’s competition in 2021. Cranstone, who was part of the London Spirit set-up last year, has now moved south to join the defending champions Oval Invincibles, and says she can already feel the uplift that the whole game got from its exposure last year.Related

Issy Wong, Grace Potts spark for Sparks as Stars fail to shine in semi-final thriller

Aylish Cranstone fires again before Central Sparks short-circuit in the rain

Central Sparks through to Finals Day despite defeat to Western Storm

Bryony Smith leads crushing win as South East Stars seal top spot

International experience sees Charlie Dean through early Charlotte Edwards Cup nerves

“You can see from the levels over social media, and on the streams, the amount of views we’re getting that the whole sport is growing at the moment,” she says. “Obviously we were fortunate to play on Sky Sports the other day, when we were playing against Western Storm down in Bristol. So yeah, I think it’s really good to see that increase of support across the women’s game.”As for her wider ambitions, Cranstone is conscious that her performances this season are beginning to attract wider attention, and with the England women’s team at a crossroads following the recent World Cup, it’s not out of the question that she could yet propel herself into the international frame.”It’s not something I’ve massively thought about, to be honest,” she says. “I’m concentrating on putting performances in for the Stars and being really happy playing my cricket here. And if those performances keep coming in, then those things will naturally happen.”I don’t want to get too caught up on looking too far ahead, and maybe putting some extra pressure on myself in that respect. I just want to keep enjoying my cricket here, and fingers crossed, keep playing well. But we’ll see what happens. If I can do well for the Stars and do well for the Oval Invincibles, then you never know what’s going to happen.”

Comparing the top batsmen of each era against the average player of that period

Himanish Ganjoo16-Jun-2020The year 2018 saw remarkably tough conditions for batting in Test cricket, with West Indies, South Africa and England hosting teams on devilish pitches that aided fast bowlers. Batsmen playing in the top seven averaged a measly 31.46 in 2018. Since 1946, only three other years have returned a lower average. This rose to 34.68 in 2019 and then to 36 in the ten Tests played in 2020, but Test-match batting in general has been difficult in the past few years. Apart from adverse conditions for batting, the idea that shorter formats have made batsmen less disciplined has been proposed as an explanation for this.Investigating the exact reasons for this noticeable fall in batting numbers requires nuanced analysis of multiple factors, which is beyond the scope of this piece. Here, I will look to break Test batting up into different phases, and analyse which players have outperformed the average batsman and by how much. After all, Steven Smith averaging over 60 in an era where batting is hard should be put in context, vis a vis someone averaging the same in batting-friendly times.We will go backwards from 2020, looking over 16 eras of four years each, ending with 1957. Four years make one touring cycle in Test cricket, so a player’s performance over that period is likely to consider a variety of conditions over a big enough sample size. Also, before 1957, there are not enough players with decent sample sizes over any four-year period after the Second World War.We will consider players batting in the top seven batting positions only. To begin, let us look at the averages by phase:

MatériaMais Notícias

O Vasco recebe o Nova Iguaçu no Maracanã, em duelo válido pelo primeiro jogo das semifinais do Campeonato Carioca, no domingo (10). O Gigante da Colina chega com a moral em alta após a classificação à terceira fase da Copa do Brasil e irá contar um grande apoio da massa vascaína que vai lotar o Maracanã, mas ao mesmo tempo ligou alerta para não repetir erros do confronto contra o Água Santa.

continua após a publicidade

➡️ Tudo sobre o Gigante agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso canal Lance! Vasco

No jogo de quinta-feira (7), contra a equipe de Diadema, o Vasco fazia uma de suas melhores atuações em 2024. Até os 30 minutos do primeiro tempo, o clube de São Januário dominava as ações e parecia que teria uma noite tranquila.

Porém, o que aconteceu foi um roteiro digno de cinema, com direito à virada do adversário, empate no apagar das luzes e classificação heróica nos pênaltis.

continua após a publicidade

A frustração que tomou conta da torcida no momento do gol de Luan Dias se transformou em alívio com a classificação. Apesar disso, o susto acendeu um alerta na torcida vascaína, que espera uma postura diferente diante do Nova Iguaçu. O “Carrossel da Baixada” foi a única equipe a conseguir derrotar o Gigante da Colina neste ano, em jogo que ficou marcado por polêmicas de arbitragem.

O Nova Iguaçu foi a grande surpresa do Carioca, dificultando para os grandes. Além da vitória sobre o Vasco, a equipe conseguiu empates diante de Flamengo e Botafogo.

continua após a publicidade

Para o jogo deste domingo, Ramón Díaz e seu auxiliar (e filho), Emiliano, têm a missão de colocar um Vasco em campo que jogue com tranquilidade após o susto.

Tudo sobre

Campeonato CariocaNova IguaçuVasco

He scored crucial runs down the order and took five wickets but the visitors are still staring at an innings defeat

Mohammad Isam27-Jun-2025Sri Lanka are on the cusp of a big win against Bangladesh in the second Test in Colombo. The visitors are still 96 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat, and with just four wickets in the bag, a big loss is very much on the cards with two days left.While not a lot of positives have come out of the Bangladesh camp, particularly in this second Test, left-arm spinner Taijul Islam is among their few success stories. Taijul battled on the second morning with the bat to give the Bangladesh total some respectability. The eventual 247 wasn’t substantial, but that they even got there was down to Taijul’s 33 off 60 balls.He then bowled seven spells of varying lengths to grab his 17th five-wicket haul, and fifth in an overseas Test, putting him on par with Shakib Al Hasan. Taijul’s 5 for 131 in Colombo was the umpteenth example of his doggedness and consistency. He also showed what a technically sound left-arm spinner he is. Taijul demands batters’ attention till the last moment they play or leave the ball. It adds a measure of thrill to his long spells.Related

• Don't jump off the Nahid Rana hype train just yet

• Kusal Mendis counterattack balloons SL's lead before Bangladesh collapse

In both Galle and Colombo, he kept his end of the bargain by bowling as tightly as possible. At times, wicketkeeper Litton Das would remind him to toss the ball a little higher or come a little straighter. And Taijul was mostly on the money.In Colombo, Taijul was a study of patience. He shared the new ball and bowled 23 overs on the trot. Nahid Rana and Ebadot Hossain went for plenty from the other end, so he had to be the captain’s banker. Taijul took one wicket in that spell. He bowled nine more overs on the second day, each time keeping his consistency intact. All this with an elbow injury he picked up while batting.When Najmul Hossain Shanto handed him the ball early on the third morning, it was to stop the bleeding. Sri Lanka had made an impressive start, so Bangladesh couldn’t afford to give runs freely. Taijul removed overnight centurion Pathum Nissanka early with the second new ball. He got one to skid rapidly, with the ball holding up ever so slightly for Sri Lanka’s centurion to chip to short extra cover. Taijul then beat captain Dhananjaya de Silva with his flight, building up to a delivery that had a hint of inward drift, beating his front-foot prod.Taijul was taken off after just four overs on the third morning, for Mehidy Hasan Miraz to bowl against the left-hand batter Kamindu Mendis. The match-up didn’t work and Mehidy had to be taken out of the attack soon. Taijul later came back to take two of the last three wickets to fall. It took his tally to 237, nine short of Shakib’s record 246 for Bangladesh. At the press conference after stumps, one couldn’t draw Taijul into that conversation, such is his introverted nature. He would rather talk about his seam position.Taijul Islam added some crucial runs during Bangladesh’s first innings•Associated Press”I did what comes naturally to me, from the start of my career,” he said. “There is always the odd variation for the spinner. Like sometimes you will check how the ball behaves in certain pitches or seam positions. I was trying that only. I prefer bowling in long spells. I am used to bowling long spells. I never think that I can’t bowl long spells. That’s how I bowl in the nets, too.”Taijul said that Nissanka’s wicket helped Bangladesh restrict Sri Lanka when they looked like running away with a mammoth total on the second day. “He [Nissanka] is in great shape. He has struck two big knocks. He was an important breakthrough for us. I think his wicket helped us bowl them out reasonably quickly.”Taijul lamented Bangladesh’s batting performance in the game, too, and he may yet have to put up another rearguard action on the fourth day, with the visitors struggling.”I am a bowler, but I bat as well,” he said. “Our batting wasn’t that good. In the first innings, the wicket was good. Each batter got out after getting set. Had there been two hundreds or two fifties, the situation might have been different.”Weather could have a say on the fourth day, but Sri Lanka only have to dismantle Bangladesh’s lower order on their way to the series win. Taijul will make way for the white-ball specialists and will get back to training in Dhaka, and maybe get to play some red-ball cricket when the 2025-26 season opens in October.He will eye Shakib’s record against Ireland, though it will likely pale in comparison to the attention that Mushfiqur Rahim will get as he is projected to complete 100 Tests in that series. Taijul probably wouldn’t mind the limelight away from him even then.

Former Manchester City financial advisor Stefan Borson says he still expects a verdict on the club's 115 Premier League charges "before Christmas". City were charged by the Premier League in early 2023 for allegedly breaching financial fair play (FFP) rules between 2009 to 2018, but fast forward to the present and a decision is yet to be handed out.

• Man City verdict 'imminent'

  City have been under this cloud of suspicion for a very long time now but for now, they have not been punished despite all these charges. The club have strongly denied any wrongdoing, but they have also been accused of failing to comply with the Premier League's rules on profit and sustainability (PSR), breaching UEFA's financial fair play regulations, and not cooperating with the English top-flight's four-year investigation. The hearing began more than a year ago, but the public is still waiting to hear a decision from the independent commission. According to Borson, it should happen very soon. 

  He said on , alongside presenter Jim White and pundit and ex-Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan, "I think Simon thinks it's going to come out next year, I think it still could come out before Christmas. The decision has been imminent for quite some time, there's not a lot that they can do. It doesn't take that long."

Advertisement

• Getty/GOAL
  

  Reason for delay revealed

  Earlier in their chat, Borson said that the independent commission are responsible for the lengthy delay and not City or the Premier League. Indeed, the hearing began just over 14 months ago.

  Borson added: "Nobody knows because even the parties themselves expected to have been told by now. All the lawyers are surprised there is no decision at this stage, and that's on both sides. I'll tell you who's holding it up – the panel making the decision. They hold the pen. They are the people who everybody waits for to deliver the decision. Well, nobody knows. We know the long list – you can cobble it together from all of the people on the judicial panel – but we don't know who is on that list. We can make some guesses that it's probably two lawyers and maybe one accountant. But we don't know who is on the panel and what they were told to produce by when. We can now assume I think, given how long it has been and that everybody is so surprised that they don't have a decision, that actually there's very little guidance given to them and they weren't effectively paid for their time from the moment the case ended. Arguably, the Premier and Manchester City together, with the panel, should have agreed a process whereby the hearing ends and then effectively they are exclusively paid to deliberate and produce, over let's say three months or at worst six months, the decision during the closed season."

• Neville furious over long charges wait

  Earlier this year, Manchester United legend Gary Neville said the delay over this verdict is a "disgrace" and a "stain" on football. A result has repeatedly been delayed, something the Sky Sports pundit branded as a "joke".

  He said on The Overlap Fan Debate in May: "That Manchester City case is a disgrace; it’s an absolute stain to the game. I have a lot of admiration for City, but I don’t buy into this theory that clubs do really well, and City have, but it is still a stain to the game. It has just been dragging on for years and years, it’s an absolute joke. Yes, City have been defending themselves, but they’ve been pushing it so far into the long grass that you end up losing the will to live on it and you forget about it. It just needs to be dealt with."

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty Images
  

  What comes next for Man City?

  While these charges hang over City, the players and manager Guardiola will be focusing on returning to winning ways this weekend after being beaten 2-0 by Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday in the Champions League. And a home game against struggling Leeds United in the Premier League on Saturday presents a good opportunity to do just that.

The left hander picked up his form from last season with a century in front of chair of selectors George Bailey

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff16-Sep-2025New South Wales batter Kurtis Patterson started his Ashes audition with a sterling century, but the Blues slipped to a two-wicket one-day loss to Tasmania after a record ninth-wicket stand between Bradley Hope and Matt Kuhnemann.Patterson, watched by Australia’s chair of selectors George Bailey, struck 110 from 125 balls in the NSW’s 224 all out. Tasmania, with another Ashes hopeful Jake Weatherald making 28, were reeling at 124 for 8 in the opening game of the Dean Jones Trophy at Cricket Central in Sydney.Related

Labuschagne launches with a century: 'Nothing else matters but runs'

Greg Shipperd: Current era probably toughest environment for young players

Australia's Ashes 'bat-off' begins: Who could open against England?

Webster hopes his all-round skills can help push for ODI honours

But Kuhnemann (56 not out from 71 balls) and Hope (49 not out from 91) produced a stunning unbroken 101-run stand for the ninth wicket to win with four balls to spare.Patterson played two Tests for Australia in 2019 and boasts an average of 144 – he made 30 and 114 not out in his two knocks against Sri Lanka. The left hander was discarded when Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft had served their ball-tampering suspensions.But Patterson returned to Test discussions with prolific run-scoring in the Sheffield Shield last season, compiling 743 runs at 57.15, although is still an outside chance at this stage. On Tuesday, the 32-year-old dominated NSW’s innings – after his century the next-best was former captain Moises Henriques whose 41 from 51 balls featured two sixes. Patterson reached his second career one-day century from 113 deliveries. Tanveer Sangha was the only other NSW batter to reach double-figures.Kurtis Patterson started his season with a century•Getty ImagesTest allrounder Beau Webster took 3 for 41 and white-ball specialist Nathan Ellis 3 for 37.Tasmania’s run chase faltered early with Mitch Owen out for 9 and Webster chopping on for a golden duck – both dismissed by debutant paceman Ryan Hadley in the second over.Sean Abbott, who was captaining NSW, then snared two quick wickets, including a wonderful delivery to take Mac Wright’s off stump, to leave the Tasmanians 42 for 4 after seven overs.Weatherald, who was recently put on the Test radar by selection chair Bailey, put on 54 with veteran Matthew Wade. But Weatherald’s 51-ball innings ended when he smacked a short ball from spinner Ollie Davies straight to Hadley on the deep midwicket boundary.Tasmania’s hopes appeared over when Wade was caught and bowled by Sangha, with Ellis was soon dismissed to leave the visitors 124 for 8 in the 26th over.But Kuhnemann and Hope produced their defining partnership, with the former edging through a vacant slips area for the winning boundary.

MatériaMais Notícias

Premier League,La LigaeBrasileirão – Série Asão os principais destaques deste domingo (5) de futebol.Confira onde assistir ao vivo e os horários das partidas.

RelacionadasFlamengoFortaleza x Flamengo: onde assistir ao vivo, escalações e horário do jogo pelo BrasileirãoFlamengo04/11/2023CorinthiansBragantino x Corinthians: onde assistir ao vivo, escalações e horário do jogo pelo BrasileirãoCorinthians04/11/2023BrasileirãoCruzeiro x Internacional: onde assistir ao vivo, escalações e horário do jogo pelo BrasileirãoBrasileirão04/11/2023

➡️ Siga o Lance! no WhatsApp e acompanhe em tempo real as principais notícias do esporte

Karun Nair, currently with the India team playing Test cricket in England, is set to return to Karnataka three seasons after his last appearance for the team. Nair, who was with Vidarbha the past two seasons, received a no-objection-certificate (NOC) from the Vidarbha Cricket Association on Monday evening, allowing him to turn out for his original state team.”I’d like to thank VCA for everything they’ve done for me in the last two years,” Nair said in a statement. “Whatever I’ve achieved in the last two years is credit to how they managed me and took care of me like I was their own. Grateful to the VCA, and all the players and support staff.”As a team, we achieved special things. The atmosphere was so positive. The opportunity to lead such an amazing bunch during the Vijay Hazare and achieving success in the Ranji Trophy is something I’ll look back on very fondly.”Nair’s return to Karnataka comes at a time when his stocks have risen considerably from the time he had left. Having been a central figure in Vidarbha’s run to their third Ranji Trophy title earlier this year, Nair earned a recall to India’s Test squad after more than eight years on the back of his 863 runs in 16 innings with four centuries at 53.93. This included a match-winning century in the final against Kerala – Kerala, interestingly, had been keen on signing Nair around the time he was left out of the Karnataka squad in 2021-22.Nair also had a record-breaking run in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he captained Vidarbha to a runners-up finish. He made a chart-topping 779 runs in eight innings, with five consecutive hundreds, while striking at 124.01. During the tournament, he set a new List A record of scoring the most runs (542) without being dismissed.Related

• Nair takes his long-awaited chance to light up big stage again

He hasn’t produced anything near the same volume of runs on tour in England so far. Having warmed up for the series with a double-century for India A against England Lions in Beckenham, Nair has so far produced scores of 0, 20, 31, 26, 40 and 14 in the three Tests; his four most recent knocks coming at No. 3.Nair returns to a Karnataka set-up teeming with talented batters. R Smaran, KL Shrijith and KV Aneesh all had breakout seasons in 2024-25. Smaran topped the runs tally for Karnataka, hitting 516 runs in ten innings during the Ranji season, while Shrijith hit a century on first-class debut. With Mayank Agarwal likely to continue as captain and Devdutt Padikkal a definite starter, there could be a healthy selection dilemma for the team management. There might also a slight deviation from the Karnataka State Cricket Association’s stance of looking to the future, something the departure of senior players K Gowtham and Manish Pandey were examples of.Meanwhile, seamer V Koushik has obtained an NOC from Karnataka to shift to Goa for the upcoming season. A late bloomer who gave up a corporate job to make his Ranji debut in 2019-20 at 27, Koushik emerged as one of the key members of Karnataka’s pace attack following the retirements of R Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and S Aravind. Koushik was Karnataka’s leading wicket-taker in the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy; his 23 wickets across seven matches came at 18.73. This included two five-wicket hauls.